No. 563] EFFECT OF INTOXICATIXd MALE I>AI!EXT 649 



Rosch was the first, in 1837, to study the reproductive 

 glands of alcoholics and found degeneration of the testi- 

 cles. Lancereaux described a parenchymatous degenera- 

 tion of the seminal canals. Simmonds (1898) found 

 azoospermie (spermatozoa without tails) in 60 per cent, 

 of cases of chronic alcoholism; 5 per cent, of these men 

 were sterile. Kyrle reported three cases of total atrophy 

 of the testicular parenchyma in which death had resulted 

 from cirrhosis of the liver due to alcohol. He attributed 

 the atrophy of the testicle to the cirrhosis of the liver 

 and not to chronic alcoholism. 



Bertholet (1909) has made an extensive examination 

 of the influence of alcohol on the histological structure of 

 the germ glands, particularly on the testicles of chronic 

 alcoholics. He found testicular atrophy in alcoholics with 

 no cirrhosis of the liver. Bertholet observed partial 

 atrophy of the testicles in the majority of 75 chronic 



examination showed a more or less diffuse atrophy of 

 the testicular parenchyma and a sclerosis of the inter- 

 stitial connective tissue. The canals were reduced in 

 size and their lamina obliterated. Spermatogonia were 

 atrophic. It was generally impossible to differentiate 

 spermatocytes or spermatids. There were no dividing 

 cells ami no spermatozoa. These conditions witli slight 

 variations were found in 24 cases. Such atrophic struc- 

 tures were present in one drinker only 29 years old. In 

 4 cases of cirrhosis of the liver the testicular atrophy 

 had not progressed very far and spermatozoa were still 

 present. 



The extreme conditions of atrophy of the testicle- were 

 only found in alcoholics. Oh 



