52 Mr. W. Heape. The artificial Insemination of Mammals 



" The artificial Insemination of Mammals and subsequent 

 possible Fertilisation or Impregnation of their Ova." By 

 Walter Heape,* M.A., Trinity College, Cambridge. Com- 

 municated by Francis Galton, F.R.S. Received January 

 15 —Read February 11, 1897. 



My attention was first drawn to this subject in consequence of the 

 results obtained during an investigation, with which I have been 

 occupied during the last three years, upon ovulation in the rabbit. 



I found that " heat " alone was not sufficient to cause ovulation 

 in the virgin rabbit, but that 9 J to 11 hours after copulation ovula- 

 tion almost invariably took place. I then endeavoured to determine 

 whether the act of copulation or the presence of spermatozoa in the 

 female generative organs were independently sufficient to induce 

 ovulation in does which were on " heat," and I have made a consider- 

 able number of experiments for that purpose, an account of which I 

 hope shortly to publish. Amongst them I made efforts to inseminate 

 artificially virgin does when on " heat." Seminal fluid was injected 

 into the vagina of several of these animals, and in certain of them 

 spermatozoa were subsequently found in the uterus and fallopian 

 tubes. In no case, however, did the presence of spermatozoa thus 

 artificially introduced induce ovulation, and it would seem that the 

 presence of spermatozoa alone is not sufficient for the purpose. 



Again, in a case where copulation took place, and where the 

 os uteri of the doe was obstructed so as to stop the passage of sper- 

 matozoa into the uterus, ovulation did not take place, and thus it 

 would seem that the act of copulation is not of itself sufficient for the 

 purpose. 



Such experiments as I have already made do not entirely satisfy 

 me, but so far as they go they point to the conclusion that both 

 copulation and the presence of spermatozoa in the uterus are neces- 

 sary to induce ovulation in the virgin rabbit when she is on " heat." 



Ott (]STo. 24) experimented on sixteen rabbits, and claims to have 

 induced gestation in one of them by artificially introducing sperma- 

 tozoa through the body- wall into the peritoneal cavity near the 

 ovary. His description is not very clear, but it would appear prob- 

 able that he used for the experiment a doe rabbit which had kindled 

 shortly before, and it is asserted by Weil (No. 39) that ovulation 

 takes place spontaneously at such times in rabbits. This is a very 

 interesting point, but I will not allude to it further here, as it 

 properly concerns questions of ovulation and the maturation of ova 

 which I propose to treat at length elsewhere. 



* With this is incorporated an account of experiments performed by Sir Everett 

 Millais, Bart., and communicated by him to the author. 



