26 
SAFEGUARDING THE SEX LIFE 
to be partially successful, at least for a short time. The 
grafted glands seem to be absorbed and disappear after a 
few months. 
1. Where are the sex hormones produced? 
2. What effect on girls has the hormone they produce ? 
3. What effect on boys has the hormone they produce? 
4. Why are “glands” sometimes grafted into old men? 
Castration. — Male animals raised for food or work are 
usually “ cut ” or castrated when they are small, that is, their 
testes are cut out. This renders them more docile and their 
flesh more tender. It prevents the development of all sex in¬ 
stincts and the fighting spirit and makes them take on fat 
more readily. The gelding (horse), the steer or ox, the 
wether (sheep), the barrow (pig), the capon (chicken) are 
such animals. The removal of the ovaries of the female is 
not so easy and is not so frequently done. Slave boys in 
oriental countries have sometimes been castrated, made 
eunuchs , that when grown they might be placed in charge of 
the women’s quarters, since they would feel no sex attraction 
for their charges. The operation would be a crime in this 
country. 
1. What is castration? 
2. Why would a gelding be more suitable than a stallion to work 
in team with a mare? 
3. Why are not steers commonly used in the fighting ring in¬ 
stead of bulls? 
4. Why are epicures willing to pay a fancy price for capons? 
5. What is a eunuch? 
Circumcision. — Arabs, Jews, and some other peoples have 
for thousands of years had the practice of circumcising their 
boy babies. The operation consists in cutting off the fore¬ 
skin of the penis. (See Figure 14.) Savages do this with a 
flint or other sharp stone; modern priests use a surgical knife 
and observe aseptic precautions. Some physicians advise 
