Abstract
The object of the present investigation was to observe the effect of castration, in male and female rabbits, on the weight of the hypophysis. Some workers have recorded an increase in the weight of this gland after removal of the generative organs, e. g., Fichera 1 ('05) found this to be the case in guinea pigs, rabbits, domestic fowls, cattle, and buffaloes, and Kon 2 ('08) has observed the same results in man. Marrassini 3 and Luciani ('11), on the other hand, also using guinea pigs, rabbits, sheep, cattle, and domestic fowls deny that this is the case. The question therefore at the present time appears to be an open one.
My observations have been made on two series of rabbits. The first series consisted of fifty animals including about an equal number of males and females. The sexes were separated and kept in adjoining pens, in the open air, under similar conditions as regards feeding and attendance. From approximately one half of each group the sexual glands were removed, the other half being kept as controls. The body weights were recorded weekly, on the forenoon of the same day (Saturday), before the animals had been fed.
They were killed at intervals varying from 26 to 208 days after castration, the body weight, minus the gastro-intestinal contents (the reduced body weight), was determined and the pituitary was removed with special care and weighed at once on a chemical balance. It was found that for the males the average weight of the pituitary, in milligrams per kilo of reduced body weight, was 11.57 mg. for the castrated and 10.23 mg. for the controls; while among the females the average pituitary weight, for the spayed animals, was found to be
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