Some limitations of the action of the so-called follicular hormone in birds.

Abstract

During the past twenty-five years the work of many investigators has shown that the ovaries exercise control over the rapid temporary growth and hyperemia of the uterus which is characteristic of “heat” in mammals. Various extracts made from ovaries, and from other distinct tissues, have also long been known to bring about these particular uterine changes when injected into mammals (Marshall and Jolly, 1905; Lane-Claypon and Starling, 1906; Sonnenberg, 1907; Adler, 1911). The separation from the ovary of a lipoid fraction capable of inducing these uterine changes is also well established (Iscovesco, 1912; Hermann, 1913; Fellner, 1913, 1921; Seitz, Wintz and Fingerhut, 1914; Frank and Rosenbloom, 1915); and recently both the separation and the testing of this hormone have been more satisfactorily accomplished (Allen and Doisy, 1923; Frank and Gustavson, 1925). Still other hormones have probably been separated from the ovary (Iscovesco, 1912; Seitz, Wintz and Fingerhut, 1914; Papanicolaou, 1924), but the one considered here is the utero-stimulant” of Iscovesco, “das spezifische Ovarialsekret” of Fellner, the “follicular hormone” of Allen and Doisy, and the “female sex hormone” of Frank and Gustavson.

No previous study has been made of the action of this hormone when injected into a bird—nor into any animal other than a mammal. Allen, and co-workers 1 , however, obtained from fowl ovaries an extract which gave positive tests for the hormone when injected into rats. They were unable to obtain the hormone from egg-yolks. Fellner 2 extracted the hormone from the eggyolks of the fowl and from the ovaries of fish, and obtained the typical uterine reactions in tests made on rabbits. In our rather limited studies we have obtained positive results on oviducal enlargement (little or moderate) and hyperemia in 3 of 7 tests with immature (3.5 to 6.5 mo.) ring doves.