Abstract
This report presents the results of a preliminary investigation. Eggs from brown and from white leghorns were injected in the albumen before or on the third day of incubation with 0.1 cc. of an ethylene glycol solution of the substance to be studied. The animals surviving on the twentieth day of incubation were killed and the tissues fixed for histological study. Comparison was made with the tissues of animals injected with the solvent alone.
The results may be summarized as follows:
A. Ten standard bird units 1 of an extract from human male urine prepared by the procedure of Gallagher and Koch 2 were injected into each egg. This preparation was contaminated with 6.3 international rat units of the estrogenic substance always found in such extracts. The results on 56 animals were: Normal males 17; normal females 21; hermaphrodites 18. This diagnosis rests on the presence of a testis and either an ovary or an ovotestis. The Wolffian ducts varied greatly in size, ranging from normal (about 0.3 mm.) to 6 mm. in diameter. No relationship was apparent between the gonad and the size of the duct. The Müllerian ducts in the females likewise exhibited great variability both between individuals and between the 2 ducts of the same animal. Eight of the 17 males showed some abnormality of the Müllerian ducts.
B. Ten standard bird units of an extract of bulls'testicles prepared by the method of Gallagher and Koch 3 were injected into each egg. The estrogenic contamination in this extract was 13.3 international rat units. Results based on 51 animals showed a normal sex ratio: Normal males 25; normal females 26, and no detectable changes in the gonads. Only a slight effect was manifest on the embryonic ducts. Twenty-five animals injected with 15 standard bird units of the same extract but freed from estrogenic activity likewise resulted in a normal sex ratio: Normal males 12; normal females 13, with no differences in the gonads or ducts.
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