The effects of semi-spaying and of semi-castration on the sex ratio of the albino rat (Mus norvegicus albinus) / Helen Dean King.

  • Helen Dean King
Date:
1911
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Licence: In copyright

Credit: The effects of semi-spaying and of semi-castration on the sex ratio of the albino rat (Mus norvegicus albinus) / Helen Dean King. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    No. 4 THE EFFECTS OF SEMI-SPAYING AND OF SEMI- CASTRATION ON THE SEX RATIO OF THE ALBINO RAT (MUS NORVEGICUS ALBINUS.) HELEN DEAN KING The Wistar Institute of Anatomy and Biology The widely accepted view of a hundred years ago that the sex of an individual depends entirely upon which of the ovaries sup- plied the egg is generally credited to Hippocrates (460-377 B. C.). In spite of a considerable amount of adverse evidence, this theory was revived by von Seligson in 1895, and very recently it has been advocated by Dawson (’09) and by Calhoun (’10). The first two of these recent advocates of the theory are physicians, and much of the evidence that they offer in support of their views is derived from clinical cases that have come under their own obser- vation. Calhoun’s conclusions are the results of an investigation of stock breeding on a western ranch. Medical literature contains descriptions of many cases of one- sided ovariotomy which show that eggs capable of developing into individuals of either sex are produced in each ovary. Authen- tic records indicate that in man, as well as in cattle, the removal of one testicle does not lead to the production of offspring of one sex only. Evidence of this kind, however, is either ignored entirely by von Seligson, Dawson and Calhoun, or its authentic- ity is questioned. Among the first to make an experimental investigation of the cause of sex in mammals was Henke (1786). This investi- gator operated upon pigs, dogs and rabbits, removing an ovary or a testicle from each of the individuals used in the experiments. The results reported as having been obtained when these animals
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