The effect of unilateral castration on spermatogenesis

Abstract

Many factors influencing spermatogenesis and fertility in the male have been studied; these include seasonal changes, hypophysectomy, hormones and vitamins, and the plan of experiment has usually consisted of treatment followed by a qualitative histological examination of the testis. In the female the effect on fertility of a given treatment may be measured accurately and quantitatively by counting the number of large follicles, the number of corpora lutea or the number of young conceived. An early attempt to apply quantitative standards to male fertility was made by Lloyd-Jones and Hays (1918). In studying the effect of frequent copulations on the volume and density of the semen, ejaculates of male rabbits were withdrawn from the vaginas of the living females; the laborious nature of the technique and the lack of certainty that all of each ejaculate could be recovered in this way may be imagined.