Androgenic Activity of Ovarian Extracts

Since the comb of the domestic hen atrophies after ovariectomy and responds to male hormone but not to œstrone, its increase in size during the laying season presumably indicates production of androgenic substance by the active ovary.

Abstract

IT is well known that œstrogenic activity may be shown by extracts of testes and by extracts of urine from the males of certain species. Conversely, androgenic activity can readily be demonstrated in the urine of normal women, and Hill and Gardner1 have shown that, under certain conditions, the atrophic seminal vesicles of castrated mice can be restored by ovarian grafts. Further, since the comb of the domestic hen atrophies after ovariectomy and responds to male hormone but not to ” strone, its increase in size during the laying season presumably indicates production of androgenic substance by the active ovary.