Note on the influence of castration on the weight of the brain and spinal cord in the albino rat and on the percentage of water in them / Henry H. Donaldson and S. Hatai.

  • Donaldson, Henry Herbert, 1857-1938.
Date:
1911
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Note on the influence of castration on the weight of the brain and spinal cord in the albino rat and on the percentage of water in them / Henry H. Donaldson and S. Hatai. 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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    THE ALBINO RAT AND ON THE PERCENTAGE OF WATER IN THEM HENRY H. DONALDSON and S. HATAI The Wistar Institute of Anatomy and Biology In connection with the studies now being carried on in this laboratory on the conditions which may modify the percentage of water in the central nervous system of the albino rat, we have put together some observations which give not only these data for castrated rats but also indicate that castration causes some arrest in the growth of both the brain and the spinal cord. In the spring of 1906 Dr. Hatai examined in the neurological laboratory of the University of Chicago a series of castrated and corresponding control rats, the body growth of which had been followed by Dr. Ranson. These observations by Dr. Ranson were combined with those by Dr. Stotsenburg and published by the latter in 1909 (Stotsenburg, ’09), and in that paper all the necessary detail concerning the operation and the care of the animals has been given. As Dr. Stotsenburg has shown, castration in the albino rats does not modify the body growth. There does, however, appear to be a slight arrest in the growth of the central nervous system as the following records show. Eight litters were examined comprising 11 controls and 13 castrated individuals. At the time of killing some of the animals were still increasing in body weight while others were losing. The series was therefore divided into two groups—namely, (1) those still gaining, and (2) those losing in body weight. Table 1 gives the data for the first group.