THE EFFECTS OF PROLONGING THE LIFE OF THE CORPUS LUTEUM IN THE RABBIT BY HYSTERECTOMY

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Abstract
Rabbits were hysterectomized before puberty and subsequently mated. Measurements of the corpora lutea were compared at 24, 25, and 29 days with similar measurements for pregnant and pseudopregnant rabbits. Mammary gland wts. were also compared. The corpora lutea persisted for 26 days compared with 16 days for pseudopregnant and 30-32 days for the pregnant rabbits. Mating was not followed by ovulation while the corpora lutea persisted. The mammary glands in the hysterectomized rabbits remained at the pseudopregnant level and did not regress with the pseudopregnant glands or grow with the pregnant ones. Corpora lutea cannot carry mammary development further than the pseudopregnant stage. The balance of evidence suggests an ovarian origin for mammary development during the first half of pregnancy and an extraovarian origin during the second half.

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