The Age Factor in the Castration of Male Rabbit Fetuses

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Abstract
The author previously reported that the fetal rabbit gonads influence somatic sexual differentiation. In control animals of 27-28 days, genital organogenesis is essentially completed. The first somatic sex differences appear on the 20th day, and prostate buds appear on the 21st. All exptl. animals were killed on the 27-28th day. Exptl. data show that [male] [male]gonadectomized at 24 days develop according to the [male] type, but the prostate is somewhat reduced in size. Animals castrated at 23 days remain almost normal except for reduced deferent ducts and ampullae. If unilaterally castrated at 22 or 23 days, all [male] sex characters are fully maintained. At 21 days 3 of 8 castrated [male] [male]retained some wolffian vestiges; the mullerian ducts differentiated into mullerian vagina, uterine horns, and oviducts. Only 2 prostatic buds corresponding to the normal cranial prostate were observed. Males castrated at 20 days developed and retained [female] genital tracts, but also had 2 prostatic buds. Males gonadectomized at 18 and 19 days show no prostatic development. Males unilaterally castrated between 19 and 20 days have normally developed external genitalia and prostates, but the single testis does not maintain the vas deferens on the opposite side; this indicates a relatively localized action. Some observations suggest that more testicular secretion is required to completely inhibit the mullerian ducts than to maintain the wolffian ducts.
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