GLAND GRAFTING.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20925, 15 July 1931, Page 3

GLAND GRAFTING.

BRITISH EXPERIMENTS. INTERESTING RESULTS. The operation of the glandular grafting of animals for the purpose of rejuvenation and stimulation of the reproductive faculty has hitherto been almost ex- v clusively associated with the names of foreign scientists, such as Voronoff bur. the Veterinary Record of May 2, contains a detailed and graphic account of experiments conducted by a British veterinary surgeon, Mr. G. P- Male, M.R.C.V.S., at Reading, over a number of years. By the implantation of grafts into various sites in the bodies of females of every type of domestic animal, Mr. Male has proved conclusively that in suitable cases , aged animals of both sexes may be so rejuvenated and their reproductive oigans so stimulated that they will regain their normal functions and produce' healthy stock. - , It has been suggested that in some way the progeny of grafted animals may be affected by the graft, but these experiments show that there is 110 danger of the grafts contaminating the host. Commenting on these experiments, the Live Stock Journal states that " the economic importance of the results to the owner of valuable breeding animals can scarcely be overestimated in a country such as ours, which has been justifiably termed ' the stud farm of the world.' " Results of Mr. Male's experiments have not been borne out by similar tests in South Africa. The result of experiments in gland grafting with merino sheep at the Onderstepoort College, South Africa, is embodied in a recently published report of the Director of Veterinary Services, Union of South Africa. The experiments were carried out with rams and ewes of various ages, the object being to ascertain the effects of grafting on skeletal- development, on wool production, on the bestrous cycle in ewes and on the progeny of rams. In some, cases immature animals were grafted with genital glands taken fiom mature animals, and in others the tests aimed at discovering the effect of grafting on progeny. One instance of a senile ram being grafted with portions of a testicle from a virile ram is. recorded. The report states that the operation did not exercise any beneficial influence on maturity, weight, wool production or progeny. Lambs from grafted sires and/or dams at the age of 157 and 196 days were no better than control lambs as regards weight of body or of wool produced. The percentage of "fertility was low in the different groups operated- on, varying from 20 to 28 per cent., while 11.4 of the ewes failed to come into season. ..The senile ram mentioned was a valuable Wanganella importation, aged thirteen years, which had been used at the Glen School of Agriculture, and had become quite impotent through old age. He was grafted on the testicle on three separate occasions, and though a temporary -improvement in general condition took plaw after the first two operations 2 he would not serve ewes.