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An immunoperoxidase staining technique was employed in an effort to demonstrate prostatic acid phosphatase in sections of the effusion cell blocks in a retrospective investigation of the incidence of malignant prostatic cells in body cavity effusions in 33 patients with histologically confirmed prostatic cancer. An attempt was also made to identify the prostate as a possible anatomic site of origin in 26 patients with an unknown primary but with cytologically positive fluids. Neoplastic cells were identified in the effusion specimens in 21.2% of the patients with confirmed prostatic cancer; the sources, however, were either primary or metastatic carcinomas of nonprostatic origin. None of the cytologic specimens in this study demonstrated a positive prostate-specific acid phosphatase staining reaction, as did the prostatic metastases to the lungs used as controls.

Shell-less or soft-shelled eggs, which are covered with little or no shell substance, are quite frequently produced by domestic fowls (Hewitt, 1939). Jaap and Muir (1968) reported that 82 to 90 percent of broiler-type pullets, depending on the strain, laid some defective eggs. Their results also showed that 3.7 to 7.0 percent of the total yolks were laid as either soft shelled or shell-less eggs. Hewitt (1939) suggested that the cause of shell-less eggs is either a failure of the glands in the shell-secreting portion of the oviduct, or violent peristalsis which hastens the egg through this region before a shell can be formed. Other causes suggested include the possibility of the bird being disturbed or some irritation in the oviduct (Romanoff and Romanoff, 1949). Results of Buckner et al. (1922) showed that calcium starvation is not necessarily a causative factor in the production of shell-less eggs, as was once…

To determine whether sterility of adult male chickens fed a diet high in linoleic acid and low in vitamin E was permanent or could be reversed by supple mental vitamin E, 3 groups of 8 White Leghorn males were fed for a 40-week experi mental period as follows: group 1, a high linoleic acid (7.3% )-high vitamin E (166.3 mg/kg) diet; group 2, a high linoleic acid-low vitamin E (4.3 mg/kg) diet; and group 3, treated as group 2 from zero to 28 weeks and as group 1 from 28 to 40 weeks. The following results were obtained: 1) The adverse effect of the high linoleic acidlow vitamin E diet on fertility and semen concentration was confirmed. 2) The addi tion of vitamin E to the high linoleic acid diet at 28 weeks restored fertility to the1 level obtained from males receiving vitamin E throughout the trial. 3) Semen concen tration was improved following the addition of vitamin E to the diet at 28 weeks. 4) No meaningful differences on semen volume, hatchability of fertile eggs, feed con sumption, mortality, or body and testes weights were observed with males fed the various diets. The results indicate that the low fertility and semen concentration of male chickens fed a diet high in linoleic acid but low in vitamin E are reversible fol lowing vitamin E supplementation. Arscott et al. (1) reported that adult White Leghorn male chickens fed a diet high in linoleic acid but low in vitamin E and ethoxyquin for a 25-week experimen tal period experienced low fertility and reduced semen concentration. When such diets were supplemented with vitamin E or ethoxyquin, no adverse effects were noted. Also a diet low in both linoleic acid and vitamin E did not appear detrimental. Increasing the number of sperm insemi nated from males receiving a diet high in linoleic acid and low in vitamin E failed to improve fertility. Information on the permanence of sterility was not obtained. Adamstone and Card (2) reported ste rility, as evidenced by testicular degenera tion, in male chickens after having been fed a vitamin E-deficient diet for a 2-year period. Although evidence for permanent sterility was not presented, the irreversible nature of sterility resulting from vitamin E-deficient diets for male chickens appears in the literature (3). In this respect, Evans and Burr (4) and Mason (5) have reported on the irreversibility of the steril ity observed in male rats fed diets deficient in vitamin E; however, Bryan and Mason (6) were unable to demonstrate testicular degeneration in male mice fed diets de ficient in vitamin E for 400 days. The per manence of the testicular degeneration noted with guinea pigs fed vitamin Edeficient diets (7) apparently is not known (8). It was the purpose of the present experi ment to determine whether supplemental vitamin E would reverse the sterility noted in male chickens fed a diet high in linoleic acid.

Adult male chickens were fed diets low in linoleic acid, vitamin E and ethoxyquin or high in linoleic acid with or without added vitamin E or ethoxyquin for 25 weeks. Fertilizing capacity and sperm concentration of semen were adversely affected with males fed the high linoleic acid diet without vitamin E or ethoxyquin. The addition of vitamin E or ethoxyquin to the high linoleic acid diet overcame these adverse effects. The low linoleic acid diet without vitamin E and ethoxyquin had no adverse effect on fertilizing capacity and concentration of semen. No differences were evident for males fed any of the diets as far as semen volume, hatchability of fertile eggs, body or testes weights or feed consumption were concerned. During the 26th and 27th weeks increasing the number of sperm inseminated failed to improve fertility of the males fed the diet high in linoleic acid without vitamin E. The results indicate that diets high in linoleic acid but without vitamin E affect fertilizing capac ity as well as the number of sperm produced. Adamstone and Card ( 1) reported testicular degeneration resulting after a vita min E-deficient diet was fed to Rhode Island Red males for a 2-year period. Al though no differences were observed at one year, an adverse effect on fertilizing capacity was noted with a limited number of males after 2 years. More recently Machlin et al. (2) reported adverse effects on fertility as well as egg production of White Leghorn layers fed diets low in vitamin E but containing a high level of linoleic acid. They showed that lowered fertility and egg production were overcome by addition of vitamin E or ethoxyquin to the diet. In the absence of the high level of linoleic acid as well as vitamin E and ethoxyquin no adverse effects on fertility or egg production could be observed during the 6 weeks of their experiment. The relationship of vitamin E to linoleic acid metabolism has been reviewed by Scott (3). Evidence is cited indicating that vitamin E functions as a biological antioxidant that protects against encephalomalacia in chicks by preventing the breakdown of linoleic acid to 12-oxo-cis-9-octadecenoic (keto) acid. Whether or not the same relationship exists with adult poultry has not been established, but the data re ported with layers (2) suggest such a pos sibility. In view of a previous interest in the area of nutrition as related to male fertility (4), the present experiment was undertaken to determine whether linoleic acid would ex ert a detrimental effect on fertilizing ca pacity of adult male chickens fed diets with or without vitamin E or ethoxyquin.

Summary. Three groups of White Leghorn cocks were fed rations containing 2557, 2956 and 3353 kcal/kg of metabolizable energy over a 40-week period. The first, the control ration, provided the approximate maintenance level when daily intake did not exceed 90 g/bird. Semen was collected ten times from each male by abdominal massage during the experiment and the fertilizing capacity of each ejaculate was determined by artificial insemination. At the end of the experiment, the males on the 2956- and 3353-kcal rations weighed 12\m=.\5%and 18% more than at the start. Both the thickness of the layer of abdominal\x=req-\ wall fat and the weight of this layer plus the gizzard fat increased as caloric intake increased. Obesity, within the limits obtained in these experiments without artificially stimulated hyperphagia or forced\x=req-\ feeding, had no significant effect on testicular weights or on the volume and sperm density of semen. There were no consistent significant differences in the fertilizing capacity of the semen, as determined by artificial insemination, nor in the hatchability of fertile eggs.

REVIEWS of the literature concerning testicular response of birds to photostimulation have been written by Lamoreux (1943a), Romanoff (1960) and Amoroso and Marshall (1960). Lamoreux also reported results showing that semen production and testis size in Leghorn cockerels were related to the length of the daily light period. Recently, Parker and McCluskey (1964) showed that sexually mature male fowls produce satisfactory volumes of potent semen under as little as 1 hour of daily light exposure. The purpose of the investigations reported herein was to determine the effect of rearing cockerels under daily light exposures ranging from 1 to 13 hours on ages at which semen was first produced, and on their subsequent fertilizing capacity in natural matings. EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE Four groups of Delaware chicks hatched in November, 1960, were reared from time of hatching under four regimes of 1, 3, 9 and 13 hours of daily light. There was no…

Moore and Byerly (1942) and Malmstrom (1943) showed that chicken hens laid a lower percentage of fertile eggs if they had a hard-shelled egg in the uterus at the time of artificial insemination. This suggests that for high fertility, hens should not be inseminated when a high percentage of them have hard-shelled eggs in their oviducts. In naturally mated flocks both Gracewski and Scott (1943) and Parker (1950) observed that fertility of eggs was higher when mating was restricted to the afternoon as compared with the forenoon. Parker (1945) and Bornstein et al. (1960) reported higher fertility from p.m. than from a.m. artificial inseminations although a less pronounced difference was reported by the latter. To determine the effects of the time of artificial inseminations and of the length of the following egg-saving period on fertility two experiments were conducted with White Leghorn chickens. In the first, 16 rows of 15…

Previous investigations have shown that the percentage of fertile eggs laid following artificial insemination of chicken hens in the morning is lower than that from hens inseminated in the afternoon (Parker, 1945; Bornstein et al., 1960). A generally accepted explanation is that more hens have hard-shelled eggs in their uteri in the morning. Several investigators have reported that fertility of hens with hard-shelled eggs in their uteri at the time of insemination is lower than that from other hens (Moore and Byerly, 1942; Malmstrom, 1943; Parker, 1945; Bornstein et al., 1960). However, more recent results (Parker and Arscott, 1965) showing that fertility from hens inseminated at 9 p.m. was comparable to that of hens inseminated at mid-afternoon are not in accord with the above explanation since most of the hens inseminated at 9 p.m. had eggs in their uteri at the time of insemination—many with hard shells. This suggests…

It is a rather common belief among breeders of Broad Breasted Bronze turkeys that large, wide-breasted birds are less efficient producers of eggs and poults than smaller type turkeys with narrower breasts. Many feel that the continued selection of breeding stock for size and breast width is a major factor contributing to the mediocre fertility and hatchability often experienced in breeder flocks of Broad Breasted Bronze turkeys. Recent observations by Kish (1948) indicate that in chickens, eggs from wide breasted females do not hatch as well as eggs from narrower breasted females. During the 1947 breeding season, breast width measurements and body weights were obtained on 146 Broad Breasted Bronze turkey hens that were trapnested from the time egg production commenced during the first week in February to May 17. Breast width was determined by the use of a flexible lead tape at a point 1½ inches from the bottom . . .