Summary i. Degenerations of embryonic cells have either been reported as such or have been misinterpreted by various authors as ‘mitotic metabolites’ or blood cells. 2. There is ample support for the morphological identification of dying cells from the following considerations: the degeneration ‘granules’ are initially Feulgen‐positive and have thus originated from nuclear constituents; the stages of cell deaths seen in normal embryos are identical with those produced experimentally and with those observed directly in tissue cultures; degenerating cells react in the same manner to supravital stains in vivo and in vitro. 3. The process of degeneration varies with the degree of specialization of the cell, with its functional state (e.g. mitosis), with the type of animal and under experimental conditions with the causative agents. 4. Cell death may take from less than 1 hr. to about 7 hr. when only a small proportion of a living tissue dies, but may be prolonged to days when numerous cells die simultaneously and their resorption is delayed. 5. Degenerations have been found during the normal development in embryos of all vertebrate animals examined. The occurrence of necrosis in embryos of pure genetical lines is excluded from this article. 6. The incidence of embryonic cell deaths according to site, tissue, developmental stage or process and type of animal is summarized in Table 1. 7. While some degenerations have no obvious function in embryonic development, others seem to play a significant role in embryonic processes, e.g. the morphogenesis and histogenesis of tissues and organs, and the representation and regression of phylogenetic steps (Table 2). 8. Morphogenetic degenerations precede changes in the form of epithelial organs, e.g. during the invagination of the optic cup, the formation of the crystalline lens, the olfactory pit, the neural tube, etc. They bring about the separation of rudiments such as that of the neural tube and the lens from the ectoderm. They reduce the excessive thickening of uniting edges such as those of the body wall and of the mandibles. They are involved in the production of lumina in the solid rudiments of glands and the intestinal tract. In the mesenchyme they precede and make possible the influx of specialized tissue such as the sternal plates or the ingrowth of myogenic tissue in the mandible. 9. Histiogenetic degenerations are related to the differentiation of tissues and organs. The differentiation of the three cell layers of the frog tadpole retina, for instance, is accompanied by three waves of degeneration. Similar cell deaths of early neuroblasts are found in the spinal ganglia outside the limb regions. In amphibia a partial sarcolysis during metamorphosis provides a blastema for the permanent musculature. Sex differentiation of the individual involves the partial degeneration of the Mullerian or Wolffian ducts. Cell deaths also occur in relation to fibre formation and to the appearance of bone and cartilage matrix. Their role in these and in evocatory processes needs furthe...

Summary 1. Life expectancy and mortality rates from diseases arising in various organs vary with sex because of differential exposure to external hazards and because of essential differences between males and females in aspects not directly connected with reproduction. This review attempts to collate data about the structural and functional dimorphism of mammals exclusive of the genital organs and psychological aspects. 2. The primary sex ratio is not certain and like the secondary and tertiary may vary with species. In many mammals more males are aborted and born than females. Later a higher mortality of males, due to sex‐linked congenital diseases and greater exposure to external hazards, shifts the balance in favour of females at the time of sexual maturity. The average life span of females is longer than that of males, except in hamsters and in inbred strains of mice with a high incidence of mammary tumours. 3. Chromosomes as well as gonadal hormones are responsible for the development of male and female characteristics. The Y‐chromosome initiates the differentiation of the testis, but gonadal hormones control the subsequent differentiation of the genital tract and other organs. In embryos the testicular secretion precedes that of the ovary. The Y‐chromosome is devoid of, but the X‐chromosome retains structural genes. The random heterochromatization of a paternal or a maternal X‐chromosome in the somatic cells of female embryos equalizes the genetic information for both sexes and produces a mosaicism of female somatic cells except in the kangaroo where the paternal X‐chromosome is selectively inactivated. Deficient genes on the X‐chromosome become manifest in hemizygous males, in homozygous females and can be detected in heterozygous women in half of the somatic cell population in some conditions. 4. The testis grows faster than the ovary and starts to secrete earlier, but the maturation of female gonocytes precedes that of males. Spermatogenesis starts at puberty and is maintained throughout life, while multiplication of oogonia ceases in the perinatal period (except in lemurs), when the stage of the first meiotic division is reached. The stock of oocytes dwindles during life. 5. In many mammals the male grows faster than the female before and after birth, but is less mature. Puberty tends to start earlier in females and the associated growth spurt does not last as long as in males. Testosterone has a direct anabolic effect, promotes growth and delays differentiation. Oestrogens are considered katabolic, but promote growth indirectly by stimulating the production of growth hormone in the pituitary. Progesterone has an anabolic and slight androgenic effect. 6. A female pattern of differentiation of the hypothalamus, the pituitary and the pineal gland, manifested at puberty by cyclical activities of the reproductive organs requires the absence of androgens during a critical phase of ante‐ or perinatal development. Oestrogens given to males at that period produce effects similar to castration. Antiandrogens ind...

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