Observations were made on the epididymides of young white rats of the following ages: 3, 21, 28, 32, 37, 39, 56, 72, 96, 110 days. Both efferent ducts and epididymal duct are undifferentiated at 21 days with a similar cuboidal epithelium. The connective tissue coat of the efferent ducts is one cell thick whereas that of the epididymal duct is two or three cells thick. The possible involvement of the connective tissue in the process of histogenesis is discussed. Differentiation within the epididymal duct commences at 28 days when the epithelium in the cephalic portion is tall and that in the caudal portion of the head and remainder of the tail is tall with isolated segments of low columnar epithelium. The latter epithelium is associated with a wider lumen which evidently becomes continuous down the duct. In the efferent ducts at this stage ciliated cells have appeared. Differentiation of the cephalic portion of the head is completed rapidly by the 37th day but that of the caudal portion of the head and tail of the organ is completed only at the 96th day. In certain zones, histodifferentiation is accompanied by obvious nuclear differentiation. Spermatozoa first appear in the testis at 56 days but do not enter and fill the epididymal ducts until 72 days. There is evidence of an outflow of fluid from the testis which carries spermatocytes and spermatids into the duct at 32 days. The changes in the epithelium of the efferent duct, the epididymis, and the deferent duct from the 3rd to the 110th day are tabulated.

We report on the testing of a prototype of an electronic device for the detection of cervix cancer and its precursors, known as the Polarprobe. The device monitors three aspects of the cervix tissue; two relate to optical properties and the other to dielectric characteristics. The response to tissue stimulation takes the form of an energy pattern which, in conjunction with spectroscopic discriminants, can be digitized to prepare an algorithm. The pattern algorithms are sufficiently characteristic to be afforded names which correspond to tissue states recognizable as normal or abnormal by the clinician. On a tissue observation basis the previously established recognition algorithms derived from 106 volunteers produced assessments which related strongly to colposcopy/histology diagnoses obtained on 77 additional volunteers. This concordance between colposcopy/histology and Polarprobe diagnoses on this primary analysis subgroup ranged from 85% on low-grade intraepithelial abnormalities, and 90% on high-grade cervical intraepithelial squamous neoplasia, to 99% on invasive cancer. An extrapolation of these results suggests false-positive/false-negative rates in the order of 10% are achievable with the current Polarprobe device.

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Isotopically labelled sperm was used to investigate the fate of the uterine sperm residue not used in the process of fertilization of the mouse. Portion of the sperm present in the uterus exhibiting a copulation plug was removed and replaced by intrauterine injection of sperm labelled either specifically by tritiated thymidine or non-specifically by exposure to a tritium source. The latter label was found more suitable for tracer use although the results with both methods were qualitatively similar. Seventeen hours after injection label was present in sperm in the lumen, in debris associated with polymorphonuclear granulocytes and monocytes in the lumen, in the epithelial and subepithelial coats of the mucosa and in phagocytic cells of the lower abdominal lymph nodes and spleen. The density of labelling was greatest in the sperm itself then fell away sharply and uniformly in the other sites. Label was present at this time in sperm spilled into the peritoneal cavity via the needle track. Associated with this spillage, label was seen in peritoneal polymorpho- nuclear granulocytes and macrophages, in macrophages of the uterine wall, and in phagocytic cells of the lymph nodes and spleen. The density of labelling was greatest in the sperm itself but the density decline in these other sites was less than in these same sites resulting from sperm retained wholly in the uterine lumen. Labelled sperm was present in all experiments in the vaginal lumen. The relation between the density of labelling and the degree of degradation of the sperm products is discussed and it is reasoned that the female cells are exposed to less degraded sperm products as a result of entry via the peritoneal cavity than entry via the uterine mucosa. This route may be thereby more effective as an antigenic stimulant.