Semen was collected from boars of proven fertility and diluted with Zorpva base using the antibiotic treatments: benzylpenicillin and streptomycin; polymixin B; tylosin; neomycin; gentamycin; kanamycin or lincomycin and spectinomycin. The last combination provided an economical treatment with enhanced quality and preservation of motility. The addition of trehalose (1 g/1) and potassium chloride (0-25 g/1) improved the preservation of acrosomes. The resulting 'Reading' variant was compared with Zorpva at days 4 to 6 of storage in a split ejaculate trial using 40 sows slaughtered 9/10 weeks after insemination. Conception rates were significantly higher using Reading (16/20) compared with Zorpva (8/20; P < 0-05) and the effect was particularly marked at days 5 and 6. The mean number of embryos per pregnant sow was 11-6 (Reading) v. 9-4 (Zorpva), representing 51% and 42%, respectively, of ova shed, as measured by counting corpora lutea.

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A new indirect radiographic technique is described for the differential diagnosis of erectile impotence in the bull. Two cases of impotence have been investigated in this way. In the first, occlusion of the dorsal longitudinal canal of the corpus cavernosum penis in an 18-month-old Hereford bull was diagnosed. In the second, distal venous drainage of the corpus cavernosum penis was demonstrated in a five-year-old Hereford bull. Post mortem examination of the reproductive tract confirmed the diagnosis in each case.