The numbers of spermatozoa trapped in the vitelline membrane of laid eggs were counted after staining with the fluorochrome 2,4-diamidino-2-phenylindole. In a group of 24 hens inseminated with different numbers of spermatozoa to produce different lengths of fertile periods, the numbers of spermatozoa in successive eggs from each hen decreased logarithmically with respect to days following insemination. A relationship could be described between the numbers of spermatozoa per unit area of membrane of an egg and the probability of that egg being fertile. After insemination the number of spermatozoa on successively-laid eggs appears to become reduced until a critical value is reached, after which the hen will lay infertile eggs. By estimating the day on which the critical value was achieved, the actual length of the fertile period could be predicted. It is suggested that the numbers of spermatozoa trapped in the vitelline membrane of laid eggs represent those which surround the ovum at the time of fertilization.

Methods of semen collection and artificial insemination (AI) in poultry, requirement for diluents, methods of liquid and frozen storage of avian semen and evaluation of spermatozoa after storage for fertilizing ability are reviewed. Frozen storage of semen from non-domestic birds is also briefly discussed.

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1. UDP-glucuronosyltransferase activity towards 12 substrates has been assessed in rat liver during the perinatal period. 2. Between days 16 and 20 of gestation, enzyme activities towards the substrates 2-aminophenol, 2-aminobenzoate, 4-nitrophenol, 1-naphthol, 4-methylumbelliferone and 5-hydroxytryptamine (the 'late foetal' group) surge to reach adult values, while activities towards bilirubin, testosterone, beta-oestradiol, morphine, phenolphthalein, and chloramphenicol (the 'neonatal' group) remain negligible or at less than 10% of adult values. 3. By the second postnatal day, enzyme activities towards the neonatal group have attained, or approached adult values. 4. Dexamethasone precociously stimulates in 17-day foetal liver in utero transferase activities in the late foetal, but not the neonatal group. A similar inductive pattern is found for 15-day foetal liver in organ culture. 5. It is suggested that foetal glucocorticoids, whose synthesis markedly increases between days 16 and 20 of gestation, are responsibile for triggering the simultaneous surge of all the hepatic UDP-glucuronosyltransferase activities in the late foetal group. The neonatal group of activities apparently require a different or additional stimulus for their appearance. 6. The relationship of these two groups of transferase activities to other similar groups observed during induction by xenobiotics and enzyme purification is discussed.