SYNOPSIS The morphological features of boar spermatozoa in freshly ejaculated semen and in semen exposed to various experimental treatments have been studied in stained smears and with the phase‐contrast microscope and the electron‐microscope. The spermatozoon of the boar closely resembles that of other domestic ungulates. The head is approximately 8.5μ long; it is twice as long as it is wide. The mid‐piece is approximately 10μ long and the main tail‐piece is 30μ long. The head is covered anteriorly by a cap‐like structure—the acrosome. Evidence is presented to show that the acrosome has two components: the outer acrosome is the larger, the smaller inner acrosome is a crescentic structure. The segment‐shaped area of overlap between the two parts of the acrosome forms the equatorial segment which is a feature of living boar spermatozoa. The surface of the head behind the acrosome impregnates with silver; this argentophil area is the post‐nuclear cap. Three neck granules can be distinguished at the posterior border of the head and these are apparently connected to three bundles of neck fibres which the head receives from the mid‐piece. The structure of the spermatozoon is altered by post‐mortem changes; the most prominent changes occur in the acrosome. Evidence is presented that the post‐nuclear cap is absent from dead spermatozoa. The development of the boar acrosome has been studied in sections stained by the PAS method and in unfixed tissues with the phase‐contrast microscope. The development of the post‐nuclear cap has been studied in sections impregnated with silver. The morphological features of epididymal spermatozoa have been studied in spermatozoa from different levels of the epididymis. The development of the acrosome is shown to resemble its development in the bull. Two separate components of the acrosome of the spermatid are distinguished. It is suggested that these develop into the two components of the acrosome of the mature spermatozoon. Migration of the cytoplasmic droplet from the neck to the mid‐piece occurs at varying levels in the epididymis, but it is shown that it may occur in the head of the epididymis. The findings are discussed in relation to current ideas about the structure of mammalian spermatozoa.

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1. Certain characteristics of bull semen have been examined at four artificial insemination centres in England. One hundred and twenty-one samples of semen, comprising 168 ejaculates from seventysix bulls of seven breeds, were examined. The semen from 119 tested samples was subsequently used to inseminate 4604 cows.The following semen characteristics were studied: volume of ejaculate; concentration of spermatozoa; incidence of dead spermatozoa; incidence of morphologically abnormal spermatozoa; initial fructose concentration; resistance of spermatozoa to temporature shock; methylene-blue reduction; O2 uptake; fructose utilization; visual evaluation of motility; impedance change frequency; and fertilizing capacity (conception rate).A clinical examination was made of the reproductive organs of each bull.2. Variations in the concentration of living spermatozoa and in the incidence of dead spermatozoa were found to account for most of the variations in the metabolic activity of semon: they also largely explained differences in physical activity as assessed by visual estimation of motility or by impedance change frequency.3. Although the rates of methylene-blue reduction, O2 uptake and fructolysis showed a close correlation with the numbers of living spermatozoa present, O2 uptake and fructolysis per living cell decreased with increasing cell concentration.4. Variations in metabolic activity showed no correlation with variations in the morphological characteristics of the spermatozoa, except in the case of spermatozoa with bent tails. These forms occurred in some samples as a result of staining treatment, but their incidence was positively correlated with the O2 uptake and fructolysis per living cell.5. There was evidence that highly active spermatozoa are more resistant to temperature shock than less active spermatozoa.

The influence of maternal and genetic factors on the size of lambs at birth and on their gestation length has been studied from the results of two experiments involving the transfer of fertilised eggs from one breed of sheep to another. In the first experiment, eggs were transferred reciprocally between old ewes of the large Lincoln breed and of the small Welsh Mountain breed. Results are based on 20 transfer lambs and 14 normally born singles. In the second experiment, 35 pure Lincoln and 28 pure Welsh lambs were born as a result of transferring eggs into 18-month-old nulliparous Scottish Blackface sheep.The breed type of the lamb was found to be the most important factor influencing weight and cannon length at birth, although maternal-foetal interactions were present. As the maternal environment became poorer, genotypic differences remained distinct but decreased in magnitude. The maternal environment provided by 4th parity Lincoln ewes, if judged by lamb's size at birth, was better than that provided by 4th parity Welsh ewes, and this in turn was better than that provided by 1st parity Blackfaces. Lincoln and Welsh lambs in the same maternal environment differed in average birth weight by 5·7, 3·8 and 3·0 1b. respectively in the Lincoln, Welsh and 1st parity Blackface maternal environments. Lincoln and Welsh lambs, each in their own normal maternal environment, differed by 6·5 lb. The maternal influence on cannon length was similar but small. Gestation length of Lincoln lambs in Welsh recipients was almost 4 days shorter than that of Welsh lambs in Lincoln recipients. In the Blackface maternal environment, Lincoln and Welsh lambs differed little in gestation length but males were, on average, carried about a day longer than were females.At the individual level, weight of (Blackface) recipient ewe had a somewhat greater effect on lamb's size than had weight of (Lincoln or Welsh) donor ewe. The magnitudes of these ‘genetic’ and ‘maternal’ effects were comparable with those found at the level of group means; even so, donor's and recipient's weight together accounted for only a small part of the individual variation in lamb's size about the group means.It was concluded that a ewe was able to respond to progressively greater demands made by a lamb or lambs of progressively larger (combined) potential size—but in accordance with the law of diminishing returns—and that the upper limit of maternal accommodation must be considerable. By contrast, the upper limit of mean genetic size at birth appears to be not far above the mean size of single lambs born to their natural mothers in good condition. A model has been constructed from which mean birth weight of lambs can be predicted.