Abstract
MUCH has been done in recent years to determine the number of sperms which must be introduced by artificial insemination to maintain a normal rate of fertilization. There are, however, markedly divergent views as to the number of sperms normally present in the immediate vicinity of the eggs at fertilization. Such direct evidence as exists suggests very small numbers. Thus Hammond1 reports finding remarkably few in smears prepared from the fallopian tube of rabbits killed 10 hr. after coitus. Hammond and Walton2 examined the ovarian capsules of ferrets at 3–36 hr. after coitus, and counted 1,600 sperms in one ferret and 0–75 sperms in six others. The number of sperms in the tubes of rats were observed by Blandau and Money3 to increase during the hour after coitus to a maximum of about 200.
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References
Hammond, J., "Reproduction in the Rabbit" (Oliver and Boyd, London, 1925).
Hammond, J., and Walton, A., J. Exp. Biol., 9, 307 (1934).
Blandau, R. J., and Money, W. L., Anat. Rec., 90, 255 (1944).
Pincus, G., and Enzmann, E. V., J. Exp. Zool., 73, 195 (1936).
Pincus, G., "The Eggs of Mammals", 87 (The Macmillan Co., N.Y., 1936).
Kurzrok, R., Leonard, S. L., and Conrad, H., Amer. J. Med., 1, 491 (1946).
Austin, C. R., Nature, 162, 63 (1948).
Austin, C. R., and Smiles, J., J. Roy. Micro. Soc. (in the press).
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AUSTIN, C. Number of Sperms Required for Fertilization. Nature 162, 534–535 (1948). https://doi.org/10.1038/162534b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/162534b0
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