Oviduct Secretion in the Cow

Little is known regarding the physiological rôle of oviduct fluid on ova and spermatozoa in the reproductive tract. VanDemark (1958) and Bishop (1961) suggested that luminal fluids may be an important transport and nutrient medium for the gametes; others felt that oviduct secretions influenced sperm activity (Olds & VanDemark, 1957a) or aided the capacitation process (Austin, 1951 : Chang, 1951). Oviduct fluid has been collected from several species by ligation of portions of the genital tract (Blandau, Jensen & Rumery, 1958), flushing portions of the tract (Heap, 1962), expressing the contents of tracts after slaughter (Olds & VanDemark, 1957b), and cannulation of portions of the tract in living animals (Clewe & Mastroianni, 1960; Restall, 1966). To our knowledge, oviduct secretion has never been continuously collected throughout the oestrous cycle and an attempt was made to determine whether the volume, protein content, or glucose content of oviduct fluid varied during the oestrous cycle. Cows of small size