Experiments on the Physiology of Egg White Secretion

INTRODUCTION UPON resecting part of the chalaziferous region of the oviduct, Burmester and Card (1939) observed that a large proportion of the hens which laid after such an operation produced a high percentage of yolkless eggs. Since the majority of these eggs contained no yolk or other foreign material, a mechanical stimulus in the lumen of the magnum was not present to initiate white secretion. Asmundson (1931) suggested that white secretion for a dwarf egg may be initiated by a stimulus arising from the yolk partly entering the funnel and then escaping into the body cavity. However, Burmester and Card (1939) described a case in which yolkless eggs were laid by a hen whose funnel had been removed from the oviduct by transection, and the latter had grown closed. It is the purpose of this paper to report on further experiments on the alteration of the oviduct by operative procedure, . . .