Testosterone, androstenedione and 17\g=a\-hydroxyprogesterone were identified as secretory products of the bull testis by concurrent analyses of the arterial and spermatic vein blood.The testes of prepuberal calves aged 3-6 months (86-200 kg. body weight) were shown to secrete testosterone at rates varying from 14 to 231 \g=m\g.hr./ testis. In calves of less than 125 kg. body weight, the testicular venous blood contained androstenedione in amounts exceeding those of testosterone, whereas in calves above 175 kg. in body weight and in mature bulls the androstenedione/testosterone ratio was well below 1:10. Administration of human chorionic gonadotrophin (HCG; 2000 i.u./48 hr., intramuscularly, for 7 weeks) did not abolish the high androstenedione/testosterone ratio which characterizes the secretion of the immature bull testis.Intravenous administration of HCG to mature bulls (2-5 i.u./kg.) was followed within 20 min. by an increased output of testosterone into the * be < 1\m=.\5 \ g = m \ g . %. Dehydroepiandrosterone was not detectable in the spermatic vein blood by a method sensitive to a plasma concentration of 5-10 \g=m\g.% of this steroid.

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Testosterone and androstenedione were identified in the spermatic vein blood of the ram, the boar and the stallion. Neither of the two steroids could be detected in the arterial or peripheral venous blood, indicating that testosterone and androstenedione are secretory products of the testis in the three species studied.Small amounts of testosterone (14-20 \g=m\g./hr.) were secreted by the testes of the young ram and boar already at the age of 3\ m=1/ 2\ months. The testes of the mature boar are capable of releasing testosterone into the blood stream at the rate of 184-716 \g=m\g./hr. On the basis of these findings it is suggested that testosterone constitutes the principal testicular androgen in the boar. This conclusion differs from the view expressed by earlier investigators with respect to the boar, but is consistent with the results obtained in all other mammalian species thus far examined.Intravenous administration of human chorionic gonadotrophin (2-15 i.u./ kg.) was followed by a prompt increase in the rate of testicular secretion of androgen in most of the experimental animals; however, this observation requires confirmation, in view of the limited number of experiments carried out.

The plasma level of progesterone in 30 clinically normal women on the estimated 5th to 7th day after ovulation, determined by combined paperand gas-chromatography, was 1.39 μg/100 ml ± 0.14 S. E. The response of eight women to a single oral administration of 2 mg ergocornine methanesulphonate on the estimated 5th, 6th or 7th day after ovulation was examined, in order to evaluate the suggestion that this drug depresses the secretion of steroid hormones by inhibiting 3β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase. Plasma progesterone level (μg/100 ml ± S. E,) 5½ h after administration of the drug (0.91 ± 0.15) did not differ significantly from that before treatment (1.0 ± 0.18) or in placebo-treated controls (1.25 ± 0.16 and 1.15 ± 0.14, respectively). Urinary pregnanediol excretion (mg) was similar during the 24 h-period immediately preceding treatment (1.7 ± 0.34) and following it (1.6 ±0.19). The plasma corticoid (11β-hydroxy-Δ4-3-ketosteroid) level was reduced by 27.3% ±6.1 S. E. 5½ h after ergocornine administration, but this decline was paralleled by a similar fall (–24.5%) in placebo-treated controls. The results thus provided no evidence for the induction of luteal insufficiency or a specific enzyme block by the alkaloid. The difference from results obtained in rats may be due to species characteristics or dose rate.

A group of calves was subjected to unilateral orchidectomy when 1\ m=1/ 2\ months old. At the age of 5 months, the rate of androgen secretion from the remaining testis of the hemicastrates significantly exceeded the combined androgen output of the two testes in intact control animals.

Flufenamic acid (FA), an inhibitor of the synthesis and action of prostaglandins, was administered to 18 women with preterm labor during the 28th to 36th week of gestation. In 15 patients delivery was postponed, the mean admission/delivery interval being 21.5 days. 2 patients with cervical dilatation of 4 cm delivered within 48 h despite medication. The peripheral plasma levels of 15-keto-13,14-dihydroprostaglandin F_2Α (KH₂ PG_2Α) was high on admission (216 ± 24 pg/ml, mean ± SEM), declined by 50% within 2 h of instituting treatment and remained near the normal level seen in 13 controlled women after the 24th hour.