Cross-circulation experiments were performed on sheep by joining the jugular veins of two animals by anastomoses. One of the two animals (B) was a lactating ewe, and the release of hormones from the neurohypophysis in the other animal A (ewe, ram or wether) was investigated by recording the intramammary pressure in B.
The following types of stimulation were carried out on A: (1) distension of vagina or anus; (2) massage of seminal vesicles (SV) or cervix via the rectum; (3) deep massage of the rectal walls, SV or cervix excluded; (4) direct massage of cervix, SV or uterine horns through the abdomen; (5) manipulations in the deep pelvic cavity; (6) distension of the urinary bladder in rams and wethers and pressure upon the filled bladder.
Direct massage of cervix and uterine horns through the abdomen was ineffective. Stimulation of the urinary bladder by distension and pressure induced milk-ejection responses in some animals. Massage of the SV through the abdomen was hardly effective in rams but was effective in two out of seven wethers. The most efficient stimuli, classified according to their ability to induce milk ejection in B, were: distension of the vagina, stimulation of receptors in the retroperitoneal part of the rectum, manipulation in the deep pelvic cavity.
The hypothesis is advanced that reflex release of neurohormones is induced by stimulation of receptors of the afferent pelvic nerves wherever they are situated in the pelvic region. The release of neurohypophysial hormones, provoked by massage of the cervix or SV via the rectum in sheep, is to be attributed primarily to stimulation of receptors in the rectal wall. Reflex hormone release can be elicited just as well in wethers as in rams.
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