Abstract

A histochemical technique for 3β-hydroxysteroid-dehydrogenase was applied to chick embryonic gonads between the seventh and fourteenth day of incubation. Up to the sixth and seventh day, the undifferentiated gonads gave negative reactions. Eleven out of twenty-eight ovaries of eight days showed some reaction and all ovaries over that age a stronger reaction, which was localized in isolated groups of cells distributed between medullary lacunae. Testes were negative before the tenth day, showing after that time an atypical and possibly unspecific reaction consisting of a diffuse purple stain of testicular cords. Adrenal glands were positive at all ages. The interpretation of these facts is discussed in relation to the production of steroid hormones by the embryonic gonads and their possible role in sex differentiation.

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