Medicine: Dr. Voronoff

In The Forum for May appeared an interview from Dr. Serge Voronoff, Russian surgeon of Paris, so-called " monkey-gland man" (TIME, July 30). One Armstrong Perry,—* agitated by "the doubts expressed by physicians before and after Voronoff's demonstration at Columbia University" and by "the flippant comments of unthinking critics," journeyed to Paris and to the gate of "the restful garden in which goldfish swim in transparent waters under rose bushes and leafy trees." He found Dr. Voronoff to be "tall, slender, dark, magnetic." Said the Doctor: "You should understand that every physician attends school for many years. His professors teach him that such and such things are facts. When another physician claims to have discovered new facts that seem to contradict or go beyond those previously known and taught, it is not easy for them to accommodate themselves to the new situation. . . . " As for the skepticism concerning the results of my operations there is this much foundation for it: in some cases the effect of the greffes testiculaires may be dissipated in from four to six months. . . .

"A man with the white ring of senility around the eye, a man who walks feebly, sits listlessly in his chair, having all the marks of senility at the age of 65, 70 or older, will after les greffes testiculaires walk upright and with vigor. . . .

"My attention was drawn to the importance of the glands, and particularly those concerned with procreation, while I was surgeon to the Khedive of Egypt. There were as many as 60 eunuchs about the palace. They had neither beard nor moustaches; their cheeks were pendent; obesity was very marked. They had that appearance of senility at a very early age. One of them who died at 45 looked like a man of 90. It demonstrated a fact now well known, that the male glands are not occupied entirely with procreation; they have one secretion for that purpose and another which puts force and energy into the muscles and the mind.

"My first experiments in greffes testiculaires were made in 1917. At first I tried grafting on young goats that had previously been deprived of their own. The male characteristics that they had lost when their own glands were removed returned. ... In 1918 I made my first experiments on senile animals. I took a ram, ten or twelve years of age, that the veterinarian told me might die at any time. He was so weak that his legs trembled when he stood, and he was unable to retain his urine. I grafted upon his glands those of a buck six months of age. In about two months there came a change in his attitude. His apathy, his air of defeat, his sad expression gave way to a vivacity of movement and a belligerent and combative spirit. . . . Instead of the indifference he had previously shown in the presence of the sheep he exhibited impetuosity and juvenile ardor. Isolated in a stable with a ewe he became the father of a lamb. Four years after the grafting operation he gave proof of good health. . . .