Medicine: Dr. Voronoff

(2 of 3)

"After 120 operations upon animals I performed the first similar operation upon a man. The subject was 45 years of age and had been deprived of his glands because they were tubercular. ... I used the glands of the monkeys in this because the securing of human glands presents serious obstacles and because the glands of monkeys, and especially those of anthropoid apes, are the only ones that can furnish grafts which will find among human tissues the same conditions of life that they had originally. To use the glands of other animals is to ignore completely the laws of biology. . . . The blood of the chimpanzee differs less from that of man than it does from that of other species of monkeys. . . .

"The loss of his glands had caused his beard and moustaches to fall out. After the greffes testiculaires his beard grew to such an extent that he began shaving, a practice which he had abandoned 20 years before. The reappearance of these hairs after the grafting operation certainly cannot be ascribed to autosuggestion, to which certain critics have ascribed other phenomena that follow the greffes testiculaires. The oldest man on whom I performed the greffes testiculaires was 74. The operation was performed with only local anesthetics. He left Paris twelve days later and did not return until eight months later. My preparator and myself were literally stupefied to see that he had lost half of his embonpoint. His aspect was jovial, his movement vigorous, his eye clear and twinkling as he enjoyed our surprise. The fat had disappeared, his muscles were firm, his body had straightened, and hair was growing on his head, covering an area where there had been none before. He had been climbing mountains in Switzerland and enjoying sports dear to the English. . . .

"Experiments with females have been performed only on animals thus far. It is too early to say what the result may be. . . ."

Dr. Voronoff stated that a report that the Pasteur Institute was raising chimpanzees for his use was incorrect. Recently, however, he conferred with the Governor General of French West Africa, who promised to reserve for him a special territory in the vicinity of Konakry for chimpanzee breeding, in order that he may have a sufficient supply for his experimental laboratory at the College of France.

After interviewing Dr. Voronoff, Mr. Perry "began mentioning his work to various persons to see what their reaction would be."

¶ He asked certain leaders of an "international philanthropic organization" whether it would not be well to secure Dr. Voronoff's assistance in keeping an aged and famous colleague active for a further period of years. "They took the suggestion with entire seriousness. They also took the Doctor's address." He asked the medical director of a "great insurance company" whether the company, as well as its aged policyholders, might not profit by an extension of their years. The official replied "that in his opinion the company would of necessity leave the matter to the personal discrimination of their policy holders."