Medicine: Virility Prolonged

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Testosterone. Others took the cue. Out of an ocean of human male urine, German Chemist Adolf Butenandt extracted a few tiny crystals that showed hormone activity. He proceeded to determine their exact formula. In the Amsterdam laboratory of Ernest Laqueur, Dutch chemists came up with purer crystals, set down the structure of their product and labeled it "testosterone." In the same year the Swiss chemical genius Leopold Ruzicka turned cholesterol (an abundant substance found in human and animal cells) into synthetic testosterone. Subsequent refinements reduced its cost and made it available in pill form.

Testosterone, tried on almost-males, not only created or restored full masculinity but sometimes cleared up such related symptoms as skin eruptions, high-pitched voices, mental and physical sluggishness.

Case of the Broken-Down Gelding. Scientists also found reason to believe that men receiving testosterone might experience the desired effects simply through the power of suggestion. Startling results were sometimes obtained by deceptively injecting an old hopeful with a harmless oil or giving him an aspirin pill. To resolve . such doubts, Surgeon Walter Kearns planted a huge dose of the male hormone under the aging hide of Holloway, a once famed gelding, now 18 and broken-down. Holloway surprised his owners by proceeding to perform brilliantly both among the mares and on the track.

De Kruif cites many equally remarkable revitalizations of men ranging from 45 to 71, suffering from impotence and such complaints as rheumatism and arthritis. All these scourges yielded wholly or partially to the beneficent magic of testosterone. Scientific tests demonstrated a measurable improvement in the action of muscles, nervous reflexes, memory and intelligence.

Testosterone is dangerous if improperly administered; it may overstimulate a man sexually, and it cannot be used at all when prostatic cancer is present or dormant. Otherwise it is likely to alleviate any distress or ailment directly or indirectly connected with "male hormone hunger." On young, normal men, oddly, it appears to lower sexual drive while improving muscle tone and endurance. Its effect is temporary.

At 54, De Kruif has been taking 20 to 30 milligram doses daily for more than a year. He is convinced that "good, tough old pal" Bundesen was right about testosterone "putting a bit of new life in my aging body."