Effect of Feeding the Pineal Body upon the Development of the Albino Rat

The pineal body of young calves was fed to albino rats beginning at the age of 3 weeks and extending over periods of from 3 to 6 weeks. Four litters of rats were used. Of these, fourteen rats were fed the pineal powder and ten were used as control subjects. Observations in regard to developmental changes and microscopic examination of the endocrine glands and reproductive organs were made. The pineal-fed rats of the first two litters remained somewhat smaller than their controls. The pineal-fed and control animals of Litters 3 and 4 showed no differences in development. Microscopic studies showed no differences between pineal-fed and control rats. We may therefore conclude that feeding the desiccated pineal body of young calves to young albino rats fails to produce any effect upon the early development of these animals.