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THE FATE OF UNFERTILIZED EGGS IN THE RABBIT

Summary.: The fate of the unfertilized egg was studied in a total of forty-five pseudopregnant rabbits, examined at autopsy at 24-hr intervals between Days 5 and 15. Throughout this period, egg recovery failed in only three animals and upwards of 50% of the eggs expected were recovered from the majority. The first signs of degeneration affecting the vitellus were noted about Day 5 and the process became marked during Days 7 to 10.

In a further sixteen does in which either one or both oviducts were ligated shortly after ovulation, it was found that the trapped eggs were better preserved than their contemporaries which had entered the uterus at the normal time. Some eggs were still present in the ligated oviducts up to 30 days after ovulation. Recently ovulated one-cell eggs transferred to the uterus of recipients on the 9th day of pseudopregnancy degenerated within 48 hr. It appears that the uterine environment is primarily responsible for the degeneration, particularly of the zona pellucida, rather than straightforward ageing of the egg.