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EFFECT OF OVARIECTOMY AND CONSTANT DARK ON THE WEIGHT OF REPRODUCTIVE AND CERTAIN OTHER ORGANS IN THE FEMALE VOLE, MICROTUS MONTANUS

Summary.: Post-partum oestrus occurred in four out of the eight females mated to produce young for this study of Microtus montanus. The sex ratio of the offspring was 2·5 females to 1 male. The female young were kept in diurnal lighting until the age of 30 to 35 days, when a 2-month constant dark period was begun to simulate an intensification of the natural waning photoperiod experienced by voles born in the autumn. Autopsy at the end of the dark period showed that deprivation of light repressed body weight and the absolute weights of ovaries, uterus, adrenals, Harderian glands and, to a lesser extent, kidneys. Both constant dark and ovariectomy in diurnal lighting inhibited thymic involution. The results provide indirect evidence that some of the influence of constant dark is mediated through the pineal gland.