Abstract
WE were interested to know whether the adrenal cortex exerted a depressant action on wool growth in sheep. Such a mechanism might underlie the decline in wool growth observed in winter1 and during pregnancy2, since cold and gestation are known to increase adrenocortical activity in other species3. The marked increase in the number of active follicles which begins about ten days after birth in the lamb (Ferguson, K. A., Schinckel, P. G., Carter, H. B., and Clarke, W. H., in preparation) may possibly be due to release from adrenocortical inhibition. Field-observations link the occurrence of ‘break’ or ‘tenderness’ of the fleece4 with disease, advanced pregnancy or environmental stresses which may be expected to stimulate secretion of adrenocorticotrophic hormone.
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References
Ferguson, K. A., Carter, H. B., and Hardy, M. H., Aust. J. Sci. Res., B, 2, 42 (1949).
Ferguson, K. A., Ph.D. thesis, Cambridge (1951).
Selye, H., Brit. J. Exp. Path., 17, 234 (1938). Gemzell, C. A., Acta Endocrin., 17, 100 (1954).
Lang, W. R., J. Text Inst., 36, T243 (1946).
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LINDNER, H., FERGUSON, K. Influence of the Adrenal Cortex on Wool Growth and its Relation to ‘Break’ and ‘Tenderness’ of the Fleece. Nature 177, 188–189 (1956). https://doi.org/10.1038/177188b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/177188b0
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