卵管腺液

The present study was undertaken to investigate the variation of calcium, potassium and sodium concentration in the shell gland fluid during egg formation in the laying hen. The fluid was collected by a glass catheter inserted into the shell gland following the stages of egg formation, i. e., the periods of "membranous", "slightly calcified" and "hard shell" of the forming egg and the period of "no egg" after the oviposition. The rate of fluid secretion seemed to be highest during the period of membranous egg. Calcium concentration in the fluid was lowest in the period of membranous egg, and then increased during the progressing shell deposition. Potassium concentration was considerably high in both periods of hard shell egg and after oviposition, while it was low in the period of membranous egg, but every levels were higher as compared with those in the serum of laying hens. The direction of the variation of sodium concentration might be reversely related to that of potassium. No direct relationship was estimated in the ionic concentration between the fluid and the serum. The insertion of glass catheter into the shell gland caused some detrimental disturbance of the egg laying, such as cessation of laying, delayed oviposition or premature expulsion.