The Time and Place of Fertilization of the Golden Hamster Egg

There is little precise information in the literature as to the exact place where the union of the male and female gametes occurs in the genital tract of mammals. Yet it seems that an exact knowledge of the place of fertilization might be of great significance, not only for our understanding of the process of fertilization itself, but in its relation to the manifold problems associated with the limited span of time during which the capacity for fertilization persists in the sperm and egg, and to the physiology of later development and implantation. In most writings about the early development of Man and other mammals, it is assumed that the egg is fertilized in the cephalic part of the oviduct. However, there is still insufficient evidence to justify such general assumptions. It would not be surprising if it should be shown that different species have different topographical positions of the fertilization site correlated for instance with such factors as spontaneous versus induced ovulation.