FREE AMINO ACIDS IN THE VAS DEFERENS, SEMEN, TRANSPARENT FLUID AND BLOOD PLASMA OF THE DOMESTIC ROOSTER, GALLUS DOMESTICUS

Semen of the domestic rooster may contain contents of the vasa deferentia with no, or very variable amounts of, `transparent fluid' from structures in the cloaca, depending upon the way in which it is collected by massage (Lake, 1966). The significance of transparent fluid as a component of seminal plasma is not fully understood (Lake, 1966) and thus an examination of all the possible fluid portions of semen, which can be obtained by massage, is important in determining their origin and significance in the reproductive physiology of the fowl. The presence of transparent fluid is detrimental to the prolonged survival of spermatozoa in vitro (see Lake, 1966). Lake & McIndoe (1959), using paper chromatography, found a large amount of free glutamic acid in the seminal plasma of