Morag, M., Negev Institute for Arid Zone Research, Beer-Sheva, Israel
Brick, D., Negev Institute for Arid Zone Research, Beer-Sheva, Israel

It was formerly believed that the role of oxytocin in lactation was confined to the movement of pre-formed milk from the secretory tissue to the large ducts and cisterns of the mammary gland. Benson & Folley (4) who worked with newly weaned rats were the first to suggest that oxytocin was also concerned with the biosynthesis of milk. The galactopoeitic role of oxytocin has since been observed by many workers both in rodents (10,12,13,14,15) and in small ruminants (5,6,19). A recent report (18) has shewn a similar effect in the cow; in that animal the size of the galactopoeitic response was a function of the milking interval. The present experiment was designed to examine the relationship between the galactopoeitic effect of oxytocin and the length of time between sucklings (secretion intervals) in the rat. © 1969.