[On the beginnings of hormonal contraception (author's transl)]

The possibility of hormonal contraception was postulated as early as 1919 by the physiologist Ludwig Haberlandt in Innsbruck. The same year, he began to test his hypothesis in animal experiments. In 1924 he succeeded in his efforts to render mice infertil by orally administering ovarian and placental extracts. He failed to have his method tried in women.