[Electrophysiological study of sex pheromone reception in the boar, Sus scrofa]

Electroolfactograms were recorded in isolated olfactory epithelium of pigs, both females and castrated males, of various age. The boar pheromone, 5 alpha-androst-16-en-3-one, elicited negative electrical responses up to 2 mV in many preparations. The threshold response corresponded to as low as 10(-9) g of the pheromone on a filter paper. The specific anosmia to the boar pheromone was discovered in few preparations, where responses to the pheromone were absent and the sensitivity to common odour substances (butyl acetate, camphor, butyric acid, etc.) was unchanged.