ABSTRACT
Vaginal smears were taken by means of a metal spatula from the dorsal part of the vaginal vestibule of sexually mature sheep with intach genitals for the purpose of following up changes in the vaginal cell structure. The smears were taken daily over the whole testing period of 35 days. The cells were defferentiated by means of the dyeing method according to Papanicolaou as well as by using Shorr's staining which had been modified according to Pundel. Differentiation was made between occurrences ob basal, parabasal, intermediary, and superficial cells, with the view to figuring out the cycle phases. That vaginal smear method, when used in two or three folloow-up examinations on the basis of random checks, has proved to enable determination of cyclic activity of a complete herd. This is of great importance to heart synchronization or heart induction, since all results so far have shown that all success depended strongly on the given degree of cyclic activity of the sheep concerned.
