ABSTRACT
In 1934, a cargo train arrived at the grounds of the Dutch pharmaceutical company Organon. This train did not carry any conventional cargo such as coal, or instrumental equipment, but a rather extraordinary load: thousands of liters of urine. In the Dutch countryside, horse owners could sell the liquid waste products of their mares for prices equal to the price of cows’ milk. In the mean time, people living near the site of Organon complained about a very peculiar, unpleasant smell that penetrated their houses. Elsewhere in Europe and in the United States, scientists visited slaughterhouses to collect organic remains. In Britain, scientists ordered the delivery of a blue whale to their laboratories. What was happening? What connects these, at first sight, separate events? The collection, selling and transport of urine, the search for remains from slaughterhouses and the ordering of a whale were all aimed at the same goal: the production of sex hormones. The making of sex hormones into material realities required the availibility of tons of ovaries and testes, as well as millions of liters of urine.
