Lacrimal gland, glandula orbitalis externa and glandula infraorbitalis were investigated in rats of different ages and both sexes with light microscopy and by chemical methods. Cells of the lacrimal gland displayed no sexually-dependent properties. Only the glandula orbitalis externa and the glandula infraorbitalis showed sexual dependence and age-dependent changes, beginning in 3-month-old rats. While both glands of the female rats displayed only enlargement of the nucleus, the cells of the male rats, beginning at the onset of puberty, displayed marked enlargement, changes in shape, and the appearance of inclusion bodies and cytoplasmic inclusions. With the occurrence of these manifestations in the males, there was also a reduction in the DNA content in these glands. Sexually-dependent manifestations of the glandula orbitalis externa and glandula infraorbitalis in the male rats may be caused by a viral infection.