154 



PROSTATE GLAND. 



somewhat viscid fluid, which is poured into 

 the urethra at the commencement of its 

 course, at that point where the secretion 

 of the testes and vesiculas seminales are re- 

 ceived into the canal. It is well known 

 that the secretion of the prostate is in- 

 creased in quantity under states of venereal 

 excitement ; I have, however, some doubts as 

 to whether the secretion effused under such 

 circumstances is wholly prostatic : I cannot 

 help thinking that some of it at least is due to 

 the glands of Cowper and the follicles of the 

 urethra generally ; but, be this as it may, there 

 can be no doubt that the largest quantity of 

 the prostatic fluid is poured into the urethra 

 at the moment of, or prior to, the venereal 

 orgasm; at least we are justified in drawing 

 this inference from observations made on these 

 parts in animals killed during, or immediately 

 after, the completion of the act of copulation. 



That the prostatic fluid is subservient to 

 the generative function, may be deduced from 

 these circumstances ; and this is further esta- 

 blished by the fact mentioned by Hunter, that 

 the gland is liable to changes at certain sea- 

 sons, and that in the mole, in winter, the 

 prostate is scarcely discernible, whilst in the 

 spring it becomes of large size, and filled with 

 fluid. We are not aware whether this is the 

 case universally in the animal kingdom. How 

 does the prostatic fluid aid the function of 

 generation ? 



An old opinion assigns to these accessory 

 glands the office of perfecting and increasing 

 the bulk of the seminal secretion, so that the 

 urethra may be more fully distended by it, and 

 its muscles may be enabled to act more com- 

 pletely in forcibly injecting its contents into 

 the vagina. This idea is, in my mind, rather 

 too mechanical, although it may be advanced 

 in its favour, that these accessory glands are 

 found in all animals, where they exist, to empty 

 themselves into those dilated portions of the 

 urethra, in which the seminal secretion is 

 supposed to accumulate prior to its expulsion. 

 It has been thought by some that the pros- 

 tatic secretion is useful in diluting the scmerr, 

 so as to increase its bulk, not merely for the 

 more perfect distension of the urethra, but 

 that it may ensure the more easy transmission 

 of this secretion into the female vagina, and 

 thus favour its contact with, and impregnation 

 of, the ovum. As to its defending the orifices 

 of the ejaculatory ducts from the presumed 

 acrimony of the urine, I cannot attach any 

 importance whatever to this notion ; the 

 gland is essentially a sexual organ, and its use 

 must, in some manner or another, be con- 

 nected with the excretion of the seminal fluid, 

 either in the manner just mentioned, or in lu- 

 bricating the surface of the urethra, so as to 

 facilitate the onward passage of this fluid. 

 The very structure of the prostate, which is 

 of the simple follicular character, favours the 

 latter notion. Its position at the commence- 

 ment of the urethra leads to the same conclu- 

 sion. It is probable that its secretion is 

 poured into the urethra prior to the escape 

 of the seminal fluid into the canal ; and it is 

 quite evident that no large glandular masses 



could have been conveniently placed along the 

 urethra in any other situation ; for however 

 much they vary in number and size, in the 

 various orders of animals, their position near 

 the beginning of the urethra is constant. 



The prostate gland, with Cowper's glands 

 and the vesicular seminales, must be regarded 

 as accessory rather than as organs essential 

 to the generative function. That it is not 

 essential in man, is rendered probable by the 

 persistence of the procreative faculty in many 

 cases of extensive disease of this organ. 



In connection with this obscure and diffi- 

 cult subject, I think the fact of the prostatic 

 secretion being naturally, as I believe, acid, is 

 a circumstance of some interest. The secre- 

 tion of the testes is well known to be alkaline, 

 and has a strong tendency to coagulate or 

 become inspissated. Is it not probable that 

 the reaction of the prostatic on the seminal 

 fluid may be of use in the maintenance of the 

 fluidity of the latter ? The idea is somewhat 

 confirmed by the fact, that in women the acid 

 secretion of the vagina prevents the coagu- 

 lation of the menstrual blood, and thus favours 

 its discharge. This has been proved by Mr. 

 Whitehead, who found that, if the menstrual 

 fluid was received directly from the os uteri 

 into a speculum, it coagulated like ordinary 

 blood.* 



Morbid Anatomy. Hypertrophy. In ad- 

 vancing years, when all other structures in 

 the body begin to show evidence of a fail- 

 ing nutrition, and are atrophied or wasted 

 by interstitial absorption, the prostate gland, 

 on the contrary, very frequently becomes 

 the subject of a remarkable increase in size. 

 This is so common after the age of fifty, 

 that an enlarged prostate may be almost 

 regarded as one of the necessary contin- 

 gencies of advanced age. It is not, how- 

 ever, exclusively in the old person that this 

 takes place ; it sometimes happens at a much 

 earlier period of life ; nay, a case is men- 

 tioned by Sir Astley Cooper of a boy whose 

 prostate was found, on dissection, of very 

 large size ; but it is not improbable that this 

 remarkable enlargement depended on stru- 

 mous deposit in the gland. In considering 

 this subject, it is important to distinguish 

 between this affection of the prostate and the 

 simple engorgement consequent on acute or 

 chronic inflammation ; these latter conditions 

 occur more frequently between twenty and 

 forty years of age, and depend on stricture of 

 the urethra, or the mal-treatment of severe 

 gonorrhoea. 



Hypertrophy of the prostate is so insidious 

 in its mode of invasion, that the only indications 

 of its occurrence are evinced by the mechani- 

 cal impediment to the free discharge of the 

 urine, in consequence of the increased size of 

 the gland. No pain, no uneasiness is felt be- 

 fore the prostate has obtained a considerable 

 volume, after which, symptoms of a most dis- 

 tressing character set in, and continue, with 

 more or less severity, to the termination of 



* On the Causes of Abortion and Sterility, &c., 

 by James Whitehead, 1847. . 



