140 WALTER LAWRENCE. 



The Epididymis of Twenty-day Retention. There is little 

 difference between this and the preceding; the tubules proximal 

 to the testis contain either degenerating debris, or sperm highly 

 diluted with epithelial cells all of which are products recently 

 evacuated from the testis. The distal tubules contain chiefly 

 spermatozoa, and although most of these are normal, some show 

 separate head caps and stain slightly fainter than freshly killed 

 spermatozoa. It is a noteworthy fact that although the germinal 

 epithelium of the seminiferous tubules is markedly disarranged 

 and shows considerable degeneration at the end of six days 

 abdominal retention, the mature spermatozoa present in the 

 epididymis at the time the organ was elevated to the abdominal 

 cavity show noticeable changes only after twenty days, a time 

 when the seminiferous tubules are almost completely denuded 

 of their germinal epithelia. 



Twenty- five to One Hundred and Thirteen Days Retention. 

 With longer abdominal retention the vitreous area at the epi- 

 didymis is increased, so that by the end of the second month 

 the whole epididymis has lost its milky appearance. This 

 difference in appearance is brought out by the fact that the 

 'iquefied and degenerating materials from the testis proper have 

 mixed with the spermatozoa at the base and the latter have 

 likewise slowly yielded to the degenerative process so that 

 ultimately the entire organ contains only liquefied and frag- 

 menting material which presents a vitreous appearance. That 

 this material remains in the epididymis to be absorbed is shown 

 by the fact that at the end of 113 days abdominal retention the 

 tubules still contain a small amount of degenerating debris 

 whether the vas is ligated or not. It should be mentioned here 

 that the process of degeneration and absorption are much slower 

 in the ductus deferens since sperm retained here proximal to the 

 ligature are still identifiable after 113 days retention, whereas 

 those retained in the efferent ducts are completely degenerated. 



It is reasonable to suppose that with the addition of the 

 degenerating products from the seminiferous tubules to the 

 already distended epididymis that the latter would be distended 

 beyond its normal size where the vas was ligated, or that an 

 overflow would occur with the vas unligated. Observation, 



