426 



COMPARATIVE ANATOMY 



and of hairs. The space between the two labia minora is the vestibule, 

 at the ventral end of which projects an erectile organ, the clitoris. Both 

 urethra and vagina open into the vestibule. On the sides of the vestibule, 

 are the openings of the greater vestibular glands or glands of Bartholin, 

 which correspond with the bulbo-urethral glands of the male. 



Male Reproductive Organs 



Testes. The male reproductive glands are lodged in an integumentary 

 pouch, the scrotum, which is divided by a median septum into two 



compartments. This septum de- 

 velops through the union of two 

 fleshy folds of skin comparable with 

 the labia majora of the female, the 

 line of fusion being marked exter- 

 nally by a ridge, the raphe. 

 Included in the wall of the scrotum, 

 is a cremaster muscle, the fibers of 

 which are striped, and by contraction 

 lift the scrotum and testes. 



The testes are oval glands which 

 have migrated into the scrotum from 

 the body cavity through the paired 

 inguinal canals, and which have 

 both reproductive and endocrinal 

 functions. Attached to the posterior 

 border of each testis is a mass of 

 efferent tubules forming the 

 epidid3miis. Each testis is enclosed 

 in a tough connective tissue capsule, 



capitis; «. nucleus; nk., neck; p., proto- ^he tuuica albugiuea, which pene- 

 plasm; ^.c, posterior centrosome. (From trates into the Substance of the 



C E F 



Fig. 351. — Diagrams of the develop- 

 ment of spermatozoa, a.c, anterior 

 centrosome; a./., axial filament; c.p., con- 

 necting piece; ch.p., chief piece; g.c, galea 



Bremer's "Text Book of Histology," after 

 Meves.) 



testis as septula and divides the 



testis into lobules. 

 The testis is a compound tubular gland composed of convoluted 

 seminiferous tubules which are held together by interstitial connective 

 tissue. In each lobule several of the seminiferous tubules unite into a 

 common efferent tubular outlet. These efferent tubules, the tubuli 

 recti, in turn combine into a network of efferent tubules, the rete testis. 

 From the rete testis pass the efferent ducts which convey the sperm from 

 the testis into the ductus epididymidis. These relations are shown in 



Fig. 352. 



The seminiferous tubules are lined with an irregular many-layered 

 epithelium from which the spermatozoa are proliferated, the multiplica- 



