THE HORMONES IN HUMAN REPRODUCTION 



The whole course of each seminal duct from epididymis to 

 their junction, is about 30 centimeters (1 foot) long. As 

 shown in Fig. 30, the two ducts unite just below the bladder 

 and enter the urinary channel, the urethra^ just after it 

 makes its exit from the urinary bladder. The combined sem- 

 inal and urinary channel then passes through the prostate 

 gland and enters the penis. 



The prostate gland. To most people the name of the pros- 

 tate gland probably conveys no clear impression, but only 

 a vague and slightly ominous suggestion of something one 

 hardly speaks of unless it makes trouble. Years ago Mr. 

 Henry Mencken, when a columnist on the Baltimore Sun^ 

 wrote an amusing article on the relative respectability of 

 the human organs. The heart and lungs, he said, are per- 

 fectly respectable, the liver not quite, the spleen dubious 

 and the kidneys definitely vulgar. In those days the prostate 

 gland was so far below the standard of respectability that 

 it could not even have been mentioned in the newspaper. 

 Possibly the fact that its prosaic name, from the Greek 

 prostates ("standing before" the urinary bladder), is often 

 confused with the word "prostrate" adds to its flavor of 

 indignity. 



This unjustly disparaged organ is actually a gland of 

 external secretion. It consists of 15 to 30 branched tubular 

 glands, imbedded in connective tissue and muscle, forming a 

 round mass 20 grams (2/3 ounce) in weight and almost 

 completely surrounding the urethra just below the urinary 

 bladder. The branching tubules of the prostate gland deliver 

 a special secretion to the spermatic fluid, about which we 

 know very little except that it is favorable to the activity 

 and function of the sperm cells. 



The various portions of the duct system and accessory 

 glands are connected through the autonomic nerves so that 

 all of them contribute to the seminal fluid when it is ejaculated 

 at the climax of sexual excitement. 



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