102 



BENJAMIN H. WILLIER 



reckoned as the body of the epididymis (corpus epididymidis) , 

 extends posteriorly and terminates in a conical mass, the tail of 

 the epididymis (globus minor), which fits over the posterior end 

 of the testis. From the tail of the epididymis the coiled vas 

 deferens extends anteriorly. In the normal epididymis the 

 epididymal body is a flattened, narrow band which connects the 

 head and the conical tail of the epididymis. 



•ss@ 







w — mM^ 3 



m 



i 



' '--VfcV'" 



Fig. 16 The junction of a seminiferous tubule and a straight tubule (tubulus 

 rectus) from the gonad of free-martin, H-37. ss, Sertoli-cell syncytium; te, 

 abrupt beginning of epithelium of straight tubule; tv, connective-tissue wall of 

 tubule. X 240. 



Structurally, the epididymal tubules of the free-martin are 

 well differentiated. The epithelium is usually simple, although 

 in places it may appear two-layered. The cells are of the tall 

 columnar type, except the few basal cells which appear more or 

 less rounded. The former have on their inner surfaces long 

 cilia. The epithelium rests upon a basement membrane, which 

 is surrounded by a layer of smooth muscle fibers, which blend 

 with the surrounding connective-tissue fibers (fig. 17, mf, ee). 

 If comparison is made with the structure of the normal epididy- 

 mal tubules (fig. 18, mf, ee), the resemblance is so close that 

 it is difficult to distinguish the two. 



