a i ly 
gubernaculum testis—must be mentioned. 
UROGENITAL SYSTEM. 
. 2 See 
jaan 
The gubernaculum in its earliest condition is 
represented by a peritoneal fold stretching downwards from the caudal end of the ridge 
which higher up gives origin to the testis. 
At a later stage this fold is relatively ative 
shorter, and is found to contain between its layers fibrous and muscular tissue. The 
gubernaculum, when it is at its greatest development (about the sixth month), is rounded 
and cord- like, oad is attached above to the lower end of the testis, while inferiorly it is 
fixed near the inguinal region. 
The muscular fibres which it contains are derived by an 
ingrowth from the muscles of the inguinal part of the anterior abdominal wall. As the 
testis enters the processus vaginalis ‘the gubernaculum atrophies, but its muscular fibres 
Obliquus externus 
Obliquus internus 
Ilio-hypogastri¢ nerve 
llio-inguinal nerve 
Saphenous opening 
Genito-crural nerve 
Fia. 
while in others, such as the 
Cremaster 
Aponeurosis of 
obliquus externus (cut) 
759.—-THE 
Aponeurosis of 
obliquus 
externus (cut) 
Twelfth thoracic 
nerve 
—— Triangular fascia 
Spermatice cord 
Suspensory liga- 
ment of penis 
Intercolumnar 
fascia 
Dartos muscle 
Groin. The structures seen on removal of part of the 
obliquus externus (A. M. Paterson). 
are supposed to give 
origin, in part at least, 
to the cremaster 
muscle of the adult. 
The connective tissue 
and smooth muscle 
fibres, which connect 
the testis with the 
lowest part of the 
scrotum in the adult, 
are also derived from 
the gubernaculum. It 
is considered by some 
anatomists that the 
movement downwards 
of the testis may be 
partly due to the 
shrinking of the 
gubernaculum as_ it 
atrophies (Fig. 757). 
In some mammals, 
such as the elephant, 
the testes remain per- 
manently within the 
abdominal cavity; 
rabbit and the hedgehog, the peritoneal pouches remain 
widely open throughout life, and the testes are periodically withdrawn into the abdomen. 
The 
testis in 
THE SPERMATIC CORD 
its course downwards through the abdominal wall imto the 
. scrotum takes with it its duct (vas deferens), its “vessels, and its nerves of supply. 
All these he together in the inguinal canal as they traverse the abdominal 
wall, and when “they: leave the canal by the external abdominal ring they 
extend downwards to the posterior border of the testis. 
spermatic vessels, and the nerves and lymphatics of the testis, loosely connected 
together, form the spermatic cord (funiculus spermaticus). 
The vas deferens, the 
At the internal 
abdominal ring the constituent parts of the cord disperse and separate from each 
The cord may therefore be considered to extend from the internal 
other. 
abdominal ring to the posterior border of the testis. 
are enclosed within a number of coverings derived from the 
form the cord 
layers of the anterior abdominal wall. 
The struetures which 
When the constituents of the cord reach 
the posterior border of the testis, the coverings surround the tunica vaginalis and 
its enclosed testis, and so form a part of the wall of the scrotum. The coverings 
of the cord derived from the abdominal wall are three in number, and are named 
intercolumnar fascia, cremasteric fascia, and infundibuliform fascia. The inter- 
columnar fascia is the most superficial of the three coverings, and is derived from 
the aponeurosis of the external oblique muscle, with which it is continuous round 
the margins of the external abdominal ring. 
The eremasteric fascia consists partly 
of muscular fibres derived from the lower part of the internal oblique muscle, and 
partly of delicate connective tissue. 
The muscular fibres pass down over the cord, 
and form a series of loops round the testis and tunica vaginalis. The infundi- 
buliform fascia is derived from the fascia transyersalis of the abdomen. It passes 
ae 
