COMPRESSOR URETHRA. 

 Fig. 95.* 



(~ { I /^*S 



tea. 



223 



wards, and embrace the membranous portion of the urethra and 

 Cowper's glands. As they pass towards the urethra, they spread out 

 and become fan-shaped, and are inserted into a tendinous raphe upon 

 the upper and lower surfaces of the urethra, extending from the apex 

 of the prostate gland, to which they are attached posteriorly, to the 

 bulbous portion of the urethra, with which they are connected in front. 

 When seen from above, these portions resemble two fans, connected 

 by their expanded border along the middle line of the membranous 

 urethra, from the prostate to the bulbous portion of the urethra. The 

 same appearance is obtained by viewing them from below. 



The perpendicular portion^ described by Mr. Wilson, arises by two 

 tendinous points from the inner surface of the arch of the pubes, on 

 each side of, and close to, the symphysis. The tendinous origins soon 

 become muscular, and descend perpendicularly, to be inserted into the 



* The muscles of the perineum. 1. The accelerators urinae muscles; the 

 figure rests upon the corpus spongiosum penis. 2. The corpus cavernpsum of 

 one side. 3. The erector penis of one side. 4. The transversus perinei of one 

 side. 5. The triangular space through which the deep perineal fascia is seen. 

 6. The sphincter ani ; its anterior extremity is cut off. /. The levator ani of 

 the left side ; the deep space between the tuberosity of the ischium (8) and the 

 anus, is the ischio-rectal fossa ; the same fossa is seen upon the opposite side. 

 9. The spine of the ischium. 10. The left coccygeus muscle. The bounda- 

 ries of the perineum are well seen in this engraving. 



t Mr. Tyrrell who made many careful dissections of the muscles of the peri- 

 neum, did not observe this portion of the muscle ; he considers Wilson's mus- 

 cle (with some other anatomists) to be the anterior fibres of the levator ani, not 

 uniting beneath the urethra as described by Mr. Wilson ; but inserted into a 

 portion of the pelvic fascia situated between the prostate gland and rectum, 

 the recto-vesical fascia. 



