288 ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY FOR NURSES 



of the urinary passages and as the organ of sexual inter- 

 course. This organ consists of erectile tissue arranged 

 in three subdivisions, two above, corpora cavernosa, and 

 one below, corpus spongiosum, which latter surrounds 

 the spongy portion of the urethra and terminates in the 

 glans penis. The glans penis is covered with a loose fold 

 of skin, the foreskin or prepuce. The corpora cavernosa 

 are surrounded by fibre-elastic sheaths from which are 

 given off trabeculae. Between these trabeculae are spaces 

 which contain venous blood. A similar structure char- 



FlG. 156. A vertical section of the bladder, penis, and urethra : a, Glans 

 penis; b, c, corpus cavernosum ; d, fossa navicularis; e, corpus spongiosum ; 

 /, spongy portion of urethra ; g, bulb of the corpus spongiosum ; h t Cow- 

 per's glands; i, the prostate; k, vas deferens ; /, seminal vesicles; m, pros- 

 tatic portion of urethra; o, bladder; /, pubic bone; r, commencement of 

 urethra; s, membranous urethra. 



acterizes the corpus spongiosum, which encloses the 

 urethra. This structure is known as erectile tissue. 



The male urethra is described on page 187. 



Testes. The testes or testicles are the male pro- 

 creating glands, which secrete the spermatozoa. They 

 are two in number, of ovoid form, and are each suspended 

 in the scrotum by the spermatic cord. They measure ij 

 inches in length, i inch in breadth, and i\ inches from 

 before backward. They weigh from 6 to 8 drams each, 

 the left being slightly the larger. 



The testes are composed of lobules, the number of which 



