CHAPTER IX. 



SECRETIONS AND FLUIDS OF THE GENERATIVE ORGANS. 



1. Secretions of the male generative organs. 



SEMEN. 



THE seminal fluid which is formed in the testicles and is 

 conveyed along the vas deferens, is a thick, whitish, glutinous 

 mass possessing a peculiar odour, and when examined under 

 the microscope is found to be composed of a clear fluid, in 

 which an immense number of minute caudate molecules, the 

 spermatozoa, appear to be moving about at will. (Fig. 33.) In 

 addition to the spermatozoa, seminal granules are likewise to be 

 seen, which, according to Wagner, are rounded, fine granular 

 corpuscles of 3 \^ 5^ of a line in diameter, and a few epithe- 

 lium-scales. 



The spermatozoa occur in the semen of nearly all animals : 

 they are elliptic in man, but assume various forms in different 

 classes of animals. 



The chemical analysis of the semen, although not an uninter- 

 esting subject, seems little calculated to throw any light upon the 

 remarkable process that is recognized in the term impregnation. 

 We cannot even form any conjecture regarding the connexion 

 and the reciprocal effect that must take place between the 

 fructifying semen and the ovum which is to be fructified ; and 

 although we cannot doubt that there are certain chemical pro- 

 cesses going on, since the act of impregnation is succeeded by 

 a change not only of form but of matter, we have as yet but 

 little prospect of investigating the subject successfully, in con- 

 sequence of the insufficiency of our resources. 



The seminal fluid at the period of emission is somewhat 

 turbid, and is mixed with the mucous secretion of the prostate, 

 from which it cannot be separated. It has not always the same 



