MALE ORGANS AND ELEMENTS OF GENERATION. 



881 



tube. Each tube presents a convoluted mass, which can frequently be disentangled under 

 water, particularly if the testicle be macerated for several months in water with a little 

 nitric acid. The entire length of the tube, when thus unravelled, is about thirty in.- 

 and its diameter is from -gfa to T i^ of an inch. It begins by from two to seven short, 

 blind extremities and sometimes by anastomosing loops. The csecal diverticula are found 

 usually in the external half of the tube, and their length is from -fa to of an inch. Tin- 

 anastomoses are sometimes between the tubes of different lobules, sometimes between 

 tubes in the same lobule, and sometimes between different points in the same tube. As 

 the tubes pass toward the posterior portion of the testicle, they unite into about twenty 

 straight canals, called the vasa recta, about T V of an inch in diameter, which penetrate 

 the mediastinum testis. In the mediastinum, the tubes form a close net-work, called the 

 rete testis; and, at the upper portion of the posterior border, they pass out of the 

 testicle, by from twelve to fifteen openings, and are here called the vasa efferentia. 



Having passed out of the testicle, the 

 vasa efferentia form a series of small, con- 

 ical masses, which together constitute the 

 globus major, or head of the epididymis. 

 Each of these tubes, when unravelled, is 

 from six to eight inches long, gradually 

 increasing in diameter, until they all unite 

 into a single, convoluted tube, which forms 

 the body and the globus minor of the epi- 

 didymis. This single tube of the epididy- 

 mis, when unravelled, is about twenty feet 

 in length. 



The walls of the seminiferous tubes in 

 the testicle itself are composed of connec- 

 tive tissue, a basement-membrane, and a 

 lining of granular, nucleated cells. In the 

 rete testis, it is uncertain whether the tubes 

 have a special fibrous coat or are simple 

 channels in the fibrous structure. They 

 are here lined with pavement-epithelium. 

 In the vasa efferentia and the epididymis, 

 we have a fibrous membrane, with longi- 

 tudinal and circular fibres of involuntary 



FIG. 282. Testicle and epididymi* of Vie human tub- 

 (Arnold.) 



muscular tissue and a lining of ciliated 



epithelium. The movement of the cilia is a testide . 6 & & jjobuies of the testicle; c, c, yasa rec- 

 to ward the vas deferens. In the lower ' ta; d,Vre'te testis ; ,, vasa, .ff.-n-ntia ;/,//, cone, 



of the globus major of the epidnlymis; ff, ff, epi- 

 didymis ; h, //, *M ih-fi-n-ns ; /. vas aberrans : i. HI. 

 branches of the spermatic art.-ry t.. th- testicle an.l 

 I'nididvinis : ;,. n. n. nuninVati.m of th- Vterj upon 

 th- testicle; <-. d.-f.-n-ntial artrry: j: anastomosis of 

 the deferential with the spermatic artery. 



portion of the epididymis, the cilia are ab- 

 sent. The tubular structures of the testicle, 

 the epididymis, and the commencement of 

 the vas deferens are shown in Fig. 282. 



At the lower portion of the epididymis, communicating with the canal, there i 

 usually found a small mass, formed of a convoluted tube of variable K-n-t 

 vas aberrans of Ilaller. (i, Fig. 282.) This is sometimes wanting, and i 

 which cannot be very important, is unknown. 



Vas Deferens. The excretory duct of the testicle extends from the epididymis to t 

 prostatic portion of the urethra' and is a continuation of the sin-le ti.K- win 

 body and globus minor of the epididymis. It is somewhat tortuous lu-ar 

 becomes larger at the base of the bladder, just before it is joined by the < 

 nal vesicle. Near its point of junction with this duct, it becomes narro 

 length is nearly two feet. 

 56 



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