650 THE TESTES. 



taneous veins and follicles are seen through it. Hairs, run- 

 ning obliquely, thinly cover it, and it is usually wrinkled. 

 FIG. 208. This coat is common to both testes, and is 

 divided into two lateral portions by a me- 

 dian line common to the perineum and 

 under surface of the penis, called the raplie. 

 The next coat, or proper coat of the scro- 

 tum, is the dartos. 



The dartos is a peculiar membrane, be- 

 ing regarded as a structure between the 

 cellular and muscular, and consisting of 

 a contractile fibrous tissue. It is attached 

 to the rami of the pubes and ischium, and 

 along the mesial line, where it is found most dense ; it is 

 reflected upward between the testes, constituting the sep- 

 tum scroti. It presents a reddish appearance, from the 

 quantity of blood-vessels present ; is always destitute of fat, 

 and has its fibres running in every direction, though but 

 loosely connected together. Its powers of contraction are 

 well marked, as seen in the corrugation of the skin from 

 the application of cold, and hence by some it is considered 

 muscular. 



The dartos, by some anatomists, is regarded as an expan- 

 sion of the gubernaculum testis; but as it is found in the 

 integument of the scrotum before the descent of the testes, 

 it is justly considered by others as entirely independent of 

 this structure. Beneath the dartos are the fibres of the 

 cremaster muscle, which gives but a partial covering to the 

 testicle, and receives the name of tunica erytliroides. 



Next in order is a condensed cellular membrane, which 

 surrounds each testicle and its chord, connecting the cre- 

 master and dartos with the tunica vaginalis, and called the 

 tunica vaginalis communis. 



The tunica vaginalis is a serous membrane, derived from 



FIG. 208 represents a transverse section of the Testicle, a Cavity of the 

 tunica vaginalis testis. 6 Tunica albuginea. c Corpus Highmorianum. d Tu- 

 nica vasculosa. e One of the lobules with its seminal tubes. / Section of 

 epididymus. 



