790 GENERATION. 



that of the development of other true, anatomical elements. The testicles 

 can not be regarded strictly as glandular organs. They are analogous to the 

 ovaries, and they are the only organs in which spermatozoids can be de- 

 veloped, as the ovaries are the only organs in which the ovum can be formed. 

 If the testicles be absent, the power of fecundation is lost, none of the fluids 

 secreted by the accessory organs of generation being able to perform the office 

 of the true, fecundating elements. 



In the healthy male, at the climax of a normal venereal orgasm, 11 '6 to 

 92*6 grains (0*75 to 6 grammes) of seminal fluid are ejaculated with considera- 

 ble force from the urethra, by an involuntary, muscular spasm (Montegazza). 

 This fluid requires about four days for its complete restoration. The semen 

 is slightly mucilaginous, grayish or whitish, streaked with lines more or less 

 opaque, and it evidently contains various kinds of mucus. It has a faint and 

 peculiar odor, sui generis, which is observed only in the ejaculated fluid and 

 not in any of its constituents examined separately. It is a little heavier than 

 water and does not mix with it or dissolve. After ejaculation it becomes 

 jelly-like and dries into a peculiar, hard mass, which may be softened by the 

 application of appropriate liquids. The liquid is not coagulated by heat and 

 does not contain albumen. Its reaction is faintly alkaline. It contains in 

 the human subject 100 to 120 parts of solid matter per 1,000. 



The chemical constitution of the semen has not been very thoroughly in- 

 vestigated and does not present the same physiological importance as its 

 anatomical characters. Aside from the anatomical elements derived from 

 the testicles and the genital passages, it presents an organic substance 

 (spermatine) which has nearly the same chemical characters as ordinary 

 mucine. It also contains a considerable quantity of phosphates. During 

 desiccation, elongated, rhomboidal crystals make their appearance, frequently 

 arranged in groups, which are supposed to be derived from the prostatic fluid 

 and to consist of phosphoric acid combined with an organic base, the formula 

 for which, united with hydrochloric acid, is C 2 H 3 NHC1 (Schreiner). These 

 are sometimes called spermatic crystals. 



In the dilated portion of the vasa deferentia the mucous glands secrete a 

 fluid which is the first that is added to the spermatozoids as they come from 

 the testicles. This fluid is brownish or grayish. It contains epithelium, and 

 small, rounded granulations, which are dark and strongly refractive. The 

 liquid itself is very slightly viscid. In the vesiculae seminales there is a more 

 abundant secretion of the grayish fluid, with epithelium, small, colorless con- 

 cretions of nitrogenized matter, called by Robin, sympexions, and a few 

 leucocytes. The glandular structures of the prostate produce a creamy secre- 

 tion with fine granulations. It is chiefly to the admixture of this fluid that 

 the semen owes its whitish appearance. Finally as the semen is ejaculated, 

 it receives the viscid secretion of the glands of Cowper, a certain quantity of 

 stringy mucus from the follicles of the urethra, with perhaps a little of the 

 urethral epithelium. 



Anatomically considered the seminal fluid contains no important elements 

 except the spermatozoids, the various secretions just mentioned serving sim- 



