SCROTUM AND TESTICLES. 



121 



Fig. 102. 



The tunica vaginalis testis or peritestis^ is the next covering. A 

 serous membrane lining the cavity and reflected over the testicle 

 within ; it Was originally peritoneum, and is the seal of hydrocele. 



The testicles are the glands for the secretion of semen. They 

 are two in number, oval in shape, and 

 flattened laterally. They hang obliquely 

 by the spermatic cord, being attached above 

 the middle of the posterior edge; the right 

 being higher than the left. 



The tunica alhuginea^ is the dense, 

 white, thick, fibrous coat of the testicle, 

 which gives it shape. In structure it re- 

 sembles the dura mater or sclerotica ; ex- 

 ternally it is covered by a portion of the 

 peritestis, which is transparent and very 

 closely adherent ; from its internal face are 

 given off numerous partitions called septula 

 testes, and which uniting at the posterior 

 edge of the testicle, form that prismatic 

 ridge termed corpus Highmorianum? 



The testicle is formed by lobules, each placed within the 

 spaces between the septulse. Each lobule^ consists of a tuhulus 

 seminiferus, very finely convoluted. This tube becoming straight 

 forms the vas rectum ;* the union of which makes the rete testis^ 

 which is in the corpus Highmorianum ; 

 from the upper part of this rete proceed 15 

 or 20 tubes through the tunica albuginea ; 

 they are called vasa efferentia ;^ each vas 

 efferens is convoluted in a conical form, and 

 termed comis vasculosus ; the union of the 

 coni vasculosi forms the commencement of 

 the epididymis. 



The epididymis^ is that vermiform ap- 

 pendage encircling the posterior edge, as a 

 crest upon a helmet. It is soft and formed 

 of a single convoluted tube, originating by 

 the junction of the bases of the coni vascu- 

 losi. The upper extremity is the larger, 



Fiff. 103. 



and called sdoh 



r,7 and the lower is 



globus niinar.^ From the globus minor 

 this tube ascends in a less convoluted form, 

 under the name of the vas deferens^^ 

 which forms one of the constituents of the 

 cord. Connected with the epididymis is the 

 vasculuni aberrans^^ a small, blind, convo- 

 luted duct. 



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