CHAPTER IV 



THE GENERATIVE SYSTEM OF THE MALE 



SUMMARY. 1. Structure of the testicle ; formation of the spermatoblasts and 

 spermatozoa ; characters and chemical composition of the sperm ; physiological 

 properties of the spermatozoa. 2. Structures and functions of the epiilidymis, vas 

 deferens, and vesiculac seminales. 3. Structures and functions of the prostate and 

 Cowper's glands. 4. Structure of the corpora cavernosa of the penis, urethra, and 

 glans, theory of the mechanism of erection. 5. Expulsive muscular forces on 

 which the ejaculation of the seminal fluid depends. 6. The nervous centres and 

 nerves concerned in erection and ejaculation. 7. The influence of the activity of 

 the male genital apparatus on the organism as a whole, deduced particularly from 

 the effects of castration. Bibliography. 



THE functions which are co-ordinated in the reproductive act are 

 those by which the individual provides for the maintenance of the 

 species. The individual perishes, the species endures : thus arises 

 the necessity that the individual should have the capacity of 

 reproducing himself, transmitting to other individuals his own 

 type for the conservation of the species. 



In many animals, specially in the immense class of insects, 

 the last great act of individual life is that by which the species is 

 maintained : the individual dies shortly after having reproduced 

 itself. Love, the creator, and Death, the destroyer, often fraternise 

 in nature, as in the famous poem of Leopardo. 



The individual is the organ of the species, and as such is pro- 

 vided with special apparatus, of which the most essential parts, 

 the organs producing the reproductive cells, are constructed on 

 the glandular type. For this reason some physiologists treat 

 spermatogenesis and ovulation as a special section of the common 

 secretory functions. To appreciate the fallacy of this classification 

 it is sufficient to reflect on the profound difference in the physio- 

 logical significance of the functions of the common glands and the 

 testicle and ovary. The first serve to elaborate and separate 

 special anabolic and catabolic products which effect haemopoiesis 

 and haemolysis, and, in general, serve to establish and regulate the 

 physiological correlations of the different organs ; the second, 

 on the other hand, serve for the formation and separation of 

 elementary sexual organisms (spermatozoa and ova) which, con- 



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