chap, xviii.] THE PROSTATE. 359 



connection with the shortness and dilatability of the 

 urethra, allows of most stones being extracted by 

 forceps without cutting. By simple dilatation, stones 

 of a diameter of three-quarters of an inch have been 

 removed. The intimate relation of the bladder to the 

 vagina allows it to be examined well from the latter 

 passage, and the comparative thinness of the dividing 

 wall serves to explain the frequency of vesico-vaginal 

 fistulse. Strange foreign bodies have been introduced 

 into the female bladder, such as hair-pins, crochet 

 hooks, sealing-wax, penholders, and the like. 



The bladder in the child is oval, and its ver- 

 tical axis is relatively much greater than it is in the 

 adult. It can hardly be said that there is any base 

 or fundus to the child's bladder. The viscus is 

 situated mainly in the abdomen, the pelvis being 

 small and very shallow. Its wall is so thin that 

 in sounding for stone it is said that a " click " may 

 be elicited by striking the pelvis through the parietes 

 of the viscus. 



The prostate. The prostate is situated about 

 three-quarters of an inch below the symphysis pubis, 

 and rests upon the rectum in front of the bend 

 between the second and third segments of that viscus. 

 It is, therefore, placed within one and a half to two 

 inches from the anus, and can be readily examined 

 from the bowel. 



The secretion from the gland is discharged through 

 a number of long and very narrow ducts. In certain 

 forms of prostatic irritation, little white opaque 

 threads, very much like short pieces of cotton, are 

 found in the urine, and are actual casts of the pro- 

 static ducts. 



The prostate is enveloped in a firm capsule de- 

 rived from the pelvic fascia, and it is to this fascia 

 that we look for an explanation of the course of 

 prostatic abscess. 



