chap, xviii.] THE TESTICLE. 369 



lie more or less loosely in the serous cavity as lies the 

 small intestine in the abdomen. The more intimate 

 and extensive connection of the serous tunic with the 

 testis or gland proper serves in part to explain 

 the greater frequency with which hydrocele appears 

 in inflammation of this part of the organ, as compared 

 with its occurrence when the epididymis is alone in- 

 flamed. It is owing to the reflections of the tunica 

 vaginalis that in cases of common hydrocele the testicle 

 remains firmly set at the lower and posterior part of 

 the swelling, and yet so extensively is the organ sur- 

 rounded by that membrane that the position of the 

 gland in the larger hydroceles is often difficult to deter- 

 mine. In some cases the testicle occupies the front of 

 the scrotum, the epididymis being placed anteriorly, 

 and the body of the gland being located behind it. 

 The vas deferens descends also along the front of the 

 cord. In these cases the testicle is just in the position 

 it would occupy if it had been turned round upon its 

 vertical axis. The condition is known as inversion of 

 the testicle, and should be sought for in cases of hydro- 

 cele, as in several instances the testis has been pierced 

 by the trochar when tapping collections in which the 

 inversion existed. 



The proper gland tissue is invested by a very dense 

 membrane, the tunica albuginea. The epididymis, on 

 the other hand, lacks any such firm fibrous investment. 

 The unyielding character of the tunica albuginea serves 

 in great part to explain the intense pain felt in acute 

 affections of the testis proper, a degree of pain which 

 is not reached when the less tightly-girt epididymis is 

 alone involved. It will be understood also that in in- 

 flammation of the epididymis the part swells rapidly 

 and extensively, while in a like affection of the body 

 of the gland the swelling is comparatively slow to 

 appear. 



The tunica albuginea must also for some time 



Y 



