1150 MALE GENERATIVE ORGANS. 



the urethra. When the finger is introduced into the bowel the surgeon may, in some cases, 

 especially in boys, learn the position, as well as the size and weight, of a calculus in the bladder ; 

 and in the operation for its removal, if, as is not un frequently the case, it should be lodged behind 

 an enlarged prostate, it may be displaced from its position by pressing upward the base of the 

 bladder from the rectum. The prostate gland is occasionally the seat of suppuration, either due to 

 injury, gonorrhoea, or tuberculous disease. The gland, being enveloped in a dense unyielding 

 capsule, determines the course of the abscess, and also explains the great pain which is present 

 in the acute form of the disease. The abscess most frequently bursts into the urethra, tlu> 

 direction in which there is least resistance, but may occasionally burst into the rectum , or more 

 rarely in the perinaeum. In adyanced life the prostate becomes considerably enlarged, and pro- 

 jects into the bladder so as to impede the passage of the urine. According to Dr. Messer's 

 researches, conducted at Greenwich Hospital, it would seem that such obstruction exists in 20 

 per cent, of all men over sixty years of age. In some cases the enlargement affects principally 

 the lateral lobes, which may undergo considerable enlargement without causing much incon- 

 venience. In other cases it would seem that the middle lobe enlarges most, and even a small 

 enlargement of this lobe may act injuriously, by forming a sort of valve over the urethral orifice, 

 preventing the passage of the urine, and blocking more completely the orifice the more the 

 patient strains. In consequence of the enlargement of the prostate a pouch is formed at the 

 base of the bladder behind the projection, in which water collects and cannot be entirely expelled. 

 It becomes decomposed and ammoniacal, and leads to cystitis. For this condition " prostatec- 

 tomy " is sometimes done. The bladder is opened by an incision above the symphysis pubis, the 

 mucous membrane incised, and the enlarged and projecting middle lobe enucleated. 



COWPER'S GLANDS. 



Cowper's Glands are two small rounded and somewhat tabulated bodies of 

 a yellow color, about the size of peas, placed behind the fore part of the mem- 

 branous portion of the urethra, between the two layers of the deep perineal fascia. 

 They lie close above the bulb, and are enclosed by the transverse fibres of the 

 Compressor urethras muscle. Their existence is said to be constant : they gradually 

 diminish in size as age advances. 



Structure. Each gland consists of several lobules held together by a fibrous 

 investment. Each lobule consists of a number of acini lined by columnar 

 epithelial cells, opening into one duct, which, joining with the ducts of other 

 lobules outside the gland, form a single excretory duct. The excretory duct of 

 each gland, nearly an inch in length, passes obliquely forward beneath the 

 mucous membrane, and opens by a minute orifice on the floor of the bulbous 

 portion of the urethra. Their existence is said to be constant ; they gradually 

 diminish in size as age advances. 



THE PENIS. 



The Penis is the organ of copulation. It consists of a root, body, and extremity, 

 or glans penis. 



The root is firmly connected to the rami of the os pubis and ischium by two 

 strong tapering, fibrous processes, the crura, and to the front of the symphysis 

 pubis by the suspensory ligament, a strong band of fibrous tissue which passes 

 downward from the front of the symphysis pubis to the upper surface of the root 

 of the penis, where it blends with the fascial sheath of the organ. 



The extremity or glans penis, presents the form of an obtuse cone, flattened 

 from above downward. At its summit is a vertical fissure, the orifice of the 

 urethra (meatus urinarius). The base of the glans forms a rounded projecting 

 border, the corona glandis, and behind the corona is a deep constriction, the 

 cervix. Upon both of these parts numerous small sebaceous glands are found, 

 the glandulce Tysonii odoriferce. They secrete a sebaceous matter of very peculiar 

 odor, which probably contains caseine and becomes easily decomposed. 



The body of the penis is the part between the root and extremity. In the 

 flaccid condition of the organ it is cylindrical, but when erect has a triangular 

 prismatic form with rounded angles, the broadest side being turned upward, and 

 called the dorsum. The body is covered by integument, and contains in its interior 

 a large portion of the urethra. The integument covering the penis is remarkable 

 for its thinness, its dark color, its looseness of connection with the deeper parts 

 of the organ, and its containing no adipose tissue. At the root of the penis the 



