1156 MALE GENERATIVE ORGANS. 



epithelioma ; this is no doubt due to the rugae on its surface, which favor the lodgment of dirt, 

 and this, causing irritation, is the exciting cause of the disease, which is especially common in 

 chimney-sweeps from the lodgment of soot. The scrotum is also the part most frequently 

 affected by elephantiasis. 



On account of the looseness of the subcutaneous tissue considerable extravasations of blood 

 may take place from very slight injuries. It is therefore generally recommended never to apply 

 leeches to the scrotum, since they may lead to considerable ecchymosis, but rather to puncture 

 one or more of the superficial veins of the scrotum in cases where local bloodletting from this 

 part is judged to be desirable. The muscular fibre in the dartos causes contraction and consider- 

 able diminution in the size of a wound of the scrotum, as after the operation of castration, and 

 is of assistance in keeping the edges together and covering the exposed parts. 



THE TESTES. 



The Testes are suspended in the scrotum by the spermatic cords. As the left 

 spermatic cord is rather longer than the right one, the left testicle hangs somewhat 

 lower than its fellow. Each gland is of an oval form, compressed laterally, and 

 having an oblique position in the scrotum, the upper extremity being directed 

 forward and a little outward, the lower, backward and a little inward ; the anterior 

 convex border looks forward, outward, and downward ; the posterior or straight 

 border, to which the cord is attached, inward, backward, and upward. 



The anterior border and lateral surfaces, as well as both extremities of the 

 organ, are convex, free, smooth, and invested by the tunica vaginalis. The 

 posterior border, to which the cord is attached, receives only a partial invest- 

 ment from that membrane. Lying along this posterior border is a long, narrow, 

 flattened body, named from its relation to the testis, the epididymis (&'ou//oc, 

 testis). It consists of a central portion, or body ; an upper enlarged extremity, the 

 globus major, or head ; and a lower pointed extremity, the tail, or globus minor. 

 The globus major is intimately connected with the upper end of the testicle by 

 means of its efferent ducts, and the globus minor is connected with its lower end 

 by cellular tissue and a reflection of the tunica vaginalis. The outer surface and 

 upper and lower ends of the epididymis are free and covered by serous membrane ; 

 the body is also completely invested by it, excepting along its posterior border. 

 The epididymis is connected to the back of the testis by a fold of the serous mem- 

 brane. Attached to the upper end of the testis or to the epididymis are one or 

 more small pedunculated bodies. One of them is pretty constantly found between 

 the globus major of the epididymis and the testicle, and is believed to be the 

 remains of the upper extremity of the Miillerian duct (page 136). It is termed 

 the hydatid of Morgagni. When the testicle is removed from the body, the 

 position of the vas deferens, on the posterior surface of the testicle and inner side 

 of the epididymis, marks the side to which the gland has belonged. 



Size and Weight. The average dimensions of this gland are from one and a 

 half to two inches in length, one inch in breadth, and an inch and a quarter in the 

 antero-posterior diameter, and the weight varies from six to eight drachms, the 

 left testicle being a little the larger. 



The testis is invested by three tunics the tunica vaginalis, tunica albuginea, 

 and tunica vasculosa. 



The Tunica Vaginalis is the serous covering of the testis. It is a pouch of 

 serous membrane, derived from the peritoneum during the descent of the testis in 

 the foetus from the abdomen into the scrotum. After its descent that portion of 

 the pouch which extends from the internal ring to near the upper part of the gland 

 becomes obliterated, the lower portion remaining as a shut sac, which invests 

 the outer surface of the testis, and is reflected on to the internal surface of the 

 scrotum ; hence it may be described as consisting of -a visceral and parietal 

 portion. 



The visceral portion (tunica vaginalis proprid) covers the outer surface of the 

 testis, as well as the epididymis, connecting the latter to the testis by means of a 

 distinct fold forming a depression, the digital fossa. From the posterior border of 

 the gland it is reflected on to the internal surface of the scrotum. 



