TPIE REPRODUCTIVE SYSTEM 



355 



Cowper's Glands 



The bulbo-urcthral glands, or glands of Cowper, are small, com- 

 pound tubular glands. Both tubules and ducts are irregular in diam- 

 eter so that some of them have more the character of alveoli than 

 of tubules. They are lined with mucous cells. The smaller ducts are 

 lined with simple cuboidal epithelium. They unite to form two main 

 excretory ducts which open into the urethra and are lined with 

 stratified columnar epithelium consisting of two or three layers of cells. 

 In the main duct, as well as in its branches, smooth muscle occurs. 



TECHNIC 



(i) Fix small pieces of the prostate of a young man in formalin-Miiller's fluid 

 (technic 6, p. 7). Stain sections with haematoxylin-eosin (technic i, p. 20J and 

 mount in balsam. 



(2) The prostate of an old man should be treated with the same technic and 

 compared with the above. 



(3) Cowper's glands. Same technic as prostate (i). 



The Penis 



The penis consists largely of three long cylindrical bodies, the 

 corpus spongiosum and the two corpora cavernosa. The latter lie 

 side by side, dorsally, while the ^ 



corpus spongiosum occupies a 

 medial ventral position (Fig. 

 247). All three are enclosed in 

 a common connective-tissue 

 capsule which is loosely attached 

 to the overlying skin. Iruaddi- 

 tion each corpus has its own 

 special capsule or tunica albu- 

 ginea, about a millimetre in 

 thickness, and composed of 

 dense connective tissue contain- ^ ^ c .- ..u i. 



Fig. 247. — Transverse Section through 

 ing many elastic fibres. • . Human Penis. a, Skin; b, subcutaneous 



Tbp rnrhu^ ^bnnpiomm a,nd ^''^''^' c. fibrous tunic; d, dorsal vein; e, 

 ine corpus spongiosum d,na j-o^pora cavernosa; /, corpus spongiosum; 



cor pora cavernosahsLve essentially g, urethra, 

 the same structure, being com- 

 posed of so-called erectile tissue (Fig. 248). This consists of thick 

 trabecute of intermingled fibro-elastic tissue and bundles of smooth 



