PEOSTATE GLAND. 351 



ends, directed forwards and outwards, are widely separated, their 

 narrow ones almost meet, thus forming a triangular space which 

 corresponds to the trigonus vesicae on the inside. They consist 

 of a single tube which terminates in a blind end, and gives off 

 several branches or diverticula, which also end in closed extremi- 

 ties. The narrow end terminates in a duct, which at the base 

 of the prostate is joined at an acute angle by the vas deferens ; 

 these constitute the ejaculatory duct. The vesicula seminalis is 

 made up of three coats — an external fibro-cellular, a central 

 dense, fibrous, and elastic, said to contain muscular fibres, and an 

 inner pale mucous lining, which contains tubular glands, secreting 

 the fluid peculiar to the cavity. The anterior half only is 

 covered by peritoneum, a fold of which is reflected from one 

 vesicula to the other. 



Blood is supplied by the vesico-prostatic arteries ; the nerves 

 come from the pelvic plexus. They are seminal receptacles, 

 secreting also a special fluid which mixes with the semen. 



EJACULATORY DUCTS. 



These ducts, right and left, are formed by the junction of the 

 narrowed extremities of the vesiculse seminales and the vasa 

 deferentia just at the base of the prostate ; they pass between 

 its middle and lateral lobes, terminating in the urethra by two 

 orifices, one on each side of an opening on the verumontanum, 

 which leads to a sac called the prostate vesicle. 



The prostate vesicle, sometimes called the uterus, masculinus, 

 or sinus ^ocularis, represents in the male the uterus and vagina 

 of the female. It is a canal about four inches in length, which 

 ascends in the folds of the peritoneum between the vasa 

 deferentia ; its lower end is situated between the ejaculatory 

 ducts. It opens into the urethra, on the verumontanum between 

 the openings of the ejaculatory ducts, sometimes ending in one of 

 them. It is lined by mucous membrane containing tubular 

 glands, and its walls are of a fibro-muscular nature. 



PROSTATE GLAND. 



Situated upon and partly around the neck of the bladder and 

 commencement of the urethra, this organ, a compound racemose 

 gland, is connected with the pelvis and the rectum by the pelvic 



