226 



SPECIAL HISTOLOGY. 



riorly, and also, though more towards the anterior part, slightly- 

 cupped ; so that it sometimes appears clear in the middle, some- 

 times opaque. It is 0*0016 — 00024'" long, 0-008— 00015"' 

 wide, 0-0005 — 0-0008"' thick, and according as it lies on the 

 surface or edge, does it appear clearer or more opaque, always 

 presenting a peculiar fat-like, glistening aspect, and, particularly 

 in a lateral view, dark borders. The pale filamentary portion 

 has an average length of 002 /// , and at its anterior end, where 

 it joins the broader extremity of the body, with a slight con- 

 striction, it is wider (0-0003— 0-0005'") and also flattened, 

 being gradually prolonged into an extremely fine point, 

 scarcely visible even under the highest magnifying powers. 

 In vigorous men the semen, throughout the vas deferens and 

 in the globus minor of the epididymis is composed of these 

 corpuscles, occasionally intermixed with isolated granules, 

 nuclei, and cells, whilst in the upper part of the epididymis 

 and in the body of the testis other elements, such as the above- 

 described cells and cysts, preponderate more and more, and 



Fig. 260. 



finally constitute the entire 

 secretion. These spermatic 

 cells and cysts, as I term 

 them, have a definite rela- 

 tion to the spermatic fila- 

 ments, for in each nucleus, 

 as was first shown by me, 

 a spermatic filament is de- 

 veloped on the inner wall, 

 in the form of a spiral 

 corpuscle with two or three turns. How thi3 really arises 

 is unknown; very probably as a sort of deposit from the 

 contents of the nucleus, which at the same time become 

 clear, in the same way as the spiral filaments of the vegetable 

 cell are formed ; but it may at all events be asserted as a posi- 

 tive fact, that the testis itself is the proper site of this develop- 

 ment, so that, under normal conditions, developed, spermatic 

 Fig. 260. Development of the spermatic filaments in the Rahbit : a, parent-cell 

 (cyst) with five nuclei ; b, one with ten nuclei, each of which contains a convoluted 

 spermatic filament ; c, an isolated nucleus with nucleoli ; d, one with the spermatic 

 filament; e, a cyst with a bundle of spermatic filaments ; ff, gg, immature spermatic 

 filaments, with enlargements in the filamentary portion ; h, a perfect spermatic fila- 

 ment, a, b, c, x 350 diam.; d — h, x 500 diam. 



