234 SPECIAL HISTOLOGY. 



of the prostate appears to be similar to that of the vesicals 

 seminales • at all events, according to Virchow, the pros- 

 tatic concretions, or stones, as they are termed — round, con- 

 centric concretions, 0*03 — Ol"', and more, in size, which are 

 formed in the glandular vesicles — consist of the same protein- 

 compound, soluble in acetic acid, which is found in the vesiculae 

 seminales. The prostate possesses a fibrous coat, abounding in 

 bundles of smooth muscles, and closely investing the glan- 

 dular tissue, and tolerably numerous vessels, among which 

 numerous capillaries surrounding the glandular elements, and 

 a rich venous plexus under the mucous membrane of the 

 urethra, are deserving of notice. The course of the nerves 

 above described, in the interior of the prostate, is unknown. 



The uterus masculinus, or vesicula prostatica, situated in the 

 caput gallinaginis, in the middle, between the ductus ej acuta- 

 torii, presents in its whitish-yellow walls, lined with a cylinder- 

 epithelium, principally connective tissue and elastic fibrils, 

 with which, in the neck of the bladder, a few, and, at its base, 

 pretty numerous flat, smooth muscles are intermixed. 



The glands of Cowper are compact, compound, racemose 

 glands, whose ultimate vesicles, 002 — 005"' in size, are lined 

 with a tesselated epithelium, whilst a cylindrical epithelium is 

 found in the excretory canals. The delicate membrane with 

 which the whole gland is invested, as well as the fibrous stroma 

 in its interior, is tolerably rich in smooth muscles, which have 

 lately been also found by me in the excretory canals, \'" wide, 

 as a delicate longitudinal layer. The secretion of these glands, 

 which may be readily obtained from the excretory ducts, is 

 common mucus. 



§201. 



The organ of copulation, in Man, consists of the penis, an organ 

 which is composed of three erectile, highly vascular bodies — the 

 corpora spongiosa s. cavernosa ; it is attached to the pelvis, and 

 traversed by the urethra, invested by special fascia? and by the 

 external integument, and furnished with three proper muscles. 



The corpora cavernosa penis, are two cylindrical bodies sepa- 

 rated posteriorly, united anteriorly, and parted only by a 

 single incomplete septum, in which are to be distinguished a 

 special fibrous membrane {tunica albuginea s. fibrosa), and the 

 internal spongy tissue. The former, which is a white, glisten- 



