THE EMBRYO. 



1211 



the male forms the gubernaculum testis ; the peritoneum constitutes the broad 

 ligament ; the superior ligament of the Wolffian body, which serves to connect it 

 with the Diaphragm, disappears with that body. 



With regard to the other parts of the male organs, the Mullerian ducts dis- 

 appear, with the exception of their lower ends. These unite in the middle lin j, and 

 open by a common orifice into the urogenital sinus. This constitutes the utriculus 

 hominis or sinus prostaticus. Frequently, however, the upper end of the duct of 

 Miiller remains visible in the male as a little pedunculated body, called the hydatid 

 of Morgagni, in the neighborhood of the epididymis, 1 between the testis and globus 

 major. 



The epididymis, the vas deferens, and ejaculatory duct are formed from the 

 Wolffian duct. One or more of the tubes of the Wolffian body form the vas 

 aberrans and a structure described by Giraldes, and called, after him, " the organ 

 of Giralds," which bears some resemblance to the organ of Rosenmuller in the 

 other sex. It consists of a number of convoluted tubules, lying in the cellular 

 tissue in front of the cord, and close to the head of the epididymis. 



Descent of the Testes. The testes, at an early period of foetal life, are placed 

 at the back part of the abdominal cavity, behind the peritoneum and a little below 

 the kidneys. The anterior surface and sides are invested by peritoneum. At 

 about the third month of intra-uterine life a peculiar structure, the gubernaculum 

 testis, makes its appearance. This structure is at first a slender band, extending 



Ovarian tube of epithelium. 



Blood-vessel. 

 Graafian follicle. - 



Germinal epithelium. 



Primitive ova. 

 _ __ Cell nest. 



FIG. 779. Section of the ovary of a, newly born child. (Waldeyer.) 



from that part of the skin of the groin which afterward forms the scrotum through 

 the inguinal canal to the body and epididymis of the testicle, and is then continued 

 upward in front of the kidney toward the Diaphragm. As development advances 

 the peritoneum covering the testicle encloses it and forms a mesentery, the mesor- 

 chium, which also encloses the gubernaculum and forms two folds, one above the 

 testicle and the other below it. The one above the testicle is the plica vascularis, 

 and contains ultimately the spermatic vessels ; the one below, the plica gubernatrix, 

 contains the lower part of the gubernaculum, which has now grown into a thick 

 cord ; it terminates below at the internal ring in a tube of peritoneum, the proces- 

 sus vaginalis, which protrudes itself down the inguinal canal. The lower part of 

 the gubernaculum by the fifth month has become a thick cord, while the upper 

 part has disappeared. The lower part can now be seen to consist of a central core 

 of uristriped muscle-fibre, and outside this of a firm layer of striped elements, 

 connected, behind the peritoneum, with the abdominal wall. As the scrotum 



1 Mr. Osborn, in the St. Thomas's Hospital Reports, 1875, has written an interesting paper pointing 

 out the probable connection between this foetal structure and one form of hydrocele. 



