GENRRATIVI' SYSTEM. 287 



are connected altogether by cellular substance, destitute of any 

 fat ; and from the circumstance of the parts in general being 

 more bulky below the ring, the chord increases in breadth and 

 thickness as it approaches the testicle. 



Close Coverings. — The close or intimate tunic of the testicle is 

 perfectly distinct from its vaginal coats, and from its conspicuous 

 whiteness is called the tunica albuginea. Though it may be 

 stripped off in places by the forceps, and the separation may be 

 also effected by diffusing quicksilver into the cellular texture 

 uniting them, the tunica reflexa so intimately and uniformly ad- 

 heres to this tunic, that, the former being transparent, they appear 

 to constitute but one and the same covering. The albuginea, 

 however, is much denser and firmer in its nature, and much re- 

 sembles other fibrous membranes, particularly the dura mater, 

 both in appearance and texture : like that membrane, it is exten-r 

 sile and contractile, but neither suddenly nor greatly so, and im- 

 parts a compactness and firmness of feel to the inclosed structure 

 which the latter, deprived of it, is not found to possess. Over 

 the convex part of the gland this tunic is perforated by nume- 

 rous holes for the transmission of the spermatic blood-vessels. 

 Internally, it is connected to the substance of the testicle, by these 

 vessels, by a fine cellular web, and by numerous little processes 

 that traverse the gland perpendicularly, serving to hold the in- 

 ternal parts together, as well as aiding to preserve the form of 

 the whole, and which are generally described as the sej)ta or sep- 

 tula tetis. 



Structure. — On cutting into the testicle, we find that it con- 

 sists of a soft pulpy substance of a pale brown colour, and that 

 this, by being nipped and drawn out by the forceps, is extensible 

 into numerous whitish threads of extreme exility, which may oc- 

 casionally be elongated to a considerable degree : it is believed 

 that these are the seminiferous tubes. Like other secreting or- 

 gans, the testicle receives into its composition congeries of arte- 

 ries, veins, nerves, and absorbents, the peculiarity of structure 

 chiefly residing in the arrangement of the secretory and excretory 

 parts of the apparatus. It is imagined, in the instance before 

 us, that this consists in many vascular coils or complexures which 

 are only separated from one another by the septulae, and that 

 these, independently one of the other, possess the power of secre- 

 tion. After the spermatic trunk has dispersed its ramifications 

 over the albuginea, numerous twigs are transmitted through that 

 tunic into the interior of the gland : from these, capillary ar- 

 teries spring, which, it is presumed, communicate with the tubuli 

 seminiferi, but in what manner anatomists have not been able 

 to detect; for in the old subject these tubes are constantly 



