OKGANS OF THE BODY. 559 



they unite with the lymphatics of the epididymis and tunica vaginalis 

 to form several main trunks, which then take their course along the sper- 

 matic cord. 



The nerves of the testis spring from the internal spermatic plexus ; as 

 to their ultimate mode of termination, however, nothing is at present 

 known. 



In connection with the epididymis we have to consider several struc- 

 tures, and in the first place the so-called hydatids of Morgagni. These 

 present themselves under two forms, seen in some cases together. The 

 first kind is a petiolite vesicle seated upon the anterior surface of the 

 head of the epididymis. Its style is usually solid and fibrous, while the 

 vesicle contains a clear fluid, cells, and nuclei. But the second form is 

 far more frequently met with. In it we have a knobbed flattened struc- 

 ture with hardly any stalk, and either simple or divided into lobes. Its 

 position varies, and it sometimes communicates with the passage of the 

 epididymis. 



Finally, at the posterior edge of the testicle, between the head of the 

 epididymis and the vas deferens, a small flattened structure presents itself, 

 composed of several loosely connected whitish nodules. Each of the latter 

 consists of the convolutions of a tube terminating at each end in a blind 

 dilatation. The interior of these is filled with a clear fluid, and lined 

 with pavement epithelium whose cells are in process of decay. This 

 body is known as the corps innomine of Giraldes, or organ of Giraldes 

 (Koelli'ker), or parepididymis (Henle). In the infant, and up to the age 

 of ten years, this structure is encountered in complete development; later 

 on, it degenerates. 



Referring to the history of development, we find some light is thrown 

 upon the nature of these accessory structures. 



The testis, like the ovary ( 278), is developed at the inner side of the 

 Wolffian bodies. Here, however, the germinal epithelium never attains 

 that degree of perfection we have observed in the female embryo. The 

 genesis of the seminiferous tubules is not yet fully ascertained. Accord- 

 ing to Waldeyer, they are formed, not from the germinal epithelium 

 at all, but from the glandular passages themselves of the primordial 

 kidney. 



From the canals of the Wolffian body, then, which are insignificant in 

 the female generative system (a mere trace remaining in the mature body 

 as the parovarium), the epididymis is formed, while the duct of the organ 

 is gradually converted into the vas deferens. The other remnants of the 

 Wolffian bodies, then, give rise to the organ of Giraldes, and the structure 

 known as the vas aberrans. 



But beside the duct of the Wolffian body, we -find at a very early age 

 the rudiments of a second canal, that of Mutter, already alluded to in 

 speaking of the female generative system. This has, however, a different 

 destiny in each sex. While in the female it becomes converted into the 

 Fallopian tube and uterus therefore into very important parts in the 

 male generative system it degenerates almost completely. The last 

 trace of its upper portion alone is to be seen as the hydatid of Morgagni, 

 just referred to ; while its most inferior portions form by their junction 

 the so-called uterus masculinus, or vesicula prostatica of anatomists. 



The composition of the tissue of the testicle, whose sp. gr. is 1'045 

 (Krause and Fischer), still awaits investigation. Glycogen was found by 

 Kuhne in the organ in the dog. 



