986 



recluse and studious habits the functions of 

 these organs often continue dormant for 

 years. Like the mammae in the unmarried 

 female, though inactive, they remain sound 

 and competent for secretion when duly ex- 

 cited and called upon to exercise their func- 

 tions. It often happens that the passions are 

 excited without an opportunity being afforded 

 for their gratification. Under these circum- 

 stances the testicles become encumbered with 

 secretion which would prove injurious to 

 them were they not relieved by occasional 

 nocturnal emission, or ejaculations of the 

 semen under the influence of dreams during 

 sleep, which appear to be a salutary provision 

 to obviate the inconveniences which might 

 result as well from ungratified desires as from 

 an accumulation of semen in the ducts. 



Envelopes of the testicle. The scrotum, or 

 pouch of integument containing the testicles, 

 including the dartos, has already been de- 

 scribed. (Article SCROTUM). 



Superficial or external spermatic fascia. 

 Beneath the loose areolar tissue of the scro- 

 tum is situated a delicate layer of fascia, which 

 is continuous with the superficial fascia of 

 the lower part of the abdominal parietes, and, 

 descending so as to form a sheath to the 

 spermatic cord and an envelope to the testicle, 

 becomes continuous behind with the super- 

 ficial fascia of the perineum. This fascia 

 is usually very thick and distinct in cases 

 of large and old scrotal hernia. 



Cremaster muscle Directly beneath the 

 superficial fascia is found the cremaster muscle 

 (so named from /cpe/uaw to suspend), or, as it 

 has been appropriately termed by Mr. Hunter, 

 the musculus testis. (For description, vide, 

 ABDOMEN, vol.i. p. 6.) The two attachments of 

 this muscle, the external to Poupart's ligament, 

 and the internal to the os pubis, correspond, 

 as I have previously (p, 983.) shown, to those 

 of the muscle of the gubernaculum, being 

 indeed the same structure, with its relations 

 altered. The actions of the cremaster, which, 

 with a few exceptions, are involuntary, appear 

 to be those of giving a tonic support to the 

 testicles, retracting them to the abdominal 

 rings, and compressing them during the 

 sexual act. In some instances, in boys before 

 the approach of puberty, this muscle has been 

 capable of drawing the gland up into the in- 

 guinal canal. Persons are occasionally met 

 with who possess a voluntary power over its 

 actions in various degrees of perfection. Some 

 are able to elevate the testicle on one side but 

 not on the other, whilst others can retract 

 both testicles to the abdominal rings, and 

 retain them there at will. A very remarkable 

 instance of the cremaster muscle being com- 

 pletely under the influence of volition is 

 recorded by Mr. Hutchinson.* 



Deep spermatic fascia. The tunica vagi- 

 nalis and spermatic cord are invested by a 

 thin delicate fascia, which is situated beneath 

 the cremaster muscle, and forms a common 



* Practical Observations in Surgery, second edit. 

 p. 186. 



TESTICLE (ABNORMAL ANATOMY). 



fibrous envelope to the testicle, and spermatic 

 cord. It is attached to the back part of the 

 gland. This membrane may be traced as a 

 prolongation of the fascia transversals, and is 

 probably formed in the process of transition 

 of the testicle from the abdomen to the 

 scrotum. 



The spermatic cord. The parts composing 

 the spermatic cord, are the vas deferens, the 

 artery of the duct, the spermatic artery and 

 veins, the lymphatic vessels, and the spermatic 

 nerves. These parts are connected by loose 

 areolar tissue. A fibre-cellular process, being 

 the remains of the process of serous membrane 

 originally connecting the tunica vaginalis with 

 the peritoneum, may sometimes be perceived 

 in the front part of the cord. The spermatic 

 cord extends from the internal abdominal 

 ring to the back part of the testicle. Its 

 upper portion, therefore, lies in the inguinal 

 canal. The coverings of the cord are the 

 same as those of the testicle : viz., the inte- 

 guments, superficial fascia, cremaster muscle, 

 and deep spermatic fascia. 



For COMPARATIVE ANATOMY, see the 

 article ORGANS OF GENERATION. 



ABNORMAL ANATOMY OF THE TESTICLE. 

 Congenital imperfections and malformations. 

 Numerical excesses and defects. Cases of su- 

 pernumerary testicles are mentioned in the 

 writings of the old authors, and persons have 

 been described with four or five of them, ac- 

 companied with a proportionate increase in the 

 venereal appetite. Nearly all these cases are of 

 a fabulous character. Such must be remarked 

 of the case of vevropxos, or man with five tes- 

 ticles, mentioned by Schaarf *, and with that 

 of a man with four testicles alluded to by 

 Blegny.f Blasius, an old writer not un- 

 worthy of credit, has, however, given an 

 account of the examination of a man, thirty 

 years of age, and otherwise well formed, who 

 had two testicles on the right side, of the 

 same size and shape as that on the left, which 

 is illustrated by a small engraved figure re- 

 presenting a distinct artery from the aorta, 

 and vein from the vena cava proceeding to 

 each of the two testicles on the right side.J 

 This is the only case of supernumerary testicle 

 recorded by the old authors, which has any 

 semblance of authenticity. Neither Morgagni, 

 Haller, nor Meckel met with a single exam- 

 ple, and they questioned the existence of 

 such a condition. Two cases have recently 

 been recorded as examples of triple testicle, 

 but they were not verified by examination 

 after death. One is related by Bliimener, an 

 army surgeon, in Rust's Magazin fiir die 

 Gesammte Heilkunde for 1824 : the other by 

 Dr. Macann, a British surgeon. $ An epi- 

 plocele, a fatty or fibrous tumour in the 

 scrotum, or an encysted hydrocele of the cord, 



* Eph. Nat. Cur. Dec. 111. Ann. v. vi. Obs. 89. 

 p. 175. 



f Zodiaque Fra^ais, Ann. 11. Most of the re- 

 puted cases of Triorchides are quoted by Arnaud, in 

 his Memoires de Chirurgie. Mem. iii. part i. 



t Ger. Blasius, Obs. Med. Anat. Obs. 20. p. 60. 



| Provincial Medical Journal, Xov. 5. 1842, p. 113. 



