URETHRA. 



1253 



rise them. In their natural condition they 

 are rounded, or nearly so, and equal in size 

 to an ordinary pea. Solid and resisting to the 

 feel, they are of a palish red colour, and dis- 

 tinctly conglomerated, or composed of small 

 lobules. The lobules of the glands are con- 

 nected together by cellular membrane, and by 

 their efferent ducts. The glands are sur- 

 rounded by a strong capsule of fibrous mem- 

 brane. On section they present an appear- 

 ance like the pancreas, and are composed in- 

 ternally of elongated cellular follicles, which, 

 according to Krause, vary from the 50th to 

 the 25th of a line in length, and are about the 

 36th of a line in breadth. Some of tbese 

 follicles equal in size a 16th or 25th of a line. 

 They unite into slender ducts of about the 

 18th or 16th of a line in diameter; these 

 usually coalesce into a single excretory duct. 

 The excretory duct of each gland is occa- 

 sionally double : the ducts run parallel for the 

 distance of half an inch beneath the mucous 

 membrane of the bulb, and approaching each 

 other, they pierce the urethra by two exceed- 

 ingly minute orifices, which are scarcely distin- 

 guishable : the best mode of demonstrating 

 the openings of the ducts is gently to press 

 the mucous membrane forwards with the 

 handle of a scalpel, when a small quantity of 

 secretion contained in them will escape, and 

 indicate their termination on the mucous 

 membrane. 



Each gland receives a branch from the 

 artery of the bulb, and its veins terminate in 

 the pudic vein. 



It is impossible to collect any quantity of 

 the secretion of Cowper's glands sufficient 

 for chemical analysis. According to Krause, 

 the fluid is somewhat similar to that secreted 

 by the prostate ; it is of a viscid character, 

 transparent, containing floeculi and small 

 granulations, probably the detritus of epithe- 

 lial cells, varying in size from the 900th to 

 the 370th of a line, the greater number being 

 about the 455th of a line. 



Comparative anatomy. As there is so little 

 of a satisfactory nature known about the use 

 of Cowper's glands in man, it may not be un- 

 interesting to examine their condition in the 

 animal kingdom generally. To elucidate this 

 part of the subject, I select the following 

 observations from the Le9ons d'Anatomie 

 Comparee of Cuvier. 



According to Cuvier, Cowper's glands exist 

 in all the Quadrumana and Cheiroptera, and 

 amongst the Feres they are found in the ichneu- 

 mon, in the civet, hyena, cats ; in the Rodentia, 

 except the hare ; also in the Pachydermata, 

 most of the Ruminants, and all the Marsupiata, 

 They are absent in the Inscctivora, the bears, 

 the racoon, otter, and marten, and in the dog. 

 Amongst the Ruminants, they are wanting in 

 the deer; they are absent in the Solipeds, 

 Pkoci, the amphibious Quadrir ernes, and the 

 Cetacca. It will be found that they often co- 

 exist with the prostate and vesiculse semi- 

 nales, or with these and the vesiculae acces- 

 soria3, or with the prostate alone. 



In the flesh-eating opossum, they are the 

 only accessory glands, and they appear essen- 

 tial to this division of the Marsupiata. 



In structure they vary considerably, but 

 may all be arranged under one or two heads. 

 Thus like the prostate, in some animals, 

 there is a large reservoir in the centre of each 

 gland, from which the excretory duct arises ; 

 whilst in others the gland is composed of a 

 number of minute follicles, all terminating in 

 one common excretory duct. 



In the squirrels and marmots they are large 

 and vesicular, and were mistaken for vesiculae 

 seminales. The fluid which they contain is 

 semi-transparent, or of a bluish, opaline ap- 

 pearance, of the consistence of starch, and it 

 is poured into the bulbous portion of the 

 urethra by a single orifice. They are com- 

 pletely surrounded by a muscular or musculo- 

 membranous envelope. 



In the ape tribe they are proportionally 

 much larger than in man. In the mantis they 

 are remarkable in size. Their excretory ducts 

 run close together prior to their termination. 



In the bat, amongst the Cheiroptera, they 

 are very large. 



In the dismar of Russia they are elongated, 

 and bent in the form of the knee. 



In the hedgehog they are broad and round 

 composed of a number of straight, short 

 tubes, lying parallel, and dividing into a num- 

 ber of exceedingly small ramuscules. The tubes 

 unite into a single canal, which opens into 

 the pelvic portion of the urethra. 



In the civet and cat they are large, and 

 enveloped in a thick muscular layer ; but, 

 amongst the Carnivora, they are largest in the 

 hycena ; the lobes and branches of their 

 secreting tubes are exceedingly distinct and 

 large. 



The anti-prostate glands of the ichneu- 

 mon form a remarkable swelling at the com- 

 mencement of the bulb; they are rounded, 

 and composed of vesicules communicating 

 together ; these unite into a single canal in 

 each gland, which passes beneath the penis, 

 and opens separately into a cul-de-sac, into 

 which the urethra opens. They are sur- 

 rounded by an aponeurotic and muscular 

 layer. 



There is a similar structure in the marmot; 

 they are shaped like a club, the broad end folded 

 upwards against the handle, which contains the 

 duct ; the mass is divided into a number of 

 glandular cells. The excretory duct opens into 

 a cul-de-sac, hollo wed out in the bulb: this con- 

 tracts into a narrow canal, which opens into 

 the urethra, near the middle of the penis. 



In the rat they are of large size, whitish 

 externally, and pyriform in shape. In the 

 agouti they are broad, rounded, and very 

 vascular. 



In the guinea-pig they are more rounded, 

 but of the same structure. 



They are spherical, and situated behind 

 the acceleratores arising in the gerboa de 

 Mauritanie, and pyramidal in the gerboa de 

 Schaw. They are broad and rounded in the 



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