io Diseases of the Genital Organs 



the artery through the inguinal ring, parts there from it 

 and, curving upward, inward, and backward, finally ap- 

 proaches its fellow from the opposite side, passes above the 

 neck of the urinary bladder between or beneath the seminal 

 vesicles, and enters the urethra from above. It is reaily 

 palable per rectum in the horse and bull. 



2. The Vesiculae Seminales, Prostate, and 

 Cowper's Glands 



The subsidiary sex glands and appendages to the sex 

 organs of domestic animals show wide variations. Each 

 vesicula seminalis is formed as an outgrowth from the vas 

 deferens. In most animals the vesicle consists of a long, 

 intricately folded, coecal tubule which, when incised, ap- 

 pears like an acinous gland. In solipeds the structure as- 

 sumes the form of a vesicle similar in outline to the urinary 

 bladder. The two vesicles in the horse are oblong, about 

 six to eight inches long by two inches in diameter, their 

 anterior ends round. The posterior ends taper sharply to 

 their outlet. They lie side by side above the neck of the 

 urinary bladder and the termination of the vas deferens. 

 Their walls are thick and their mucosa richly supplied with 

 glands. The vesiculae secrete a thin mucoid fluid, presumed 

 to dilute the semen at the time of ejaculation. Ordinarily 

 the vesicle contains a small amount of this secretion, and 

 occasionally a few spermatozoa make their way into the 

 cavity, but the organ does not serve as a seminal reservoir 

 in any domestic animal. In the gelding the vesiculae some- 

 times suffer from catarrhal accumulation. When attempt- 

 ing to catheterize geldings, the catheter sometimes passes 

 into the dilated orifice of the vesicle and lodges, rendering 

 it difficult, and sometimes impossible, for the operator to 

 pass the catheter into the urinary bladder. 



In ruminants the vesiculae seminales are composed of 

 greatly elongated tubules so coiled as to give to the structure 

 the appearance of an acinous gland. In the bull (See 

 Figs. 5, 6, 7) the seminal vesicles are two oblong, nodular 

 bodies varying with the size of the animal from two to three 



