MALE ORGANS OF GENERATION. 



659 



Fig. 249. 



INTERNAL ORGANS OF GENERATION, 

 &c., in a foetal pig nearly four inches long. 

 From a specimen in the author's possession. 

 1, 1. Kidneys. 2, 2. Wolffian bodies. 3, 3. 

 Testicles. 4. Urinary bladder. 5. Intestine. 



direction, crossing the corresponding vas deferens a short distance 

 above its union with its fellow of the opposite side. Below this 

 point, the cord spoken of continues to run obliquely outward and 

 downward; and, passing through 

 the abdominal walls at the situa- 

 tion of the inguinal canal, is in- 

 serted into the subcutaneous tis- 

 sues near thesymphysis pubis. 

 The lower part of this cord be- 

 comes the gubernaculum testis ; and 

 muscular fibres are soon developed 

 in its substance which may be 

 easily detected, even in the human 

 foetus, during the latter half of 

 gestation. At the period of birth, 

 however, or soon afterward, these 

 muscular fibres disappear and can 

 no longer be recognized. 



All that portion of the excre- 

 tory tube of the testicle which is situated outside the crossing of the 

 gubernaculum, is destined to become afterward convoluted, and 

 converted into the epididymis. That portion which is situated in- 

 side the same point remains comparatively straight, but becomes 

 considerably elongated, and is finally known as the vas deferens. 



As the testicles descend still farther in the abdomen, they con- 

 tinue to grow, while the Wolffian bodies, on the contrary, diminish 

 rapidly in size, until the latter become much smaller than the tes- 

 ticles ; and at last, when the testicles have arrived at the internal 

 inguinal ring, the Wolffian bodies have altogether disappeared, or 

 at least have become so much altered that their characters are no 

 longer recognizable. In the human foetus, the testicles arrive at 

 the internal inguinal ring, about the termination of the sixth month 

 (Wilson). 



During the succeeding month, a protrusion of the peritoneum 

 takes place through the inguinal canal, in advance of the testicle ; 

 while the last named organ still continues its descent. As it then 

 passes downward into the scrotum, certain muscular fibres are given 

 off from the lower border of the internal oblique muscle of the 

 abdomen, growing downward with the testicle, in such a manner as 

 to form a series of loops upon it, and upon the elongating spermatic 

 cord. These loops constitute afterward the cremaster muscle. 



