542 A MANUAL OF ANATOMY. 



its wall, they lie one and one-half inches posterior to the 

 prostate and two inches apart. Their course through the 

 bladder wall is very oblique, so that they issue only three- 

 fourths of an inch posterior to the internal opening of the 

 urethra and the same distance apart. 



The Vas Deferens. Figs. 92, 94, 103, 112, 84. 



One on each side. Conveys the seminal fluid from the 

 testicle to the seminal vesicles. It is about twenty-four 

 inches long and one-sixteenth of an inch in diameter. 



Starting from the globus minor of the testicle, it ascends 

 with the structures forming the cord through the external 

 abdominal ring, the inguinal canal, the internal ring, around 

 the deep epigastric artery. It now leaves the other structures 

 of the cord and runs inward across the psoas muscle and 

 external iliac vessels to the side of the bladder. In the ab- 

 domen it lies behind the peritoneum for its entire course to 

 the bladder. Descending along the posterior wall of the 

 bladder, it passes in front of the obliterated hypogastric 

 arteries and the ureter (between them and the bladder) to 

 the notch at the base of the prostate. In the last part of its 

 course it is between the bladder and the rectum. In the 

 prostatic notch the vas unites with the seminal vesicle to 

 form a single tube, the ejaculatory duct, which continues 

 through the prostate to open upon the floor of the urethra. 

 The length of the duct is about three-fourths of an inch. 



The one and one-half inch of the vas adjacent to the 

 prostate is dilated and receives the name of ampulla. See 

 page 420. 



The Uterus. Figs, no, in. 



The uterus is the reproductive organ of the female. It 

 varies in size with the age and condition of the individual. In 



