218 ANATOMY OF THE ABDOMEN, ETC. 



of the abdomen being obliterated, it forms a separate shul 

 sac, called the tunica vaginalis. 



In the adult, as well as in infants, there is constant!; 

 found, near the point where the testicle and epididy mil- 

 become continuous, a small cellule-fibrous and fatty body 

 the size of a pea, covered with serous membrane, an< 

 evidently analogous to the appendices of other serous 

 membranes, especially of the peritoneum ; it is sometime* 

 pediculated, and at others consists merely of a little mem- 

 branous fold. This is called the appendix of the testicle. 



The testicle should be examined by following ont the vas deferens 

 till it is lost in the epididymis, and then by tracing that body to its con- 

 nection with the main part of the gland, removing with the scissors 

 all the cellular tissue which surrounds it. The close adherence of 

 the parts to each other makes the dissection a slow one. 



The TESTES are oval glands, suspended in the scrotum 

 by the spermatic cord ; the left is usually larger and 

 placed lower than the right. Along its posterior side, 

 close to that part at which the tunica vaginalis is reflected 

 to the testicle, is a long narrow body, called the epididy- 

 mis. The lower part of this is continuous with the vas 

 deferens, which turns and is reflected upward beside the 

 epididymis, being tortuous at first, but subsequently be- 

 coming straight as it unites with the other elements of the 

 spermatic cord. 



The dissection will show that besides the serous coat, 

 the testicle has also a fibrous coat of a pearly aspect, called 

 the tunica albuginea ; this not only preserves the shape of 

 the gland but sends processes into its interior for its further 

 support ; one of these, larger than the rest, lies along the 

 posterior aspect of the gland, and is called the mediastinum 

 test is. 



The substance of the testicle is a pulpy mass, made u] 

 of lobules composed of the convoluted tubuli seminiferi, 

 which, if seized by the forceps, may be drawn out in long 

 threads. The lobules all converge towards the mediasti- 

 num, where their tubuli unite and, becoming larger, con- 

 tinue to the upper end of the testis, and finally terminate 

 in the vas deferens. Sometimes there is an offset from the 

 vas deferens or from the lower part of the epididymis, con- 

 sisting of a prolongation of the tubuli, extending up the 

 cord and terminating in a blind extremity ; it is called the 

 vasculum aberrans of -Holler. 





