MALE ELEMENTS OF GENERATION 783 



albumin. Its reaction is faintly alkaline. It contains, in the human 

 subject, 100 to 1 20 parts of solid matter per 1000. 



The chemical constitution of the semen has not been thoroughly in- 

 vestigated and does not present the same physiological importance as do 

 its anatomical characters. Aside from the anatomical elements derived 

 from the testicles and the genital passages, it presents an organic sub- 

 stance (spermatin), which has nearly the same chemical characters as 

 ordinary mucin. It contains also a considerable quantity of phosphates. 

 During desiccation, elongated rhomboidal crystals make their appear- 

 ance, frequently arranged in groups, which are supposed to be derived 

 from the prostatic secretion and to consist of phosphoric acid combined 

 with an organic base, the formula for which, united with hydrochloric 

 acid, is C 2 H 3 NHC1. These are sometimes called spermatic crystals. 



In the dilated portion of the vasa deferentia, the mucous glands 

 secrete a liquid which is the first that is added to the spermatozoids as 

 they come from the testicles. This is brownish or grayish. It contains 

 epithelium and small rounded granules, which latter are dark and 

 strongly retractive. The liquid itself is very slightly viscid. In the 

 vesiculae seminales there is a more abundant secretion of grayish liquid, 

 with epithelium, small colorless concretions of nitrogenous matter, called 

 sympexions, and a few leucocytes. The glandular structures of the 

 prostate produce a creamy secretion with fine granules. It is chiefly 

 to the admixture of this liquid that the semen owes its whitish appear- 

 ance. Finally, as the semen is ejaculated, it receives the viscid secretion 

 of the glands of Cowper, a certain quantity of stringy mucus from the 

 follicles of the urethra, with perhaps a little of the urethral epithelium. 



Anatomically considered, the semen contains no important elements 

 except the spermatozoids, the various secretions just mentioned serving 

 simply as a vehicle for the introduction of these bodies into the gener- 

 ative passages of the female. 



Spermatozoids. The liquid taken from the vesiculae seminales of 

 an adult, who has died suddenly, or the ejaculated semen contains, in 

 addition to the various accidental or unimportant anatomical elements 

 that have been mentioned, innumerable bodies, resembling animalcules, 

 which present a flattened, conoidal head and a long, tapering, filamen- 

 tous tail. The number of spermatozoids in a single ejaculation has 

 been estimated at 221,257,900 (Lode). The tail is in active motion, and 

 the spermatozoids move about the field of view under the microscope with 

 considerable force, pushing aside little corpuscles or granules with which 

 they may come in contact. Under favorable conditions, particularly in 

 the generative passages of the female, the movements may continue for 

 several days. It is said, indeed, that they are always present and in 



