976 



MALE ORGANS OF GENERATION. 



The seminal granules are rounded colourless corpuscles, having a granular aspect. 

 They average about ^^ th of an inch in diameter, and may be allied to mucus- 

 corpuscles. 



Fig. 681. 

 A. B. 



Fig. 681 A. SPERMATIC FILAMENTS FROM TIIK 

 HUMAN VAS DEFERENS (from Kolliker). 



1, magnified 350 diameters ; 2, magnified 800 

 diameters ; a, from the side ; b, from above. 



Fig. 681 B. SPERMATIC CELLS AND SPERMA- 

 TOZOA OP THE BULL UNDERGOING DEVELOPMENT 



(from Kolliker). ^ 



1, spermatic cells with one or two nuclei, one 

 of them clear ; 2, 3, free nuclei with spermatic 

 filaments forming ; 4, the filaments elongated 

 and the body widened ; 5, filaments nearly fully 

 developed. 



Fig. 681 C. ESCAPE OF THE SPERMATOZOA FROM 

 THEIR CELLS IN THE SAME ANIMAL. 



1, spermatic cell containing the spermatozoon 

 coiled up within it ; 2, the cells elongated by the 

 partial uncoiling of the spermatic filament ; 3, 

 a cell from which the filament has in part become 

 free ; 4, the same with the body also partially 

 free ; 5, spermatozoon from the epididymis with 

 vestiges of the cell adherent ; 6, spermatozoon 

 from the vas deferens, showing the small enlarge- 

 ment, b, on the filament. 



The spermatozoa are peculiar particles, which, during life and for some hours after 

 being removed from the testicle, perform rapid vibratory or lashing movements. Each 

 consists of a flattened oval part or so-called body, and of a long slender filiform tail. 

 The body is about ^Vo^ f an mc ^ ^ n w i ( l tn > and the entire spermatozoon is from 

 r7 J- fl th to 4 o th of an inch in length. The body often contains a minute spot, and, at 

 its junction with the narrow filament or tail, there is frequently a slight projecting 

 fringe or collar. The spermatozoa are developed like nuclei in the interior of the 

 spermatic cells, the cells subsequently becoming enlarged into transparent vesicular 

 bodies of considerable size, in which one or several spermatozoa may be seen. Some- 

 times a group of cells, each containing a single spermatozoon, is seen enclosed within a 

 parent cell. The spermatozoa are not normally found free until they reach the rete testi*. 



(Wagner and Leuckart, Article "Semen " in Cyclop, of Anat. and Phys. ; Kolliker 

 in Handbuch). 



