4 1 6 The Urethra 



spongiosum upon the front of the triangular ligament is the bulbous 

 portion. 



Though usually represented in diagrams as a hollow cylinder, the 

 urethra has its roof and floor closely approximated ; it thus forms a 

 long valve to the bladder. Tt possesses, when the penis is flaccid, two 

 curves, of which the concavity of the posterior is turned upwards and 

 of the anterior downward. The hinder of the curves is permanent ; 

 the other is obliterated when the penis is raised, the urethral curve 

 being then like that of an ordinary metal catheter. The fixed part 

 of the urethra is the more likely to be ruptured by injury. 







Wax cast of normal urethra : a, prostatic ; b, membranous ; c, spongy. (THOMPSON.) 



The prostatic portion of the urethra lies nearer the upper surface 

 of the gland. It is wide and dilatable, especially in the middle, and 

 readily admits the passage of the finger during lithotomy. Extending 

 along the floor is the vent montanum, beneath which a tunnel, the 

 sinus pocularis, runs from before backwards for nearly half an inch. 

 This sinus is the homologue of the uterus, and the common ejaculatory 

 ducts open within it, or upon its margins. On each side of the veru 

 the floor is grooved by a prostatic sinus, which receives the secretion 

 of about a dozen follicular glands. These glands are the chief source 

 of that fluid which escapes from the urethra during strained defaeca- 

 tion, or under the expulsive efforts of the levatores ani at the end of 

 micturition. The hypochondriac imagines it to be semen, but micro- 

 scopic examination shows it to be destitute of seminal filaments. On 

 the theory that involuntary seminal emissions may be the result of 

 irritation about the veru montanum, close to the opening of the common 

 ejaculatory ducts, it has been recommended that the small mucous 

 area be touched with a strong solution of nitrate of silver. This 

 speculative treatment has, in the practice of some surgeons, been 

 believed to produce satisfactory results. 



From the extension backwards of urethritis to the opening of the 

 common ejaculatory duct, or from its being bruised by the passage of 

 a catheter, or by an escaping fragment after lithotrity, inflammation 

 may extend along the vas deferens to the epididymis. That the trouble 

 is not ' metastatic orchitis ' is shown by the fact that the vas deferens 

 is tender and enlarged, whilst the body of the testicle is soft. Thus 

 the vas deferens may be enlarged to the size of a pen-holder. The 

 mild injection prescribed for a gleet should not be held accountable for 



