436 The Test is 



aorta ; the artery to the vas deferens, from one of the vesica arteries ; 

 and the spermatic veins, which communicate above with the inferior 

 vena cava, or (on the left side) with the renal vein. If the ligature be 

 tightly tied in a business-like way, with a clove-hitch and a half-hitch 

 over it, there will be no fear of the occurrence of bleeding within the 

 abdomen when the cord is retracted. 



The vesicuise seminales are convoluted and sacculated tubes, 

 about 2 in. long, placed, like the arms of the letter V, beneath the tri- 

 gone of the bladder. They lie to the outer side of the vasa deferentia, 

 and in front of the second piece of the rectum (v. p. 413), through which 

 they may be made out by digital examination ; they can best be 

 examined when the bladder is full and is pressing them towards the 

 bowel. They are enclosed in an offshoot of the recto-vesical fascia 

 (p. 363), and their base is in contact with the recto-vesical pouch of 

 peritoneum. During the passage of a bulky motion the pressure 

 against the vesiculae may cause the escape of some of their con- 

 tents per urethram, and, the occurrence being noticed by a nervous 

 man, he at once fancies that he is the subject of ' spermatorrhoea.' 

 The anterior extremity of the vesicula seminalis joins the vas 

 deferens to form the common ejaculatory duct, which tunnels 

 through the back of the prostate to open in, or upon the margin of, 

 the sinus pocularis. 



Placed between the bladder and rectum, the vesiculae depend upon 

 the inferior vesical and the middle haemorrhoidal vessels for their 

 supply ; a twig is also derived from the artery of the vas deferens. 

 Their nerves, which come from the hypogastric plexus, are in intimate 

 association with those of the adjoining viscera. The lymphatics com- 

 municate with the pelvic glands. 



THE ISCHIO-RECTAL FOSSA 



The ischio-rectal fossa is the pyramidal space between the ischium 

 and the rectum. Its base corresponds to the soft depression 

 at the side of the anus, whilst its apex reaches upwards to the 

 splitting of the pelvic fascia. It contains a considerable amount of 

 fat, which is much drawn upon in wasting diseases, so that a deep 

 hollow is then found on the surface. Its boundaries are internally 

 the rectum, the sphincter, and the levator ani, covered by the anal 

 fascia, as shown in the figure on p. 363, and, further back, a small 

 piece of the coccygeus ; externally are the ischial tuberosity, and 

 the obturator internus, covered by the obturator fascia, and the body 

 of the ischium. Behind are the tip of the coccyx and the great sacro- 

 sciatic ligament, over which lies the lower border of the glutens 

 maximus. In front is the base of the triangular ligament (v. p. 440). 



Even when the fat which occupies the fossa has been dissected 

 out, the finger cannot be passed through he apex of the space into 



