The Variations in the Mucin Content of the Bulbo-Urethral Glands. 19 



twelve to nineteen later : these probably all died from an incomplete, 

 — at any rate anatomically — , lesion of one or both pudic nerves 

 which are in close association with the glands in guinea-pigs: one of 

 these had a plug of vesicular secretion in the posterior urethra with 

 the urethra behind it, the bladder and both ureters dilated: the other 

 two both had vesicular secretion in the bladder or urethra, which ap- 

 peared to have been there before death, but there was no evidence 

 of urinar^^ obstruction: in these two, one or both perinaeal folds were 

 flaccid, indicating an injury to the pudic: this was not looked for in 

 the first of the three. It is therefore certain, in these animals Cowper's 

 glands are not necessary for the performance of fertile coitus and pro- 

 bable, that their removal has no influence on it : in both cases five out 

 of six is a fairer proportion of the animals that bred than five out of 

 ten, since four rats and one guinea-pig appeared too old to breed and 

 three guinea-pigs died as an indirect result of the operation. In no case 

 did any compensatory hypertrophy of the prostate or vesiculae sémi- 

 nales occur. ■ 



Conclusions. 



(i) The glandular epithihum of Bartholin's glands in cats becomes 

 rich mucin in shortly before oestrus and in the last half of pregnancy. 



(ii) Secretory fibres to this gland are contained in both the hypo- 

 gastric and pelvic visceral nerves, but not in the pudic. The ganglia 

 are situated peripherally in both cases. The hypogastric alone con- 

 trols the secretion of mucin. Cowper's glands are probably innervated 

 in the same way: the hypogastric certainly has the same influence: 

 this applies also to the glands of the guinea-pig and rat. 



(iii) Castration in adult life in the guinea-pig has only a very slight 

 effect in diminishing the mucin content of each individual cell, in the 

 rat this is fairly marked though the cells still contain mucin, while in 

 the cat it is probably much more marked still. 



(iv) Double ovariotomy in adult cats produces a diminution in 

 the size of Bartholin's gland and an almost complete abolition of mucin 

 in the cells. 



(v) Removal of Cowper's glands in rats and guinea-pigs has no 

 effect on their breeding powers. 



2* 



