570 



OPEEATIONS ON THE GENITO-UKINAEY APPAEATUS. 



existing. And if the penis is still allowed to pass out of the 

 sheath, the micturition is made with a crooked stream, which in- 

 stead of escaping forward is, on the contrary, discharged back- 

 ward. In such a case no treatment wiU relieve the difficulty but 

 the removal of the entire diseased structure. 



In fractures of the penis ; in many conditions of paraphymosis ; 

 or in those of paralysis, the organ hangs suspended outside of the 

 sheath, and cannot be restored to its cavity. If pushed back it 

 soon returns to its abnormal condition, and even if retained by 

 artificial means, will continue in place only while the means are 

 continued to enforce it, becoming displaced agaia whenever the 

 restraining agency ceases to operate. This serves to render the 

 animal useless, in consequence of its appearance being so repul- 

 sive as to preclude his employment in public view. Of course the 

 only radical cure for such an ailment is the knife or its equivalent. 



The operation usually consists in the removal of the free por- 

 tion of the penis, the necessity for going beyond this seldom 

 occurring, yet in order to reach the diseased part it is sometimes 

 necessary to divide the sheath along the median line. 



The general anatomy of the organ, as far as it relates to the 

 operation, is very simple. The penis it formed by the corpus 



Fig. 477.— Penia In Normal Condition. 



cavernosum, a long, erectile structure, flattened from side to side, 

 and grooved on its inferior border for the reception of the corpus 

 spongiosum urethrse. Terminated interiorly by a blunt point, 

 this coi-pus cavernosum dips into the erectUe tissue of the urethra. 

 After passing out of the pelvic cavity, by the ischial arch, the 

 spongious portion of this canal, is received into the groove of the 

 corpus cavernosum, at the anterior part, and also extends beyond 

 it. The mucous membrane is covered externally by the tissue 



