DISSECTION OF THE PERINiEUM IN THE MALE. 27S 



its serous covering. It passes vipwards through the inguinal canal, in 

 which its connections will be observed at a later stage. 



The Spermatic Vessels. The spermatic artery is an important vessel 

 from the haemorrhage to which it may give rise in castration. It it 

 placed in the anterior part of the cord, and in a well-injeoted subject its 

 remarkably convoluted disposition will be evident without dissection. 

 The spermatic veins accompany the artery. They are large and tor- 

 tuous. 



The Vas Deferens is the excretory duct of the testicle, and is placed 

 at the posterior part of the spermatic cord, where it may be seen and 

 felt as a thick, firm tube. 



Directions. — The student, having identified these different elements oJ 

 the cord, may practise the operation of castration by any one of th( 

 common methods, taking care to sever the spermatic cord just above th« 

 epididymis, at the upper border of the testicle. The cord is to be lefi 

 in the inguinal canal. 



the testicle and EPIDIDYMIS (PLATES 46 AND 47). 



The Testicle is the gland that secretes the semen — the male fertil- 

 izing fluid. In form it is ovoid. Its faces, right and left, are smooth 

 and rounded; its inferior border is slightly convex and free; its uppei 

 edge is nearly straight, and is related to the epididymis. Its anterioi 

 extremity shows below the globus major of the epididymis a small cyst 

 like body — the pedunculated hydatid of Morgagni. 



The Epididymis is made up of the convolutions of the excretory tube 

 of the testicle. It presents anteriorly an enlargement termed ths 

 gldbus major, and posteriorly a lesser enlargement teriued' the yfoSw; 

 rrdnw, the intermediate part being called the hody. At the globvis 

 minor the tube loses its convoluted disposition, and is continiied as the 

 vas deferens, which, as already seen, becomes one of the constituents o) 

 the spermatic cord. 



Structure. The testicle has >for its most external investment the 

 tunica vaginalis propria. This, as already explained, is a serous mem- 

 brane which passes on to the testicle from the cord, and is continuous 

 with the peritoneum at the upper opening of the inguinal canal. It is, 

 as it were, the visceral part of a serous membrane, the tunica vaginalis 

 reflexa — the inner lining of the bag in which the testicle lies free — 

 being the parietal portion of the same membra,ne. This covering is 

 thin and transparent^ and closely adherent to the next covering — the 

 tunica albuginea. The tunica albuginea is a complete envelope, of dense, 

 lamellated connective-tissue, containing some fibres of non-striped 

 muscular tissue. Towards the upper and anterior part of the testicle, a 

 strong process from the tunica albuginea passes into the interior of the 

 gland. This is termed the corpus Highmori, or mediastinum testis; and 



