GENERATION. 



vclTels, forms the body of the epididymis. As it defcends 

 along the back of the teflis, it increafes in diameter, and 

 at the fame time is proportionally lefs convoluted. In a 

 confiderably enlarged Hale, it is reficcled from the lower 

 end of the tellis, ilill a little convoluted at firft, but foon 

 forming a ftraight tube, called the vas deferens. By care- 

 fully dcllroying the cellular fubllance, which connedls to- 

 gether the conwcl'itions of this tube, we can demonllrate 

 the fcicls now mciitiontd concerning the llrufture of this 

 organ. In f Jch a proccfs the tube can be drawn out to a 

 furprifmg length, to iive ells, according to De Graaf, to 

 400 times the length of the epididymis in its natural llate, 

 according to Heuermann. Monro has taken great pains 

 in meafuring and calculating the dimenfions of this part : 

 he fmds the diameter of the tube, on an average, to be i-8oth 

 of an inch, its length 31 feet, and the number of its turns, 

 as it does not go in a ftraight direction at any part, for 

 more than i-3oth of an inch, 1 1,100. (De femine et tcftibus 

 in variis aninialibus, p. 31 and 32). As a further proof, that 

 the organ is made up of a fingle tube, we may obferve, 

 t'lut if we cut it acrofs while we continue to injetl quick- 

 fi'ver from the vas deferens, the fluid efcapes from one 

 oritice only, and when that is tied, no more runs out. 



Thus, the femeni, firft formed in the fraall ferpentine vef- 

 fels ftuLu/i tejl'is) which make up the pulpy mals of the tef- 

 ti.-, is depofited from ihcfe in the ftraight feminiferous tubes, 

 which convey it into the r^te vafculofum, placed at th? back 

 of the teltis, and connected to the albuginea, where it forms 

 the corpus Highmori. Hence it paScs through the vafa effe- 

 rentia, or excretoria teftis, about twelve in numb:r, wliich 

 perforate the albuglnea, at the upper end of the teilis, and 

 then form, in a convoluted ftate, the ferpentine vafcular 

 ^ones, which make up tiie caput epididymidis. Thefe urite 

 into a fingle fniaU tube, which, by its numerous turns, firll 

 forms the epididymis, and then ends in the vas deferens. Hal- 

 ler, Programma de vafis feminalibus, Gotting. 1 745 ; and in 

 Oper. minor t. 2. p. 5. 



From the origin of the convoluted tnbuli femin'feri, to 

 -the termination of the epididymis in the vas deferens, the 

 femen goes tiirough a feries of veiTels, wiiich are folded 

 16,860 times, and, if extended in a ftraight line, would ex- 

 ceed 42 feet in length. Monro, lib. cit. 



The fmaUncfs of thefe tubes prevents as fron-. afcertaiaing 

 their texture, or the nature of their fides. The tubuli teftis 

 poftefs confiderable firmnefs, as we may afcertain by extend- 

 ing them until they break, and by oblerving the column of 

 quickfilver which they fupport, when we injeft them; The 

 tube of the epididymis pofleflcs firm and firong fides, in 

 coraparifon to its cavity. 



A fmall tube, cither ftra'ght, or flightij^ convoluted, is 

 fometimes obferved to arife trom the epididymis, and afier 

 pafling to various diftances on the cord, to terminate in a 

 c'.il-de-fac. Its fize is equal to that of tiic tube of the epi- 

 didymis itfelf. This circjmftance was firft noticed by Hal- 

 ler, who ce.U-ed the veflcl vaJ:<Jum alcrrans. (Progr. de 

 .Tas. femindl ) He did not undertake to determine its termi- 

 nation or nature, ohferving that it proceeded along the 

 cord, *' incc-to fine; an lymphaticum :"'' The exiftence 

 of the vafculum aberrans has been confirmed by Monro, who 

 inicfted it m four out of fixtecn tefticles ; and he adopts the 

 opinion fuggeftetl by Haller, of its being a lymphatic. Mr. 

 Cruik^nank. ta!:esa different view of the matter. " It is," 

 fays he, " a lutus naturs, and either forms a cul-de-fac, or, 

 after many convolutions, returns back again upon itfelf, and 

 terminates v.here it began. It fometimes mounts four inches 

 upon the cord, and then terminates in a coccum, or blind 

 end Sometimes it is not a quarter of an inch in length. I 



Vot. XV I. 



have feen it convolute, like the epididymis itfelf ; from which 

 it could not be diftinguiflied, till, by maceration and dilTec- 

 tion, the cellular membrane had been removed. It may be 

 compared with the diverticulum ihi, fo frequently met with 

 in the human inteftines." Anatomy of the abforbing Vef- 

 fels, p. i4>. 



Vejfeh of the Tejl'icle : Spemmlk cord. — Under the inferior 

 extremity of the kidney, and about the middle of the pfoas 

 magnns mufcle, we obferve a fafciculus of blood-veflels, 

 lymphatics, and nerves, placed behind the peritoneum, and 

 connected to that membrane by a cellular fubftance : this is 

 the commencement of th* fpermatic cord. It defcends over 

 the pfoas mufcle, pafiing at the fame time rather outwards, 

 croffes the ureter, continues its courfe over the iliacus inter- 

 nus, and arrives at the upper opening of the abdominal ring. 

 Here it isincreafed by the accelTion of the vas deferens, from 

 the hde of the bladder. It now penetrates the upper aper- 

 ture of the ring, going under the inferior edge of the ob- 

 liquus internus, and tranfverfus abdominis : then it turn s 

 downwards and forwards in the canal placed between the tv.o 

 openings of the ring, covered in front by the aponeurofis of 

 the obliquus externus, and lying behind on the fafcia tranf- 

 verfalis. In this part of its courfe, it is further increafed 

 by the accefiloli of the creniaft-er mufcle. The cord finally 

 emerges through the opening in the tendon of tl;e obliquus 

 externus, and then turns fuddenly downwards ; lying not fo 

 much on the bone between the two columns of the ring, as on 

 the outer column itfelf, fo as to cover its infertion into the 

 pubes. Juft at the point, where the cord enters the abdo- 

 minal canal, it lies on tlie root of the epigaftric arterv. As 

 it is placed behind the peritoneum, in the whole of its defceat 

 from the loins to the abdominal ring, that membrane is not 

 perforated at the point where the cord leaves the abdomen. 

 Nor is there any fneath continued from the peritoneum, 

 along the cord, to the tunica vaguialis ; although fuch a 

 ftruclure has been afcribed to the human fubjeCt from tl:e 

 obfervation of animals, in which it is really found. In bu- 

 bonocele, mdeed, a membranous cavity, produced by a conti- 

 nuation of the peritoneum, lies over the cord ; but this is 

 difeafe : and in a particular period cf foetal cxifter.ce, there is 

 a canal leading from the abdomen to the tunica vaginalis, but 

 this is ordinarily clofed before birth. Neither is there any 

 foundation for the defcription of two layers of the perito- 

 neum, of which the ureter is faid tt. accompany tlie cord. 

 Efcaping through the opening in the tendon of theobliquui 

 externus abdominis, the cord defcends in a ftraight courfe 

 to the teftis, covered externally by the fibrous fti.eaths alrea- 

 dy defcribed, and growing rather larger as it approaches the 

 organ. Copious foft cellular fubftance, with very little fat, 

 connects together the component parts of the cord. 



Tiie fpermatic are the ckief arteries for fupplying the tef. 

 tes and their covering-. Thefe vefTels are the longeft in tht ir 

 courfe, compared to their diameter, of any in the bodv ; 

 they V\-ere known to the ancient phyficians, and called by 

 them the^Cm/W veffel;. They would probably have efcaped 

 the dihgence of the difteftor, had not the importance of the 

 part, which they fupply, been more sttendcd to, than the 

 fize of the tube. They arife, moft commohly, from the 

 front of the aorta, between the origiiis of the renal and in- 

 ferior mefenteric veflels ; either near together, or at 2 fmall 

 di ft ance from each otlier. Tliis is the cJe in iv.-enty-two 

 out of thirty-five inftances. They may arife from the aorta 

 higher or lower than the point which has bee;, mor.tionid. 

 Tlie arte.-y of the right fide fonietnnes comes from the right 

 renal ; but the left arifesmucii more commonly from the re- 

 nal artery, infomucli, t;;:>.t diis has been defcrii3ed as the ac- 

 cuftomed origin. Often a fmaller branch from the renal 'oinj 



D ' th.e 



