GENERATION. 



tlie trunk of the fpermatit. It defcench at an acute or half- 

 right angle, and goes in front of the vena cava, on the right 

 fide of the body $ but has been feen behind that vein. Its 

 courfe is ratlicr tortuous : joining the vein on the pfoas niuf- 

 cle, it defccnJs along the cord, and arrives at the tcftis in 

 t .vo branches. It gives off fmaU twigs to the renal capfule, 

 fit of the kidney, ureter, lumbar glands, and the cord itfelf. 

 _The_ area of the veilel, inftead of being diniinifhed by all 

 thefe branches, is rather increafed. Several ramifications 

 arc difpatchcd, below the ring, to the cremafter, tunica va- 

 ginalis; and cellular fubftance of the fcrotum. Ultimately 

 it is difcributed in numerous branches to the epididymis and 

 tcfticle ; thefe partly perforate the back of the albuginea, 

 and are employed in fupplying the pulpy fubllance of the 

 organ. Some of the ramifications communicate with branches 

 of the epigaftric artery. Smaller arteries come to the fper- 

 matic cord, or tcfticle, from the epigailric, or from the 

 circumflexa abdominis. The fcrotum, and its cellular fub- 

 ftance, receive twigs from the arteries of the tliigh. " Hence,'' 

 fays Haller, " tying the fpermatic arteries does not dellroy 

 the tcftis, on account of the fupply derived from the exter- 

 nal veffels ; but as thefe are very fmall, the venereal powers 

 of the organ are loft.'' Element. Phyfiolo:r. v. 7. p. 430. 



It has been afferted by many anatomifts, and fome of con- 

 fiderable celebrity, that the fpermatic arteries and veins com- 

 municated together : and Euftachiuehas drawn large commu- 

 nicating channels. That injection will fometimes pafs from 

 one order of thefe velfels into the other, when dexteroufly 

 impelled, is very true, and it holds equally good of other 

 parts ; but there is no more than the ordinary kind of com- 

 munication here. 



The fpermatic veins, like the arteries, are two in number : 

 the right ufually terminating in the front of the vena cava, 

 the left in the renal vein, either alone, or in conjunction with 

 the capfular, or a lumbar, or the hemiazyga. The left fperma- 

 tic may end in the vena cava ; or the right in the renal vein. 

 Sometimes the vein ends by two, three, or four branches in the 

 cava and renal vein. The fize of the veflel is very coniide/able 

 %vhen compared to that of the artery : its diameter being nearly 

 aline and a half. When the veffel lias reached the pioas mufcle, 

 it di\-ides into branches, which unite again, and give origin 

 to other ramifications, which alfo anaftomofe together, and 

 fo on : thus a large plexus of veins is formed, conftitul ing 

 the corpus pamplniforme, forming the chief bulk of the cord, 

 and incixaiing in fize as it approaches tl\e teftis. Branches 

 correfponding to thefe arteries, which arife from the fperma- 

 tic, join the vein- Valves are found in the fpermatic veins, 

 bat none at their terminations : the tendency to the forma- 

 tion of varices in thofe veiTels, fhews the necclfity for the ex- 

 iilence of valves. The veins of the fcrotum, derived from 

 the epigaftric, communicate with the fpermatic, and with 

 thofe of the penis. 



The abforbents of the tefticles are numerous and large, 

 but have not been long known. Nuck had demonftrated 

 them by inflating the Ipermatic veins ; and Monro rejefted 

 them when he had thrown quickfilver into the vas deferens. 

 Ho obferved four or five valvular veffels arifing from tTie 

 rete tclHs, and afcending the cord. Haller candidly admits 

 that he did not know much of them ; " In homine aliquo- 

 ties vidi majufcula, non tarnen valde numerofa, in funiculo 

 feminali cum venis afcendentia, valvulofa, ut tamen neque 

 origincm, neque finem fatis accurate viderem." (Elem. 

 Phyfiol. V. 7. p. 436.) Mr. Cniikfhank has given us the 

 moll: perfeft account of thefe veffels. " The abforbents of 

 the tunica vaginalis," fays he, " are eafily difcovered, lying 

 between the reftccliMii of that coat and the tunica albuginea. 

 Though they are thus fituated, I know that they belong 



equally to the boiiy of the teftlcle ; they are in great num- 

 bers, and I have fometimes covered the albuginea with ab- 

 forbents injefted with quickfilver ; perhaps there is not 

 any part of the body where the abforbents are larger or 

 more numerous, in proportion to the part, than tliey are 

 here. They foon leave the albuginea, and get upon the 

 cord, where they are joined by others, to be defcribed pre- 

 fently ; but the tunica vaginalis has alfo other abforbents, 

 upon the anterior and lateral pai-ts, which have not the leafb 

 connection with the body of the tefticle, nor witli the albugi- 

 nea, and which alfo foon blend with the former, on the begin- 

 ning of the cord. The abforbents, which arife out of the 

 rete teftis, are exceedingly large, and appear to have no con- 

 ncttion with its coats. A very beautiful preparation of thefe 

 veftcls I made at Windmill-ftreet, at leaft ten years ago : I 

 injefted tlie vas deferens with quickfilver, and had in view not 

 only the filling of the epididymis, but the tubuli teftis them- 

 felves. I had forced the mercury along the epididymis, and was 

 delighted to fee it get into the body of the tefticle ; the mer- 

 cury continued to defcend very quickly through tiie glafs m- 

 jefting tube, but I foon found that it was not running into the 

 tubuli teftis, but into fome vefiels, which mounted along the 

 cord : thefe I foon perceived v.-ere abforbents. I have alfo 

 injected them from every part of the epididymis, from its 

 fuperior extremity, from the middle, and from the lower 

 end. The abforbents, having reached the cord, form from fix 

 to twelve trunks or more ; fome of thefe arc fometimes 

 larger than a crow-quill : they do not appear to^ anaftoiViOfc 

 with one another as they pafs along the cord ; at firft tliey 

 run ftraight upwards, in the direftion of the ring of the ex- 

 ternal oblique mufcle ; after which they are bent upon them- 

 felves, and pafs a little way in the direction of the fpire of 

 the ilium ; after which they are bent as it were a fecond time 

 upon themfelves, and run over the anterior furface cf the 

 pfcas mufcle, and terminate at laft in the lumbar glandj. 

 The reafon of their termination, fo diftant from their origin, 

 will eafily occur to thofe who reflect that the original fitua- 

 tion cf the tefticle was at this place, and that it was natural 

 for it, like the other vifcera, to receive its blood-vcfi'els and 

 nerves from the neareft trunjis, and to return its abforbents to 

 theneareft glands." Anatomy of the abforbingVcffelsjp. 14c. 

 The nerves, like the blood-veffcls of this organ, arife from 

 the trunks contained in the abdomen, and have confequently 

 a long paffage to their ultimate deftination. They are rather 

 numerous th.an large. They are produced from the renal 

 plexus chiefly, with additions from the mefenteric and hy- 

 pogaftric plexufes, and from the trunk of the great fympa- 

 tlietic. They are clofely connedled to the veffels in the cord, 

 but can hardly be traced to the teftis. The fcrotum and cre- 

 mafter are fuj)plied by the lumbar nerves. Although the 

 teftis does not appear to poftefs acute fcnfibility, comprefTion 

 of the organ caules a pecuhar, dull, and intolerable fenfa- 

 tion, of the moft diftrefiing kind. 



Befides the parts juft enumerated, the cord contains the 

 vas deferens, wliich will be prefently noticed ; and the cremaf- 

 ter mufcle, which is defcribed under the article Cremasted, 

 A foft and loofe cellular fubftance unites together the parts 

 which have been juft mentioned ; it refenibles that of the 

 fcrotum in not containing fat generally ; but in corpulent 

 perfons fmall depofitions of adipous matter may be obferved 

 in it. It does not communicate witli that of tlic fcrotum, 

 as the fibrous covering of the cord is interpofed between 

 them ; and it is much lefs fubjedl than the latter to anafar- 

 cous affedlions. Indeed its qugintity is proportionally lefs 

 abundant. Yet in rare cafes it has been the feat of aqueous 

 infiltration, conftituting a very uncommon kind of hydrocele 

 of the cord : the latter complaint fiiews itfelf more frequent- 

 ly 



