GENERATION. 



cal and furgical point of view. In addition to thefe we have 

 to notice, as containing^ good defcriplions and ufeful informa- 

 tion, the following more modern works. Girard's Appendix 

 adjefta tabulis pollhumis Santorini. Palletta nova guberna- 

 culi teftis Hunteriani et tunicse vaginalis anatomica defcnp- 

 tio. Mediolani, 1777. Brugnone de teftium in fcetu pofitu, 

 &c. Wrifberg obfcrvationes anatomies; de tefticuloriim ex 

 abdomine in fcrotum defcenfii, &c. in the Gottingcn com- 

 mentaries for 1778. Vicq d'Azyr recherclies fur la ilrr.iSiire 

 et la poiition des teiiicules, &c. in the Memoires de I'Acad. 

 dcs Sciences, annce 1780. Martin commentarius de hernioe 

 congenitx ortu, &c. in the Nova Ada Rig. Soc. Scient. 

 Upfal. V. 3. Sandifort icones hermce congenitx, Lugd. 

 Bat 1781, 4to. 



Until the approach of birth, tlie teftes of the foetus are 

 lodged within the cavity of t!-> abdomen, and may therefore 

 be i-eckoned among the abdominal vifcera. They ai-e fitu- 

 ated immediately below the kidneys, on the fore-part of the 

 pfox mufcks, and bv the fide of the rettiim, where this 

 jnteiline is pafiing down into the cavity of the pelvis ; for in 

 the fictus, the reft urn, which is much larger in proportion 

 to the capacity of the pelvis, than in the fuil-grown lubjeft, 

 lies before the lumbar vertcbrx, as well as before the facrum. 

 Indeed the cife is nearlv the fame with regard to all the 

 contents of the pelvis ; that is, their fituation is much .ligher 

 in the fcetus than in the adult ; the iigmoid flexure of the 

 colon, part of the redlum, the greatetl part of the bladder, 

 the fundus uteri, the Fallopian tubes, &c. being placed in 

 the foetus above the liollow of the pelvis, in the comnion or 

 great abdominal cavity. At this tin'.e the figure of the 

 gland is much the fame as in the adult, and its pofition is 

 the fame as when it is in the fcrotum, that is, one end is 

 placed upwards, the other downwards ; one flat f^de is to 

 the right, the other to the left ; and one edge is turned 

 backwards, the other forwards. But as the teitis is lefs 

 firmly connefted to the furrounding parts, while it is in the 

 loins, its pofition may vary a little. The moft natural feems 

 to be when the anterior edge is turned direftly forwards ; 

 but the lead touch will throw that either to the right Jide, 

 or to the left, and then the flat fide will be turned forwards. 

 It is attaclied to the pfoas mufcle all along its pollerior 

 edge, except juft at its upper extremity. This attachment 

 is formed by the peritoneum, which covers the telHs and 

 gives it a fmooth furface, in the fame manner as it envelopes 

 the other loofe abdominal vifcera. Tlie epididymis lies 

 along the outer and pofterior edge of the organ, in the fame 

 relative pofition, which it occupies at a more advanced age. 

 This part is larger in proportioo, and adheres behind to the 

 pfoas. When the foetus is very young, the adhefion of the 

 teftis and epididymis to the pfoas is very narrow, the part is 

 confequently more loofe and prominent. As its age ad- 

 vancees, the adhefion becomes broader and tighter. The 

 blood-veflcis, like thofe of moft parts of the body, com- 

 monly arife from the neareft large trunks ; inz. from the 

 aorta and cava, or from the emulgeats. The nerves too 

 come from the neareft fource ; that is, from the abdominal 

 plexufes of the intercoftal. In refpect, therefore, to its 

 fupply of nerves and of veffels, this organ may be reckoned 

 an abdominal vifcus ; and this circumilance of its ])eculiar 

 fituation before birth accounts for its being fupplied after- 

 wards from fo remote a fource. 



The vas deferens, inftead of running upwards from the 

 lower end of the teitis, as it does at a more advanced period 

 of life, goes downwards and inwards in it;; whole courfe ; it 

 continues, indeed, in the direftion of the epididymis. It 

 turns invaids from the lower end of that organ, behind the 

 upper extremity ef the gubernaculiim, wluch we fhall de- 



fcribe prefently ; then it goes over the iliac vefT Is, and the 

 iiifide of the pfoas mufcle, fomewhat higher than in the 

 adult, and pafTes afterwards, in the diredion already defcribed, 

 along the bladder. The cremafter mufcle turns upwards, 

 inftead of defcending over the pubcs, and feems to be loft 

 on the peritoneum near to the teftis. 



No fpermatic cord exifts at the time of life we are now 

 confidering. The arteries and veins of the teftis go behind 

 the peritoneum, connefted to it by loofe cellular fubftances. 

 and enter the fubftance of the organ at its pofterior edge, 

 where the peritoneum is reflected over it, juft as the veile!s 

 of the int^ftines pafs between the laminx of the inefenterv 

 or mefi)colon. The vas deferens alfo goes behind the perite- 

 neum from the teftis to the bladder. 



While it remains in the abdomen, the teftis is conncdted 

 in a very particular manner with the parietes of the cavity, 

 and with the fcrotum, at the place where the fpermatic vefTc'ls 

 pafs out. This coniieftion is by means of a fubftance, which 

 runs down from the lower end of the teftis to the fcrotum, 

 and which Mr. Hunter named the ligament, or gubernaculum 

 teftis, becaufe it connefts the organ willi the fcrotum, and, 

 as he conceived, direfts its courfe in its d-efcent. It has 

 been defcribed alfo under the names of ligamentum fufpen- 

 forium, bafis, and cylindrus. It is of a pyramidal form. ; its 

 largeft part is placed upwards, and tixed to the lower end of 

 the teftis and epididymis, while the lower and (lender extre- 

 mity is loft in the cellular membrane of the fcrotum. The 

 upper part of the gubernaculum is wiihin the abdome:;, 

 before the pfoas, and reaches from the teftis to the abdo- 

 minal mufcles. It runs into the fcrotum through the fame 

 opening that is afterwards occupied by the fpermatic veffeb, 

 and is there loft. That portion of it which is within the ab- 

 domen is covered by the peritoneum, except at its pofterior 

 part, which is contiguous to the pfoas, and connected with it 

 by the reflected membrane and cellular fubftance. Its co- 

 lour is white, and it may be diftinguilhed by this circum- 

 ilance from the tell is, which is of a reddi(h-grey. The 

 texture is foft, and has a fibrons vafcular appearance. " It 

 is covered," fays Mr. Hunter, " by the fibres of the cre- 

 mafter mufcle, which is placed immediattly behind the peri- 

 toneum : this is not eafily afcertained in the human fubjecl, 

 but is very evident in other animals, more efpecially in thofe 

 whofe tefticlcs remain in the cavity of the abdomen after the 

 animal is full grown.'' He obferves again, " that in the 

 human foetus, while the teftis is retained in the cavity of the 

 abdomen, the cremafter is fo fler.Jer, that I cannot trace it 

 to my own fatisfaftion, either turning up towards the teilis, cr 

 turning dov,n towards the fcroLuni." Th^ peritoneum, 

 whicli covers the teftis and its gubernaculum, is firmly united 

 to the furfaces of thofe two bodies ; but all around, that is, 

 on the kidney, tlie jifoas, the ihacus internus, and the lower 

 part of the abdominal mufcles, that membrane adheres very 

 Liofely. Where it is continued, or refledled from the abdo- 

 minal mufcles to the ligament of tiie teftis, it paflcs firft 

 downwards a little way, as if pafiiiig out of the abdomen, and 

 tlien upwards, fo as to cover mure of the ligament than what 

 is v.-ithiii the cavity of tlie abdomen. At this place the peri- 

 toneum is very loofe, thin in its fubftance, and of a tender 

 gel-'.iiious texture ; but all around the paftage of th^ liga- 

 ment it is conliderably tighter, thicker, and more firm. 

 When the abdominal mufcles are pulled up, fo as to tighten 

 or ilretch the peritoneum, tiiis membrane remains loofe at the 

 paftage of the ligament, while it is braced or tight all around ; 

 and in that cafe, the tight part forms a kind of border, or 

 edge, aroiTiid the loofe -doubled portion, where the teftis is 

 afterwards to pafs. If the pans are drawn towards the 

 abdomen, there is no appearance of .in aperture, or paftage, 

 li. 2 down 



