or THE BLADDER AHD PROSTATE. 
35 
( Jck ). The superficial and median fibres are continued into, and are principally 
concerned in the structure of the uvula and verumontanum (s). The deeper oblique fibres, 
which also assist in forming those structures, are mixed up with the very oblique or 
circular fibres of the prostate (Plate IV. figs. 25 & 26, n ). They converge towards and 
cross at the verumontanum as in the letter X, so that the sinus pocularis is surrounded 
by fibres which radiate in every direction. This arrangement is useful in maintaining the 
relative position of the glandular ducts which open at this point. The verumontanum, 
as will be seen from this description, is essentially a muscular structure. It however 
contains, as Kobelt pointed out, a small quantity of erectile tissue, and in this many of the 
fibres terminate. The uvula and median ridge in the female and the caput gallinaginis 
in the male are analogous in structure, and both are connected with the ureters at their 
junction in the median line. While, therefore, the ureters are continuous with and 
drag upon each other directly (Plate IV. diagram 7, v z ), they are continuous with and 
drag upon the median ridge (a 1 ) and verumontanum ( s ) indirectly. This is important, 
as the ureters act against each other, and the two together tend to elevate or raise the 
median ridge and verumontanum during contraction. The shape of the verumontanum, 
on which its uses to a certain extent depend, is that of an inverted pyramid, the base of 
the pyramid being turned towards the base of the prostate. Its narrow end is conse- 
quently directed downwards and forwards. It is attached by one side of the pvramid 
to the posterior wall of the prostatic portion of the urethra, the two sides which are 
free terminating in a well pronounced crest. As the prostatic portion of the urethral 
canal is triangular in form (Plate IV. diagrams 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, & 17) and fitted 
upon or to the verumontanum so closely that water cannot be passed even in the dead 
bladder without exercising a considerable degree of pressure, it is not difficult to 
perceive that in the living organism, when the parts are injected with blood, the 
obliteration must be very complete. The urine moreover by its own w 7 eight will tend 
to force the wedge formed by the verumontanum in a downward direction, the circular 
fibres of the sphincter and its own structure and connexions confining the wedging 
within certain limits. When the bladder contracts, the longitudinal fibres, which 
connect the verumontanum with the ureters where they meet in the mesial line, have 
the effect of elevating or withdrawing the wedge and thus assist in rendering the orifice 
of the- urethra patent *. Sabatier speaks of the verumontanum as the gate-keeper of 
the prostatic portion of the urethra. 
In giving this explanation of the action of the verumontanum, I am aware that the 
office hitherto assigned to it is that of checking the reflux of the seminal fluid into the 
bladder. The semen, however, is passed so seldom when compared with the urine, that 
this must be regarded as a secondary rather than a primary function. In the female, 
moreover, where no corresponding action can be performed, a median ridge or modified 
verumontanum can be detected. The uneasy feeling experienced by the patient when 
* The longitudinal fibres referred to are fully an inch and a half in length, so that their elevating power 
must he very considerable. 
F 2 
