and consequently made less susceptible to the attacks of any venereal poison which may accidentally or otherwise come in contact with it. Thus exposed it is also less liable to irritations proceeding from chemical changes in the secretions of the glands and follicles. Before concluding my remarks regarding the penis, I should say that this organ is as it were an open door for the entrance of many of the diseases which affect the human race. It is so abundantly provided with absorbent vessels and so frequently brought in contact with unwholesome secretions, the system is often poisoned when no local disorder manifests itself. If it were made of ordinary sponge it could hardly be a better conductor of impure fluids directly to the circulatory system; and, if this fact were fully understood by the male portion of the human family, dens of harlotry would soon be closed up for want of patronage, and a man would as quickly bend to quench his thirst at a public sewer, as to visit the abode of the courtesan for the gratification of his amative appetite. The Scrotum and its Diseases. By turning back a few pages, and looking at Fig. 136, the location of this pendulous pouch which encases the testicles will be observed. As remarked before, some quite intelligent men think this is the bladder. All such persons should study the figure referred to attentively, and they will see that the location and offices of the scrotum and bladder are widely different and distinct. The scrotum consists of a wrinkled or corrugated pouch, the skin of which has the same structure as that of the other parts of the body, excepting that it is thinner, more delicate, and perhaps more sensitive. A small raised line begins at the root of the penis and extends back on the scrotum so as to divide it into two parts. This pouch is provided with numerous follicles, which bathe the parts with a sebaceous fluid which preserves their moisture and softness. Here is another reason why daily ablutions of the parts should be resorted to by every man to keep these secretions wholesome and free from rancidity and acrimony. The scrotum itself is only liable to such irritations, dropsical affections, etc., as may affect any part of the skin or cellular tissue, and I shall consequently forbear dwelling upon its diseases. The Testicles and their Diseases. Under this head I shall briefly refer to not only the structure and diseases of these glands, but to those of the spermatic cords, seminal conductors, vessels, etc. Very few men who carry about these important organs, know much about them. It is difficult to fully explain their structure without employing technical names which would not be understood by the non-professional reader. I will nevertheless try to avoid these, and give as correct an idea as I can without making it necessary for the reader to refer to the medical dictionary. The testicles are formed in the male babe in womb-life, immediately below the kidneys. This provision of nature is undoubtedly for the purpose of insuring their proper development, for if thus early lodged in the scrotum, they would be liable to contusions by the blind, unintelligent movements of the foetus, and to a deficient supply of blood if the spermatic arteries were thus early elongated. While nestling beneath the kidneys a cord proceeds from the lower part of each testicle, down through a canal, on each side of the abdomen, in the groin, to the scrotum or pouch which is to be their future residence. The lower ends of these cords are attached to the scrotum. Between the fifth and eighth month they gradually contract, and with their contraction the testicle on each side slowly descends. As the testicles descend, the peritoneum in the lower part of the abdomen, to which the cords described adhere, moves down on either side immediately in advance of the testicle, forming a pouch which becomes one of its permanent coatings. After its descent into the scrotum this portion of the peritoneum closes at the upper ring by adhesion, and this adhesion advances down the track of the spermatic cord, so that the testicles cannot again return to the cavity of the abdomen. The line of this descent is well marked by the spermatic cord, which is designated by 8 in Fig. 139. The journey of the testicles from their original location near the kidneys down to the pouch which becomes their future residence, is usually completed by the eighth month; but instances do occur wherein one or both never entirely leave the abdominal cavity, and others wherein they tarry in the groin. The detention of one or both within the abdomen, or in the inguinal canal in front of the groin, does not materially interfere with their functions, and hence there are men who are the progenitors of healthy children, who, to all external appearances, are without testicles. The same fact exists in the case of men in whom only one of the glands has descended. Unless therefore the testicles have made their appearance in the scrotum and been removed by disease or the surgeon's knife, no one having this defect need be apprehensive of inability to perform all the du Fig. 188. ties of a husband, nor think himself incapable of becoming a father. The testicles do not obtain their full size till about what is usually called middle age, at which time their average dimensions are about an incă and a half in length, and an inch wide and three-quarters of an inch thick. The right testicle is usually a little larger and is held a little higher in the scrotum than the left one. The annexed cut, Fig. 138, represents the internal structure of one of these glands, and the ducts, etc., leading from it. Those lobes, presented one above another, are composed of convoluted tubes and they connect with ducts which terminate in two canals which conduct the secretions of the testicles to the seminal vessels, as will be explained by and by. These seminiferous ducts in the testicle are only about one two-hundreth part of an THE INTERNAL STRUCTURE OF inch in diameter, and when unraveled and drawn out are nearly a mile long! THE TESTICLE. Let us look for a minute at the wonderful complexity of the procreative machinery of man. Along the track of the descent of the testicle on each side of the body, there passes down what is called a spermatic cord, which consists of an artery and veins and lymphatic vessels and nerves. (See 8 in Fig. 139.) The artery is about the size of a crow's quill. This conveys to the testicle the blood from which the gland with all its peculiar mechanism secretes and generates the vital elements of the semen. As before remarked, many imagine that in coition, at the climax of excitement, the testicles inject the semen directly up into and through the urethra. This is not so at all. As the testicular glands make their secretions, they pass them up through a canal called the vas deferens on each side. These Fig. 139. canals have an outer coating like cartilage, but their linings are composed of mucous membrane and their orifices are only large enough to admit a bristle. They ascend with the spermatic cord till they enter the cavity of the abdomen, when they curve over each side of the bladder and bend down and connect with the seminal vessels. (Pause a few moments and look over Fig. 139 with its explanations.) Instead therefore of the testicles participating at all in the sexual act, they are comparatively at rest, and at the climax of amåtive excitement, their secretions which have been accumulated in the spermatic vessels, are propelled outward by what are called ejaculatory ducts, and passing the prostate and Cowper's glands are mixed with the secretions of these, which contributions add considerably to the volume of the semen. Propelled by the ejaculatory ducts and the simultaneous spasmodic contractions of the urethra, the seminal fluids are emitted with much force in distinct jets from the mouth of the urethra. Considering the complexity of the male organs of generation and the abuses to which they are thoughtlessly subjected, it is not surprising that they are often affected by disease. 7 MALE ORGANS. 1. One of the testicles. 2. Stands above one of the tubes called the vas deferens (the white line), where it leaves the spermatic cord, and conveys the semen to the seminal vessels marked 8. This tube runs with below 2, when it strikes off by itself and dips the spermatic cord till it reaches the point just down to the spermatic vessels marked 3. Venereal excesses on the part of the male, are much more disastrous than those on the part of the female. The reason for this is that the spermatic secretions are composed of the most vital properties which the blood is 4. The penis with the urethra passing through it; 5, one of the kidneys; 6, one of the ureters the bladder; 7, the bladder; 8, the spermatic which conveys the urine from the kidneys to cord; 9, the aorta from which the testicle derives its supply of blood; 10, the rectum. the blood favoring tumorous or cancerous developments, in conse quence of which the discriminating eye and touch of the experienced physician should be sought in all such cases if the patient would avoid mistakes and the possible ultimate necessity of castration growing out of neglect or maltreatment. Seminal Weakness. This disease is technically termed Spermatorrhoea, and is usually the offspring of masturbation or self-abuse, although occasional in Fig. 140. stances are met with in which the difficulty was unquestionably inherited from the father. It exhibits itself locally by involuntary discharges of the seminal fluids through the orifice of the penis, or, more properly speaking, from the urethra. In the advanced stages of the disease there is also a wasting away of one or both of the testicles. In the illustrations, Fig. 140, A represents a healthy testicle, and B one which has become wasted by masturbation and seminal weakness. I am almost daily called upon by young men who ask if it isnot perfectly natural to have involuntary nocturTHE TESTES, IN HEALTH AND DISEASE, nal emissions occasionally-say once in A represents one in health; B, one wasted by masturbation. a week or two. They have been so informed by their physicians! Such young men are excusable perhaps as they have not had opportunities of knowing better; but it is disgraceful for any man laying claim to a knowledge of physiology to make such an assertion. It is too true that men who are in the habit of cutting up dead bodies, know too little of living ones. Good anatomists are not always astute physiologists. Those who are reputed to be expert surgeons are apt to be the poorest physicians, and really seem incapable of giving any commonsense advice on subjects like the one under consideration. Only recently one of our most eminent surgeons, in a lecture before the Young Men's Christian Association, stated that involuntary emissions were inevitable occasionally, unless prevented by living in |