On the anatomy of the elk (Alces malchis) / by Morrison Watson and A.H. Young.

  • Watson, Morrison.
Date:
[1879]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: On the anatomy of the elk (Alces malchis) / by Morrison Watson and A.H. Young. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    the more remarkable, inasmuch as in other species of Cervidae the arrangement conforms to the general rule above stated. On either side of the veru montanum are two depressions which appear to be the openings of ducts. The absence of any glandular bodies appertaining to these, however, proved them to be merely super- ficial depressions of the mucous lining of the urethra. Cowper's Glands (PI. VII. fig. 6).—These are two in number, and are situated just behind the bulb of the urethra, being covered in part by the muscular fibres of that canal. Each is about the size of a garden-bean, and gives off a duct which opens into the bulbous portion of the urethra. Penis measures 11 inches in length, and is laterally compressed. It consists of two corpora cavernosa and a corpus spongiosum. The latter presents a well-marked bulb posteriorly, whilst ante- riorly it forms the glans (PI. VII. fig. 8). This body is conical in form, flattened from side to side, and on its under surface is a shallow groove in which is placed the urethral orifice. There is no vermiform terminal portion of the urethra, such as occurs in many Ruminants. The muscles of the penis comprise an erector, which is arranged in the usual manner, and two retractores penis, the origins of which had been unfortunately divided, so that they could not be identified. The muscles themselves form two rounded and slightly flattened bands which pass forward, one on either side of the penis, to be inserted by means of an aponeurosis into the dorsal aspect of that organ at the junction of its anterior and middle thirds. In the flaccid condition the glans is entirely re- tracted within the prepuce. The latter is provided with four muscles—two protractors aud two retractors. The protractors arise one on either side of the middle line from the abdominal aponeurosis midway between the xyphoid cartilage and the penis, and are inserted into the prepuce. The retractors arise, one on each side, from the abdominal aponeurosis in the inguinal region ; their fibres pass transversely inwards, and are inserted along with the protractors into the prepuce. The scrotum is non-pen- dulous, and between it and the prepuce on either side of the middle line are two rudimentary teats. The anterior of these is situated at a distance of 3| and the posterior 2^ inches from the middle line of the abdomen.
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