Observations on certain parts of the animal oeconomy : inclusive of several papers from the Philosophical transactions, etc. / by John Hunter ... ; with notes by Richard Owen.
- John Hunter
- Date:
- 1840
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: Observations on certain parts of the animal oeconomy : inclusive of several papers from the Philosophical transactions, etc. / by John Hunter ... ; with notes by Richard Owen. Source: Wellcome Collection.
Provider: This material has been provided by the National Library of Medicine (U.S.), through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the National Library of Medicine (U.S.)
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![appearance. The same observations are true, if applied to the crectores penis. The penis of the perfect male is of a sufficient length, when erected, to reach to the further end of the vagina of the female. In the castrated animal it is much shorter, and erections having then become unnecessary, the parts which should project often adhere to the inside of the prepuce. The erectores muscles in the perfect male are strong enough to squeeze at once the blood out of the crura into the body of the penis, so as to straighten and contract the urethra instantaneously, and the acceleratores urinas* have sufficient power to throw out the semen that is gradually accumu- lated at the bulb for ejection. The prostate gland,f Cowper's glands, and the glands along the urethra (of which the lacunas are the excretory ducts), are in the perfect male large and pulpy, secreting a considerable quantity of slimy mucus, which is salt to the taste; it is most probably for the purpose of lubricating those parts, and is only thrown out when in vigour for copulation : while in the castrated animal these are small, flabby, tough, and ligamentous, and have little secretion. From this account there appears to be an essential difference between the parts connected with generation of the perfect male, and those which remain in one that has been castrated, more especially if that operation had been performed while the animal was young. If it is objected that the same changes did not take place in the men from whom one testicle had been removed, it may be answered, that the operation was performed late in life : and one testicle being left, that was sufficient to carry on the necessary actions, and consequently to preserve the powers; therefore whatever parts * I shall call these muscles 'expulsores seminis,' as I apprehend their real use to be for the expulsion of that secretion: these muscles, likewise, throw out those drops of urine which are collected in the bulb from the last contractions of the bladder, and they have been, from this circumstance, named acceleratores urinae; but if a receptacle had not been necessary for the semen, those muscles had probably never existed, and the last drops of urine would have been thrown out by the action of the bladder and urethra, as in some measure is the case in the castrated animal. That the urethra has the power of contraction is evident upon the application of any stimulus, for I have seen the urethra refuse to allow an injection to pass on; and in that part where the injection stopped, a fulness was felt, which terminated at once: this contraction is most probably in the internal membrane; it also will often refuse the passage of a bougie. f The prostate gland is not common to all animals. . It is wanting in the bull, buck, and most probably, I believe, in all ruminating animals. In this class the coats of the vcsicula? are much thicker and more glandular, than in those which have prostate glands; it is therefore natural to suppose that the vesiculce answer nearly the same purposes as the prostate gland.a The prostate gland, and Cowper's glands, as well as the vesiculae, are vyantina in birds, in the amphibious animals, and in those fish which have testicles, as all of the ray kind. a [The glands in Ruminants here termed ' vesicular,' are now regarded as a bifid prostate.]](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b21131545_0034.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
