Physiologic Anatomy of the Male Sexual Organs

Physiologic Anatomy of the Male Sexual Organs

Figure 80–1A shows the various portions of the male reproductive system, and Figure 80–1B gives a more detailed structure of the testis and epididymis. The testis is composed of up to 900 coiled seminiferous tubules, each averaging more than one half meter long, in which the sperm are formed. The sperm then empty into the epididymis, another coiled tube about 6 meters long. The epididymis leads into the vas deferens, which enlarges into the ampulla of the vas deferens immediately beforethe vas enters the body of theprostate gland.

        Two seminal vesicles, one located on each side of the prostate, empty into the pro-static end of the ampulla, and the contents from both the ampulla and the seminal vesicles pass into an ejaculatory duct leading through the body of the prostate gland and then emptying into the internal urethra. Prostatic ducts, too, empty from the prostate gland into the ejaculatory duct and from there into the prostatic urethra.

        Finally, the urethra is the last connecting link from the testis to the exterior. The urethra is supplied with mucus derived from a large number of minute urethralglands located along its entire extent and even more so from bilateral bulbourethral glands (Cowper’s glands) located near the origin of the urethra.