Testicle

“ The first indication of the approach of the last-named affection is a slight sense of fulness in the testicle, generally the left first, although occasionally in the right, sometimes one after the other, but rarely both together: a smart twinge is now and then felt in the back upon making any particular movement: the testicle becomes sensibly larger and more painful, the chord swells also and feels like a hardened cord in the groin: the patient is soon incapacitated from walking, or walks very lame ”

“ The testicles are two kidney shaped glands, not far from the size of a large hickory nut, and are contained in a sort of sack, or pocket, called the scrotum, which is made for their comfortable and safe carrying. The scrotum hangs directly between the thighs, at the base of the penis, and in it are the testicles, suspended by vital cords that are suspended from the body above. The left testicle hangs a little higher in the sack than the right, so that, in case the thighs are crowded together, one testicle will slip over the other, and so the danger of crushing them will be avoided. ”

“ The testes, or testicles, are a pair of flat, oval-shaped bodies, about one-and-a-half inches in length, enclosed in a sac of thin muscular tissue called the scrotum. The average weight of a testicle is about half an ounce. Its function is to prepare the principle elements of the sexual secretion, or semen, of which the most vital constituents are the spermatozoa. ”

“ In the walls of the seminiferous tubules the spermatozoa are formed. The seminiferous tubules unite to form the efferent ducts (vasa efferentia) , about a dozen in number for each testicle; immediately passing out of the testicle, these efferent ducts make up the epididymis, situated at the upper and back part of the testicle. After numerous convolutions, these unite at length on each side to form a single canal, which leaves the epididymis under the name of the vas deferens; this is the excretory duct of the testicle, conveying the secretion of that organ to the exterior. ”

“ When the patient is a strong man and the disease greater, the testicle is not to be removed, but is to be allowed to remain in its place. It is accomplished in this manner: the groin being opened with a scalpel, in the same manner, down to the middle tunic, it is to be seized with two hooks, so that an assistant may prevent the testicle from falling out at the wound ”

“ At the moment when the testicle forms an acute angle with the cord, the thumb of the left hand, resting upon the cord, comes into action to aid in the displacement by making a point d’appui upon the inferior extremity of the organ, which now occupies the superior position, in such a manner that the spermatic gland is placed parallel with the cord. The manipulations are completed by pushing the testicles upwards towards the inguinal ring, to break [64] up whatever adhesions of cellular tissue may remain. ”

“ It is an anatomical fact that one testicle is generally placed somewhat higher than the other, and it is also a very old, but, nevertheless, still surviving, superstition that one testicle generates a boy and the other a girl. ”

“ They furnish the male seed. They are supported by what is called the Spermatic Chord, which consists of the spermatic artery that supplies the testicle with arterial blood, whence the semen is concocted; the veins that return the superfluous blood, and the tube that conveys the semen to the urethra. The testicles are [15] very liable to inflammation, and particularly to changes resulting from the wear and tear of human life—changes that not simply produce pain or inconvenience, but those whereby the power of the organs becomes partially if not wholly lost. ”

“ Much more frequent than absence of the testicle, though still sufficiently rare, is the condition of cryptorchism, non-descent of one or both testicles, a state not necessarily associated with functional incapacity of the organ. Most commonly, however, an undescended testis is an imperfectly developed testis, and in the very great majority of cases the ejaculated fluid contains no spermatozoa. ”

“ In this connection Russell speaks of a man whose testicle was elevated every time the east wind blew, which caused him a sense of languor and relaxation; the same author describes a man whose testicles ascended into the inguinal canal every time he was in the company of women.
Inversion of the testicle is of several varieties and quite rare, it has been recognized by Sir Astley Cooper, Boyer, Maisonneuve, Royet, and other writers. ”

“ Other diseases of the testicle will be treated upon under a specific head.
To return to the treatment of Gonorrhœa:—On the abatement of all or any of the enumerated symptoms, such as the diminution of the scalding upon making water, the subsidence of chordee, the escape from, or cure of, swelled testicle, phymosis and paraphymosis, warts, crabs, excoriations, &c., the discharge may still continue, though thicker in consistence, and deeper in color: and it is at this period, which I will call chronic gonorrhœa, when all inflammatory symptoms have left, that stimulants may be judiciously given ”

“ Suffering much with pain in testicle, which ran up the spermatic cord and through to the left kidney.
[Pg 219] Treatment.—Cantharis and Aconite, as there was some fever. Mullein oil applied to the testicle. Rapid improvement during the first twenty-four hours, and made a quick recovery.
I have also cured a case of chronic inflammation of the eyes, and a case of chilblains from which the patient had suffered, during the winter, for about six years. * * *
Every drug has its exact range. This one being new to the profession, we are just learning what it will do. ”

“ Gentlemen—It has now been over two years since you treated me and found it necessary to remove one testicle on account of cancerous disease, that must soon have destroyed life had the operation not been performed. T feel myself a strong, healthy man, having had no symptoms of the seminal weakness for months past. ”

“ The size of the generative organs is not an index of virility in the male.
The testes are the male generative glands and are described as about 11⁄2 inches in length, 11⁄4 inches in width and nearly 1 inch in thickness. The testes are contained within the scrotal sac, the outside coat of which is a thin wrinkled skin, within which are four thin coats. Next to the testes and enveloping the spermatic cord is a thin covering which is carried down into the scrotum when the testicle leaves the abdomen, where it is formed. ”

“ As I have before stated, the third method of castration embraces the processes in which the testicular envelopes are left intact, while it is the gland or cord which is submitted to the peculiar manipulations by which their structure, and therefore the secreting powers of the testicle, are so essentially modified. ”

“ THE METHOD BY THE CLAMPS.
This is an ancient mode of operating, having been transmitted to us through many ages. It has received the sanction of long practice, and, if not [40] absolutely superior to all others, is possessed of qualities and advantages which all who have employed it will freely acknowledge.
It is performed in two ways. One is the process of the covered, the other of the uncovered testicle. The covered operation is that in which only a portion of the testicular envelopes are divided, the scrotum and the dartos, the gland being left covered with the other envelopes. ”

“ Of Swelled Testicles. The venereal virus is liable to attack the testicles, which makes one of the most disagreeable circumstances of all venereal diseases; sometimes one, and sometimes both will be the seat of this complaint.
It begins with a heavy dull pain, attended with a disagreeable tightness in the spermatic vessels, leading from the testicle into the bowels. Gradually the testicle swells, becomes hard and grows very painful, and if not timely remedied, a suppuration, or a 163scirrhus, or even a gangrene and sphacelus, may be the consequences. ”

“ The Testicles. Location.—The testicles are located in the sublumbar region of the abdominal cavity, behind the lungs, below the anterior extremity of the kidneys, and opposite the last three ribs.
Fig. 54.—The pelvic organs of a cockerel. A, Testes. B, Rectum. C, Cloaca. D, Vas deferens. E, Kidney. F, Adrenal gland. G, Lungs. H, Ureter.
Shape.—The testicles are ellipsoid in shape; their size varies with the different species of birds. The two in the same bird are usually of the same size, though one testicle may be slightly larger than the other. ”

“ In proof, he alleges that he has always found, in cases of incomplete descent of the testicle, that organ upon the posterior wall of the vaginal process, and not on the floor of the same. In females, the formation of the canal of Nuck cannot be said to be due to any dragging. ”

“ When properly performed and the animal given special after-care, the operation is not followed by any serious complications. An abnormally large, diseased testicle is sometimes met with that cannot be removed in the usual way, and which complicates and increases the difficulty of operating. ”

“ The natural seminal secretion, semen, or sperma, after its production in the testicle, is carried out thru a long seminal duct, which, when unraveled, measures 21about twenty feet long, but in a natural condition is twisted and folded on itself many hundred times, forming a bundle-like swelling in the back of the testicle—epididymis. ”

“ In the light cells one finds secretory globules, accumulating in rows, sometimes above, other times below, arches of cells. The secretory droplets pass from the cells into the lumen, and often lie in irregular layers on the epithelium; also the basal cells appear swollen and shoved out between the cylindrical cells.” At the lower extremity of the testicle, the tail is formed, which is globular in shape, and more or less loosely attached to the testicle. ”

“ Varicocele is a very common condition in young men, and is manifested by dilation and enlargement of the veins that go thru the earlier described spermatic cord to the testicle. It occurs mostly on the left side, and is felt like a snake-like cord twisted on itself, producing an unpleasant, dragging-down, heavy sensation, and occasionally real neuralgic pains in the testicles. ”

“ The second testicle is removed by the same process. If the testicles should slip from the grasp of the finger, the accident is of little account, as they will graft themselves upon the walls of the abdomen, and in time disappear by resolution. The operation is concluded by the closing of the wound by stitches of interrupted suture, and the healing usually takes place by first intention.
The operation is performed in the hen in the same manner as with the male bird, the ovaries being found in the lumbar region, from which they are removed by the same manipulations that are employed in caponing. ”

“ We have found the exterior of his person to be like that of other men's, the penis of a good conformation and naturally situated, with the nut or glans bare, its adjoining parts fringed with soft, fine hair, the scrotum of an unexceptional thickness and extent, and in it vessels of good conformation and size, but terminating unequally; on the right side, they end in a small, flabby substance instead of a true testicle ”

“ The inflammation of the testicles may [212] be so severe as to cause them to shrivel and dry up; or, even when no shrivelling, no atrophy of the testicles occurs, they may be so affected as to become incapable of producing spermatozoa. Moreover, in cases where the testicles of a mumps patient seemingly were not attacked—that is, where the patient was not aware of any inflammation, having no pain and no other symptoms—the testicles may have become incapable of generating spermatozoa. ”

“ In the child, the testicles are considerably smaller; smaller also are the penis and the other genital organs. In the adult, the root of the penis is surrounded by the pubic hair; this hair is absent in the child. The most important distinctive characteristic, however, lies in the fact that in the child the morphological elements upon which the capacity for procreation depends, namely, the spermatozoa, are not yet present in the testicles. The spermatozoa first make their appearance during that year of life which is usually regarded as the year of the puberal development. ”

“ As before remarked, these peculiarities do not affect the functions of the organs in any appreciable degree, although they not infrequently give rise to some apprehension on the part of those subject to them. The left testicle is sometimes a little smaller than the right, another fact which is seized upon by quacks as a means of exciting the fears of young men who have been addicted to bad habits, although the peculiarity is generally without important significance. ”

“ The anterior horseshoe incision is now deepened to free the penis, care being taken not to injure the spermatic cord. Next the incisions are deepened laterally until the testicles are reached. The testicles are usually in the center of the tumor imbedded in a blubbery tissue from which they can be easily stripped. The remains of the gubernacula are then hooked up and cut close to the testicles. The tunicae vaginales are often thickened and contain fluid which has to be drawn off.
In 60% of Fauntleroy’s cases it was necessary to remove one testicle on account of extensive disease. ”