A million million spermatozoa, All of them alive:

Out of their cataclysm but one poor Noah

Dare hope to survive,

And among that billion minus one

Might have chanced to be

Shakespeare, another Newton, a New Donne-—

But the one was Me.

ALDOUS LEONARD HUXLEY

THE MALE genital organs consist of the (1) Testes, (2) Scrotum, (3) Epididymis, (4) Ductus Deferens or Seminal Ducts, (5) Seminal Vesicles, (6) Ejaculatory Ducts, (7) Prostate, (8) Bulbourethral Glands, and (9) Penis (Fig. 4-1).

The TESTES or TESTICLES are the male reproductive glands. They are enclosed in a pouch called the SCROTUM and are suspended by the SPERMATIC CORDS, the left testis hanging a little lower than the right. Each testis is oval in shape, about 4 to 5 centimetres long, 2-5 centimetres wide, 3 centimetres in diameter from front to back, and weighs 13 grammes. The testis consists of two groups of cells. One group of cells secretes the hormone TESTOSTERONE, which is responsible for the secondary sexual characteristics in the male—manliness. The other group, the TESTICULAR TUBULES, produce the SPERMATOZOA, the male seeds of life. When seen under a microscope, they resemble tadpoles swimming merrily in the 'Seminal Sea'. Tile champion swimmer amongst them makes it to the female uterine tube before the others. If a female cell (ovum) is waiting at the finishing line, they embrace each other and unite to start a new life. If not, the disappointed spermatozoon gets lost along with his millions of brothers. In each ejaculation there are 60 to 120 million sperms. What a colossal waste, to ensure reproduction, on the part of nature!

The scrotum is a skin pouch in which are suspended the testis and part of the SPERMATIC CORDS. The skin of the scrotum is thin and wrinkled, brown or darker than normal skin, and covered with hair. In colder climates and the younger age groups the scrotum is tight but in warm climates and older males it loses its elasticity and hangs loosely. The testes contain nearly a thousand thread-like tubes, each 65 to 90 centimetres long. The male cells are manufactured in this sophisticated sexo-chemical factory—about 50 million a day. They are then transferred to the warehouse called the EPIDIDYMES, a pair of 7-metre-long, tortuous canals that lie on the upper part of the testes. They consist of 15 to 20 tubules which eventually open into a single channel. In the storage tube the sperms attain motility and greater fertility.

The convoluted epididymis can be felt by the fingers through the scrotum. The DUCTUS DEFERENS is a continuation of the tail of the epididymis and is a twisted tube in the first part which gradually becomes straighter. It is situated behind the testis and continues as the SPERMATIC CORD. It runs along the groin and enters the pelvis through a small opening called the inguinal ring. In the pelvis it lies on the inner side of the SEMINAL VESICLES, which are inverted pouches between the urinary bladder and the rectum. Each consists of a single inverted tube coiled upon itself—the lower end forms the canal which carries the secretion to the EJACULATORY DUCT. There are two ejaculatory ducts formed on either side by the duct of the seminal vesicle and the ductus deferens, the excretory duct of the testis. They are about 2 centimetres long and open in the prostatic portion of the urethra. The PROSTATE is a conical, partly muscular and partly glandular body situated in the pelvis and surrounds the neck of the bladder and the urethra, in front of the rectum. It measures 4 centimetres transversely and 2 centimetres in its vertical diameter. The prostatic part of the urethra runs through it.