Henry Gray (1825–1861). Anatomy of the Human Body. 1918.
pages 1253
| the urogenital diaphragm, which invests the prostate and the commencement of the membranous portion of the urethra; and by the anterior portions of the Levatores ani, which pass backward from the pubis and embrace the sides of the prostate. These portions of the Levatores ani, from the support they afford to the prostate, are named the Levatores prostatæ. |
| The prostate is perforated by the urethra and the ejaculatory ducts. The urethra usually lies along the junction of its anterior with its middle third. The ejaculatory ducts pass obliquely downward and forward through the posterior part of the prostate, and open into the prostatic portion of the urethra. |
Structure.—The prostate is immediately enveloped by a thin but firm fibrous capsule, distinct from that derived from the fascia endopelvina, and separated from it by a plexus of veins. This capsule is firmly adherent to the prostate and is structurally continuous with the stroma of the gland, being composed of the same tissues, viz.: non-striped muscle and fibrous tissue. The substance of the prostate is of a pale reddish-gray color, of great density, and not easily torn. It consists of glandular substance and muscular tissue. |
| The muscular tissue according to Kölliker, constitutes the proper stroma of the prostate; the connective tissue being very scanty, and simply forming between the muscular fibers, thin trabeculæ, in which the vessels and nerves of the gland ramify. The muscular tissue is arranged as follows: immediately beneath the fibrous capsule is a dense layer, which forms an investing sheath for the gland; secondly, around the urethra, as it lies in the prostate, is another dense layer of circular fibers, continuous above with the internal layer of the muscular coat of the bladder, and blending below with the fibers surrounding the membranous portion of the urethra. Between these two layers strong bands of muscular tissue, which decussate freely, form meshes in which the glandular structure of the organ is imbedded. In that part of the gland which is situated in front of the urethra the muscular tissue is especially dense, and there is here little or no gland tissue; while in that part which is behind the urethra the muscular tissue presents a wide-meshed structure, which is densest at the base of the gland—that is, near the bladder—becoming looser and more sponge-like toward the apex of the organ. |
| The glandular substance is composed of numerous follicular pouches the lining of which frequently shows papillary elevations. The follicles open into elongated canals, which join to form from twelve to twenty small excretory ducts. They are connected together by areolar tissue, supported by prolongations from the fibrous capsule and muscular stroma, and enclosed in a delicate capillary plexus. The epithelium which lines the canals and the terminal vesicles is of the columnar variety. The prostatic ducts open into the floor of the prostatic portion of the urethra, and are lined by two layers of epithelium, the inner layer consisting of columnar and the outer of small cubical cells. Small colloid masses, known as amyloid bodies are often found in the gland tubes. |
Vessels and Nerves.—The arteries supplying the prostate are derived from the internal pudendal, inferior vesical, and middle hemorrhoidal. Its veins form a plexus around the sides and base of the gland; they receive in front the dorsal vein of the penis, and end in the hypogastric veins. The nerves are derived from the pelvic plexus. |
| 3c. 7. The Bulbourethral Glands |
| (Glandulæ Bulbourethrales; Cowper’s Glands) The bulbourethral glands are two small, rounded, and somewhat lobulated bodies, of a yellow color, about the size of peas, placed behind and lateral to the membranous portion of the urethra, between the two layers of the fascia of the urogenital diaphragm. They lie close above the bulb, and are enclosed by the transverse fibers of the Sphincter urethræ membranaceæ. Their existence is said to be constant: they gradually diminish in size as age advances. |
| The excretory duct of each gland, nearly 2.5 cm. long, passes obliquely forward beneath the mucous membrane, and opens by a minute orifice on the floor of the cavernous portion of the urethra about 2.5 cm. in front of the urogenital diaphragm. |
Structure.—Each gland is made up of several lobules, held together by a fibrous investment. Each lobule consists of a number of acini, lined by columnar epithelial cells, opening into one duct, which joins with the ducts of other lobules outside the gland to form the single excretory duct. |