The  Tunica  Albuginea,

In  which  the  body  of  the  testicle  is  commonly  enclosed,
is  firm  and  dense  ;  and  upon  this  coat  its  particular  form  depends.
It  is  of  a  whitish  color,  and  has  a  smooth  external  surface.
It  is  thick  as  well  as  strong.  The  epididymis  is  exterior  to  it.
It  is  only  perforated  by  the  blood-vessels,  lymphatics  and  nerves,
and  by  the  vasa  efFerentia,  which  carry  out  the  secretion  of  the
testis.  One  portion  of  the  tunica  vaginalis  adheres  very  closely
to  it,  and  the  other  appears  to  contain  it.  The  portion  which
adheres  to  it  is  with  difficulty  separated,  but  it  is  a  distinct
membrane.
— The  tunica  albuginea  is  a  fibrous  membrane,  considerably
thinner  than  the  sclerotic  coat  of  the  eye.  It  is  very  strong  and
resisting,  and  is  susceptible  of  very  considerable  distention,
when  the  dilating  cause  acts  slowly,  as  in  the  engorgements  of
the  testicle  called  hernia  humoralis.  It  is  also  endowed  with
retractile  properties,  as  is  seen  when  the  distending  cause  has
ceased  to  act.  Its  internal  surface,  which  is  immediately  applied
upon  the  substance  of  the  gland,  gives  origin  to  a  great  number
of  flattened  filaments  or  septae,  which  divide  the  gland  into
compartments  for  the  separate  lobules,  and  upon  which  the
blood-vessels  run,  to  be  distributed  in  the  glandular  tissue.
These  septae  are  directed  to  the  back  part  of  the  organ  neces-
sarily, (as  that  is  the  direction  in  which  the  efferent  ducts  of  the
testis  pass,)  and  form  by  their  accumulation  that  thickened,
oblong,  fibrous  mass,  called  the  corpus  highmorianum.  The
VOL.    II.  13


146  THE  BODY  OF  THE  TESTICLE.
blood-vessels  with  their  connecting  cellular  tissue,  form  on  the
inner  surface  of  the  tunic  a  delicate  membrane  called  the  tunica
vasculosa.
