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scrotum
scrotum To quote a 1940s edition of Gray's anatomy: ‘The scrotum forms an admirable covering for the protection of the testes. These bodies, lying suspended and loose in the cavity of the scrotum … are capable of great mobility, and can therefore easily slip about within the scrotum, and thus avoid injuries from blows or squeezes.’ Indeed so. Modern anatomical texts have lost a certain poetry.
The skin of the scrotum is exceptionally thin and ‘beset with thinly scattered, crisp hairs …’ but the whole pouch is thickened by an underlying sheet of involuntary muscle (dartos), closely linked to the skin, and responsible for its corrugated appearance. This muscle layer is continuous with a septum, which divides the scrotum into compartments for the two testes and their spermatic cords; it is ‘separated from the subjacent parts by delicate areolar tissue upon which it glides with the greatest facility’. These subjacent parts are a fibrous capsule, and then a serous (fluid-secreting) membrane, which slides upon (and is continuous with) a membrane covering the testis. These membranes form a closed, fluid-lined sac, like a deflated balloon, that sometimes swells up to become a hydrocele. The cremaster muscle links the lowest part of the abdominal wall above the groin to these coverings of the testis, and can retract it upwards: this occurs reflexly when the inner thigh is stroked. The contents of the scrotum have descended into it, usually before birth, from the abdominal cavity. The route was through the inguinal canal at the groin. Each testis dragged after it a string of elongating vessels and nerves and the vas deferens; these constitute the spermatic cords. Each cord maintains its connection with the abdominal cavity via the canal, whence the vas joins the urinary tract below the bladder. Because the inguinal canal breaches the muscular and fibrous integrity of the abdominal wall, it can become further weakened and expanded, allowing abdominal contents to extrude through it as an inguinal hernia. A large hernia can extend right down into the scrotum. In the early weeks of fetal life, before gender differences are apparent, there is a labioscrotal swelling on each side; these swellings join up to develop into the scrotum when maleness is genetically ordained. Sheila Jennett See also genitalia; testes. |
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COLIN BLAKEMORE and SHELIA JENNETT. "scrotum." The Oxford Companion to the Body. 2001. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. COLIN BLAKEMORE and SHELIA JENNETT. "scrotum." The Oxford Companion to the Body. 2001. Encyclopedia.com. (May 26, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O128-scrotum.html COLIN BLAKEMORE and SHELIA JENNETT. "scrotum." The Oxford Companion to the Body. 2001. Retrieved May 26, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O128-scrotum.html |
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scrotum
scrotum (skroh-tŭm) n. the paired sac that holds the testes and epididymides outside the abdominal cavity. Its function is to allow the production and storage of spermatozoa to occur at a lower temperature than that of the abdomen.
—scrotal adj. |
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"scrotum." A Dictionary of Nursing. 2008. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "scrotum." A Dictionary of Nursing. 2008. Encyclopedia.com. (May 26, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O62-scrotum.html "scrotum." A Dictionary of Nursing. 2008. Retrieved May 26, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O62-scrotum.html |
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scrotum
scrotum The sac of skin and tissue that contains and supports the testes in most mammals. It is situated outside the body cavity and allows sperm to develop at the optimum temperature, which is slightly lower than body temperature.
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"scrotum." A Dictionary of Biology. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "scrotum." A Dictionary of Biology. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. (May 26, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O6-scrotum.html "scrotum." A Dictionary of Biology. 2004. Retrieved May 26, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O6-scrotum.html |
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scrotum
scrotum In male Mammalia in which the testes descend from the abdomen, the sac in which they are contained at least during the breeding season and in which they are maintained at a temperature lower than the body temperature.
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MICHAEL ALLABY. "scrotum." A Dictionary of Zoology. 1999. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. MICHAEL ALLABY. "scrotum." A Dictionary of Zoology. 1999. Encyclopedia.com. (May 26, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O8-scrotum.html MICHAEL ALLABY. "scrotum." A Dictionary of Zoology. 1999. Retrieved May 26, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O8-scrotum.html |
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scrotum
scro·tum / ˈskrōtəm/ • n. (pl. scro·ta or scro·tums ) a pouch of skin containing the testicles. DERIVATIVES: scro·tal / ˈskrōtl/ adj. |
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"scrotum." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "scrotum." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. (May 26, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-scrotum.html "scrotum." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Retrieved May 26, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-scrotum.html |
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scrotum
scrotum XVI. — L. scrōtum; cf. scrautum skin sheath for arrows.
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T. F. HOAD. "scrotum." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. T. F. HOAD. "scrotum." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. (May 26, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-scrotum.html T. F. HOAD. "scrotum." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Retrieved May 26, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-scrotum.html |
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scrotum
scrotum see testis . |
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"scrotum." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "scrotum." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Encyclopedia.com. (May 26, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-X-scrotum.html "scrotum." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Retrieved May 26, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-X-scrotum.html |
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scrotum
scrotum
•hansom, ransom, Ransome, transom
•Wrexham • sensum • Epsom • jetsam
•lissom • winsome • gypsum • alyssum
•blossom, opossum, possum
•flotsam • awesome • balsam • Folsom
•noisome • twosome
•fulsome • buxom • Hilversum
•irksome • Gresham • meerschaum
•petersham • nasturtium
•atom, Euratom
•factum
•bantam, phantom
•sanctum
•desideratum, erratum, post-partum, stratum
•substratum • rectum • momentum
•septum
•datum, petrolatum, pomatum, Tatum, ultimatum
•arboretum • dictum • symptom
•ad infinitum
•bottom, rock-bottom
•quantum
•autumn, postmortem
•factotum, Gotham, scrotum, teetotum, totem
•sputum
•accustom, custom
•diatom • anthem • Bentham • Botham
•fathom • rhythm • biorhythm
•algorithm • logarithm • sempervivum
•ovum • William
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"scrotum." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "scrotum." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. (May 26, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O233-scrotum.html "scrotum." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Retrieved May 26, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O233-scrotum.html |
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