The pathology and treatment of stricture of the urethra, both in the male and female : Being the treatise for which the Jacksonian Prize, for the year 1852, was awarded by the College of Surgeons of England. / By Henry Thompson.

  • Thompson, Henry, Sir, 1820-1904.
Date:
MDCCCIV. [1854]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The pathology and treatment of stricture of the urethra, both in the male and female : Being the treatise for which the Jacksonian Prize, for the year 1852, was awarded by the College of Surgeons of England. / By Henry Thompson. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by King’s College London. The original may be consulted at King’s College London.

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    general term, “submucous,” anti the nature of which shall be presently examined. The length of the urethra in the Length j>f adult male has been differently stated, and it does vary con- siderably in different subjects, as it does also in the same individual, under different circumstances, as the parts are exceedingly extensible, and may be readily made to corres- pond to any given measurement. Nothing can be more obvious than this to the anatomist, and nothing, therefore, more forcibly shows the necessity of following some constant method, in the examination of each urethra, if accurate results are to be attained. Accordingly, with a view to the solution of this question, Mode of , . . 1 ' taking mea I have pursued, the following course with a considerable surements number of bodies, which it has fallen to my lot to examine. dead The penis and bladder having been carefully removed from the pelvis, in the usual manner, the entire passage is laid open along the upper aspect. The parts are then placed, being first moderately extended, upon some smooth polished surface, as on a common earthenware dish, and so permitted to take, by their own elasticity, any form or length, which their component structures may determine. The measuring tape is then applied. The average result of the application of this process to 16' adult bodies is as follows :— Total Length, from anterior border of uvula vesica; to meatus urinarius extemus - Dividing the canal in the usual manner into spongy, mem- branous, and prostatic portions, we have— Length of spongy portion ,, membranous ditto ,, prostatic ditto Length of 84 inches. the male urethra. 6i „ ? » _M_ » H The greatest measurement was 9 inches, the smallest inches. Of the 16, no less than 10 presented measurements which did not deviate more than a £ of an inch from the average, and ranging within f of an inch only; that is to say, between 8£ and 8f inches inclusive. Mr. Briggs, formerly of the Lock Hospital, has made some investigations into the subject, which came to my knowledge •B 2