function of the secretion from Cowper's glands,
the slimy transparent mucus appearing at the glans penis under sexual
excitement serves as a natural lubricant covering the glans of the
male organ. A secretion from the female similarly prepares her organs
for sexual contact so that the delicate mucous membrane, particularly
of the female organs, shall not suffer abrasion.

Many young men have experienced the appearance of the secretion from
Cowper's glands and wholly misunderstanding its nature have feared
that they were losing some vital fluid. This misunderstanding of the
nature of this fluid makes the young man especially subject to the
misrepresentations of the advertising quack and charlatan who allege
that he is losing vital fluid and will, if not treated, undergo
general debility and loss of procreative power. This brief
explanation of the significance of the secretion of Cowper's glands
will protect the young man from any such misrepresentations.

c. =The Prostate Gland.=--That the prostate gland is intimately
associated with reproduction is evident from the fact that in those
male animals that have suffered castration before puberty, the
prostate gland withers and practically disappears. What then is the
role that this gland plays? Like Cowper's glands, it secretes only
during sexual excitement. Under such excitement its ducts become
gorged with a secretion peculiar to it and at the moment of the
emission or the ejaculation of the semen the numerous ducts empty
their contents into the urethra to be mingled with and made a part of
the semen.

The secretion of the prostate is composed of a watery solution of
protein and of alkaline salts and so closely similar to the secretion
of the seminal vesicles that we will consider its action along with
that of the secretion from the vesicles.

d. =The Seminal Vesicles.=--_The seminal vesicles secrete
continuously._ The secretion is composed of an aqueous solution of
albumin and of alkaline salts. This secretion together with the
secretion from the prostate gland is poured into the urethra at the
moment of sexual orgasm; they become mixed in their transit through
the urethra with the secretion from the testes. This mixture is known
as semen. [See pg. 42.]

It used to be supposed that the semen was secreted wholly by the
testes; that the testes were secreting continuously and that the
seminal vesicles were receptacles for the gradually accumulating semen
from the test