Anomalies and Curiosities of Medicine [183]
type is present all through life; sometimes the subjects are weak in intellect and in a condition similar to cretinism. Kaufmann quotes a case in a weakly boy of twelve whose penis was but 3/4 inch long, about as thick as a goose-quill, and feeling as limp as a mere tube of skin; the corpora cavernosa were not entirely absent, but ran only from the ischium to the junction of the fixed portion of the penis, suddenly terminating at this point. Nothing indicative of a prostate could be found. The testicles were at the entrance of the inguinal canal and the glans was only slightly developed.
Binet speaks of a man of fifty-three whose external genitalia were of the size of those of a boy of nine. The penis was of about the size of the little finger, and contained on each side testicles not larger than a pea. There was no hair on the pubes or the face, giving the man the aspect of an old woman. The prostate was almost exterminated and the seminal vesicles were very primitive in conformation. Wilson was consulted by a gentleman of twenty-six as to his ability to perform the marital function. In size his penis and testicles hardly exceeded those of a boy of eight. He had never felt desire for sexual intercourse until he became acquainted with his intended wife, since when he had erections and nocturnal emissions. The patient married and became the father of a family; those parts which at twenty-six were so much smaller than usual had increased at twenty-eight to normal adult size. There are three cases on record in the older literature of penises extremely primitive in development. They are quoted by the Ephemerides, Plater, Schenck, and Zacchias. The result in these cases was impotency.
In the Army and Medical Museum at Washington are two injected specimens of the male organ divested of skin. From the meatus to the pubis they measure 6 1/2 and 5 1/2 inches; from the extremity to the termination of either crus 9 3/4 and 8 3/4 inches, and the circumferences are 4 3/4 and 4 1/4 inches. Between these two we can strike an average of the size of the normal penis.
In some instances the penis is so large as to forbid coitus and even inconvenience its possessor, measuring as much as ten or even more inches in length. Extraordinary cases of large penis are reported by Albinus (who mentions it as a cause for sterility), Bartholinus, Fabricius Hildanus, Paullini, Peyer, Plater, Schurig, Sinibaldus, and Zacchias. Several cases of enormous penises in the new-born have been observed by Wolff and others.
The penis palme, or suture de la verge of the French, is the name given to those examples of single cutaneous envelope for both the testicles and penis; the penis is adherent to the scrotum by its inferior face; the glans only is free and erection is impossible. Chretien cites an instance in a man of twenty-five, and Schrumpf of Wesserling describes an example of this rare anomaly. The penis and testes were inclosed in a common sac, a slight projection not over 1/4 inch long being seen from the upper part of this curious scrotum. When the child was a year old a plastic operation was performed on this anomalous member with a very satisfactory result. Petit describes an instance in which the penis was slightly fused with the scrotum.
There are many varieties of torsion of the penis. The glans itself may be inclined laterally, the curvature may be total, or there may be a veritable rotation, bringing the inferior face above and the superior face below. Gay describes a child with epispadias whose penis had undergone such torsion on its axis that its inferior surface looked upward to the left, and the child passed urine toward the left shoulder. Follin mentions a similar instance in a boy of twelve with complete epispadias, and Verneuil and Guerlin also record cases, both complicated with associate maldevelopment. Caddy mentions a youth of eighteen who had congenital torsion of the penis with out hypospadias or epispadias. There was a complete half-turn to the left, so that the slit-like urinary meatus was reversed and the frenum was
Binet speaks of a man of fifty-three whose external genitalia were of the size of those of a boy of nine. The penis was of about the size of the little finger, and contained on each side testicles not larger than a pea. There was no hair on the pubes or the face, giving the man the aspect of an old woman. The prostate was almost exterminated and the seminal vesicles were very primitive in conformation. Wilson was consulted by a gentleman of twenty-six as to his ability to perform the marital function. In size his penis and testicles hardly exceeded those of a boy of eight. He had never felt desire for sexual intercourse until he became acquainted with his intended wife, since when he had erections and nocturnal emissions. The patient married and became the father of a family; those parts which at twenty-six were so much smaller than usual had increased at twenty-eight to normal adult size. There are three cases on record in the older literature of penises extremely primitive in development. They are quoted by the Ephemerides, Plater, Schenck, and Zacchias. The result in these cases was impotency.
In the Army and Medical Museum at Washington are two injected specimens of the male organ divested of skin. From the meatus to the pubis they measure 6 1/2 and 5 1/2 inches; from the extremity to the termination of either crus 9 3/4 and 8 3/4 inches, and the circumferences are 4 3/4 and 4 1/4 inches. Between these two we can strike an average of the size of the normal penis.
In some instances the penis is so large as to forbid coitus and even inconvenience its possessor, measuring as much as ten or even more inches in length. Extraordinary cases of large penis are reported by Albinus (who mentions it as a cause for sterility), Bartholinus, Fabricius Hildanus, Paullini, Peyer, Plater, Schurig, Sinibaldus, and Zacchias. Several cases of enormous penises in the new-born have been observed by Wolff and others.
The penis palme, or suture de la verge of the French, is the name given to those examples of single cutaneous envelope for both the testicles and penis; the penis is adherent to the scrotum by its inferior face; the glans only is free and erection is impossible. Chretien cites an instance in a man of twenty-five, and Schrumpf of Wesserling describes an example of this rare anomaly. The penis and testes were inclosed in a common sac, a slight projection not over 1/4 inch long being seen from the upper part of this curious scrotum. When the child was a year old a plastic operation was performed on this anomalous member with a very satisfactory result. Petit describes an instance in which the penis was slightly fused with the scrotum.
There are many varieties of torsion of the penis. The glans itself may be inclined laterally, the curvature may be total, or there may be a veritable rotation, bringing the inferior face above and the superior face below. Gay describes a child with epispadias whose penis had undergone such torsion on its axis that its inferior surface looked upward to the left, and the child passed urine toward the left shoulder. Follin mentions a similar instance in a boy of twelve with complete epispadias, and Verneuil and Guerlin also record cases, both complicated with associate maldevelopment. Caddy mentions a youth of eighteen who had congenital torsion of the penis with out hypospadias or epispadias. There was a complete half-turn to the left, so that the slit-like urinary meatus was reversed and the frenum was