Secretory nerves of the prostate

That the separation of the prostatae is a permanent constituent of the sperm is a fact accepted by all; but the innervation of this gland is almost not affected by the researchers. The only indication on the participation of nerves in the process of separation we find in two memoirs of Eckhard, who observed the discharge of a certain amount of prostate juice into the urethra during irritation n. n. erigentes in dogs. This separation was suppressed only at the beginning of irritation of the nerves, and Eckhard came to the conclusion that erigens is not a separate nerve for the gland in the full sense of the word, but empties the already formed secret, acting on the musculature of the gland. Eckhard, however, managed to obtain a significant amount of secretion by direct irritation of the gland itself. The collected secret had a neutral reaction, a specific gravity of 1.012 and a solid residue of 2.5%, of which about 1% was proteins.