Abstract
The physiology and even the anatomy of erectile tissue has never been satisfactorily investigated and our knowledge on the subject is still very meager. In connection with a pharmacological investigation of aphrodisiac drugs the author thought it desirable to inquire into the pharmacological behavior of erectile tissue as well as of the dorsalis penis artery. After long experimentation a method of studying these tissues has been developed and the effects of various drugs on the same were investigated. In the present research isolated surviving pieces of copora cavernosa and spongiosa of the dog were kept alive in warm oxygenated Locke solution under special conditions and the response of the preparations to various drugs was studied. In the case of the dorsalis penis artery, rings of the dog's artery were employed.
The modern anatomist in tracing the finer structure of the nervous system resorts to pharmacodynamic reactions for the determination of the origin of different parts of the sympathetic nervous system. Thus, for instance, a pharmacological response to adrenalin is an indication that the particular muscle preparation studied is innervated by the true or thoracico-lumbar sympathetic system; while a response to such drugs as pilocarpin and atropin indicates an innervation coming from the parasympathetic or bulbo-sacral sympathetic system.
In the present investigation it was found that both erectile tissue preparations and preparations of the dorsalis penis artery responded with contraction or relaxation as the case might be on treatment with epinephrin and ergotoxin. On the other hand numerous experiments made with pilocarpin, physostigmin, atropin and other so-called “parasympathetic” poisons failed to elecit any response in either the erectile tissue or dorsalis penis artery preparations. In view of these results, repeatedly and consistently obtained, it appears that both corpora cavernosa
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