Running along the vasa deferentia, within the sheath of the two spermatic cords, are the spermatic arteries, the pampiniform plexus of veins, and the deferential arteries. These vessels, with the vas deferens and the sheath enveloping the bundle, make up the spermatic cord. In vasectomy, under local anesthesia, a slit is made through the skin of the scrotum behind, the sheath of the spermatic cord is opened, and the vas is isolated and tied or cut. The skin wound is left to heal. This operation is repeated on the second vas. If the blood-vessels in the cord are ligated or cut with the vas, the testicle will atrophy; if the vas alone is operated upon, the testicle is not injured. The person upon whom vasectomy has been done is conscious of no change. The semen is discharged as before the operation, but in a slightly less quantity, and it is, of course, sterile from the lack of spermatozoa. Dr. Carrington of Virginia reported, in 1910,[218] twelve cases of vasectomy on convicts. He said ten of this dozen had been confirmed masturbators, and all were cured by vasectomy. One masturbating epileptic was cured of both conditions. Two dangerous homicides were rendered harmless and peaceable. One of these two homicides was a negro under a long sentence for murder. He grew insane in prison, and while insane killed a second person. A confirmed masturbator and sodomist, and a dangerous savage, he became lucid and relapsed into insanity several times. A year after vasectomy he was "a sleek, fat, docile, intelligent fellow, a trusty about the yard." [218] _Virginia Medical Semi-monthly_, vols. xiv, xv. Dr. Sharp of Indianapolis, after ten years' experience with the operation, during which time he did 456 vasectomies, says:[219] "There is no atrophy of the testicle, no cystic degeneration, no disturbed mental or nervous condition following." He says, further, that 176 men in the Indiana Reformatory asked him to perform the operation on them. Vasectomy tends to check masturbation, and the minds of the masturbators frequently improve after the operation. [219] _Jour. Amer. Med. Assoc._, December 4, 1909.