Banda: Age grades and initiations called semali assured intergroup unity in time of war. Marriage traditionally required bridewealth, often in iron implements. Polygyny, although still practiced, has declined with the rise of a money-based economy.

Modernismo: …gained wide recognition with its Semana de Arte Moderna (“Week of Modern Art”), an event held in São Paulo in 1922, provoking controversy with lectures on the aims of Modernism and readings from works by such Modernist poets as Mário de Andrade (q.v.).

Semang, people who live mostly in peninsular Malaysia and speak an Austro-Asiatic language. In the early 21st century their population was estimated to be approximately 2,000. They are traditional nomadic hunters, using blowguns to hunt small game, and gatherers of wild roots and fruits. Most

Jahaic languages, a subbranch of the Aslian branch of the Mon-Khmer family, itself a part of the Austroasiatic stock. The group includes Bateg, Che’ Wong, Jahai, Kensiw, Kenta’, and Menriq. The language group is a small one, with total speakers estimated at some 5,000. They are located mainly in

Malaysia: Malaysia from independence to c. 2000: Mahathir’s opponents countered by forming Semangat ’46 (Spirit of ’46), which claimed to embody the ideals of the original UMNO (established in 1946) and attempted to unite the disparate opposition groups against the ruling BN coalition headed by UMNO.

percussion instrument: Idiophones: …percussion beams, such as the semanterion; percussion disks and plaques, single and in sets; xylophones, lithophones (sonorous stones), and metallophones (sets of tuned metal bars); percussion tubes, such as stamping tubes, slit drums, and tubular chimes; and percussion vessels varying from struck gourds and pots to gongs, kettle gongs, steel…

philosophy of biology: The structure of evolutionary theory: Supporters of the “semantic” conception argue that scientific theories are rarely, if ever, hypothetico-deductive throughout, and that in any case the universal laws presupposed by the hypothetico-deductive model are usually lacking. Especially in biology, any attempt to formulate generalities with anything like the necessity required of natural laws…

cyberwar: Attacks in cyberspace: Finally, semantic cyberattacks, also known as social engineering, manipulate human users’ perceptions and interpretations of computer-generated data in order to obtain valuable information (such as passwords, financial details, and classified government information) from the users through fraudulent means. Social-engineering techniques include phishing—in which attackers send seemingly…

Hilary Putnam: Realism and meaning: This conception, known as semantic externalism, can therefore serve as a basis for an objective account of truth and knowledge. Consequently, it can also support realism—and was indeed employed by Putnam (and many others after him) to that end.

memory: Long-term memory: …an association, known as “semantic” memories. The latter category includes definitions and many kinds of factual knowledge, such as knowledge of the name of the current pope, which one might not recall having learned at any particular time or place.

information processing: Semantic content analysis: In a so-called semantic network, conceptual entities such as objects, actions, or events are represented as a graph of linked nodes (Figure 4). “Frames” represent, in a similar graph network, physical or abstract attributes of objects and in a sense define the objects. In “scripts,” events and actions…

formal logic: Semantic tableaux: Since the 1980s another technique for determining the validity of arguments in either PC or LPC has gained some popularity, owing both to its ease of learning and to its straightforward implementation by computer programs. Originally suggested by the Dutch logician Evert W.…

Semantic Web, extension of the World Wide Web (WWW) in which data are given meaning (semantics) to enable computers to look up and “reason” in response to user searches. One of the strongest proponents of the Semantic Web is Sir Tim Berners-Lee, the British inventor of the WWW and the director of

semantics, the philosophical and scientific study of meaning in natural and artificial languages. The term is one of a group of English words formed from the various derivatives of the Greek verb sēmainō (“to mean” or “to signify”). The noun semantics and the adjective semantic are derived from

semaphore, method of visual signaling, usually by means of flags or lights. Before the invention of the telegraph, semaphore signaling from high towers was used to transmit messages between distant points. One such system was developed by Claude Chappe in France in 1794, employing a set of arms

Southeast Asian arts: Characters: …the chief Javanese clown figure, Semar, is derived from an ancient Javanese god who was deposed from his supreme position by the introduction into the drama of the later Hindu gods. In the midst of mythological plays, the clowns comment irreverently on political or social issues of the day, seemingly…

Western Sahara: History: …1902 constructed the town of Semara at an inland oasis. Cape Juby (Ṭarfāyah) was occupied for Spain by Col. Francisco Bens in 1916, Güera was occupied in 1920, and Semara and the rest of the interior were occupied in 1934.

Semarang, kota (city), port, and capital of Central Java (Jawa Tengah) propinsi (or provinsi; province), Indonesia. It lies on the northern coast of the island of Java. The city, divided into old and new sections, is just inland from the port and on the banks of the Baru River and the West Banjir

semantics, the philosophical and scientific study of meaning in natural and artificial languages. The term is one of a group of English words formed from the various derivatives of the Greek verb sēmainō (“to mean” or “to signify”). The noun semantics and the adjective semantic are derived from

Robert Noyce: Statesman: …an important role in establishing Sematech, a joint industry-government consortium formed with sometimes conflicting goals—research to keep the American semiconductor industry at the forefront and efforts to maintain a domestic semiconductor manufacturing capacity. Noyce became Sematech Inc.’s first president in 1988.

mammal: Skin and hair: … or hamadryas baboon, warning (sematic), as seen in the bold pattern of skunks, or concealing (cryptic), perhaps the most common adaptation of pelage colour.

Ōsaka-Kōbe metropolitan area: Settlement patterns: …of Ōsaka railway station; the Semba Centre Building, which although only four floors in height extends about three-fifths of a mile along Chūō Ōdōri and is constructed under an elevated expressway and over a subway; and the convention centre built on the man-made Port Island in Kōbe Harbour.

Thousand Cranes, novel by Kawabata Yasunari, published serially in several newspapers beginning in 1949 and published as Sembazuru with the novel Yama no Oto (The Sound of the Mountain) in 1952. One of Kawabata’s finest works, Thousand Cranes was written in part as a sequel to Yukiguni (1948; Snow

Ousmane Sembène was a Senegalese writer and film director known for his historical and political themes. (Read Martin Scorsese’s Britannica essay on film preservation.) Sembène spent his early years as a fisherman on the Casamance coast. He studied at the School of Ceramics at Marsassoum and then

Marcella Sembrich was a Polish coloratura known for both her operatic and her concert work. Marcelina Kochańska learned to play the violin and piano from her father and performed on both instruments in recital when she was 12 years old. She also studied piano and voice with Wilhelm Stengel, whom

Kru languages: …groups is another Kru language, Seme (Sεmε), which is spoken in Burkina Faso hundreds of miles away from any other Kru language. Its location is of particular interest as it lends support to the hypothesis that in earlier times the Kru population had lived farther north; but, under pressure from…

Ignazio Silone: …seme sotto la neve (1940; The Seed Beneath the Snow, 1942), portray socialist heroes who try to help the peasants by sharing their sufferings in a Christian spirit. Pane e vino was dramatized in 1944 as Ed egli si nascose (London, And He Did Hide Himself, New York, And He…

Sapindales: Distribution and abundance: …genera of comparable size, but Semecarpus (occurring from Indo-Malaysia to Micronesia) has about 60 species, Mangifera (occurring in Southeast Asia and Indo-Malaysia to Solomon Islands) has about 40 species, and Schinus (occurring from Mexico to Argentina) has about 30 species.

Sapindales: Anacardiaceae: Semecarpus anacardium (dhobi nut) has young fruits with a black resin that is insoluble in water and is used as a marking ink in Southeast Asia.

nightjar: The pennant-winged nightjar (Semeiophorus vexillarius) of Africa gets its name from its boldly patterned black and white wing, which has greatly lengthened innermost primary flight feathers (50 to 70 cm [20 to 28 inches]).

Semelaic languages, (from Malay orang asli, “aborigines”), subbranch of the Aslian branch of the Mon-Khmer language family, which is itself a part of the Austroasiatic stock. The subbranch consists of three languages spoken in southern and central Malaysia: Betise’ (previously known as Mah Meri, or

Semele, in Greek mythology, a daughter of Cadmus and Harmonia, at Thebes, and mother of Dionysus (Bacchus) by Zeus. Semele’s liaison with Zeus enraged Zeus’s wife, Hera, who, disguised as an old nurse, coaxed Semele into asking Zeus to visit her in the same splendour in which he would appear before

aging: Reproduction and aging: The distinction between semelparous and iteroparous modes of reproduction is important for an understanding of biological aging. Semelparous organisms reproduce by a single reproductive act. Annual and biennial plants are semelparous, as are many insects and a few vertebrates, notably salmon and eels. Iteroparous organisms, on the other…

semen, fluid that is emitted from the male reproductive tract and that contains sperm cells, which are capable of fertilizing the female’s eggs. Semen also contains liquids that combine to form seminal plasma, which helps keep the sperm cells viable. In the sexually mature human male, sperm cells

semen analysis, laboratory examination of a sample of seminal fluid, usually consisting of the determination of semen volume, alkalinity or acidity (pH), sperm number (or sperm count), and the motility, shape, and viability of sperm. An examination of seminal fluid is usually undertaken to check

Peninsular Malaysia, region of the 13-state federation of Malaysia. It occupies the southern half of the Malay Peninsula and is separated from East Malaysia (on the island of Borneo) by the South China Sea. Formerly the Federation of Malaya (1948–63), it contains the bulk of Malaysia’s population

Nikolay Nikolayevich Semyonov was a Soviet physical chemist who shared the 1956 Nobel Prize for Chemistry with Sir Cyril Hinshelwood for research in chemical kinetics. He was the second Soviet citizen (after the émigré writer Ivan Bunin) to receive a Nobel Prize. Semyonov was educated in St.

Gregg L. Semenza is an American physician and scientist known for his investigations of how cells use and regulate oxygen and for his discovery of hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF), a molecule that is activated by reduced oxygen availability in cells and that plays a critical role in enabling cells to

Java: Land: The highest volcano is Mount Semeru, at 12,060 feet (3,676 metres). A series of discontinuous plateaus lies south of the volcanic belt and reaches an elevation of about 1,000 feet (300 metres).

AlliedSignal: …Company (founded 1917), producing dyes; Semet-Solvay Company (founded 1894), manufacturing coke and its by-products; and Solvay Process Company (founded 1881), producing alkalies and nitrogen materials. In the 1940s these companies were transformed into “divisions” of Allied Chemical. There were further reorganizations and acquisitions of companies and plants during the 1950s,…

Semey, city, eastern Kazakhstan. It is a port on the Irtysh (Ertis) River where the latter emerges into the West Siberian Plain. It was founded as a Russian fort in 1718, 11 miles (18 km) downstream from the present site, near the ruins of a Buddhist monastery consisting of seven buildings, from

Sergey Timofeyevich Aksakov: …become classics: Semeynaya khronika (1856; The Family Chronicle), Vospominaniya (1856; “Reminiscences”; Eng. trans. A Russian Schoolboy), and Detskie gody Bagrova-vnuka (1858; Childhood Years of Grandson Bagrov). Aksakov unfolds his chronicles objectively in an unaffected style with simple language. Their interest lies in the illusion of reality and intimacy created by…

truck: Types and definitions: …weight and load of a semitrailer, which is a truck trailer equipped with one or more axles and constructed so that the end and a substantial part of its own weight and that of its load rests upon a truck tractor. In contrast, a full trailer is constructed so that…

semi-Arianism, a 4th-century Trinitarian heresy in the Christian church. Though it modified the extreme position of Arianism, it still fell short of the church’s orthodox teaching that Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are of the same substance. Arius held that the Father and the Son are of distinct

warning system: Air defense systems: Examples include the semiautomatic ground environment (SAGE), augmented by a mobile backup intercept control system called BUIC in the United States, NATO air defense ground environment (NADGE) in Europe, a similar system in Japan, and various land-mobile, airborne, and ship command and control systems. Little information concerning the…

liquid: Activity coefficients and excess functions: …zero, but two types of semi-ideal solutions can be designated: in the first, SE is zero but HE is not; this is called a regular solution. In the second, HE is zero but SE is not; this is called an athermal solution. An ideal solution is both regular and athermal.

film noir: Defining the genre: …sometimes designated as “semi-noir,” or film gris (“gray film”), to indicate their hybrid status.

semi-Pelagianism, in 17th-century theological terminology, the doctrine of an anti-Augustinian movement that flourished from about 429 to about 529 in southern France. The surviving evidences of the original movement are limited, but it is clear that the fathers of semi-Pelagianism were monks who

Will Ferrell: …Blades of Glory (2007) and Semi-Pro (2008).

Pakistan: Housing of Pakistan: …bamboo, reeds, or thatch); and semi-pukka houses, which are a mix between the two. Housing stocks comprise an equal number of semi-pukka and katchi houses (about two-fifths each), and remaining houses (roughly one-fifth of the total) are the better-variety pukka houses. Urban areas are dominated by ramshackle neighbourhoods known locally…

Michael Ritchie: Films: Semi-Tough (1977) followed, a genial adaptation of Dan Jenkins’s humorous novel about the world of professional football. Burt Reynolds and Kris Kristofferson starred as teammates who both love the owner’s daughter (Jill Clayburgh). It was only a modest hit, with much criticism directed at the…

rocket and missile system: Semiactive: Semiactive guidance involved illuminating or designating the target with energy emitted from a source other than the missile; a seeker in the projectile that was sensitive to the reflected energy then homed onto the target. Like active guidance, semiactive guidance was commonly used for…

alluvial fan: …more prominent in arid and semiarid regions, however, and generally are regarded as characteristic desert landforms. This is particularly true in the basin-and-range type of areas of parts of Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, the western United States, Chile and Peru, Sinai and western Arabia, and Central Asia, where the basic landscape…

mineral processing: Grinding: …development is the autogenous or semiautogenous mill. Autogenous mills operate without grinding bodies; instead, the coarser part of the ore simply grinds itself and the smaller fractions. To semiautogenous mills (which have become widespread), 5 to 10 percent grinding bodies (usually metal spheres) are added.

warning system: Air defense systems: Examples include the semiautomatic ground environment (SAGE), augmented by a mobile backup intercept control system called BUIC in the United States, NATO air defense ground environment (NADGE) in Europe, a similar system in Japan, and various land-mobile, airborne, and ship command and control systems. Little information concerning the…

semiautomatic pistol, handgun that utilizes either recoil or blowback to discharge the empty cartridge, reload, and cock the piece after each shot. The semiautomatic pistol dates from the very late 19th century, when developments in ammunition made possible cartridges and bullets that would feed or

automatic rifle: …should not be confused with semiautomatic rifles, as the latter fire only one shot at each pull of the trigger. An automatic rifle fires repeatedly as long as the trigger is held down, until the magazine is exhausted. That fully automatic firing is achieved by weapons such as the machine…

shotgun: In semiautomatic shotguns, firing a shot automatically positions the next round.

soap and detergent: Cold and semiboiled methods: In the semiboiled method, the fat is placed in the kettle and alkali solution is added while the mixture is stirred and heated but not boiled. The mass saponifies in the kettle and is poured from there into frames, where it solidifies. Because these methods are technically…

desmid: …cell is divided symmetrically into semicells connected at a central isthmus. The three-layered cell wall is impregnated with openings or pores and pectin spicules; irregular desmid movement is caused by the flow of a gelatinous substance through these pores. Conjugation (temporary union for the exchange of nuclear material) is the…

papermaking: Semichemical pulp: For semichemical pulping, wood preparation and chipping are essentially the same as that for other wood-pulping processes. The chips are steeped and impregnated with inorganic chemical solutions similar to those used for full chemical pulping, but in smaller amounts and with less severe conditions.…

semicircular canal, any of three loop-shaped organs in the inner ear that help control balance and stability by sensing rotation and orientation of the head in three-dimensional space. The semicircular canals are part of the vestibular system of the inner ear, or labyrinth, which also includes

human ear: Semicircular canals: …its ampulla enclose a membranous semicircular duct of much smaller diameter that has its own ampulla. The membranous ducts and ampullae follow the same pattern as the canals and ampullae of the bony labyrinth, with their openings into the utricle and with a common crus for the superior and posterior…

punctuation: Punctuation in English since 1600: The semicolon (;) ranks halfway between a comma and a full point. It may be substituted for a period between two grammatically complete sentences that are closely connected in sense; in a long or complicated sentence, it may precede a coordinate conjunction (such as or, and,…

semiconductor, any of a class of crystalline solids intermediate in electrical conductivity between a conductor and an insulator. Semiconductors are employed in the manufacture of various kinds of electronic devices, including diodes, transistors, and integrated circuits. Such devices have found

copyright: …programs; a separate statute (the Semiconductor Chip Protection Act of 1984) affords protection for mask works—two- or three-dimensional layout-design patterns for creating layers of integrated circuits—fixed in a semiconductor chip product. (Under certain circumstances, computer programs may receive patent protection.)

solid-state detector, radiation detector in which a semiconductor material such as a silicon or germanium crystal constitutes the detecting medium. One such device consists of a p-n junction across which a pulse of current develops when a particle of ionizing radiation traverses it. In a different

semiconductor device, electronic circuit component made from a material that is neither a good conductor nor a good insulator (hence semiconductor). Such devices have found wide applications because of their compactness, reliability, and low cost. As discrete components, they have found use in

electricity: Electroluminescence: …in a reverse-biased semiconductor p–n junction diode—i.e., a p–n junction diode in which the applied potential is in the direction of small current flow. Electrons in the intense field at the depleted junction easily acquire enough energy to excite atoms. Little of this energy finally emerges as light, though the…

laser: Types of lasers: …widely used lasers today are semiconductor diode lasers, which emit visible or infrared light when an electric current passes through them. The emission occurs at the interface (see p-n junction) between two regions doped with different materials. The p-n junction can act as a laser medium, generating stimulated emission

telecommunications media: Electro-optical transmitters: …a longer lifetime than the semiconductor laser. However, the semiconductor laser couples its light output to the optical fibre much more efficiently than the LED, making it more suitable for longer spans, and it also has a faster “rise” time, allowing higher data transmission rates. Laser diodes are available that…

semiconductor memory, any of a class of computer memory devices consisting of one or more integrated circuits. (See computer memory and integrated

solid-state detector, radiation detector in which a semiconductor material such as a silicon or germanium crystal constitutes the detecting medium. One such device consists of a p-n junction across which a pulse of current develops when a particle of ionizing radiation traverses it. In a different

genetics: DNA and the genetic code: …for DNA replication (called the semiconservative method) was demonstrated experimentally for the first time by American molecular biologist Matthew Meselson and American geneticist Franklin W. Stahl. In 1961 Crick and South African biologist Sydney Brenner showed that the genetic code must be read in triplets of nucleotides, called codons

steel: Principles: …be shortened by a so-called semicontinuous mill, in which the workpiece is passed back and forth through a reversing mill before being sent through the rest of the line. When open-train and tandem arrangements are combined for rolling long products in more compact layouts, it is called a cross-country mill.

chemistry of industrial polymers: Amorphous and semicrystalline: Polymers exhibit two types of morphology in the solid state: amorphous and semicrystalline. In an amorphous polymer the molecules are oriented randomly and are intertwined, much like cooked spaghetti, and the polymer has a glasslike, transparent appearance. In semicrystalline polymers, the molecules pack together…

Asia: Semidesert and desert: Through inner Kazakhstan and Mongolia stretches a zone of semidesert, and in Middle Asia, the Junggar (Dzungarian) Basin, the Takla Makan Desert, and Inner Mongolia, there is a belt of temperate-zone deserts. A belt of subtropical deserts extends through the

diesel engine: Early work: …the development of the so-called semidiesel that operated on a two-stroke cycle at a lower compression pressure and made use of a hot bulb or tube to ignite the fuel charge. These changes resulted in an engine less expensive to build and maintain.

Earth tide: …solar diurnal, and the solar semidiurnal tides. Diurnal tides have a period of approximately 24 hours (1 day), and semidiurnal tides have a period of approximately 12 hours (12 day). The actual amplitudes of these tides in terms of vertical movement of the surface of the solid Earth are about…

cement: Manufacture of cement: …as the wet, dry, and semidry processes and are so termed when the raw materials are ground wet and fed to the kiln as a slurry, ground dry and fed as a dry powder, or ground dry and then moistened to form nodules that are fed to the kiln.

Simien Mountains, mountains in northern Ethiopia, northeast of Gonder. In the range is Ras Dejen (or Dashen), the highest peak in Ethiopia at 14,872 feet (4,533 metres). The region is the site of Simien Mountains National Park, which is home to a number of very rare species that include the walia

marketing: Marketing intermediaries: the distribution channel: Manufacturers use raw materials to produce finished products, which in turn may be sent directly to the retailer, or, less often, to the consumer. However, as a general rule, finished goods flow from the manufacturer to one or more wholesalers before they reach the retailer and, finally,…

ammunition: ) In semifixed ammunition, the projectile is detachable from the cartridge case, an arrangement that allows for the size of the propelling charge to be adjusted, after which the projectile can be inserted loosely into the case. In separate-loading ammunition, a complete round consists of three components:…

Baltic states: Early Middle Ages: To the east were the Semigallians, in present-day central Latvia and portions of northern Lithuania. Eastern Latvia was inhabited by the Selonians and Latgalians. At least four major principalities can be distinguished among the latter.

explosive: Ammonium nitrate: …low-density ammonia dynamites and (2) semigelatins. Prior to their development, the density of most dynamites was about the same and was quite high. Strength was changed in the different grades by varying the amount of explosives used. The new concept was to employ the strongest formula possible, with a minimum…

automata theory: Classification by semi-groups: A mathematically significant classification of transducers may be obtained in terms of the theory of semi-groups. In outline, if the transducer T is reduced, the functions ϕs given in terms of M, for fixed input, as maps from and to the space of states…

Slavic religion: Communal banquets and related practices: …annual festival in particular, the Semik (seventh Thursday after Easter) was dedicated to the expulsion of these spirits. They are called rusalki in Russia, vile or samovile in Serbo-Croatia and Bulgaria.

joint: Intra-articular fibrocartilages: …when incomplete they are called menisci. Disks are found in the temporomandibular joint of the lower jaw, the sternoclavicular (breastbone and collarbone) joint, and the ulnocarpal (inner forearm bone and wrist) joint. A pair of menisci is found in each knee joint, one between each femoral condyle and its female…

semilunar valve, either of two pocketlike half-moon-shaped structures located between the left ventricle and the aorta (aortic valve) and between the right ventricle and the pulmonary artery (pulmonary valve) of the heart. The semilunar valves permit blood to flow into the arteries from the

geoid: …specified by two parameters: a semimajor axis (equatorial radius for Earth) and a semiminor axis (polar radius), or the flattening. Flattening (f) is defined as the difference in magnitude between the semimajor axis (a) and the semiminor axis (b) divided by the semimajor axis, or f = (a − b)/a.…

metalloid, in chemistry, an imprecise term used to describe a chemical element that forms a simple substance having properties intermediate between those of a typical metal and a typical nonmetal. The term is normally applied to a group of between six and nine elements (boron, silicon, germanium,

geoid: …radius for Earth) and a semiminor axis (polar radius), or the flattening. Flattening (f) is defined as the difference in magnitude between the semimajor axis (a) and the semiminor axis (b) divided by the semimajor axis, or f = (a − b)/a. For Earth the semimajor axis and semiminor axis…

fuselage: …all of the stresses) and semimonocoque. These structures provide better strength-to-weight ratios for the fuselage covering than the truss-type construction used in earlier planes.

Klinefelter syndrome, disorder of the human sex chromosomes that occurs in males. Klinefelter syndrome is one of the most frequent chromosomal disorders in males, occurring in approximately 1 in every 500 to 1,000 males. It results from an unequal sharing of sex chromosomes very soon after

semen, fluid that is emitted from the male reproductive tract and that contains sperm cells, which are capable of fertilizing the female’s eggs. Semen also contains liquids that combine to form seminal plasma, which helps keep the sperm cells viable. In the sexually mature human male, sperm cells

ejaculation: …the sperm receive fluids, called seminal plasma, from the various internal accessory organs (prostate gland, ejaculatory ducts, seminal vesicles, and bulbourethral glands), the acidity decreases. As they leave the body, the sperm receive oxygen, which is vital to motility. Unable to leave the male body by their own motivation, the…

seminal vesicle, either of two elongated saclike glands that secrete their fluid contents into the ejaculatory ducts of some male mammals. The two seminal vesicles contribute approximately 60 percent of the fluids passed from the human male during ejaculation (q.v.). In some mammals the capacity of

Charles Kendall Adams: …historian who introduced the European seminar method to U.S. universities.

Gregory XIII: …decree ordering the establishment of seminaries, he founded several colleges and seminaries, including the Gregorian University, and delegated their direction to the Jesuits, whom he patronized. These schools trained missionaries for those countries that had established Protestant state religions.

animal reproductive system: Testes: …testes are composed largely of seminiferous tubules—coiled tubes, the walls of which contain cells that produce sperm—and are surrounded by a capsule, the tunica albuginea. Seminiferous tubules may constitute up to 90 percent of the testis. The tubule walls consist of a multilayered germinal epithelium containing spermatogenic cells and Sertoli…