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Illustrations in some anatomy textbooks purporting to be left lateral views of the organ are in fact right lateral views. The origin of this error is discussed. The variability in normal shape is described in 55 living bulls and 20 excised specimens from bulls of different breeds. The importance of a correct understanding of normal anatomy in clinical examination and surgery of the bovine penis is emphasised.

The veins of the corpus cavernosum penis (ccp) were examined in 34 calves aged one to three weeks, 38 calves aged three to four months, five bulls aged 10 to 14 months and six bulls aged two-and-a-half to five-and-a-half years. Shortly after birth, the cavernous spaces of the ccp within the body of the penis drain into the dorsal venous system. The veins increase in size up to three to four months old, but by 10 to 14 months they have regressed markedly, both in numbers and in size. In normal bulls, over two-and-a-half years, there is no venous drainage of the ccp within the body of the penis. The thickness of the tunica albuginea does not seem important in determining the location of the veins that traverse it to drain the ccp or in facilitating the development of venous drainage during the first three or four months of post natal life. These findings are discussed in relation to impotence associated with distal venous drainage of the ccp in young and adult bulls.