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→Anatomy and function of the foreskin in detail
The foreskin covers the glans, thus protecting it from pollutants, friction, injury and drying out. It consists of two superimposed layers, which are only joined together at the very end. The [[ridged band]] is located just inside the tip of the foreskin.
While the outer foreskin layer is an extension of the penile shaft skin, the inner foreskin layer, which lies flat against the glans, <ref name="prakash1">{{REFjournal | last=Prakash | first=S | coauthors=Raghuram R, Venkatesan, ''et al''. | title=Sub-preputial wetness - Its nature | journal=Ann Nat Med Sci (India) | date=1982 | volume=18 | issue=3 | pages=109-12 | url=http://www.cirp.org/library/anatomy/prakash/ | quote= | pubmedID= | pubmedCID= | DOI= | accessdate=}}</ref> is a mucous membrane. The inner layer is an extraordinarily complex tissue. It contains apocrine glands which produce Cathepsin B, lysozymes, chymotrypsin, neutrophil elastase, cytokines and pheromones such as androsterone.<ref>{{REFjournal
| last=Fleiss
| first=Paul M
| quote=
| pubmedID=10195034
| pubmedCID= 1758142
| DOI=10.1136/sti.74.5.364
| accessdate=2019-09-29
| DOI=
| accessdate=2019-09-29
}}</ref> The natural oils lubricate, moisten and protect the mucous membranes of both the glans and the inner foreskin layer. <ref name = "prakash1" /> The tip of the foreskin is supplied with ample amounts of blood through important blood vessels.<ref>Dr.med Wolfram Hartmann, Stellungnahme zur Anhörung am 26. November 2012 im Rechtsausschuss des Bundestages</ref>
The foreskin serves as a pathway for many significant veins. In addition the foreskin is saturated with very many nerve endings and tactile corpuscles, the same receptors that exist in the fingertips. The enormous density of nerves and mechanoreceptors make the foreskin the most sensitive part of the body, approximately 10 times more sensitive than the fingertips. This also distinguishes the human penis from those of other mammals, which in contrast have the main concentration of nerves in the glans, and not in the foreskin.