THE 
/ 
SCIENCE 
OF 
GENERATION 
THE ANATOMY, PHYSIOLOGY 
AND HYGIENE 
OF THE 
GENERATIVE ORGANS OF THE HUMAN SPECIES 
OF BOTH SEXES. 
For the Use of Physicians, Students, 
Parents, Teachers, Married 
Persons, and Those 
About to Marry. 
BY A SPECIALIST ON THE SUBJECT. 
“It is time that science, renouncing a reticence which long experience has 
proved pernicious, should explain and apply to the public good the hygienic 
laws which pertain to that instinct which, beyond all others, controls the 
destinies of men for good or evil; we mean the instinct of procreation, the 
faculty of the transmission of life.”—Napheys. " 
LONDON CANADA: 
The London Publishing Company. Copyright in Canada. 
Entered according to Act of Parliament of Canada, in 
the year 189%, by C. Hodgins, in the Office of the 
Minister of Agriculture. 
Copyright in United States. 
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year i8q<£, 
by C. Hodgins, m the Office of the Librarian of 
Congress, at Washington. 
Copyright in United Kingdom of Great Britain 
and Ireland. 
Entered according to Act of Parliament, in the year 
189by C. Hodgins, at Stationers' Hall. PUBLISHERS’ PRSF.ACE. 
We make no apology for introducing this book to the notice 
of the public. The time was when such an apology might have 
been thought necessary ; when modesty was thought compatible 
only with ignorance, and any proposition to convey to a young 
man or woman a knowledge of the true character and functions 
of the reproductive organs, would have been thought an attack 
on virtue. Hence, this important field of human knowledge was 
the possession of the scientific few, and the acquisition of admit- 
tedly necessary information was left to chance, and youth im- 
bibed as knowledge the errors and, too often, the vices of their 
companions, and the indecencies of the unscrupulous quacks who 
publish advertisements and pamphlets to mislead or corrupt for 
their own pecuniary gain. But during the last forty years there 
have appeared certain reliable works treating of various branches 
of this subject in popular language, notably those of Dr. Frederick 
Hollick and Dr. George H. Napheys, which have received the 
unqualified approval of a large number of the leading Physicians, 
Clergymen, Teachers, and Newspapers of America and Europe. 
These expressions of approval of such information and of a sense 
of the importance of the subject will, we think, find an echo in the 
mind and heart of every lover of his race who peruses the present 
volume, and we think it will be found to equally merit such ap- 
proval. Of one or other of those books Professor Harvey L. 
Byrd, of Washington University, says : ‘‘ I am one of those who 
believe the lay members of every intelligent community should 
be educated in a general knowledge of the laws of life.” Dr. 
John H. Griscom, of New York, says : “ The Sanitary Advice so 
well inculcated, should be learned by every individual, especially 
by parents for the safety of their children.” Rev. Dr. John Todd, 
the well-known author of “ The Student’s Manual,” says of Dr. 
Naphey’s book: “The book cannot fail, I think, to do good, 
great good, if rightly heeded.” Bishop Clark, of Rhode Island, 
says: “ I believe that its general circulation among the young 
would avert a vast amount of misery and sin.” H. Clay Trum- 
bull, the noted Sunday School worker and writer, author of 
“Teachers and Teaching,” says to Dr. Napheys: “Your new PUBLISHERS’ PREFACE. 
4 
work on “ The Transmission of Life” is one that every boy, and 
every man, every bachelor, parent or teacher, should have and 
read and be grateful for.” Rev. Dr. Horace Bushnell, author of the 
“ Life of Christ,” says : “ I see it to be a work immensely wanted, 
and think it will do much good. . . . Give it as great a circu- 
lation as you can.” Rev. Dr. C. P. Sheldon : “ I earnestly re- 
commend its publication and circulation.” President Noah 
Porter, D.D., LL D., of Yale College: “ The much needed warn- 
ings concerning the offences against Nature, which are practiced 
in ignorance by many, and with shamelessness by others, arc 
faithfully administered.” President Wm. A. Stearns, D.D., LL. D., 
of Amherst College: “ The information which you give is of the 
greatest importance to the community, and especially to young 
men ; and it is a thousand times better that they receive it from 
a work like yours, than be left to obtain it from sources of doubt- 
ful influence, or from bitter experience.” President Talbot, D D., 
of Denison University: “ The information imparted is just that 
which the public most need.” President Cyrus Nutt, D.D., of 
Indiana State University: “ It contains information of the utmost 
importance to the individual and the race, and should have a 
wide circulation.” President Stott, of Franklin College: “ There 
is certainly great need of such information on the subjects treated.” 
The Philadelphia Medical and Surgical Reporter: “ The book is 
intended to meet a want which, during the last year, has been 
urgently expressed by several medical and literary journals in this 
country and England, namely, to place before the public, in pop- 
ular yet irreproachable language, what information regarding the 
hygiene, nature, uses, and abuses of the procreative function in 
the male, is necessary to protect the individual from the evil con- 
sequences of his own folly or ignorance.” The New Yoik Inde- 
pendent: “ It is, we believe, calculated to do great good.” The 
American Literary Gazette: “We are glad to see that, able physi- 
cians are coming forward to give to the public information on 
subjects of such interest to every reading man.” The Christian 
Secretary, of Hartford: “ It is a delicate topic, but one upon 
which information, properly communicated, is immensely needed 
by multitudes. ... Its perusal may save thousands of per- 
sons from untold evils.” The Age, of Philadelphia: “ These are 
topics of vast importance, which are better suited for private read- 
ing than for public discussion on the platform or in the columns PUBLISHERS’ PREFACE. 
5 
of the newspaper. A knowledge of them, however, is essential to 
health and happiness.” The Christian Radical, of Pittsburg and 
New York : “ It is a book that should be read. Every man, and 
woman, too, will be the better for it.” The Lutheran Observer, of 
Philadelphia: “ It is both scientific and practical. Its style is 
clear and plain, but does not offend the most refined taste. The 
information it contains is of vital importance to all, but especially 
to young men, who too often obtain what information they have 
on the subject from the demoralizing and licentious publications 
of charlatans.” The Methodist, of New York: “A thorough 
treatise on the most important physical function. It furnishes in- 
formation on a subject on which correct information is much 
needed, which deeply concerns all men and women and their 
children.” The Pacific Churchman, of San Francisco: “ It is one 
of the good signs of the times that such matters are written upon 
by honest, able hands, and the field not abandoned to quacks. 
Every young married couple should possess and read it.” The 
Medical and Surgical Review: “We are constrained to admit that 
it is the most extraordinary book that ever came under our notice. 
Thoroughly scientific enough for deeply-read scholars, or for prac- 
tical experimenters, it is yet plain and popular enough for the 
most ordinary understanding. Nowhere else in the English lan- 
guage can there be found such a complete and practically useful 
compendium of physiological information, strictly adapted for the 
use of married people, or of those intending to marry. All the 
new discoveries . . . are given. The engravings are also ex- 
cellent, as well as curious. In fact, taking it altogether, it is, be- 
yond all question, the book upon such matters. One feature 
which peculiarly distinguishes this book ... is the peculiar 
tone of morality and delicacy which pervades it all through, and 
which makes it both proper and usefid to be read by all persons, of 
both sexes, who have attained the age of puberty. A very eminent 
clergyman authorizes us to say that he deems it a duty to intro- 
duce it privately among his flock, as the best means he knows of 
preventing and overcoming those hateful vices, unfortunately so 
destructive to soul and body, which are, at the present time, so 
fearfully prevalent.” 
The Parent and the Teacher (both Secular and Spiritual) will 
find in this work much valuable knowledge, for which they have 
long been seeking, and in a form which will be found to commend 6 
PUBLISHERS’ PREFACE. 
itself to the popular understanding, with a strong moral tone, and 
couched in the most delicate language ; while the physician and 
student will find the most reliable and accurate scientific knowledge 
on a most important branch of learning, brought down to the 
latest researches of Hertwig, Van Beneden, and others, in a con- 
cise and readable form, the result of many years of study and 
original investigation by the author. 
LONDON, November, 1897. For Table of Contents See Page 28J. 
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 
PLATE. PAGE. 
Frontispiece—The Male and Female forms contrasted - 8 
I. Sectional view of the Female organs of Generation, 13 
II. Diagram showing the relative size and position of 
the Uterus or Womb and Appendages, - 24 
III. Sectional view of the Womb (Uterus or Matrix), 
natural size, - - - - 38 
IV. Expulsion of the Egg, 48 
V. The Maiden at Puberty, 68 
VI. Sectional view of the Male organs of Generation, 78 
VII. The Testicle, ----- 81 
VIII. The Seminal Vesicles, etc., - - - 82 
IX. Sections of the Penis, showing internal structure, 85 
X. Forms of Spermatozoa, or Seminal Animalculae, 115 
XI. Van Beneden’s Illustration of the Successive Stages 
of Impregnation of the Ovum or Egg, - 143 
XII. The Unborn Child, showing Placenta and Umbilical 
Cord, ..... 149 
XIII. Sectional plan of the Gravid Uterus (from Wagner) 
in the third and fourth months, - - 153 
XIV. The Neck of the Womb at the third, seventh and 
ninth months, - - - 159 
XV. Test of Pregnancy by Ballottment—Appearance of 
the Breast in Pregnancy, - - - 164 
XVI. Sectional views of the Neck of the Womb in 
Pregnancy, - - - - 175 
XVII. Positions of Child in the Womb, - - 206 
XVIII. Position of Twins in the Womb, - - 209 FRONTISPIECE. 
THE MALE AND FEMALE FORMS CONTRASTED, THE 
Science of Generation. 
CHAPTER I. 
PROCREATION, OR HOW YOUNG ARE 
PRODUCED GENERAL OUTLINE. 
A GREAT physician has said, “ A woman is a womb with 
other organs round it.” Certainly, though the organs of 
generation are in themselves distinct from the others, t! ey 
have in both sexes, but especially in woman, a very strange and 
mysterious influence upon the whole system, both of body and 
mind, every part seeming to be in the closest nerve connection 
with them. 
Speaking in general terms the production of young, both in 
animal and vegetable life, is in effect the same. That is to say, in 
the physical, made up of all living beings, there are two special 
substances which are called the sexual principles, or the male and 
female principles. These two, uniting under certain circumstances, 
produce a new being, though neither alone has any such power. 
In mankind these two principles are always formed in separate 
individuals, which we therefore eall male and female persons.. 
The man, the male person, forms within him the male principle, 
which we call the semen, or seed; the woman forms within her 
the female principle, called in this case the ovum, or egg. In 
some lower classes of life these two principles are formed in the 
one individual, which thus is able to perform both the male and 
female sexual acts and to produce young. Such beings are called 
Hermaphrodites. Earthworms, leeches, and many sorts of insects 
and shell-fish, and most vegetable life, are examples of herma- 
phrodites. THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
In the higher orders of beings, no true hermaphrodite is found. 
But even in these, the modes in which the male and female prin- 
ciples are brought together are very various. For example, in the 
case of most fishes, the male and female fish do not touch each 
other at all; the female laying her eggs in the water, and the male, 
whose sexual desires are roused by the presence of the eggs, de- 
posits his semen upon or near them, and they become fertilized or 
impregnated. Birds, which are of a higher order of beings, have 
a kind of imperfect connection, the egg being fertilized within the 
body of the female. Even in these, as in turtles and some other 
animals, the egg is only partially developed when it passes from 
the body to be further developed outside. But in the more perfect 
animals, as in maq, the egg is not only fertilized or impregnated 
within the body, but remains there to develop into the new being, 
and the young comes forth alive. In some animals, such as the 
kangaroo and oppossum, the young are brought forth alive but 
very imperfectly developed, and the mother at once places them 
in a pouch, or pocket, adjoining the teats. They receive the teats 
into their mouths, and holding fast for days or weeks receive their 
nourishment, and are there developed until able to care for them- 
selves. The young kangaroos, even after they have left the 
pouch, return to it on any sign of danger, and the mother leaps 
over the ground and clears bushes, streams and other obstacles, 
carrying them with her. 
From the foregoing outline it will be seen that there must be 
in each sex an organ or particular part, in which the peculiar 
sexual substances are formed. This organ or part in the female 
is called the ovary, or part in which the ova (Latin for eggs) are 
formed. The presence or absence of this organ is the true test of 
female sex ; with it the animal is female ; without it, never. There 
are usually various other organs pertaining to the ovary. In the 
human female, and in all females which bring forth their young 
alive, there is an organ called the uterus or womb, a hollow, mus- 
cular, or fleshy organ, into which the ripe egg or ovum passes and 
remains there for development. In such animals as the kangaroo 
the womb is very imperfect, and the young pass out at an early 
stage to have their full development in the outside pouch as already 
described. 
The essential male organ is the testicle, the organ in which THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
the semen, the special male principle, is formed. The only true 
test of the male is the testicle. Where this is present the body is 
male ; where it is absent, never. In the human being, as in all 
the higher animals, there are of course many other organs acces- 
sory to these two special ones, all which will be dealt with in proper 
order. 
The human being is the highest order of creation, and in no 
particular is man’s perfection more clearly shown than in the 
sexual organs, both male and female. 12 
THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
CHAPTER II. 
THE GENITAL ORGANS OF THE HUMAN 
FEMALE—EXTERNAL. 
THE external parts of the female genitals are not of them- 
selves directly concerned in the production of the new 
being, but as their form and size may indicate the char- 
acter and condition of the inner parts, and also because it will be 
necessary to refer to them, it is well here to describe them. 
At the lower extremity of the abdomen or belly is situated 
the Pubic bone. At this point, especially after the female ap- 
proaches young womanhood, the forward arch of this bone is 
covered with a thick layer of fatty flesh, which makes there quite 
a little mound or prominence. This prominence, which is called 
the Mons Veneris, or Mount of Love, is also after that age covered 
more or less with hair, called Tressoria or Pubes. The absence 
of this covering of hair was in former days regarded as a disgrace, 
or at least ± misfortune. Indeed, in the days of our rude fore- 
fathers, the law provided that if a woman were the third time found 
in illicit intercourse, this hair should be cut off. This seems to 
have been intended as a hint that she should restrain her sexual 
passion, for it is seldom absent except in those women in whom 
sexuality is very low or altogether wanting, as in those who have 
no ovaries. It seems, generally speaking, to be a badge of sexu- 
ality, for if the ovaries be removed by the surgeon, as they some- 
times are when diseased, this hair gradually falls out and disap- 
pears. Certain diseases also cause it to fall out, as do also some 
powerful drugs. In some persons it grows to such an extent as o 
become troublesome. 
The Mons Veneris and its covering of hair generally appear 
at the age of puberty, that is, the age at which the child becomes 
the young woman. In some persons the development of both is 
so rapid that a few weeks will greatly change the appearance of 
the body in that respect. Many think the coming of this hair a 
sure sign of womanhood, and some physicians are even guided in 
their treatment of the young person by this supposition ; but this 
sign is not always to be trusted, as cases have been known in 
which girls of nine or ten years of age had the Mons Veneris and PLATE I 
SECTIONAL VI “W OF THE FEMALE ORGANS OF GENERATION. 
The terms used will be found sufficiently explained in Chapters II. and III. THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
15 
its hairy covering both largely developed, but who did not men- 
struate (see chapter v.) till some years later, while in others the hair 
does not make its appearance for several years after menstiuation 
has begun; in some women it scarcely can be said to appear at 
all, while Dr. Hollick mentions the case of a child of four yea1 s on 
whom was a large growth. Usually, however, it is a pretty sure 
sign of puberty, as the dawn of womanhood is called. 
Just below the Mons Veneris are two pairs of large lips, an 
inner and an outer pair, called the Labia Pudendi (Latin—Lips of 
the Privates). The outer ones, called Labia Majora (Latin— 
Larger Lips), extend from the Mons Veneris, underneath the 
abdomen to within about an inch and a half of the anus. They 
are formed, as the lips of the mouth are, by ordinary skin on the 
outward side and mucous membrane within, and are made plump 
and full by a thick deposit of fatty matter in them. The outward 
surface of these external lips, like the Mons Veneris, is covered 
with the Tressoria, which continues from the Mons, more or less, 
to their lower extremity. 
The mucous membrane of the inner side is dotted with many 
little glands, which secrete a clear, thickish fluid, with an odor 
peculiar to itself. These lips are united at their upper and lower 
ends, but in the middle they are entirely separate (though usually 
touching, or almost touching each other), and in the middle they 
are the largest and most prominent. In some persons they are 
large, full and elastic ; but in others they are small, thin and in- 
elastic, which makes them liable to injury during childbirth. 
In some young persons they have been known to grow 
together, on healing, after inflammation. In such cases they 
should be separated before marriage, which may be easily done by 
a physician or surgeon; otherwise their condition may occasion 
great distress and injury. 
In virgins the inner surface of these lips is pink, but after in- 
tercourse it becomes slightly tinged with violet or brown. It is not 
always just, however, to conclude from the changes in color that 
intercourse has taken place, as the change sometimes arises from 
other causes. After marriage also these lips become less firm, and 
hang lower and farther apart. 
Lying just within the two outer lips are the two inner ones, 
sometimes called the Labia Minora (Latin—Smaller Lips), but 16 
THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
more commonly called the Nymphae (Latin—Brides).- These 
Nymphae do not reach so far either up or down as the Labia Ma- 
jora ; and being also smaller and thinner are usually completely 
hidden by them. In young children, however, the Nymphae fre- 
quently project farther out than the external lips, which latter, be- 
coming full and round after puberty, close together and conceal 
them ; but after childbirth and in the latest stages of pregnancy 
they may again appear. In some females, particularly in Asiatic 
countries, the Nymphae grow* to a great size, partly closing the 
passage to the womb. Their size, then, subjects them to much 
irritation from the clothing and from the adjacent parts ; and being 
a part in which much sexual sensitiveness lies, this irritation some- 
times causes intense sexual desire, not seldom amounting to mania, 
the unfortunate woman being irresistibly driven to seek gratifica- 
tion in some way regardless of consequences. In such cases they 
should be removed by a surgeon, which may be done very easily 
and without any danger whatever. This operation, like circum- 
cision of the men, is quite common in many Eastern countries, 
where this "enlargement of the Nymphse is very usual. Often 
these Mohammedans cut away the Nymphae from their young 
girls to make them have less sexual feeling, so that they may be 
content with their small share of the much-divided attentions of 
their many-wived husbands. 
Sonnini says that in his time, in many Egyptian cities, men, 
whose trade was the removal of the Nymphae in young girls, went 
about the streets, in a loud voice, soliciting custom and crying, 
“ Here’s a good circumciser.” Of still more ancient times we are 
told by the traveller, Leo Africanus, that these circumcisers called 
out, “ Who is she that wishes to be cut?” These surgeon special- 
ists, in their way, used only a razor to perform the operation, and 
they stanched the flow of blood with a little ashes. Another rea- 
son for this removal may be, asjnthe case of circumcision in man, 
a regard to cleanliness, the secretions accumulating under them 
when large, and causing great irritation. Dr. Remondino, in his 
work on circumcision, asserts that in Egypt and in some other 
Oriental lands, it is not unusual for a jealous-minded husband 
to fasten these Nymphae together, in his wife or concubine'; with a 
little padlock, of which he only holds the key, so as to thoroughly 
assure himself that she would not have intercourse with other men. THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
17 
In some women, especially amongst the Hottentots of South 
Africa, the upper part of these Nymphae, where they join, is 
greatly enlarged, so as to hang down in front of the opening like a 
great flap, sometimes three, four, five, or even nine inches long. 
The Hottentots are a very low class of humanity, and in their 
sexual organs, as in their other physical character and in their low 
physical development, are much nearer the brute creation than the 
average human being. In their women the Mons Veneris is less 
developed than in white women, the outer Labia Pudendae being 
much smaller, and the opening much larger and farther back, as 
in beasts. 
It is highly important that the young female should know, 
previous to marriage, whether these external organs are all ap- 
parently normal, and if she have any doubt she should consult 
some discreet married woman, or her physician. These labia may 
be too large, or acutely sensitive, or grown together, or ulcerated ; 
and if these troubles and difficulties be only first discovered in 
marriage bed, great distress, unhappiness, or injury may result, 
while the trouble could have been readily removed beforehand, if 
known. 
Just within the round, projecting, upper arch, where the two 
Nymphae join, is a small organ called the Clitoris. It is of a firm 
erectile tissue, and about the size of a large pea, but extending a 
little way inwards. This remarkable organ resembles the male 
penis in some respects. It is the chief seat of sexual sensitiveness, 
and, on excitement of passion, becomes erect and firm. It is, like 
the penis, of a spongy substance, and on excitement the blood 
cavities become pressed full of blood, causing the body of the 
organ to erect itself. This sensitiveness to sexual sensation seems, 
indeed, to be its chief characteristic, and suggests its use, namely, 
to promote a similar excitement in the internal generative organs 
and thus assist them to perform their functions. Where it is too 
much developed, or too sensitive, it often produces the same mad 
desire of intercourse described in the case of the Nymphae, and 
leads to acts suggesting utter and shameless abandonment When- 
ever it comes in contact with the adjacent parts, and is rubbed by 
them or by the clothes in walking, it becomes engorged with blood, 
erect and excited, and in turn excites the womb and other organs, 
producing a perfect frenzy of sexual desire, in spite of all her 18 
THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
efforts to repress it, the unfortunate female being looked upon 
as thoroughly immoral, while the true cause of her shocking con- 
duct may lie in a mania caused by the condition of the Clitoris, 
and is no more controllable by the will than is the hunger of an 
empty stomach. Mothers, or others having the care of young 
girls, should carefully see to it that no such unfortunate physical 
condition shall lead to their ruin and degradation, but that proper 
medical or surgical remedies are adopted in time. Good moral 
training is very proper and necessary, but in a case of this sort the 
advice of a prudent physician should be had. The old law pre- 
scribed what was at once a punishment and a cure for this sort of 
conduct; by it a vvoman, detected for the fourth time in unlawful 
intercourse, was sentenced to have the Clitoris amputated in open 
court. It does not appear that our good forefathers were so care- 
ful to correct the behaviour of her paramour, the male partner in 
guilt, as to remove the offending member from him. 
Cleanliness of the parts and careful avoidance of rich and 
stimulating food or drink will do much to allay any undue excita- 
bility of the Clitoris, or of the Nymphae. Bathing in water as hot 
as can be borne also gives excellent results. Sometimes this un- 
natural sensitiveness exists at a very early age, and the child is led 
to frequently handle the parts. This only increases the excita- 
bility and begets a very vicious and dangerous habit. It is not a 
case for scolding the child, but for proper physical remedies, and 
if attention to cleanliness and diet do not effect a cure, a physician 
should be consulted. If the Clitoris be too large, and so liable to 
be irritated and excited, it can be readily amputated by a surgeon 
without danger and with good results. On the other hand, where 
it is so small that it does not properly perform its function of rous- 
ing the other organs of generation at the proper time, means may 
be, and in cases of barrenness sometimes are, adopted to cause it 
to increase in size and in sensitiveness. 
Both the Clitoris and the Nymphae are very liable to irritation 
in bicycle riding. The saddle, if not of a pattern properly calcu- 
lated to avoid it, causes the clothing to rub on those parts, produc- 
ing great sexual excitement, in some cases one orgasm (or period 
of intense passion in the genital organs) following another in quick 
succession. This is exceedingly injurious to the nervous system, 
to say nothing of the ovious moral danger, and unless a saddle is THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
19 
used which will not produce this effect, a woman, younger or older, 
and no matter how badly she may require exercise, had infinitely 
better not ride at all. Saddles are now to be had on which the 
rider rests on two pads, one each'side the middle, the part which 
goes between the limbs to steady the rider being much lower 
down, thus avoiding the rubbing and consequent sexual irritation. 
Parents should see to it that the bicycle saddles on which their 
daughters ride are properly made in this regard, lest what should 
be a delightful and healthful recreation should be found instead a 
moral and physical curse. 
The Clitoris is much larger, relatively, in very young children 
than in adults. Indeed, in the case of the child some months 
before its birth it is so much like the penis that it is difficult to dis- 
tinguish the sex. Even some adult females have the Clitoris so 
large that it much resembles the male penis, and can be used in 
the same way to have intercourse with other females. Dr. 
tells of such a person who passed as a woman, wore woman’s 
clothes and married a man, but after some years left him, donned 
male married a woman. The poor creature had appar- 
ently the sexual appetites of a male, but the genital organs, though 
thus deformed, and in other respects very imperfectly developed, 
were really those of a female. 
The Clitoris is present in most of the mammalia of milk-giving 
animals, even in the marine mammalia, such as the whale and 
porpoise. In most carnivorous animals, and in many others, such 
as the ape, the rat and the rabbit, it is relatively very large ; and 
in some, as the raccoon, the bear and the otter, it contains a small 
bone. In the kangaroo and oppossum the Clitoris is divided or 
split, like the extremity of the penis in the male of those animals. 
The Clitoris of the female spider monkey is three or four inches 
long, and much like a penis ; it has a sort of exterior urethra or 
passage for the urine, in the shape of a groove, down which the 
urine flows, and also a prepuce or circular foreskin, as on the penis. 
In the Lemming, a kind of field-mouse, there is even an interior 
urethra, or passage for the urine, as in the male penis. Glands 
s'm'lar to those under the foreskin of the male are often found 
much developed in the females of the lower animals ; these pre- 
putial glands, as they are called, often emit a strong and disagree- 
able odor. No animal except the human female has the Mons 20 
THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
Veneris, the Tressoria or hairy covering, or the Nymphae or inner 
lips, except perhaps rudimentary, and the external lips are thin 
and weak. In the lower animals the mouth of the vagina, or pass- 
age to the womb, is round, not oval, as in the human female, and 
is set somewhat farther back, or nearer to the anus. In the mare 
and in a few other animals there is a small tube, or vaginal canal, 
as it is called, on each side of the vagina, the purpose of which is 
unknown. 
The outer opening of the vagina, between the Labia, or lips, 
is called the Vulva or Fossa Magna (Latin—Great Trench). It 
also varies a good deal in different persons. In white females it is 
more in front than in colored persons ; also the vagina is shorter 
and smaller, the outer Labia, or lips, fuller and firmer, the Clitoris 
smaller, and the Tressoria less abundant in the white woman than 
in her colored sister. The Vulva, or opening into the vagina, is at 
the lower or rear end of the Labia, or lips, and just above their 
lower point of union. This point of union is called the fourchette, 
or fork. The space between it and the anus is called the Perineum, 
and the space between the upper edge of the vulva and the clitoris 
is called the Vestibulum (Latin—Vestibule). In the middle of this 
space is the mouth of the Urethra, or duct, by which the urine is 
passed out from the bladder. This urinary passage, it will be 
seen, is quite distinct from the passage which leads to the womb. 
In virgins the vulva just mentioned, is usually nearly closed 
by a membrane, or sort of skin, called the Hymen (Latin—Wed- 
ding, or God of Marriage). This must, of course, be broken on the 
first sexual congress. It is a very common but mistaken supposi- 
tion that the presence of this is a sure sign of true virginity, and 
its absence, of sexual intercourse having taken place. In many 
females it never exists at all, even in childhood ; in many others 
it is very delicate and easily destroyed in various quite honest 
ways. Sometimes, where the opening is very small or absent, the 
Hymen is ruptured by the flow of the monthly courses ; sometimes 
it is torn asunder by falls, or by spreading the legs wide apart. 
For this reason the Jewish maidens in Isaiah’s time walked with a 
very short, mincing step, affecting a great care for the safety of 
this token of virginity, though really soliciting men all the while, 
and much to the disgust of the old prophet (Isaiah iii., 16), who 
had no faith in their affectation of purity. Sometimes, also, long- THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
21 
continued and debilitating diseases will either cause the Hymen to 
disappear entirely, or to become so relaxed that it is not noticed. 
Also, in some persons, the membrane is so thin and delicate that 
it may be destroyed by the rough use of a towel in bathing, or by 
having the napkin, used to absorb the menstrual flow, too tightly 
bound against the person. Certain vicious or improper practices 
by even children will destroy it in themselves, as will also various 
necessary examinations or operations by the physician or surgeon. 
For all these reasons, women who marry late in life seldom have 
any trace of it by that time, though they have been perfectly 
chaste and continent, for very few wholly escape those diseases 
and accidents mentioned. It is therefore obvious that the old 
Jewish custom (Deuteronomy xxii., 13-22), which tested a bride’s 
virginity by the presence, or absence, of blood from the newly 
ruptured Hymen on the sheets of her wedding bed, must have often 
proved most unjust and cruel. Further, though when a perfect 
Hymen is ruptured, more or less blood usually flows','yet this is 
not always the case, and there may be some flow of blood caused 
by disproportion in the male and female parts, though the Hymen 
is entirely wanting. In some persons, too, the Hymen, though at 
times so relaxed as to permit intercourse without breaking it, be- 
comes again contracted and tense, so that even a widow, on a 
second marriage, may exhibit this sign of virginity. This appar- 
ently virgin condition can, and has been sometimes produced by 
artificial means, so that a woman who has even borne a child may 
appear as if she had never had intercourse. It will be seen, then, 
that though the Hymen is usually present, and causes more or less 
pain and difficulty in the first act of copulation, yet where that 
does not occur till after the twentieth year, there is seldom much 
of either. 
The menstrual flow escapes through a small opening through 
the lower side of the Hymen ; sometimes, however, there is no 
such opening, the Hymen completely closing the vulva, and the 
menses are so retained within the vagina, not seldom, as can well 
be imagined, causing disease, insanity, or even death. Yet the 
remedy, is very simple, merely to puncture the Hymen and allow- 
ing the menses free passage. This is a very easy and safe oper- 
ation, but should be done only by a physician or surgeon. 
Some cases have been known in which the Hymen was so 22 
THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
thick and strong that the marriage could not be consummated 
until the Hymen was slit by the surgeon’s knife, and the opening 
then, if required, stretched larger by proper instruments. Dr. 
Hollick mentions a case in which the membrane had become 
apparently partially ossified or bony, and had to be cut away. 
The remains of the Hymen usually become gradually absorbed, 
but often vestiges of it remain like little pimples, called sarunclae 
myrtiforma, round the mouth of the vagina, and these are very 
sensitive. 
Some of the lower animals, such as the mare, the cow and 
the ape have, previous to their first connection with the male, a 
sort of imperfect Hymen, which partially closes the entrance to 
the Vagina. PLATE II. 
DIAGRAM SHOWING THE RELATIVE SIZE AND POSITION OF 
THE UTERUS OR WOMB, AND ITS APPENDAGES 
The terms used will be found sufficiently explained in Chapter III. THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
25 
CHAPTER III. 
THE FEMALE GENITAL ORGANS- 
INTERNAL. 
Ovaries—Fallopian Tubes—Womb—Its Liga- 
ments—Vagina. 
THE OVARIES. 
THE importance which Nature attaches to its reproductive 
system is illustrated by the fact that the ovaries, as the testi- 
cles in the male, are among the first organs formed after 
conception, the little protoplasmic cells beginning to rush about 
and arrange and form themselves into these organs within a few 
hours after the egg is impregnated by the semen of the male. 
The Ovaries, as stated in Chapter I., are the essential organs 
of female sex. In the human female, as in all the higher orders 
of life, they are two in number, one on each side of the pelvis, or 
arch of bone, on which the body rests, just within the lower edge 
of the hip bone and quite close to the surface of the abdomen. In 
size and shape they much resemble the testicles of the male, but 
flatter, say about the size and shape of the egg of a Bantam fowl, 
slightly flattened from side to side ; they are smooth externally in 
the child, as are the testicles. After menstruation they become 
rough and uneven and covered with little hills and hollows. They 
are quite small in childhood, but on the dawn of womanhood 
(puberty), usually at about twelve to sixteen years of age, they 
begin to enlarge and develop, and to exert a strong influence over 
the whole system. 
In former times, physiologists, not knowing the true purpose of 
the Ovaries, called them the female testes, wrongfully supposing 
that they secreted something like the male semen. This idea 
was quite erroneous ; their function is to produce the germs or cells, 
called the Ova, or Eggs, as mentioned in Chapter I., in which, when 
fertilized by the male semen, all living beings have their origin. 
In each Ovary there are contained a great many thousand vesicles 
or little cells, imbedded in the substance of its outer zone, called 
the Graafian Vesicles, varying in size from the size of a small pea 
to so small a size as to be invisible to the naked eye, and in vari- 
ous successive stages of development. After puberty there are 26 
THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
usually twenty or thirty of these at once large enough to be ers’ly 
discoverable. It is supposed that all these vesicles, or cells, ex st 
in a rudimentary form at the time of the child’s birth, or earlier, 
but so small then as to be und;scoverable even with a microscope. 
They develop very slowly until the,age of puberty, when their 
rapid development causes the increase in the s'ze of the ovaries 
which contain them, as above mentioned. Each vesicle or cell 
contains one ovum or egg. The development of the egg corres- 
ponds, of course, to that of the cell which contains it. One of 
these vesicles, with its egg in it, is usually more advanced than the 
others in the ovary, and commencing at the period of puberty they 
all ripen or mature in succession until the change of life, at 
about forty to fifty years of age, when usually all have been 
matured, or have atrophied and shrunken away. They usually 
develop in regular succession, beginning with those next the out- 
side of the ovary, and those farther in gradually working to the 
outside, until all have been matured. Sometimes, however, some 
of them are very much later in developing than the rest, and years 
after the change of life had passed, or was supposed to have 
passed, the woman begins again to menstruate and even to bear 
children, even at the age of sixty or seventy years. After 
all the eggs have been matured and passed out, or have died 
and shrunken away, the ovaries gradually shrink and waste away, 
and in some cases almost disappear. Usually a good number of 
these vesicles in the ovary appear alike, but one is actually 
more mature than the others, and, in its turn, completes its develop- 
ment quite rapidly and is ready to be passed out. As soon as the 
Graafian Vesicle, with its enclosed egg, is ripe, it bursts in the 
manner which I shall describe later, and the egg escapes and is 
expelled from the ovary and finds its way to the womb, where it 
remains for a short time. If after its expulsion from the ovary it be 
impregnated by the semen of the male, it lodges and remains in 
the womb and develops into the new being ; but being only one of 
the two generative principles, if not so impregnated it can develop 
no further, but passes out of the body and is lost. In most females, 
both married and virgin, this ripening and expulsion of an egg 
occurs about once a month, from puberty to change of life, the 
egg beginning its course from the ovary to the womb about the 
time the monthly flow ceases, and, it will be observed, this develop- THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
27 
ment of the egg takes place quite independently of sexual excite- 
ment or association. 
In all animal female life this same periodical development of 
an ovum, or egg, takes place in some form. Thus it is well known 
to poulterers and bird keepers that female birds will begin to lay 
their eggs, and continue to do so, without having ever had any 
intercourse with a male. Many a maiden lady, unacquainted with 
this fact, has been dreadfully shocked to find in the cage of 
her favorite canary, or mocking bird, which she supposed (and 
which was in fact) virgin, a bright new-laid egg. The eggs so 
produced, not having been impregnated by the semen of the male, 
are of course unfruitful and cannot be hatched. 
There is great diversity in the frequency with which this 
periodical development and ovulation, or egg-laying, takes place. 
The common barnyard hen usually matures and expels one egg 
each day, some birds are oftener, others less often. The human 
female, as we have observed, matures one about every twenty-six 
or twenty-eight days. Horses, cattle, sheep, etc., ripen one (some- 
times two) several times a year. Dogs, cats, rabbits, pigs, and 
other animals which bring forth in litters, mature a number of these 
eggs at a time and several times in a year, while others, the lion 
and elephant for example, bring only one egg to maturity in two 
or three years. As it is only when the ripened egg escapes from 
the ovary and is on its way to the womb, that it can be impreg- 
nated, it follows that in all these animals there are only certain 
periods, more or less frequent, when conception can take place. 
If the male semen be not at that period brought into contact with 
the egg, it is expelled from the body and no conception can occur 
until the next period comes round and another ovum is expelled. 
In the lower animals, as a general rule, intercourse is only desired 
by the female at that time, but the desire is then very strong. The 
sexual or amorous desire which is then so noticeable in them is 
caused by the irritated and inflamed condition of the internal 
genital organs which always attends the ripening and passage of 
the egg down through the Fallopian Tubes from the ovary to the 
womb. The animal in this condition is said to be in Heat, Rutting, 
Running, in Season, etc. This period is scientifically called the 
CEstrum (Latin—frenzy or fervor). During this season only does 
the female have any desire for association with the male, and then 28 
THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
only could she conceive young, even if connection should take 
place, because at that time alone is there an ovum or egg ready to 
be impregnated by the semen. In some animals, as in the cow and 
horse, this rutting season seldom occurs except in spring and sum- 
mer, a wise provision of nature which secures the birth of the young 
in the spring, so that the warm air and green herbage of summer 
may fit its tender frame for the rigors of winter. In the human fe* 
male, however, the regular successive monthly development of the 
ova or eggs proceeds without cessation during the whole year, and 
conception may, therefore, take place at any time of the year ; the 
spring, however, seems to have a somewhat stimulating effect upon 
the male generative faculty, and for this reason conception more fre- 
quently occurs at that season than at any other. During only a part 
of each month, however, can she conceive, namely, while a ripened 
egg is on its way from the ovary to the vagina. Some difference 
of opinion exists as to the place in which impregnation of the egg 
by the male semen takes place. Hollick contends that it can 
only occur while the egg is in the womb, and that the semen never 
penetrates further. Playfair, however, following the now generally 
received opinion, thinks that it usually occurs in the Fallopian Tube, 
and sometimes in the womb, abdominal cavity, or even in the 
ovary itself. After one ripened egg has left the womb and before 
the next has left the ovary, she cannot possibly conceive. 
In the human female, as in the lower animals, a good deal of 
heat, or inflammation of the generative organs, accompanied by a 
free discharge of a rather dark brownish fluid, composed of blood 
and mucous, occurs at this time. This discharge is called the Men- 
ses (Latin—Months, Menstrualis—Monthly), Menstrual or Monthly 
Flow, Monthly Courses, Catamenia, etc. In the lower animals, dur- 
ing the period of the rut or heat, there is a somewhat similar dis- 
charge, but it is less noticeable because usually it is relatively 
less abundant and almost colorless. In the human female the 
sexual desire is often much stronger and more readily excited then 
than at other times, but it is generally by no means confined to 
that period. 
The following is the manner in which the egg escapes from 
its containing cell, is expelled from the ovary and passed into the 
womb. About three weeks before the monthly flow the larger 
Graafian Vesicles, or egg cells appear pretty much alike, but THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
29 
about a week later one of them becomes larger than the others, 
and begins to have a slight swelling or prominence on the side 
next the exterior of the ovary in which it is imbedded. This swell- 
ing becomes, just before the monthly period, like a little pointed 
pimple, ready to burst; presently it does burst at that point, and 
the egg, which is about the size of a pin point, escapes through the 
opening so made and is ready to be transmitted to the womb. 
This escape of the egg from the Graafian Vesicle, or cell, is called 
the ovulation. To properly understand the following explanation 
of the passage of the egg from the ovary to the womb, it will be 
well to look at Plate IV. Each ovary, it will be seen, is connected 
with the womb by a short, firm cord, or ligament. Just above this 
ligament is a tube, called the Fallopian Tube. It is much longer 
than the ligament. At one end it opens into the upper cavity of 
the womb, and at the other end, which is much larger (about half 
an inch in diameter) and trumpet-shaped, it is open. At this end 
it terminates in a number of fringes Lke little fingers. They are 
called the fimbri® of the tube, and their use will be shown pres- 
ently. Down this tube, which extends thus from the ovary to the 
womb, the egg is to pass. When the little speck, called the egg, is 
about to escape from its containing cell, these little finger-like 
fimbriae, at the entrance to the fallopian, clasp the ovary and press 
the mouth of the tube over the spot in the outside membrane of the 
ovary the Graafian Vesicle is about to burst. It seems 
probable, also, that the cavity of the trumpet-shaped end of the 
tube contracts, then expands by the vigor of its erection, creating 
a partial vacuum and ass'sting the rupture of the Graafian Vesicle. 
Possibly, also, the muscular fibres of the ovary may assist in press- 
ing the vesicle to a rupture. In this tube are numberless little 
hair-like projections called Cilia, which are in constant motion and 
which slant towards the womb end of the tube, allowing the egg 
to pass freely in that direction, but preventing any return ; the walls 
of the tube also contract behind the egg and force it along, as the 
hand forces the milk from the cow’s teat in milking. This process 
is, however, very slow, the egg taking from two to six days to pass 
from the ovary to the womb. As the monthly flow usually lasts 
for several days or a week, and the egg does not leave the ovary 
until about the time the flow ceases, or sometimes for two or three 
days after, it follows that the egg does not reach the womb till about 30 
THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
two days, or sometimes four or five days after the flow is quite over. 
Dr. Hollick says that when it reaches the womb end of the 
tube it does not pass immediately out into the womb, but its pro- 
gress is there stayed for a time by a very thin membrane, called 
the Decidua (Latin—that falls off), which lines the womb. This 
membrane is formed each month during the flow, and, unless con- 
ception takes place, each month it falls off and comes away. The 
egg, thrust out of the Fallopian Tube, crowds on this membrane and 
lies in the little hollow place thus formed. There it remains for a 
period, varying in different persons from two to six days, when the 
Decidua, or temporary lining membrane, loosens from the womb 
and passes out, carrying the egg with it. During the period when 
the egg remains thus in the womb, conception can take place, not 
before nor after. It is true, that though the coition with the male 
be had even a few days previous to the time when the egg reaches 
the womb, conception may still occur, for the semen can and may 
live in the vagina and womb for several days and then impregnate 
the egg on its arrival, conception then taking place from that inter- 
course, but some hours or days later. If the egg be so impreg- 
nated, neither it nor the Decidua is expelled, but the egg attaches 
itself to the walls of the womb, where it develops into the child, 
and the Decidua, enlarging with the expansion of the womb, and 
growing thicker and stronger, forms one of the membranes which 
enwrap the foetus, or unborn child. Dr. Playfair, and most late 
physiologists, hold a different view, believing that the ovum is im- 
pregnated usually in the Fallopian Tube, and that, if not so impreg- 
nated, it is usually broken and destroyed before reaching the 
womb. But if impregnated by the male semen, it lodges in the 
highest part of the womb, where the Decidua vera, or true lining 
membrane of the womb, sends out sprouts which envelop the egg 
and form one of the layers around the foetus. While the new being 
is thus occupying the womb, and, indeed, after its birth and while 
nursing, no more of the ova are developed, all the energy of the 
Generative organs being bent to the development of the foetus. 
Unless the egg remains in the Ovary until it is expelled in the natural 
way, it is imperfectly developed and cannot be impregnated/ There- 
fore an egg taken from the ovary artificially, cannot be impregnated 
with the male semen, while one, which has naturally left the ovary, 
and has 'been taken artificially from the Fallopian Tube or the 
womb, is perfect and can be so fertilized. THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
31 
Usually, only one of the Graafian Vesicles, or egg-containing 
cells, is matured each monthly period, and each contains one egg. 
Sometimes, however, both ovaries act and each matures an egg in 
the same month, or one ovary may possibly mature two Vesicles, 
or one Vesicle may contain two eggs, so that two or more of these 
ova or eggs may, and sometimes do, descend into the womb after 
one monthly period. In that case, the two, or three, or four, or 
more ova may be impregnated, and twins, triplets, or quadruplets 
may be the result. This is the case in those lower animals which 
usually produce a number of young at a birth, as dogs, cats, rab- 
bits, pigs, etc. 
As before stated, the presence of the ovary is the one disting- 
uishing feature of the female sex, it appearing even in those 
minute animalculae which are much too small to be seen by the 
naked eye, and in some creatures, such as the spider, the queen 
bee and the ant, the ovary, when full of eggs, is often larger than 
the rest of the body. In some very prolific beings, too, the ovary 
contains" an enormous number of eggs, as many as ten millions 
being contained at once in the ovary of a single female sturgeon. 
Most insects die as soon as they have deposited all their eggs, this 
being the last act of the perfected female insect, as in some cases 
also, the impregnation of the female is the last act of the male. 
The cause of the rupture of the Graafian Vesicle, or cell, per- 
mitting the escape of the egg, is its engorgement with blood. The 
cell is surrounded by several membranes, the inner one being filled 
with a whitish transparent fluid. Between this inner layer and 
that next to it, is the egg. This second membrane contains a 
great many very small blood vessels, which, about three weeks 
before the monthly flow, become very full of blood. This fulness 
increases to such an extent that some of them are ruptured, and 
the blood oozes into the space where the egg lies. This causes 
the egg to float up to the top of the vesicle. Gradually, too, the 
blood oozes also into the inner cell, taking the place of the whitish 
fluid before mentioned. This effusion of blood eventually increases 
to su:ly an extent, that the whole vesicle is burst open by it on the 
outside of the ovary, as a boil might break, and the egg escapes 
as before described. The blood is taken up by the Fallopian Tube 
and first passes to the womb, its presence everywhere possibly 
setting up that irritation which causes the Menstrual Flow. The 32 
THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
egg is about 1-120 of an inch in diameter, and appears like a little 
ball of bluish colored starch, just large enough to be visible. 
The spot where the Graafian Vesicle was ruptured, remauls 
on the surface of the ovary as an inflamed spot, with the minute 
rent in the centre, for some time. After a time, the inflammation 
goes down, and the spot remains as a yellowish brown scar on the 
ovary, the empty vesicle having shrunken away and disappeared. 
This scar is called the Corpus Luteum (Latin—Yellow Body; 
plural, Corpora Lutea). Until about forty years ago, it was thought 
by the anatomists to be the result of conception, and that it only 
existed in those persons who had borne children, and it sometimes 
happened that medical men, believing this, testified that an un- 
married woman, whose body they had dissected in post mortem 
examination, had not been virtuous, the presence of corpora lutea 
indicating, to their minds, that she had borne children ; the un- 
fortunate woman thus had her character villified after death, with 
the result, perhaps, that a scoundrel, charged with seducing her, 
escaped scot free, on the ground that she was not previously 
virtuous. 
The celebrated case of Miss Angus, of Liverpool, who died in 
1808, is a case in point. The circumstances surrounding her death 
were such, that suspicions were aroused that she had been the 
victim of foul play, and that her master was concerned in her taking 
off. On examination of the ovaries a perfect Corpus Luteum was 
found, and the anatomists declared that she must therefore have 
become a mother. It is now well known, however, that these 
Corpora Lutea are the ordinary monthly product of the ovulation 
or egg-laying, the production and expulsion of the egg, and 
that the scar left by the escape of the egg, which, becoming im- 
pregnated in the womb, develops into the new being, is in no way 
different in kind, but only in degree, from the scar, or Corpus 
Luteum, left by the egg, which escaped the previous or any other 
month. 
The Corpus Luteum left by the ovum of pregnancy, however, 
does not disappear quickly as does that left by the ovulation, 
which does not result in pregnancy. When conception occurs, the 
ovaries become considerably enlarged, and the scar called the 
Corpus Luteum enlarges with it; just as a three-inch brand put on 
a calf or colt, becomes a six, or eight, or ten-inch scar on the grown THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
33 
steer or horse. Moreover, the vigor of the system is, in the case 
of pregnancy, so much directed towards developing the embryo 
child, that the wound on the ovary is not so quickly filled in and 
healed. In fact, it keeps enlarging until about the fourth month of 
pregnancy, when it gradually lessens, and nearly, or sometimes, 
quite disappears, except for a slight depression which it leaves. 
It does not follow, then, that there are at one time as many 
of these scars on the surface of the ovary as the female has had of 
menstrual periods, for the scars gradually fade away and disappear, 
so that seldom can more than three or four be seen at one time, 
though traces of a larger number may sometimes be detected with 
the aid of a microscope. During the later years of menstruation, 
too, they fade away more slowly, just as scars on any part of the 
body are less likely to disappear in adults than in children, the 
body tissues changing more slowly. The fallacy of the contention 
that the number of pregnancies a female has had can be told by 
counting the Corpora Lutea on the ovaries, is well shown by the 
fact, that four or five have been found on the ovaries of a young 
woman of fifteen or sixteen years of age. 
Where the ova are not formed at all, of course the female is 
barren. Also, where the ova are imperfectly developed, as is 
sometimes the case where the ovaries are weak or diseased, con- 
ception is very unlikely to take place, the life germ in the egg 
being too weak to be impregnated. And in such cases, even if 
the female do conceive, she is very likely to miscarry, or the 
child may be deformed. Sometimes a woman whose ovaries are 
constitutionally weak or diseased will bear several deformed 
children, but on having the ovaries strengthened or cured 
by appropriate treatment, she will produce healthy and perfect 
offspring. Similarly, disease or imperfection in the male, may be 
the cause of imperfect semen, and the imperfect animalculae of the 
semen may, even with perfect ova, be the cause of constitutional 
weakness or deformity in the foetus and in the child. 
It 1ms been supposed by some physiologists that the male 
semen sometimes penetrates the ovary of the female and impreg- 
nates the egg there, and cases are cited in which partially formed 
foetuses have been found in the ovary. Careful investigation, how- 
ever, shows that this imperfect development is just as often found 
n the ovary of a female who has never had intercourse with a THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
34 
man, even in children, as in that of a married woman. The fact 
seems to be, that under some peculiar conditions, a certain unar- 
ranged development of the mere bodily organs, without nerves or 
organization, may take place in the egg itself without the male 
semen. A case is cited by Hufeland of a girl of thirteen, in a 
diseased sac, in one of whose ovaries was found the rudiments of 
an imperfect foetus, and it is not very unusual to find detached 
parts, as single limbs, teeth, bones, hair, etc., as if the ovary, while 
able to form these parts in an imperfect way, could not perfect or 
even arrange them without the directing nerve force of the 
seminal animalcule. Haller claims to have distinctly observed 
the outline of the form of a chick in a hen’s egg which had 
never been impregnated, and the same circumstance has been 
noticed in the eggs of some amphibious animals. Indeed, it is 
more than probable, that there exists in every egg from the begin- 
ning, in some form, visible or invisible, the outline of the being into 
which it may in future develop, just as in the acorn may be found 
the semblance of the future oak. It is well, then, to bear in mind, 
that the finding of such a remarkable development is no evidence 
that the female is or was other than absolutely chaste and virtuous* 
There is a wide difference of opinion on the question whether the 
seminal animalcule do ever reach and impregnate the egg before 
it leaves the ovary. 
In those females in whom the deficient action of the ovaries 
is due to the coldness and torpidity of the Generative Organs, it 
often occurs, that the production of sexual excitement in them will 
remedy the defect and cause a better and more regular develop- 
ment of the ova, and for this reason, marriage is often recom- 
mended as a cure. The converse is also true, namely, that too 
much sexual excitement stimulates the ovaries to a too frequent 
development of the ova. Cases have been known of married 
women in whom the frequent artificial production of amative 
excitement cured the imperfect development so that upon subse- 
quent intercourse with the husband, conception resulted though 
all other means had failed. 
Living on rich and stimulating food often lessens the power 
of generation in both sexes, by the too active formation of flesh 
and fat, while on the other hand, a poor diet impairs the Genera- 
tive Power by insufficiently supplying the ovaries, in common with THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
35 
the other organs of the body, with nutrition. At the same time, 
there are in human beings so many other factors entering into 
that passion, which we call Love that the circumstances of Diet 
and surroundings may be quite overcome by others of an opposite 
tendency. In the lower animals, the amative impulse is called 
forth by only one cause, the physical condition. Thus it is seen 
that in their wild state, when their food and warmth are often in- 
sufficient, their Rut, or Heat, usually occurs at only certain 
seasons, but when their surroundings become more genial, the 
same animals, when domesticated and properly housed and fed, 
will experience this condition and be liable to conception more or 
less frequently throughout the year. 
With human beings, on the other hand, the sexual instincts 
are awakened by a variety of circumstances, besides mere physical 
impulse, such as the social manners and customs, the influence of 
the imagination aroused by some sorts of reading, pictures, etc., 
the freedom of intercourse, moral and intellectual adaptations 
and admiration, and various other causes, so that the physical 
condition plays a much less important part with them than with 
the lower animals. For this reason, it is often seen that those 
classes of people who live in the most abject wretchedness, produce 
children with the most alarming rapidity, the reason being that, 
being deterred by no considerations of prudence or of means of 
supporting the prospective new-comer, which considerations they 
leave entirely to Providence, or to the Overseers of the Poor, they 
marry early, and abandon themselves without restraint to their 
sexual impulses, and indulge themselves without restraint in the 
only pleasure that poverty leaves to them as well as to the richer. 
This drain on a half nourished system however, leaves them 
shorn of their sexual power at a comparatively early age. 
THE FALLOPIAN TUBES. 
As previously stated, the Fallopian Tubes are the connecting 
passage; between the ovaries and the womb. They are usually 
about three inches, but sometimes they are four or five inches long. 
At the end next the womb, and for about half their length, they 
are so minute that a bristle will barely pass through them. 
Farther out they gradually widen, till near the outer end they are 
upwards of half an inch in diameter, but getting a little smaller 
just at the end where they separate into the fringes, or fimbriae, 36 
THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
before described. These fimbriae are also called Morsus Diaboti 
(Latin—Devil’s Teeth), from the way they seize the ovary at 
ovulation. One of these fimbriae is attached to the outer end of 
the ovary, the rest are free. The Tubes are covered on the in- 
terior surface with Cilia, or hair-like growths, which slant towards 
the womb, allowing the egg to pass freely from the ovary to the 
womb, but preventing anything from passing in the other direction. 
These Cilia are constantly drawing themselves up and then length- 
ening again, and the walls of the tube contract in successive waves, 
running from the ovary to the womb-end of the tube, and thus 
gradually working the egg down from the ovary to the womb. 
These tubes not only transmit the eggs, but they allow the pass- 
age upward of the active animalcules of the semen, and the pass- 
age out and away of the various fluids and other substances which, 
from sexual excitement or otherwise, are secreted in the ovaries, 
and which, if they remained, would be very detrimental to the 
health. A good deal of the various clots, mucuses and fluids 
which escape from the vagina of even healthy females, are really 
the product of the ovaries, and it is very necessary that these tubes 
shall be in a free and healthy condition, so as to allow the free 
passage of those things, otherwise they remain in the ovaries and 
set up irritation inflammation and disease, tumors, abscesses, 
dropsy of the ovaries , and the like. 
During a period of sexual excitement, these tubes are stimu 
lated into activity, as well as all the other organs of generation, 
and, as in all other normal bodily functions, a certain degree of 
activity promotes their health. For this reason, if they are 
torpid, or without vigor, the production of sexual feeling is often 
of great benefit, tending to clear and strengthen them, and thus 
to prevent disease. At the same time, it is also to be borne in 
mind, that too much sexual excitement makes the tubes and all 
the generative organs, at last, weak and nerveless, so that they 
almost lose their contractile power and capacity for activity, pro- 
ducing the same result—disease and barrenness. 
Women of the courtesan class, whose sexual organs are daily, 
perhaps hourly, excited by intercourse, and in most cases by alco- 
holic liquors as well, seldom conceive ; the proper, natural, regular 
development and expulsion of the ovum, or egg, being prevented PLATE III. 
SECTIONAL VIEW OF THE WOMB (UTERUS OR MATRIX), 
NATURAL SIZE. 
o, Fundus or Bottom of the Womb, so called because it is farthest from the 
Vagina, or entrance passage, b, b, Body of the Womb, c, Cervix, or Neck of 
the Womb. ;/, The Os Uteri, or Mouth of the Womb. The triangular cavity m 
the Fundus is called the Uterine Cavity, or Hollow of the Womb, that opposite to 
c is the Cervical Cavity, d, Is the lining of the Vagina, e, e, Is the continuous 
fibrous covering of the Vagina and Womb, f, f, Represent bristles run through 
the point where the Fallopian Tubes enter the Womb. During pregnancy the 
Womb expands from the size here shown to about a foot, or 14 inches in diameter. THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
39 
by the state of debility which overtakes the Fallopian Tubes and 
other genital organs. 
The tissue of the Tubes is, to a certain extent, erectile, like that 
of the Clitoris, etc., and the excitement produced by the escape of 
the egg, with its accompanying blood, from its Graafian Vesicle, 
causes the tube to become more or less rigid. Some females can feel 
this erection distinctly, and in some cases, it can even be seen from 
outside. Sometimes to excite this action by external means is quite 
sufficient to cure, or prevent, a disease when it is just beginning, 
the Tubes, thus made active, carrying away the effete matter 
which had collected in them. 
Sterility always results if the Tubes be paralyzed or closed, 
because the egg cannot then reach the womb. Or, if the tubes be 
very sluggish,the egg sometimes spoils before reaching the womb, 
in which case, of course, no pregnancy can take place. This 
cause of sterility may be removed by stimulating and quickening 
the action of the Tubes. Barrenness, from closure of the tube, may 
sometimes be cured by passing a delicate probe through them. 
This is done by pass'ng a silver tube, of the proper shape, into the 
womb, until its end reaches the entrance to the Fallopian Tube, 
then thrusting the probe through it, and on through the Fallopian 
Tube. If properly and skilfully done this will frequently cure 
barrenness, arising from closure, when every other means has been 
tried in vain. 
As previously stated, the egg is usually conveyed through the 
Tube in about two days, reaching the womb about that length of 
time after the Menstrual Flow ceases, but from sexual excitement, 
or other causes, its passage may be quickened to one day, or it 
may be as long as five or six days. 
THE WOMB. 
The Womb, also called the Uterus or Matrix, is the organ in 
which the egg is impregnated and developed into the new being. 
It is essential, for this purpose, to the human female, and to all 
animals which produce their young alive ; but in the Oviparous 
animals, such as birds, fish, etc., whose eggs are developed outside 
the body, the womb is less important, and is generally wanting, or 
less distinct, the egg passing directly from the ovary out of the 
body, or remaining but a short time in the womb. 
The Womb of the human female is situated on a line between 40 
THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
the ovaries, that is to say, midway between the lower edges of th« 
two hip bones. The bladder is immediately in front of it, and the 
rectum, or large lower bowel, immediately behind it, but each is 
separated from it at the top by some folds of the intestines. It is 
connected with the outer opening before described, called the 
Vulva, by the tube, or passage, called the Vagina. This passage is 
slightly curved, the hollow of the curve being towards the front, and 
is about four inches in length on its front side, and about six inches 
in length on the rear side. It will be described later. It and the 
womb are enclosed in one membrane, which makes them look, 
when dissected out, like one organ when looked at externally, but 
inside they are separate and distinct. The Womb is about two 
and a half inches in length from top to bottom, as will be seen 
from Plate III., which represents a lengthwise section of the womb, 
natural size ; it is at the top, about an inch and a half wide from 
side to side, and about an inch through from front to rear at the 
middle, its thickest part, while at the lower end it is about three- 
quarters of an inch in diameter. These are the external measure- 
ments, and from them, and from the plate, it will be seen that it is 
much the shape of a pear, but slightly flattened from front to rear. 
It is not quite straight, but slightly bent, the hollow side of the 
bend being towards the backbone. The lower and more slender 
portion of it, called the Cervix (Latin—Neck), hangs or projects a 
little way, about a quarter of an inch, down into the Vagina, and 
the walls of the Vagina are attached to the sides of the womb at 
that distance up the sides. The womb, of course, is hollow, a 
slender cavity running its entire length, and having an opening 
called the Os Uteri (Latin—Mouth of the Womb), into the Vagina. 
It is through this opening that the semen enters to impregnate the 
egg, and through it the egg passes away, if not impregnated. 
This mouth of the womb is a slight cleft from side to side, perhaps 
a quarter of an inch, or less, in length, and is, in virgins, almost 
closed, affording but a slender passage for the monthly flow ; but 
in women who have borne children, it is about the size of a com- 
mon lead pencil. In the virgin it can be felt merely as a slight 
depression, like a dimple, in the end of the womb ; but in one who 
has borne children, it is large enough to slightly insert the end of 
the forefinger. The os, or mouth, is a little nearer the rear side 
than the front. The cavity of the womb has a slight enlargement THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
41 
just above the narrow mouth, and a greater enlargement at the 
top, or large end, of the womb. This upper enlargement extends 
off to two corners at the sides, towards the ovaries, and at these 
two corners the Fallopian Tubes open into the womb. Externally, 
the womb is attached to the ovaries, or, rather, they are attached 
to it by the two ovarian ligaments, or cords. It is held in place in 
the body by two very strong, round ligaments, called the Round 
Co ds, or Ligaments, of the Womb, and by two others, called the 
Broad Ligaments. The Round Cords are attached to the two 
sides of the womb, a little lower than the ovarian ligaments, and 
at the other ends they are spread out forwards, downwards and 
sidewise, and attached firmly to the front, or pubic bone. The 
Broad Ligaments are two broad, sinewy sheets of membranes, 
which are fastened to the womb, and to the other ligaments at the 
inner ends, and at the outer ends to the Pelvis, or bony arch, on 
which the body rests, and they hold the Womb, Ovaries, Fallop- 
ian Tubes, and all the internal genital organs in place. Besides 
these there are smaller ligaments, which connect the Womb with 
the Bladder, in front, and with the Rectum, or lower bowel, be- 
hind. Notwithstanding all these, the womb sometimes fails to stay 
properly in place. To perform its functions properly, its fasten- 
ing must necessarily be somewhat elastic, so that it may descend 
to meet the male organ, and may rise above the pelvic arch, when 
it enlarges with the growth of the foetus ; sometimes, then, from 
debility, or disease, these muscles and ligaments become weak 
and relaxed, and the Vagina, which, when in its normal form and 
elastic condition, assists in supporting the womb, becomes soft and 
flaccid, and the womb is allowed to fall away below its proper 
place. This is called Prolapsus Uteri, or Falling of the Womb. 
This falling is, in some cases, so bad that the neck of the womb 
projects from the Vulva, or outer opening of the Vagina, and can 
be seen externally. 
The substance, or walls of the womb, are composed of three 
coats, the external serous membrane, which separates it from the 
surrounding tissues, the inner or muscular layer, the muscular 
fibres of which mostly run round the womb in every direction, and 
which is very thick and strong, giving it great contracting power. 
This power continues, or even increases, during pregnancy, not- 
withstanding the enormous extent to which the womb is stretched 42 
THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
by the growth of the foetus, or unborn child, and is the chief power 
which expels the child at birth. In the last stage of pregnancy, 
the womb ordinarily has expanded from about two inches, its 
ordinary size, to about a foot in diameter, yet these muscles not 
only expel the child, but have such elasticity that in a few days 
after delivery the womb usually returns almost to its normal size. 
These muscular walls are about a quarter of an inch in average 
thickness, but a little thicker at the upper or larger part, called the 
Fundus, or Bottom, and in the middle part, called the Body, than 
in the lower part, called the Neck. The muscles in the neck of 
the womb do not become quite so thick again after the first child 
has been born, as in the virgin. In virgins, also, the womb is 
straighter and higher up in the body than in those who have borne 
children, and in the latter the cavity remains somewhat larger also. 
The inner coating, or layer, is mucous membrane, like that which 
lines the lips, on which is monthly formed the Decidua, that thin 
membraneous coating in which the egg is deposited in the womb 
after each monthly flow, and which monthly comes away with the 
egg, or with the menstrual discharge. 
The Womb is well supplied with Arteries, Veins, and Nerves, 
as would be expected of an organ which undergoes such rapid and 
great changes, and plays such an important part in the fact of re- 
production. It is, also, highly sensitive, and its condition is sym- 
pathetically reflected in the general health of the female probably 
more than that of any other organ, except, perhaps, the ovaries. 
The Womb itself, however, is secondary in its essential import- 
ance to the ovaries, and where the ovaries are wanting, or unde- 
veloped, the womb will be found merely rudimentary. 
The Neck of the Womb is, as well as all the other organs of 
reproduction, the seat of sexual excitement, in some persons more 
so, indeed, than even the Clitoris and Nymphas. The womb, also, 
like any other organ when excited, becomes congested with blood, 
and is in a manner erected. This erection tends to open the Os 
Uteri, or Mouth of the Womb, and to favor the passage of the 
semen. During this excitement, too, the Womb is, by the alter- 
nate contraction and relaxation of the Vagina, drawn up and 
down with some force and rapidity, and if, at its downward 
motion, it meets the glans perns of the male, it remains for a moment 
in pressure of contact, thus permitting the ready passage of the THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
43 
semen from the penis directly into the womb. The Os Uteri also 
being somewhat depressed, or cup-shaped, fits the more perfectly 
the rounded lip of the Meatus, or external open'ng of the penis, 
and makes the connection more complete. For this reason, where 
the orgasm, or highest pitch of sexual excitement in the male and 
female occurs at the same moment during connection, the proba- 
bility of conception is much greater than it is otherwise, for then, 
the semen is thrown directly into the womb, sometimes, indeed, 
by its force, to the very top of the womb (called the Fundus, or 
Bottom, by anatomists), next to the Fallopian Tubes, instead of 
being thrown merely into the Vagina, or passage to the womb, to 
find its way to the egg within, or to merely pass out and be lost, 
as may happen. 
From the foregoing description, it will be seen that the penis 
does not, in the human being, at all, or ever, enter the womb, as 
some have supposed, nor is the semen always thrown into it, and 
conception has been known to take place when the penis did not 
even enter the vagina (the hymen being too tough and hard to be 
broken by it, or the opening too painfully sensitive to bear the 
entrance of the penis), but the semen was merely, as one may say, 
thrown in at the door. 
In some cases, the Womb is so small and imperfect that the 
egg is not retained in it, and normal pregnancy in such cases 
never occurs, though the other organs be perfect. Sometimes, 
also, the os uteri is so tightly closed that the menstrual flow can- 
not escape, but is retained in the womb, causing great distress and 
general ill health, or even positive disease of the womb. I know 
of a case in which the menses were so retained, the person appar- 
ently not menstruating for years, and the os uteri had, a short time 
before the young woman’s marriage, to be opened by the surgeon, 
letting out a vast accumulation. Of course a great part of the flow 
had been absorbed, but greatly to the injury of her health. Yet, 
within a year after marriage, she conceived, and in due course be- 
came the mother of an unusually fine healthy child. 
The form of the Uterus and Womb varies greatly in different 
animals; in some, as the cow, pig, horse, whale, etc., it is forked, 
or divided into two horns, and in them the Fallopian Tubes are 
very long, and much turned and twisted about. The same forked, 
or Bifid, condition, is occasionally found in the womb of the human 44 
THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
female. In most carnivorous animals, as the dog, cat, lion, etc., 
and the Rodentia (Latin—gnawing animals), such as the rat and 
squirrel, the Womb is very short, and divides into two parts, which 
connect with very short and straight Fallopian Tubes. Most of 
these Rodentia have the Womb double, one being connected with 
each Fallopian Tube, though there is but a single Vagina. In the 
Marsupials, or Pouched animals, as the kangaroo and oppossum, 
the Vagina, or passage leading to the womb, is double also, and 
the Penis of the male is forked, to enter each tube of the Vagina. 
In these cases, the double Womb is more like simply the enlarged 
ends of the Fallopian Tubes, extending down to and opening into, 
the two passages of the double Vagina. 
The Womb has been found double in the human female, hav- 
ing two distinct mouths opening into the Vagina, and even the 
Vagina has been known to be double, having the two complete 
passages, each opening with its separate Vulva externally, one 
opening being below, or farther back, than the other. Oftener 
there is a partition, from front to rear, in the Womb, dividing it 
into right and left halves. In all these cases, one womb, or one 
cavity, connects with the one ovary, and the other with the other, 
so that one side may become pregnant and the other not, at the 
same time ; the latter side may even conceive later, and two 
infants, of different ages, thus be in the womb at the same time, 
and their births may occur some months apart. This is called 
Superfcetation, or conception taking place in a person who is 
already pregnant by an earlier intercourse. 
THE VAGINA. 
Leading from the Vulva, or external opening, upward to the 
Womb, is a passage like a pipe, or tube, about four to six inches 
in length, called the Vagina (Latin—a sheath, or scabbard). The 
walls are thick, formed of erectile tissue, like that of a male penis, 
that is, tissue containing innumerable blood cells, which may be 
nearly emptied of blood, and then is soft and flabby, or may be 
engorged with blood when it becomes firm and rigid. This cellu- 
lar wall of the Vagina is called the Corpus Spongiosum Vaginae 
(Latin—spongy body of the Vagina). The diameter, when moder- 
ately expanded, may be said to vary from one and a half to two 
and a half inches, though ordinarily the walls lie against each other 
in folds. Of course, it may be, and is at childbirth, stretched THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
45 
to a much greater extent. This tube, or passage, is curved, the 
hollow part of the curve being towards the front, and fitting and 
lying against the rounded rear side of the bladder. The round or 
convex rear side of it is next to the rectum, or large lower bowel. 
The diameter is slightly less in the middle than at either end. 
The Vagina is coated, or lined, on the inside with mucous mem- 
brane ; the walls are not smooth, but in wrinkles or folds, called 
rugae, running crosswise and joining a ridge which runs lengthwise. 
During childbirth, these folds are, of course, all stretched and 
straightened out, and the Vagina remains always after somewhat 
enlarged and smoothed out. 
During sexual excitement the erectile tissue, or Corpus 
Spongiosum Vaginae, of the Walls of the Vagina, becomes 
erected, or filled with blood, and almost as firm as the male penis. 
This rigidity serves the purpose, during connection, of keeping the 
male organ in the centre, and directed exactly to the womb, and 
it also, by spasmodically contracting its length, draws the womb 
down to meet the penis, as before described. This erection of the 
Vagina also makes it compress the male organ, thus increasing 
the sexual excitement in both. Sometimes, indeed, this rigidity 
and contraction near the lower end of it, where the cellular tissue 
is thickest, are so great and forcible, that the penis, or the instru- 
ment which may be required in treating the womb, can scarcely 
pass in. The proper development of the erectile tissue of the 
Vagina is highly important to the general health of those organs, 
as when firm and in good condition, it is an important agent in 
keeping the womb in place, and preventing that bane of women, 
Prolapsus Uteri, or Falling of the Womb. 
The mouth of the Vagina is surrounded by a strong Sphincter, 
or circular muscle, which, contracting, usually keeps the mouth of 
the Vagina nearly closed. It also contracts during sexual inter- 
course, increasing the pressure ; indeed, in some persons, particu- 
ticularly those whose Clitoris or Nymphae are peculiarly irritable 
during sexual excitement, it contracts so strongly as to almost, or 
quite, prevent the entrance of the male organ, or to cause serious 
discomfort to both persons after entrance. 
Though such extreme and unnatural vigor is undesirable, yet 
it is highly important that this muscle should be in good condition, 
as it serves an important purpose in keeping the Vagina, and with 4 6 
THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
it all the other internal genital organs in proper position. Around 
the lower part of the Vagina, where the Nymphae are attached, is 
a net-work of veins, called the Plexus Retiformii (Latin—Net-like 
interlacement), which become very much enlarged during excite- 
ment, and sometimes, by reason of some obstructions in them, 
they become permanently swollen with blood, forming varicose 
veins, and enlargement of the Nymphae, or inner lips. 
Just within the Vulva, or mouth of the Vagina, are situated 
two little glands, called the Glands of Duverney. These secrete 
a thickish fluid of a gray color and peculiar odor. The pressure, 
caused by the circular muscle above mentioned, during connection, 
and sometimes when connection is not taking place, causes them 
to discharge this fluid sometimes in considerable quantities, even 
in some persons amounting to several ounces. It seems to have 
no other purpose than to lubricate the passage, and prevent friction 
between the male and female parts during coition. There are, 
also, other very small glands, or follicles, both in the Vagina and 
on the inner surface of the large outer lips, which, under similar 
circumstances, discharge a clear mucous fluid for the same lubri- 
cating purpose. 
Like the other organs, the Vagina is liable to various imper- 
fections and malformations. Sometimes, either originally or after 
childbirth, or from debility or disease, it is too large, allowing the 
womb to fall down into it, even to the extent of protruding from 
the Vulva externally. Sometimes it is too small to allow the pass- 
age of the male organ, or is closed entirely. The closure may be 
from natural and original malformation, or from inflammation of 
its lining, causing the sides to grow together. Sometimes it is too 
short, so much shorter than the penis of the husband, that, unless 
certain obvious precautions are observed in coition, serious injury 
may result. Nearly all these defects can be remedied by skilful 
treatment; but, unless known and removed before marriage, they 
may cause great distress of m'nd and unhappiness to the parties, to 
say nothing of the serious physical injury which may be done. 
As stated, in describing the Womb, the Vagina is sometimes, 
but very rarely, found double in the human female, each passage 
having a separate, external opening, with separate Sphincter, or 
circular muscle (called Constrictor Vaginae) surrounding each. PLATE IV 
,n§i. 
rig-2 
Tig.3. 
Iji'.l. 
EXPULSION OF TIIE EGG. 
Figure X. The Egg, a, at the bottom of the Graafian Vesicle, which is filled 
with a transparent fluid. Fig. 2. The Egg, a, carried to the top of the Vesicle, 
now filled with blood. Fig. 3. A portion of the surface of the Ovary, showing the 
Graafian Vesicle just bursting open and the Egg passing out. (These three figures 
show the Vesicle magnified about six or eight diameters, and the Egg magnified 
about ten or fifteen diameters). Fig. 4 shows a portion of the lining membrane of 
the Graafian Vesicle, with the Egg, a, attached. This is magnified, perhaps, one 
hundred to two hundred and fifty diameters, b Is the Germinal Vesicle in the 
centre of the Egg. The Egg varies in size from about 1-240 to i - >20 of an inch 
in diameter. THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
49 
CHAPTER IV. 
THE OVUM, OR EGG, OF THE FEMALE, 
ITS STRUCTURE, AND THE 
CHANGES WHICH IT 
UNDERGOES. 
THE egg of the human female, is similar in all essential par- 
ticulars, to that of any other animal. Small as it is, it is 
composed of two parts, the yellow, or yolk, and the thin 
layer of albumen, or white, surrounding the yolk. This layer of 
albumen is, probably, only taken on during its passage through 
the Fallopian Tube. The Yolk is composed of a rounded mass of 
minute yellow cells, granules, or grains, called the Vitellus (Latin 
—the Yolk of an Egg). In the centre of the yolk is a small, round, 
greenish-colored body, called the Germinal Vesicle. The Germ- 
inal Vesicle in the egg of a common hen, called the Cicatricula 
(Latin—little scar), may be readily seen, as a whitish, opaque spot, 
on examining the yolk with the naked eye ; but in the human egg 
only with a microscope. The only purpose, so far as known, 
which this Germinal Vesicle serves, is to break a hole in the egg 
in escaping, so as to leave an aperture for the entrance of the life 
principle of the male semen. The various parts of the egg are 
also separated, held together, etc., by various membranes, as may 
be seen in the egg of the common hen. This whole egg is so 
small that it can scarcely be seen with the naked eye, yet it is 
large enough that the animalcula, or living germ in the male 
semen, can enter completely within it, as hereafter described, and 
that it can, and does, develop into a human being, with all his life, 
parts and complexity. The reason that the bird’s egg is, relatively, 
so very much larger is that, having to develop away from the 
mother’s body, ft has to have about it a good deal of nutritive 
matter to support development, while the human egg, remaining 
within, continues to derive its nutriment from the mother’s body. 
The Yellow grains, or cells, of the yolk, are themselves filled 
with and composed of smaller granules, or cells. So are the 
granules, or cells, of which the Membranes and Germinal Vesicles 
are composed. These, again, contain and are composed of still 50 
THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
smaller cells, and so on, as far as the microscope is able to discover 
to us. Thus it is, also, with the other parts of the body, all are 
composed of cells and of cells within cells, each cell having life and 
organiza'ion of its own, and its own covering, which is also, by 
the way, composed of similar smaller cells. 
The Germinal Vesicle, or cell, is somewhat larger than the 
other vesicles, grains, or cells, of the Yolk, and is, as stated, 
itself composed of smaller cells. In the centre these are very 
much crowded together, forming an opaque spot, called the Germ- 
inal Dot. 
The Yellow grains, or cells, are the material from which the 
formation of the new being is begun, the little cells rushing about 
and grouping themselves together, to form the rudiments of the 
various organs. The egg is exactly the same in the Virgin as in 
the Married Woman ; the perfect formation of th;s yellow Vitellus 
is the last act in the maturing of the egg ; and when this is done 
the egg escapes from its Graafian Vesicle, as before described, 
and from the Ovary, and passes to the Womb for fertilization. 
The Yellow cells of which the Vitellus, or Yolk, is composed, 
are packed closely together, so as to be squeezed out of round by 
each other, and even the small spaces so left between them, are 
filled with smaller cells. In the Yolk of a bird’s egg, the larger 
cells are very much larger than in the human ovum, and can be 
clearly made out with a moderately good magnifying glass. 
When the egg is boiled hard and the yolk broken open, its granu- 
lar structure is clearly visible. If one of the yellow vesicles be 
punctured or broken slightly, the cells contained in it will run out 
in a slow, steady stream, their number being such as to occupy as 
much as ten minutes in all escaping. 
As the egg is escaping from the ovary, the various little 
vesicles, of which the yellow mass is composed, begin to rush 
about and to arrange themselves in entirely different order, like a 
squad of soldiers, on expecting a visit from the commander. This 
is exactly the case. The cells arrange themselves in some like- 
ness to the organs of the new being, and await the coming of the 
male seminal animalcula. If he comes, as may happen, he at 
once takes charge of proceedings, those cells group themselves 
about him, and he, forming the brain and nervous system, is the 
framework and intelligent director and perpetrator of what would 
otherwise be a mere temporary arrangement. THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
51 
For this distinguished visitor an entrance way is made, as 
follows: During the rush of re-arrangement just mentioned, the 
Germinal Vesicle mounts to the top of the egg, the containing 
membrane rends, and the germinal vesicle passes out, leaving a 
clear passage from the outside to the centre of the egg, and 
through this opening the seminal animalcula later enters, if impreg- 
nation occur, as will be explained later. From what has been 
said, it will appear that the germinal vesicle, having left the egg 
on its escape from the ovary, none is found in it after the egg 
reaches the Fallopian Tube. Th's fact has led astray some ob- 
servers who examined only ova taken from the Tubes, or the 
Womb, and consequently found no Germinal Vesicle. 
The progression of the egg forms a series of expulsions, the 
egg being first expelled from the Graafian Vesicle, then from the 
Ovary, then the Germinal Vesicle from the egg. 
The knowledge of many of these facts was long hidden from 
physiologists, because the matters observed were so exceedingly 
minute and delicate, that they could only be seen with the most 
powerful microscopes, and the most perfect appliances. Yet a 
knowledge of them is necessary to a proper understanding, even 
so far as man’s knowledge may go, of that most wonderful of 
God’s provisions for the continuance of life, procreation, or the 
reproduction of the species. 
The facts relating to the occasional partial development of 
the form of a new being in the unimpregnated egg, were given in 
the description of the nature and functions of the ovaries, in 
Chapter III. 52 
THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
CHAPTER V. 
MENSTRUATION, OR THE MONTHLY 
FLOW. 
PUBERTY. 
WHEN a female child is born, and, indeed, long prior to 
that, her ovaries are filled with thousands of minute cells, 
or vesicles, called Graafian Vesicles. The number is 
estimated at about 30,000. These are in a very rudimentary condi- 
tion. Each little cell contains one egg, and sometimes, but very sel- 
dom, two or more. These remain in this rudimentary state, quiet 
and unnoticed, during childhood. But when the child reaches the 
age of about fourteen or fifteen years, sometimes earlier, sometimes 
later, a change begins to take place. Those cells begin to develop 
and enlarge, the eggs within them also developing. The enlarge- 
ment continues with great rapidity, till, sometimes, in a few weeks, 
twenty or thirty of them will be almost as large as small peas, the 
others being still too small to be visible. This, of course, causes 
the whole ovaries to increase in size just as rapidly, the change 
being clearly noticeable, externally, in increased fulness of the 
groins, where the ovaries are situated. Presently, one of the 
Graafian Vesicles, or cells, greatly outstrips the others, swelling 
rapidly, as described in the preceding chapter, until it bursts, 
allowing the now ripened egg to escape, together with a little 
blood, with which the cell had been filled and swollen. This blood 
passes from the ovary into the Fallopian Tube, where, as well as 
in the womb which it presently reaches, a great excitement and 
irritation of the parts attend, or precede it, amounting to an in- 
flammation. This inflammation causes blood, and perhaps serum, 
a watery constituent of the blood, to exude from the interior of the 
walls of the womb, making a thin reddish fluid, which passes down 
through the Vagina, or passage, from the womb, getting mixed 
with the mucous discharge there, and out by the Vulva, or ex- 
ternal opening. This is called the Menses, the Menstrual or 
Monthly Flow, or Courses, or Catamenia (Greek, Katamenios— 
Monthly), and this period of the girl’s life, when her sexual organs 
are awakening to life, the dawn of womanhood, is called Puberty. 
The first flow is usually rather scant, perhaps only a few drops THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
53 
of red, perhaps more, and lasts one or more days. In some rare 
cases it thenceforth occurs regularly, but in most cases it is two or 
three months before the next ovum is ripened, and the next mens- 
truation takes place. After two or three times it should occur 
regularly at intervals, which vary in different persons, as will here- 
after appear, but is pretty constant and regular in the same 
individual. 
The budding woman is perfectly conscious that a change is 
taking place in her. There is no possibility of ignoring it; body, 
mind, and soul, unite in calling her attention to the fact that 
she is becoming a woman. It is common to speak of a girl of 
sixteen or seventeen as “ a mere child she may be giddy and 
frivolous ; she may be ignorant and untutored, but she is a woman 
and she knows it, and happy is it for her if her mother be wise to 
recognize the fact, and give her necessary information and instruc- 
tion. During this change in the internal organs, the development 
noticeable externally is scarcely less remarkable. The expression 
of the face changes, the eyes, mouth, and every feature telling the 
awakening of the Woman ; the breasts increase and become full 
and more womanly, and are often the seat of painful, or unusual 
sensations, the arms and legs round out, the Mons Veneris takes 
on a thick layer of fatty tissue, and becomes full and prominent, 
the gro.n fuller, the Tressoria, or hairy covering, begins to appear 
on the Mons Veneris and Labia, and a similar hairy growth under 
the arms. Often all these changes and developments take place 
in the course of a few weeks, the alteration in her appearance 
astonishing her parents and friends, as well as herself. She hardly 
knows herself for the same being. Standing before the glass she 
looks at her reflection in front, she takes a side view, she looks 
over her shoulder for a rear view, she regards herself long and 
earnestly—eyes, face, bust, but especially her eyes—then turns 
away with a sigh, takes up her long-loved doll, and with a parting 
hug, and perhaps a tear, puts her away in a drawer. She has 
consciously bidden adieu to her former self, and has assumed, in 
her young and ignorant way, the position and responsibilities of 
womanhood. 
The first menstrual discharge occurs at the age, it may be 
said, of about fourteen or fifteen years, but varies from nine years, 
or even earlier, to twenty years of age. Out of four hundred and 
fifty cases observed at the Lying-in Hospital at Manchester, Eng- 54 
THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
land, ten menstruated at eleven years of age, nineteen at twelve, 
fifty-three at thirteen, eighty-five at fourteen, ninety-seven at 
fifteen, seventy-six at sixteen, fifty-seven at seventeen, twenty-six 
at eighteen, twenty-three at nineteen, and four at twenty. Climate 
appears to have little influence upon the age at which menstrua- 
tion commences, the sexual precocity of the young females of 
many hot countries being due to the lax state of morals, and the 
continued excitement of sexual feeling by what they hear and see, 
rather than to anything in the climate. In cities, too, menstruation 
usually occurs earlier than in the country, the cause being the more 
exciting circumstances of the social life of the city child. Especially 
is this the case in those places, or amongst those classes where the 
morals of the young are early corrupted by vile stories, or by see- 
ing demonstrations of sexual excitement in their elders. It is 
probable, also, that dark-skinned females menstruate earlier than 
fair skinned ones. 
This monthly ripening and expulsion of the egg by the female, 
and as often as may be its development into the new being, is the 
great and chief business of her organic system, and to that she 
devotes more of her nervous and physical strength than to any 
other process she performs. And if any other function, mental or 
physical, come into serious competition with that function, physi- 
cal, and very frequently mental, injury will inevitably result. The 
sexual functions of the male have very little likeness to this, and 
exert no such influence on his system, and for this reason he seldom 
understands and appreciates those of the female at their true im- 
portance. 
But in the female, from the time of puberty till the turn of life, 
Nature is devoting her best energies to one purpose, the reproduc- 
tion of the species. This incessant action of the ovaries, and the 
sympathy of the surrounding organs, keep the nervous system in 
a constant state of tension, the woman, during all this period, 
never knowing a moment of real repose, and this tension it is 
which makes all her physical functions so liable to derangement, 
and her mental and moral character at once so sensitive and irrit- 
able, and so affectionate and sympathetic, and makes it impossible 
for her to maintain that evenness of temper and disposition which 
the other sex find comparatively easy to preserve. 
Yet, too frequently, men who have really no excuse for being 
anything but even tempered themselves, extend very little sym- THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
55 
pathy toward the woman whose condition is such that she exerts 
more self-restraint every hour than the average man requires in a 
life time. Many a woman is subject to “ fits of the blues” she 
calls them, depression of spirits, even amounting to melancholy, 
alternating with periods of extraordinary gayety, or is seized with 
sudden impulses and whims, all of which are often attributed by 
men to mere caprice and fickleness, but which are really but the 
natural outcome of the nervous tension, caused by the ceaseless 
consumption of nervous force in her ovaries, etc. Often they are 
blamed or scolded for supposed contrariness, or perverseness, or 
they even blame and accuse themselves, and thus their distress is 
increased ; instead of this, every sympathy should be shown them, 
and full allowance made for the condition of body which produces 
these states of mind. Sympathy and kindness to a woman under 
these circumstances, too, will usually, one may say always’, exert 
a most beneficial action on the ovaries, by, to a certain extent, re- 
lieving the nervous tension. It is well known that an unhappy 
frame of mind, grief, fear, anger, depression of spirits, etc., will 
often so interfere with the action of the stomach as to cause a fit 
of indigestion, and if long-continued, will produce chronic dys- 
pepsia ; and that on the other hand a cheerful, agreeable state of 
mind during and after meals promotes digestion, while a change 
of scene, A visit to friends at a distance, or the like, will often cure 
a case of long-standing dyspepsia, when nothing else can; and 
dyspeptics very commonly notice that in cheerful, lively company, 
when out at tea, they eat, enjoy, and digest food which would lie 
like lead on their stomachs, if taken amid the usual unenlivened 
surroundings of their own table at home. Now, the ovaries and 
surrounding sexual organs are immeasurably more susceptible to 
the nervous influences of pleasant, or unpleasant, experiences, 
than is the stomach, and it is often seen that females, completely 
prostrated, and apparently with scarcely enough life in them to 
breathe, are completely and almost instantaneously restored 
by a little word of hope or sympathy, or a little kind and 
pleasing attention from some person from whom it was wished 
for, but not expected. The little pleasant surprise, reacting 
through the nerves thus powerfully, is as real a medicine 
as any drugs, and in very many cases, a much more efficacious 
one. Every physician finds in his practice many cases which he 
knows he can never treat successfully, because he cannot remove 56 
THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
the patient from the atmosphere of irritation, and annoyance, and 
disregard of her feelings, amounting to cruelty, but arising not from 
any cruel purpose, but from a lamentable ignorance in those about 
her, including too often an unsympathetic and selfish husband, of 
the character and necessities of the female composition. Such 
ignorance respecting the female constitution is, therefore, a serious 
evil, as by reason of it men frequently act towards their wives and 
sisters, and even women towards each other, with a greater or less 
absence of that kindly sympathy and charitable consideration 
which are so much required. 
The ripening and expulsion of the egg is attended by a real 
inflammation, with increase of temperature, exactly similar to 
inflammation in any other part; and it is accompanied by a 
greater or less derangement of the rest of the system, just as 
occurs in the case of any other inflammation. This inflammation 
is slight at the beginning of the period succeeding the menstrual 
flow ; but toward the end it gradually increases, until the Ovaries, 
Fallopian Tubes and Uterus, and in some cases even in the 
Vagina and Labiae, become highly congested with blood. When 
it reaches its height, the congested capillaries, or minute blood- 
vessels, exude a quantity of blood to relieve the engorgement, just 
as in the case of inflammation of any other part (a severe cold in 
the head, for example), and this passes away as the menstrual 
flow. A knowledge of these facts is highly important, as any 
medical treatment for either suppressed, excessive or otherwise 
deranged menstruation, must necessarily be more or less in the 
nature of quackery, if undertaken in ignorance of them, and may 
lead to far more evil, and cause more disease, than it will ever 
cure. 
In many cases the first menstrual discharge occurs suddenly 
and without any previous warning symptoms, though this is by no 
means usual. For this and other reasons, it is very necessary that 
young girls should be properly instructed in the matter in good 
time, otherwise they may, and in many cases are, greatly fright- 
ened. In some women this suddenness is notable at every later 
monthly period, as well as the first. 
Generally, however, there are certain clear symptoms by which 
its approach is readily and certainly known. Some sexual excite- 
ment, a sensation of fulness in the head, slight fever, more or less 
pain in the abdomen, and also in the back each side of the back- THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
5 7 
bone, a few inches below the waist. Usually, too, the heart’s 
action is somewhat depressed, causing dark crescents under the 
eyes, and a general feeling of weariness. 
In some cases these symptoms become quite severe, the 
female complaining that her back feels as if it were “ coming apart ” 
there. This last is a very characteristic symptom. Some women 
suffer intensely at each menstrual period, and are completely pros- 
trated for a day or two, or longer, while, on the other hand, some 
get on with little or no inconvenience ; but few women escape 
without more or less depression of spirits, nervousness, and irrita- 
bility. This bodily derangement is what they term being 
“ unwell.” In some cities the richer women have a nurse whom 
they regularly employ during the menstrual period ; sometimes 
the woman has a number of such patients who, menstruating in 
turn, occupy all her time, and she calls herself a “ monthly nurse.” 
In some cases the monthly discharge begins with quite a 
gush, but usually the flow is slight during the first twenty-four 
hours, and pale brownish red in color, but afterwards it becomes 
more abundant and darker in color, like blood. It gradually goes 
down to a mere colorless mucus. This, when it continues long, or 
is too abundant, is evidence of too long continuance of the inflam- 
med condition, a real disease known as Leucorrhoea, or Whites. 
Its usual duration is about four days, but in some it lasts a week 
or more, and in others only a day or two, or even only a few 
hours. 
The quantity of fluid discharged averages about six ounces, 
but varies greatly in different people, some females losing only a 
very little, while in some it amounts to fully a quart. Both cases 
are quite consistent with perfect health. Also it is more abundant 
in hot countries than in cold ones. Many cases are cited by ob- 
servant physicians to show that excessive outward warmth 
increases both the quantity and duration of the flow. Thus a lady, 
who was wont to spend her summers in London and her winters 
in St. Petersburg, where the houses in winter are kept excessively 
heated, found that while in St. Petersburg the flow regularly lasted 
eight days, but in the comparative coolness of a London summer 
it was confined to four or five days. Dr. also mentions the 
case of two young women, sisters, who noticed that the excessive 
flow which, while they lived in the Southern States, was destroy- 
ing their health, was reduced to a moderate amount and time 58 
THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
while they periodically resided in Philadelphia, and they were at 
last obliged to remain north. 
The color of the discharge also varies a good deal in different 
persons, in some being a dark reddish brown, and in others nearly 
or quite colorless. This variation seems to depend chiefly on the 
greater or less severity of the inflammation which causes it. 
Where the fluid is colorless the female is apt to suppose that she 
has not menstruated at all. On the other hand, a red discharge 
of blood may occur from flooding, the veins being ruptured from 
mere weakness of their walls, and quite independently of the 
monthly ovulation. The woman then is liable to suppose that she 
has menstruated when she has not. 
Many peculiar notions were formerly entertained as to the 
cause and properties of the Menstrual discharge. It was thought 
that it possessed some poisonous or otherwise injurious qualities, 
capable of producing a certain venereal disease in the male, if con- 
nection were had during the flow ; but this belief was without 
foundation. The peculiar odor probably arises from a certain 
degree of change, perhaps incipient fermentation which it under- 
goes, particularly when a little delayed, and it is noticed that the 
longer it is delayed beyond the usual time for its monthly appear- 
ance, the darker it is apt to be, and the more odorous. It was 
also supposed by some to be in some way caused by the influence 
of the moon, and that it only took place during full moon ; but it 
is certain that the moon has nothing whatever to do with it, and 
there are females menstruating at every hour of every day in the 
year. The usual period, from the beginning of one monthly flow 
to the beginning of the next, certainly is usually about twenty- 
eight days, one lunar month, but in very many people the period 
is not more than two or three weeks, while in others it is five or six 
weeks, or even more, in all, nevertheless, perfectly healthy, natural 
and proper. The length of the period is gauged entirely by the 
frequency of the ripening of the egg. Probably about seventy 
per cent of females menstruate every four weeks, or thereabouts, 
twenty-five per cent, say every three weeks, one or two per cent, 
oftener, and three or four per cent, irregularly. 
THE TURN OF LIFE. 
Once begun, Menstruation continues periodically, except 
when interrupted by pregnancy, nursing or disease, until what is THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
59 
called the Turn, or Change of Life, or Menopause, when all or most 
of the eggs having been in turn developed or destroyed, Menstru- 
ation ceases, and no more eggs are ripened. The age at which 
Menstruation ceases is usually about forty-five years, but this varies 
greatly in different persons, some arriving at this point as early as 
thirty years of age, and others not till fifty, or even later. In one 
series of observations, it was noted that in seventy-seven women 
menstruation ceased in one at thirty-five years of age, in four at 
forty, in one at forty-two, one at forty-three, three at forty-four, 
four at forty-five, three at forty-seven, ten at forty-eight, seven at 
forty-nine, twenty-six at fifty, two at fifty-one, seven at fifty-two, 
two at fifty-three, two at fifty-four, one at fifty-seven, two at sixty, 
and one at seventy. From these figures, then, it would appear 
that the average at which these women reached the Change of 
Life was nearer fifty years than forty-five. 
It is not uncommon for menstruation to cease for a time and 
then begin again perhaps many years after. This would appear 
to be due to some of the eggs having been in a very much more 
rudimentary state than the rest, or that their development was 
for a time arrested, and they ripened afterwards, or from some 
new impetus being given to the ovaries, just as sometimes one or 
more apples or cherries on a tree may be found still quite green 
after the general crop is long ripened and gone. Thus it some- 
times happens that women, after having borne a number of child- 
ren and ceased, have late in life conceived again and borne child- 
ren in their old age. Cases have been known of old maids marry- 
ing and bearing children after reaching-sixty years and upwards. 
Akin to this is the remarkable case of Sarah, wife of Abraham, 
and ancestress of the Jewish race, who began again to menstruate, 
and. for the first time, conceived at the age of ninety years, and 
bore a son Isaac. .(See Genesis xvii., 17 ; xviii., n ; xxi., 2). 
Menstruation, of course, never occurs except when an egg is 
ripened ; and as long as there are sound eggs to ripen and pass into 
the womb, so long may conception occur. Hollick contends Con- 
ception never does and never can occur without menstruation. In 
those cases where a female bore children, apparently having never 
menstruated, he argues that that menstruation did actually occur, 
but; being colorless, and small in quantity, was not observed as 
such, as in some constitutions the excitement and inflammation 
are so slight as to pass quite unnoticed. The appearance of a 60 
THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
red fluid is, therefore, not absolute proof of menstruation, for it 
may be mere flooding from other causes ; nor is the absence of 
any such red showing conclusive evidence that it has not occurred. 
It might be thought that, as a general rule, there being only 
a given number of rudimentary eggs supplied to the female 
ovaries at their inception, the earlier the female begins to mature 
and pass out these eggs, and the more rapidly it is done, the sooner 
will all be matured and the turn of life be reached ; and many 
physiologists believe this to be the rule. That is to say, the 
earlier menstruation begins, and the more frequently it occurs, 
the earlier will it cease. Of course this may be modified by vari- 
ous circumstances ; the number of eggs may be unusually great, 
ovulation may be suspended from time to time by pregnancy or 
nursing, or the power to mature any more eggs may be early lost 
by weakness, or disease of the ovaries, and may or may not be 
restored later. 
On the other hand, it will be noticed that, as the number of 
rudimentary eggs is probably not less than thirty thousand, and, 
with one matured at each menstrual period, occurring, say, every 
twenty-eight days for the thirty-five years from fifteen to fifty years 
of age, only four hundred and fifty-five eggs (about 1-666 of the 
whole number) would be used up by the Catamenial periods ; an 
early beginning will scarcely hasten the cessation of menstruation 
by reason of lack of eggs to develop. Indeed, many observers 
contend that the opposite is more likely to be the case, and that, 
other things being equal, the female who begins early to men- 
struate will also cease later. Certainly, though the average age 
of beginning menstruation may be earlier in hot countries, it does 
not cease at any earlier age than in temperate climates. 
Women in whom the ovaries are wanting, or are undeveloped, 
never menstruate. This slight exception may be made, that in 
some cases in which the female has long menstruated, and then 
the ovaries have been removed by a surgical operation on account 
of disease in them, a few menstrual periods have been known to oc- 
cur at first; but this was probably merely from habit, and it has not 
been reported that such menstruation ever continued. Where the 
ovaries are absent from childhood, or for any reason remain unde- 
veloped, the girl’s whole system either remains in the undeveloped 
condition of childhood, or develops in a masculine fashion, some- 
times a beard sprouting, and the voice becoming harsh and mas- THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
61 
culine. The same result may follow removal of the ovaries later, 
or their atrophy (shrinking away) from disease, all the other signs 
of womanly development also gradually disappearing, even to the 
hairy covering of the Pubes, or Mons Veneris, and sometimes hair 
appearing on the face. A similar development of beard is not 
uncommonly seen on women who have passed the Turn of 
Life. An analogous result follows the absence, or removal, of the 
testicles in the male, the person remaining, or becoming, as the 
case may be, in appearance, voice, and mental character and dis- 
position, distinctively feminine. 
Some peculiar notions concerning the Menstrual Discharge 
have been and, indeed, still are held by various peoples. 
Among the Israelites, in Bible times, the woman was, during her 
sickness, as it was called, considered unclean, and the law of 
Moses so decreed, and forbade sexual intercourse during the 
period, and for seven days after. And to this day there is no other 
ceremonial law so vigorously observed amongst the Jews as this, 
though in some places, as in London, England, the seven days’ 
purification is commonly reduced to three. They reckon five days 
as the least duration of the period, and even if no discharge be 
seen after the first day or two, they observe the ceremonial un- 
cleanness for the five days and the seven following, making in all 
twelve days. If, however, an irregular flow occur between the 
regular periods, the seven days of purification are reckoned from 
the cessation of that flow, though it may have continued but a few 
hours. The Mosaic law on the subject may be found in Leviticus, 
chapter xv., which also deals with the uncleanness of Spermator- 
rhoea, or seminal emissions (some say Syphilis or Gonorrhoea) in 
the male, and in Lev., ch. xx., 18 ; v. 24 of ch. xv. probably refers 
to accidental defilement, where the condition of the woman was not 
known at the time, and v. 18 of ch. xx. to wilful defilement through 
unbridled lust. The Rabbis have interpreted and amplified the law 
as above set out. The Menstrual condition is sometimes spoken 
of in the Bible as “ the manner of women,” Gen. xviii., 11 ; and 
“ the custom of women,” Gen. xxxi., 35, and appears to have been 
treated, as the latter passage shows, with great consideration. 
During this period of “ uncleanness ” the women were, of 
course, prohibited from entering the Tabernacle or the Temple of 
the Israelites, and in Christian times we find the Council of Nice 
forbidding a Menstruous woman to enter the Church. 62 
THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
Pliny, the Elder, a Roman naturalist, who perished in the 
Destruction of Pompeii, A. D. 79, chronicles the belief prevalent 
in his time, that the Menstrual discharge would even, by its odor, 
destroy grafts, kill bees, cause madness in dogs, and blight in corn, 
cause iron to rust, and fruit to fall untimely from the trees, prevent 
seed from germinating, etc., attributing to it all the petty malignant 
powers which, in later years, were believed of witchcraft. Somewhat 
similar notions were said to prevail, until lately, in some parts of 
England, perhaps even yet. All these notions are, of course, 
absolutely without foundation. 
Marriage should never take place until menstruation has be- 
come regularly established. If, however, a woman have reached 
the age when menstruation usually has begun, and, though the 
other signs of advancing womanhood are present, no menstrual 
discharge has been noticed, an examination should be made to 
ascertain whether an Imperforate Hymen, that is, one in which 
there is no aperture for the escape of the menses, prevents the 
discharge, or whether there is any closure of the os uteri, or mouth 
of the womb. If all things appear normal, careful observation 
should be made to see whether there is not a discharge of a men- 
strual character, but so light in color and small in quantity as to 
be overlooked. 
Also, Marriage should not take place until the whole body 
has been properly developed and grown, especially the Pelvis and 
Genital Organs. For not only does the probably frequent sexual 
intercourse of early marriage interfere with the proper growth and 
development of these organs; but, if pregnancy should occur, the 
growth of the foetus takes all the vital energy of the young mother 
and leaves her stunted or checked in her own growth, and some- 
times permanently weakened and injured. Also it frequently 
happens that when childbirth occurs too young, the parts in the 
mother are too small to admit a ready delivery of the child, either 
making it necessary to crush and destroy the infant before it can 
be got through the bony ring of the pelvis, or lacerating the womb, 
vagina, and vulva of the mother. For these reasons the Pelvis 
and other organs should be allowed to attain their full size before 
marriage. 
It is well to have the wedding timed, if possible, to take place 
about midway between the time when one menstrual period is 
expected to cease and the time when the next shall commence. THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
63 
If the marriage takes place either during the period, or so near to 
it that the excitement attending the event will bring on the flow, 
as often occurs, the annoyance and distress which may follow are 
perfectly obvious. Furthermore, just before and after the period, 
the parts are in a more or less highly excited and irritable condi- 
tion, and intercourse just then, coupled with the various extraor- 
dinary emotions attendant upon the event, is liable to be highly 
injurious ; occurring just before the menses, it has been known to 
even induce paralysis of some of the parts, with permanent cessa- 
tion of the menses. 
MENSTRUATION DURING PREGNANCY. 
As a rule, Menstruation ceases during pregnancy, all the 
energies of the body being then required for the development of 
the foetus. There are some cases in which an apparent menstrual 
flow occurs once or twice, but in nearly every such case it is mere 
flooding, bleeding caused by the rupture of a vein, and, if it con- 
tinue, is likely to cause miscarriage. Therefore, if such a flow 
appear during pregnancy, the woman should at once lie down on 
her back, and no time should be lost in summoning a physician. 
Sometimes, however, true menstruation occurs. For some 
time after conception there is vacant space in the womb, below 
and at the sides of the spot where the embryo is attached, leaving 
a free passage from the Fallopian Tube on one or both sides to 
the mouth of the womb. If then, as sometimes happens, the 
ovaries, or either of them, should go on maturing eggs, menstru- 
ation may be set up. Many cases have been known in which not 
only menstruation, but a second conception, has taken place some 
months after the first. In such cases the second infant may be 
born either prematurely along with the first, or may remain in the 
womb after the earlier one has been born in due time, and, a 
second labor coming on when the second has reached full term, it 
is expelled in due course. This second conception is called super- 
fcetation, and will be treated of later. 
For a similar reason to that mentioned in the case of Preg- 
nancy, Menstruation is usually suspended during nursing, the 
mother’s strength being so fully occupied in producing the milk 
for her child’s sustenance and continued development, that none 
MENSTRUATION DURING NURSING. 64 
THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
can be spared for ripening the ova, and menstruation. The pur- 
pose of menstruation and egg ripening is conception, and careful 
Nature usually sees to it that both a born and unborn infant are 
not drawing upon the mother for their sustenance and growth at 
the same time. Even the action of the ovaries and menstruation 
are themselves a severe tax on a woman’s vitality, and if this drain 
be superadded, as it sometimes is, to that of an infant at the 
breast, it nearly always exhausts the strength and injures the 
health. Happily this state of things seldom occurs except in 
women of superabundant vitality, who can stand the drain, but, 
where menstruation and ovulation go on during nursing, as they 
sometimes do, in a woman of less vigor, it is very liable to overtax 
her strength to such an extent as to shorten her life. Also, if 
the mother become thus weakened, the milk is likely to be weak 
and watery, and to afford insufficient nourishment to the infant. 
In such cases, if menstruation persists, it is prudent, for the sake 
of both mother and child, to discontinue nursing, and bring the 
infant up on the bottle. 
The fact that nursing usually prevents menstruation, ovulation 
and liability to conception, is well known to most married women, 
and those who wish to postpone, or avoid entirely any future con- 
ception, not uncommonly continue to nurse their babe long after 
the time when, both for her own sake and the infant’s, it should 
be weaned. 
This necessity, under which a woman is often placed, of 
choosing between the drain of too long nursing, and too frequent 
child-bearing, either of which may permanently undermine her 
health, would be obviated if husbands, in such cases, would exer- 
cise a little more continence, and restrain their self-indulgence. 
CONNECTION DURING MENSTRUATION. 
The question is often asked of the physician, “ Is sexual inter- 
course during menstruation improper?” No unvarying rule can 
be given on this point. In most cases it is, for obvious reasons, 
likely to be disagreeable to both husband and wife, in some cases 
even painful to the latter. Some rare cases are met with in which 
the discharge is of an acrid character, and produces irritation of 
the external female genitals, and is liable to have a similar effect 
upon the organ of the male. Also, especially after suppression of 
the menses beyond the usual time, the discharge is found to be 65 
more or less fetid in character, and, if there were any abrasions of 
the skin, it might even cause blood poisoning. The old notion, 
however, that connection during the Menstrual Flow causes gonor- 
rhoea, or any such disease, is without foundation. It has also been 
supposed by some that if conception occur by intercourse during 
menstruation, the infant will be diseased, or insane ; also that the 
purple and other patches on the skin, which some have from their 
birth, indicate that the person was conceived during this Cata- 
menial period. There is, however, no ground for these sup- 
positions. 
THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
Usually, considerations of delicacy are alone sufficient, with- 
out other reasons, to induce most people to abstain at such a time. 
There may, however, in some cases, be reasons amply justifying 
such intercourse. Some females never experience any sexual 
desire at any other time, and it occasionally happens that one 
who will conceive at no other time, may become pregnant by in- 
tercourse during that, her only time of venereal excitement. 
Speaking in general terms, then, it may be said that there is 
usually no scientific objection to intercourse during menstruation. 
Indeed, some have thought that, as the lower animals desire con- 
nection only during the Heat, or Rut, corresponding to the men- 
strual period in the human female, that is the natural and proper 
time for sexual intercourse in human beings. But, as many other 
considerations, besides mere animal passion, enter into the associ- 
ation of the sexes in man, and as, in most cases, conception occurs 
at least as readily at some other times, the conduct of the beasts 
in this matter need not be considered as necessarily a pattern for 
man. Even in beasts, it is often noticed that in the earlier days 
of the heat, when the flow from the parts is greatest, the female 
refuses the male, probably, of course, from lack of desire at that 
stage. 
Many conjectures have been offered as to the purpose of the 
menstrual flow. One is, that it is intended by Nature as a means 
of periodical purification, by thus working off matters which would 
be hurtful if retained. This supposition would seem to be dis- 
counted by the fact that young children and men, who would seem 
to need purification as badly, are at least as healthy without any 
such function. Others think that the womb is periodically con- 
gested with blood, in readiness to receive an impregnated ovum, 
and to affcrd it nuVment, but wven no conception occurs in the 66 
THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
expected or contained egg, the congestion is otherwise relieved by 
rupture of the capillary blood-vessels, and the pouring out of the 
superfluous blood. Others, again, suppose that in the womb the 
ends of many capillaries stand against the innermost lining mem- 
brane of that organ, and that in menstruation these burst out, 
pushing off that membrane, to be carried away as minute patches 
of epithelial scales, and leaving the open ends of the capillaries 
to furnish a ready attaching and feeding place to the impreg- 
nated egg on its arrival. There is probably some truth in these 
last two theories. 
Some have thought that Menstruation is peculiar to the 
human female, but careful observation makes it clear that there is 
something analogus to it in the lower animals. Whether in those 
which have their Rut, or Heat, several times a year, or in those 
which have it only once in one, two, or three years, there is seen 
at such times in all animals a discharge from the genital organs of 
the same nature as that observed in the human female. Usually, 
however, it is nearly colorless, though in some varieties of Monkeys 
it is tinged with blood. PLATE V. 
Standing with reluctant feet 
Where the Brook and River meet, 
Womanhood and Childhood fleet. 
Gazing with a timid glance, 
On the Brooklet's swift advance, 
On the Rivet's broad expanse. 
Like the szvell of some sweet time, 
Morning rises into Noon, 
May glides onward into June. 
—Longfellorv. THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
69 
CHAPTER VI. 
HYGIENE OF PUBERTY. 
THOUGH this is not a medical work, yet the importance of 
a right knowledge of the needs of a young girl at this criti- 
cal period of her existence is so great, that I deem it not 
unwise to devote a few pages to the Hygiene of Puberty, how the 
young girl may best retain her health, and attain a proper develop- 
ment, making the best of her capabilities for womanhood, during 
these years of change. 
Though the remarkable changes referred to at the beginning 
of this chapter, sometimes occur within a few weeks, yet they are 
usually much slower, occupying sometimes a couple of years, or 
more, from the beginning of the development of the eggs from 
their rudimentary condition, to the regular establishment of full 
womanly condition. During the period of two years, more or less, 
this transition stage—the birth of the woman—endures, during 
which the infant woman demands not less careful, devoted and 
patient supervision than the infant child ; for during this period 
she is peculiarly liable to diseases of the flesh and perversions of 
the mind. She must be protected, not only from the ailments 
which surely arise from any neglect to recognize the importance 
of the change at hand, but also diseases which affect other parts 
of the body with especial frequency during this period. For it is 
a fact that, just as the infant is liable to disorders from causes 
which do not affect grown people, so the girl, during the infancy 
of her womanhood, is likewise peculiarly susceptible to influences 
which do not affect her younger or older sisters. These ills are 
mental and moral, as well as physical. 
INHERITED TENDENCIES. 
Constitutional tendencies and inherited taints and weaknesses, 
which have lain dormant since her birth, are now very apt to begin 
to show themselves. Only too often the child of consumptive 
parents, though she may have enjoyed fair health up to this time, 
gives way when the increased demand of sexual development is 
made upon her, and begins to manifest the first clear symptoms 
of her parents’ fatal malady. So, too, insanity, epilepsy, or falling 
fits, hereditary syphilis, and many other affections, the tendency 70 
the science of generation. 
to which was imparted with her parents’ blood, or acquired 
through ignorance, attack the girl at this her critical period, and 
either bear her down at once or obtain a foothold, from which they 
can never be dislodged. 
Again, there are certain ailments which seem to affect the 
children of robust and delicate parents alike. Such is the disease 
popularly known as the Green Sickness, because of the greenish 
tinge sometimes exhibited by the otherwise pale countenance, and 
called by the physicians, Chlorosis. In this disease the blood is 
impoverished, whence the extreme pallor ; yet the root of the evil 
is not in the blood, but in the nervous system. It is not much 
noticed or thought of in its beginning ; the girl begins to be unusu- 
ally weak and easily fatigued; is averse to exertion and avoids 
society ; has a fickle appetite. These symptoms often exist for 
some time without other symptoms, quite puzzling the parents, 
and even the physician. Then occur impairment of the digestion, 
constipation, palpitation of the heart, extreme paleness, irregu- 
larity, or even suppression of the menstrual flow. Sometimes she 
develops strange and absurd tastes, such as for nibbling slate 
pencils, eating chalk, devouring large quantities of pickles, drink- 
ing vinegar, etc. Mental perversities no less remarkable may be 
exhibited, the rosy, healthy child of a few months before becoming 
an irritable and irritating invalid, peevish, fretful and unreasonable. 
Her friends become alarmed, thinking of consumption, heart 
disease, etc. She is pale, so they dose her with iron tonics, think- 
ing that always the thing for pale people. It should be realized, 
however, that the matter is too serious to trust to home remedies, 
and a competent physician should be consulted at once. The 
disease is one, however, which could have been easily avoided ; it 
is caused by lack of air, sunshine, exercise and amusement; by 
anxiety, fear, or other disagreeable emotions ; by physical or 
mental overwork. In its earlier stages it can almost always be 
cut short by change of scene, of occupation, and of company. 
CHLOROSIS. 
FOOD. 
The care demanded by the girl relates directly, of course, to 
her bodily functions, but just as certainly to her mental state. 
Certain rules should be observed throughout the entire period 
of puberty, and certain additional precautions are necessary during THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
71 
the menstrual flow. It may seem unnecessary to remark that 
the first requisite is food; yet it is, nevertheless, true that unusual 
attention should be paid to both the quantity and quality of food 
during this period of development; for the girl’s appetite is often 
very capricious. She is sometimes, though rarely, inclined to eat 
too much. Oftener and worse, she is either positively disinclined 
for nourishing food, or rejects all but some particular sorts, and 
these often of the least valuable and wholesome kinds, as cakes 
pastry and sweetmeats. It is needless to prescribe any particular 
course of diet, but simply to say that the girl should have an 
abundance of nourishing food at regular hours. On the other 
hand, she should, and probably will, show a marked increase oi 
appetite, and so far from being teased for this, she should be en- 
couraged, for during these years the rapid development of her sys 
tern demands an unusually great supply of nourishment for its 
proper carrying out. 
Meat, especially fat meat, the usual garden vegetables, fruits, 
and especially milk, may constitute the bulk of her diet. Wines 
and alcoholic drinks of every sort, injurious enough at all times, 
should be strictly avoided during this period. Tea and coffee, too, 
which at no time are particularly advantageous as regular diet, 
may at this time be positively injurious. The same may be said 
of all highly seasoned food. 
SLEEP. 
The next most important factor in the building of both body 
and brain is sleep. Early to bed and late to rise would be a wise 
adaptation of the old saw to this period of life. The hours which 
the girl may apparently lose by lying late in bed will be redeemed 
a hundred fold in her more mature and valuable years. Insist 
that she go to bed early, permit her to sleep as long as she pleases. 
Do not fear that she will contract an idle habit, any more than a 
sick person does by lying in bed all day. When the period of her 
development is over, she will not only be as ready to rise early 
and work late, if necessary, but far readier, and infinitely better fit 
to do so than if she were, during this period, required to keep the 
hours which are only fit for maturer years. 
EXERCISE. 
Exercise, too, is indispensable to proper development. Fixed 
rules for so many hours of this or that sort of exercise, cannot 72 
THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
be laid down ; but this one rule is invariable, namely, that that 
only can be considered exercise which gives the girl pleasure. 
She may be quite able, if she like it, to skate, or toboggan, or row 
lightly, or play lawn tennis, or ride on horseback, by the hour 
(though those should not be carried to excess), and really perfectly 
unable, if she don’t like it, to wash, or scrub, or spin, or do many 
other jobs of housekeeping, to say nothing of the hard and con- 
stant labor in shops and factories, to which so many immature 
girls are sent. To give benefit, exercise must give pleasure ; then 
it reddens the cheeks, lightens the step and the heart, and sends 
the blood bounding through every artery, carrying life and health 
to every part, and especially to those parts which are now so 
rapidly developing. 
OUTDOORS. 
It is important, too, that exercise should, as far as possible, 
be taken in the open air, where the lungs can be filled with that 
free and good gift of heaven, and the whole body can absorb 
health and vitality from the life-giving rays of the sun. Animals, 
as well as plants, and not least the human animal, attain their best 
development in the sun. Do not worry about her complexion. 
She has no need of a complexion yet, and if she get sunshine 
enough to make her as brown as an Indian, she will be the better, 
and have all the better, clearer, and rosier complexion when she 
is a few years, or even a few months, older. Physical exercise is 
important also for this—that it directs her attention from herself, 
and prevents her from brooding over the strange sensations and 
mysterious changes which are going on within her, and of which 
she has as yet no definite comprehension ; keeps her a child until 
childhood’s day is really past, and gives her the powers and graces 
of womanhood by the time she begins to realize the possession of 
its desires and responsibilities. Exercise is, also, one of the best 
safeguards against the vicious habits to which girls, as well as boys, 
sometimes become addicted during these years of life. It is com- 
monly observed that these habits are much commoner and much 
stronger in those young persons who have not had the advantages 
of out-door exercises, which the youth of both sexes so naturally 
crave. 
CLOTHING. 
Clothing is, also, a matter of great importance. Happily, 
amongst the best people, a sensible habit of dressing their children is becoming more and more common ; but there are still those who 
dress their child with regard, much less to the child’s comfort and 
health, than to their own vanity. Why a child’s clothing should 
be bunched around her waist and body, leaving her arms, neck 
and legs bare, or but thinly covered, is a puzzle surely to all who 
stop to think about it. 
THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
73 
Yet we will not stop to remonstrate upon this common mode 
of dressing children before puberty, since the ill effects, the im- 
perfect protection against the weather, are readily apparent, and 
the child suffers only the immediate and direct effects. With the 
commencement of puberty, the style is changed to the extent of 
somewhat lengthening the skirt, but sufficient care is seldom 
taken that the entire body and limbs should be evenly and warmly 
clad, especially during the menstrual week. Thick shoes and 
warm thick woolen stockings may not be so dainty and pretty as 
the thin stuff in which too many foolish mothers delight to dress 
their budding daughters, but they are absolutely necessary and, 
even from the standpoint of beauty, they are far more profitable 
in the long run. The young woman’s neck, shoulders, and the 
figure generally, will be far more attractive a few years later, when 
she will value them, if carefully, completely, and warmly clothed 
now. 
Then there is the corset, the inevitable corset. Inevitable 
did I say, no, for the reign of the corset is happily almost ended. 
The number of women is large, and increasing more and more 
rapidly, who eschew the corset with all its works. See you the 
women on the streets—this with round pinched-in waist, and 
with body moving stiffly along, as if carved in wood and moved 
by some wobbling machinery underneath, corseted ; this with 
lithe body, tapering in flowing curves to the flexible oval waist, 
walking with graceful, swaying motion, she is emancipated from 
the prison of steel and goes with the grace and beauty of a free 
woman. Moreover, the uncorseted woman not only looks better, 
and is more admired by the men (and that is a consideration with 
every rightly constituted woman), but she is better. If Nature 
placed a certain amount of material just within her waist line, 
that waist line cannot be pinched in without crowding that ma- 
terial to where it does not belong, and it, in turn, crowds some- 
thing else out of place. Now, the intestines, which are squeezed 
out from the waist, go partly upward, crowding the liver and 74 
THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
stomach against the diaphragm, interfering with the proper action 
of the lungs and heart; and they go partly downward, squeezing 
the womb, ovaries, bladder, kidneys, etc., down and out of posi- 
tion. If a woman, who has reached mature years insists on 
doing this, I suppose she will do it; but as she values her own 
and her daughter’s health and comfort, let her neither cause nor 
allow that daughter to wear corsets during that critical period 
when she is developing her new womanhood. It is all very well 
to say, “ Oh, I don’t wear my corsets tight ” Certainly you don’t. 
It is always the other woman who wears her corsets tight; but 
somehow or other your daughter'gets the idea, whether from you 
or from someone else, that the corsets must give her ct shape.” 
And she will wear them tight enough to do so, and shape she 
gets, but it is not the shape her Creator, who loves her best, 
intended she should have. Yet I should despair of having this 
advice at all accepted, though all medical men agree in it, were 
it not that some wise women have led the way, and it is now 
rapidly becoming fashionable to dispense with the corset; and 
we may hope before long to see it considered in the same light as 
the little foot bandage of the Chinese female child, or the forehead 
compress of the Flat-head Indian. 
REGULARITY. 
Another important consideration in the care of the girl during 
puberty is the prompt and regular evacuation of the bowels and 
bladder. If either the rectum or the bladder be habitually dis- 
tended, there is apt to occur a change either in the shape or posi- 
tion of the womb, for, as pointed out in Chapter II., the womb 
lies between and adjacent to these, so that if they are full they 
press upon it, crowding it while growing, and causing it to grow 
out of place, or out of shape. It frequently happens in schools, 
particularly in the country, that there is not sufficient attention 
paid to the privacy and comfort of the privy closet convenience 
and the young girl, rather than go to it, neglects the calls of 
Nature, and sets up a habit of constipation. Indeed, even at her 
home it often happens that this very necessary convenience is so 
built and situated that in winter the wind whistles up through it, 
and the result is that she, in the first place, stays away from it as 
long as she can, and, in the second place, those then unusually 
sensitive parts are chilled; and, particularly if it be during the menstrual flow, serious consequences may ensue. It is, therefore, 
very important that proper provision should be made for attend- 
ing to the calls of Nature in comfort, and that it should be 
strongly impressed upon the young girl’s mind that she must, on 
no account, omit to visit the privy closet at least once a day, and 
that the bladder should be promptly emptied as soon and as often 
as the physical inclination rises. 
THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
75 
Just one other point I must touch upon, the mental activities 
of the girl during puberty. At this period the energies are direct- 
ed most strongly to the development of the sexual organs, and to 
the general changes which accompany it. These necessities make 
a great demand upon the blood supply and the general vital force 
of the girl, and they cannot allow anything else to usurp their first 
place. Their great rival in our system on the American continent 
is the School. Now, there is not enough blood in the body to 
keep all parts full at once, so Nature sends her reinforcement, in 
the shape of increased blood supply, to that part in which it is 
most in demand, the part where the most work is going on. The 
blood is the tissue builder. Work is a tissue destroyer. Moderate 
work or exercise breaks down the old tissue, and the blood as fast 
or faster rebuilds it with new material, and benefit results. Im- 
moderate work or exercise, whether of brain or muscle, breaks 
down the tissue faster than the blood can rebuild it, and exhaust- 
ion follows. A good blood supply to any part, short of congestion, 
produces growth ; a poor blood supply results in non-development, 
shrinkage, atrophy, according to degree. If the brain be engaged 
in deep and long-continued labor, the chief blood supply is there, 
and the chief expenditure of nervous force is made there. 
During vigorous exercise the blood bestows most attention upon 
the muscles ; during digestion, upon the stomach. If we exercise 
our muscles, or engage in study immediately after eating, the 
chief blood supply goes to the muscles or the brain, and leaves the 
stomach insufficiently supplied with blood, and digestion is im- 
peded. In the same way, if long hours be devoted to severe 
mental labor, as is often the case in our schools, and with school 
work done at home, the chief blood supply during all that time goes 
to the brain, and the development of the sexual organs, where, dur- 
ing puberty, much blood is required, is retarded. I would not 
SCHOOL. 76 
suggest that school work should be entirely dropped during these 
years, but I would insist that the unnatural stimulus of competi- 
tive examinations, the desire of teachers to make a good showing, 
with a view to fame and increase of salary, or even with a praise- 
worthy desire to see the child’s education progress rapidly, or the 
vanity of parents who wish to see their child’s cleverness proudly 
demonstrated, or even the girl’s own ambition to keep even with 
the rest, should not be allowed to distract her vital energies at this 
period from the fundamental necessity of the time, the develop- 
ment of her womanhood. If the girl can be allowed to go to 
school and “ take it easy,” well and good ; and even then she 
should be kept out of school for a few days during each menstrual 
period ; but if she cannot go to school without entering into the 
keen competition of modern school life, and endeavoring to demon- 
strate that she is at least the intellectual equal of her brothers and 
the other boys, then she had better be out of school entirely for 
two or three years. And it will be found time well spent, which 
she spends in developing and perfecting her physical system, and 
she, with her better health and sound constitution, will not only be 
a brighter, happier, and better young woman for it, but better able 
to pursue her studies and to more than make up, in a few years, 
the time which some would think lost. 
THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
It is important, also, at this time especially, to look carefully 
after the girl’s lighter reading and companionship. Good novels 
are beneficial, instructive, elevating. Mere silly love tales and im- 
possible romances improperly excite the imagination and fill her 
with false and often injurious views of life. The company of pure, 
bright young people, of both sexes, is beneficial, that of the vici- 
ous, or depraved, is utterly damnable. Parents should not merely 
scold when their daughter’s companionships are not to their taste. 
She must have company; her age and nature demand it. Do 
not think that a little trouble to provide her with suitable young 
companionships is labor thrown away. It is well spent, and will be 
amply rewarded by the present and future gratitude of a happy 
girl, and by the consciousness that you have saved your daughter 
from many a snare which bad or indifferent company lays for 
such as she. 
LIGHT READING AND COMPANIONSHIP. PLATE VI. 
SECTIONAL VIEW OF THE MALE ORGANS OF GENERATION. 
The terms used will be found sufficiently explained in Chapter VII. THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
79 
CHAPTER VII. 
THE GENITAL ORGANS OF THE 
HUMAN MALE. 
THE Male organs of Generation, like the female, are some 
of them external, some internal. 
The external organs are : The Testes, or Testicles ; the 
Epididymis (Greek, epi—upon, Didymos, the twin, or double); the 
Scrotum, or Bag, which contains the testicles ; the lower part of 
Vas Deferens (Latin—the carrying-off tube), and the Penis. 
The Internal Organs are: The upper part of the Vas Defer- 
ens, the Seminal Vesicles, the Prostrate Gland, and the Ejaculat- 
ory Canal, or Duct. 
THE TESTES. 
The testes, or testicles, are two small glandular organs which 
secrete the semen. They are situated in the scrotum, or bag, just 
beneath the front part of the abdomen, one on each side of and a 
little below the root of the Penis. They are not held up by the 
bag, but by two ligaments, one for each, called the Spermatic 
Cords, which run from the back part of the testicle to the bony 
ring of the pelvis. 
During foetal life, they are contained in the cavity of the abdo- 
men, the spermatic cords extending upwards and outwards to 
where the respective testicles lie, in front and a little below the 
kidney, but from the fifth month to the end of the eighth they 
gradually descend into the scrotum. In their descent through the 
internal abdominal ring, they press down and carry through with 
them a fold of the numerous muscular, fibrous and other linings of 
the abdomen, which thus form a sort of sac, or pouch, in which 
they rest, hanging by the spermatic cords and tissues. Just before 
birth the upper part of this pouch usually becomes closed up, separ- 
ating them from the abdominal cavity. 
Each testicle is in the form of an oval, slightly flattened at 
the two sides, and about straight at the back. They lie in a slant- 
ing position, the lower ends being a little closer together than the 
upper, and farther back. The front, sides and ends are rounded, 
and free and smooth, and covered by a thin serous membrane 
called the Tunica Vaginalis (Latin—enveloping coat). Next 80 
THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
inside that is the Tunica Albuginea (Latin—white coat), a strong 
thick membrane, of a bluish white color, composed of bundles of 
white fibres, which interlace in every direction. Inside this again 
is a layer which contains the larger blood vessels of the testicle, 
and within is the substance or body of the testicle itself. This 
consists of about three hundred minute tubes, each about sixteen 
feet in length and 1-200 of an inch in diameter. These are called 
the Tubuli Seminifera (Latin—minute semen-producing tubes), 
and in them the semen is originated. They are rolled and twisted 
up, sometimes two or three together, into little rolls, or lobules. 
These lobules each occupy one of the little intervals into which 
the testicle is divided by fibrous partitions, as shown in the Plate. 
These tubes are straight as they approach the back part of the 
testicle, and there they pass upwards and backwards, interlacing, 
running into each other, and separating again till they reach the 
upper end of the back of the testicle. There they run into fewer 
and larger straight tubes, called the Vasa Efifereutia (Latin—car- 
rying-out tubes), which carry the semen out of the testicle. Just 
outside the testicle these begin to run in a twisted or convoluted 
form, like one-half of a spiral bed spring, making a cone-shaped 
lobule, and these lobules together form a compact mass, called the 
Globus Major (Latin—larger globe) of the Epididymis, as shown 
in the Plate. At the bases of the cones, formed by these tubes, 
they all empty into one larger tube, which continues in a similar 
twisted or convoluted form, downwards along the back of the 
testicle, forming the body, and lower, the small globe of the Epi- 
didymis. From this point it is straighter, and is called the Vas 
Deferens (Latin—carrying-off tube). 
The Vas Deferens is the duct which carries off the semen 
from the testicle into the body, preparatory to it?s being cast out 
through the penis. This duct passes up along the back of the 
testicle beside the Epididymis to the Spermatic Cord, which holds 
up the testicle, thence up the back part of that cord into the abdo- 
men. There it passes in a curve up around the side of the round 
of the bladder near the top, and down and towards the middle line 
of the bladder at the back, where the two, one having come from 
each testicle, come near together at the back of the neck of the 
bladder, as svown in Plate. 
THE VAS DEFERENS. PLATE VII. 
Fig. i. 
Fig. 2. 
THE TESTICLE. 
Fig. i. A section of the Right Testicle from front to rear, showing the parti- 
tions in it, with the seminal tubules, etc. The right-hand side in the Plate is the 
rear side of the testicle. 
Fig. 2. The Testicle exposed, with its Epididymis, supporting Spermatic 
Cord, etc. 
The terms used in this l’late will be found sufficiently explained in this (..banter PLATE VIII. 
Urethra. 
The Base and Neck of the Bladder, showing the Prostate Gland surrounding 
vfeck, the Ejaculatory Ducts within the Gland, and the Vasa Deferentia and 
seminal Vesicles lying against the base or back, lower side of the bladder. The 
left Seminal Vesicle (Vcsicula Seminalis) is shown unravelled and straightened out, 
the right, as it lies in Nature. The two Vasa Deferentia are shown cut off. In 
Nature they extend from the Testicles up over the front of the bladder, and down 
where the part appears in this Plate. The Prostate Gland appears as cut open to 
show the Ejaculatory Ducts. 
The terms used will be found sufficiently explained in Chapter VII. THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
83 
Lying also against*the back of the bladder, and farther to 
each side than the two Vasa Deferentia, are the two Seminal 
Vesicles. These are two tubes (each having some branches) 
closed at the upper or outer end, and opening into the Vasa 
Deferentia at the neck of the bladder. Each is from four to six 
inches in length when straightened out, and about as large as a 
quill, but it lies folded up together into a long mass about two and 
a half inches long, half an inch wide, and a quarter of an inch 
thick. These serve as reservoirs, or storage places, for the semen, 
and they secrete als6 a fluid which mixes with it, and, Prowler says, 
enlivens and feeds the spermatozoa, or animalculae, of the semen. 
THE SEMINAL VESICLES. 
EJACULATORY DUCTS. 
The right and left Seminal Vesicles, joining the Vasa Defer- 
entia, as shown on this Plate, form the Right and Left Ejaculat- 
ory Ducts, which extend downwards and forwards through the 
Prostrate Gland, and open, by little slits, into the Urethra, the 
tube used in common for the expulsion of the Semen and of the 
Urine. 
In this Urethra, just behind these openings from the Ejacu- 
latory Ducts, is a little cross ridge of muscular and erectile tissue, 
called the Verumontanum (Latin—true mountain), which be- 
comes large and firm during sexual excitement of the parts, pre- 
venting the semen from passing upwards into the bladder, and the 
urine from coming down and mixing with the semen. 
PROSTRATE GLAND. 
Surrounding the Ejaculatory Ducts and the Urethra, next the 
neck of the bladder, is the Prostrate Gland. This is about the 
size and shape of a horse chestnut. It secretes a slightly acid, 
milky fluid, which passes by numerous little ducts into the urethra 
on each side of the Verumontanum, and gives its milky color to 
the semen, and sometimes to the urine. The Prostrate Gland is 
of a very firm and heavy, but easily crumbled, substance. It is 
divided into three parts or lobes, one behind against the rectum 
or lower bowel, and the other two in front. In some persons the 
rear lobe is absent, and in some, particularly in old men, it be- 
comes swollen, hard and painful. This gland may be felt with 
the finger through the wall of the rectum. The use of its milky 
secretion is unknown. 84 
THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
THE SCROTUM. 
As stated above, the testicles hang in a bag or pouch of loose 
skin, called the Scrotum. This is covered thinly with coarse, crisp 
hairs. Down its middle, from front to rear, extending backward 
to the Anus, and forward down the under side of the Penis to its 
end, is a distinct ridge in the skin, called the Raphe. Correspond- 
ing with this ridge, and on the inside of the Scrotum, is a partition 
extending from front to rear of the entire pouch, and dividing it 
into two compartments, in each of which hangs one of the testicles. 
The left spermatic cord being a little, perhaps half an inch, 
longer than the right, the left testicle hangs lower than the right. 
This allows one to move past the other when they are squeezed 
together, as by crossing the legs, and prevents injury. The testi- 
cles are extremely sensitive, and an unnatural pressure on them 
causes excruciating pain. 
Within the skin of the Scrotum is a strong, thick, elastic layer 
of fibrous and muscular tissue, called the Dartos. Cold or sexual 
excitement causes this to contract, pressing firmly against the 
testicles, and leaving the skin of the Scrotum, which is everywhere 
attached to it, to go into numerous wrinkles or folds. Indeed, in 
health and vigor, this Dartos is usually pretty well so contracted, 
but in old age or weakness it generally becomes lax, and lets the 
scrotum hang down long and loose. This fact was well known to 
the ancients, and in their sculptures old men and weaklings were 
usually represented with the scrotum pendant as we have just de- 
scribed it, and as it appears in the plate at the beginning of this 
Chapter. 
Next within the Dartos, and coming next to the Tunica 
Vaginalis, or outer covering of the testicle itself, is the Cremaster 
Muscle. This is one of those tissues which were brought down 
by the testicles in their descent from the abdomen before birth. 
It consists of a sheet of muscular tissue, and its use is to draw the 
testicles upward against the abdomen ; this occurs during copula- 
tion, and adds greatly to the pressure on the testes, and assists in 
driving the semen forward. 
THE PENIS. 
Immediately in front of the scrotum is the Penis. This is the 
Male organ of copulation. It is attached to the body at the 
bottom of the abdomen, below the pubic bone, and hangs in a 
curved form forward and downward when at rest, but forward PLATE IX. 
Fig. x. 
Fig. 2. 
SECTIONS OF THE PENIS, SHOWING INTERNAL STRUCTURE. 
Fig. 2. Transverse section of the Penis, a, a, Right and Left Corpora 
Cavernosa ; b, Corpus Spongiosum; c, the Urethra. 
Fig. i. Longitudinal section of the Penis. 
The terms used are sufficiently explained in Chapter VII. THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
87 
and upward at an angle of about twenty or thirty degrees to 
the horizontal when erected. When quiet, it is about three or 
four inches in length, but is often drawn up shorter by cold, pa’n, 
etc., and about an inch in diameter. During erection it is about 
six inches in length, and perhaps one and a quarter to one and a 
half inches in diameter. All these dimensions, of course, vary 
greatly in different persons. 
The Urethra, the tube down which the urine escapes from 
the bladder, passes down through the penis. The Penis, like the 
Prostrate Gland, consists of three lobes, one in the rear or under 
part, and two side by side, forming the upper part. The two 
upper lobes practically form one division, called the Corpus Cavern- 
osum (Latin—hollow body), but some physiologists, on account 
of the septum or partition between the right and left parts, use the 
plural number, and speak of them as the Corpora Cavernosa. Where 
these two parts join, on the under side, the edges are rounded, 
forming a groove, and in this groove the urethra lies. The rear, 
or under part, is called the Corpus Spongiosum (Latin—spongy 
body). 
It surrounds the Urethra, or urinary canal, and fills in below 
the Corpora Cavernosa, making the whole organ, when not erected, 
quite round. At the rear end it is much larger and thicker, forming 
what is called the Bulb of the Urethra. These Corpora form the 
body of the penis, extending from the Pubic bone, to which it is firm- 
ly attached by what is called the Root of the Penis, or Crura Penis, 
to the head, or Gians Penis, which terminates it at the outer end. 
The skin of the abdomen, or rather of the Pubes, all around the 
root of the Penis is covered, after puberty, with hair, as is the 
female pubes. Where the sexual development is imperfect, this 
hairy covering is generally absent, and removal of the testicles by 
surgical operation, accident, or destroying disease, often causes it 
to fall out, and the parts to become bare, as in childhood. Dur 
ing erection the three lobes are easily noticed, and the organ is 
then slightly triangular. 
The whole penis is surrounded by a very fine thin skin, usually 
of a darker color than the skin of the body, and so elastic, and 
connected with the layers beneath it so loosely, that even when 
the organ is erected it slides easily several inches in any direction. 
This skin covers only the body of the organ, and is firmly fastened 
round the neck, or place where the Corpora join the head or Gians 88 
THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
Penis It is, however, considerably longer than the body of the 
organ, and falls in a loose fold down a greater or less distance over 
the Gians Penis all around. This fold is called the Prepuce, or 
Foreskin, and is the part which is cut off in the rite of circumcision. 
On the under side of the glans the attachment of the Prepuce 
extends nearly to the end, this bit of lengthwise attachment being 
by means of a cord or ligament, called the Fraenum. In some 
cases this ligament is too short, so that during erection, and 
especially during coition, it is pulled so tightly as to cause great 
annoyance, bending the glans down, or even sometimes being 
torn asunder by the violence of the erection. 
The Gians Penis is an enlargement of the Corpus Spongiosum 
of the body ot the Penis, but extends also across the end of the 
Corpus Cavernosum. It is in the form of a section of a cone, 
rounded however, at the end, and slightly flattened at the top and 
bottom. It extends farther back at the top than at the bottom, 
the Corpus Spongiosum at the bottom extending forward to a 
point where the Fraenum, or Prcputian Ligament is attached. 
Around the rear end or rim of the Gians is a slight ridge, called the 
Corona, or Crown of the Gians, and immediately behind this is a 
depression, called the Cervix, or Neck. In this depression the 
Foreskin is attached, and just in front of the attachment are a 
number of cells, which produce a whitish, cheesy secretion of a 
peculiar odor. Unless attention is paid to cleanliness of this part 
this substance accumulates in considerable quantities and becomes 
hardened, causing irritation and even sores. 
Though the two parts of the Penis, the Corpus Spongiosum 
and the Corpus Cavernosum, differ a good deal in their structure, 
they are alike in this, that they are composed largely of erectile 
tissue. Erectile tissue, as before described, is full of blood vessels and 
cells, opening into each other, and capable of being greatly swollen 
with blood. These connect with the main branches of an artery. In 
the ordinary state these blood vessels and cells are nearly, or quite, 
empty, but when excited the blood from the artery is driven into 
them, filling them tightly, and causing the organ to enlarge and 
become firm and rigid. This is called Erection, and such tissue 
is called Erectile Tissue. It is not only the main component of 
the Male Penis, but enters largely into the structure of many of 
the female sexual organs, as the clitoris, nymphae, vagina, etc., 
and even of the nipples of the breasts. When the sexual excite- THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
89 
nient subsides the blood flows out by the veins, and the erection 
goes down. It sometimes occurs, however, that there is some 
obstruction to the outflow of the blood, and then, to the person’s 
great annoyance, the erection remains, though the excitement and 
desire are gone. 
In some cases the rush of blood into the cells of the erectile 
tissue has been so violent as to rupture them, totally destroying 
the power of erection. The quickness of erection varies in differ- 
ent persons, in some the tissue filling in a very short time, in 
others more slowly, and the same variation is noticed in the quick- 
ness with which it subsides. This variation seems to depend 
largely on the nervous vigor of the parts, the old finding erection 
slower and its subsidence much quicker than the young. The 
Muscle, called the Erector Penis, assists in lifting it to the position 
it occupies during erection. 
As stated before, the semen is thrown by the Ejaculatory 
Ducts into the Urethra, about three-quarters of an inch from the 
bladder. From this point the Urethra serves a double purpose— 
first, to carry off' the urine from the body, second to carry the 
semen into the vagina of the female. It is for this second use that 
it possesses the power of erection, the rigidity being necessary 
to the proper performance of this natural function. Also the 
urethra is much lessened in size during erection by the pressure 
upon it of the congested blood vessels, and this enables the im- 
pulse given to the semen by the contraction at the rear part of 
the urethra to eject it forcibly from the meatus, or opening at the 
end of the Gians Penis. The Urethra is a tube about a sixteenth 
of an inch in diameter on the average, but is a little larger near 
the base of the penis, and again near the neck ; it extends from 
the bladder to the extremity of the Gians Penis, where it opens by 
a slit-like opening about a quarter of an inch in length, extending 
in a direction which would be called up and down when the penis 
is horizontal. This orifice is furnished with little labia, or lips, and 
is called the Meatus Urinarius. 
As will be noticed from the description above given, the 
form of the organ ol copulation of the Human male, the Penis, 
corresponds exactly to that of the female, the Vagina. And in 
the various lower animals the form varies for a similar purpose of 
adaptation. That of the cat, and of some others, is covered with 
spines, giving che female great pain during connection, the precise 90 
THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
fitness of which, however, it is hard to see. In some the structure 
is such that the sexual act is performed in a moment, as in the 
bull and horse, while in others it is very slow, as in the dog and 
pig. In birds the male organ is very short, a mere spot or button- 
like prominence, which does not enter the female organ at all, but 
merely presses against it and throws the semen within. In some 
animals, as the raccoon, a part of the Corpus Cavernosum is ossi- 
fied, or turned into bone, the small bone thus formed running per- 
haps one-half the length of the organ. This is also sometimes 
found in white men, and often in Negroes. In some animals, such 
as the kangaroo, oppossum, etc., the penis is double, to fit the 
double vagina of the female. This form has been found in men, 
but is, of course, a monstrosity, as is a double Vagina in woman. 
In this case it is really merely a s ngle penis, divided into two 
parts, usually one only having the urethra, and capable of dis- 
charging either urine or semen. 
ABSENCE, DEFECTIVE DEVELOPMENT, AND MALFORMA- 
TION OF THE PENIS. 
In some persons the penis has been lost, destroyed by acci- 
dent, or removed by surgical operation, and in some it is absent 
from birth. Sometimes it is no more than a quarter of an inch in 
length, or even only a slight swelling, Ike that of a male bird. In 
such cases copulation, in the ordinary sense, can, of course, never 
take place, yet, if the other sexual organs are all right and produce 
perfect semen, such men may become fathers. For even if the 
male organ cannot be introduced within the female, yet if the 
semen be only shed within the external lips, some of the seminal 
animalculae may find their way through the vagina and womb, 
and reach and impregnate the egg of the female. Many cases 
have been known in which conception was induced by artificially 
injecting the semen into the vagina with a syr'nge, or even catch- 
ing it in a spoon and placing it within. Of course some females 
will not conceive without some degree of sexual excitement, and 
in them such artificial means would probably not bring about con- 
ception. For other reasons, than this uncertainty of producing 
children, men so incapable of copulation should not marry, when 
the result must be to disappoint the woman of that commerce to 
which a wife is, by Nature and by law, entitled. A person of 
either sex who unwittingly marries one who is for any reason in- THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
capable of sexual intercourse, is entitled by the law of almost 
every nation to have the marriage declared null and void from the 
beginning. Cases have been known in which conception followed 
the use of an artificial penis, an instrument made to fit upon the 
stump of the amputated organ, and resembling in shape and size 
the part which was lost. 
Sometimes from birth the skin of the Penis is grown fast to 
that of the Scrotum, tying it down, or to that of the abdomen, 
tying it flat against the body, or it may be attached to either leg. 
Such cases can be cured by a slight surgical operation at any age, 
as it is only the skin which is attached. Any such malposition 
should be promptly remedied in infancy, as it causes great trouble 
in urinating, and, of course, would effectually prevent copulation 
when the boy grows up. In some cases a contraction of the skin, 
or of the muscles on one side or the other, draws the organ 
to that side and makes connection impossible. In such the 
skin or muscle must be divided by the surgeon, and this may 
be easily and safely done. If, however, it results from a tumor 
growing on one side or the other, that must be removed before any 
improvement can take place. More difficult to deal with are those 
cases in which the deviation is caused by an Aneurism (swelling in 
an artery), or swelling in a vein, or by the rupture of the blood 
cells on one side from too violent erection, allowing the blood to 
accumulate on that side. Dr. Hollick mentions the case of such 
an arterial blood tumor: “ Every time erection occurred a large 
tumor was formed on the left side, full of blood, which turned the 
organ to the right side, and thus prevented connection. This 
accident had been caused by numerous forcible and long-continued 
erections in one night during intoxication. The tumor was as 
large as an egg, and when full could be distinctly felt to pulsate 
(showing its connection with artery). It was also very painful, 
and appeared ready to burst. The remedies proposed were cold 
astringent lotions, and wearing a thin plate of smooth horn over 
the part, bound on so firmly as to prevent any swelling from 
accumulation of blood. This plan succeeded very well in giving 
relief, though it is probable there will always be more or less 
tendency to a recurrence of the trouble.” 
Sometimes the Fraenum, or ligament, which connects the 
foreskin with the under side of the Gians Penis, is so short that it 
causes the penis, during erection, to bend down, so as to either 92 
THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
prevent penetration entirely, or to prevent the Semen from 
escaping, or cause it to be thrown against the wall of the 
vagina, instead of forward into the womb. The simple remedy 
for this is to cut the cord with a sharp pair of scissors, or a 
lancet or razor, taking care to cut no further than just to sever the 
cord. Bathing the part in hot water before the operation, or in 
cold water after it, will stop the blood, and any man can do it 
easily and safely for himself. Besides the inconveniencies above 
mentioned, the cord may be torn asunder during coition, or by a 
violent erection, causing great pain and perhaps loss of blood, and 
it is, therefore, best to remove the trouble as directed. 
WANT OF DEVELOPMENT IN THE PENIS. 
As the size of the Penis varies greatly in different people, 
there is no exact standard, and it is difficult to say whether a penis 
is too short and small or not. In some persons, while the other 
organs may attain the usual development, the penis remains of 
the same size as in childhood, while in others the development is 
only partial. Hollick mentions a man whose penis was only 
about two inches long and as thick as the little finger (about the 
normal size for a child of five or six years), but in whom the 
testicles were of average development, and the sexual feelings and 
flow of semen full and strong. And plenty of men, whose organ 
of copulation is much below the usual size, nevertheless, become 
the fathers of families. Usually, however, an undeveloped penis 
is accompanied by more or less deficiency in the more essential 
testicles. 
Non-development of the penis may arise from a general inac- 
tivity of the Genital Organs, especially of the testes, and in such 
cases the remedy must be directed to stimulate and arouse them, 
in the manner hereinafter to be pointed out. 
But where the deficient development affects the Penis only, 
tlje treatment must be directed to it in particular. In some such 
case the imperfection seems to consist in its smallness only, the 
power of erection being perfectly present, and the individual can 
accomplish both connection and impregnation, and the reason for 
effecting an improvement are, therefore, not so urgent, though 
there may still be very good reasons. 
Usually, however, in these cases of imperfect development, 
the erectile power is quite absent, or is so slight that intercourse THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
93 
cannot be had. Under these circumstances, of course, an increase 
in size and power is highly important, both for the pleasure of the 
persons concerned and for the purposes of procreation. And in 
describing the means to betaken to produce such improvement, I 
cannot do better than to quote the words of the same eminent 
authority, to whose work I have before referred, Dr. Frederick 
Hollick: “ It is proper to remark, however, that the cases now 
referred to are those in which the small size is congenital, that is, 
existing from birth, and not those in which the organ has 
decreased, from disease or excess, after having been of average 
development, though in many of such cases, when the constitutional 
stamina is not too much impaired, the same means will restore 
what has been temporarily lost.” 
The causes that prevent the proper development of this organ, 
as well as of others, are of course unknown in those cases that are 
congenital, because they operate before the birth ; but in those 
that become arrested during childhood, or youth, we generally 
trace it to early masturbation, blows on the Testicles and other 
accidents, or to some severe disease, which has impaired the vital 
energy very much. Some diseases are particularly apt to affect 
young persons in this way, as the Mumps, for instance, which 
often make the Testes swell. 
Scarlet Fever and Measles, when severe, I have known to 
seriously injure the virile power, but not so frequently as Rickets 
and Scrofula. A similar deficiency is sometimes found in females, 
in some the uterus or ovaries being very small, though the vagina 
may be large enough to allow of coition, while in others these 
organs will be of usual size, but the vagina will be too small, so 
that Marriage is not allowable. 
To affect an enlargement of the Penis, in addition to every 
means proper to improve the general health and impart stamina, 
there are certain mechanical and manual applications, the effects 
of which, under right direction, are often of the most unexpected 
and pleasing character. To understand the nature of these and 
their mode of action, it is necessary to bear in mind the anatomi- 
cal structure of the organ, and the requisites for erection. That 
phenomenon, it will be recollected from our previous description, 
depends essentially upon the filling up of the vessels and cells of 
the Spongy and Cavernous Bodies with blood ; and, of course, if 
there be any fault in their make or mode of connection, or if the 94 
blood dors not flow into them, erection cannot take place. Now 
th s is p 'ec sely the fault that is found to exist in most of the cases 
o'" non-development above referred to, and is what requires to be 
corrected. On dissecting such cases after death, we find that the 
cells and minute vessels have never been congested or filled with 
blood, and consequently the organ has never been able to grow, 
or become erected. In the same way, after long-continued excess, 
or debilitating disease, the artery seems to lose its power of trans- 
mitting the blood with sufficient vigor, and the cells, from want of 
being filled, decrease in size, and evidently grow up more or less, 
caus ng the organ to shrink. This is the reason, also, why 
a’ solute suppression of sexual excitement, if continued too long, 
w 11 mike the organ waste away, instead of increasing its power, 
as many uninformed people suppose. 
TIIE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
The object to be accomplished, it will be seen, is to open 
these cells and cause the blood to flow into them, so as gradually 
to increase their size, and dispose them to fill spontaneously, from 
natural excitement. 
In some persons, who have shunned all thoughts of sexual 
matters, from a notion that they are improper, it is sufficient 
merely to encourage such thoughts to a proper extent, and the 
excitement this gives rise to in the parts will act favorably on their 
growth. In others the daily employment of a warm local bath, 
with brisk rubbing and the use of a stimulating ointment, which I 
shall hereafter describe, will be found still more efficacious ; and 
if this treatment be regularly persisted in, under judicious direction, 
combined with proper internal remedies, it will succeed in a large 
number of the cases ordinarily met with. It is requisite, however, 
that the external and internal stimulants be exactly apportioned 
to the wants and capabilities of the individual’s system, and that 
a strict watch should be kept upon the action and effects of each, 
so as to know when to increase or decrease their power, and when 
to suspend their action altogether. Until over forty years of age, 
if the form of the organ be perfect, and its development not too 
small, a considerable change may be effected in this way, though 
the younger the patient is, the more readily the parts are acted 
upon. 
I once had a patient call upon me from Cuba, the son of a 
ricli planter, who was troubled with this imperfection, and who was 
intensely desirous that it might be remedied, so as to allow df THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
95 
marriage. He was about twenty-three years of age, and of a 
strong, robust habit of body, with excellent health. On examin- 
ation the penis was found about tzvo inches and a half in length, 
and about as thick as the forefinger, projecting forward, but with 
little more sensibility than any other part of the body. The Tes- 
ticles were fully developed, and the sexual feeling was quite strong. 
There had been frequent emissions of semen under strong ex- 
citement, but no erection, and consequently no connection could 
take place. Upon inquiry, I found that he had been brought up 
to a very rigid code of morals, and had imbibed certain notions 
about the necessity of not indulging sexual desires, if the mind was 
wished to become powerful; as he was very ambitious of distinc- 
tion, he made a perfect anchorite of himself. The bodily effect 
of such a course has been seen—its effect on the mind was to 
make him wayward, irritable, and unhappy. A short time before 
he came to See me, he met with a young lady with whom he fell 
violently in love, and immediately the desire for marriage arose, 
but with it came the fear that he was totally incapacitated. The 
new desire, so strongly awakened, together with the fears he felt, 
operated so intensely upon him that he became almost violently 
insane. On assuring him, however, that there was a reasonable 
prospect of his attaining a more perfect state, he became calmer, 
and patiently submitted himself to the prescribed treatment. 
The first object was to induce as much heat as possible in the 
organ, so as to promote the flow of blood to it. This was accom- 
plished by the use of a hot stimulating lotion, two or three times a 
day, followed by brisk rubbing with flannel and soft brushes. In 
three weeks the effect of this treatment became obvious—erections 
occurred, partial at first, but ultimately quite forcible, and the organ 
began evidently to increase permanently in size. In addition to this 
he was directed to use some stimulant drops, and to live generously,, 
to impart as much vigor as possible to the Generative organs. 
The flow of semen soon became much larger than before: 
under this treatment, and the procreative instinct more powerful. 
There was still one fault, however, and that was a want of power 
in the muscles that assist in erection and coition, more especially 
in the- Erector Penis muscle. This was remedied by frequent 
shampooing and pressing of their fibres till they acquired volume 
and firmness, the same as any other muscle would do under 
similar treatment. 96 
THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
This system was rigidly pursued for six months under my 
own inspection, at the end of which time the Penis was four 
inches long when erect, and quite firm, so that coition was possi- 
ble. At this period he was desirous to return home, and as he 
was evidently determined to pursue the same treatment himself, I 
consented to his doing so, though I would have preferred for him 
to have stayed still longer. I heard from him eleven months after 
his departure, and he then informed me that the improvement had 
still continued till he no longer thought it necessary to proceed. 
He was then intending to marry in about three months. 
In some cases which fail to yield to the treatment outlined 
above, an instrument is used, called a Congester. This consists of 
a glass tube of a size and shape proper for the purpose, open at 
one end, to receive the Penis, and provided with rubber to fit tightly 
against the body, and at the other end filled with a small exhaust- 
ing air pump. The penis is introduced into this tube and the air 
partially exhausted, with the result that the blood immediately 
flows into the penis and fills up the blood cells, producing an erec- 
tion. This exhaustion of the air from the tube has to be done 
slowly, and with the greatest care, guarding against rarifying the air 
too much, or the in-rush of blood may be so great as to rupture the 
blood vessels and cells, forever destroying all possibility of erection. 
With care, the part in a little while, as the air pump is slowly 
operated, begins to swell and look red, and a more or less perfect 
erection occurs. Unless the organ is practically dead, or the 
structure of the tissues completely broken up, this cannot fail to 
produce erection. Care must be taken not to carry the process 
too far at once, but to be content with slight results from each 
operation. And the full supply of blood thus given to the shrunken 
or insensitive cells and blood vessels soon causes them to grow and 
develop in a surprising manner. And these results have often 
been obtained, not only when the organ was long enough but too 
small and quite incapable of erection, but also in cases where it 
was not more than half an inch long, and quite unable to erect 
itself, or even where it was a mere slight swelling just above the 
level of the skin of the body. It cannot be expected that in all 
such cases, especially if the person be no longer young, the organ 
will be developed to anything like average natural size, but in 
nearly every case, where it is not absolutely without vitality and 
the organization is normal, it will become large enough at least to THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
97 
serve the purpose of copulation, and in very many cases it becomes 
as perfect as if it had properly developed from childhood in the 
usual way. 
The Congester does not, however, act upon the Erector Penis, 
and other muscles of erection, and if these do not perform their 
part of lifting the organ to its proper position, it will, notwithstand- 
ing it may become large, full and firm, hang down. These 
muscles are nearly always deficient when the Penis is imperfect, 
and must be strengthened and developed by shampooing in the 
manner described above. 
Shampooing these muscles is a practice in vogue in Oriental 
countries from ancient times, the luxurious and lascivious Turks 
and other polygamists giving much more attention to their gener- 
ative organs than do the colder blooded Western peoples. Also 
their practice of polygamy and the maintenance of harems invites 
to an excess of venereal indulgence little known with us. In their 
cities there are men whose regular profession is that of Shampooer 
of the Genitals. The good results of shampooing these muscles 
have, however, been known in Europe for many years, and the 
practice is becoming more and more common. But the work has 
not yet become so usual here as to call into existence a profes- 
sional class, and every man who requires it must do it for himself, 
or hire an untrained assistant; and in either such case the oper- 
ation should be under some medical direction. 
Development of these muscles by this means is, of course, 
slow and not altogether painless, but the results are often excellent. 
To perform this operation conveniently, the hairy covering of 
the pubes (around the root of the penis) should be shaved off, and 
the parts lubricated with a smooth oil or ointment. The forefinger 
is then pressed firmly into the muscle to be remedied, and rubbed 
briskly backwards and forwards with the fibres of the muscle. 
This is continued till the muscle becomes hot and slightly swollen, 
when the operation ceases for that time. The operation should be 
repeated every day, and with every muscle requiring improvement, 
until the desired result is obtained. After a few times the pain 
and soreness, which the process first causes, pass away, and the 
muscle becomes firm and elastic to the touch, and is noticed to 
oecome daily stronger. 
All these means of improvement require a considerable length 
of time to obtain the best results, and the patient must be prepared 98 
THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
to exercise great diligence and perseverance, but in the end he 
will be, in almost every case, delighted with the improvement, and 
will esteem the cost as nothing, compared with the wonderful 
results obtained. There is no other physical defect, the conscious- 
ness of which is so likely to prey upon the mind, as sexual inca- 
pacity, particularly when the organs are sufficiently well developed 
to cause sexual desire, and the defective condition of the penis 
makes the consummation of marriage impossible. Under such 
circumstances there are few men but will take infinite pains to 
perfect their physical manhood, especially if they have made 
choice of the individual with whom marriage is desired. To such 
we may say that the cases are few, indeed, in which patience and 
perseverance will not be rewarded with a fair degree of success, 
and it is not going too far to say that many a case of insanity, 
and many a suicide’s grave, might have been and may be avoided 
by a careful and intelligent application of the knowledge above 
given. Hollick declares that he has treated patients of all ages, 
from mere youths to as old as fifty-two years, and most of them 
with very gratifying success. 
A resort to drugs and patent medicines, we have to say, 
in spite of the extraordinary testimonials which some of the 
latter advertise, and in spite of the popular notions regard- 
ing some of the former, seldom does any good whatever, 
and they often are highly injurious, not to say dangerous, in the 
hands of any but a skilful and conscientious physician. 
The cases in which they apparently did some good were un- 
questionably cases in which no actual corporal incapacity 
existed, but the patient was timid, and his mind had been so 
worked on by some of the pamphlets and advertisements which he 
had read, that the result was produced which he feared. The 
taking of a highly recommended medicine gave him confidence, 
and his bodily capacity, which was all the while quite perfect, 
asserted itself. 
A remarkable case, treated by Hollick, was that of a young 
man about nineteen years of age, the son of a physician. In this 
person there was no sign of a penis, except a small swelling of 
not more than a quarter of an inch, in the middle of which the 
urethra opened. Yet the testicles were of ordinary size, and 
apparently perfect in their structure, secreting semen in fair quan- 
tities, and the little protuberance which represented the penis was THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
99 
quite sensitive, but never erected. Another physician to whom 
he was shown had, though unaccountably, pronounced him a 
hermaphrodite. Of course copulation, in the ordinary sense of the 
term, was out of the question. A Congester of a special form was 
made to suit the case, and the treatment was given daily. The 
first exhaustion of air caused the penis to protrude into the Glass 
Congester fully two inches and caused great pain, and the organ 
remained very sore for some days. But the patient was much 
gratified to notice a certain internal sensation which he had never 
before experienced, the sensation of erection, and the blood cells 
and vessels were filled with blood. Hot stimulating lotions were 
applied, and the muscles were diligently shampooed every day, 
and after the first soreness had subsided the Congester was 
applied daily, followed by shampooing. He also took a daily 
warm bath, with brisk after-rubbing of the whole body, followed 
by horseback exercise. This treatment was continued for ten 
weeks, by which time the penis, in its ordinary state, was full two 
inches in length, and when in the Congester three inches. Partial 
erections began to occur also during sleep. • For three months, 
then, the use of the Congester was omitted, the young man con- 
tinuing the general treatment—shampooing, bath, horseback exer- 
cise, etc.—at his home, and the improvement continued, though 
slowly. Then the use of the Congester was resumed, and with 
the result that in two months more the penis measured three 
inches in length in its ordinary state, and when in the Congester 
four inches. Ordinary erections also occurred, with a full emission 
of semen, and the patient was discharged cured, to the great delight 
of himself and his father, and the astonishment of the physician 
who had pronounced him a hermaphrodite. Another case is men- 
tioned of a married man thirty-two years of age, in whom, though 
the other organs were perfect, the penis was of natural ordinary 
size, and the desire of copulation strong, yet it had never erected 
itself. The Congester was used with considerable caution, and the 
third application produced a powerful erection. Owing to imper- 
fect action in the veins which return the blood from the congested 
cells, the erection did not subside for some time, but this passed 
away, and the use of the Congester continued daily for two weeks. 
At the end of this time the defect was cured-; natural erections 
occurred from the ordinary causes, the patient’s bodily capacity 
was as perfect as any man’s, and he became the father of children. 100 
THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
The Congester, with the appropriate general treatment, is so 
wonderful in its power that not only those whose powers are latent, 
but those in whom they have been destroyed, or weakened by 
sexual excesses, self-abuse, mental anxiety, or debilitating disease, 
may look forward to receiving a radical cure, or, at least, great im- 
provement, unless the cellular structure of the organ is practically 
destroyed. 
Galvanism is sometimes used, with good results, where the 
trouble is chiefly from weakness of the nerve supply. This should 
be used with great caution, and only under the direction of a com- 
petent physician, as too great a shock may cause paralysis of the 
nerves intended to be benefited. 
Flagellation and Firing are two other practices sometimes re- 
sorted to with success. 
In Flagellation an instrument is used like a little whip, or cat 
o’ nine tails, composed of six or eight small thongs, of very flexible 
twisted leather, or catgut, about as thick as a violin string. With 
this the external genital organs, having first been shorn bare and 
smooth, are flagellated, or beaten, applying it so on the penis 
down its entire length, and on the Pubes round the Root of the 
Penis, on the Perineum, or part between the scrotum and anus, 
and on the inside of the thighs, for say about a quarter of an hour, 
till the flesh grows red and hot and smarts a little, but not enough 
to produce any soreness. After the flagellation the patient should 
bathe the parts well in hot (not warm) water, and lie down for 
awhile. This remedy is practiced to a considerable extent 
among the French, and is frequently quite effectual in producing 
erection, and a general beneficial stimulation of the parts. Even 
the first treatment in this way will sometimes produce a full strong 
erection. Of course the patient must be prepared to expect that 
it will, during the process, naturally enough be somewhat un- 
pleasant. 
Firing consists in the application of a hot iron button to the 
parts. A smooth iron button is made hot by immersing it in boil- 
ing water, and the parts to be benefited having first been made 
bare and smooth, the button is taken out of the hot water and 
applied to the part which is deficient in growth or energy, allowing 
it to remain on only an instant, then re-dipping and re-applying it 
till the whole part requiring it has received an application. No 
part should be touched twice, nor should the button be applied too THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
near the testicles, lest it should produce inflammation in them. 
The operation does not blister, and produces but very slight pain, 
the spot to which the button is applied first merely turning white, 
then red. After the effects of the first application have gone off, 
which will be in about three or four days, the process should be 
repeated, and so on till the desired improvement is effected. 
This process is particularly useful in cases in which it is de- 
sired to apply treatment to a particular spot, or side of the organ, 
as where one side does not fill in erection so well as the other, 
causing a curve towards the less developed side. The treatment 
is sometimes very efficacious, a single treatment often being quite 
sufficient. 
ABNORMAL TESTICLES. 
Though the testicles are usually about the size of a small 
bantam’s egg, or large pigeon’s egg, and weighing about one 
ounce, they may vary a good deal from this and still be perfectly 
healthy and capable. They are sometimes even as small as 
marbles and sometimes as large as a good sized hen’s egg, but in 
both cases perfectly good. Where the other organs had developed 
in the usual way, but the testicles remained small, it is generally 
found that, though small, they, nevertheless, are able to perform 
their function properly, and men in whom this is the case need not 
hesitate to marry on account of the smallness of these organs. For 
the testicles appear to be the governing force, and unless they de- 
velop properly, at least in structure and capability, the penis will 
remain dormant and undeveloped. If, however, the testes, after 
having attained the usual size, atrophy and shrink away, as they 
do sometimes from injury, by disease, or by destruction of the 
powers through excess or self-abuse, the person is probably incap- 
able of procreation, and proper means should be taken to restore 
them to normal size and vigor before he should think of marrying. 
The use of certain drugs, particularly Iodine, is very apt to cause 
the testicles to decrease in size, and to injure, or even destroy, the 
power of begetting children. 
The habitual use, even in small quantities, of those poisons 
which tend to kill the animalculae in the semen, such as strych- 
nine, arsenic, opium, etc., also is liable to destroy to a greater or 
less extent the virile power. 
Sometimes an injury of some sort will cause one, or both, of 
the testes to waste away, or one may be even destroyed or re- moved entirely, and yet the person remain perfectly capable, the 
testicles seeming to act quite independently of each other. 
102 
THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
If the testes be unusually large, one may fairly suspect some 
disease, such as Hydrocele, or Hernia, and the most careful ex- 
amination and inquiry should be made by a competent physician. 
I say competent, because it is undoubtedly true that, even amongst 
physicians, the most lamentable ignorance exists as to almost 
everything pertaining to the organs of Generation, and unless your 
physician shall have made a special study of this branch of his 
profession, it often would be found wise to ask him to refer you to 
some trustworthy specialist who has. However, if the testes have 
been of large size from the time of puberty, and especially if they 
both and the penis are alike large, they may, nevertheless, be per- 
fectly healthy. 
In some cases there is a general want of development of the 
testes and penis, owing to delayed puberty, the young man retain- 
ing the hairless condition of face and pubes, the treble voice and 
the general appearance of the child, instead of attaining the ap- 
pearance and condition of manhood. In such a case a diligent course 
of general treatment, such as was outlined in case of undevelop- 
ed penis, is appropriate, such as stimulating washes, friction and 
“shampooing,” stimulating diet, warm bathing, followed by rubbing 
and out-door exercise, etc., and if persevered in, will usually produce 
more or less full, though late, development. Of course the younger 
(after fourteen or fifteen years of age) that the remedial measures 
are adopted, the better and the greater the probability of success, 
but even up to the age of thirty, great improvement has been 
known to be effected ; and even at a greater age it would be wise 
to try. 
Cases are said to have been known in which three perfect 
testicles have been found in one person ; but in nearly every case 
in which there appear to be three testicles, it is found that one of 
them is merely the Epididymis somewhat enlarged, or it is a small 
fibroid, or other tumor. 
In some cases there is but one testicle, the other being en- 
tirely absent from some cause operating at the time of conception, 
or having been, from some cause, in a merely rudimentary condi- 
tion at the time of birth, it was afterwards absorbed by the sur- 
rounding tissues and disappeared. 
In most cases, however, in which there appears but one testi- cle, or none at all, the testicle has, for some perhaps undiscover- 
able reason, merely failed to descend into the scrotum before birth 
(as is usual about the end of the eighth month of pregnancy), and 
has remained in the abdomen. 
THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
103 
If this be the cause of the apparent absence of these organs, 
no concern need be felt, for the fact of non-descent does not in the 
least hinder their development, nor lessen the person’s procreative 
power. All those cases in which persons supposed to be without 
testicles have, nevertheless, begotten children, are merely cases 
in which the testicles have failed to descend into the scrotum, 
but have attained the usual development and functional capacity 
in the abdomen. In some cases the testicles have begun their 
descent from their first foetal position below and a little in front of 
the kidneys, but their course downwards has been arrested in the 
lower part of the abdomen. This is worse than if they had re- 
tained their original position, for they are liable to be so pressed 
upon by the surrounding organs and tissues as to cause them to 
waste away and fail to develop at puberty. Even after develop- 
ment a long-continued pressure on the testicles will cause them to 
atrophy (or shrink and waste away) and become powerless. This 
was well known to ancient heathen priests, many of whom, to pre- 
serve their chastity and to effectually remove their supposedly sin- 
ful desire for sexual intercourse, in effect castrated themselves by 
applying a long course of constant pressure to the testicles. 
In some rare cases the testicles, having been retained in the 
abdomen, descend late in life, and, sticking in the internal abdom- 
inal ring through which they should pass into the scrotum, become 
inflamed, causing great pain, and even danger. In such cases 
they are sometimes mistaken for ruptures, and, being treated ac- 
cordingly, waste away with the pressure and become powerless. 
Where they have so descended properly into the scrotum, unin- 
formed persons have imagined that they had suddenly grown, 
perhaps, from rudimentary specks to normal size. 
In some cases where there was supposed to be only one testi- 
cle there are really two, but the usual septum, or fibrous partition 
in the scrotum, which separates them, is absent, and the two are 
grown together. 
Some men have the testicles drawn up, by the contraction of 
the Cremaster Muscle, into the lower part of the abdomen, so as 
to be invisible, and some even have control over this muscle so ?s 104 
THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
to be able to draw up one, or both, at pleasure. Such cases have 
deceived even medical men, who have testified there were no 
testicles. A case is related of a man who, when it was sought to 
affiliate an illegitimate child upon him and charge him with its 
maintenance, endeavored to prove that he could not be the father, 
as he had no testicles. He had drawn them up in the manner 
above described, but in this case the trick was discovered. THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
105 
CHAPTER VIII. 
EMASCULATION, CASTRATION AND 
EUNUCHISM. 
FROM the earliest times various expedients have been re- 
sorted to to deprive men of their natural power of procre- 
ation, or to remove the desire of it. 
The wish to do so seldom, or never, arose from any adherence 
to the doctrine of Malthus, that the earth is likely to become over- 
peopled, and the children of men to suffer in consequence (though 
it is said that the Hottentot men voluntarily removed one testicle, 
under the belief, quite a mistaken one, that they would thereby 
avoid the danger of having twins in the family), but from various 
notions of religious or moral benefit; from a desire to have servants 
who should be sufficiently attached to their master’s interest, and 
who should not poach on the preserves of their master’s Harems ; 
from the wish to preserve the soprano voice of the young boy 
chorister from degenerating into manly bass, and for various other 
reasons. 
The purpose was usually accomplished by the removal of the 
testicles only, though some nations, the Chinese for example, 
make a clean sweep of testicles, scrotum and penis. Sometimes 
nothing was removed, but the Vas Deferens was severed, or tied 
by a strangulating cord so as to prevent the passage of semen 
from the testicles, and in some cases the organs were merely 
tightly bandaged, and kept so until they atrophied or shrunk away 
into worthlessness. Some na'tions accomplished the same result 
by putting the person who was to be eunuchized through a course 
of persistent virility-destroying Onanism, or masturbation. 
The word Castration is said to be derived from the tradition 
that the Castor, or Bearer, whose testicles formed an article of 
Commerce, became aware that his life was sought by hunters 
merely to obtain them, and he accordingly, when closely pursued, 
in order to save his life, tore out the coveted testes with his teeth 
and threw them to his pursuers. Hence we have the word cas- 
trate, from the Latin Castorare, to do as the Castor does. 
Religious reasons have furnished a great many of the cases of 
Eunuchism. Some ancient heathen priests, in a spirit quite the 106 
THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
reverse of that which animated most heathen worship of the time, 
emasculated themselves by compression, and their example was 
followed in early Christian times, by the Monks of Origen. For 
many centuries, and indeed the idea is by no means yet extinct 
even in European and American religious communities, it was 
thought that the wrath of the Deity could best be appeased by 
sinful man, and his favor best purchased, by a course of persistent 
self-denial of those things man’s nature most craved. Accordingly 
we find men living on the most meagre and unpalatable, even dis- 
gusting, foods, wearing the poorest and most uncomfortable cloth- 
ing, or even corroding chains, or distracting hair-cloth next the 
person, living in damp, chilly and rheumatism-producing caves, or 
on bare rocks, or, as St. Simeon Stylites, on the top of a pillar, or 
beating themselves with whips, as the Flagellants of later times, to 
give themselves as much pain and deprive themselves of as much 
pleasure as possible, hoping thereby to win heaven. 
With such ideas of God’s demands, and in a people warm- 
blooded and sensual, it is little wonder that it was frequently 
thought their duty to give up what they considered the greatest 
pleasure of all, sexual intercourse. From this idea arose the old 
orders of Monks, sworn to eternal celibacy and chastity, and their 
successors in that idea, the priests of the Roman Catholic Church. 
In order, then, to remove from themselves both the power to take 
this indulgence, and the desire for it, the practice of self-castration 
was adopted. Even in modern times men have been driven by a 
religious mania to the same act. Sernin mentions the case of a 
young French priest who castrated himself with a pair of scissors, 
and nearly lost his life by the consequent loss of blood ; and Dr. 
Lyon tells of a ship’s cobbler on an American man-o’-war, then 
lying in the harbor of Havre, in France, who inflicted a similar 
mutilation on himself while in a fit of religious frenzy. Self-cas- 
tration is still practiced by a religious sect in Russia, called the 
Skoptsey. The Christian Church, however, has never sanctioned 
eunuchism, and when Paul speaks of some who “ have made them- 
selves Eunuchs for the Kingdom of Heaven’s sake,” he probably 
means only that they adhered throughout life to a self-imposed 
and absolute celibacy, and abstinence from carnal intercourse. 
Some savage nations habitually make eunuchs of all prisoners 
captured in war, so as to effectually prevent any intermingling of 
blood with their own nation. But in the case of cannibal victors, the purpose went further, and they castrated prisoners for the 
same reason that farmers castrate their cattle, sheep, pigs and 
somet'mes fowls, to make them fatten better and furnish a better 
quality of food. It is well known that the flesh of entire male 
an mals is usually rank and disagreeable, particularly if slaughtered 
during the Rutting season of the female, when the male is usually 
under strong sexual excitement, the peculiar aroma being strongly 
perceptible as soon as the meat begins to be cooked. This is also 
the to a considerable extent, with the flesh of the female 
also, if killed at that period. And for this reason, and to promote 
fattening, it is with many stock farmers a common practice to 
castrate the female animals as well as the male, especially those 
species which Rut often, as sows. This operation consists in the 
removal of the ovaries, and is called Spaying. 
THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
107 
The practice of employing Eunuchs as attendants upon the 
Harems of Oriental potentates, is too well known to require par- 
ticular attention. For this purpose those were preferred in whom 
the emasculation was perfect, and the testicles, scrotum and penis 
all shorn away, for in this case only did the master feel that his 
Harem was absolutely safe from invasion of his exclusive privi- 
leges. Bisson mentions that on one occasion he saw the Chief 
Eunuch of the Grand Cherif of Mecca—a large, finely proportioned 
black—on his way to Constantinople for trial and sentence ; he 
was heavily chained and well guarded. It appears, that the 
attempt was made to castrate him in infancy, but the testicles had 
not descended, and the only result was to make such a scar on the 
Scrotum as gave him the appearance of being castrated. In this 
condition he seems to have kept perfect control of himself and his 
passions until made Chief Eunuch of the Cherif. Then the 
habitual association of the really strongly sexed and well develop- 
ed masculinity of the warm-blooded Soudanese, and the seductive 
beauty of the members of the Harem, seem to have proved too 
much for both. The forays of the supposed Eunuch were not 
suspected until a blonde Circassian of the harem unexpectedly 
presented the Grand Cherif with a fine mulatto-looking son, when 
suspicion was, of course, aroused. The Chief Eunuch was watch- 
ed, and it was found that he had corrupted every member of the 
Harem, and the entire lot were, after the off-hand Oriental 
fashion, put into sacks and drowned. The Sultan’s laws, 
however, gave no such power over the Chief Eunuch, a THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
high officer of state, and he had to be sent to Constantinople 
to be tried. 
Complete emasculation invariably produces a great change in 
the appearance and character, even if performed after manhood is 
reached, the voice becoming shrill and feminine, the beard disap- 
pearing, the figure rounding out in curves, like that of the female, 
and the whole appearance and character becoming distinctly 
woman-like. And where it takes place in childhood, the period of 
puberty is never reached, the voice remaining a high soprano, like 
that of the boy. For this reason the practice grew up in Italy of 
castrating chorister boys, that they might continue to take the 
soprano parts in music, the direction given by Paul that the 
women were not to be heard in the Church, being understood as 
forb'idding them even to sing in the choirs. Also boys were cas- 
trated so as to enable them, when grown up, to take the female 
parts in comedies. This practice prevailed, it is said, at an earlier 
day, among the Oriental Christian Churches, and for the reasons 
above mentioned. 
Besides those cases in which castration has not really been 
performed at all, such as that of the Chief Eunuch just cited, there 
are others in which, though the procreative power is gone, yet the 
desire of and capacity for copulation and the general virile appear- 
ance of the man remain. This is usually the case where the cas- 
tration is performed after manhood has been reached, and nothing 
has been removed except the testicles alone, the Epididymis, 
Vasa Deferentia, Penis, etc., remaining. Of this sort, or in some 
cases, perhaps, like that Chief Eunuch, probably were those 
Eunuchs who held and filled with signal ability the highest offices 
of state, or led arm:es to victory, such as Daniel under Darius, 
and the Chief Eunuchs of Alexander the Great, the Ptolemies of 
Egypt, Lysimachus, Mithridates, and many others. Of this sort, 
also, probably were those Eunuchs who, a certain historian tells 
us, were acceptable to the Roman Matrons in the days of Rome’s 
luxurious ai d vicious decline. 
Of this sort was the Italian Opera Singer, Velutti, mentioned 
by M. Mondat. This man was, when a child, castrated by his 
parents, both testicles being removed, to fit him for a chorister in 
the Papal Chapel at Rome. Yet he became as great a favorite 
with the ladies as many a tenor singer and actor of the present 
time, and with a result fatal to him ; for when in London he THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
109 
formed a liason with a young Englishwoman, and indulged in such 
venereal excess as quickly brought him to his grave. He was 
passionately fond of women, and was able, though, of course, un- 
fruitfully, to perform the act of copulation. Stock-breeders are 
well aware of the fact that leaving in the Epididymis on castration 
of horses, etc., leaves the gelding with a great deal of the mascu- 
line appearance of the stallion, and with almost a stallion’s sexual 
propensities. Such an animal is said to be “ cut proud.” The 
fate of Velutti is characteristic of these copulating Eunuchs. Any 
venereal excess, even such as would but slightly affect an “ entire” 
man (and such Eunuchs are very prone to indulgence if oppor- 
tunity offer) is apt to speedily destroy their constitution and cause 
their death. 
It would seem that, where castration has been performed 
after manhood has been attained, and only the testicles have been 
removed, leaving the Epididymis, etc., a good deal of semen may 
remain in the Epididymis, Vasa Deferentia, and Seminal Vesicles, 
so that at first, or even in some cases for a long time, the person 
may not only continue capable of copulation, but may even beget 
children. Sir Astley Cooper, the celebrated English physician, in 
his work on “ Diseases of the Testes,” mentions the remarkable 
case of a patient of his, as follows: “ For nearly the first twelve 
months he stated that he had emissions in coitn (during coition), or 
that he had sensations of emissions ; that then he had erections and 
coitus at distant intervals, but without the sensation of emission. 
After two years he had erections very rarely and very imperfectly, 
and they generally ceased immediately* upon the attempt at 
coitus. Ten years after the operation he said he had during the 
past year been only once connected. Twenty-eight years after the 
operation he stated that for years he had seldom any erection, and 
then that it was imperfect.” It would appear that in some cases, 
such as this, the stimulating presence of the semen, which had 
been left in the Seminal Vesicles, etc., is necessary to induce a 
perfect erection, and when that is all expended no more perfect 
erections take place. 
Where castration is properly performed by a skilled surgeon, 
under proper conditions, no danger whatever attends it. The 
farmer castrates his pigs and calves, pours on a little turpentine, 
coal oil, or other simple antiseptic, and lets the animal go without 
even a bandage, and in two or three weeks it is perfectly healed, THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
not one case in a hundred causing any further trouble. And 
scarcely more danger attends the operation on a human subject, 
when properly performed. Yet, in making the Eunuchs so much 
prized in Eastern lands, the waste of human life is absolutely 
frightful. The Soudan furnishes annually to the Eunuch market 
about three thousand eight hundred eunuchs. Part of these are 
brought, when children, over the Soudanese border to the apothe- 
caries, and others engaged in the manufacture of Eunuchs in 
Egypt, who resort to Khartoum to purchase them, and by whom 
they are castrated by removal of the testicles only, with an aver- 
age mortality, consequent on the operation, of about thirty-three 
per cent. These simply castrated eunuchs sell for about two 
hundred dollars. But the great eunuch factory of that country is 
a Coptic Monastry on Mount Ghebel-Eter, and the operators are 
the Monks. The building is a large square structure, on the 
ground floor of which the operating room is situated. Here they 
manufacture both grades, the cheaper grade already mentioned 
and the highly-prized, completely denuded sort, in whom all the 
external organs are taken away, who sell lor seven hundred to 
one thousand dollars apiece. These Coptic Monks furnish 
Eunuchs to the slave markets of Constantinople, Arabia, and Asia 
Minor, and do a thriving business. Little African children, taken 
by the Arab slavers in their bloody slave-catching raids, are 
brought here in large numbers. 
In this primitive surgical institution, the manner of performing 
the operation, and the after treatment of the unhappy victims, are 
as barbarous and revolting as the practice itself. Remondino 
describes it as follows: “ The little, helpless, and unfortunate 
prisoner or slave is stretched out on an operating table ; his neck 
is made fast in a collar fastened to the table, and his legs spread 
apart and the ankles made fast to iron rings; his arms are each 
held by an assistant. The operator then seizes the little penis and 
scrotum, and with one sweep of a sharp razor removes all the ap- 
pendages. The resulting wound necessarily bares the pubic 
bones, and leaves a large, gaping sore that does not heal kindly. 
A short bamboo cannula, or catheter, is then introduced into the 
urethra, from which it is allowed to project for about two inches, 
and no attention is paid to any arterial hemorrhage; the whole 
wound is simply plastered up with some haemostatic (blood-stop- 
ping) compound, and the little victim is then buried in the warm THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
sand up to his neck, being exposed to the hot, scorching rays of 
the sun ; the sand and soil are tightly packed about his little body 
so as to prevent any possibility of any movement on the part of 
the child, perfect immobility being considered by the Monks as 
the main element required to promote a successful result. It is 
estimated that thirty-five thousand little Africans are annually sacri- 
ficed to produce the Soudanese average quota of its three thousand 
eight hundred eunuchs. 
“ When this immense sacrifice of life (to say nothing of the pro- 
bably five times as many who are killed during the attack on the 
raided villages, or who drop down and perish on the way to 
market), the useless barbarity, and the real needlessness of such 
mutilated humanity existing, are fully considered, it would seem 
as if Christian nations might [Ed.—They do, especially Britain, at 
the present day interfere with great diligence and much abatement 
of the evil], with some reason, interfere in this horrible traffic, by 
the side of which ordinary slavery seems but a trifle. When we 
further consider, that in some instances the child is also made 
mute by the excision of part of the tongue,—as mute or dumb 
eunuchs are less apt to enter into intrigues, and are, therefore, 
highly prized,—the barbarity, cruelty and extremes of inhumanity 
that these poor children have to suffer cannot be over-estimated. 
Neither must we be astonished at the stolid indifference that is 
exhibited by the eunuchs in after life to any, or all, sentiments of 
humanity, or that they should hold the rest of humanity in con- 
tinual execration.” 
Remondino also warns the civilized public against uninten- 
tional seif-emasculation, and his remarks are worth repeating here. 
“ Modern civilization, and its unnatural mode of dressing, inflict 
great harm on men by keeping these parts too warm and con- 
stricted. Much of the irritability of these organs, as well as their 
decadence at an age, some generation or two before the time when 
they should still possess all their virile attributes, can be directly 
attributed to this cause. A more intelligent way of dressing would 
result in less moral and physical wreckage, and require less gal- 
vanic belts and aphrodisiacs (medicines or treatment to excite 
sexual power or feeling) in men under fifty. If those who habitu- 
ally swath their scrotums in the heavy folds of their flannel shirts, 
to which are superadded the cotton shirts, drawers, and outer 
clothes in which civilized man incases himself, would cast a back- 112 
THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
ward eye into the dim and misty past and see the priests of some 
of the old Pagan Gods soaking the scrotum in hot water and then 
gradually rubbing the testicles within by gentle but firm friction, 
to make the testicles disappear, a process by which many of the 
heathen priests prepared themselves for the discharge of their 
sacerdotal duties, and the strict observance of those rules of chas- 
tity and celibacy which they were henceforth to live up to, they 
would find one explanation of why civilized man does not possess 
that vigor and retain that procreative power into advanced age that 
was one of the characteristics of our ancient progenitors in the 
days that breeches were as abbreviated as those now worn by the 
Sioux Indians. These are really but leggings, which run only to 
the perineum, and are simply tied at the outer points to a strap 
from each hip. Finely and comfortably cushioned chairs may be 
a luxury to sit on, but they will have, on the man who uses them 
in youth and in his prime, a wonderful sedative and moral influence 
later on, about as effectual as the miniature warm baths for the 
scrotum and gentle pressure to the testicles that were used by the 
heathen priests of old, who preferred a gradual disappearance of 
the glands to the too sudden and summary methods of the Cybe- 
lean clergy, who used a piece of shell and an elaborately perform- 
ed castration. According to Paulus this was a common 
practice of making Eunuchs out of young boys in the Orient, the 
mortality being hardly any ; whereas the complete removal of all 
the external organs, the favorite method for making harem guards 
and attendants, and more suited to the jealous disposition of the 
Turk, has a mortality of three out of every four, according to 
Chardin, two out of every three, according to Clot Bey, the chief 
physician of the Pasha, and of nine out of every ten, according to 
Bisson. So prone to reach high offices were intelligent eunuchs, that 
it is related that parents were at times induced to treat their boys 
in the manner above stated, that they might be on the highway to 
royal favor, honor and rank ; such is the ennobling tendency of 
Oriental despotism, polygamy and harem life. On the same prin- 
ciple, Europeans subjected their boys to a like operation, to fit them 
for a chorister life, or the stage, where fame and honor and wealth 
were to be found.” 
In some countries various curious practices are, or have been, 
resorted to to secure temporary, if not permanent, sexual abstin- 
ence. A number of them are described in Remondino’s interest- THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
ing book on “ The History of Circumcision.” Of these prac- 
tices, the most common was that called Infibulation. This con- 
sisted usually in drawing the foreskin down over the Gians Penis, 
inserting a large ring through it, of gold, silver, or iron, then weld- 
ing together the free ends of the metal. This, of course, effectu- 
ally prevented copulation, so long as it was left on, which in some 
cases was only temporarily, while in others, as the Greek Monks 
of Mount Athos, in Asia Minor, it was worn till death. The 
practice was, perhaps still is, quite common in some of the 
American Tribes of Mexico, Central America, and South America. 
And in ancient times it was not uncommon for athletes, gladi- 
ators, singers, comedians and dancers to be thus infibulated, this 
restraint from sexual indulgence tending to the better development 
of voice and muscle. A somewhat similar practice has prevailed 
in various countries to insure the chastity of women. It is said 
that in Ethiopia, when a female child is born, the vulva is stitched 
together, allowing only the necessary passage for the need of 
Nature. These parts adhere together, and the father is then pos- 
sessed of a certified virgin, whom he can sell to the highest bidder, 
the union being severed with a sharp knife just before marriage. 
It is said also, that in some parts of Africa the virgins wear a ring 
through the labia, which can only be removed by a file or chisel, 
and this is not done till just before marriage. The Married women 
wear a sort of muzzle, fastened with a padlock, the key to which 
is in the possession of the husband. In some cases it takes the 
form of a belt, fastened around the hips and covering the abdo- 
men, and studded on the outside, over the abdomen, with sharp 
spikes to keep off intruders. 114 
THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION 
CHAPTER IX. 
THE SEMEN. 
THE male element in production is called the Semen (Latin 
—seed). This is the product of various glands, the first and 
most essential being the testicles. In appearance it is a 
yellowish white, thick, semi-fluid substance, and somewhat muci- 
laginous in character. When freshly expelled from the organs, it 
seems to consist of two parts, one quite thick, like half dissolved 
starch, and the other thinner and clearer, but after exposure to the 
air for a few minutes these parts seem to melt together, and to be 
all quite fluid. When mixed with water the fluid part is quickly 
dissolved, leaving the solid part floating, or adhering, to the sides 
of the vessel as minute, greyish white, curdy grains. The chemi- 
cal composition of the semen is more like that of the brain* and 
nerve substance than like that of any other part of the body. 
Roughly, it may be said to consist of ninety per cent, water, six 
per cent, animal mucilage, three per cent, phosphate of lime, and 
one per cent. soda. The active, living principles of the semen are 
certain minute living individual organisms, called Zoospermes, or 
Spermatozoa (Greek—Sperma, seed, and zoon, an animal), or 
Seminal Animalculae. 
An examination of the semen in its earliest stages, with a 
sufficiently powerful microscope, reveals the presence of minute 
cells floating in a thin fluid. These cells gradually develop and 
enlarge till it can be seen that each contains six or eight smaller 
cells floating in a fluid within the larger cells. Still later, within 
each of these smaller cells there will be found a single Animalcula, 
very young and small, coiled up within its narrow house. Soon 
these smaller cells break, and the Animalculas within them are at 
large in the larger cell and swim freely about it. Next, these 
larger cells also break, and the Animalculas go about at their will 
throughout the whole extent of the semen then existing. This is 
to them a good-sized feeding and playing ground, for they 
measure, when fully developed, only about one six thousandth of 
an inch in breadth at the widest part, and about ten times that 
distance in length. These cells, in which the Spermatozoa are 
developed, are called the Seminal Granules. PLATE X. 
Fig. 1. 
Fig. 2. 
Fig. i. I, Is the Spermatozoon of the Sponge. (The Sponge is popularly 
thought to be vegetable, but it is animal. The Sponge cf commerce is what we 
may call the skeleton, the jelly-like animal substance having been washed out in 
preparing it for use). 2, Medusa, a kind ol jelly fish which swims, with an um- 
brella-like covering, on the top of the water in the ocean. 3, Bothriocephalus, o 
the Tape Worm class. 4, Cleta (Chsetopod), of the Earth Worm sort. 5, Ascaris ; 
to this family belong the round, or Pin Worms. 6, Moina (Daphnid), as the 
Water Flea. 7, Crab. 8, Lobster. 9-11, Plagiostomum (Sharks, etc.) forms, 
with elongated nucleus. 12, Salamander. 13, Ray (a family ot fishes, including 
the Devil-fish, Skate, etc.). 14, Man. 15, Cobites, (a family of fishes, including 
the Gudgeon). 16, Mole. It will be noticed, that to the ordinary ■ bserver the 
appearance of the Spermatozoon gives little idea of the animal from which it is 
derived. 
FORMS OF SPERMATOZOA, OR SEMINAL ANIMALCULE. 
Fig. 2 shows the human Spermatozoa still more magnified. 1, Is a bundle of 
them, as found in the testicle; 2, shows them emerging from the containing cell, 
(these two, unfortunately, are very crude drawings, and convey the idea but dimly); 
3, is the perfect Spermatozoon, and4, is the same colored, to sh' w its parts more 
clearly ; a, in 4, is probably the stomach of the Spermatozoon, though it 
very much in shape the foetus in its earliest stages. The white dots at the p hit 
are suckers, with which it attaches itself to any object, and through which it prob- 
ably takes its food. THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
117 
In different animals the Spermatozoa vary greatly in size and 
shape, as will be seen on looking at Plate X., but in some form 
or other they are always present in the semen of every fruitful 
male animal. 
The various plates and cuts accompanying this and following 
chapters, with the subjoined explanations, show the shape, char- 
acter and development of these germs. 
They consist of an oval body pretty well pointed at each end, 
like a peach stone in shape. The sharper end is produced as a 
long thread-like tail. With this the creature is able to propel itself, 
darting about with great rapidity, like a fish in water. Until the 
semen reaches the Seminal Vesicles and has their secretion added 
to it, the Animalculae seem listless and inert, but after the vivify- 
ing food or stimulus of the Vesicles is mixed with the semen 
they dart about in the liveliest manner. At the head is a spot, 
represented by the white dot in the cut, which is a sort of mouth or 
sucker, by which it is able to attach itself to any object, and by 
which it probably takes its food. Their remarkable power of loco- 
motion, and their disposition to move straightforward in any 
course, enable them, even when merely introduced into the 
Vagina of the female, to find their way upward through it and 
through the womb, and even through the Fallopian Tubes, to the 
ripened and expelled egg, wherever it may be found. 
Their tenacity of life is quite remarkable ; the Spermatozoa 
of some animals will live and be active for several days, or even 
months after injection into the body of the female, so that as con- 
ception may occur whenever one of them meets the ripened egg, 
it is not easy always to know the precise moment, or even the 
very day from which to reckon the duration ot a pregnancy. The 
semen has even been frozen solid and so remained for four days, 
and upon thawing the Animalculae were found as lively as ever. 
There are none of these Spermatozoa found in the secretions 
of the male before the period of puberty (about the age of from 
eleven to eighteen years), nor after old age destroys the manly 
powers. Some diseases have the effect of destroying them, as 
have also certain drugs. 
The Spermatozoa were first discovered by Hamm, when a 
pupil of Leeuwenhoek, in the year 1677. He called the master’s 
attention to them and they observed their movements. They 
were long considered mere parasites and not a necessary part of the semen, though the discoverers seem to have thought differ- 
ently, for they gave them the name they now bear—Spermatozoa 
(Greek—animal seed). Even as late as 1835, Von Baer maintain- 
ed this erroneous theory, though Prevost and Dumas, in 1824, 
had shown that the fertilizing power of the semen was lost when 
these Animalculae were removed by filtration. Subsequent ob- 
servers, up to 1854, made further discoveries regarding them, and 
learned that they entered the ovum of the female, but until 1875-6 
it was supposed that there they merely disappeared, distributed 
throughout the yolk, and thus imparted vitality and power of de- 
velopment to it. However, the advance of microscopy, the in- 
vention of more powerful microscopes and a better knowledge of 
how to use them, enabled Van- Beneden and O. Hertwig, in 
1875-6, to show that the Spermatozoon which enters the egg 
does not disappear, but remains as the male pronucleus, or germ, 
which unites with the female pronucleus to form the embryo of the 
future being, as will be explained in the Chapter on Impregnation. 
THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
The Spermatozoa originate in the testicles. Just how they 
originate there is unknown. At the earliest observable period 
they are mere cells, like minute eggs, six or eight of these being 
contained in a larger cell. As these cells develop, the embryos of 
the Animalculae, or Spermatozoa, appear in them as a little dark 
spot in each. x'Vfter a time the spot becomes a small spermato- 
zoon. This soon grows and bursts its cell, in fact, we may say, is 
hatched. Some physiologists contend that these cells, from which 
the Spermatozoa are hatched, are the eggs of the developed sper- 
matozoa ; that these latter are differentiated into male and female, 
and that the female is fecundated by the male and produces these 
cells as impregnated ova. This, however, I consider improbable 
for the reason : first, that though closely studied, and observed in 
all their moods and movements, they have never been seen to 
copulate ; second, that when they leave the testicles, where these 
cells are found, the Spermatozoa are quite inactive, and show no 
sign of passion or scarcely of life, and only become lively after the 
semen has added to it the secretions of the seminal vesicles ; these 
lively spermatozoa never return to the testicles, and the cells re- 
ferred to are never found anywhere else. The true origin of these 
cells, which appear to have an individuality of their own, and from 
which are developed the Spermatozoa, each having a separate 
individal life and will of its own, is still wrapped in mystery. THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
119 
Small as these beings are, their length being no greater than 
the thickness of thin tissue paper, and their greatest width only 
one-tenth that distance, their character and habits have been 
accurately observed. 
It is noticed that they shed their skins from time to time ; that 
they have great power of locomotion, darting about in the seminal 
fluid with wonderful quickness ; that sometimes a group of them 
will put their heads together and move forward side by side like a 
line of soldiers ; that they may move in a comparatively large 
circle but always forward, never either moving directly backward 
or turning about and retracing their way; that sometimes one 
attaches itself to some object by the sucker, or mouth, with which 
it is furnished, and adheres to it until death ; that sometimes they 
appear to engage in combat and fight till one is killed or disabled. 
(Perhaps some person, a cripple from the time of his birth, may 
owe his condition to the fortune of war, which overtook his an- 
cestral spermatozoon*in the loins of his father). 
This tendency to push straight forward in spite of obstacles, 
like a pregnant salmon ascending a stream to her spawning bed, 
is an important factor in impregnation, for the result is that when 
the semen is deposited within the vagina of the female, or even 
within the external lips of the vulva, the lively animalculse some- 
times make their way up far enough to meet and impregnate the 
female egg. The Spermatozoa of men in the prime of life are 
more vigorous than those of the youth just after puberty, or of the 
aged just before the failure of their fecundating power. Also those 
of some men are livelier than those of others. This explains why 
some men are much more likely to become fathers than other?. 
The same difference of procreative power is also noticed between 
different males of the same species amongst the lower animals. 
In the semen of some men these spermatozoa are entirely want- 
ing, though they are apparently well formed and have the power of 
erection and coition. In such cases the man, though not impotent, 
is sterile. There is no doubt, then, in many cases, in which 
the absence of children is laid at the wife’s door, the real sterility 
is in the male, whose semen is devoid of the life germs, the Sper- 
matozoa. An examination of the semen by a competent micros- 
copist will immediately discover whether the husband is, or is not, 
the sterile one. An examination of the ova, the special generative 
element of the female, is much more difficult, as they are gener- 120 
THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
ally broken up and destroyed before reaching the Vagina, where 
first they might be obtained for examination. 
In cases of alleged violation of female chastity, the medical 
examiner seeks for the presence in the female organs of these 
Spermatozoa, and if the violator be not sterile they will always be 
found ; if within about twenty-six hours then alive, but even later, 
they will still be found, though probably in a dead and dried up 
condition. Opinions, however, vary as to this length of life. 
Such drugs as Opium, Strychnine, Arsenic, Prussic Acid and 
Iodine, if brought into contact even in the smallest quantities with 
the semen, will destroy the Spermatozoa, producing in them 
symptoms similar to those produced by the same poisons in the 
developed human being. For this reason an extremely attenu- 
ated solution of one of these drqgs is sometimes used to inject into 
the female organs immediately after connection, so as to destroy 
the Spermatozoa and prevent conception. Cold water also de- 
stroys them, and is also sometimes used for a similar purpose. All 
these expedients, however, are dangerous to be used, and should 
never be tried except under the special direction of a competent 
and reliable physician, and great injury may follow any unskilled 
use of them, as indeed will follow the use of most means recom- 
mended for the purpose, and the only proper and natural way to 
prevent conception is to avoid sexual intercourse. Of course 
there are some cases, as where a husband insists on his marital 
rights, and the wife is worn out with child-bearing, or child-rearing, 
and unfit presently to assume the burden of another pregnancy, 
when it seems not improper on her part, as we may say in self- 
defence, to use some uninjurious means to prevent conception. 
Warm water does not destroy them, and if a little sugar be 
dissolved in it, will even prolong their life. But if a very little 
quantity of alcohol be added to the warm water the effect is pre- 
cisely similar to the effect of alcoholic drink on men. If the pro- 
portion of alcohol be too large it kills them outright at once, as it 
would a man, some dying in convulsions. Also, if the alcohol be 
less, the Animalculae become much excited, and dash about in a 
perfect frenzy. Some will whirl rapidly about till in a short time 
death ensues. Some become very pugnacious, and fight with 
drunken fury till many are slain. As the effects pass off, and the 
alcohol is mostly removed by dilution and filtration, those which 
survive are found to be dull and stupid for some time. Many THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
Constant drunkards are impotent from the reasons above sug- 
gested, the alcohol taken into the man’s system reaching the 
semen in sufficient quantities to produce the same results as if 
mixed directly with it, as in the foregoing experiment. The fact 
that most confirmed opium-eaters are sterile is attributable to a 
similar cause. The use of Iodine on the scrotum, where it is 
sometimes used to allay inflammation and reduce swelling, is 
highly improper, as it is liable to prevent the development of the 
Spermatozoa, and probably by that means cause the testicles to 
waste away. There is no doubt that the imprudent use of these 
various drugs in childhood, or later, is responsible for many cases 
of imperfect development, or later impairment of the sexual pow- 
ers, in both males and females, as the drugs have a very similar 
injurious effect upon the ovaries and ovi-product of the female. 
The use of Tobacco also has a greater or less evil effect upon the 
Spermatozoa, depending on the degree of excess in which it is 
used and on other circumstances, and injured or imperfect animal- 
culae are sure to be the progenitors of stunted, deformed, or dis- 
eased children. 
Electricity, except in the very lightest imaginable current, 
kills the Spermatozoa as surely and suddenly as the electric death 
chair in Sing Sing Prison despatches its victims. 
Before the age of Puberty the testes secrete no semen ; there 
is seldom any discharge from the male organ, except the urine, 
and even in those cases in which a slight mucous discharge ap- 
pears, it is not semen and contains none of the Spermatozoa. At 
from about eleven or twelve to eighteen years of age the little cells 
in which they are developed begin to appear in the testes, which 
begin to increase rapidly in size, as the cells with their contained 
germs develop. Hair begins to grow out on the Pubes, about the 
root of the Penis, and on the Scrotum ; also in the armpits, and 
the down grows longer and thicker on the face, and hints at an 
approaching beard. The voice first becomes cracked, strange 
and croaking, then develops into the tenor or bass of the adult. 
The boy is becoming a man. The care of a boy at this period is 
only less important than that of the girl at the dawn of her woman- 
hood, and will be treated in a subsequent chapter. 
As the period of puberty progresses, the semen is secreted in 
gradually increasing quantities, and the Spermatozoa begin to 
appear in it, in increasing numbers, to the age of perfect manhood. 122 
THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
In some cases they are found at a very early age, some boys hav- 
ing perfect Animalculae in semen as early as ten years of age, and 
a case is mentioned by Hollick in which a boy of eleven became 
a father. In other cases they have not appeared till upwards of 
twenty years of age. The boys of warm climates usually develop 
earlier than those of cold countries, and, nevertheless, retain their 
sexual vigor longer. Various other circumstances, which will be 
dealt with in the Chapter on the Hygiene of Male Puberty, also 
retard or hasten Puberty. 
In old age the number of Spermatozoa in the semen becomes 
less and less, till at length none are found. The age at which 
they disappear, and the individual loses permanently the power of 
procreation, varies greatly in different persons, some men becom- 
ing sterile as young as fifty years of age, while, on the other hand, 
the old gipsy in Guy Mannering, who became the father of a 
number of illegitimate children after he was a hundred years old, 
is no mere fancy picture. The author was acquainted with an old 
man in London, Canada, who, when nearly eighty years of age, 
seduced a young woman who was engaged to another man, and 
she conceived by him. He afterwards married her and had several 
children by her. 
The Latin historian, Sallust, relates of Massinnissa, King of 
Numidia, that he married at the age of eighty-five years, and had 
a vigorous infant born to him after that time. 
A Frenchman named De Longueville married his last wife 
when he was ninety-eight years old, and had a son by her when 
he was one hundred. He died at the age of one hundred and ten. 
A Tyrolese nobleman, named Baravicino de Copellis, mar- 
ried, at the age of eighty-three years, a young and healthy woman, 
and had eight children by her. He died in 1770, aged one hundred 
and four years. 
The case of Abraham, the ancestor of the Jewish race, whose 
first son by his wife, Sarah, was born when the father was one 
hundred and the wife ninety years of age, is remarkable for the 
great age of both parents. 
The oft-cited case of old Thomas Parr, of Shropshire, Eng- 
land, is a very remarkable one. This man, when about one hun- 
dred and twenty years of age, married his second wife, and died 
at the age of one hundred and fifty-two years. She only lived 
with him till he was one hundred and thirty-two, and, though she THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
123 
bore him no children, she asserted that he showed no Sign of the 
virile incapacity usually attendant upon age. 
In a subsequent chapter we will consider the causes which 
hasten or retard the decay of the sexual powers in man. 
The perfect semen contains a great number of these Sperma- 
tozoa, a single emission containing many hundreds, each of which, 
if it found and reached a separate female ovum, could become the 
progenitor of a new being. Usually, only one of these, even on 
that copulation which produces conception, enters the egg and 
fertilizes it, all the rest, as well as all those contained in other emis- 
sions, die and are wasted. 
As appears by the Plate at the beginning of this chapter, the 
forms of Spermatozoa differ very widely in different animals, 
though always pretty much alike in individuals of the same 
species. The ova of each species are only adapted to receive the 
spermatozoa of that species, and for this reason a male and female 
of totally different species will seldom produce young, though copu- 
lation take place. Even in those cases in which different species 
do breed, the young are usually imperfect in some respect. The 
best known example is that of the mule, the offspring of a jack- 
ass and a mare. The mule, it is well known, though capable of 
copulating, and even ejects a semen-like substance, is completely 
sterile, the emission being void of any animalculae. The female 
mule, also, is always barren THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
CHAPTER X. 
SEXUAL UNION. 
THE means, or methods, whereby the male and female 
sexual elements, the semen and the ovum, are brought 
together, so that they may coalesce, develop and form the 
new being, vary a good deal in different species. In most mam- 
mals (milk-giving animals) and in some others, there is true copu- 
lation, the male organ entering within the body of the female and 
there emitting the semen, while in most birds the male organ is a 
mere prominence, like a button, and does not enter the female at 
all, but ejects the semen upon or into the mouth of the female 
sexual organ. In such cases the females have no true vagina, one 
aperture (called the Cloaca) serving for the excretions from the 
bowels, bladder and ovaries, and for the reception of the semen. 
In most fishes and in frogs the eggs are not impregnated within 
the body of the female at all, but after expulsion. The male fish 
merely sheds his semen into the water amongst the eggs which 
have just been laid there in great numbers by the female, and the 
two coming into contact, the eggs are fertilized. The male frog 
twines his long, arm-like, forelegs around the body of the ovulating 
female, and, squeezing very tightly, assists in the expulsion of her 
burden of eggs. As they pass out he deposits his semen amongst 
them, and thus fertilizes them. 
By a wonderful instinct, which the Creator has implanted in 
all living beings, he has provided for their reproduction. That 
instinct is the desire for and disposition to sexual union. The 
young of all animals, after reaching a proper age, not only feel 
that sexual desire, but naturally, sometimes unconsciously, 
practice those modes of physical union which only will properl}' 
gratify those desires. In former times, it was a matter of discus- 
sion amongst philosophers whether two young people of opposite 
sexes, who have never seen or heard of the manner of sexual 
union, would practice it, and what causes would lead to such prac- 
tice. But the act of copulation, under proper conditions, is evi- 
dently as instinctive as the act of feeding. The newly-born infant 
will seize the breast to nurse, and perform the act of suction, with- 
out requiring previous instruction by word or example ; and the THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
125 
nerves of the genital organs impel as instinctively to the act of 
coition to satisfy the sexual hunger. This is the case with all sorts 
of animals, from Man down to the lowest forms of life. 
This sexual hunger, which is more than the mere expectation 
of pleasure, impels the male and female as really and almost as 
irresistibly to the means of reproducing the species and preserving 
the life of the race, as does the hunger for food to the means of 
preserving the life of the individual. But for this natural, God-im- 
planted craving, many considerations would deter from the sexual 
act, even if its nature and purpose were well known ; the fear of 
the pains of parturition, the inconveniences attendant upon the 
pregnant state, in some cases the pain, even danger, attending the 
act of copulation itself; the care, trouble, and expense of rearing 
children, all tend to discourage the act by which alone the life of 
the race is continued ; and, but for the Divinely-given craving for 
sexual communion, there is no doubt that, in the vast majority of 
cases, the individual’s interest in the perpetuation of his kind would 
be quite inadequate to off-set the considerations just mentioned. 
Indeed, there are many practices in vogue in civilized communi- 
ties by which men and women seek to avoid the real, or imagined, 
inconveniences above stated, while still gratifying the instinct of 
copulation. Some of these means, whereby it is sought to cheat 
the Creator of the legitimate fruit of sexual intercourse, will be 
treated of in a Lter chapter. 
Some of the various excitants of this sexual impulse may be 
mentioned. There is no doubt that the senses of smell, sight, 
hearing and feeling all have their influence, sometimes directly, 
sometimes through the memory and the law of association of 
ideas. 
It is well known that in the lower animals the female, during 
the Rut, or Heat, emits a peculiar odor, which, coming to the 
nostrils of the male, immediately excites the sexual impulse in 
him, and attracts him irresistibly to the female. And even if the 
fern; le be not present, the odor will, nevertheless, produce in him 
the same sexual excitement. Use is sometimes made of this fact 
to entrap animals. For example, the genital organs from a rut- 
ting bitch, or a cloth soaked in the excretions therefrom, have 
often been used with great success to attract wolves into pitfalls, 
and traps of various sorts, the smell of the secretion attracting the 
males irresistibly, though to their destruction. 126 
THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
It is highly probable that something of the same kind enters 
into the attraction which a female of the human race has for the 
male, there being a subtle but characteristic odor, which Zola calls 
“ the odor of love ” exhaled by the person of a well-sexed and 
healthy woman, which, consciously or unconsciously to him, 
attracts a properly constituted man towards her, as the steel is 
attracted to the magnet. 
In mafi, too, the sense of sight undoubtedly exerts an influ- 
ence, suggesting, though in most cases unconsciously and without 
any process of reasoning, mutual physical adaptation. 
The operation of the. sense of hearing in sexual attraction 
p'-obably operates chiefly through the memory and law of associ- 
ation of ideas, persons of both sexes learning, though usually with- 
out thinking of it, that certain qualities and tones of voice pertain 
to persons of given age and sexual condition. At the same time 
there is no doubt that the sexual condition affects very strongly 
the nature of the vocal tones, and it is quite possible a certain 
degree of knowledge of that fact is instinctive, the voice attracting 
or repelling as surely and unerringly as the subtle odor of love, or 
the apparent adaptation of person. 
The sense of feeling, also, is a powerful factor in awakening 
a sexual impulse, the touch of a lover sending, as every lover 
knows, an electrical thrill through every fibre of the moral and 
physical being, and exciting to the highest pitch the good or evil 
in the man and woman touched. And the pure man, who has 
clasped the hand of the pure woman he loves, has, without excite- 
ment of the organs of sex, and with or without knowing that he 
has sworn it, sworn eternal fidelity to all that is high and noble 
and holy, to do all, to dare all, and to suffer all, for her sake. 
Some contend that there is a peculiar magnetism in the touch of 
of the genital organs of one upon any other part of the body of 
the other, whereby the other will know that the contact was with 
those parts ; but it is doubtful whether, without any previous actual 
experience or knowledge, the person touched would recognize 
them. Probably in most cases, the distinctive influences of smell, 
sight, and hearing on the sexual desires or impulses, are not 
recognized by the parties themselves, but a certain influence of 
attraction is felt, which is probably the resultant of all those forces 
operating upon the sexuality, and this we know simply as the 
attraction of the opposite sexes for each other. It is never felt THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
127 
between properly constituted persons of the same sex, nor by 
those in whom sexuality is entirely absent. 
In Human beings, too, there are certain moral and intellectual 
sympathies and adaptations which draw given persons together. 
Where these exist, and physically the persons are suited to each 
other, their social intercourse and friendship, perhaps at first purely 
Platonic, are nearly certain to develop sooner or later the sexual 
desire ; and it is this fact, that this desire in human beings for inti- 
mate association usually has its earliest origin in the moral and 
intellectual suitability of the parties for each other, which lifts the 
sexuality of man above that of the beast. 
This it is also which makes a good deal of the difference be- 
tween the degrading effects of promiscuous fornication, which is 
merely the gratification of animal sensuality, or the debased con- 
nection of a marriage for financial convenience, and the pure en- 
joyment of a marriage of moral and intellectual, as well as physi- 
cal, love. 
HYGIENE OF THE MARITAL RELATION. 
The sexual desire, in well formed animals of every species, is 
present in those of both sexes. But in most cases this desire is 
much stronger in the male than in the female. And this is par- 
ticularly the case with human beings. The late Dr. Napheys, of 
Philadelphia, with regard to passion in Woman, and the use and 
abuse of the Marital relation, writes as follows : “ A vulgar opin- 
ion prevails that they are creatures of like passion with ourselves ; 
that they experience desires as ardent, and often as ungovernable, 
as those which lead to so much evil in our sex. Vicious writers, 
brutal and ignorant men, and some shameless women, combine to 
favor and extend this opinion. Nothing is more utterly untrue. 
Only in very rare instances do women experience-one tithe of the 
sexual feeling which is familiar to most men. Many of them are 
entirely frigid, and not even in marriage do they ever perceive any 
real desire. We have in numbers of instances been so informed 
by husbands, who regretted it, and were surprised at it.” 
Loose women, knowing that their business is increased if they 
feign the pleasure to be reciprocal, often give occasion for the opinion 
we are combating, in the minds of young and inexperienced men. 
As Mr. Acton well remarks : “ There are many females who never 
feel any sexual excitement whatever; others, again, to a limited 
degree, are capable of experiencing it. The best mothers, wives^ 128 
THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
and managers of households know little or nothing of the sexual 
pleasure. Love of home, children, and domestic duties are the 
only they feel. As a rule, the modest woman submits to 
her husband, but only to please him; and but for the desire of 
maternity, would far rather be relieved from his attentions.” 
This is doubly true of woman during the periods when they 
are with child, and when they are nursing. The whole force of 
the economy at these times is taken up with providing sustenance 
for the new being, and there is no nervous power left to be wasted 
in barren pleasures. In those exceptional cases where this does 
not hold good, every excitement is visited upon the child, and it 
has to suffer in health and growth for the unnatural appetite of 
the mother. 
The above considerations, which all married men will do well 
to ponder, should lead them to a very temperate enforcement of 
their conjugal rights. They should be always considerate, and 
not so yield themselves to their passions as to sacrifice their love 
to the woman they have married. Let us here quote the words of 
Dr. Horatio R. Stover, of Boston, on these rights : “ Restrained 
within due bounds as to frequency, they serve to give a charm to 
life, and to impart fresh courage for enduring its vicissitudes ; but 
to gain these, one single rule must be observed. It is this: that 
the husband compel his wife to do nothing that she herself does 
not freely assent to. A forced union is even worse than solitary 
vice. No true conjugal enjoyment can exist unless it is mutual. 
The true rule is to take only what is freely given.” 
In a similar strain speaks the distinguished old English divine, 
Jeremy Taylor, in his excellent “ Rules and Exercise of Holy 
Living” : “ Married people must be sure to observe the order of 
Nature and the ends of God. He is an ill husband that uses his 
wife as a man treats a harlot, having no other end but pleasure. 
The pleasure should always be joined to one or another of these 
ends—with a desire of children, or to avoid fornication, or to lighten 
and ease the cares and sadness of household affairs, or to endear 
each other; but never with a purpose, either in act or desire, to 
separate the sensuality from these ends which hallow it. Married 
people must never force themselves into high and violent lusts with 
arts and misbecoming devices, but be restrained and temperate in 
the use of their lawful pleasures. 
“ It is impossible, necessarily, to lay down any specific rules THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
129 
for the government of others in this particular; but we may state 
generally that no husband should force his wife to submit to him 
against her will, nor should he even ungently persuade her ; and, 
for himself, whenever he feels, immediately after the act, or during 
the next day, any depression, or debility, or disturbance of the 
health, it is a certain sign that he is over-tasking himself.” 
“ There are certain periods when a complete cessation should 
be observed. One of these is during the monthly sickness of the 
woman, and for a day or two after that epoch.” There may, 
however, be circumstances in which intercourse at this time may 
be quite proper, as for the pleasure of the woman in those rare 
cases in which that is the only time in which copulation gives her 
pleasure; or in which, as is sometimes the case, she will con- 
ceive at no other time. But under ordinary circumstances the 
practice is to be condemned. 
“ During pregnancy and nursing, conjugal intercourse should 
be as infrequent as possible. Some writers condemn it altogether, 
but this we consider an extravagance. They do no harm, pro- 
viding that they neither, on the one hand, unduly excite the 
woman, nor, on the other hand, are repulsive to her. Where in- 
tercourse is had during pregnancy, it is apt to injure the growth 
of the foetus before birth, and sometimes to provoke a miscarriage, 
and during nursing it is quite sure to injure the quality of the milk, 
to the serious damage, perhaps, of the infant. If the intercourse 
be repulsive, it leads to domestic unhappiness, loss of mutual 
respect, and sometimes to violent nervous excitement on the part 
of the wife. 
“ After a natural confinement, at least two full months should 
be allowed to elapse before the resumption of these marital rela- 
tions, and if the labor has been an unusually severe or complicated 
one, it is prudent to entend this interregnum yet another month. 
And the same may be said in case of a miscarriage, which is 
usually much more injurious to a woman than a natural childbirth 
at full term. 
“ During and after the change of life, it is also important to 
observe an unwonted moderation. During that period any unac- 
customed excitement of this character may be followed by flood- 
ing, and other serious symptoms, while after the crisis has been 
passed, the sexual appetite itself should wholly, or almost wholly, 
disappear.” 130 
THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
Nor is it for the woman’s sake alone that moderation in the 
indulgence of the sexual passion is counselled. The dangers to 
the man himself, who addicts himself to excessive venereal indulg- 
ence, are no less great than to her. 
EXCESS, ITS DANGER TO THE MAN. 
“ The unmarried man who purchases at a high price, and 
rarely, the pleasures of illicit love, is generally supposed to be the 
only sufferer from excess in the venereal act. Far from it. He 
is by no means alone. More commonly than is currently believed, 
the married man has to settle an account for immoderate in- 
dulgence.” 
To quote the words of a physician of wide experience : “Too 
frequent emissions of the life-giving fluid, too frequent sexual ex- 
citement of the nervous system, is most destructive. Whether it 
occurs in married or unmarried people has little or nothing to do 
with the result. The married man who thinks that, because he is 
a married man, he can commit no excess, no matter how often 
the sexual act is repeated, will suffer as certainly and as seriously 
as the debauchee who acts on the same principle . in his indulg- 
ence, perhaps more certainly from his very ignorance, and from 
his not taking those precautions and following those rules which a 
career of vice is apt to teach a man. Till he is told, the idea never 
enters his head that he has been guilty of great and almost crim- 
inal excess, nor is this to be wondered at, as such a cause of 
disease is seldom hinted at by the medical man he consults.” 
Excess in venery may consist either in brief but over violent 
sexual passion, or in a long-continued course of over indulgence 
more slowly but not less surely sapping the man’s vital force. 
It is vain to suppose that a few days’ rest will restore the 
vigor which is too much trenched upon by a week or two, or a few 
nights, or even a single night’s excess. The shock to the nervous 
system from so great a drain upon it, is such that its ill effects may 
not merely be felt for years, but the sexual system may never re- 
gain its former perfection of condition. The few days’ rest may 
seem to restore it, but it is more seeming than real, and this fact 
is daily becoming better known to physicians. 
Dr. Thomas Laycock, Professor of the Practice of Medicine 
in the University of Edinburgh, states, as a result of his observa- 
tion, that “a great excess for a few days only, acting like a 
‘shock,’ may manifest its consequences in the nervous system at THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION, 
a long subsequent period. A sudden, short, yet great excess, may 
be more dangerous than more moderate, albeit excessive indulg- 
ence. extending over a long period. In certain constitutions, 
although only indulged in legitimately, and for a short period, as 
after marriage, such excess may act like a shock or concussion of 
the spinal cord, or like a blow on the head, and may give rise to 
serious chronic diseases, as epilepsy, insanity,-and paralysis.” 
Indeed the well-known evil effects of the practice of the soli- 
tary vice, self-abuse, are due, not to any peculiar evil there is in 
solitary sexual passion, and its accompanying seminal emissions, 
in themselves, but to the frequency with which it may be, and 
usually is, indulged. And an indulgence in regular sexual inter 
course, with equal frequency, brings exactly the same evils in its 
train. These evil results are described by Napheys, as follows : 
“ Locally, there is over-excitation, irritability, and possibly inflam 
mation. The digestion becomes impaired, dyspepsia sets in, the 
strength is diminished, the heart has spells of palpitation, the spirits 
are depressed, spermatorrhoea may arise, the generic powers lose 
their vigor, there is unusual sensitiveness to heat and cold, sleep is 
not refreshing, and a jaded, languid indifference takes the place 
of ambition. 
“One of the most striking and characteristic effects is indicated 
in the throat and by the voice. There is a very close sympathy, 
and one not readily explained, between the voice and the procre- 
ative function.” 
Often an impairment of vocal power, dryness and hoarseness 
in the throat, chronic bronchitis, or a loss of volume and strength 
in the voice, is due to some disorder, or over-straining, of the mas- 
culine function, as well by excessive lawful indulgence as by self- 
abuse, or nocturnal losses. A vast amount of ill-health arises from 
this usually unsuspected cause, and a more careful consideration 
than is commonly given to this fact should lead a husband to a 
greater exercise of self-denial in marriage. 
The causes which make excessive venery harmful are two— 
first, the waste of semen; as stated in a previous chapter, this 
fluid, and particularly the Spermatozoa in it, are of very nearly of 
the same composition as the brain and nerves; and the drain, 
caused by a two rapid and constant secretion of semen, leaves the 
brain and nervous system despoiled of those constituents of the 
blood, which should go to renew their substance, and both brain 132 
THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
and nervous system weaken from innutrition. Second, the severe 
and continued excitement of the nerves by sexual passion, even 
in those eunuchs who are capable of copulation, constitutes a 
strain of the system from which it recovers with difficulty. 
Cases are related of extraordinary sexual power in men, and 
certainly some seem able to stand an astonishing degree of what, 
in most men, would be gross and dangerous sexual excess, with- 
out apparent harm. Yet, even in these cases, the effect is nearly 
sure to be felt sooner or later in a broken constitution and, per- 
haps, an early grave. 
One celebrated case of sexual and general vigor often cited 
is that of August, called the strong, Elector of the Saxony, who 
was made King of Poland in 1697, and who was the father of three 
hundred and fifty-four illegitimate children. Notwithstanding the 
enormous physical vigor of this man, he died a lingering death at 
the age of only fifty-six. 
Thomas Carlyle (History of Frederick the Great, Vol. II., p. 
217) writes thus of this doughty monarch: “And August the 
Strong—what shall we say of August ? History must admit that 
he attains the Maximum in several things. Max'mum of physical 
strength ; can break horse-shoes, nay, half-crowns with finger and 
thumb. Maximum of sumptuosity ; really a polite creature ; no 
man of his means so regardless of expense. Maximum of Bast- 
ards ; three hundred and fifty-four of them; probably no mortal 
ever exceeded that quantity. Lastly, he has baked the biggest 
Bannock on record; Cake with five thousand eggs in it, and a ton 
of butter. These things History must concede to him. Poor 
devil, he was full of good-humor, too, and had the best of 
stomachs. His amputated great-toe does not mend : out upon it, 
the world itself is all so amputated and not like mending ! August 
the Strong, dilapidated at fifty-three, is fast verging towards a less 
expensive country, and in three years hence will be lodged gratis, 
and need no cook or flunky of either sex.” 
Still more should a husband restrain his sexual appetite with- 
in the bounds of moderation for his wife’s sake. Very many 
women lose their health, and some their lives, through the constant 
indulgence of their husbands. Dr. Storer, speaking of the diseases 
peculiar to women, says : “ Among these diseases is a very large 
class occasioned, or aggravated, by excessive sexual indulgence.” 
And every man should bear in mind that such excess is nearly THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
133 
sure to beget injury, both to himself and to the woman whom he 
has sworn to cherish. 
A quite erroneous belief prevails with some that frequent in- 
tercourse is necessary to health. Nothing can be further from the 
truth. So well was this fact understood by the ancients that their 
athletes and gladiators, in whom perfect muscular and general con- 
dition were essential, regularly abstained from all sexual inter- 
course whatever, their masters, indeed, sometimes muzzling them 
by the process of infibulation, that is, by passing a ring of metal 
through the foreskin of the organ of copulation and welding it 
there. “ There is,” says Napheys, “ no condition of life more 
thoroughly in accordance with perfect vigor, than chaste celibacy. 
Next to this comes moderation in married life.” 134 
THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
CHAPTER XI. 
IMPREGNATION—CONCEPTION. 
u'T'vHE distinguished Zoologist, M. Felix Archimede Pouchet 
I (1800—1872), laid down the following ten laws, which, he 
had concluded, after long and careful study, govern the pro- 
cess of impregnation : 
POUCHET’S TEN LAWS OF FECUNDATION. 
1. Generation is essentially the same in all beings, Mankind 
not excepted. 
2. In all beings the Female Eggs exist before and independ- 
ently of Conception, the same as the Male Semen does. 
3. The Egg is never impregnated in the Ovary, or organ that 
produces it. 
4. The Egg must always have attained a certain develop- 
ment before it can be impregnated, and must also have left the 
Ovary. 
5. In all beings the Egg leaves the Ovary independently of 
Impregnation. 
6. In all Animals the Eggs are emitted at certain regular 
periods peculiar to each, at which times there also occurs a 
peculiar excitement of the female organs. 
7. Conception can never occur except when the Semen is 
present at the same time with the perfectly developed Egg 
8. The Menstruation of the Human Female is strictly analog- 
ous to the periodical erotic excitement of other animals, sometimes 
termed the Rut, or Heat. 
9. Conception is necessarily connected with Menstruation, 
and there is, therefore, in human females, a period when impreg- 
nation can occur, and one when it cannot, and those periods can 
be pointed out. 
10. In the human being, Impregnation always takes place 
either in the Womb, or in the very end of the Tube next to the 
Womb. 
By contemporaneous and subsequent investigations, other 
observers have confirmed most of the rules laid down by M. 
Pouchet, and they are now universally assented to, save that ex- THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION 
135 
ceptions are cited to the Third law ; and as for the Tenth, many 
physiologists assert that the Egg is usually fertilized not in the 
Womb, nor in the end of the Fallopian Tube next to the Womb, 
but in the remoter part of the Tube, or even in the Abdominal 
Cavity. 
We will now repeat these laws, using them as a basis for the 
remarks which we make upon this subject. 
The first law, namely, Generation, is essentially the same in 
all beings, Mankind not excepted, has been freely discussed in 
effect in the earlier part of this book. All animals arise from the 
union of two elements, the Male and Female, the Female element 
being the Egg, and the Male element being the Semen, which 
Fertilizes or Impregnates the Egg and makes it develop into the 
new being. 
This Impregnation and Development vary somewhat in dif- 
ferent animals. 
In most cases the Impregnation takes place within the body 
of the female, though in a few, as in the Fishes and Frogs, the 
semen is deposited amongst the Eggs in the water, and there they 
are impregnated. 
The variation in the place of development after impregnation 
is marked by the usual classification of animals into Oviparous* 
Ovoviviparous, Viviparous and Marsupial. 
The Oviparous are those in which the eggs, though usually 
impregnated within the body, are further developed and hatched 
without. Of this class are most birds, turtles, etc. 
The Ovoviviparous is a designation given to those whose eggs 
are impregnated within the body, but are developed and hatched 
as they are passing out. The Viviparous are those which bring 
forth their young alive, the minute eggs being impregnated within 
the body, and there developed. The difference between the 
Oviparous and Viviparous animals is thus humorously stated by 
Oliver Wendell Holmes: “ Viviparous animals are a specie- 
paying lot, but oviparous ones only give their notes, as it were, 
for a future brood.” The Marsupials are that class of animals in 
which the young are very imperfectly developed within the 
body, then are expelled and placed in a pouch adjacent to the 
teats of the dam, from which they draw their sustenance, retain- 
ing them in their mouths, for some weeks, until able to leave the 
pouch. Lastly, Viviparous animals are those, like man and mo t 136 
THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
mammals (milk-giving animals), which bring forth the young 
alive, and in practically the form of the adult being. 
Of the Oviparous or Egg-laying class, are all birds and most 
insects, fishes, frogs, turtles, etc. Many insects are Ovoviviparous 
during the spring and summer, the eggs being hatched within 
the body and deposited as larvae, but as autumn comes on the 
female seems instinctively to know that neither she nor the 
young larvae can survive the approaching winter season, and she 
lays the impregnated, but undeveloped eggs, to provide for the 
continuance of her species next summer. The Eggs withstand 
the severe frost and hatch in due time in the warmth of the fol- 
lowing spring. Of this sort is the Common Meat Fly, which 
usually deposits its young on Meat, in clusters, in the larval state 
as tiny Maggots. 
Most Reptiles are of the Ovoviviparous class, the young being 
produced from Eggs which are hatched within the mother’s body. 
The huge python, however, incubates its eggs, gathering them 
into a conical heap and coiling itself around and over them, and 
hatching them in two months. 
The true egg of those animals which produce their young 
alive is the same in structure as that of the Oviparous animals, 
but the latter is surrounded with a much larger yolk. This 
greater yolk, together with the albumen or white with which it 
becomes surrounded, are intended as food for the developing 
young being. In the former case this is unnecessary, because 
almost ’immediately after impregnation the egg becomes attached 
to the uterus and the embryo is sustained by the mother’s blood. 
A description of the Egg-production of the bird may help to 
make this matter clear. During ‘the laying season the bird’s 
ovary (usually only one is active, the other being merely rudi- 
mentary) consists of a large number of eggs in a more or less un- 
developed condition, and all attached by little stems to a central 
point through which they derive their nourishment. Some of 
these ova are so minute as to be scarcely visible to the naked 
eye, and they vary from that size to the most developed one or 
two, which are of the full size of the yolk. They are all traversed 
on the outside with minute blood vessels. This description is 
quite familiar to every housewife who has dressed fowls in the 
laying season. As the eggs one after another mature, they 
loosen from the ligament which binds them and pass from the THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
137 
ovary into the outward passage. There they accumulate the 
albumen or white which surrounds them, and there the shell is 
formed, enclosing all. The shell and albumen, therefore, form no 
part of the real egg as produced in the ovary, buc are merely food 
and protection to the embryo till it is fit to be exposed to the 
outside world. 
A viviparous animal, then, is one whoseegg is developed in- 
to the new being only when connected with the parent’s body, 
while an oviparous animal’s egg may be developed without the 
body, by the application merely of external heat. Such heat 
may be either the heat of the mother’s body, as in the case of 
the sitting bird, or c*f the sun, as in the case of the turtle and 
some other animals which bury their eggs in sand, which is 
warmed by the sun’s rays, or a very small degree of heat may 
suffice, as in the case of the frogs and fishes, which merely lay 
their eggs in the shallower and, therefore, warmer parts of the water. 
The truth of the second law, that “ in all beings the female 
Eggs exist before and independent of conception,” has, of course, 
been long known in regard to oviparous animals, such as birds, it 
having been frequently observed that female birds, to which a 
male never had access, nevertheless, laid eggs, though these eggs, 
of course, are sterile, and will never hatch. But in regard to the 
animals which develop the young within the body, the eggs are so 
very small that they can only be observed to be such by means of 
the microscope, and, of course, are very difficult to obtain, and it 
is comparatively lately that their existence has been proven by 
actual observation. It is now, however, well known that every 
fertile female animal produces eggs with greater or less frequency 
and regularity, and only in these eggs can conception take place. 
If they are not reached by the male semen, they pass out and are 
lost; but if impregnated by the semen of the male, they attach 
themselves to the uterus and pregnancy begins. 
Even those creatures, called Fissiparous and Gemiparous, are 
no exception to this rule. In the former the species is multiplied 
by the parent dividing itself into two parts, as in the case of the 
common earthworm, and the latter by means of buds or sprouts, 
as the sponge. These animals seem to be mere ovaries themselves, 
every part containing ova cells, and dividing itself again and again, 
as the rudimentary cells develop, as a hive of bees w.ll swarm, and 
the new colony, growing larger, will swarm again, and so on. 138 
THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
The third law, that “ the egg is never impregnated in the 
ovary which produces it,” seems intended to apply only to the 
higher forms of life, as it is very probable that in the lower forms, 
such as those just mentioned, the ova are impregnated where they 
are produced, and the division of the creature takes place in con- 
sequence of such impregnation. In the higher forms, too, there 
are some occasional exceptions to the rule, as in those rare cases 
of ovarian pregnancy, which are sometimes met with. Yet, these 
exceptions are unnatural, and never produce fully-developed living 
young. 
Even in the case of the bird, it is believed that the eggs are 
not impregnated until detached from the ovary. A remarkable 
fact in connection with the impregnation of the eggs of birds and 
some insects, is the extraordinary length of time the semen re- 
tains its vitality. One copulation with the male will suffice to 
impregnate the eggs as fast as they leave the ovary, for months 
the semen being retained at the ovarian entrance to the passage, 
and there impregnating the eggs one by one as they ripen and 
are cast off from the ovary. The male spider copulates but once, 
shedding then all his semen into the body of the female, and 
occupying days in the process ; then, it is said, being devoured 
by her. 
The fourth law is, that “ the egg must have attained a cer- 
tain degree of development before it can be impregnated.” In 
most animals this precise degree of development is reached just 
when the egg leaves the ovary. Floating in the transparent 
fluid in the Graafian Vesicle or cell, the egg appears to derive its 
developing nutriment from that fluid, and when that is all consumed 
it is ready to be expelled from the vesicle. It is then ripe, and is 
not impregnated in the ovary; firstly, perhaps, because the Sper- 
matozoa of the semen seldom penetrate so far ; secondly, because 
they cannot penetrate the wall of the vesicle to get to the egg, 
and as soon as the wall is broken the egg passes out. Cos'.e, 
however, thinks that impregnation usually takes place at the Sur- 
face of the. ovary. 
In many Fishes and Reptiles the eggs are not yet ready to 
be impregnated when they leave the ovary, but remain for a cer- 
tain time longer in another organ, corresponding, perhaps, to the 
Fallopian Tube, till fu’ly ripe. 
The fifth law, that “ the egg leaves the ovary independent of THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
139 
mpregnation ” is. perhaps, sufficiently considered in the discus- 
sion of the three preceding laws. In the case of Frogs, whose 
male deposits his semen on the eggs as they leave the body of 
the female, and in Fishes, in which the male merely emits his 
semen amongst the eggs as they float in the water, the truth of 
the law is obv'ous. And in the case of the mammalia, too, the 
hardest to observe on account of the smallness of the egg, the 
law is now thoroughly proven. 
At the same time there is no doubt that, though the eggs are 
produced without impregnation, yet sexual excitement will often 
hasten the ripening of the egg, just as sexual excitement in the 
male increases the secretion of semen. Indeed, the egg appears 
to have a certain capacity for unorganized development without 
impregnation, and certain diseases, as chronic inflammation of the 
ovaries, or long-continued sexual excitement, coupled with in- 
ability of the ovary to expel the matured egg, may sometimes 
result in such development. Thus various foetus-like growths 
have been observed in the ovaries of persons who never knew 
sexual intercourse, even in those of children. Hufeland men- 
tions the case of a young girl who died at the age of thirteen years in 
consequence of self-abuse, practiced from her infancy, and in 
whose left ovary was found a sac containing hair, bones and 
teeth. It would appear that the parts so produced were those in 
which the nerve supply is least, which seems to corroborate the 
statement that the male seminal animalcula is alone the germ of 
the nervous system. 
It must be said, however, that many physiologists deny the 
possibility of even the development above mentioned, without 
impregnation by the male semen, and, where such growths ap- 
pear, insist that intercourse with a male of some kind has been 
had. And reason and analogy seem to be on their side, while 
the lascivious and morbid sexual passion of the Masturbating girl 
of even the tender age of thirteen years would leave her open to the 
suspicions those physiologists entertain. 
The sixth, seventh and eighth laws have been sufficiently 
proven in preceding chapters. 
The ninth law, that conception is connected with Menstrua- 
tion, and there is, in human females, a period when impregnation 
can occur, and one when it cannot, and those periods can be 
pointed out, is one of considerable importance, and will come up THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
for discussion again in the chapter on “ Limitation and Avoid- 
ance of Offspring.” 
As shown in earlier chapters, about the time when the Men- 
strual Flow ceases, an egg is always expelled from the ovary. In 
the ordinary course this is at once taken up by the large ab- 
dominal end of the Fallopian Tube, or probably is expressed 
from the ovary directly into it, as described on page 29, ante, and 
is put into course of transmission to the Uterus or Womb. The 
egg occupies from two to six days in passing from the ovary to 
the Womb, and usually remains a few days in the Womb before 
passing down into the Vagina and out. The whole time, then, 
from the cessation of the Menstrual Flow, when the egg leaves 
the ovary, till it is expelled from the Womb, is, it may be said, 
from two to perhaps fourteen days. During this period only can 
conception take place, for only when there is a ripe egg in the 
female organs is there any germ for the male semen to impreg- 
nate. And without the union of these two elements no concep- 
tion ever takes place. Without the presence of the mature egg 
of the female, any semen injected is merely passed out again or 
absorbed into the surrounding tissues, and without the presence 
of the semen the egg is either broken up and destroyed, or passes 
out and is lost. 
The tenth law, as stated by Pouchet, that in the Human be- 
ing Impregnation always takes place either in the Womb or in 
the very end of the Tube next to the Womb, is by no means 
generally accepted at the present day. 
The spermatozoa retain their vitality for a considerable time 
after leaving the male organ, if kept at the temperature of the body, 
and are able to continue their lively movements. They have been 
observed in active motion as long as three whole days after emis- 
sion, and even in the testicles, where they were formed, and where 
they are much less vigorous, apparently, than after passing through 
the Seminal Vesicles and Prostate Gland, they have been seen 
alive twenty-lour hours after death. In the human vagina they 
seem to lose their power of motion after twelve hours, but they 
probably retain their vitality much longer in the Womb and Fal- 
lopian Tubes. Spermatozoa have been found in full vigor in the 
genital organs of bitches and rabbits seven or eight days after inter- 
course with the male, and there seems no reason why the sperma- 
tozoa of the human being should be less tenacious of life, though THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
141 
Ho’lick believes they will live no longer than about twenty six 
hours after ejaculation. These minute beings, then, seem to have 
sufficient length of days and sufficient power of locomotion to 
take them to any part of the genital organs, from which they are 
no': absolutely barred, but there is a wide difference of opinion as 
to the part of the genital tract in which they and the ovum 
actually meet, and where impregnation, therefore, occurs. Hollick 
contended, in i860, that it is impossible for the Spermatozoa to as- 
cend the Fallopian Tube, because the cilia in the Tube slant 
toward the Womb. But it would seem that they are so exceed- 
ingly minute (about one six thousandth of an inch in breadth), 
that, in spite of the cilia which would form an obstruction to the 
passage of a much larger being, to the Spermatozoa, the hair-like 
channel of the Fallopian Tube is to them a broad, open road. 
In animals, killed shortly after copulation, Spermatozoa have 
been seen in all parts of the female genital organs, even on the 
surface of the ovary, but especially in the Fallopian Tubes. The 
fact that sometimes even ovarian pregnancy occurs, the foetus be- 
ing developed within the substance of the ovary, shows that in 
the human female the spermatozoa do penetrate so far. There is 
little doubt that in such a case the spermatozoon has not pene- 
trated the covering of the Graafian Vesicle, but the vesicle has 
burst in due course, and the ovum, instead of passing out, has in 
some way become attached to the cell wall, and was there im- 
pregnated. Numerous cases have been reported of Abdominal 
pregnancy, where the egg either failed to be taken up by the Fal- 
lopian Tube, or, being taken up, was spilled out again into the 
cavity of the abdomen, was there impregnated, and there the 
foetus developed. These, of course, are unnatural sites for preg- 
nancy, and it seems probable that the spermatozoon usually 
meets the ovum in the large part of the Fallopian Tube, next the 
ovary, very shortly after the egg escapes from its containing 
vesicle or cell. Coste declares, indeed, that unless the ovum is im- 
pregnated soon after its expulsion from the ovary it degenerates 
rapidly by changes in its structure, and, further, that it soon be- 
comes coated in the Fallopian Tube with a layer of albumen, 
which the spermatozoa cannot penetrate. He believes, therefore, 
that impregnation can only occur either on the surface of the 
ovary or just within the fimbriated ovarian extremity of the Tube. 
The precise manner in which impregnation takes place was THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
very long in controversy, and so very minute are the objects to be 
observed, and so delicate the processes, and so difficult to obtain 
specimens from the higher beings, and especially man, that, even 
with the aid of the most powerful microscopes, observers are, so 
far, obliged to leave some points in doubt, and differ among them- 
selves. 
Even the fact that fertilization or impregnation is due to the 
union of two essential principles, a male and a female, though 
suggested by Alcmason (580 B. C.), did not receive universal ac- 
ceptance until last century. And then attention was (in 1761) 
called anew to the question by the results ©f experiments in plant 
hybridization of plants, which is done by depositing the male 
pollen, or flower dust (corresponding to the semen of animals) 
upon the pistils, or female organs of another plant. The resultant 
of this fertilization is the production of seed in the plant so fertil- 
ized, of a mixed character, resembling both that of the plant on 
which it grows, and that of the plant from which the pollen was 
taken. The mixing of different varieties of Indian corn and vari- 
ous other plants is well known to farmers and gardeners. Where 
varieties of corn are planted in the same, or in adjoining fields, the 
wind carries the pollen, the fine dust from the tassels, of one or 
both, and it lodges on the pistils (commonly called the silk) pro- 
jecting from the green husk of the other. The pollen immediately 
takes root and sends a tiny rootlet down the long body of the 
“ silk” to the germ of the grain at its base, and impregnates it, 
conveying something of its own variety to the offspring grain. 
Some varieties of Strawberries, such as the Bubah, are female 
only, and, if planted alone, will bear no fruit, their flowers remain- 
ing unfertilized. Other varieties, such as the Wilson, are herma- 
phrodite or b’-sexual, having both the male and female organs in 
their blossoms. Gardeners are well aware, then, that to get fruit 
of the Bubah, or other merely female-flowered variety, they must 
bring flowers of the other sex into proximity to it. Accordingly, 
they plant the Wilson, or some other male-flowered plant, near 
or in alternate rows with it, and by means of the winds and of 
insects travelling from flower to flower, the pollen is carried to 
fertilize the pistils of the female flower. 
Experiments were then begun on animal life, first with Trout 
and Salmon, the eggs of which were artificially fertilized by 
Jacobi, and afterwards with Frogs, Tortoises and Dogs, by Spall- THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION, 
143 
anzani, in 1780. Spallanzani thought that it was the fluid of the 
semen which fertilized the eggs, and it was not till 1824 that it 
was shown that the presence of the spermatozoa was necessary to 
impregnation. This was proven by filtering the semen to remove 
the spermatozoa, and the resultant clear fluid proved, on experi- 
ment, to be quite ineffectual. In 1843 Barry, experimenting with 
the ovum of a rabbit, observed some of the Spermatozoa in its 
outer layer; Nelson, in 1852, observed the actual entrance of sper- 
matozoa into the ovum of Ascaris ; and in 1853 Keber discovered 
the Micropyle, that is a minute aperture in the coating of the yolk 
of the egg, in the egg of the Mussel, and saw a Spermatozoon pass 
through it into the yolk. 
For many years after this stage of knowledge was reached, it 
was generally believed by physiologists, and commonly taught in 
the Medical Colleges, that the Spermatozoon, on getting into the 
yolk of the egg, dissolved or broke up into infinitesimal fragments, 
and was dispersed throughout the yolk, imparting some mysteri- 
ous principle of life to it. And this heresy may be found in some 
books in use to this day, though Hollick, as early as i860, demon- 
strated the contrary. Hollick, on the other hand, quite as errone- 
ously, supposed the female pro-nucleus, the Germinal Vesicle, to 
pass out and disappear, as having no other function than to open 
a way for the Spermatozoon, or Seminal Animalcula, of the male 
to enter, which then became merely a seed planted in the good 
ground of the yolk, and began so to grow and develop. 
PLATE XI. 
VAN BEN EDEN’S ILLUSTRATION OF THE SUCCESSIVE STAGES 
OF IMPREGNATION OF THE OVUM, OR EGG. 
A, Spermatozoa in Mucilaginous coat of ovum of Asterias Glaciales, a prom- 
inence rising from surface of cvum towards a Spermatozoon. In B they have all 
but met, and in C they have met. D, Spermatozoon enters ovary through distinct 
opening. H, Ovum, showing polar vesicles and approach of male and female pro- 
nuclei. e, F, and G, later stages in the coalescence of the two nuclei. THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
Oscar Hertwig, in 1875, pointed out that fertilization depend- 
ed on the union in the egg of two nuclei, or germs, of different 
sexes, but it remained for Van Beneden, in 1876, to point out 
clearly the manner in which the very last act in impregnation took 
place. Plate XI. shows the various stages of this impregnation of 
the ovum of the Ascaris, and Van Beneden’s experiments with 
Rabbits show that the plan is essentially the same in their case. 
144 
Briefly, then, the method of Impregnation may be summariz- 
ed, as follows: The ripened egg leaves the Graafian Vesicle, or 
Cell, of the Ovary, is taken up by the Fallopian Tube, and starts 
on its way down that tube towards the Womb. The Male Semen 
is cast by the Male Penis, or artificially, into the Vagina, or even 
into the Womb. The Spermatozoa, or living germs, in the semen, 
having the power of locomotion, proceed up the cavity of the 
Womb, or even farther, and up the Fallopian Tube, in search of 
the egg. Wherever they meet the ripened egg they seek an 
entrance into its interior. One (sometimes but not usually more 
than one) finds entrance through an aperture, called the Micropyle, 
which aperture either was there from the beginning, through which 
the egg should receive its nutriment while still in the Ovary, or 
which was rent in the covering of the egg by a portion of the 
Germinal Vesicle, called the Polar Globule, passing out there. 
The Spermatozoon passes through this opening, it approaches the 
female pro-nucleus, it coalesces and blends with the female pro- 
nucleus, and impregnation is complete. 
After impregnation, the egg, if not already in the Womb, 
usually and properly passes down the Fallopian Tube and lodges 
in the Womb, where it becomes attached, and remains to com- 
plete its development. 
The further development of the impregnated ovum will be 
described in the next chapter. THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
145 
CHAPTER XII. 
DEVELOPMENT OF THE NEW BEING. 
Fitst Changes. When the Spermatozoon enters the egg it 
seems to lose its long tail, which was merely a bit of protoplasmic 
jelly, and only useful for driving the body along, and becomes 
known as the Male Pro-nucleus. This presently unites with the 
developed remnant of the Germinal Vesicle, known as the Female 
Pro-nucleus. They lose themselves in each other’s embraces, and 
constitute a bright, clear speck in the centre of the yelk, called 
the Vitelline Nucleus. P'rom this certain V-shaped loops project, 
both from the male and female halves. Now begins the process 
of development, and this proceeds at first, and probably through- 
out, in what, to the layman, appears to be a very remarkable 
method. It is called Segmentation. The whole yolk, including 
the Nucleus, divides itself into two parts, and each half of the 
nucleus takes its position in the centre of the cell, formed of its 
half of the yolk. Each of these halves again sub-divides, and the 
cells so made again sub-divide, until the whole yolk is divided into 
innumerable little cells, or globules of the yolk, each containing in 
its centre a portion of the nucleus. 
Then the outer layer of cells, next to the Zona Pellucida, or 
containing Membrane of the yolk, unite together at their edges 
and form a new layer, or membrane, within the outer one. This 
new layer is called the Blastodermic Layer. This layer soon 
divides into two, and a third is formed between them. From 
these three layers, or hollow spheres, the entire foetus is formed. 
During the time these changes are going on, the egg is pro- 
gressing down the Fallopian Tube towards the Womb, and the 
womb is preparing to receive it. The mucous membrane which 
lines it becomes thicker and full of blood, so that it almost or 
quite fills the cavity of the Uterus, just as occurs during men- 
struation, but in a greater degree. The extra thickness forms in 
effect a distinct membrane, which affords a good resting ground 
for the impregnated egg until its connection with the uterus shall 
be more fully developed. This membrane, which is called the 
Decidua, becomes, of course, greatly enlarged and altered during 
pregnancy, and after delivery is all, or nearly all, cast off. 146 
THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
The progress of the egg towards this prepared place is caused 
partly by the action of the cilia, or hair-like process, growing on 
the inside of the Tube. These slant towards the Uterus, and, as 
they keep shortening and lengthening themselves constantly, they 
gradually push the ovum along the tube. Also, there is a certain 
peristaltic action in the Tube, one wave of muscular contraction 
after another passing from the ovarian end to the Uterine end, 
and gradually crowding the egg towards its lodging place in 
the Womb. When the ovum reaches the womb it soon becomes 
imbedded in the folds of the thickened mucous membrane above 
described, called the Decidua. Usually it remains at some point 
near the Fallopian Tube from which it came out, the swollen 
folds of the membrane preventing it from going further down. 
Sometimes, however, particularly in women who have borne many 
children, in whom the hollow of the womb is enlarged, it descends 
lower towards the os uteri, or Mouth of the Womb, or across into 
the opposite angle, near the other Fallopian Tube. 
According to Coste, the mucous membrane now begins to 
sprout out around the base of the ovum, and gradually grows out 
until it quite envelops the ovum and covers it in. This new 
membrane so formed is called the Decidua Reflexa, or bent-back 
Decidua, while the other which lines the Womb, and from which 
this sprung, is called the Decidua Vera, or True Decidua. 
Until the third month of pregnancy these two membranes are 
not in close contact, and there may even be considerable space 
between them. Indeed, in some cases one Fallopian Tube has its 
Uterine End quite free from obstruction, so that, where the ovary 
on that side proceeds to ripen an egg during pregnancy, as is 
sometimes the case, and sexual intercourse is had, the sperma- 
tozoa may find their way up and impregnate the egg. The egg 
passes down and lodges in the Womb, as did the first, and a 
second pregnancy begins some weeks, or even months, after the 
first. This is called Superfoetation. This is particularly liable to 
happen where the Womb is Bifid, that is, divided into two parts 
by a partition extending part way from the Fundus towards the 
Mouth of the Womb. This, however, will be discussed in the 
chapter on Superfoetation. 
As stated, until the third month the two membranes, namely, 
that which lines the womb and that which grew out from it and 
surrounded the ovum, ar« not in close contact, but gradually by THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
147 
the growth of the ovum they are pressed closer together, till event- 
ually they blend into one membrane, and cannot be separated. 
Tins forms the outermost envelope of the foetus. 
The Primitive Trace. Returning now to the development 
going o.i within the impregnated ovum, we observe that after or 
during the formation of the three layers within the enveloping 
membrane of the egg, one oval portion of the layers is observed 
to be considerably thicker than the rest. This is called the Area 
Germinativa, or germinative area, and in the centre of this oval 
portion may be seen a narrow, straight line. This line is called 
the primitive trace, and is the very youngest visible form of the 
human being. 
On each side of this primitive trace two ridges spring up, 
which grow around and join at the back behind this line, and also 
join in front, thus enclosing the new being. The embryo so 
formed now curves by lifting the two ends from the covering of 
the egg, against which it had been resting, the back, where later 
the backbone is to be formed, being the outer side of the curve. 
At the same time one end, which later proves to be the head, be- 
comes considerably larger than the other. 
We do not think it necessary, in a work of this character, to 
follow in minute detail all the changes which progressively take 
place in the embryo, but shall state them in a general manner. 
The Amnion and Liquor Amnii. Very soon after the forma- 
tion of the embryo a sheath forms around it next outside the skin, 
called the Amnion. It consists of two layers, the outer layer 
becoming known as the sub-zonal membrane. The space between 
these two layers soon becomes filled in with a fluid called the 
liqnot amnii, in which the foetus, enveloped in the Amnion mem- 
brane, floats. This fluid becomes more and more abundant as 
the foetus increases in size, and separates the foetus from the womb 
by this fluid cushion, enabling it to move easily and to develop 
freely, and protecting it from injury from shocks and jars while in 
the extremely tender and delicate condition of the early months, 
and also from unequal pressure by the Uterus. Also it assists in 
distending the uterus evenly and smoothly, and protects if from 
the injury which otherwise the movements of the foetus might cause. 
During the earlier months of pregnancy this fluid is of greater 
weight and bulk than the foetus, which rests in it; but, as time 
goes on, the foetus increases faster than the fluid, till at the time of delivery it weighs four or five times as much as the liquor 
which surrounds it. 
THE SCIENCE OE GENERATION. 
About the middle of the curved or front side of the foetus is 
a tube connecting with the larger cavity or sac, which contains 
the rest of the yolk, and which sac is called the Umbilical Ves- 
icle. This tube connects with the foetus at the navel, and 
through it the foetus uses the yolk as food, until its connection of 
blood-vessels with the mother becomes perfect. 
How Co?mectio7i Formed. From the navel, also, or rather 
from the point where the navel is afterwards found, there sprouts 
off, about the twentieth day after conception, a certain organ 
called the Allantois. This is well supplied with blood-vessels. It 
grows rapidly, until it spreads itself over the whole interior sur- 
face of the membrane, which now encloses the ovum. This 
membrane, called the Chorion, is formed of the outermost of the 
Blastodermic layers, described near the beginning of this chapter. 
The Allantois everywhere unites with the Chorion. The Chorion 
sends out a great number of rootlets over the whole outside of 
the ovum, and these strike into the Decidua Reflexa, that sheath 
which sprang up out of the lining of the womb and enveloped the 
ovum, and cause it to grow fast, and blood is furnished to the 
foetus thus through the Decidua, Chorion and Allantois. It so 
continues for some time, but as pregnancy advances the rootlets 
shrivel up, except at the spot where the egg rested against the 
lining of the womb at first. There, instead of dwindling away, 
they increase greatly in size and develop into the organ, by which, 
in the later months, the foetus is nourished—the Placenta. 
The Placenta. This organ varies greatly in different ani- 
mals. In the Sow and Mare, and in the Cetacea (whale, 
Porpoise, etc.), it covers the whole interior surface of the Uterus. 
In the Ruminants, or cud-chewing animals (Cow, Sheep, etc.), it 
is divided into a number of small, separate masses, scattered here 
and there over the inner surface of the womb, which the stock- 
breeders call the “ buttons.” In the Carnivora, as the Dog, Cat, 
Wolf, etc., and in the Elephant, it forms a strip or belt around the 
interior of the womb. But in the Human race, and in some 
others, the placenta is in the form of a circular mass. In the 
Human being it is usually from six to eight inches in diameter, 
and three-fourths of an inch to an inch and a half in thickness, 
and weighs from eighteen to twenty-four ounces, though it has PLATE XII THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
been known, in some abnormal cases, to weigh several pounds. 
Sometimes, also, it exists in several separate parts. All over 
the surface of the placenta next the womb, it is attached to the 
Decidua, or lining membrane of the womb, before described, and 
all over its surface next the foetus, it is attached to the Chorion, 
the outermost of the true foetal membranes, except where the 
Umbilical cord enters the Placenta. The Placenta is the feeding 
and breathing spot of the foetus. It consists of two portions, the 
Foetal and the Maternal. The foetal portion contains the tiny 
rootlets, before described, as pushed out by the Chorion. The 
Maternal portion consists of one or more large vessels, filled with 
the pure oxygenated arterial blood, fresh from its airing and puri- 
fication in the lungs of the mother. Into this reservoir of pure 
oxygenated blood the tiny rootlets, or villi, penetrate, as the 
roots of a willow tree run into the water of a well. Each rootlet 
contains an artery, carrying the blood towards the extremity, a 
vein carrying it back again, and minute blood-vessels, called 
capillaries, connecting the outer end of the artery with that of the 
vein. The walls of these capillaries are so extremely thin that 
the constituent elements of the blood are able to pass through 
them. Those arteries and veins are connected with the circu- 
latory system of the foetus by arteries and a vein, which pass along 
the umbilical cord, connecting the foetus with the placenta. 
Through these umbilical arteries the heart of the foetus 
pumps the venous, or vitiated blood, to the placenta, just as after 
birth it sends it to the lungs for purification. In the placenta the 
blood passes down through all those little rootlet arteries, through 
the capillaries, into the veins, and back again to the foetus. But 
while passing through the capillaries in the rootlets, which are im- 
mersed in the pure arterial blood of the mother, the foetal blood 
absorbs, through the capillary walls, the oxygen from the maternal 
blood to purify it, and nutriment to nourish the foetus. The blood 
then passes back to the foetus purified and enriched. 
When the time approaches for the expulsion of the foetus by 
childbirth, those tiny rootlets, or villi, by which the foetal mem- 
branes are attached, begin to undergo a fatty degeneration, as 
does also the Decidual layer between the placenta and the uterus. 
If this degeneration go too far before the expulsion of the foetus, 
there may not be enough rootlets left to carry nourishment and 
purification to the foetus, and it may die. This sometimes hap- 152 
THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
pens, and such degeneration is responsible for a certain proportion 
of still-births. 
The Umbilical Cord is the channel of communication between 
the foetus and the placenta. It is attached to the foetus at the 
Umbilicus, or navel, and to the placenta usually near its middle, 
though sometimes at its edge. Its average length is from eighteen 
to twenty-four inches, though it is sometimes found as long as fifty 
or sixty inches, and as short even as five or six inches. When 
fully formed, it consists of its enveloping membrane, two umbilical 
arteries, one umbilical vein, and a quantity of transparent gelatin- 
ous substance surrounding the blood-vessels, and contained in a 
net-work of fibres. The vessels of the Cord, which are straight at 
first, usually become afterwards very much twisted, the arteries, 
which appear to be longer, being external to the vein. In nine 
cases out of ten the twist is from left to right. This twisting is 
probably due to the movements of the foetus. Sometimes, indeed, 
a common knot is even found in the cord, the foetus having passed 
through a loop in the cord, probably in its early stage when very 
small; but these knots do not appear to affect the circulation at 
all. Sometimes they are only formed during labor at childbirth. 
The Fcetns in Its Successive Stages. In the first month of 
pregnancy the foetus is a m nute jelly-like, half-transparent mass, 
of a grayish color, and of no definite structure. It is only about 
one-twelfth of an inch in length, and in case of abortion at this 
period it is rarely found, being lost in the blood clots. It is, how- 
ever, already surrounded by the Amnion, which forms the lining 
of its water-bed. 
Second Month. This embryo is now about half an inch in 
length, and curved on itself, as described earlier in this chapter. 
It weighs about sixty-two grains. The head and extremities ap- 
pear. The eyes are visible as small black spots. The spinal 
column appears as separate vertebrae. There appear two large 
glandular structures, called the Wolfifian Bodies, which contain 
the rudiments of the Generative and Urinary Organs. The inde- 
pendent circulation of the blood of the foetus is beginning. 
Third Month. The Embryo at this- time is two and a half 
to three and a half inches in length, and weighs from seventy to 
three hundred grains, say one twenty-fifth of an ounce. The fore- 
arm is well formed, and the first traces of the fingers are visible. 
The placenta, by this time, is distinctly formed. PLATE XIII. 
SECTIONAL PLAN OF THE GRAVID UTERUS (FROM WAGNER) 
IN THE THIRD AND FOURTH MONTHS. 
a, Plug of Mucous in Neck of Uterus, b, Fallopian Tube, c, Decidua Vera, 
c 2, The Decidua Vera passing into the right Fallopian Tube ; the Cavity of the 
Uterus is almost completely occupied by the ovum, e, e, Points of the reflection 
of the decidua reflexa (in nature the united deciduae do not stop here, but pass over 
the whole uterine surface of the placenta), g, Supposed Allantois, h, Umbilical 
Vesicle, i, Amnion, 1c, Chorion, covered with the decidua reflexa. d, Cavity of 
the decidua, f, Decidua serotina, or placental decidua. 1HE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
155 
Fourth Month. By this time the foeths is about six inches 
long, and weighs from four to six ounces. Out of the Wolffian 
Body the genital organs have developed, and the sex can be as- 
certained on examination, post mortem, of course. Many of the 
bones are well under way of formation. The eyes are prominent. 
Fifth Month. At the end of the Fifth month the length is 
nine or ten inches, and the weight about ten ounces. The head, 
in which the convolutions of the brain are formed, is about one- 
third the entire length of the foetus, and is covered with hair. The 
nails are beginning to form. The ischium, or back part of the 
pelvic bones, is beginning to ossify or become bony. 
Sixth Month. Length, eleven to twelve and a half inches; 
weight, about one pound. Hair darker, eyelids closed, eyelashes 
formed. Some fat deposited under the skin. The testicles of 
the male have not yet descended into the scrotum. In the 
female the Clitoris is prominent. The pubic, or front bones of 
the pelvis, have begun to harden. 
Seventh Month. The foetus is now growing and developing 
very rapidly, being thirteen to fifteen inches in length, and weigh- 
ing three or four pounds. The eyelids are open. The Skin is 
covered with the sort of ointment which is on it at birth. The 
testicles of the male have descended into the scrotum. 
Eighth Month. Length, sixteen to eighteen inches; weight, 
four to five pounds. The size or thickness increasing faster than 
the length. Nails completely developed. 
Ninth Mo?ith. At the end of nine months, forty weeks, or 
two hundred and eighty days, the foetus is at “ full term,” and 
ready to be born. The average weight of a child at birth is six 
and a half pounds, and it measures, on the average, twenty inches 
in length. There may be, however, a wide variation from these 
figures, but of three thousand children born under the attendance 
of Dr. Cazeaux, only one weighed so much as ten pounds. Rams- 
botham, however, mentions a foetus which weighed sixteen and a 
half pounds, and Cazeaux tells of one which he delivered weigh- 
ing eighteen pounds, and measuring twenty-five and a half inches 
in length. The British Medical Journal, for February i, 1879, 
records the birth of one weighing twenty-one pounds. Probably 
the “ record ” is held by Mrs. (Captain) Bates, wife of the museum 
giant, who was seven feet seven inches in height. This Nova 
Scotia woman, herself a giantess of seven feet nine inches stature, THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
produced a foetus, their second child, thirty inches in length and 
weighing twenty-three and three-quarter pounds. The child died 
in birth, as it was impossible to deliver it without forceps, and 
none could be obtained large enough to grasp its head. Their 
first child weighed nineteen pounds at birth. The very large 
children are more frequently still-born than those of more mod- 
erate size, sometimes losing their lives in delivery, and sometimes, 
having failed to be expelled at term, they have suffocated in the 
womb. 
On the other hand, children as small as one pound in weight 
have been born at full term and lived. 
The average size of the male child at birth is somewhat 
greater than that of the female, the weight averaging about ten 
ounces more and the length about a half inch greater. 
The hair with which a child is born is frequently quite long, 
and may be fairly considered to be of the color the hair will be 
in adult years. But this first hair generally falls out gradually 
during the first few months, and is replaced by new, of a much 
lighter color. Sometimes it does not fall out, but changes its color. 
The eyes of the newborn babe are always of a dark, steel- 
gray color, and gradually change to the color they will have in 
adult years. 
The heads of male children are larger and more firmly ossified 
than in female children. The result is a greater difficulty in deliv- 
ery of male children, with a correspondingly greater death rate both 
in them and in the mothers. Sir James Simpson calculated that 
between the years 1834 and 1837, there died in childbirth in Great 
Britain, as a consequence of the slightly larger size of the head of 
the male foetus than that of the female, from forty-six thousand to 
forty-seven thousand male infants, and from three thousand to 
four thousand mothers. 
The shape and diameter of the child’s skull are very consid- 
erably altered during labor, so as to pass it more easily through 
the ring of the pelvic bones. The skull is in several pieces, joined 
by a sort of seam-like union, caked Sutures. Between the edges 
of the bones, spreading over the spaces between them, are mem- 
branes, called Fontanelles. That in the front part of the skull, a 
little back of the hair line, is a quite large triangular space. During 
childbirth these sutures and fontanelles allow the edges of the 
skull to squeeze together, and even overlap, quite altering the THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
157 
shape of the head, and facilitating its passage out A very con- 
siderable alteration may thus be made without injury to the foetus, 
and a new-born child may often be seen with the shape of its 
head quite altered. The head soon regains its normal shape, 
however, and gradually the Sutures close up and become firm, 
while the Fontanelles ossify and become hard bone like the rest. 158 
THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
CHAPTER XIII. 
CHANGES IN THE MOTHER DURING 
PREGNANCY. 
AS soon as conception has taken place, the uterus and several 
other organs undergo remarkable changes. 
Changes in the Uterus. The Uterus in its ordinary- 
state is about two and a half inches long, one and a half inches 
wide from side to side at it widest part, and one inch thick from 
front to rear. But during pregnancy it increases to a diameter of 
twelve inches, or even more, and to a weight of one and a half 
pounds, or upwards. This growth continues during the whole 
period of pregnancy. During the first three months, or there- 
abouts, the Uterus is contained within the cavity of the Pelvis, but 
after that it becomes too large for such narrow quarters, and rises 
above its brim Then for the first time the increase in size of the 
abdomen is apparent to an outward observer. Indeed, until then 
the abdomen is frequently even somewhat flatter than usual, 
owing to the descent of the uterus, by its increased weight, within 
the pelvic bones. 
About the time the Uterus rises above the Pelvis, say about 
the middle of the third, or beginning of the fourth month, the 
mother usually begins to feel the movements of the foetus in the 
womb, commonly termed the “ quickening.” Towards the end of 
the fourth month the Uterus reaches about an inch and a half above 
the top of the pubic bone, and about the sixth month it is on a 
level with, or a little above, the navel. About the seventh month 
the navel begins to be prominent, projecting more or less, and the 
Uterus extends about two inches above it. By the ninth month 
the middle of the Uterus is about at what was the waist line. 
For about a week or so before delivery the parts below the 
womb begin to relax and soften, preparatory to delivery, and this 
allows the womb to descend a little from its highest position. 
The result often is that the viscera, above the womb, are con- 
siderably relieved of pressure, and the woman feels much more 
comfortable; so much so, indeed, that she sometimes undertakes 
work which she should not do, or goes upon journeys when she 
would be safer at home. The writer has known cases in which a PLATE XIV. 
Wo. 1. 
THE WOMB AT THE THIRD, SEVENTH AND NINTH MONTHS. 
Fig. I. Form and size of the Neck of the Womb at the third month. Fig. ?, 
at about the seventh month. Fig. 3, at the ninth month. 
The references are the same in all. a, The Neck of the Womb ; b , The 
Body of the Womb; the dark spot in the centre at the bottom of the neck is the 
Os Uteri, or Mouth of the Womb ; d d, The cut edges of the Vagina. THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
161 
prospective mother has felt quite able to walk down the street, 
even going shopping, and feeling in fine health and spirits, but 
has been taken with labor pains in the store or on the street, and 
with difficulty removed home. 
Usually, on account of the projection of the spinal column 
inwardly, the Gravid Womb does not lie in the middle, but a 
little to one side. Sometimes, indeed, it is quite to one side, in 
the flank, so to speak. This lateral displacement is, in a large 
proportion of cases, to the right side. An opinion popularly 
held in some districts that where the pregnant uterus appears to 
lie rather to the right of the centre line the child will prove to be 
a boy, and if to the left, then a girl, has no foundation. 
During the first two or three months the os uteti, or mouth of 
the Womb, is lower down than usual, and can readily be felt by 
the finger introduced into the Vagina, but after the Uterus rises 
out of the pelvic cavity the Mouth of the Womb is often so high 
up as to be quite out of reach. 
In the ordinary condition the bladder is interposed between 
the Uterus and the front or wall of the abdomen, but in the latter 
stages of pregnancy it comes directly against the abdominal 
wall, resting on it and on the inner side of the pubic bone. 
During pregnancy the womb, which before was firm, solid, 
and comparatively inelastic, becomes full of blood, soft and yield- 
ing to pressure. Throughout the whole term it is not stretched 
and thinned by the pressure of the ovum from within, but grows 
to accommodate its tenant, and its walls remain during the whole 
period about the same thickness. 
All these changes take place in the fundus and body of the 
womb, the cervix, or neck, remain of its usual size, and even the 
cervical cavity not being merged in the distended cavity above 
it, nor at all altered in size. It was formerly supposed and 
taught that the cervix was gradually shortened, being taken up 
by the increasing womb, until eventually it becomes quite oblit- 
erated, but this is now generally conceded to be an error. The 
apparent shortening is due to the deception caused to the touch 
by the tissue of the cervix becoming very soft and lax, and afford- 
ing little or no resistance to the finger. The os uteri, however, 
usually becomes somewhat open and expanded during the last 
two or three months of pregnancy, especially in women who have 
borne several children. 162 
THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
Changes in the Blood. Usually the composition of the blood 
changes a good deal during pregnancy. It becomes more watery, 
and the serum, or watery part of it, is deficient in albumen. The 
red blood-corpuscles diminish greatly in number, as they do in the 
case of senemia, averaging m.8, as against 127.2 in the ordinary 
state. Speaking generally, the blood becomes impoverished, 
probably because of the nutriment taken out of it in the placenta, 
as described in the last chapter, and very nourishing and easily- 
digested food is required. Also, the pregnant woman should 
pass a good deal of time in the open air, or, at least, see to it that 
the air she breathes is pure, as she has, by her lungs, to oxygenate 
the blood for both herself and the child in her womb. 
Changes in the Heart. During pregnancy the heart becomes 
from one-fifth to one-sixth larger than in its ordinary condition. 
This enlargement is confined to one part, the left ventricle, being 
that part which forces the blood throughout the general circulatory 
system. If the mother do not suckle the child the heart diminishes 
in size again immedialely after delivery, but in women who have 
borne many children the heart remains permanently larger than 
in those in who have borne none. 
Changes in the Urine. A certain substance appears in the com- 
position of the urine, which, though sometimes found in that of non- 
pregnant women and even of men, it is almost never absent in that 
of pregnant women. It is a peculiar deposit, formed when the urine 
has been allowed to stand for some time, called kiestein. It seems 
to have been observed even in ancient times. If the urine te 
allowed to stand for a period varying from two to seven days in a 
cylindrical vessel, exposed to light and air, but protected from 
dust, a peculiar substance, in appearance like fine cotton wool, 
appears in the centre of it. Soon after it rises to the surface and 
forms a thin, hard-looking scum, which in a few days breaks up 
and sinks to the bottom. An examination under the microscope 
shows it to be composed of fat particles, various phosphates, and 
a large quantity of a certain thread-like bacteria, or minute living 
organisms, called vibriones. This characteristic of the urine 
usually makes its appearance early in the third month of preg- 
nancy, and continues until the seventh or eighth month. PLATE XV 
Fig. i. 
Fig. 
Fig. i. Test of pregnancy, by Ballottment. Mode of applying this test. The 
index finger of the right hand is passed into the vagina until it touches the body of the 
womb. The left hand is pressed firmly against the abdomen, just above the pubic 
bone. The womb is then pressed tightly and suddenly with the finger of the right 
hand, so as to throw the foetus (if any , which is floating in the amniotic fluid, 
against the opposite side of the womb. It rebounds and returns, giving a distinct 
tap against the finger, which may be readily feit, and is quite unmistakable. 
This plate gives a very good representation of the development of the womb 
and change of position of the organs about the third month. 
Fig. 2. Appearance of the breast in pregnancy, a a, The prominence of the 
breast, b, The Nipple, d d, The Aureola. The little spots on it are the tuber- 
cles mentioned in the text. THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
165 
CHAPTER XIV. 
SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS OF 
PREGNANCY. 
THE question whether or not pregnancy exists is often 
one of very great importance, involving in many cases, 
not merely the gratification of a proper curiosity, but the 
reputation and even the life of the woman. 
By the old English law, which also is still in force, if a 
woman condemned to death were discovered to be pregnant, the 
execution was postponed until her delivery. The fact was as- 
certained, or attempted so to be, by empanelling a jury of 
matrons, who made an examination of the woman, and gave their 
verdict. Also where the person in whom pregnancy is sus- 
pected is unmarried, of course her reputation for chastity fre- 
quently hangs upon the judgment of the medical man who is 
consulted regarding her symptoms. 
Yet it is frequently very difficult to ascertain and state posi- 
tively whether pregnancy actually exists or not. For if the 
woman be anxious to conceal the fact, or if she be hopefully 
awaiting such a condition, in either case her statements have to 
be taken with a certain degree of reserve. 
Sensations During Intercourse. Some women profess to ex- 
perience an unusual sensation during a fruitful intercourse which 
they do not at other coitions. Some medical writers, too, are in- 
clined to attach some importance to this. The supposed exist- 
ence of such sensations cannot, however, be generally relied on as 
a sign of conception. It is tr. e that an unusually strong ejacula- 
tion of semen, such as would throw it up into the fundus of the 
womb, would be much more likely to produce conception than 
one less forcible, or when the semen was merely spilled into the 
vagina. And such vigorous injection of a quantity of semen, 
amounting probably to a desert spoonful or more, would prob- 
ably be sufficient to fill the cavity of the womb, and to cause 
even the sense of pressure on its walls. Those women who are 
able to distinguish a fruitful copulation are probably those who 
conceive only when the semen is so thrown completely into the 
womb. 166 
Cessation of Menstruation. The first noticed and most uni- 
versally present sign of pregnancy is the cessation of the mo ithly 
flow, and this forms the only reliable guide whereby the probable 
time of delivery may be calculated. Where the courses have 
previously been regular, and there appears no other cause likely 
to have caused the suppression, the failure of the flow to appear 
at or about the usual time may usually be taken as affording a 
strong presumption of pregnancy, but it can never be taken as 
certain, unless there are other signs, for various other causes may 
lead to the suppression of the menses. Excessive mental labor, 
strong emotion, the debility arising from incipient phthisis, ex- 
posure to cold, as by sitting on the seat of an open and exposed 
privy closet in winter, the nervous disorder arising from the ex- 
periences of the early marriage days, and various other causes, 
may produce this suppression. Sometimes a married woman 
the strong desire to find herself pregnant, or in unmarried women 
who have subjected themselves to the rest of pregnancy, mental 
emotion and alarm Irequently produce the same result. 
THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
The uncertainty of this as a sign of pregnancy is increased 
by the fact that in many cases the monthly flow occurs, or ap- 
parently occurs, once or twice, as usual, though pregnancy has 
taken place, and cases have been known in which menstruation 
continued regularly throughout the whole period of pregnancy. 
The latter case is extremely rare, but the former is by no means 
unusual. As before explained, while the impregnated egg comes 
down one Fallopian Tube and lodges in the womb, the other 
ovary may, and sometimes does, continue its functions. And for 
a time, there being a space between the Decidua Vera, which 
lines the womb, and the Decidua Refiexa, which envelopes the im- 
pregnated ovum, the menstrual flow may rise in and flow from 
that part of the womb as yet unoccupied by the ovum. By the 
third month, however, the space of the womb is usually pretty 
well filled by the growing ovum, and after that true menstruation 
rarely occurs. Often cases of supposed menstruation at later 
periods are only loss of blood, from the bursting of a small vein, 
abrasion of the mouth of the womb, ulceration, or the breaking 
of a small tumor. Regular menstruation after the fourth month 
is, however, so rare that if it take place we are justified in be- 
lieving that no pregnancy exists. Also, in the case of an un- 
married woman, if she be aware that cessation of the menses is THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
167 
looked upon as a sign of pregnancy, she is very apt to allege that 
she is perfectly regular, and cases have been known in which she 
counterfeited menstruation by staining her linen artificially for the 
purpose of diverting suspicion. 
Also conception sometimes takes place during lactation 
(nursing) when menstruation is not occurring, so that no sup- 
pression appears to mark the beginning of pregnancy; even 
young girls, in whom menstruation has not been noticed to have 
>egun, conception sometimes takes place. In either of these 
;ascs, of course, there is no cessation to mark the beginning of 
pregnancy. 
Considering all these facts, we may fairly consider the cessa- 
tion of menstruation as affording a fair presumption of pregnancy, 
where there appears no other clear reason for such cessation. 
Morning Sickness. Various sympathetic disturbances of the 
system usually make their appearance shortly after conception, 
and none of these is more noticeable, or, indeed, more charac- 
teristic, than that popularly known as “ morning sickness.” This 
is a nausea, or vomiting, generally felt on arising. Sometimes it 
begins as soon as conception has taken place, but usually not till 
the second month. It does not often continue longer than till 
the fourth month, though sometimes it lasts almost throughout 
pregnancy. In some cases, too, it is not confined to the hours 
after rising, but lasts more or less throughout the day, though 
generally it passes away in a few hours, leaving the woman feel- 
ing quite well the rest of the day. In some cases there is only 
nau=ea and disinclination to eat breakfast; in others there is 
retching and vomiting, bringing up the food if any be taken, or 
merely some glary fluid. Sometimes, indeed, this sickness is so 
severe and persistent as to seriously affect the health of the 
patient, threaten her with starvation, and even endanger her life. 
The cause of this “ Morning Sickness ” is not certainly known. 
Dr. W. S. Playfair believes that it arises from the sympathetic 
disturbance caused by the stretching of the nerves of the womb 
by the growing ovum, but this seems hardly consistent with the 
now generally accepted opinion, which Dr. Playfair himself holds, 
that the ovum does not stretch the womb, either by mechanical 
pressure or otherwise, but that the womb grows to accommodate 
the ovum. Dr. Henry Bennett believes that, at any rate when at 
dl severe, it is always associated with and probably caused by 168 
THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
congestion and inflammation of the Neck of the Womb. Dr. 
Graily Hewitt holds that it arises entirely from the irritation of the 
nerves of the womb, caused by the flexion (bending) of the womb 
out of its usual position. Regarding these last two theories, it 
may be said that neither congestion nor flexion are at all usual, 
but the occurrence of the morning sickness is almost invariable, 
so that in most cases, at any rate, it cannot arise from either of 
those causes. Another theory, and to me it seems probable that 
it is the correct one, is that it is caused by the tension of the 
nerves of the supporting ligaments of the womb and ovaries (and 
the sinking of the other abdominal viscera), as their greater weight 
causes them to descend, the womb sinking into the pelvis. It is 
about the second month when the weight of the womb has in- 
creased sufficiently to cause it to so sink and stretch the nerves, 
and allow the other abdominal viscera to sink slightly with it, and 
then the morning sickness begins. While the woman is lying down 
this sickness is not felt, because the organs then return to their nor- 
mal place, and the tension is relaxed. About the fourth month the 
uterus begins to rise out of the pelvis, and within a short time this, 
morning sickness disappears, only to be succeeded, in the later 
months, by a sense of pressure, sometimes almost of suffocation, 
as the greatly enlarged womb presses upward on the other 
organs. 
It is a common saying that a “ sick ” pregnancy is a safe 
pregnancy, and there is probably a good deal of truth in it, for it 
is generally observed that in those women in whom the “ morning 
sickness ” is absent, there is a much greater tendency to syncope, 
or fainting fits, and even to miscarriage. 
Various other phenomena frequently attend pregnancy, such as 
disorders of the digestive organs, depraved appetites and unnatural 
cravings, constipation, diarrhoea, flatulence, partial or complete 
fainting spells, tooth-ache, with even caries or decay of the 
teeth, etc. 
The extraordinary “ longings ” of some pregnant women are 
amusingly burlesqued by Steele in the Spectator of March 14, 
1712. It is in the form of a letter to that periodical, signed T. B. 
The spelling and capitals are Steele’s: 
“ Dear Sir; 
‘ I beg you to print this without Delay, and by the first 
Opportunity give us the natural Causes of Longing in women ; or 169 
‘ put me out of fear that my Wife will one time or other be de- 
‘ livered of something as monstrous as anything that has yet ap- 
‘ peared to the World ; for they say the child is to bear a Resem- 
‘ blance of what was desired by the Mother. I have been marry’d 
‘ upwards of six Years, have had four Children and my Wife is 
' now big with the fifth. The Expences she has put me to in pro- 
‘ curing what she has longed for during her Pregnancy with them, 
‘ would not only have handsomely defray’d the Charges of the 
‘ Month, but of their Education, too ; her Fancy being so exorbi- 
‘ tant for the last Year or two, as not to confine itself to the usual 
‘ objects of Eatables and Drinkables, but running out after Equi- 
‘ page and Furniture, and the like Extravagancies. To trouble 
‘ you only with a few of them : When she was with Child of Tom, 
‘ my eldest Son, she came home one day just fainting, and told 
‘ me she had been visiting a Relation, whose husband had made 
‘ her a Present of a Chariot and a stately pair of Horses ; and that 
‘ she was positive she could not breathe a Week longer, unless 
‘ she took the Air in the Fellow to it of her own within that time ; 
‘ This, rather than lose an Heir, I readily comply’d with. Then 
‘ the Furniture of her best Room must be instantly changed, or 
‘ she should mark the Child with some of the frightful Figures in 
‘ the old-fashioned Tapestry. Well, the Upholsterer was called, 
‘ and her Longing saved that bout. When she went with Molly, 
‘ she had fixed her Mind upon a new Set of Plate and as much 
‘ China as would have furnished an India Shop. These I 
‘ cheerfully granted, for fear of being Father to an Indian Pagod. 
1 Hitherto I found her Demands rose upon every Concession ; 
‘ and had she gone on I had been ruined; but by good Fortune, 
‘ with her third, which was Peggy, the Height of her Imagination 
1 came down to the Corner of a Venison Pasty, and brought her 
‘ once even upon her knees to gnaw off the Ears of a Pig from the 
‘ Spit. The Gratifications of her Palate were easily preferred to 
‘those of her Vanity; and sometimes a Partridge or a Quail, a 
‘ Wheat-ear, or the Pestle of a Lark, were cheerfully purchased; 
‘ nay, I could be contented though I were to feed her with green 
‘ Pease in April, or Cherries in May. But with the Babe she now 
‘ goes she is turned Girl again, and fallen to eating of Chalk, pre- 
‘ tending ’twill make the Child’s Skin white ; and nothing will serve 
‘ her but I must bear her Company, to prevent its having a Shade 
‘ of my Brown. In this, however, I have ventur’d to deny her. No 
THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 170 
THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
‘ longer ago than yesterday, as we were coming to Town, she saw 
‘ a parcel of Crows so heartily at breakfast upon a piece of Horse- 
‘ flesh, that she had an invincible Desire to partake with them, 
‘ and (to my infinite Surprise) begged the Coachman to cut her off 
‘ a Slice as if ’twere for himself, which the Fellow did; and as 
‘ soon as she came home she fell to it with such an Appetite, that 
‘ seemed rather to devour than eat it. What her next Sally will 
‘ be I cannot guess ; but in the meantime my Request to you is, 
* that if there be any way to come at these wild, unaccountable 
‘ Ravings of Imagination by Reason and Argument, you’d speedily 
‘ afford us your Assistance. This exeeeds the Grievance of Pin- 
‘ Money, and I think in every Settlement there ought to be a 
‘ Clause inserted that the Father should be answerable for the 
‘ Longings of his Daughter. But I shall impatiently expect your 
‘ Thoughts in this Matter, and am Sir 
‘ Your most Obliged and 
' Most Faith fid Humble Servant 
T. B. 
* Let me know whether you think the next Child will love 
‘ Horses as much as Molly does China Ware.”—T. 
Often, too, the woman will be subject to unusual degree of 
despondency; or a good-tempered woman may become peevish 
and irritable, while on the other hand, it sometimes occurs that a 
woman who is usually sharp-tempered and disagreeable becomes 
cheerful and kind. Cases have even been known in which a 
woman’s household were accustomed to rejoice whenever she be- 
came pregnant, as she became so much more agreeable to live 
with. 
The Diagnostic Value of all these changes is, however, but 
slight, and every one of them may easily be counterfeited on the 
one hand, or most of them concealed on the other. Also they 
may arise from a variety of causes other than pregnancy, and 
those of them which are known by the woman herself to be con- 
sidered “ signs,” are liable to be brought on by the influence of 
the imagination, if she supposes herself to be pregnant. 
Cases also are found in which none of these sympathetic dis- 
turbances take place, the woman continuing in good health, even 
in unusually good health, throughout the whole period of preg- 
nancy. 
Changes in the Breasts. Much importance is justly attached THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
171 
to the changes in the Mammae, or Breasts. About the second 
month the breas!s generally increase in size, become tender, and 
feel as if they had lumps in Gradually they become larger 
and firmer, and are marked with blue veins. The Nipples swell 
up, and often are covered with little scales like fine bran, farmed 
by the drying up of a milky serum, which .oozes unnoticed from 
them. The Aureola, or dark spot around the nipple, becomes 
darker still; especially is this the case in dark-skinned women, in 
whom the Aureola sometimes becomes very dark brown, almost 
black, and never regains its original color. The dark circle some- 
times extends over nearly the whole round swelling of the breast. 
The Aureola a’so becomes moist and somewhat swollen, and a 
number of little tubercles appear on it, forming a circle of pro- 
jec ions around the nipple, and these increase in size and number 
as pregnancy advances. Montgomery says that some of the 
milk ducts open into these tubercles. In the later months of 
pregnancy there appears whrt is called the “ secondary aureola.” 
It consists of a number of lighter-colored spots in the margin of 
the darkened aureola, where the deposit of pigment, or coloring 
matter in the skin, is fainter. These, like the darkening of the 
aureola itself, is more marked in brunettes than in fair-skinned 
women. During these later months, too, there often appear on 
the breasts, especially in women whose skin is fine in texture, cer- 
tain silvery-white streaks, caused by the stretching of the skin, 
and these remain. 
Often even as early as the third month a small drop of 
watery-looking fluid may be pressed out from the nipple, which, 
on microscopic examination, is found to contain milk and globules 
of colostrum. Colostrum is the viscid, yellowish substance found 
in the breasts just after childbirth. 
The time at which these changes occur varies a good deal in 
different persons. They may begin in two or three weeks, oftener 
not till the second or third month, and sometimes not until near 
the time of confinement. Sometimes no alteration whatever 
occurs in the breasts until after confinement, in which case no 
milk is found in ihem for several days after ; and in some cases, 
particularly in the first pregnancy, the breasts do not change at 
all, and the mother cannot exercise the duty and pleasure of 
nursing her child. 
Diagnostic Value of Cha?iges in the Breasts. Various esti- 172 
THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
mates are put upon the value of these changes as evidence of 
pregnancy. Some physicians consider them, when clear and 
well marked, to be certain signs. But this rule must rather be 
confined to those women who have never borne children, and in 
them the evidence of these changes is almost absolute ; for the 
diseases of the womb and ovaries, which sometimes produce the 
darkening of the aureola, do not produce the other changes men- 
tioned. In women who have borne children, however, the value 
of these signs is considerably less, for the aureolae usually remain 
permanently darker after the first pregnancy. In first pregnancies 
the presence of milk in the breasts may be considered an almost 
certain sign, and one which may nearly always be detected very 
early in the pregnancy. Even as to this, too, it must be said that 
there are well authenticated instances of not only non-pregnant 
women, but virgins, developing a secretion of milk by merely ex- 
citing the breasts. Baudelocque showed to the Academy of 
Surgery at Paris a young girl, only eight years of age, who had 
nursed her little brother for more than a month. A milky secre- 
tion has even been noticed in the male breast, and a story is told 
of a negro man on a Southern plantation who wet-nursed all his 
master’s children. But these extraordinary and unnatural cases 
are so extremely rare that they take away nothing from the gen- 
eral value of this evidence of pregnancy. 
In the breasts of women who have borne children, the 
presence of milk counts for very much less as a sign of a new 
pregnancy, for it is common for milk to remain in the breasts 
even for several years after nursing has ceased. However, in cases 
where a woman while nursing has become liable to impregnation, 
it often happens that the milk ceases on conception taking place. 
Other Color-changes in the Skin. A change very commonly 
observed is the appearance of a brownish line, more or less dark 
in color, beginning in the hair of the pubes and running up to the 
navel, or sometimes beyond it. This line is well marked in 
women of Negro blood, even in those of quite a dark shade ; and 
in them it is usually narrower, but darker than in white women. 
In many pregnant women this sign is never present at all, while 
in some others it is so light in color as to be scarcely noticeable. 
Sometimes brownish patches appear on the face, chiefly on the 
forehead, giving it a peculiar mottled appearance. 
Movements of the Foetus — Quickening. This well-known THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
173 
symptom usually occurs about the end of the fourth month, 
though some women observe it as early as the third, and others 
not till the sixth month. In some rare cases there is no move- 
ment till the eighth or ninth month, and in others none at all. It 
is usually felt at first as a slight fluttering sensation, which, as the 
end of pregnancy approaches, increases to active, sometimes 
violent, movement, even causing the woman great distress. There 
are periods of activity, succeeded by periods of repose, occurring 
from four or five to eight or ten times or more in the twenty-four 
hours, as if the child passed part of its time asleep. In many 
cases these movements come on upon change of position, as 
when the mother lies down. Shortly after the period of “ quick- 
ening,” the movements of the foetus become sufficiently strong to 
be felt by the hand placed on the outside of the abdomen, and 
later they may be seen sometimes even through the clothing. 
The value of these movements as a sign of pregnancy vary a 
good deal. At the earlier stages the action of the gas in the 
flatulent bowels may be mistaken for the quickening, but in the 
later months they often become so strong and characteristic as to 
be quite unmistakable. Some persons have been able to counter- 
feit them by means of muscular movements, a sort of da?is du 
vetitre, and to thus impose on the credulous. Others again have 
been deceived by the movements of gas in flatulency, and fondly 
imagined themselves pregnant when they were not. A notable 
case of self-deception is that of Queen Mary I., of England, of 
whose case Hume, the historian, writes thus (Vol. III., p. 413): 
“ The Queen’s extreme desire of having issue had made her 
fondly give credit to any appearance of pregnancy; and when 
the Legate was introduced to her, she fancied that she felt the 
embryo stir in her womb. Her flatterers compared this motion of 
the infant to that of John the Baptist, who leaped in his mother’s 
belly at the salutation of the Virgin. Despatches were immedi- 
ately sent to inform foreign courts of this event; orders were 
issued to give public thanks ; great rejoicings were made; the 
family of the young prince was already made ; for the Catholics 
held themselves assured that the child was to be a male; and 
Bonner, bishop of London, made public prayers be said, that 
heaven would please to render him beautiful, vigorous and witty. 
But the nation still remained somewhat incredulous, and men 
were persuaded that the Queen labored under infirmities, which THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
rendered her incapable of having children. Her infant proved 
only the commencement of a dropsy, which the disordered state 
of her health had brought upon her. The belief, however, of her 
pregnancy was upheld with all possible care, and was one artifice 
by which Philip endeavored to support his authority in the kingdom.” 
The term “ quickening ,” meaning becoming alive, arose from the 
ancient notion that then for the first time the foetus became alive. Of 
course modern knowledge of physiology has dispelled this absurdity. 
Cha7iges in the Abdomen. The first sign of pregnancy usually 
noticed by the ordinary observer is the increasing size of the ab- 
domen, leaving “ The Maiden girdle all too short and pregnant 
women who wish to conceal the fact are driven to various ex- 
pedients to hide this development In the first two months the 
abdomen is generally less prominent than usual, the recession and 
flat appearance being caused by the sinking of the womb into 
the pelvis by its increased weight Then about the third a swell- 
ing often shows itself in the lower part of the abdomen, only to 
diminish again, and leave the wife to fear that she was mistaken 
in supposing herself pregnant, because she sees herself smaller at 
the fourth month than at the third; but this does not always 
happen. From this time, however, the abdomen gradually in- 
creases in size and firmness. Sometimes the peculiar appear- 
ance is more noticeable in the increased width of the waist, or 
rather, of the back of the waist, as viewed from the rear, than in 
any alteration apparent from a front view. The swelling of the 
abdomen, too, is pear-shaped, with the larger end of it upwards, 
which distinguishes it from the swelling caused by dropsy. Later 
still, as pregnancy progresses, the hollow of the navel at first be- 
comes deeper and drawn downwards, then it gradually fills out and as 
term approaches, protrudes beyond the level of the surrounding 
parts. This pouting appearance is very characteristic of pregnancy. 
Sometimes, however, an increase of the size of the abdomen 
occurs for other reasons. Often, as the change of life approaches, 
women begin to take on a thick layer of fat on the abdomen, and 
the swelling thus caused, together with the cessation of the men- 
strual flow and the nervous disturbances which frequently charac- 
terize this period, sometimes persuades those who have been child- 
less that at last their hopes are to be gratified. But as the 
changes in the breasts and in the skin, as above described, do not 
occur, there is no need for self-deception in the matter. PLATE XVI 
Fig. 1. 
Fig. 2. 
Fi . 3. 
Fig. 4. 
(First child.' 
IVoman who h&* borne 
children./ 
Fig. 5- 
Fig. 6. 
frimipara, or the firai 
'Pregnancy.' 
Woman who has bortie 
children before. 
Fig. I. Neck of the Womb at end of firth month in a first pregnancy, very 
slightly opened (one-third natural size). Fig. 2. Neck ot the Womb in a woman 
who has borne children, considerably more opened than in the first case. Figs. 3 
and 4 the same as Figs. 1 and 2, but at end of seventh month. The part of the 
Womb below the upper line is the Cervix, or Neck. That below the lower line is 
the part contained in the Vagina. It will be noticed that it is shorter and thicker 
in one who has borne children, than in one whose pregnancy is her first. THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
177 
CHAPTER XV. 
HYGIENE OF PREGNANCY. 
THE pregnant woman has in all ages been treated, at least 
by the better class of people of the ages, with the greatest 
kindness and deference. In some places she has even been 
made the object of religious reverence, as the symbol of the sup- 
posed great first cause. 
In ancient Rome she signified her condition by wearing a 
girdle about her waist, called a cinctus or cinctura, hence the French 
word encieyite (in the cienture, or girdle), meaning pregnant; and 
while all other persons were obliged to respectfully rise to their feet 
while a magistrate passed, these matrons were excepted. 
The Spartan Lawgiver, Lycurgus, compared those women 
who died in childbirth to men who died on the field of battle in 
their couutry’s wars, and they were accorded honorable epitaphs. 
Amongst the Jews she was excepted from their more arduous 
ceremonial observances and abstinences, and the law of Moses 
denounced the penalty of death against anyone who, by ill-treat- 
ment, caused a pregnant woman to miscarry. At Athens, her 
house was a sanctuary, and even a murderer, who fled there for 
refuge, might not be molested while he remained there, lest the 
disturbance caused by an arrest might do her or her burden an 
injury. In Pannonia, a man meeting a pregnant woman unpro- 
tected on the road was obliged to turn back and escort her safely 
to her destination. The Catholic Church in all ages has excused 
pregnant women from observing fasts. In nearly all countries, 
from ancient Egypt to the present time, if a pregnant woman be 
convicted of a capital offence, the execution is postponed until the 
child is born, the fact of pregnancy being inquired into and 
established by a jury of matrons. 
At the present day we may fairly say that little more cogent 
evidence need be sought of an ignorant and uninstructed mind, 
and an unrefined disposition, than a disrespectful treatment of 
pregnancy; and the sneer and laugh with which it is sometimes 
greeted, not only by course and ill-bred young men, but even by 
young women, and sometimes older women, sufficiently show the 
sneerers’ essential vulgarity. Happily, however, the prospective THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
mother is usually treated with the greatest respect and kindness, 
every gentleman and lady, though strangers, seeking to make her 
comfortable and to protect her from accident. And very properly 
it is so, for the pregnant woman bears within her the perpetuation 
of our race. 
While, then it is the duty of everyone, and the pleasure of 
most people, to treat the pregnant woman with respect, deference 
and solicitude, it is equally her duty to know how to take care of 
herself and of her unborn child, and to act accordingly. And 
since the child is powerfully influenced in all its future career by 
what it acquires of good or ill from its mother during the period of 
gestation, it follows that she owes it to her offspring to see to it 
that no act or omission of hers shall result in handicapping him in 
the race of life. 
Regarding food, but two things need be said ; it should be 
abundant and taken frequently. The appetite is usually a safe 
guide, and its demands may be followed, except when a perverted 
desire for things unquestionably unwholesome, or unfit for food, 
should appear, such as pickles, except in very small amount, 
vinegar, chalk, and such things. The appetite is generally good ; 
even in those cases in which the morning sickness is severe, the 
appetite is usually good in the afternoons. The mother has to 
provide sustenance for herself, and also for the nourishment and 
rapid growth of the foetus ; and a good food supply must be taken 
and digested, or the foetus, or the mother herself, or both, will 
suffer from innutrition. The insufficiency of food amongst the 
very poor is often responsible for the puny, rickety bodies of their 
new-born babes, the food taken by the mother being so limited in 
quantity and poor in quality that the infants’ bones and muscles 
are not half nourished. Plain wholesome food is to be preferred, 
meats, vegetables and fruits, avoiding highly-seasoned and stimu- 
lating foods, pastry, and all wines, ale, beer and other alcoholic 
beverages. 
It is better also to eat a moderate quantity four or five or even 
six times a day than to indulge very heartily at ordinary meal- 
times, the very full meal not only being more difficult of digestion, 
but causing the stomach to press unnecessarily upon the other 
already crowded internal organs. 
The clothing during pregnancy should be carefully attended 
to. It may be laid down as a general rule that during- the latter THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
179 
months especially flannel underclothing should be worn, as the 
body is more than usually susceptible to chills and to ill effects 
from them, and woolen garments afford a much better protection 
against sudden changes of temperature than cotton, linen or silk. 
It would seem hardly necessary to say that the clothing should 
leave the body perfectly free to expand ; but such is the peculiar 
trend of some people’s vanity that they even attempt to crowd 
the foetal swelling ou of sight by means of corsets. During the 
first three or four months, it is true, there is little increase in size, 
but after that the increase is constant and rapid, and any com- 
pression by either clothing or corsets is not only liable to injure 
the foetus, but to cause varicose veins, swelling of the feet, and 
other disturbances arising from impaired circulation. The clothing 
everywhere should be very loose and suspended from the shoul- 
ders. Even the stockings should be held up by elastic suspenders 
fastened to the upper garments, for the circulation, especially in 
the later months of pregnancy, is especially difficult in the lower 
limbs, and even the slight obstruction of a moderately tight cir- 
cular garter is better avoided. 
Cleanliness is, of course, very important, but great care should 
be taken in bathing. Neither very hot nor very cold baths should 
be taken at all, nor should the shower bath. Sea bathing also 
should be avoided, as from the excitement sometimes attending 
it, the low temperature of the water and the buffeting of the surf, 
it is liable to cause miscarriage. Probably a daily sponge bath in 
a warm room, with a lukewarm full bath once or twice a week, is 
about the best course to adopt. 
Sleep is of unusual importance during the period of pregnancy. 
Usually the woman desires more sleep than at other times, and 
she should be allowed to have it; by all means she should go to 
bed reasonably early, and also indulge the inclination to he in bed 
late in the morning. Often she is disposed to take occasional or 
regular naps during the day, and by all means she should do so, 
as the more she can conserve her vitality the more she can ex- 
pend upon the proper development of the new being. 
It quite often happens, in the later stages of pregnancy, that 
the pressure of the womb toward the lungs when she lies down 
causes a sense of suffocation. This can be partly or quite re- 
lieved by supporting the head and shoulders pretty high on 
pillows. Sleeping on feather beds is apt to be injurious, as it pro- 180 
THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
motes excessive warmth, and is liable to produce flooding and 
miscarriage. A hair or sponge mattress is better. 
Care should be taken to keep the bowels regular and open, 
but by no means should any violent purgative be used, or miscar- 
riage may result. The desire to urinate frequently is usually 
present, owing to the pressure of the gravid womb on the bladder. 
These calls should be attended to, or irritation of the bladder, 
and, through it. of the womb, may result. 
The Breasts a’so require some attention, especially during the 
first pregnancy. Their rapid increase in size is sometimes at- 
tended with cons'derable pain and distress for a time, and some 
anodyne lotion is sometimes applied under the physician’s direc- 
tion. A little gentle friction, rubbing from the body outward 
towards the nipple, is often used with good results, and it tends 
also to prevent that retraction of the nipple, which is often ob- 
served in first pregnancies. A mixture of glycerine and cologne 
water, or glycerine alone, rubbed on the nipples, will prevent them 
from becoming sore, and a little alum may be added to it a week 
or two before delivery. If the nipples show any disposition to 
become sore and crack, they should be protected from the rub- 
bing of the clothing by the use of nipple shields. 
MISCARRIAGE. 
A fruitful source of disease, though too often considered too 
lightly, is premature delivery, commonly called miscarriage. It is, 
unfortunately,.a rather frequent than rare occurrence, it being esti- 
mated that at least ninety out of every hundred women who become 
mothers, and live to the change of life, have one or more miscar- 
riages. A woman who marries at forty is very much more likely to 
miscarry than if she had married at thirty, in which case she 
might have borne children safely, not only before, but after, forty 
years of age. As a woman, even one who has borne a family of 
children, approaches the change of life, when she will cease child- 
bearing, she is very apt to finish with a miscarriage. Also, there 
is more danger of miscarriage in first pregnancies than in any 
other, except the latest. A very nervous or a very full-blooded 
woman is particularly apt to miscarry with her first child. 
Miscarriage is most frequent from the first to the third month 
of pregnancy, and about the sixth month. Also, it is found that 
a woman who has frequently been so unfortunate, has nearly 
always miscarried at about the same period. THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
181 
A woman who becomes pregnant while nursing is, if she con- 
tinue nursing, very liable to miscarry; and for this reason, when a 
nursing mother finds herself pregnant, she should wean the child 
at once, both for her own sake and for the sake of the children, 
born and unborn ; and even if abortion do not ensue, she is unfit 
to properly nourish all three. 
The question, how early can a child live ? often becomes one 
of great importance, not only from an obstetric point of view, but 
from a legal. For the answer to the question of the date of a 
child’s conception, which has lived even lor a short time, may 
answer the question of his legitimacy or illegitimacy, and the title 
to rank or property. 
The English law gives no spec fic answer to the question. 
The French law fixes the limit at one hundred and eighty days, 
and regards a child born that distance of time after marriage as 
not only capable of living, but presumptively legitimate. Many 
curious cases are mentioned by the old medical writers of children 
born earlier than one hundred and eighty days an surviving. 
Van Swieten records the case of Fortunio Liceti, who was born 
before the sixth month, in consequence of a fright his mother had 
at sea. It is said that he was the size of a hand when born, but 
his early coming seems not to have hastened his going, for he 
lived till his seventy-ninth year. A case mentioned by Professor 
G. S. Be Iford, of New York, was that of a female infant born 
before the sixth month, and which weighed two pounds nine 
ounces at birth. The skin was perfectly scarlet in color. It 
breathed, and shortly after birth cried freely. It was wrapped in 
soft cotton soaked with sweet oil, and fed with its mother’s milk, 
a few drops at a time being put into its mouth. Though at first 
it swallowed with difficulty, it soon became able to take s ffi:ient 
nourishment, and grew into a healthy, vigorous young woman. 
Miscarriages, though not so apt fo produce immediate fatal 
consequences to the mother as confinement at full term, are much 
more likely to produce disease of the womb. As term approaches, 
the neck of the womb becomes very soft and elastic, so as to let 
the foetus pass out with comparative freedom at confinement, but 
when a miscarriage occurs after the foetus has attaine ! any size, 
the n:ck of the womb, being st 11 comparatively firm, is apt to be 
torn in delivery. Also, at full term, the decidua and placenta 
have become, as it were, ripe, their attachments to the womb 182 
TIIE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
having Regenerated so as to le': them pass away easily ; but when 
a miscarriage occurs these are not yet ready to separate from the 
womb, and either there is laceration in tearing them away, or 
they remain and cause a danger of blood-poisoning, as they 
loosen slowly by decay or other degeneration. 
Whe. e a miscarriage has occurred, as well as after a natural con- 
finement, sexual intercourse is best avoided for a couple of months. 
The Causes of Miscarriage are various. Sometimes the irri- 
tation or piles or dysentery, whether natural or from purgative 
medicine, or straining at stool, will provoke it. Excessive venereal 
intercourse by the newly-married is a very frequent cause. Sea 
bathing will sometimes cause it. Continuing to nurse when con- 
ception has taken place during nursing is very apt to cause it; 
and the observation of an eminent physician showed that seven- 
teen per cent, of the conceptions which occurred during nursing 
were followed by miscarria e, while only ten per cent, of preg- 
nancies in women who were not nursing met with this misfortune. 
Amongst the cau=es mentioned by Napheys are the following: 
“ The extraction of a tooth, over-exertion and over-excitement, a 
fall, a blow, nny violent emotion, such as anger, sudden and ex- 
cessive joy, or fright, running, dancing, horseback exercise, or 
riding in a badly-built carriage over a rough road, great fatigue, 
lifting heavy weights, the abuse of purgative medicines, disease 
or displacement of the womb, sma 1-pox, or a general condition of 
ill-health, are all fruitful and well-known exciting causseof this un- 
fortunate mishap. ” Railroad journeys also he considered objection- 
able from this point of view. Conception occurring in a woman suf- 
fering from Syphilis in the first stages is almost sure to be followed 
by miscarriage, as is also the contraction of that disease during 
the first six or seven months of pregnancy. Any skin disease, 
such as is followed by peeling off of the skin, as small-pox, scarlet 
fever, measles, etc., is very apt to produce abortion. A woman 
who has miscarried two or three times in succession may acquire 
a habit of miscarriage, such that it becomes very difficult to pre- 
vent it, and in each successive conception, when the period arrived 
when abortion took place before, it will occur again. 
Notwithstanding the very slight causes which will sometimes 
bring on this misfortune, pregnant women have been known to 
undergo the most astonishing ill-treatment, and still retain the 
fcetu-. For example, a noted Scotch physician relates that his 
coachman once accidentally drove over a woman who was in the THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
183 
eighth month of pregnancy, and injured her severely. Yet, 
greatly to the doctor’s surprise, the pregnancy was not disturbed, 
and she gave birth to a healthy child in due time at full term. 
The Symptoms of threatened or actual miscarriage vary with 
the period of pregnancy. In the first month or two there is little 
to distinguish an abortion from a painful menstruation, and it 
frequently happens that abortion occurs before there is any very 
clear and positive symptom of pregnancy. At this earlier period 
the only sign of an abortion is an excessive flow, containing prob- 
ably clots of blood ; and the embryo, being still very small, is 
contained in a blood clot, and passes away unnoticed. From the 
standpoint of the mother’s health, it is of less consequence at this 
earlier period than later, the embryo being so small as to cause no 
laceration, but it is, nevertheless, important to recognize a miscar- 
riage when it occurs, that the subsequent conduct may be govern- 
ed accordingly. As soon as conception takes place, the womb 
begins to grow, and, by the end of the first or second month, has 
increased considerably in size ; and any excitement of it, until it 
has resumed its ordinary size and has had time to rest from its 
labors and misfortunes, is highly improper. For this reason 
sexual intercourse should be avoided for a couple of months, or at 
least a month. Also it is important to recognize a miscarriage as 
such, in order that on the next pregnancy extraordinary care may 
be taken as the critical period approaches, lest a habit of miscar- 
riage be set up. Therefore, if there be any reason to suspect 
pregnancy, as if after missing one or two menstrual periods there 
occurs what appears to be a painful menstruation, with excessive 
discharge, and perhaps clots of blood, the woman should remain in 
bed and avoid all physical and mental exertion for a few days or 
a week after the flow has ceased. 
Miscarriage occurring later than about the tenth week is a 
more serious matter, and the symptoms are much more severe. 
The chief symptoms are pain and flooding (that is, a profuse flow 
of blood). Often, however, the first symptoms are a severe chill, 
followed by fever, thirst and nausea. Sometin es these symptoms 
are accompanied by palpitation of the heart, coldness of the feet, 
and dizziness. After some hours, or days, there is usually pain in 
the lower part of the back and abdomen, often shooting down the 
thighs. At first the pain is continuous, then becomes periodic in 
character, like true labo. pains. 184 
THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
The Avoidance and Prevention of Miscarriage are readily sug- 
gested 1 y a consideration of the exciting causes. Dr. Tilt says: 
“ The way to prevent miscarriage is to lead a quiet life, particu- 
lar'y during those days of each successive month when, under 
other circumstances, the woman would menstruate ; and to abstain 
during those days, not only from long walks and parties, but from 
sexual intercourse.” Dr. Bedford, of New York, too, says that 
in cases wheie miscarriage threatens to become habitual, he has 
found it an excel1 ent practice to interdict all sexual intercourse until 
after the fifth month ; for if the pregnancy pass beyond this period, 
the chances of miscarriage will be much diminished It is even 
worth while, where a habit of miscarriage, at a certain stage of 
pregnancy, has been set up, for the woman to take to bed as that 
time approaches, and to remain there for some days, or even 
weeks, until that critical period is past. The most obstinate habit 
of miscarriage can be overcome in that way, and where one child 
is, by the adoption of even this means, carried to full term, the 
ch nces of subsequent miscarriage are much lessened. 
A good general rule for warding off a threatened abortion is 
this: Whenever flooding occurs, whether accompanied by fain 
or not, the woman should at once lie down, send for a p ysician, 
and remain lying down and as still in bed as possible, avoiding 
all excitement, until his arrival. 
BIRTH-MARKS, OR MOTHER’S MARKS. 
The popular belief in the influence of the mind, or imagina- 
tion of the mother upon her unborn child, is humorously illustrated 
in the Letter from the Spectator, quoted in Chapter XIV. But 
so very many physiologists of eminence attach an importance to 
this influence, that we cannot deny that it is wor hy at least of 
careful attention. Scientifically, some of the cases cited may be 
difficult or impossible to account for, but the authenticity of the 
sources of information is, in very many instances, such that un- 
belie is well-nigh imposcible. 
The power of the mind over the body is well known ; many 
a man has become sick or well, has been attacked by specified 
diseases, or cured of th:m, wholly by the power of his imagination. 
Yet he d'sease was perfectly real and the cure real. The hair 
has frequently been known to turn white in a few days, or even 
in a few hours, under the influence of strong mental emotion ; of THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
this Marie Ant inctte, Queen of France, who perished in the 
Prench Revolu ion of 1792, is a notable example. 
Every school boy knows, and mos" of them entertain the 
common belief, that warts may be cured by some nonsensical 
incantations, or by the applicati on of absurd remedies. Readers 
of Mark Twain’s works will remember the magic spells, by means 
of which Tom Sawyer got rid of those excresences. 
Nevertheless, there are not wanting those who venture to 
disbelieve, to a g eat exten1, in t'mse prodigies; among these 
incredulous is numbered no less an authority than Dr. W. S. 
Piayfair, the eminent English writer on obstetrical subjects, who 
does not hesitate to declare that in most, if not all, these cases, 
except those of idiocy and the like, the extraordinary circum- 
stance occurring during pregnancy only impressed itself with par- 
ticular strength upon the mother’s mi-id from the hour when she 
saw its supposed effect on the child after its birth. 
At the same time, the cases are very interesting, and a few 
of them may be cited. I quote from Dr. Napheys’ excellent 
work on “ The Physical Life of a Woman.” Dr. Napheys, I 
have to say, was a firm believer in “ Mother’s Marks,” but it is to 
be noted that this very careful and accurate observer does not 
assert that any such cases were ever investigated by himself and 
found beyond doubt. Says he : “ There are numerous facts on 
record which prove that habitual, long-continued mental condi- 
tions of the mother at an early period of pregnancy, induce de- 
formity or other abnormal development of the infant.” 
Professor William A. Hunmond, of New York, relates the 
following striking case, which occurred in his own experience, 
and which scarcely admits of a doubt as to the influence of the 
maternal mind over the physical structure of the foetus : 
“ A lady in the third month of her pregnancy was very much 
horrified by her husband being brought home one evening with a 
severe wound on the face, from which the blood was streaming. 
The shock to her was so great that she fainted, and subsequently 
had a hysterical attack, during which she was under Dr. Ham- 
mond’s care. Soon after her recovery, she told him that she was 
afraid her child would be affected in some way, and that even 
then she could not get rid of the impression the sight of her hus- 
band’s bloody face had made upon her. In due time the child, a 
girl, was born. She had a dark red mark upon her face, corres- 186 
THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
ponding in situation and extent with that which had been upon 
her father’s face. She also proved to be idiotic.” 
Professor Dalton, of New York, states that the wife of the 
janitor of the Colie e of Physicians and Surgeons of that city, 
during her pregnancy, dreamed that she saw a man who had lost 
a part of the ear. The dream made a great impression upon her 
mind, and she mentioned it to her husband. When her child was 
born, a portion of one ear was deficient, and the organ was exactly 
like the defective ear she had seen in her dream. When Professor 
Dalton was lecturing upon the development of the foetus, as 
affected by the mind of the mother, the janitor called his attention 
to the foregoing instance. The ear looked exactly as if a portion 
had been cut off with a sharp knife. 
Professor J. Lewis Smith, of Bellvue Medical College, New 
York, has met with the following cases: An Irishwoman, of 
strong emotions and superstitions, was passing along a street, in 
the first months of her pregnancy, when she was accosted by a 
beggar, who raised her hand, destitute of thumb and fingers, and 
“ in God’s name” asked for alms. The woman passed on, but 
reflecting in whose name money was asked, felt that she had 
committed a great sin in refusing assistance. She returned to the 
place where she had met the beggar, and on different days, but 
never afterwards saw her. Harassed by the thought of her im- 
aginary sin, so that for weeks, according to her statement, she 
was distressed by it, she approached her confinement. A female 
infant was born, otherwise perfect, but lacking the fingers and 
thumb of one hand. The deformed limb was on the same side, 
and it seemed to the mother to resemble precisely that of the 
beggar. In another case which Professor Smith met, a very 
similar malformation was attributed by the mother of the child to 
an accident occurring, during the time of her pregnancy, to a near 
relative, which necessitated amputation. In May, 1868, he re- 
moved a supernumerary thumb from an infant, whose mother, a 
baker’s wife, gave the following history : “ No one of the family, 
and no ancestor, to her knowledge, presented this deformity. In 
the early months of her pregnancy she sold bread from the 
counter, and nearly every day a child with a double thumb came 
in for a penny roll, presenting the penny between the thumb and 
finger. After the third month she left the bakery, but the mal- 
formation was so impressed upon her mind that she was not sur- 
prised to see it reproduced in her infant.” THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
187 
“ I': is related on good authority that a lady, who during her 
pregnancy, was struck with th unpleasant view of leeches ap- 
plied to a foot, gave birth to a child with the mark of a 
leech coiled up in the act of suction on the intended spot.” 
Dr. Delacoux, of Paris, says that in the month of January, 
1825, he was called to attend a woman in the village of Batig- 
noles, near Paris, who the evening before had been delivered of a 
six-months’ foetus, horribly deformed. The upper lip was in a 
confused mass with the jaw and the gums, and the right leg was 
amputated at the middle, the stump having the form of a cone. 
The mother of this being, who was a cook, one morning, about 
the third month of her pregnancy, on entering the house where 
she was employed, was seized with horror at the sight of a porter 
with a hare-lip and an amputated leg. 
At a meeting of the Society of Physicians, at Berlin, in 
August, 1868, Herr Dupre stated that a woman saw, in the first 
weeks of her third pregnancy, a boy with a hare-lip ; and not only 
was the child she then carried bo.n with a frightful hare-lip, but 
also three children subsequently. Another one, a woman in the 
fifth week of pregnancy, saw a sheep wounded and with its 
bowels protruding. She was greatly shocked, and did not recover 
her composure for several days. She was delivered at term of a 
child, in other respects well developed, but lacking the walls of 
the abdomen. 
A black child is generally believed to have been born to 
Marie Therese, the wife of Louis XIV., in consequence of a little 
negro page in her service having started from a hiding place and 
stumbled over her dress early in her pregnancy. This child was 
educated at the convent of Morel, near Fontainebleau, where she 
took the veil, and where, till the shock of the revolution, her por- 
trait was shown. 
A woman gave birth to a child with a large cluster of 
tumors growing from the tongue, and preventing the closure of 
t’ e mouth; in color, shape and size exactly resembling our com- 
mon grapes ; and with a red excresence from the chest, as exactly 
resembling in figure and appearance a turkey’s wattles. On be- 
ing questioned before the child was shown to her, she answered 
that while she was pregnant she had seen some grapes, longed in- 
tensely for them, and constantly thought ot them ; and that she 
was also once attacked and much alarmed by a turkey-cock. THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
Dr. Demangeon, of Paris, quotes, in his work on the Imagi- 
nation, the Journal de Verdun, as mentioning the case of a child 
born at Blois, in the eyes of which the face of a watch was dis- 
tinctly seen. The image was situated around the pupil, and the 
figures representing the hours were plainly perceived. The mother 
had experienced a strong desire to see a watch while she was 
pregnant with this child. 
Dr. Russegger reports that a wormn, who had already 
borne four healthy children, was in the seventh month of her 
pregnancy bitten in the right calf by a dog. The author saw 
the wound made by the animal’s teeth, which wound consisted of 
three small triangular depressions, by two of which the skin was 
only slightly ruffled ; a slight appearance of blood was perceptible 
in the third. The woman was at the moment of the accident 
somewhat alarmed, but neither then nor afterwards had any fear 
that her foetus would be affected by the occurrence. Ten weeks 
after she was bitten the woman bore a healthy child, which, how- 
ever, to the surprise of every person, had three marks, correspond- 
ing in size and appearance to those caused by the dog’s teeth in 
the mother’s leg, and consisting, like those, of one large and two 
smaller impressions. The two latter, which were pale, disap- 
peared in five weeks; the larger one had also become less, and 
was not so deep-colored as it was at birth. At the time of writing 
the child was four months old. 
Dr. S. P. Crawford, of Grenville, Tennessee, reported in the 
Nashville Journal of Medicine the following sad case : A lady, 
in the last stage of pregnancy, was burned by the explosion of a 
kerosene oil can. She lived twelve hours after the accident. The 
face, legs, arms and abdomen were badly burned. The move- 
ments of the child were felt three or four hours after the accident. 
A short time before the death of the mother she gave birth to the 
child at full matur.ty, but still-born. It bore the mark of the fire 
corresponding to that of the mother. Its legs, arms and abdomen 
were completely blistered, having all the appearanc- of a recent 
bur \ 
A lady living on Maitland street, Toronto, during pregnancy, 
had a disease of the leg which had necessitated a surgical opera- 
tion. In the operation a large cut was made, extend ng several 
inches up and down the inside of the leg, just above the ankle. 
During her pregnancy this gave her a good deal of trouble and THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
189 
distress. When her child was born he had a brown mark on the 
inside of his leg corresponding in location and extent to that of 
the mother. It was covered with a thick growth of short stiff 
hair; and it continues the same, though the boy, at time of 
writing, is about fourteen years old. 
A woman living on Lincoln avenue, Detroit, was, during 
pregnancy, grea ly frightened by the conduct of her husband’s 
brother, who came to the house in a state of gross intoxication. 
Her child, a boy, when old enough for it to be distinguished, 
proved an imbecile, his imbecility taking the appearance of in- 
toxication. He learned to walk, but walks with the reeling, 
staggering gait of a drunken man. He seems tortured by an un- 
quenchable thirst, and though, of course, not allowed a drop of 
intoxicants, he habitually drinks large quantities of water; then 
vomits, like his inebriated uncle did, when the boy was yet in his 
mother’s womb. 
Nearly every woman you meet can cite you numerous cases 
in support of the belief in Mother’s Marks. Yet it must be said 
that witchcraft, in its time, had just as great names at its back, 
and belief in it was supported by as numerous instances and on 
as unimpeachable authority. Two undoubted facts detract a 
little from the force of the illustrations which may be found in 
such numbers on every hand. There are very many frights, ex- 
citements, impressions, longings, etc., experienced by pregnant 
women every day ; nearly every pregnant woman has more or 
less of such ; yet in a very small minority of cases is there any- 
thing unusual about the child. On the other hand, there are 
many peculiarities, birth-marks and deformities of mind and body 
for which no reason can be assigned by the mother. If these 
causes produce such effects in one case, why should they not in 
all ? If the woman who longs for grapes produces a child with a 
deformity like a bunch of grapes in its mouth, why should not the 
woman who longs for a watermelon bring forth c ffspring with 
an appendage of that sort adorning its mouth ? And why should 
not the woman who longs to go to a circus give birth to a 
menagerie? If the theory be good for anything, its operation 
should be the rule, and not the scarce exception. Also, if pecu- 
liarities are to be accounted for in that way, why are there so 
many similar peculiarities, the majority of them, in fact, which 
cannot be accounted for in that way ? 190 
THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
The writer, while not venturing to express utter disbelief in 
the theory, suggests that most of the cases depend on insufficient 
evidence of their early history. The mother and, perhaps, 
other relations, seeking to account for a deformity in her offspring, 
of which she is, though in one sense unjustly, ashamed, relates 
circumstances which were more the product of the imagination 
and of the desire to find something extenuating, than of the un- 
biased memory. 
There is no doubt, however, of this, that the influence of im- 
pure or corrupted blood upon a foetus, developing and adding 
new tissue to muscle and bone, and nerve and brain every day, is 
far greater than the influence of such blood upon the mother ; 
and, as all sights and sounds, all impressions of good or evil which 
anyone gets, affect the condition of the blood through the nerve 
supply, it is highly necessary that the mother who supplies such 
blood, good or bad, as she has, to the foetus, should carefully 
avoid all sights, sounds, thoughts, actions and impressions, whose 
tendency would be to any but the most pure and agreeable 
emotions. THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
191 
CHAPTER XVI. 
DURATION OF PREGNANCY. 
THE average length of time from conception to delivery at 
full term is two hundred and eighty days, forty weeks, or 
ten lunar months. Yet it must be remembered that this is 
only the average, and, that there may be and are many regular 
confinements at considerably shorter or longer periods. 
This is important to bear in mind, and, if known generally, 
would cheat scandal-mongers of many a choice bit of gossip, and 
would save the honorable and deserved reputation of many fami- 
lies. Sometimes, too, the question of the legitimacy of the child, 
and with it the title to rank and property, depends on the question : 
How long or how short may fully accomplished gestation be ? 
An illustration of this is furnished by the famous Gardner 
Peerage case, tried by the English House of Lords in 1825. Allen 
Legge Gardner and Henry Fenton Iadis (or Gardner) were rival 
claimants to have their names inscribed as peers on the Parliament 
Roll. The circumstances were these : On the 30th of January, 
1802, Lord Gardner left England and his wife, and went to the 
West Indies. He did not see Lady Gardner again until Iith 
July following. The child, afterwards called Henry Fenton 
Iadis, was bom on the 8th December of the same year, and was 
unquestionably arrived at full maturity when born, so that he 
could not possibly have been the result of intercourse on or after 
Lord Gardner’s return, on nth July. But the time from January 
30, the last date when intercourse with her husband was possibly 
had previously to July, to December 8, was three hundred and 
eleven days. The question then was : Was pregnancy protracted 
to this extraordinary length—thirty-one days beyond the usual 
time,—or was this child necessarily the offspring of adulterous in- 
tercourse, had in Lord Gardner’s absence? No less than sixteen 
medical witnesses were examined on this point, being the most 
eminent obstetricians in the kingdom ; they were d vided in opin- 
ion, eleven averring that gestation might be protracted to a period 
which would cover the birth of this child, and five being of the 
contrary opinion. 
In this case, however, as it was proven that she had been 192 
THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
guilty of adultery with a Mr. Iadis, the House declined to .stretch 
the probabilities to let in the doubtful issue, and declared him 
illegitimate. Allen Legge Gardner, who was Lord Gardner’s son 
by a second marriage (the first wife, mother of Henry Fenton 
Iadis, having been divorced), was declared entitled to succeed to 
his father’s title. 
A remarkable case reported by Dr. Desormeaux, of Paris, 
establishes beyond doubt the possibility of a protraction of preg- 
nancy beyond two hundred and eighty days. This case came 
under his own notice in the Hospital de Maternite, in that city. 
A woman, the mother of three children, became insane, and her 
physician thought that a new pregnancy might recover her reason. 
Accordingly, her husband visited her, but only once every three 
months, and the visits were duly entered on the hospital register. 
The visits were discontinued as soon as evidence of pregnancy 
appeared, and the woman was confined two hundred and ninety 
days after the last visit. 
This case, however, showing a protraction of only ten days 
beyond the usual time, is much less remarkable than some others, 
and it being the fact, as shown elsewhere in this book, that con- 
ception may take place some days after the intercourse, the 
excess of time may have been very few days. 
Professor Charles D. Meigs, of Philadelphia, published a case, 
which he thought perfectly trustworthy, of a pregnancy prolonged 
to four hundred and twenty days, or sixty weeks, a half longer than 
the usual time, and Dr. Atlee reports two cases in which the 
period of gestation was nearly three hundred and fifty-six days. 
Professor Simpson, of Edinburgh, records four cases which he 
met in his own practice, of pregnancies extending to three hundred 
and thirty-six, three hundred and thirty-two, three hundred and 
twenty-four, and three hundred and nineteen days, respectively. 
Dr. Joynt, in the Dublin Quarterly Journal of Medical Science, 
records a case in which the evidence is positive that the pregnancy 
was not less than three hundred and seventeen days, or thirty-seven 
days more than the average. In one hundred and sixty cases ob- 
served by Dr. Elsasser, eleven were extended to periods vary.ng 
from three hundred to three hundred and eighteen days. On the 
other hand, not only may children born before their time in a com- 
paratively undeveloped condition, live to grow up, but in some cases 
children are born considerably earlier than two hundred and eighty THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
193 
days, but, nevertheless, at full term and fully developed. First 
pregnancies are usually from one to two or even four weeks 
shorter than subsequent ones. This has nothing to do with a de- 
sire to throw the mantle of charity over the newly-married, whose 
first child has appeared at two hundred and sixty-five or two hun- 
dred and seventy days after marriage, instead of the orthodox 
two hundred and eighty days, as it has been abundantly proven in 
numerous cases in which the birth, though the first, did not occur 
for a year or two, or even more, after marriage. A proper know- 
ledge of this fact should still the tongues of those scandal-mongers 
who love to cast reproach on a young couple of unimpeachable 
character, because their first child was born less than two hundred 
and eighty days after marriage. 
The causes of an extension or shortening of the usual term 
are not certainly known. Some have supposed that children car- 
ried a longer period are more developed than are those born at 
the forty weeks. This is sometimes but not always the case, and 
the reasons for the variation may be as difficult to state positively 
as the reason why one healthy apple may drop ripe off a tree, 
while another next it may be still quite greenish and firmly 
fastened, and may hang on for days or even weeks longer. 
How to Calculate the Time of Expected Labor is often a mat- 
ter of some interest. The rule suggested by Professor Naegele, 
of Heidelberg, is one easily applied, and is, on the whole, as satis- 
factory as any which could be adopted. It is this : The day of 
the cessation of the last monthly flow is noted ; take the same 
date in the following year; subtract three months and add seven 
days. This will give a period of two hundred and eighty days 
from the time of conception, if, as is most commonly the case, 
conception takes place immediately after the cesser of the monthly 
flow. For instance, suppose that the last day of the last men- 
strual period before pregnancy began to have been June 15 ; then 
take June 15 of the following year, and subtract three months. 
This brings you to March 15 ; then add seven days, wh'ch brings 
you to March 22, the probable date of birth. 
There are, however, many difficulties in the way of a strict 
calculation of the date when labor may be expected. One is, 
that with husband and wife it is usually difficult to say which of 
a series of copulations is the fruitful one. Also, as seen before, 
concep*-;on may take place some days after the fruitful intercourse. 194 
THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
Again, different women vary a good deal in their periods of gesta- 
tion, and the same woman may vary from one time to another. 
Dr. Merriman thinks the greatest number of women are de- 
livered of their children during the fortieth week, and next to 
that in the forty-first week. Of one hundred and fourteen preg- 
nancies, calculated by him from the last day of menstruation, and 
in which the children appeared to be fully matured, three de- 
liveries took place at the end of the thirty-seventh week, thirteen 
in the thirty-eighth, fourteen in the thirty-ninth, thirty-three in the 
fortieth, twenty-two in the forty-first, fifteen in the forty-second, 
ten in the forty-third and four in the forty-fourth week. THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
195 
CHAPTER XVII. 
THE FATHER AND MOTHER DURING 
PREGNANCY. 
The Marital Relation during Pregnancy. Dr. Napheys says : 
“ During those days when the wife, if she were not pregnant, 
would be ‘unwell,’ marital intercourse should be abstained from. 
It is then injurious to the mother and dangerous to the life of the 
child, as it is liable to excite miscarriage. But if this habitual 
epoch of the monthly sickness be avoided, there is no reason why 
passion should not be gratified in moderation and with caution 
during the whole period of pregnancy. There is one exception to 
be made to this general course of conduct. In those cases in 
which a miscarriage has occurred in the first pregnancy, every 
precaution should be employed—for reasons which have been 
dwelt upon in a previous article—to prevent its happening again 
after the second conception. Under such exceptional circum- 
stances, therefore, the husband and wife should sleep apart during 
the first five months of pregnancy. After that period their ordin- 
ary relations may be resumed. When a miscarriage has occurred, 
intercourse should not be permitted within a month of the acci- 
dent. The observation of this direction is of the utmost import- 
ance. Its neglect is the frequent causes of severe and intractable 
diseases of the womb.” 
To this it may be added that, if a miscarriage have occurred 
in a previous pregnancy, even though later than the five months 
above mentioned, intercourse ought to be avoided for a few weeks 
before and after the same stage in the next pregnancy. 
Dr. Hollick goes even further than Dr. Napheys, and holds 
that so far from such intercourse during pregnancy being im- 
proper in all cases, it is often required, and that various evils may 
result from its denial. He declares that when the temperament 
is warm, and the sexual instinct unusually strong, as it often is 
during pregnancy, indulgence is imperatively needed, and if it 
cannot be had the most injurious consequences may take place. 
He says that he has known instances of this kind to result in a 
peculiar nervous frenzy, or partial derangement, and in miscarriage. THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
But it seems to the writer that such erotic mania as Hollick 
describes is probably caused by some inflammation of the cervix, 
or neck of the womb, or of the nymphae, and is a fitter subject 
for medical treatment than for amatory indulgence ; and the 
latter, while affording temporary relief, might fairly be expected 
to aggravate the evil. 
Certainly such intercourse should be strictly avoided, unless 
it be at least not disagreeable to the woman. 
INFLUENCE OF SUCH INTERCOURSE UPON THE CHILD. 
There are other reasons given by writers on this subject, for 
the continuance of connection after conception, which afford a 
curious study. These refer to the influence of such connection in 
impressing the characteristics of the father upon the child. I 
cannot do better, on this point, than to quote the curious cases 
and illustrations, cited by Dr. Hollick in his work on “ The Natural 
History of Generation ” : 
“ Several intelligent breeders of birds and other animals had 
long remarked that the male could influence the offspring after 
conception as well as before, and they acted upon this knowledge 
practically, in the production and preservation of particular varie- 
ties. Dr. Delfraysse, of Cahors,;in France, was the first, however, 
who recorded any special observations of this kind. He found 
that the first connection merely gave life, or impregnated the egg, 
and that the after connections imparted to the young the colors of 
the male, and that the more this after-connection was repeated, 
the more closely would the offspring resemble the father. In 
what way this effect is produced it is difficult, in the present state 
of our knowledge, to even surmise ; but notwithstanding this the 
fact is one of great importance. It has been suggested that the 
resemblance to the male, observed in such cases, resulted from 
an effect upon the imagination of the female, through the medium 
of the sight, the colors being, as it were, impressed upon her 
mental vision. This, however, is not always the case at least, 
even if it be so occasionally, for a friend of mine, at my requesu, 
tried the experiment upon a hen that had been blind during the 
whole of her laying period, and in her case the chickens produced 
from her eggs invariably resembled the male in color; just in pro- 
portion to the frequency with which association took place. And 
in another instance, two he:fers when pu* to the male, were both THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
197 
blindfolded, one having but one connection and the o her several. 
Each brought forth a calf—that from the mother which had but 
one connect on resembling both the parents, but mostly the mother, 
while that from the other with which there had been several con- 
nections, resembled the male parent in almost every particular of 
color, marking and general appearance, though she had been 
carefully blindfolded each time. [The cogency of this illustration 
as an argument for the influence of connection after conception, 
is somewhat impaired by the fact, well known to stock-breeders, 
that some females almost invariably “ breed after themselves,” 
that is, produce offspring resembling themselves more strongly, 
while others regularly “ breed after the male.” The same rule 
applies to males, some of which nearly always beget “ a little 
faithful copy of the sire,” while often in others the dam’s blood 
governs. The value of many a fine male for breeding purposes is 
destroyed or impaired by the fact that he seldom can transmit his 
admirable qualities to his progeny. The same fact has frequently 
be n observed in the human family.] It is not through the 
imagination alone, therefore, that the paternal influence is exerted, 
though it may probably be so in some cases, as, for instance, in that 
of the Mare and the Quagga, recorded by Sir Evmard Home. 
The Quagga is a species of Ass, striped kke the Zebra, and one 
of these, a male, impregnated an English Mare in the Park of 
the Ear', of Morton, in Scotl nd. There was but one connection, 
and the offspring was a Hybrid, or Mule, marked like the father. 
This Hybrid remained with the mare about four months, and 
probably she might have seen it again about ten months 
afterwards. After this, during the next five years, she had four 
foals by an Arabian horse, and strange to say, though she had not 
seen the Quagga during this time, they were, nevertheless, all 
marked more or less like him Now if this singular resemblance 
was effected through the imagination of the mother, as Sir Ever- 
ard supposes, the most wonderful circumstance is that the effect 
should endure so long even after the Quagga was removed. 
[Th s phenomenon is well known to breeders of horses and dogs, 
the sire of one birth impressing his character upon succc ding 
offspring through several su:cessive pregnancies by other sires. 
They call this phenomenon by the term “ throwing back ”] Tnere 
seems no reason to doubt that the same rule holds good in t e hu- 
man race. A remarkable example of this is that of a young Scotch- 198 
THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
woman, who was forcibly violated one dark night by a man whom 
she could not see and did not know. It became known, however, 
who he was, and though her friends kept the matter as secret as 
possible, they, nevertheless, forcefl him to go abroad, where he re- 
mained. Unfortunately she became pregnant by the intercourse, 
and the child, not unnaturally, resembled the father. She married 
another man some time after, and, strange to say, her two chil- 
dren, unquestionably the offspring of her lawful husb .nd, also 
resembled her violator. 
“ In our own species, however, it is not in respect to the color 
of the skin that the influence of the male in after-connection is 
made manifest, so much as in the color of the hair and eyes, and 
in the expression of the features, though the peculiar tint of the 
father’s skin, as to being light or dark, is often so imparted. Cer- 
tain propensities, habits and modes of thought are also given in 
the same way. I have made many observations of cases in 
which all the necessary particulars were fully known to me, and 
invariably I have found that the child resembled the father in pro- 
portion to the frequency with which association was practiced 
after conception. The mere bodily resemblance seems to be 
most readily imparted, especially the color and expression of the 
eyes and the color of the hair.” 
From the foregoing it would seem to follow that if impreg- 
nation were consummated by one male, and, after conception, 
intercourse were frequently had with another male, the offspring 
should resemble the latter rather than the former, the real parent. 
Th is Dr. Hollick alleges to be the case, and says: “ In one in- 
stance I knew a widow who secretly married in about three months 
after the death of her husband, and as it appeared afterwards, 
she was pregnant by him. The child, however, resembled 
her second husband, though there was almost a certainty that no 
previous infidelity had been practiced, because the individual was 
at a distance when the conception must have occurred.” 
I give these illustrations for what they are worth, though I 
am bound to say that Dr. Hollick is not only an able writer, but 
an unusually accurate and independent observer. The causes of 
the alleged influence can only be conjectured ; but I should not 
think proper to leave out the influence of the imagination on such 
things, which, even in ancient times, was known and utilized. 
The case of the ring-streaked and speckled lambs and kids, pro THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
199 
duced by Jacob’s display of white-streaked, peeled rods at copula- 
tion-time (Genesis xxx., 31-42), is familiar to all readers of the Old 
Testament. Of course, in human beings this effect of the mind 
is likely to be much stronger than in ihe lower animals, and would 
probably have more such effect. It is related of a very eminent 
but very ugly citizen of Ancient Rome, that he was much dis- 
tressed at finding his eldest-born child as ug’y as himself. Consult- 
ing a philosophical friend, he was advised to place a statue of 
Apollo in his wife’s bed-chamber, at the foot of her bed, where 
she might look upon it when next he visited her bed. He tried 
the experiment, and was delighted to find his next child as beau- 
tiful as he could wish. Many instances are given of the influence 
of the mother’s state of mind upon her unborn offspring, some of 
which we shall give farther on, and if we can rely upon them as 
proofs that the mental condition of the mother influences the mind 
of the child, may we not equally believe that her imagination 
will effect the child’s physical development. 
Also, this effect of post-conception intercourse may be pro- 
duced in another way: The semen which the male casts into 
the female organs is, to a considerable extent, absorbed by the 
surrounding tissue, and it is highly probable that a portion of it is 
communicated to the blood supply of the foetus. This being the 
case, it may well be that the absorption of a portion of this vital 
fluid of the father, or other male with whom such subsequent 
copulation is had, into the ovum with its contained embryo, im- 
parts some characteristics of that male to the developing embryo. 
Intellectual Influence of the Mother During Pregnancy. It is 
well known to breeders of dogs that the pups of a well-trained 
bitch, who is exercising her quasi intellectual faculties very largely 
during the period of gestation, in learning and understanding 
her duties as required by her master, not only are unusually in- 
telligent, but learn almost without any instruction the particular 
arts and tricks practiced by their dam during that period. Numer- 
ous cases are cited to show that the same rule holds good in the 
human subject. 
Fowler says that while the physical condition and habits of 
the mother during the first five or six months are reflected in the 
physical condition of the child, that being the period when the 
base of the brain is formed, which supplies the nervous force for 
the physical system, that it is during the last three or four months 200 
THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
that its character is given to the upper portion of the brain, the 
seat of the intellectual faculties. “ Hence,” says he, “ during the 
first portion of gestation mothers should take much exe'-cise, and 
keep up a full supply of physical vigor ; but after the fifth or sixth 
month, while the top of the child’s brain is forming, they should 
study much, and exercise their Moral faculties most.” 
The foetal history of >ome remarkable men, as Flaxman, the 
artist, Zerah Coburn, the mathematical prodigy, and others, 
shows clearly the capacity of the foetus to benefit by its mother’s 
intellectual activities. From his earliest childhood, Flaxman 
showed a delight in drawing, and the outlines drawn by him 
are by many considered the most graceful in existence. His 
mother was a woman of refined and artistic tastes, and for the 
last few months of her pregnancy with this child, she spent hours 
daily in studying engravings, and fixing in her mind the most 
beautiful proportions of the human figure as pictured by the 
masters. 
Zerah Coburn’s mother was a weaver of figured cloths, and 
often, to fill orders, she had to invent new designs, the working 
out of which involved intricate and careful computation of the 
number of stitches, etc., required. One figure which she under- 
took gave her a great deal of trouble. She studied upon it for 
several days, and even lay awake nights trying to solve the prob- 
lem. One night she saw that so many threads woven thus, and so 
many more thus, would bring the desired figure, and in the morn- 
ing she worked it out on her loom. About two months later she 
gave birth to this mathematical wonder, her son Zerah. His 
powers of computation were first noticed at three years of age, 
when he was often noticed standing, and saying to himself, 
that “ so many of this and so many of that made so many of the 
other.” and the like. 
A case is related by Fowler of a Mr. and Mrs. S., who were 
both deficient in arithmetical powers. But the necessities of cer 
tain circumstances led to the wife’s taking upon herself the care 
of her husband’s business, and, though with extraordinary exer- 
tion of intellect on her part, she carried it on successfully. Yet 
her daughter and son, born during this period, are both splendid 
natural mathematicians. 
There is no doubt, on the other hand, that habits the converse 
of these in the mother—frivolity, irritability, anger, jealousy, THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
201 
avarice, and other evils, stamp themselves indelibly on the char- 
acter of the unborn child. 
Of all education, then, that imparted by the mental condition 
of the mother, during the later months of pregnancy, is not only 
the earliest, but infinitely the most important, for upon that largely 
depends the mental and moral traits, dispositions and powers of 
the child, the intellectual and spiritual machinery with which it is 
equipped and started on the journey of life. The saying, “ All 
men are born free and equal, education does the rest.” will arrive 
nearer the truth if it be understood that that education begins in 
the mother’s womb. 202 
THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
CHAPTER XVIII. 
CHILDBIRTH : 
PARTUR1TION, DELIVERY, CONFINEMENT, 
ACCOUCHMENT. 
IT is often very desirable to know when the childbirth may be 
expected, so that all necessary preparations may be brought 
down to date, such as notifying the physician afresh, prepar- 
ing the bed, etc., etc. 
One of the earliest symptoms may be observed about two 
weeks before confinement. It is a subsidence of the womb, the 
highest point of the womb coming down from a point above the 
navel to below it, and the abdomen appears smaller. This sub- 
sidence of the womb relieves the stomach and lungs from pres- 
sure, and the woman feels much more comfortable. It is well to 
bear in mind that this sense of lightness, buoyancy and relief is a 
sign of approaching parturition, for by neglect of it women have 
undertaken extraordinary work, or journeys from home, and have 
been “ caught ” by labor while away from home, or on the street, 
or while in a store on some shopping expedition. 
A second early sign of app oaching labor, is an increased 
fulness at the vulva, or external genital organs. Also the mucous 
secretion from the pans becomes more profuse, even to the extent 
of requiring a napkin *o be worn. This is a good symptom, as it 
indicates that the parts are much relaxed, and an easy delivery is 
probable. 
A change in the mental condition of the woman usually is 
what may be called the third preliminary sign. She becomes 
anxious an ! fidgety, and often quite depressed in spirits. This is 
apt to continue until the signs arrive of actual labor. 
The first sign of actual labor is usually the discharge of the 
plug of mucous, which has occupied the neck of the womb from 
the beginning of pregnancy, and this discharge is usua ly accom- 
panied by a little blood. This is called the “ show.” A little be- 
fore, or perhaps not for some hours afterwards, the labor pains 
begin. True labor pains may be distingu shed from the false by 
their location and character. The true labor pains arc described THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
“ grinding” in their character. ' Also they are intermittent,occur- 
ring at intervals, alternating with periods of ease, while the false 
pains are pretty much continuous. True labor pains are felt in 
the lower part of the back, passing down to the thighs, while the 
false pains appear to be in the abdomen. The labor pains are 
comparatively slight at first, and at intervals of half an hour, or an 
hour; but as labor progresses they become more frequent and severe. 
Other signs that labor has actually begun are nausea and 
vomiting (a good sign in the early part of the labor), and a fre- 
quent desire to empty the bowels and bladder. Indeed this 
latter has led to the actual childbirth taking place in the privy 
closet, to which the woman had gone to relieve herself. Shiver- 
ing, without any sensation of cold, is another symptom, and finally 
the rupture of the sac containing the liquor amnii, commonly 
called the “ bag of waters.” 
The ancient theory was that the child caused, or at least 
assisted in, its own escape from the womb, and even so late as the 
eighteenth century, it was held by a no less distinguished person 
than the Naturalist, Buffon (1707-1788). Some contended that 
the desire of food, or of air, caused the infant to struggle for its 
freedom. But the fact that a foetus some time dead is expelled 
in exactly the same way, destroys at once all these ingenious 
theories. The fact is, that the child is expelled chiefly by the 
contraction of the muscular walls of the womb, usually assisted 
somewhat by the muscles of the abdomen and of the diaphragm. 
The cause of labor is in the womb itself, though just what nervous 
impulse sets its muscles into action is not known. Childbirth, it 
is said, has even occurred after the death of the mother, and a 
case is recorded in which labor began and twins were born three 
days after the mother’s death. Whether these twins were born 
alive or not is not stated, and the whole thing points rather to a 
case of suspended animation than of real death. 
Children have been brought forth alive after the mother’s 
death by a Caesarean operation, cutting open the abdomen and 
the womb and bringing the child forth in that manner. T1 is 
operation received its present name from the fact that the Roman 
statesman and warrior, Julius Caesar, was brought into the world 
in that fashion. The word is derived from the Latin, ccedere 
(caesum), to cut. To this extraordinary entrance docs Macduff 
refer (Shak.— Macbeth, Act V., Scene VII.). 204 
THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
“ Macbeth. I bear a charmed life,'which must not yield 
To one of woman born. 
Macduff. Despair thy charm ; 
And let the angel whom thou still hast served 
Tell thee, Macduff was from his mother’s womb 
Untimely ripped.” 
In childbirth the top of the head is the part which usually 
first sees the light, as appears in the plate at the end of this chap- 
ter. When the child is presented for expulsion in some other 
way, the physician sometimes finds it necessary to take advantage 
of the period of rest between the labor throes to insert his hand, 
thrust the child back, and turn it into a more favorable position. 
It is now a very common and very excellent practice to ad- 
minister a little chloroform in the later and severer stages of 
delivery, thereby making the pain much more endurable and re- 
laxing the external parts, while not interfering at all with the 
vigor of the uterine contractions. Also, the skilful obstetrician 
will sometimes materially assist in the delivery by seizing the in- 
fant with large forceps, designed for the purpose, and pulling it 
with more or less force from the womb. 
The child at birth is connected still with the mother by the 
umbilical cord, or navel-string. This is duly cut by the physician 
or nurse, proper ligatures being first put on to prevent bleeding, 
and the child is a separate being. 
The Mortality of Childbed varies, other things being equal, 
with the number of the pregnancy, the age of the woman, the sex 
of the child, and the duration of the labor. 
First confinements, and childbed fever following them, are 
about twice as likely to result in the death of the mother as later 
ones, but after the ninth labor, the danger increases with each 
successive confinement. 
The age of least mortality is about twenty-five years. Before 
and after that age, the risk is increasingly greater. Especially is 
this the case with those under twenty years of age ; and Aris- 
totle’s observation, that “ to the female sex premature wedlock is 
peculiarly dangerous, since, in consequence of anticipating the 
demands of nature, many of them suffer greatly in childbirth, and 
many of them die,” is abundantly proven true by modern statis- 
tics. As first labors are the most hazardous, and as the period 
between twenty and twenty-five is the safest for childbirth, that ,PLATE XVII. 
Fig. l. 
Fig. 2. 
POSITIONS OF CHILD IN WOMB AT TERM. 
Fig. i. The head presentation—the most usual. The next most usual pre- 
sentation is the same, but with the back towards the mother’s left side. 
Fig. 2. A breech presentation—the next most usual. 
The dark spot marks the place where the sound of the foetal heart may be 
heard. THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
207 
period would appear to be thus marked out as the most proper 
one for matrimony. 
The head of the foetus is the largest part of it; and as the 
head of the male child is, on the average, larger than that of the 
female, and the bones are harder and less easily squeezed to- 
gether, it naturally follows that the birth of males is more danger- 
ous to their mother than that of females ; and statistics prove this 
true. 
The mortality also increases with the duration of labor. 
The longer the terrible strain of labor continues the more unlikely 
the woman is to survive it. But this is only one of many causes, 
and by no means the chief, of mortality in child-bed. 
The duration of labor varies, it may be said, from two to 
eighteen hours, though cases have been known in which it was 
protracted to an even greater length. First confinements, gen- 
erally, are longer than later ones; and those of male children, 
Dr. Collins, of the Dublin Lying-in Hospital, says, average one 
hour and four minutes longer than those of female children. He 
also found tha tchildren weighing over eight pounds, averaged 
four hours and eight minutes longer than those which weighed 
less than that amount. 
The facts above-mentioned account for the circumstance 
that there are more male than female children still-born. 208 
THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
CHAPTER XIX. 
TWINS, TRIPLETS, ETC., SUPERFCE- 
TATION, EXTRA-UTERINE PREG- 
NANCY AND OTHER UNUSUAL 
CONCEPTIONS. 
MANY writers consider twins,triplets, etc., as abnormalties, 
and declare that plural births are not to be classified as 
natural forms of pregnancy. Dr. Arthur Mitchell brings 
forward statistics to prove that idiocy, imbecility and bodily de- 
formity occur with much greater frequency in twins than in single- 
born children. But while it is undoubtedly true that triplets and 
quadruplets must be classed as unnatural conceptions, not only 
from the rarity of their occurrence, but from the enormously high 
percentage of still-births, or of death soon after birth in such 
cases, but from the fact that normally the ovaries ripen each but 
one egg at a time. 
On the other hand, it seems a quite natural thing that ovula- 
tion should occur in both ovaries at once, and that both eggs so 
matured should be impregnated. The “ heads and points” posi- 
tion in which twins invariably occur in the womb (see the plate 
at the beginning of this chapter) indicates, by its regularity, that 
it is of design, not accident. Moreover, the observation of most 
people will, we fancy, scarcely coincide with that of Dr. Mitchell 
in assigning any greater likelihood or frequency of bodily or 
mental deformity to twins than to other children. 
The dispos;tion to plural births is often found to run in fam- 
ilies. Cumgeven mentions a woman who had four twin preg- 
nancies ; her mother and aunt each had one, and her grandmother 
two. Simpson tells of a case of quadruplets, all of whom, three 
boys and a girl, survived, and the girl lived to become herself the 
mother of triplets. 
The first birth is much more rarely plural than any subse- 
quent ones, and it is said that in the case of first pregnancies, 
the older the mother the more likely she is to bear twins. The 
author has in mind, however, two cases of plural first pregnancies, 
in both of which the mother was under thirty years of age, and 
in one only twenty-five. PLATE XVIII. 
USUAL POSITION Ot TWINS IN THE WOMB. THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
211 
The frequency of plural pregnancies in various countries of 
Europe is given in Puech’s Table of Multiple Births, as follows • 
Countries. 
Proportion of 
Twin to Single 
Births. 
Proportion of 
Triplets. 
Proportion of 
Quadruplets. 
England 
I in 116 
i “ 94 
i “ 89 
1 “ 95 
1 “ 99 
I “ 64 
1 “ 68.9 
1 “ 81.62 
1 “ 89 
1 “ 50.05 
1 “ 79 
1 “ 102 
1 “ 86.2 
I in 6,720 
Austria 
Baden 
I “ 6,575 
Scotland 
France 
Ireland 
Mecklenburg - Schwerin 
N orw'ay 
1 “ 8,256 
1 “4,995 
1 “ 6,436 
1 “ 5,442 
1 “ 7,820 
1 “4,054 
1 “ 1,000 
i in 2,074,306 
I “ 167 296 
I “ 183,236 
Prussia 
Russia 
I “ 394.69O 
Saxony 
Switzerland 
I “ 4OO OOO 
Wurtemburg 
1 “ 6,464 
I “ 110,991 
Average 
1 “ 81 
1 “ 5,775 
I “ 555 086 
But leaving out France the average of quadruplets in the 
countries named, so far as the table goes, would be i in 251,243. 
Russia, it will be noticed, produces the largest proportion of twin 
births, and England the smallest; Saxony, the largest propor 
tion of triplets; and, so far as the tables show, France the 
smallest, while in quadruplets Wurtemburg stands highest, and 
France by far the lowest. The diminishing population of France 
is not, however, due to the proportionate infrequency of multiple 
births, but to the low general birth rate. This low birth rate is 
owing, doubtless, to the extensive practice of keeping mistresses 
instead of wives, which extends from the highest ranks of society 
to the lowest, and is quite open and unblushing, and to the equally 
unblushing and still more prevalent use of means for the preven- 
tion of conception and avoidance of offspring 
In most cases twins are male and female, next most common 
are twin females. Simpson calculates that in fifty-nine thousand 
one hundred and seventy-eight labors, cases of male and female 
twins occurred once in one hundred and ninety-nine labors, twin 
females once in two hundred and twenty-six, and twin males once 
in two hundred and fifty-eight. Cases of quintuple pregnancy 
are recorded, but the pregnancies m'scarried. The chances of 212 
safe delivery and survival of twins, triplets, etc., are much less 
than those of children born singly, the mortality in twins being 
about one in thirteen, while that in triplets and quadruplets is very 
much greater. Twins and triplets are nearly always somewhat 
less fully developed at birth and smaller than single children, the 
weight of the two or three seldom exceeding ten or eleven pounds, 
while in the case of quadruplets the birth is usually so premature 
that they cannot survive. The birth of five living children at a 
time is very exceptional, and is nearly always fatal to the off- 
spring. Indeed they seldom, if ever, arrive at full term. The 
following cases are mentioned by Napheys : 
THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION 
“ A woman aged thirty, the w.fe of a laborer and the mother 
of six children, was taken in labor about the seventh month of het 
pregnancy. Five children, and all alive, were given birth to— 
three boys and two girls. Four of the children survived an hour, 
and died within a few moments of each other. The fifth, a female 
and the last born, lived six hours, and was so vigorous that, not- 
withstanding its diminutive size, hopes were entertained of its sur- 
viving. Another case is reported in a French Medical Journal. 
The woman was forty years old. She had had twins once and 
single children five times. On her seventh pregnancy, when five 
months gone, she was as large as women usually are at the end 
of their full term. At the close of the fifth month see was de- 
livered of five children. They were all born alive, and lived from 
four to seven minutes. All the children were males, well built and 
as well developed as foetuses of five and a half months usually-are 
in a single birth. The woman made a good recovery.” 
Statements are found in some books of seven, e'ght, nine, ten 
and even more children at a birth, but such litters may fairly be 
taken as the product, not of the womb, but of the writer’s imagin- 
ation. Of this class of product certainly must those be mentioned 
by a traveller named Groftr. “ This writer states that he saw in 
a church at Lansdown, about five miles from the Hague, in Hol- 
land, in 1630, an inscription stating that a certain Countess, whose 
name and family he records, brought forth at one birth, in the 
fortieth year of 1 er age, in the year 1276, no less than three hun- 
dred and sixty-five infants. They were all baptized by Guido, 
the Suffragan, the males being all called John and the I males 
Elizabeth. They all, with their mother, died on the same day, 
and were buried in the above-mentioned church. This monstrous THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
birth was said to have been caused by the sin of the Countess in 
insulting a poor woman with twins in her arms, who prayed that 
her insulter might have at one birth the same number of children 
as there were days in the year.” The imagination of the traveller, 
or else of the pious clerk who inscribed the tablet, must have been 
very thickly peopled indeed. 
213 
It often happens, too, that twins are somewhat unequally de- 
veloped. This may be either because one was actually conceived 
later than the other, or that one has been retarded in its develop- 
ment. 
The cause of plural pregnancies is probably the development 
of two Graafian Vesicles and expulson of two eggs at one time, 
either from one or from both ovaries. In some cases two ova thus 
expelled from the ovaries at or about the same time, become separ- 
ately impregnated by separate acts of copulation, as is proven by 
the case of a negress bearing twins—one black and one mulatto. 
In some cases, too, a single Graafian Vesicle is found to contain 
two ova, both, or either, of which may be impregnated on expul- 
sion. These may even adhere together after impregnation and 
develop foetuses attached to each other, as in the well-known case 
of the Siamese Twins. A case of two ovules from one Graafian 
Cell often found is that of the double-yolked egg of the common 
barn-yard fowl. 
In some cases twins are contained in the same sac of mem- 
branes, but usually in separate ones. And even where the outer 
sac, or decidua reflexa, is one, the inner ones, especially the 
amnions, or innermost sacs, are usually two and distinct Gener- 
ally there is but one placenta, the two umbilical cords either enter- 
ing it together, or even uniting a few inches from it and continue ig 
to it as one cord. Where there is only one Chorion, or second 
foetal membrane, enveloping both twins, the twins are always of 
one sex. 
In the case of triplets, one is generally contained in a sac by 
itself, while the other two, having been formed from a double 
ovule, or egg, are contained in one chorion, though in separate 
amnions. 
It is very difficult to ascertain before birth whether or not 
there are twins. Sometimes the shape of the abdomen is quite 
irregular in the case of twins, there even appearing a hollow place 
between the two p**ommenses ; but the only sure test is by aus- £14 
THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
cultation, that is by listening for the sound of the foetal heart; tf 
two distinct heart-beats be heard, one on each side, with a place 
between where none can be heard, and especially if a difference 
in frequency exist, the existence of twins may be declared with 
certainty. But if, as is sometimes the case, one lies behind the 
other, the sound of its heart may be prevented by the body of the 
other from reaching the ear. 
Superfoetation and Superfecundation. This is a very interest- 
ing subject, and one which, from the infrequency of the occur- 
rence of cases, is seldom or never heard of by the layman. 
By Superfecundatio?i is meant the impregnation of a second 
ovule by a second copulation within a very short time of the first, 
as in the case above mentioned, in which a negro woman was de- 
livered of twins—one pure negro and the other half-caste—the 
result of successive sexual intercourse with a negro and a white 
man. 
Superfoetation is the impregnation of a second ovule while the 
uterus already contains a foetus in a considerable stage of ad- 
vancement. Very many cases prove this beyond a doubt to be 
quite possible. In some of these cases the two are delivered at 
one time, but the one in a much less advanced stage of develop- 
ment than the other, and in others each is delivered in due order 
at full term, the labor which causes the birth of the earlier having 
no effect upon the other. In the cases of the latter sort, it is 
probable that the womb is bifid, or divided into two parts by a 
greater or less partition, and that the first pregnancy occurring in 
one part, that part only becomes filled and occupied by the ovum, 
leaving menstruation to go on and conception, upon later inter- 
course, to take place in the unoccupied lobe of the womb. Dr. 
Ross, of Brighton, mentions a remarkable case of this kind A 
woman who had previously borne six healthy children at full 
term, became pregnant, and on July 16, 1870, miscarried of twins, 
and on October 31, fifteen weeks later, was delivered of a healthy 
child at term. In this case an examination of the uterus showed 
it to be completely double. 
Dr. Bonnar, of Cupar, on consulting the records of the 
British Peerage, which are most carefully and accurately com- 
piled, came across a number of interesting cases. In one case a 
mother gave birth to one child on September 12, 1849, and to 
another on January 24, 1850, only one hundred and twenty-seven THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
215 
days after. As both these children survived, it is impossible that 
the second could have been conceived after the first was born, ncy 
can the first have been a twin, born so long before its time, else 
it could not possibly have survived. 
Some cases of miscarriage also have been observed by ob- 
stetricians in which embryos of different ages were cast off. Fc: 
example: one shown by Harley and Tanner, at the Obstetrical 
Society, in 1862, in which ova of four or five and one month’s 
development, respectively, were miscarried at one time. Tyler 
Smith also describes the case of a young married woman, preg- 
nant for the first time, who miscarried at the end of the fifth 
month, and some hours afterwards a small clot was discharged, 
inclosing a perfectly healthy ovum of about one month. There 
was no sign of a double uterus in this case. The patient had 
menstruated regularly during the time she had been pregnant. 
Dr. Regan says : “ According to Aristotle a female was de- 
livered of twelve infants, and another of twins, one of which 
resembled her husband, the other her lover. Nothing is more 
common than to see a full-grown infant born, and another of the 
second, third, fourth, fifth or sixth month expelled immediately 
after. I need not cite authorities upon this point, as obstetic 
works abound with examples. But a few examples may be given. 
Dr. Mason published an account ot a woman who was delivered 
of a full-grown infant, and in three calendar months afterwards of 
another, apparently at full time. A woman was delivered at 
Strasburg, April 30, 1748, at ten o’clock in the morning; in a 
month afterwards M. Leriche discovered a second foetus, and on 
September 16, at five o’clock in the morning, the woman was de- 
livered of a healthy, full-grown infant. Dr. Granges, of Lyons, 
attests a case : the woman was delivered at the full time, January 
20, 1780; in three weeks afterwards she felt the motions ot an in- 
fant, and her husband had no intercourse with her for twenty- 
four days after delivery. On July 6, five months and sixteen 
days subsequent to delivery, she brought forward a second daugh- 
ter, perfect and healthy. On January 19, 1781, she presented 
herself and both infants before the notaries at Lyons to authenti- 
cate the fact. 
One of the Pennsylvania newspapers, in 1827, recorded the 
case of an Irish lady, who, in eighteen months, had, at three 
births, twelve living children, all bom prematurely. She and her 2l6 
THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
husband were healthy, fresh-looking people, and only two years 
married. This case is not recorded as yet in any of the Ameri- 
can Medical Journals, and, if it prove to be authentic, it will be the 
most extraordinary case of fecundity recorded in any country. Dr. 
Golding delivered a woman of six infants during the year 1829. 
The fact that the woman mentioned jii page 215 had menstru- 
ated regularly is important as showing that ovulation may go on, for 
a time at least, even during pregnancy; and as it is well known that 
the ovum does not fill the uterine cavity so as to cause the decidua 
vera and decidua reflexa to blend together, and thus effectually 
shut out the spermatozoa from the fundus of the womb and from 
the Fallopian Tube, until the third month of pregnancy, perhaps 
in some cases even later. Some physiologists contend that the 
plug of mucous, which fills the neck of the womb almost from the 
beginning of pregnancy, is in itself sufficient to prevent the pass- 
age of the spermatozoa ; but there is no doubt that this is quite 
insufficient to stop them, being no different in kind from that which 
ordinarily occupies the womb, and rather facilitates than impedes 
the movement of the Spermatozoa by giving them a medium to 
swim forward in. 
Extra-Uterine Pregnancy. The only natural and proper place 
for a Foetus to be formed is in the Uterus. Sometimes, how- 
ever, it happens that it is formed in a Fallopian Tube, or in the 
Abdominal cavity near the ovary, or even in the ovary itself. 
These three unnatural pregnancies are called, respectively, Tubal, 
Abdominal and Ovarian pregnancies. The causes of these ab- 
normal conditions are disputed ; and the dispute hinges partly on 
the question where impregnation of the ovum takes place, in the 
womb, or in or beyond the Fallopian Tubes. Those who hold 
that impregnation always takes place in the womb, or in the very 
end of the Tube next to the womb, maintain that even in the 
case of extra-uterine pregnancy the egg is fecundated in the very 
end of the Tube next the womb, and then some violent emotion, 
a fright for instance, reverses the action of the tube, and the egg 
is carried back the way it came. Two or three objections may 
be found to this theory; for example: the cilia, or little pro- 
tuberances within the tube, point towards the womb, and would 
effectually prevent any object so large comparatively as the ovum 
from being carried back by the reversed peristaltic action of the 
muscies of the Tahe ; also it seems very unlikely that an ovum, THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
which occupied perhaps several days in passing down the tube 
with the aid of the natural motion of the cilia and muscles, should 
in a moment, by one spasmodic effort of reversed peristaltic action, 
be thrown completely back into the remote end of the tube, into 
the abdominal cavity, or even into the cavity of the Graafian Cell, 
from whence it came. Also there would seem no reason, when the 
fright is over, the natural action of the tube being restored, formed 
as it is to promote motion through it and not to arrest an object in 
it, why the ovum should not even then be returned to the womb. 
217 
The opinion now generally held is that the spermatozoa pass 
up the Fallopian Tube and impregnate the egg either in the larger 
and more remote end of the Tube, or on the very surface of the 
ovary itself, as the egg emerges from its cell. Such a spasm as 
mentioned occurring then might cause the himbriae of the Tube 
to let go their hold and to allow the egg to drop into the abdom 
inal cavity. There is little doubt that many ova are so dropped, 
but, either because they are not imgregnated, or, being impreg- 
nated, fail to be able to attach themselves to the smooth and com- 
paratively bloodless abdominal walls, they do not develop but are 
absorbed into the surrounding tissue. Various reasons may cause 
ovarian conception ; the egg may in some way be attached to the 
lining of its Graafian Cell, and so is not expelled when the cell 
ruptures; but, adhering to the cell wall, it is there impregnated 
and there develops ; or it may be allowed to slip back into the 
cell by the Fimbriae of the Tube letting go their hold just as 
it is passing out. But it can hardly be conceived, bearing in 
mind that the tube does not open into the ovary, but into the 
abdominal cavity, its open end then being merely pressed against 
the ovary when a Graafian Vesicle is to be ruptured and an egg 
received into the tube, that once clear of the cell and safely in the 
tube, it should ever again find its way back to the little cell from 
which it with difficulty emerged, any more than that a new-born 
babe should, by some accident, be returned to its mother’s womb. 
Abdominal pregnancy probably results from the fimbriae of 
the tube, by some accident as before described, letting go the 
ovary before the egg is well on its way down the tube, and the 
egg, being impregnated either before it left the tube, or alter it 
dropped into the abdominal cavity, where frequently spermatozoa 
make their way, attaches itself to some of the tissue of the abdo- 
men and then develops. 218 
THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
Tubal pregnancy is probably caused either from some con* 
striction in the Tube, which prevents the egg from passing readily 
through, or perhaps in some cases by the motor nerves of the 
tube becoming paralyzed by some violent emotion, as fear, anger, 
etc. The ovum, being as yet independent of the nervous system 
of the mother, does not feel the shock of such emotion, but failing 
to be carried to its proper destination, the womb, it attaches itself 
where it is lodged, and develops there. 
In some cases of Tubal pregnancy, the Corpus luteum, or 
scar on the ovary, showing where the ovum came out which is 
impregnated, is found on the opposite ovary. Various explan- 
ations are given of this extraordinary phenomenon. Playfair 
thinks that the Tube from the opposite side has twisted itself 
completely over to the ovulating ovary on the opposite side, em- 
braced it with its Fimbriae and received the expelled egg, then 
return to its usual place, and that the stoppage of the egg was due 
to the twist so made in the tube. This, however, seems almost 
too extraordinary for belief. Other obstetricians, whom he quotes, 
think that the egg has been passed down the Tube pertaining to 
the ovary, from which it came, and has been by some such con- 
vulsion, from fright or otherwise, as before mentioned, taken 
up into the opposite tube. It is quite possible, too, that there is 
a mistake in the premises, and that the corpus luteum found in the 
opposite ovary was not really that of the egg in question. There 
is a very wide variation in the development of these corpora lutea, 
and it does not pass belief that the real corpus luteum, marking 
the Graafian Cell from which the egg came, might have been 
found on the ovary on the same side as the Tubal pregnancy, 
though in a comparatively undeveloped condition. 
Sometimes the ovum, having got safely to the womb, finds 
its way by some means within the substance of the muscular 
coating of the womb and there develops, surrounding itself with 
the much distended wall of one side of the womb. 
Dangers of Extra-Uterine Pregnancies. These extra-uter- 
ine pregnancies are always attended with the greatest danger 
to the life of the mother. As for the foetus, it seldom develops 
for more than three or four months in Tubal pregnancy until it 
bursts the tube and death ensues. If the swelling and its cause 
be discovered before this catastrophe occur, various operations 
are performed to prevent it, some of which are directed to the THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
destruct'on of the embryo, as by piercing the abdominal wall, the 
tube and the developing ovum within, and letting out the fluid 
contents of the ovisac, or injecting morphine to po'son it, then 
leaving it to slough away down the tube into the womb ; some- 
times the abdominal wall is cut through and the Tube cut out and 
taken away with its contents. In case of ovarian and abdominal 
pregnancies, somewhat similar remedies are sometimes adopted. 
Some surgeons adopt the method, too, of inserting an Aspirator, 
or small needle-Lke syringe, and through this drawing off the fluid 
without making any larger puncture even in the skin of the abdo- 
men. Sometimes a battery is connected and the embryo killed by 
electric shock If discovered at a period when it is so large that 
it cannot be safely killed, and left in the abdominal cavity to be 
absorbed, it is sometimes taken away by opening the abdomen 
and removing it with the knife, which, when it is firmly attached, 
is a very dangerous operation, or it is left till the foetus arrives at 
full term, when the abdomen is cut open and the child taken 
away. This latter operation not only may save the life of the 
child, but is by many thought to be less dangerous to the life of 
the mother than an operation at an earlier stage. 
Strange to say, in these cases of abdominal and ovarian 
pregnancy, the labor pains come on at term in the usual way, but 
of course without effect. If the foetus be not removed they cease 
after a time, and it dies. After that, in some cases, it decays and, 
unless speedily removed, the mother will die of blood-poisoning; 
in other cases it gradually shrinks up until nearly absorbed; in 
still others it remains as large and fresh as ever for years without 
causing any injury to the health, cases having been known in 
which they were so carried for as high as nine and even thirteen 
years. 
Multiparae, that is women who have already borne a number 
of children, are more liable to these abnormal pregnancies than 
those with whom the pregnancy is the first; and a woman may 
suffer from them several times in succession, and then produce a 
child in the natural way. The usual result, however, is barrenness. 
Hollick maintains that in every case in which the history of 
these extra-uterine pregnancies can be traced, it will be found that 
a fright or other accident occurred about the period of conception, 
and he believes this to support his opinion that the egg had been 
impregnated, then carried back into or through the tube. But 220 
THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
this is equally or more consistent with the theory we hold that in 
many of these cases a fright, or other nervous excitement, caused 
paralysis or stricture of the Tube, and prevented the ovum, already 
or afterwards impregnated, from at all passing down the tube. A 
singular fact ment'oned by him is that most of such cases have 
arisen from illicit intercourse, the extraordinary and conflicting 
emotions attendant on such intercourse, extraordinary sexual ex- 
citement, coupled with the fear of present discovery or subse- 
quent exposure, perhaps paralyzing the nerve supply of the Fal- 
lopian Tubes, or causing such strictures as are above described. 
Intra-Foetal Pregnaticies. A still rarer and still more remark- 
able phenomenon is the existence of a foetus within a foetus. It 
appears that in some cases of double conception, both embryos 
are within the one amniotic sac ; one remains for some time rudi- 
mentary, while the other goes on, develops, and surrounds or 
envelops the other, involving the impregnated but undeveloped 
ovum within its tissues. After a greater or less time, the con- 
tained ovum begins also to develop, and finds itself a foetus within 
the body of its twin brother. Sometimes this development of the 
second ovum is postponed until the child is born, or even until 
some years later. 
A correspondent of the Dantzic Gazette states that on Sun- 
day, February i, 1869, at Schliewen, near Dirschau, “ a young 
and blooming shepherd’s wife was delivered of a girl, otherwise 
sound, but having on the lower part of her back, between the 
hips, a swelling as big as two good-sized fists, through the walls of 
which a well-developed foetus may be felt. Its limbs indicate a 
growth of from five to six months, and its movements are very 
lively. The father called in the Health Commissioner. Dr. 
Preuss, from Dirschau, and begged him to remove the swelling, 
together with the foetus. The doctor, however, after a careful 
examination, declared that there was a possibility, in this extraor- 
dinary case, of the child within the swelling coming to fruition. 
Its existence and active motions were palpable to all present. 
No physician could be justified in destroying this marvellous 
being. It ought, rather, to be protected and cherished. The 
new-born girl, notwithstanding her strange burden, is of unusual 
strength and beauty, and takes the breast very cheerfully.’’ The 
Health Commiss oner, writing in the same paper, corroborates the 
statement of this remarkable case, as above given, and goes on THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
221 
to say: “But what is novel, and hitherto unnoticed in Medical 
Literature, is the fac', that not only the girl, which has been 
carried its full term, is alive to-day, but the foetus within the 
swelling has also, in the eleven days after birth, further developed, 
and palpably increased in size. The swelling is now four and a 
half inches long, three and a half inches wide, and high and pear- 
shaped ; the head lies underneath on the left, the body towards 
the right.” 
It appears that later the child was brought before the Natural 
History Society, of Dantzic, at the S >ciety’s special request, and 
thence the mother went to Berlin for medical advice, but later 
particulars regarding this phenomenon are wanting. 
The case of the boy Bissien, which occurred at Verneuil, in 
France, in 1804, is of the same sort. This child differed appar- 
ently nothing from other children, but always complained of 
something being the matter in his left side, where, indeed, a 
small tumor appeared when he was quite young. He, however, 
grew and developed in body and mind as usual, until he was 
thirteen years of age, when the tumor suddenly increased in size, 
and he began to pass from his body putrid matter, mixed with 
long hair. Fever set in and he died at about fourteen years of 
age ; a post-mortem examination was held, and revealed, between 
the intestines and spine, the remains ot a foetus. From the ap- 
pearance of the bones, teeth, nails and hair, the foetus was not a 
mere infant, but had the tissue development suitable to the age of 
the brother, in whose body it lay so long. 
Dr. Hollick says he has often met with such cases in dissect- 
ing animals, and that a friend of his once found such an inclosed 
foetus in the body of a man at thirty, whieh was so perfect that 
he could distinguish it as of the male sex. 
Monstrosities. These peculiar births, called also Lusus Naturce, 
or Freaks of Nature, are of various sorts. Some have more parts 
than natural, as two thumbs on each hand, six toes on each foot, 
or even two heads. Some appear to be two persons as far as to the 
waist, and thence downward, one. Various other such superflui- 
ties appear. On the other hand, some of the parts may be want- 
ing, as one or both arms, or legs, or even the head may be absent. 
The eyes or the organs of hearing may be absent or undeveloped, 
and various other deficiencies appear. Or, thirdly, some of the 
parts may be unnatural; as the spine may be curved, or the 222 
THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
hands may be joined to the shoulders at the wrists, or the legs may 
be unnaturally short, or the head too large for the body, or the like. 
The brain may be deficient or wanting in the upper part, and then 
the child is idiotic. Various peculiar marks may appear on dif- 
ferent parts of the body. Cleft palates and hare-lips are quite com- 
mon. These seem to be cases of simp'e arrested development. 
These freaks of Nature cannot be certainly accounted for. 
It is by many believed that they are caused by various states of 
the mother’s mind during pregnancy, as longings and cravings, 
frights, impression, and the like, but the evidence in support of 
this theory is, as pointed out in the article on “ Mother’s Marks,” 
far from satisfactory. 
Dr. Playfair suggests that the absence of a limb may be 
caused by something getting twisted round it in an early stage of 
foetal existence, causing it to atrophy and fall off; some suggest 
that the umbilical cord may produce this amputation. But it is a 
singular fact, that when one arm is apparently in this cut-off con- 
dition, the other has been a like sufferer. Cases have been found 
of the amputation of an arm within the womb in so late a stage 
of pregnancy that the arm still existed, and was brought forth 
with the foetus to which it belonged. 
These deformities may originate in some defect in the ovum 
of the mother, or in the seminal animalcula of the father. Dr. 
Hollick mentions the case of a man whom he knew who had three 
deformed children by one wife and two by another, owing to im- 
perfect Animalculae, as he proved by observing . samples of the 
semen with a microscope. And it seems probable that many 
cases of deformity arise from this unsuspected cause, and the 
mother looks round to recollect some circumstance occurring dur- 
ing pregnancy to account for the monstrosity. 
Hermaphrodism. A hermaphrodite is a being whose genital 
organs are bi-sexual, which partake of the character of both the 
male and female organs. Probably no true hermaphrodite exists 
in the human race, but there are, undoubtedly, many persons who 
are apparently such, and whose sex can hardly be ascertained 
except by the most careful examination. 
The name, Hermaphrodite, leads us back to the age of my- 
thology. Its origin is variously stated. One legend is that Her- 
maphroditus was a son of the goddess Venus, by the god Mer- 
cury; that he was educated by the Naiades dwelling on Mount THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
223 
Ida, on the Asiatic coast of the Aegean Sea At the age of fifteen 
years be began his travels. He was an extremely handsome 
youth ; and one day, as he rested in the shade by a ccol fountain, 
near Caira, he was seen by Talmakis, the presiding Nymph of 
the fountain. Becoming enamored of his beauty she approached 
him and endeavored to seduce him, as Venus, his mother, had 
tried to seduce Adonis, and with like failure. Hermaphroditus 
was a pattern of continence and withstood her wiles, as did Joseph 
those of Potiphar’s wife. Talmakis then seized the youth, em- 
braced him, and prayed to the gods to combine and amalgamate 
their two bodies in one. Pier prayer was granted by the gods on 
Mount Olympus, and the two became one, but the composite 
body retained the sexual characteristics of both. This monstros- 
ity then conceived by itself, and originated a race of like kind, 
the fabled race of the Androgynes (Greek—aner, male, and gyne, 
woman). 
Another tradition, and probably the correct one, is as follows : 
Carnia, or Halicarnassus (Karnassus-by-the-Sea), was a famous 
watering place of Asia Minor. To this seaside resort went the 
victims of gluttony, debauchery, and general physical bankruptcy 
to take the baths. The attendants at these baths were a lot of 
young and handsome eunuchs, who not only waited on the old, 
shattered, debauched wrecks of humanity who repaired thither, but 
prostituted their bodies to the vile and unnatural passions of their 
patrons, in the practice of pederasty. The nymph who presided 
over the mineral springs at this resort was called, from the sa ty 
nature of the waters, Talmakis, and was worshipped as Aphro- 
dite, otherwise called Venus, the Goddess of Love, or Sexual 
. . • 
Passion. Cities in those days chose or had some god or goddess, 
under whose especial care the city was supposed to be, just as in 
later days countries have their patron saints ; for instance, as St. 
George is the patron saint of England, St. Andrew of Scotland, 
St. Patrick of Ireland, and St. Nicholas of Russia. The patron 
god of Halicarnassus was Hermes, corresponding to the Roman 
Mercury, and the patron goddess Aphrodite, corresponding to the 
Roman Venus. These eunuchs then were looked upon as the 
servants or minions of Hermes and Aphrodite, and were called 
Hermaphrodites; and from their practicing pederasty, as above- 
mentioned, any bi-sexual creature came to be called Hermaphro 
dite. Powell, in his history of the Omahas, a tribe of American 224 
THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
Indians, says that this vile practice, pederasty, was common 
amongst them, as indeed it was amongst many tribes of the south 
and south-west, and that they called the passive agent in it min- 
quga (man-woman), or hermaphrodite. 
Though the great numbers of people who, in ancient times, 
or even in the middle ages, were called hermaphrodites, were, 
doubtless, merely men prostituted to feminine purposes, and wear- 
ing feminine garments, as they invariably did, yet there are, at 
the present day, occasionally found persons in whom it is difficult 
to distinguish the sex, and courts of law have been called upon to 
decide the question of sex in order to adjudge concerning the 
validity of a marriage, and for other purposes. 
As to the question, whether true hermaphrodism ever exists, 
it is a matter still of controversy. There seems no reason why, 
when all the other parts of the body are subject to faulty forma- 
tions, the sexual organs should alo le be exempt. And observation 
shows that many monstrosities and deform hies of these organs are 
found, as well as of the others. But a variation from the normal 
to such an extent as to couple, as it were, parts of two persons, 
goes beyond ordinary deformity. It is true that humanity begins 
its existence in a state of what is called hermaphrodism ; that is 
to say, the earlier development of the human embryo in the womb 
is along lines which are common to both sexes, and up to the second 
month male and female cannot be distinguished. At the same 
time there can be no doubt that there is a difference in the organs 
from the very day of their formation, though men have not yet 
been able to see it. This is so in all the higher animals where 
hermaphrodites do not normally exist. The egg of the common 
hen is in process of incubation for four days before the sex of the 
genital gland can be distinguished for the rudiment of an ovary 
or of a testicle. This can only be observed in the embryo of the 
rabbit on the fifteenth day, and in the human embryo on the 
thirtieth day. But this is a case of undistinguishable sex, not of 
double sex. As there are, however, cases in which two embryos 
have so grown together that at birth they formed two from the 
waist up, and one from the waist down,'there appear no reason 
why creatures so conjoined should not be of the two sexes, and 
the lower half accordingly showing hermaphrodism. And even 
in those persons otherwise perfect, but in life apparently herma- 
phrodite, it nearly always happens that a post-mortem examination THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION 
225 
8howsthem unquestionably of one sex or the other, and not of both. 
Even in life, if the person attain the age of puberty, even when 
no vagina or uterus can be observed, the Monthly sickness usually 
appears in some form or other. Of course if the ovaries are wanting, 
or remain merely rudimentary, no menstrual function will appear. 
A few of the cases of hermaphroditism may prove of interest. 
The paper published in 1886 in the Archives of Criminal Anthro- 
pology, of Lyons, France, by Dr. Debierre of that city, entitled, 
“ Hermaphrodism Before the Civil Code; its Nature, Origin and 
Social Consequences,” contains a curious list. The following are 
some of the cases recited by him : 
A person named Marie Dorothee was examined by five phy- 
sicians as to her sex. Of these Hufeland and Marsina pronounced 
her a woman, Stark and Martens declared her to be a man, while 
Metzger confessed his inability to decide the sex. 
A person named Valmont had a penis; a scrotum but no 
testicles; ovaries and Fallopian Tubes; a womb, and a short 
vagina. The vagina was only about two inches in length; it 
gradually narrowed till it ended in the male urethra, with a regular 
prostate gland. This person, supposing herself a man, married a 
woman, and it was only on a post-mortem examination that she 
was proven to be a woman. 
Dr. Trexel, of Kremsir, in Moravia, Austria, reported a case 
in L'Union Medicate for August 26, 1856, which is referred to in 
the British and Foreign Medico-Chirurgical Review, Volume 
XVIII. (1856), as follows: 
On April I, 1856, a new-born infant was brought to Dr. 
Trexel that he might determine its sex. The father and mother 
were servants of a peasant. On an examination of the alleged 
father, he was found to have all the external characteristics of a 
male; the penis, which was rather shorter than ordinary, but of 
large size, was imperforate; the scrotum was divided into two 
pouches, each containing a testicle. The apposed surfaces of the 
scrotal pouches were covered with a red skin, and the division ex- 
tended throughout their entire length. At the root of the penis, in 
the anterior angle of these pouches, was an opening of the size of 
a lentil; this was the orifice of the urethra. The lower surface 
of the penis was grooved from the above-mentioned orifice to the 
end of the glands. There was no prepuce. Almost in a line 
behind the corona of the glands, and in the groove, were two 226 
THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION 
eliptical openings, which readily admitted a large hog bristle; 
there was a third smaller opening, two lines from the orifice of the 
urethra. This man had always passed for a woman. He lay in 
the same room with the mother of the child, and they acknow- 
ledged having had frequent connection. The woman declared 
that she had no commerce with any other man for three years, 
and the man did not deny this assertion. The idea of cohabita- 
tion with another man was further negatived by the circumstance 
that the infant had the same conformation of the genital organs 
as the father. How did fecundation take place? The three 
openings in the penis were probably the orifices of the excretory 
ducts of Cowper’s glands. But might not these have been the 
openings of the ejaculatory ducts ? It is to be regretted that Dr. 
Trexel did not examine these canals. Their length and direction 
would have thrown light on the subject. The fact of fecundation 
may also be explained by supposing that during coition the pos- 
terior wall of the vagina supplied the place of the absent floor of 
the urethra, thus forming a complete canal. This is the most 
probable explanation.” 
A very remarkable case was that of Hohmann, who died in 
Vienna, Austria, in 1869, at the age of forty years. It is reported 
by Rohitansky and also Cecceherelli. Hohmann had two ovaries, 
with their Fallopian Tubes ; a uterus which was rudimentary ; 
one testicle, with a vas deferens containing spermatozoa ; and 
menstruated regularly, presumably maturing perfect ova in those 
ovaries, until the age of thirty-eight. Had the uterus been de- 
veloped instead of rudimentary, we may well suppose that the 
semen might have been brought into contact with the ova, and a 
regular pregnancy produced, the woman becoming pregnant by 
her own male parts. 
The case of Mathieu Perret, who died at the Hotel Dieu in 
Lyons, aged sixty-three, is very similar to that of Hohmann. 
These individuals could act the part of either man or woman in 
sexual intercourse, and are by some considered examples of true 
hermaphrodism. 
Crecchio, in 1865, reported the case of Joseph, or Josephine 
Marzo. This person had a hypospadic penis, that is, having the 
urethra opening on its under side instead of at the end The 
penis was about four inches in length. There was also a prostate 
gland. She had a vagina about two and a half inches in length, THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
227 
and one and a half inches in circumference, womb, Fallopian 
tubes and ovaries. She died at the age of fifty-six years, and 
was then, for the first time, ascertained to be a female. 
Michel-Ann Dronart was a case of doubtful sex. Two emin- 
ent physicians declared this person a female, one a male, one was 
doubtful as to the sex, and one, the Danish Surgeon, Kruger, 
pronounced it asexual, or without sex. 
Debierre mentions also the remarkable case of Marie- 
Madeline Lefort. Sexually, this person was a perfect woman 
with ovaries, oviducts, uterus, vagina, etc., complete, and men- 
struated regularly. But the vagina was narrow at its lower 
end, and the urethra, instead of opening in the vestibulum, 
between the labia majora, opened into the vagina. The 
clitoris also was so greatly enlarged as to be mistaken for a 
penis. Her head, however, was that of a man, in shape and ap- 
pearance, and she had a full, manly beard. The breasts were 
well developed as those of a woman are, but the chest was hairy, 
as a man’s is often found to be. 
Duval, in his work on “ Hermaphrodites,” mentions a case in 
which a man applied for a divorce, on the ground that his wife 
had a penis, which interfered to successfully prevent copulation. 
On examination by order of the court, it was found that the 
clitoris was so greatly enlarged that, when erected, it would un- 
doubtedly interfere as the man had stated. The court accord- 
ingly decreed that, unless the young woman would have the ob- 
jectionable member amputated, the divorce should be granted. 
She refused, and the decree went for divorce. 
This abnormally large clitoris has often caused the sex of a 
female child to be mistaken by her parents, who have accordingly 
bred her to masculine employments. No doubt in some of these 
cases the true sex is never discovered, or even suspected, until 
death, or not even then. But in some cases their sins have found 
them out, as happened to the Hungarian ‘oldier mentioned by 
Mautaigne, who bore a child while in camp; and the monk refer- 
red to by the same writer, who went through a similar remarkable 
experience in the cell of his monastry ; and the priest mentioned 
by Duval, who was imprisoned for pregnancy, by order of the 
ecclesiastical court. 
On the other hand, though much more rarely, males have 
been mistaken for females. These are usually cases in which the 228 
THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
penis is merely rudimentary, and the testicles have not descended 
into the scrotum, as was the case with Marie Goulich, reported by 
Ladowsky, of Rheims. This man was believed to be a female 
until, at the age of thirty-three, his testicles descended. 
Giraud’s case was a remarkable one. This person was mar- 
ried to a man, and nothing was suspected of his being other than 
a woman until after the husband’s death. He had no other 
female organ than a vagina, leading nowhere, but apparently 
pleasing the husband well enough. 
Where these persons, having such deformities of the genital 
organs, produce offspring, the children are very apt to be likewise 
deformed. The case of the Austrian peasant's servant, cited 
above, is an illustration of this law of heredity. Hypospadia, 
that is, that malformation in which the urethra, or urinary pass- 
age, opens in the lower side of the penis, instead of in its end, is 
apparently especially transmissible. Dr. Lesser states that he 
treated eight such cases in one family in one generation. 
In some of these cases the opening of the urethra is far 
enough forward to allow the semen, as it is ejaculated, to come 
within the vagina, and in such cases the spermatozoa may find 
their way to the ovum and pregnancy ensue. A case is mention- 
ed in the Dictionaire des Sciences Medicales, in Volume XXXI., 
in which a person so deformed, and who could not, by means of 
the penis, even convey the semen ihto the vagina, nevertheless 
successfully induced pregnancy in his wife by receiving the semen 
in a warm spoon, and with that placing it within. And in other 
cases, as appears by Dr. Hollick’s work on “ Generation,” the 
semen ha° been caught in a syringe, and with that injected. 
In times of superstition, hermaphrodites, like other prodigies, 
were liable to become victims of the fear which public calamity 
inspired. The Roman historian, Livy, states that, during the fear 
and excitement of the Punic wars, the existence of a hermaphro- 
dite was denounced as a cause of the disasters which befel the 
Roman arms; and, on the recommendation of the Etruscan 
soothsayers, that he should be first removed from Roman domin 
ions and then drowned in the depths of the sea, th's unfortunate 
was placed in a chest, put on board a galley, taken out to sea be- 
yond sight of land, and thrown overboard. A similar fate befel 
an Umbrian hermaphrodite in the Consulship of Messalus, and of 
a Lunan during that of L. Metellus. THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
229 
CHAPTER XX. 
THE AVOIDANCE OF OFFSPRING. 
THE problem which confronted Mr. Ginx, the father of 
Ginx’s Baby, who was the hero of Mr. Jenkins’ celebrated 
satire, stares many persons in the face. To quote from 
the opening chapter of “ Ginx’s Baby ” : 
“ The name of the father of Ginx’s Baby was Ginx. By a 
not unexceptional coincidence, its mother was Mrs. Ginx. The 
gender of Ginx’s Baby was Masculine. 
“ On the day when our hero was born, Mr. and Mrs. Ginx 
were living at Number Five Rosemary Street, in the City of 
Westminster. The being then and there brought into the world 
was not the only human entity to which the title of ‘ Ginx’s Baby ’ 
was or had been appropriate. Ginx had been married to Betsy 
Hicks on the twenty-fifth day of October, 18—, as appears from 
the ‘ marriage lines ’ retained by Betsy Ginx, and carefully col- 
lated by me with the original register. Our hero was their thir- 
teenth child. Patient enquiry has enabled me to verify the fol- 
lowing history of their propagations. On July the twenty-fifth, 
the year after their marriage, Mrs. Ginx was safely delivered of a 
girl. No announcement of this appeared in the newspapers. On 
the tent1 of April following, the whole neighborhood, including 
Great Smith Street, Marsham Street, Great and Little Peter 
Streets, Regent Street, Horseferry Road and Strutton Ground, 
were convulsed by the report that a woman named Ginx had 
given birth to ‘ a triplet,’ consisting of two girls and a toy. The 
news penetrated to the Dean’s Yard and the ancient School of 
Westminster. The Dean, who accepted nothing on trust, sent to 
verify the report, his messenger bearing a bundle of baby clothes 
from the Dean’s wife, who thought that the mother could scarcely 
have provided for so large an addition to her family. The school 
boys, on their way to the play-ground at Vincent Square, slyly 
diverged to have a look at the curiosity, paying sixpence a head 
to Mrs. Ginx’s friend and crony, Mrs. Spittal, who pocketed the 
money and said nothing about it to the sick woman. This birth 
was announced in all the newspapers throughout the kingdom with the further news that Her Majesty the Queen had been 
graciously pleased to forward to Mrs. Ginx the sum of three 
pounds. 
230 
THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
“ What could have possessed the woman I can’t say, but 
about a twelvemonth after, Mrs. Ginx, with the assistance of two 
doctors, hastily fetched from the hospital by her frightened hus- 
band, nearly perished in a fresh effort of maternity. This time 
two sons and two daughters fell to the lot of the happy pair. Her 
Majesty sent four pounds. But whatever peace there was at 
home, broils disturbed the street. The neighbors, who had sent 
for the police on the occasion, were angered by a notoriety which 
was becoming uncomfortable to them, and began to testify their 
feelings in various rough ways. Ginx removed his family to 
Rosemary Street. Up to a year before the time when Ginx’s 
Baby was born, his wife had continued to add to her offspring 
until the tale reached one dozen. It was then that Ginx affec- 
tionately but firmly begged that his wife would consider her 
family ways, since, in all conscience, he had fairly earned the 
blessedness of the man who ‘hath his quiver full of them’; and 
frankly gave her notice that, as his utmost efforts could scarcely 
maintain their existing family, if she ventured to present him with 
any more, either single, ortwins, or triplets, or otherwise he would 
most assuredly drown him, or her, or them in the water-tub, and 
take the consequences. 
“ Convinced that another infant straw would break his back, 
Ginx calmly proposed to disconcert physical, moral and legal 
relations by drowning the straw. Mrs. Ginx, clinging to Number 
Twelve, listened aghast. If a mother can forget her sucking child 
she was not that mother. The stream of her affections, though 
divided into twelve rills, would not have been exhausted in 
twenty-four, and her soul, forecasting its sorrows, yearned after 
that nonentity, Number Thirteen. She pictured to herself the 
hapless strangling borne away from her bosom by those strong 
arms, and—in fact she sobbed so that Ginx grew ashamed, and 
sought to comfort her by the suggestion that she could not have 
any more. But she knew better.” 
Poor hard-worked, ill-paid, laboring-man Ginx had never 
heard of Malthus, or of his doctrine, that the world was likely to 
become over-peopled if some check were not imposed upon pro THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
23I 
duction, and that the people then, not finding enough food to 
maintain a good standard of physical life, would starve each other, 
and the race would degenerate accordingly. He did not know 
that anyone by that or any other name had argued that wars were 
mankind’s benefactions instead of calamities, as they tended to 
postpone the evil day when the mouths to feed would exceed the 
food supply; but Ginx, in his little world of thirteen children and 
two grown people, in his rude and ignorant way, had come to a 
similar conclusion. Those who would know what Ginx actually 
did when little Number Thirteen actually arrived, must read the 
book for themselves. Our part is only to point out that thousands 
meet the same problem which thrust itself upon Ginx, and various 
are the solutions of it which are offered. 
With some the problem is faced at a seyaaewhat earlier stage, 
and study how to avoid offspring instead proposing to get rid 
of them by war as Malthus suggested, or by drowning them like 
kittens, the only way which occurred to poor Ginx. 
Of course, a difference of opinion exists as to the morality 
of seeking to avoid offspring. Unquestionably, the natural 
and proper purpose of marriage is the production of children. 
Yet the question remains, how many children is it the ditty of a 
married couple to have ? Obviously, a number cannot be stated 
which would be a proper rule for all married couples, without re- 
gard to circumstances. Various circumstances have to be con- 
sidered, as the ability of the parents to properly maintain, educate 
and equip for the battle of life, a greater or less number of chil- 
dren, the physical ability of the mother to stand the drain of fre- 
quent maternity, or her physical suitability for safe delivery. 
For the first circumstance, the finanancial ability of the 
patents, we think it will hardly be denied that, unless the State 
shall undertake the maintenance of surplus offspring, it cannot be 
the duty of the parents to bring into the world children whom they 
are unable to properly rear, who must necessarily be unfit, by 
reason of such improper feeding, clothing, or education, to either 
live happily themselves, or to add anything to the sum total of 
human good. 
Also, we think it must be admitted that it .s not the duly of 
any woman to continue to bear children, when to do so is to either 
bring destruction upon herself, in child-bed, or in the vital drain 
of pregnancy and nursing, or to produce children when her own 232 
THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
condition is such that the children are almost certain to be born 
diseased, or deformed, or weakly in constitution. 
Some desire to avoid offspring for reasons quite different from 
any given above. For instance, the wife or husband, or both, 
wish to avoid the duties and responsibilities of parenthood ; or 
they are, or one of them is, unwilling to forego even for a time the 
pleasure of sexual intercourse, or the wife will not consent to the 
abstinence from balls, parties, and other society functions, from 
which a condition of pregnancy would make it necessary for her 
to stay away for a time ; or she simply declines the discomforts 
of pregnancy and the pains of confinement. With these latter 
reasons for refusal of parenthood we have no sympathy, but there 
is no doubt that they operate much more generally than the legi- 
timate reasons first set out. It is largely on account of the avoid- 
ance of offspring for these latter reasons that the decrease of 
population in France is hastening that nation to decay, and the 
same condition of things prevails to an alarming extent also 
amongst the wealthier classes in America. Rev. John Todd, 
author of the “ Student’s Manual,” says: “It has become the 
fashion for parents to be leading round a solitary, lonely child, or 
possibly two, it being well understood, talked about and boasted 
of, that they are to have no more. The means to prevent it are 
well understood instrumentalities shamelessly sold and bought, and 
it is a glory that they are to have no more children.” The lan- 
guage of Dr. Napheys is even stronger. Quoting Rev. John Todd 
as above, he adds : “ This is sadly true, especially in the cities and 
larger towns of this country. 
“ Its results are even more conspicuous in France. Dr. Ber- 
geret, a prominent physician in one of the provincial towns of 
that country, draws a striking picture of the demoralization it has 
brought about. He shows how the bonds of pubi c morality have 
been loosened, the sacred institution of marriage converted into 
legal prostitution, woman sunk in respect, man yielding to un- 
natural debauches, losing his better impulses to plunge into sensu- 
ality ; diseases and debility gaining ground, the number of births 
constantly decreasing, and the nation itself falling a prey to its 
rivals through a want of effective soldiers. The picture is a 
gloomy one, and is probably but little overdrawn. 
“ If it is true that the native American population is actually- 
dying out, and that year by year the births from couples born in THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
233 
this country are less in proportion than those from couples one or 
both of whom are of European birth, as many have asserted, then 
we must seek the explanation of this startling fact either in a 
premature decay of virility, or a naturally diminished virility in 
middle life in the husbands, or to an increased tendency to sterility 
in the wives, or else (and this has been, perhaps, the hasty con- 
clusion of most writers) we must suppose there is a deliberate and 
widespread agreement between those who are in the bonds of 
matrimony, that American women shall be childless, or the next 
thing to it.” 
But let us return to the legitimate avoidance of further offspring, 
for reasons quite sufficient, such as the inability of the parents to 
give them a proper physical and mental equipment, or considera- 
tions of the health or life of the mother. There is only one abso- 
lutely safe and certain'means of avoiding conception, namely, ab- 
stinence. But it is absolutely useless to recommend that which cer- 
tainly not one in a hundred will adopt. In many cases such a course 
would be distasteful to the wife; in most cases it would be 
more so to the husband, and complete abstinence at home 
would very probably lead to illicit indulgence elsewhere. But 
there is a qualified and partial abstinence which, judiciously exer- 
cised, will very greatly lessen the chance of conception. As 
pointed out elsewhere in this book, conception can only cake place 
when a spermatozoon of the male meets and enters an ovum, or 
egg, of the female. This, of course, can only occur while an egg 
is in course of passage from the ruptured Graafian Cell to the 
uterus. There is a period, from about the middle of the time in- 
tervening between the menstrual periods to near the end of that 
time, when there is no egg so in course of passage, a period of 
from three or four to twelve or fifteen days, the length of time 
varying in different women. During this period, then, connection 
may be had with reasonable freedom from risk of conception. 
There are, of course, some uncertainties which attend this 
method. First, the exact time, with reference to the menstrual 
period, when the egg leaves its cell, is not certainly known. 
Opinions differ as to whether the Graafian Vesicle, or cell, is rup- 
tured and the egg escapes just before, or during menstruation, or 
just at its close, or a day or two later. The better opinion seems 
to be that the ovulation occurs about the time, or a day or two 
before the time when the menstrual flow appears. Certainly con- 234 
THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
I 
ception may take place from connection had from a day or two 
to four or five days previous to the time for appearance of the 
menses, and as the spermatozoa probably do not live longer than 
a few days, the egg must be ready for impregnation during that 
time. Second, the time the expelled egg remains in the Fallopian 
Tubes, where ®nly, according to the best authority, it may be 
impregnated, is uncertain, and varies in different persons probably 
from two or three days to five or six, or even seven days or more, 
and the time it remains in the womb, where, according to some 
physiologists, it may be impregnated, is equally various and un- 
certain. Thirdly, though there be no egg en route at the time of 
connection with the male, yet the spermatozoa of the semen in- 
jected during intercourse may remain for some time in the female 
genitals, ready to impregnate the egg when it appears ; the t me 
during which the semen will retain its vivifying properties is 
uncertain, but is probably two or three days, or even longer. 
Fourth, the fact of menstruation is not always certainly known. 
In some cases a slight flooding, ©r bleeding from the veins may 
be mistaken for the catemenial flow, and time reckoned from that 
would be deceptive. On the other hand, the real monthly flow 
is sometimes so scanty, and so light in color, that it is not recog- 
nized as such, and there may be an egg available for fertilization, 
without its being suspected. 
Notwithstanding all these uncertainties, the probability of con- 
ception where intercourse is had at this period only, so far as it can 
be ascertained, is immeasurably less than where it is indulged in 
without such restraint, and for almost any married couple, the ob- 
servance of this agenetic, or sterile period, say from twelve days 
after one catamenial period, to five days before the beginning of 
the next, reduces the probability of pregnancy quite low enough. 
This plan, too, allows a reasonable indulgence of the husband’s 
amatory instincts and those of the wife, without any of the risks 
and objectionableness incident to those means sometimes used, 
and which we can mention only to condemn. 
The use of various injections is only to be condemned. Some 
inject cold water immediately after copulation, to destroy the 
spermatozoa. It is true that cold water will kill those living 
organisms, but not only is it liable to miss some of them, as where 
the semen has been thrown well up into the womb, but the chill 
from cold water is liable to produce inflammation and disease of THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
235 
the womb. The same may be said of injections of solutions of 
strychnine and other poisons. They are by no means certainly 
effectual to prevent conception, and they seriously endanger the 
health and even the life of the woman. Moreover, the use of in- 
jections and the consciousness during connection that they are to 
be used, measurably destroys the pleasure which she might other- 
wise derive from it. 
Another practice which is highly improper is that of prevent- 
ing the emission of the semen by pressing on the urethra near the 
root of the penis. The effect is to force the semen back past the 
interposed vera montanum into the bladder, whence it is after- 
wards carried out with the urine. The habitual use of this 
means soon destroys the power of the vera monta?ium to prevent 
the semen from being thrown back into the bladder, the man be- 
comes the victim of urinary spermatorrhoea of the worst type, 
and quite impotent and unable to even perform the sexual act, 
much less to beget children. 
The practice of Onanism is another practice abominated of 
God and of all well-constituted men and women ; that is, the with- 
drawing of the male organ at the critical moment and allowing 
the semen to be spilled. It was this means which was adopted 
by Onan (see Genesis xxxviii., 6-10) when, being required to marry 
Tamar, the widow of his deceased brother, and to rear children to 
inherit that brother’s estate, he, having indeed married her, de- 
sired to avoid children by her, so that he would be his brother’s 
heir. This practice is not only demoralizing to the man, but is 
exceedingly injurious to the woman, the interruption of the con- 
nect'd! at the highest pitch of the orgasm or sexual excitement 
almost invariably causing great nervous reaction, and eventually 
falling of the womb and other disorders. 
The use of various mechanical contrivances, such as French 
Safes, Condom Sheaths, etc., is also objectionable, on the ground, 
first, that anything which prevents the actual contact of the parts 
is liable to cause nervous disorders, and second, that various acci- 
dents are liable to happen to prevent their efficacy. 
Another great objection to all these devices is that they foster 
in the mind of the unmarried an idea that they may commit for- 
nication with impunity, and that their sin will not betray them by 
the production of unwelcome offspring. Such persons may as 
well understand that they cannot hope by any of these means to 236 
THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
continue to enjoy a reputation they do not deserve, nor to per- 
manently escape the reproach due to their conduct. 
And to married people be it said, that many high-minded 
persons look upon the regular practice of sexual intercourse, while 
preventing conception by artificial means, except for very strong 
reasons, as little better than prostitution, and the wedded condi- 
tion, under such circumstances, as little better than a license to 
commit fornication. 
If for any reason it be necessary to avoid conception, then the 
husband, if he cannot restrain himself in her presence, should 
adopt the course in common practice amongst the higher classes 
in England, namely, sleep in a separate room from his wife, and 
only visit her bed at that agenetic or sterile perod ten or twelve 
days after the cessation of each menstrual flow. 
A false notion exists in some quarters, and is fostered by 
some ignorant writers', and by the advertisements published by 
unprincipled knaves in some newspapers, that frequent sexual in- 
tercourse is necessary to the male health. Nothing can be less 
true ; and the history and statistics of man show that there is no 
condition of life more healthful than that of a bachelor who is 
chaste both in body and mind. It is unboubtedly true that if a 
man foster and encourage the sexual instinct in himself by allow- 
ing his mind to dwell on the idea of copulation, he is apt to be- 
come morbid and more or less unbalanced ; but the cure for such 
a malady is not fornication, but either marriage and a moderate 
indulgence of his passions, or a mitigation of them by diligent 
mental and physical exercise. 
If, then, means for the prevention of conception are to be 
sparingly used, what shall be said of the practice of Criminal 
\bortion; simply this: it is utterly and without qualification 
damnable. Words cannot be found nor invented to condemn it 
too strongly. 
This vile practice is by no means confined to unmarried 
females who seek to preserve a reputation different from their true 
character, but is unfortunately much in vogue amongst marr cd 
women. The reasons are usually the same as those referred to 
above as reasons not legitimate for the prevention of concept:on ; 
the woman or her husband objects to having a large fam ly, or to 
suspend ng their sexual or social pleasures. Amongst the poor, 
whose excuse would be their inability to man tain the child, the THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
237 
crime of abortion is almost unknown, But it is in fashionable 
society where it rears its ugly head, and is scarcely even ashamed. 
Yet in most civilized countries it is a crime, not only in the sight 
of God, but in the eye of the law. 
The Criminal Code of Canada has the following provision on 
the subject: 
“ Sec. 271. Every one is guilty of an indictable offence and 
liable to imprisonment for life who causes the death of any child 
which has not become a human being, in such a manner that he 
would have been guilty of murder if such child had been born. 
“ 2. No one is guilty of an offence who, by means which he 
in good faith considers necessary for the preservation of the life 
of the mother of the child, causes the death of any such child be- 
fore or during its birth. 
“ 272. Every one is guilty of an indictable offence and liable 
to imprisonment for life who, with intent to procure the miscar- 
riage of any woman, whether she is or is not with child, unlaw- 
fully administers to her or causes to be taken by her any drug or 
other noxious thing, or unlawfully uses any instrument or other 
means whatsoever with the like intent. 
“ 273. Every woman is guilty of an indictable offence and 
liable to seven years’ imprisonment who, whether with child or 
not, unlawfully administers to herself or permits to be adminis- 
tered to her any drug or other noxious thing, or unlawfully uses 
on herself or permits to be used on her any instrument or ether 
means Whatsoever with intent to procure miscarriage. 
“ 274. Every one is guilty ot an indictable offence and liable 
to two years’ imprisonment who unlawfully supplies or procures 
any drug or other noxious thing, or any instrument or thing what- 
soever, knowing that the same is intended to be unlawfully used 
or employed with intent to procure the miscarriage of any woman, 
whether she is or is not with child.” 
In Canada, happily, the law against procuring abortion is 
rigidly and vigorously enforced, and nothing of the kind is winked 
at. On the contrary, in some of the United States of America, 
similar laws are administered with a very faint heart and lax hand, 
the professional abortionists being neither afraid nor ashamed to 
advertise their imfamous services. 
Almost the most shocking and disgusting feature of the busi- 
ness is the conduct of some husbands, who not only allow but 838 
THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
encourage, in some cases almost compel, their wives to pass 
through this dangerous and shameful ordeal. 
Why do we speak in such strong terms of this practice ? 
First, because it is murder. From the moment of conception a 
new being has been ushered into existence—a human be.ng— 
notwithstanding the implication in the above quoted section, 271 
of the Canadian Code to the contrary. If not, then when does it 
become a human being, to take whose life is murder? At birth ? 
But a child may be born at seven months, or earlier, in conse- 
quence of some accident, and live ; and it cannot surely become 
human by accident. 
The fact is, that from the beginning it is a separate entity, it 
exists separately from its mother, getting its sustenance from her 
blood as later it gets it from her breast; and to kill it by violent 
separation from its mother before the time, is truly child-murder, 
the murder of her own innocent,; helpless, speechless child, as 
truly so as if she strangled her new-born babe, or 
“ While it was smiling in her face, 
Have plucked her nipple from his boneless gums, 
And dashed the brains out.” 
Father, mother, know you not that your babes, assassinated 
in their mother’s womb, will not at Judgment Day be speechless, 
but, in the face of an avenging God, will stand before you and 
denounce you as their murderers, their selfish, brutal, cowardly 
murderers. Think you the little, new life is of no value ? Who 
made you judge of the value of a human life ? Is your child of 
less value than another’s bom a month ago ? Is this new life, 
with all its possibilities of joy and beauty and usefulness, of less 
value than that of the worn out, decrepit, doting, old man, or of 
the vile and corrupt of middle age ? 
Better far to suffer the pangs of confinement a score of times ; 
better to starve with your too numerous children, whom you are 
unable to maintain (but it is not the poor who commit abortion); 
better to die in the throes of childbirth if need be, than to imbrue 
your hands in the blood of your helpless child, and live with the 
stain of this horrid sin upon your conscience. 
But if the tender feeling of maternal love be exchanged for 
the worship of ease, or frivolity, or sensuality ; or if the dead con- 
science cannot rouse a pang of horror or remorse for the murder of her own children ; or if neither the fear of God nor of the laws of 
the land is before her eyes, yet let her selfishness know that an 
outraged Nature will not let her go unpunished ; for these artifi* 
callv-produced abortions are the constant cause of violent and 
dangerous womb diseases, mental weakness, imbecility, insanity 
and death. 
THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
239 
And what shall be said of the man who urges, or who will- 
ingly permits a woman, on his account and to gratify his passion 
or his selfishness, to suffer this damnation of soul and body ? I 
leave it to my candid readers to say. 
What is the occasion for this chapter ? I answer; the 
occasion is the unbridled passion of men. In scarcely one case 
in a hundred does the necessity for means to prevent conception 
arise from the passion of the woman. If, then, the husband would 
restrain himself; if he would act the man, whose body is subject 
to his mind and soul; if he would 
“ Envy not the beast that takes 
His license in the field of time, 
Unfettered by the sense of crime, 
To whom a conscience never wakes,” 
then man-plagued woman would not be forced to look round for 
means to forestall or outwit the natural, God-ordained results of 
his embraces. But if he will not, for the sake of a woman he pro- 
fesses to love, keep his passion under bit and bridle, then he should 
betake himself to the Orient 
“ There the passions, cramped no longer, shall have 
scope and breathing space ; 
He may take some savage woman, che shall rear 
his dusky race.” 340 
THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
CHAPTER XXI. 
PRODUCTION OF SEX AT WILL, AND 
HOW TO ASCERTAIN THE SEX 
OF THE UNBORN CHILD. 
THE question has been mooted for centuries, can a child 
of either desired sex be produced at will? Various 
theories have been suggested. For example, that the 
semen from the right testicle produces males and that from the 
left females, and that, therefore, if the husband lie upon his right 
side during coition, the right testicle will receive more pressure 
than the left and a male child will result, and vice versa, the left 
side for a female child. But the fact that a man with only one 
testicle can become the father of both boys and girls, rather upsets 
this theory. 
Some, again, attribute the sex to the female element, and say 
that the right ovary produces males and the left females. Here, 
again, the facts are against the theory, for a woman with only 
one ovary has been known to produce both male and female 
children. 
In all ages, people have for various reasons desired to produce 
at will a boy or a girl, as the case might be. An example of this, 
occurring this year (1897), is that of the Duchess of Marlborough, 
Consuelo Vanderbilt. Lord Randolph Churchill was younger 
brother to the Duke of Marlborough, and, as the Duke had no 
son, Lord Randolph was heir presumptive to the title ; that is he 
would inherit it if the Duke should die without a son. Lord Ran- 
dolph died, but he left a son, who succeeded his father as such 
heir presumptive. The Duke, who had married Consuelo Van- 
derbilt, of New York, very much desired to have a son, who should 
inherit his title and estates, and when a few weeks ago a son was 
born to the Duchess, as much fuss was made about it as if an heir 
were born to a European Sovereign ; and, no doubt, under the 
circumstances, a daughter would have received as indifferent a 
welcome as did poor Florence Dombey, who should have been a 
boy 
And in humbler walks of life, I have and everyone has known THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
241 
frequent instances in which the parents most ardently hoped that 
the next would be a girl, or a boy, as the case might be. 
This being so universal a desire, the advent of a fairly work- 
able and reliable plan for the production of the sex at will is 
hailed with equally universal delight. 
Dr. Fowler argues that the pre-determining factor in sex is 
the comparative degrees of passion in the man and woman at the 
time of coition. This would seem to be refuted by the fact that 
conception may occur without any passion in either parent, as 
where semen escapes from a male in the absence of excitement, 
as sometimes occurs, and is artificially cast into the passive and 
unexcited vagina of the female, producing conception. And, 
even where the copulation is with strong passion in the male and 
entire apathy in the female, the result may, nevertheless, be a 
female child. 
There is little doubt, however, that the method known as the 
Thury plan, or by some, the Agricultural plan, is pretty successful. 
This plan is mentioned and approved by Fowler, only to be im- 
mediately explained, or attempted to be explained, away by hinr 
on the theory just mentioned. It is adopted with unqualified 
belief by Dr. Napheys. 
The plan is thus suggested and outlined by Fowler: “ Early 
in my boyhood the Reverend Mr. Crawford preached in Liberty, 
N. Y., my native village, and boarded with my father. Old Mr. 
Cook, father of Constant Cook, the Bath millionaire, promised to 
give him a colt as his yearly subscription, telling him he would 
have it male or female, as Crawford might prefer.” 
“ What! You make my colt a male if I say male, or female 
if I say female ? Can you pre-guarantee the sex I prefer ?” 
“ Yes, every time, infallibly.” 
“ How ? By what means ? What is your secret ?” 
“ When I want a female colt I couple the parents just as scon 
as the female’s heat commences, [and as soon as possible after 
they see each other]; but if I want a male I wait till her fever is 
so far spent that she will barely receive him, [and hold him back 
till his passions are all tantalized into a frenzy].” 
The brackets are mine, and are used to signify that, in my 
opinion, those portions of the plan are not material to the result. 
Fowler goes on: “ The Agricultural theory, as it may he 
called, because adopted by farmers, is that impregnation occur- 242 
THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
ring within four days after the close of the female monthl.es pro- 
duces a girl, because the ovum is yet immature, but that when it 
occurs after the fourth day from its close, gives a boy, because 
this egg is now mature.” 
Most advocates of this theory do not attempt to fix the 
period so precisely as this. And, on the theory as Fowler states 
it, women of the Jewish religion should produce nothing but boys, 
for with them copulation does not take place until seven days 
after the cessation of the monthly flow, unless, which may very 
well be, conception should arise from connection had during the 
four or five days previous to the commencement of menstruation. 
According to the theory that the less mature eggs produce 
females, the product of connection had just before menstruation 
should inevitably be females. 
Many authorities consider this Thury plan infallible. Profes- 
sor Thury, who was an eminent French Veter nary Surgeon, 
himself states the law thus: “ If you wish to produce females, 
give the male at the first signs of heat; if you w sh males, give 
him at the end of the heat.” 
The experience of many observers has confirmed this in its 
application to both the lower animals and to human beings, the 
menstrual period and a few days before and after being taken to 
correspond to the Heat in the lower animals. 
An eminent Swiss stock-grower writes : “ In the first place, 
on twenty-two successive occasions I desired to have heifers. My 
cows were oHSchurtz breed and my bull a pure Durham. I suc- 
ceeded in these cases. Having bought a pure Durham cow, it 
was very important for me to have a new Durham bull, to super- 
sede the one I had bought at great expense, without having to 
chance the production of a male. So I followed, accordingly, the 
prescription of Processor Thury, and the success has proved once 
more the truth of the law I have obtained from my Durham 
bull six more bulls (Schurtz Durham cross) for field work ; and 
having chosen cows of the same color and height, I obtained per- 
fect matches of oxen. My herd amounted to forty cows, of every 
age. 
“ In short, I made in all twenty-nine experiments after the 
new method, and in every one I succeeded in the product.on of 
what I was looking for—male and female. I had not one single 
failure. All the experiments have been made by myself, without any other person’s intervention ; consequently I do declare that I 
cons der as real and certainly perfect the method of Professor 
Thury.” 
THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION 
243 
Similar experiments were tried on the farm of Napoleon III., 
the late Emperor of the French, with like results. Many other 
breeders have proven the same thing. 
The London Lancet publishes a statement by D \ Packman, 
of Wimborne, in regard to the results in human beings. Says he : 
“ In the Human female, conception in the first half of the time 
between menstrual periods produces female offspring, and male 
in the latter. When a female has gone beyond the time she 
counted upon, it would generally turn out to be a boy.” 
A writer in the Medical and Surgical Reporter, of Philadel- 
phia, for Pebruary 8th, 1868, says, in regard to numerous in- 
stances which have been observed by him : “ Whenever inter- 
course has taken place in from two to six days after the cessation 
of the menses, girls have been produced ; and whenever inter- 
course has taken place in from nine to twelve days after the ces- 
sation of the menses, boys have been produced. In every case I 
have ascertained not only the date at which the mother placed 
conception, but also the time when the menses ceased, the date 
of the first and subsequent intercourse for a month or more after 
the cessation of the menses.” 
On June 20, of the same year, another physician, writing in 
the same journal, relates similar experiences. 
The cause of this phenomenon of sex-production seems to be 
that the ovum at first is asexual, incapable of fecundation ; about 
the time it is expelled from the Graafian Vesicle, it has developed 
to such a point that if then impregnated, further development as 
an independent ovum ceases, the male element coalesces with it 
as it then exists, and a female foetus results ; if, however, the im. 
pregnation be delayed a few days, separate development and pre- 
paration of the ovum continues, and if impregnation then takes 
place, the result is a male foetus. 
Ascertaining the Sex. If it be mere curiosity, it is a very ex- 
cusable curiosity in the parent who wishes to know before a child’s 
birth of what sex it will be found to be. And it will be a surprise 
to many to learn that this can, after about the fifth month of 
pregnancy, be told with pretty reasonable certainty. From what 
has been said above, it will be seen that if a wife knows at what 244 
THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
time in her month conception took place, she can confidently pre- 
dict the sex ; that is, if it occurred within a very few days after 
the cessation of the monthly flow, the child will be a girl, but if it 
took place ten or twelve days after, the child will be a boy. But 
in some cases, indeed in most cases, connections have been fre- 
quent, and she cannot tell which was fruitful; or conception may 
have occurred say six or seven days after the flow, so that one 
cannot say whether the degree of maturity of the egg (if that be, 
as many suppose, the determining cause of sex), is such as to pro- 
duce a male or not. Where a woman goes beyond the period at 
which she calculated the two hundred and eighty days to end, 
then it is likely that conception actually took place a little later 
than she supposed, and that the child will be a boy. 
If, however, she be unable to fairly guess the sex from the 
period of conception, or if, having calculated it, she desire confir- 
mation of her supposition, the frequency of the foetal heart-beat 
affords a fair test of sex, the pulsations being more rapid in female 
than in male infants. On observation of the heart-beat of twenty- 
eight female foetuses, the rate was found to average one hundred 
and forty-four to the minute, the lowest being one hundred and 
thirty-eight; and in twenty-two males observed, the average was 
found to be one hundred and twenty, the lowest being one hu - 
dred and twelve. From these observations there appears a very 
decided difference, and the rule may be confidently stated, as 
follows : If the foetal heart-beat be over one hundred and thirty to 
the minute, the infant is a daughter; if under one hundred and 
thirty to the minute, a son. 
The pulsations, after a little trying, may be made out quite 
distinctly, during the last three or four months of pregnancy, by 
placing the ear firmly against the abdomen about on a level with 
or a little below the navel. The spot where the foetal heart is o 
be found is indicated in Plate XVII. It is liable to be overlooked 
at first trial by the inexperienced, on account of its unexpected 
rapidity, by which also it may. of course, be distingu shed from 
the pulse of the mother, or of the listener. Of course, also, the 
rap:dity of the foetal pulse may be affected, temporarily or other- 
wise, by circumstances, such as illness of the infant; and the 
exertion of the movements which it makes in the womb will con- 
siderably increase the rapidity of pulse for the time. THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
245 
CHAPTER XXII. 
THE HYGIENE OF PUBERTY : 
MALE. 
AT a certain period, called the period of PUBERTY, the male 
you.h undergoes a number of physical changes, all others 
relating to the central and most important one, the secre- 
tion of the fertilizing fluid, called the Semen or Seed. 
These changes do not take place suddenly, but extend over 
a good many years, during which the growth is completed and 
all the physical powers matured. When these various processes, 
which we presently shall describe more fully, are complete, the 
period of virility (Latin—vir, a man) or manhood is reached ; and 
then, and not till then, is he fit to properly discharge the duty 
peculiar to his sex. 
Let us first observe these physical changes. The sk'n, which 
during childhood was comparatively fine and delicate, becomes 
coarser, the muscles firmer and stronger, and the general appear- 
ance tegins to gravitate towards that of manhood. The vocal 
organs enlarge the voice loses its childish treble, and becomes 
rougher and deeper, the change in depth usually amounting to 
what the musician calls an octave. The skin on the lower part of 
the face becomes covered with a soft down, which gradually be- 
comes coarser and thicker till it develops into the manly beard. 
The bones gradually harden. The penis and testicles enlarge, 
and the latter begin to secrete the semen. Around the root of 
the penis, and especially on the pubes, a hairy growth, somethirg 
like the beard but shorter and softer, gradually develops ; a hairy 
growth also appears in the armpits, and sometimes on the breast, 
lorearms, and some other parts of the body. 
The mental changes which accompany these physical alter- 
ations are not less striking. If well brought up he devevelps a 
manliness of bearing and a chivalrous disposition of mind, to 
which he was before a stranger. This is apt to be particularly 
noticeab'e in his attitude towards his mother and sisters. He is 
no longer the child to be merely petted, fed and clothed, but he 
begins to feel himself their protector, and is regardful of their 
comfort and of their wishes and feelings as he never was before. 246 
THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
He does not understand the reasons of this change, and is some- 
times surprised at those physical changes he sees in himself. He 
feels v ;ue and unaccustomed desires and sensations, impulses 
before unknown, sometimes an accession of bashfulness to which 
he had been a stranger. Sometimes he develops an uneasiness, 
a restlessness, even a wilfulness and perversity which surprise and 
grieve his parents and friends. This is a period when the care of 
the boy requires all the love and tact of which his parents are 
capable. There is a new spirit awakening within him, a spirit 
not to be overcome by chiding, much less beaten down by harsh- 
ness, threats and violence, but to be guided and directed and 
moulded into the spirit of a MAN, pure, clean and noble, not reck- 
less, sensual or criminal. The father of boys should look forward 
to this age and, if for nothing else, should keep himself young for 
their sakes. There is no such master mariner for the boy’s bark 
on the stormy and treacherous waters of puberty, as a pure, sym- 
pathetic and informed father, and no such anchor as his love for a 
mother in whom he believes and who believes in him. 
It is highly important that the sexual development should 
not be hastened, but that the physical and mental development 
should at least keep full pace with it. To accomplish this end, 
all reading, sights and thoughts which tend to sexual excitement 
should be carefully excluded, and this can be done in no way so 
well as by occupying his time with proper mental and physical 
exercise. 
There is nothing else so useful in preventing sexual precocity 
as physical exercise—regular, systematic, vigorous, daily exercise. 
The school gymnasium, with its ladders, horizontal bars, rowing 
machines, Indian clubs, dumb bells, etc., and especially the foot- 
ball, lacrosse, cricket, “ shinny,” hare and hounds, and other out- 
door games of boyhood are means of salvation, and no school is 
worthy of patronage, or a safe place for boys, which has not pro- 
per provision for physical culture. 
Intellectual occupation, especially with mathematical studies, 
is also highly important, as the mind of youth, when occupied 
with severe toil, does not brood over the strange sensations and 
new desires now awakening. Care should be taken that study is 
not pushed to the exclusion of the necessary physical exercise. 
And while speaking of schools, we would impress it on teach- 
ers and on the trustees, or others who have the control of schools, THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
247 
as well as on parents, that ignorance of the facts pertaining to his 
sexual nature is a fruitful source of evil to the youth as puberty 
progresses. The great purpose of his sexual being, the evils and 
dangers of abuse, and the proper conduct of himself should be ex- 
plained to him as his understanding will admit; and if this cannot 
be done by the teacher, then a fit medical man should be em- 
ployed to teach these things. 
To proceed : Cleanliness is very important; a sponge bath, 
or shower bath, in cold water every morning is highly beneficial, 
and boys should be made to understand that a feeling of heat or 
irritation in the sexual organs probably arises from the need of a 
a thorough cleansing. Particularly, they should be taught to 
draw back the foreskin and remove the sebaceous accretions 
under it, about and near the cervix of the penis. The secretions 
of the glands there are very often allowed to accumulate and 
harden till they adhere to the glans pe?iis and cause sores, irritation 
and sexual excitement. The boy, in many cases, does not even 
know that this is a thing to be removed. The frequency of this 
condition, with the nervous disorders, and other evils which follow 
in its train, has led to the opinion which is yearly becoming more 
general amongst physicians, that the prepuce or foreskin is an 
outlaw and ought to be cut off. 
Mr. William Acton, of London, says: “ My own opinion is 
that a long prepuce in children is a much more frequent cause of 
evil habits than parents or medical men have any idea of. But I 
have never heard of any step ever having been taken by those 
having the care of youth to induce boys to adopt proper habits of 
cleanliness in this respect. Probably no nurse, parent or school- 
master would at first relish the proposal that a boy of twelve 
should be told to draw back his foreskin and cleanse the part 
thoroughly. In my own experience of children I have found this 
practice so beneficial that I never hesitate to recommend it in any 
cases where there is the least sign of irritation from this cause.” 
In many cases in earlier childhood, and sometimes in puberty 
and even manhood, the person is afflicted with an inveterate 
phimosis, or constriction of the foreskin, causing it to bind tightly 
round the glans penis. In some cases the aperture is so small 
that it cannot possibly be drawn back over the glands so as to 
permit cleansing. In such cases the best informed physicians of 
the present day invariably recommend that the foreskin be cut 348 
THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION 
away completely by the operation of circumcision. Indeed this 
operation is steadily growing in favor with medical men as a pre- 
ventative of uncleanness and irritation, as well as to remove a 
dangerous receptacle of the virus of venereal disease. 
Dr. Remondino, in his work on Circumcision, argues in the 
strongest manner for the complete and universal removal of the 
foreskin, as a menace to health, a frequent cause of bed-wetting, 
masturbation, nocturnal emissions, nervous disorders, palpitation 
of the heart, gangrene of the penis, cancer, venereal disease, etc. 
Dr. Edward Clark says : “ The instructors in the houses and 
schools of our country’s daughters, would profit by reading the old 
Levitical law. The race has not outgrown the physiology of 
Moses.” 
Whether or not we can agree that such an heroic measure as 
is prescribed by the law of Moses is always desirable, there can 
be no doubt that uncleanness or constriction of the prepuce 
is a fruitful source of evil habits and derangement of the health, 
both in young children and in boys during puberty. 
Sometimes, too, the adhesions of the foreskin to the glans 
penis, which are quite usual at birth, continue during childhood 
and youth, and cause much injury to the health. Such instruction 
as we have advised to be given to boys, mentioning also this 
wrong condition, would lead to its discovery and to its being 
remedied. 
Irritation of the genital organs from any cause should be 
avoided. Such irritation may arise from various causes, as ill- 
fiting trousers or drawers, the heat of too much clothing about the 
parts, uncomfortable seats or too soft ones, costiveness of the 
bowels, urinary or bladder troubles, piles, seat worms, etc. Vari- 
ous skin diseases, if they attack the parts, or those surrounding, 
should receive prompt attention, as the irritation leads to scratch- 
ing and handling the parts and to evil habits. Too much heat 
from clothing or otherwise is to be avoided. Cane-bottomed or 
even wooden chairs are preferable to soft cushions, and mattresses 
to feather beds. 
The Sleeping accommodation of the boys often receives too 
little attention. Where at all possible, every boy should have his 
own separate bed, or better still, his separate room. All the sur- 
roundings should be such as to promote modesty, and all indecent 
and indecorous behaviour should be carefully discouraged. The THE SCIENCE OJ GENERATION. 
249 
sleeping rooms should be cool and well ventilated, and such as 
shall receive the purifying sunshine through the windows. 
The boy should be taught to empty the bladder before going 
to bed, as a full bladder irritates the surrounding organs. The 
pressure of the bladder upon the seminal vesicles and vasa defer- 
entia, when the person lies on his back, often excites the sexual 
organs, causing erotic dreams and nocturnal emissions ; for this 
reason boys should be warned against sleeping on the back. 
The habit of flogging either boys or girls is not one to be ap- 
proved at best, but the very common practice of flogging on the 
seat is most reprehensible. Parents and teachers are apt to sup- 
pose that an eminently proper place for the application of the rod 
or strap, because no bones are likely to be broken there, nor are 
any bruises there inflicted likely to be shown about to win the 
pity of sympathizing friends. But the practice is due to ignorance 
of the physiological effects of whipping administered on that part. 
It is well known to physiologists and others who have paid some 
attention to the matter that switching across the seat is one of the 
most powerful excitants of the sexual feeling, and it is resorted 
to in Franee and other places by depraved and debauched wrecks 
to stimulate and arouse a sexual excitement which their excesses 
have all but destroyed. Those whose duty it is to care for boys 
should make a note of this fact. 
The age at which puberty begins varies a good deal, accord- 
ing to temperament, climate, occupation, habits, environment, 
race, etc. Generally speaking it begins at from twelve to eighteen 
years, and virility may be said to be completely attained at from 
twenty-three to twenty-seven years of age. 
Stout, phlegmatic, light-haired boys of lymphatic tempera- 
ment are later in arriving at the age of puberty than those of 
nervous temperament. 
In warm Southern climates both sexes probably arrive at ma- 
turity earlier than in colder clima'es. Some writers, however, 
doubt that this arises from the influence of the climate, but think 
it due to the social habits of the people, where sexual matters are 
the subject of common conversation, and vice is more open. 
Whatever the reason may be, there is no doubt that in the warm 
climates the young attain their sexual capacity younger, and, so 
far from its appearing to injure them, they retain it probably later 
than in Northern countries. In Abyssinia and other parts ol 2$0 
THE SCIENCE OK GENERATION. 
Equatorial Africa, it is said that it is quite usual to see boys of 
fifteen or sixteen years of age who are already fathers. On the 
contrary, in the cold Northern countries of Europe the boys 
usually reach eighteen years or older before puberty begins, and 
they do not appear to retain their masculine powers very long. 
Heredity manifests itself in the period at which puberty is 
reached as well as in the other characteristics, and it is matter of 
common observation that a long succession of women, mother 
and daughter, marry and bear children young. The variation in 
race is also noticed in the greater sexual precocity of negro boys 
and of the sons of the other races of the South. 
The constitution also has much to do with the early develop- 
ment of the sexual passions. Strange as it may seem, boys who 
are weak, nervous and debilitated, are apt to be sexually precoci- 
ous, and to develop these instincts much earlier than those of 
robust, sturdy, vigorous physique. There may be a doubt, how- 
ever, whether this precocity is the result of weakness and nerv- 
ousness, or whether both are mere results of undue excitement of 
the organs by self-abuse. 
The occupation and habits also exert a great, almost a con- 
trolling, influence upon the maturing of the sexual capacity. One 
would expect, perhaps, that those exercises and habits which de- 
velop the frame and encourage the bodily functions in general, 
would promote the maturation of the sexual organs also ; but the 
reverse is the case, and the vigorous cultivation of the muscles is 
in effect the equally vigorous repression of the sexual develop- 
ment. The perfection of physical development exhibited by 
athletes is to a certain extent attained at the expense of the de- 
velopment of the organs of generation. Dr. Carpenter states the 
case thus : “ The Development of the Individual and the Repro- 
duction «f the Specie* stand in an hiverse ratio to each other.” THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
251 
CHAPTER XXIII. 
THE HYGIENE OF VIRILITY. 
IN North America and the Northern countries of Europe, the 
period of virility, or perfect manhood, may be said to begin 
about the age of twenty-five years, and to close at forty-five 
years. It must not be understood, however, that this period 
marks the limit of procreative capacity. 
The seminal fluid usually begins to contain the spermatozoa, 
or living animalculae which make it fertile, at a much earlier age 
than twenty-five ; they have been observed in the discharges of 
boys as young as eleven, though this is very unusual, and they 
generally make their appearance as early as the age of sixteen or 
eighteen years. But at these early ages the spermatozoa formed 
are few, small and weak, and if the boy then becomes a father 
the offspring are likely to be weak and liable to disease. About 
the age of twenty-five these living germs become much more 
vigorous and numerous, many hundreds being contained in a 
single drop of the fecundating fluid ; and the children then gener- 
ated are apt to have a much better start in life than those of boy- 
fathers. Until complete virility is attained, marriage should not 
take place. Also, after the decline of life has begun, the sperma- 
tozoa again gradually diminish in numbers and vigor till they 
disappear altogether. There is, however, a much greater vari- 
ation in the age at which this decay begins than in the age of 
puberty. Many notable instances have been known of the reten- 
tion of the virile powers to a great age, of which some are cited 
earlier in this book. The writer is acquainted with an old Scotch- 
man who, at the age of seventy-six, married his third wife and 
became the father of a splendid pair of twin boys. 
There is probably no'bodily capacity which men are more 
loath to lose than the procreative power. Hence men’s distress 
upon the loss or supposed loss of virility is a source of great profit 
to those knaves and quacks who advertise all sorts of medicines 
and appliances to restore lost manhood Of all these things, on 
which undoubtedly millions of dollars are annually spent, probably 
none, or next to none, are of any benefit whatever, while some of 
them are highly injurious. If a man feel his sexual powers wan- 
ing, he had best consult his own or some other reliable physician, 252 
THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
t 
make a clean breast of his condition and habits, get the physician’s 
advice and act upon it. 
The use of so-called Aphrodisiacs, or medicines to increase 
sexual passion, is of little avail, and many of them produce a cer- 
tain temporary excitement which is followed by a reaction of 
much greater weakness and incapacity than before, and there is 
no surer way to ruin the sexual powers completely than to stimu- 
late them with these drugs. If the powers decline, the directions 
given in an earlier part of this book may be safely followed, and 
almost invariably with good results. Some of these drugs are 
certainly capable of stimulating the sexual feelings to the highest 
pitch, even to insanity. 
Ergot, or rye-smut, which is used sometimes to produce abor- 
tion in females, will cause great ardor in males, and it is said that 
in those countries where rye bread is a staple food, the men are 
noted for their ardent, though early lost, sexual passion, and the 
women for the frequency of miscarriage. 
Phosphorus is a powerful and dangerous excitant of erotic pas- 
sion, and should never be used except under the direction of a com- 
petent physician. Indeed instances have been known of a perfect 
frenzy of sexpal excitement produced by even med.cinal doses of 
this drug, both men and women, usually proper and modest in their 
demeanor, becoming so insanely excited as to forget all consider- 
ations of prudence and decency. In some cases the erotic mania 
continues till death ensues. A safe formula is given in Ch. XIV. 
Ether and Chloroform sometimes produce similar feelings in 
those subjected to them. Sometimes the patient, while under 
the influence of one of these drugs, experiences the warmest de- 
sires, and sometimes even imagine them in process of being grati- 
fied. Cases have been known in which a woman, who has taken 
ether or chloroform to have a tooth extracted, has imagined that 
the dentist was assaulting her. 
One of the drugs most popularly supposed to be an ingredi- 
ent of “ love potions” is Cantharides, or Spanish Flies. The fact 
is that upon most persons this dangerous drug has little effect as 
an Aphrodisiac, unless given in poisonous doses, and then only 
by producing inflammation in the genital organs, as well as in the 
surrounding parts. 
Some odors have the effect of exciting the sexual feeling, 
particularly those which are produced from the genital organs of THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
253 
animals, as Musk and Civet. This is not to be wondered at, when 
it is remembered that these substances, in their natural place, 
were intended by nature for the very purpose of exciting such 
passion in the animal of the opposite sex. Indeed even the per- 
fume of flowers, which is only emitted during the period of their 
sexual conjunction, produces much the same results, and probably 
for a similar reason. The exciting effect of the use of all these 
extraneous substances is only temporary, and tends to shorten 
rather than to prolong virility. 
The influence of food and drink upon the sexual organs and 
the prolongation of the manly powers, is greater than is generally 
supposed. 
It is necessary to a proper continuance of the sexual func- 
tions, that the general health should be good. Any serious de- 
rangement of any of the functions of the body is sure to be re- 
flected in premature decay of the generative capacity. The con- 
dition of the stomach, in particular, exerts a great influence for 
good or bad, as the case may be. Temporary fits of indigestion 
are usually accompanied by temporary loss of capacity, and con- 
firmed dyspepsia usually weakens, and eventually destroys the 
sexual powers ; and the converse is also the rule, a healthy 
stomach and vigorous digestion being associated with vigor of the 
genital organs. Again, high feeding, the use of much stimulating 
food and drink produces an excess of sexual desire, which is liable 
to be followed by premature decay. The habitual use of alco- 
holic liquors, while it excites libidinous feeling for the time, is not 
conducive to real sexual power, but the reverse. 
All good foods which nourish the body will tend to the pro- 
longation of the sexual, as well as of the other bodily, powers. 
Fruit, fish, meat, game, vegetables, are all nutritious articles of 
food. Most of the aromatic vegetables and herbs have a con- 
siderable stimulating effect, such as celery, onions, asparagus, 
parsley, mint, thyme, and sage. Spices and condiments, such as 
pepper, mustard, ginger and nutmegs, have a still stronger effect. 
The highly-flavored fruits, too, such as peaches and pineapples, 
are said to have the same properties, but the cooling acid fruits 
have a contrary effect. 
Tomatoes, potatoes, beans and wheaten bread are rather 
stimulating, as are also sago, tapioca and arrowroot, while Indian 
corn and rice are not 254 
THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
The flesh of young animals, as veal and lamb, are of no use 
for the special nutrition of the sexual organs, while the flesh of 
older animals is sometimes found highly beneficial. All k.nds of 
fish, but especially shell-fish, are an excellent article of diet to 
promote sexual vigor. 
The preservation of the sexual power depends a great deal 
on the manner in which it is exercised. Excessive indulgence is 
very likely to be followed by early decay ; on the other hand, 
absolute abstinence is not conducive to a continuance of the virile 
power. The best course is a moderate gratification of passion; 
and indulgence at a regular period is found to be a very proper 
and beneficial course to pursue. 
The practice of regular cold bathing of the parts, and the 
avoidance of excitement except at the regular period of indulgence 
also promotes sexual longevity. 
Also it is wise to time the indulgences prudently, not taking 
them either when already fatigued by mental or physical exertion, 
nor when excited about other matters, nor yet just before begin- 
ning any arduous labor. In either case the nervous strains of the 
sexual act, and of the other excitement or labor, come one upon 
the other, to the injury of both the general and the sexual condi- 
tion. Neither should this be taken just after a full meal, as the 
blood and nervous energy are then required to be concentrated 
at the stomach in the process of digestion, nor yet when hungry, 
as the vital forces are then low and unfit for the act. 
A good course suggested is to awake for the purpose after 
the body and mind have been composed by two or three hours’ 
sleep, and afterwards a second period of repose may occupy the 
remainder of the night 
When, however, the man has passed middle life, it is wise to 
gradually wean himself from sexual indulgence, and to devote 
his thoughts more and more to the platonic affection of and for 
his spouse, the enjoyment of his children and grandchildren, and 
to intellectual pleasures, and unselfish philanthropic projects, 
crowning his gray hairs with the love and respect of love of those 
about him, rather than to become what Napheys well terms “ that 
nauseous and repulsive object, a libidinous and worn out old man, 
heating his diseased imagination with dreams and images which 
his chilled and impotent body can no longer carry into effect” THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
255 
CHAPTER XXIV. 
IMPOTENCE AND STERILITY: 
MALE. 
THE consciousness of inability to perform the sexual act, 
or, performing it, of incapacity to beget children, is prob- 
ably one of the most humiliating conditions in which a 
man can find himself, and a condition which he will take infinite 
and generally futile pains to conceal. And even those men who 
do not desire children, hate to feel their inferiority to the gener- 
ality of mankind in that particular, worse than in any other. If A 
is richer than B, or higher in social rank, stronger, handsomer, 
healthier, wiser and better than B, B can stand it; but if A can 
be the father of children and B has not the corporal capacity to 
become a father, it is gall and worm-wood. Accordingly, if B be 
a maimed man he lays the blame on his wife, lest he should sink 
in the respect of his fellows. 
Says an eminent writer: “ In losing the command of this 
function at an age when it should be vigorous, man loses his self- 
respect, because he feels himself fallen in importance in relation to 
his species. Therefore the loss of virile power, real or supposed, 
produces an effect more overpowering than that of honors, fortune, 
friends or relatives ; even the loss of liberty is as nothing com- 
pared to this internal and continual torture. Those who suffer 
from injustice or misfortune can accuse their enemies, society, 
dhance, etc., and invent or retain the consciousness of not having 
deserved their lot; they have, moreover, the consolation of being 
able to complain and the certainty of sympathy. But the impo- 
tent man can make a confidante of no one. His misery is of a 
sort which cannot even inspire pity, and his greatest anxiety is to 
allow no one to penetrate his dismal secret” 
And we cannot but agree that he does well to conceal his in- 
firmity, for it will, however unjustly, lose him the respect of both 
men and women ; and especially, if he have married, does he 
forfeit the respect of his wife. 
Says Professor Niemuger: “Not only sensual women, but 
all, without exception, feel deeply hurt, and are repelled by the 
husband whom they may previously have loved dearly, when, 256 
THE SCIENCE OF GEN ER AT ION 
after entering the married state, they find that he is impotent. 
The more inexperienced and innocent they were at the time of 
marriage, the longer it often is before they find that something is 
lacking in their husband ; but, once knowing this, they infallibly 
have a feeling of contempt and aversion for him.” 
But it is highly probable that as many cases of childlessness 
are due to the husband as to the wife 
Impotence is defined as inability to perform the sexual act of 
copulation. It may arise from total absence of the penis or from 
its extremely small size; from malformation rendering copulation 
impossible, or from entire lack of the power of erection, or such 
partial lack of erection, as renders the penis useless for intercourse ; 
temporary practical impotence may result from nervousness or 
timidity, or other causes. 
Sterility, or inability to beget children, may co-exist with 
perfect ability to copulate. It may be of various sorts. The 
most usual cause of sterility in such cases is the absence or defect- 
iveness of the spermatozoa or living animalculae in the semen. In 
some cases the semen, though perfect and in sufficient quantity, 
is prevented fiom reaching the womb by being thrown back past 
the vera montannm nto the bladder, or, as in the case of hypos- 
padic subjects, out through an aperture near or at the root of the 
penis ; or through some nervous defect, the semen may not be 
ejected during copulation, but may pass from him afterwards at 
stool, or be forcibly ejaculated during lascivious dreams. 
IMPOTENCE—MALE. 
Impotence may be either fancied or real, and may be either 
temporary or permanent. Many cases of fancied impotence arise 
from the nervousness or timidity of the man as he approaches copu- 
lation. There is no other bodily function so completely under the 
influence of the imagination as this one. A sudden emotion may 
render a man for the time being sexually powerless. Many men, 
perfectly competent, have been so nervous, or so filled with a fear 
that they were incapable, that they invariably became impotent 
whenever they approached the other sex. This timidity is often 
exhibited in intense agitation, and is followed by such a sinking of 
the corporal power that not only does erection subside, but in some 
cases even fainting ensues. And this timidity, so far from being 
confined to persons of a usually timid nature, is more common in THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
257 
those who are not nervous in most matters. Indeed, so far from 
being really impotent, in most such cases there is unusual sexual 
power, and the very intensity of emotion experienced on ap- 
proaching copulation tends to the depression and temporary im- 
potence described. Usually it is sufficient for the physician, who 
may be consulted in such cases, to simply encourage the man 
with assurance of his capacity, or to give him some mysterious 
medicine, or appliance or directions, which will do him no harm, 
and the use of which will reassure him. Often, too, the familiarity 
which the subject assumes in marriage will cure the excessive ex- 
citement and lead to natural intercourse. 
Many unhappy marriages, barrenness, divorces, or even sui- 
cides, might be prevented by the word of comfort, consolation, 
advice and information which a wise and experienced physician 
is able to give when consulted on this subject. 
One physician effectually cured a case of impotency caused 
by fear of failure, by enjoining the young husband to not attempt 
coition for six nights, no matter how strong the desire might be. 
The result was that before the time had expired the young man 
began to fear almost that he had too much power instead of too 
little, and no further difficulty was experienced. 
This temporary incapacity of the earlier days of marriage 
was the subject of superstitious notions in the middle ages. Men 
supposed that it was the work of witchcraft, magic, or enchant- 
ment; it was called in France, 7iouement d*aiguillette (French— 
tying of the cod*piece. The cod-piece was a loose bag or flap 
which covered and gave room for the genitals, the rest of the 
lower part of the body and the legs being covered with tight-fitting 
trunk-hose). It is not surprising, then, that in much earlier times 
a similar superstition prevailed. Herodotus, the father of history, 
says of Amasis, King of Egypt, that having married a beautiful 
Greek woman named Laodicea, he found himself incapable 
of consummating the marriage; and thinking she had used 
some enchantment, he ordered her to be beheaded. She, how- 
ever, begged to be allowed time to erect a statue to Venus, the 
Goddess of Love, assuring the King that by the time the statue 
should be completed his powers would be restored to him. And 
naturally enough it so proved. 
A sensation of disgust or disappointment, arising from some 
disagreeable odor or unexpected deformity or ugliness of person, 258 
THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
is almost sure, by extinguishing desire, to produce temporary in 
capacity; as where a man, having married a woman with full, 
luscious breasts, the idea of which had whetted his sexual appetite, 
found, on seeing them, that they were disfigured by an ugly and 
repulsive birthmark. 
“ True impotence,” says Professor Lallemand,” consists of 
want of power, not once, but habitually ; not only with prostitutes, 
but with those we love ; not under unfavorable circumstances, but 
during long periods of time, say five, fifteen, or twenty years.” 
Nervousness or disagreeable mental emotions, or mental pre- 
occupation, will sometimes produce a temporary impotence. Dr. 
Hollick relates the case of a young business man of twenty-eight 
years of age, who had one child and an affectionate wife, of 
whom he was very fond. He met with business reverses, which 
caused him great anxiety and distress for some time, and 
amongst his other troubles he found himself perfectly impo- 
tent. He was in great alarm lest a general decay of vitality 
had begun, and hastened to consult the doctor. On learn- 
ing that his circumstances were getting into better shape, 
and that he would probably soon be out of his difficulties, the 
doctor informed h:m that he would recover his powers again as 
soon as his anxiety was removed. And so it proved, for after 
some months of as perfect impotence as if the genitals had been 
completely removed, he became all right again. 
Many business men have found that, during the season of the 
year when they are most oppressed with business cares, they 
have not the slightest inclination to sexual intercourse, and are to 
all intents and purposes impotent for the time being. 
A remarkable case of virtual temporary impotence is that of 
a celebrated mathematician, who, as soon as copulation had be- 
gun, or just before, invariably had some problem in mathematics 
present itself to his mind, and, though sexually quite perfect, he 
regularly failed to perform the act. His wife at last, by a certain 
stratagem (dosing him with champagne at the doctor’s suggestion) 
managed to cure him for one night of his mental pre-occupation, 
and he became the father of her child. 
Persons deeply absorbed in study are sometimes in effect im- 
potent Such a case was that of Sir Isaac Newton, who, though 
sexually perfect, it is said never experienced sexual desire, his all 
engrossing studies quite unsexing him. Sometimes the extreme THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
259 
coldness arising from severe mental toil can be remedied by a little 
judiciously administered Aphrodisiac medicine, which should, 
however, be taken only under the advice of a reliable physician. 
Real permanent impotence is happily of very rare occurrence 
in early or middle life ; and that which arises from old age may 
be in most cases postponed almost indefinitely by a course of life 
such as is recommended in Chapter XXIII. ; but when the impo- 
tence of old age doss really come, it is, of course, incurable. 
The impotence arising from absence or malformation of the 
penis is treated of .on page 90 and following pages of this book, 
together with the means adopted to remedy the defect when it is 
remediable. As w.ll appear from a perusal of that article, the 
most astonishing cures of what would appear at first sight to be 
absolute and incurable impotency, may in many cases be worked 
by very simple means. 
The cases also of incapacity of the penis to erect itself may 
usually, indeed almost invariably, be cured, unless the tissues are 
quite broken up and destroyed, so that the cells and blood-vessels 
of the erectile tissue are quite incapable of holding the , blood 
forced into them. The methods adopted in such cases are fully 
set out on pages 92 to 101. Dr. Napheys also recommends the 
use in such cases of electricity, and a mild preparation of phos- 
phorus, called “ Phosphoric Acid Lemonade.” Where there is 
any irritation or inflammation both these remedies are unsuitable, 
indeed highly injurious, but in cases of pure debility they may 
often be used with good effect. 
The electricity should first be applied by a medical man 
skilled and experienced in its use. The patient may learn from 
him how to apply it for himself The “ Phosphoric Acid Lemon- 
ade ” is about the only preparation of phosphorus which can be 
used by the patient himself with safety, and even it must be used 
with caution. The most frighful cases of Priapism and Satyriasis 
have been caused by its injudicious use, sometimes ending in 
death. (Priapism may be defined as a persistent and unreducible 
state of erection ; Satyriasis is such an erection, coupled with an 
insane desire for sexual intercourse). 
The formula given for the Phosphoric Acid Lemonade is: 
Dilute phosphoric acid, - fifteen drops. 
Syrup of ginger, - a tablespoonful. 
Water, - * a tumblerful 260 
THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
This makes a pleasant drink and may be taken three times a 
day, but not oftener ; nor should the quantity of the acid on any 
account be increased. 
Dr Hollick speaks in the highest terms of the Cannabis 
Indica or Indian Hemp, as a remedy for coldness of sexual tem- 
peram nt, but it should only be used on the advice of a physician. 
This coldness or lethargy may arise from various causes. 
Depletion of the powers by either excessive intercourse with the 
other sex, or by solitary vice may cause a want of desire after- 
wards ; on the other hand, a prolonged and strict continence may 
produce the same result. Alcoholic liquors, though they exc te 
the sexual passions at first, eventually lessen or destroy the m en- 
tirely. Gluttony does the same, as does also a poor and meagre 
diet, though good temperate living, such as will keep the body in the 
best health, prolongs the virile po.ver. Loss of sleep, severe study, 
the engrossing cares of business, mental disturbances as sorrow, 
anxiety, fear, etc., the habitual use of various drugs as morphia, 
opium, chloral, arsenic, etc., the abuse of tobacco, may all destroy 
the sexual desires. 
Certain diseases of the organs, especially gonorrhoea and 
syphilis, but also others such as diabetes, not arising from impurity 
of life, are frequent causes of impotence. 
Excess of fat is often lesponsible for absence of feeling, rs 
has been well known even from ancient times. Even young m n 
are sometimes totally devoid of desire from this cause. The 
remedy for this is obvious—reduce the fat by severe exercise, or 
by the “ Banting ” system. Says Dr. Dancel: “ I have never 
failed to observe that a man, not yet old, who is delivered by a 
judicious diet of even twelve or fifteen pounds weight, is astonished 
at the advantageous change which has taken place in his virile 
powers since he has commenced to grow thinner.” 
Various poisonous drugs not intentionally taken may also 
destroy the virility. Lead and arsenic are sometimes offenders 
in this way. Sometimes a slight and unknown and unnoticed 
acidity in the water coming through bad pipes will corrode and 
dissolve them to such an extent as to impregnate the water with 
poisonous lead. Most hair dyes, too, contain sugar of lead, and 
are injurious in consequence. Arsenic, too, is now so commonly 
used in the arts that there is more or less danger of accidental 
poisoning. Many cases of sore eyes have been traced to the THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
261 
arsenical green coloring matter in wall-paper, and doubtless it in 
such cases also adds its quota to promote impotency. Incapacity, 
temporary or permanent, sometimes arises from self-abuse, though 
there is no doubt that the frequency of such results from that 
cause are often over-estimated. Persons with quack nostrums to 
sell delight to work on the guilty fears of those who practice or 
have practiced this solitary vice, and many popular medical books 
are not altogether blameless ; for the diminished power of the 
devotee of masturbation is often increased to temporary impo- 
tence by what he reads in them. This subject will be more fully 
dealt with in a later chapter. 
Spermatorrhoea, or persistent and frequent loss of semen, is, 
if allowed to go uncheck, d, likely to result in impotence ; but the 
impotence is due to the debility and not directly to the seminal 
losses, and is seldom permanent. The remedy is to cease from 
the evil habits which caused it, to take a course of tonic medicines 
and treatment under medical advice, and to do generally that 
which will tend to restore the strength. 
Impotency of one party at the time of marriage is ground in 
law for a declaration at suit of the other party, that the marriage 
was null and void from the beginning. But the impotent party 
cannot himself maintain an action for such a declaration. 
STERILITY—MALE. 
The most usual cause of sterility, when unaccompanied by 
inability to copulate, is the absence of the spermatozoa in the 
semen. Sometimes, indeed, there is no semen whatever pro- 
duced, but this condition without impotence is rare. The other 
cause of sterility is, however, by no means unusual.- In fact, it is 
a very common though by no means invariable result of the 
venereal diseases—syphilis and gonorrhoea or clap—that the 
semen is void of the living germs. This condition may continue 
for a long time before the power of erection and copulation is lost, 
but usually stcril ty arising from this cause is soon followed, 
indeed it is often preceded, by incapacity to perform the sexual 
act. Sterility arising from venereal disease is very apt to be in- 
curable. Sometimes where sterility is caused by the use of 
tobacco, opium or other drug, the spermatozoa are, in the earlier 
stages, not absent, but dead. In such cases, by discontinuing the 
baneful practice which destroyed them, and giving proper atten- 262 
THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
tion to the general health, the patient may fairly hope for com- 
plete recovery. But in those cases where there are no sperma- 
tozoa because the testicles are seriously impaired, and especially 
where those organs have begun to waste away, the fountains of 
sexual life are broken up, and in most cases the man had better 
content himself with making the most of himself and abandon the 
hope of posterity. 
Self-abuse, or excessive sexual indulgence, either lawful or un- 
lawful, or spermatorrhoea arising from these causes or otherwise, 
even though causing impotence, is seldom accompanied by any 
diminution of the fecundating power in the semen, though of 
course the offspring might be expected to be weak. 
The virtual sterility arising from inability to copulate, as from 
the congenital absence of a penis of sufficient length, or its loss 
through accident or by surgical operation, is not inconsistent with 
real fertility, for in such cases it often happens that there is a full 
or even abundant flow of semen of perfect fecundating quality, 
and sterility only exists because that semen cannot be brought 
into communication with the ovum of the female. In other cases, 
while the penis is in most respects perfectly formed and capable 
of erection and coition, the urethra, through which the semen 
should be carried to the forward end of the penis, opens instead 
on the lower side of the penis near its root, so that the semen is 
not thrown into the vagina at all, or is left so near its mouth that 
it is very unlikely to reach and impregnate the ovum. This con- 
dition is called Hypospadias. In some such cases, however, there 
is a groove from the hypospadic opening, along the lower side, 
down to the glans penis, and in some such cases, where the flow 
of semen is very strong and abundant, and the pressure of the 
vagina upon the male organ very firm, the posterior wall of the 
vagina forms a third side to the groove and completes it into a 
tubular form sufficient to carry the semen forward to the womb 
and produce conception. There is another peculiar and very rare 
condition in which, though there is an abundant supply of perfect 
semen, and the power of erection and copulation are present with 
the usual sexual excitement, yet from lack of sensitiveness in the 
glans penis, or from some other reason, the semen is never emitted 
during copulation, though it passes away afterwards during sleep, 
in the fictitious intercourse of lascivious dreams, with the same 
forcible ejection which ought to have accompanied the waking THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
263 
act of copulation. Various remedies are proposed by medical 
men for this state of affairs. A mild electric current is believed 
by some to be a probable remedy, and doubtless it is worth try- 
ing ; and Dr. Quain says that he has tried rubbing the end of the 
glans with a mild solution of the tincture of cantharides, to in- 
crease its sensitiveness, though he does not go on to state that it 
produced any beneficial effect. Neither have I been able to 
learn of any case in which either the electric current or the usual 
aphrodisiac remedies have affected a cure. Possibly any of these 
might do so in some cases, but the subjects for experiment are so 
rarely met with that opportunity for proving these remedies can 
seldom be had. 
In all these cases where a wife, apparently sexually perfect, 
goes childless by a husband also seemingly sexually capable, the 
semen should be examined microscopically to ascertain whether 
the defect lies in him. And in probably fifty cases out of a hun- 
dred it will be found that the semen has no spermatoza in it, and 
is, therefore, incapable of producing conception. 
But wherever there is semen produced which is of the perfect 
fecundating quality, even though small in quantity, but by reason 
of some of the defects mentioned it cannot be introduced into the 
female vagina or womb in the ordinary natural way, the husband 
and wife, if they really wish for children, need by no means de- 
spair. It has been proven by many experiments that the pres- 
ence of the male organ within the female is not at all necessary 
to produce conception ; and, with a proper, fertile semen, concep- 
tion may and often has been produced by artificial means. In 
some cases it has been caught in a warm spoon as it passed from 
the man, and was then placed as far up the vagina as possible, 
with the desired result. A still more effectual way is to catch the 
semen in a warm common glass “ female ” syringe, such as 
women use for simple injections, and with that to inject it far 
up into the vagina, or, surer still, press its end, which is per- 
fectly smooth round glass, lightly against the mouth of the womb 
itself, and inject it forcibly into that organ. A fair degree of 
vigor in the injection need not be feared, as the force of natural 
ejaculation from the penis is sufficient to cast the semen several 
feet. 
The use of such means is undoubtedly perfectly justifiable. 
It is in no way a violation of nature, but assists her in carrying 264 
THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
out her plans in those cases in which she has herself made inade- 
quate provision for doing so. 
Barrenness in either party is no impediment to a valid mar- 
riage, if the power of copulation be present. But the question is 
often asked, ought a man or woman, who is sterile, to marry at all ? 
To this question I would say that if sterility undoubtedly exist, no 
marriage should take place, unless the other party is aware of the 
defect and still desires it. If there be any occasion for doubt of 
fertility, the doubt should be cleared up, as far as it may be by 
proper investigation ; or the sterility, if curable, should be cured 
before marriage should be thought of. Where there is not an 
absolute breakdown of the sexual organs and no organic disease 
exists, but the sterility depends upon a deficient secretion of se- 
men, there may be a very fair chance of improvement. Often a 
change of climate, by improving the general health and the con- 
dition of the nervous system by the exhilarating influence of 
novelty, will do a great deal. So will tonic medicines and a 
proper attention to diet. And the use of electricity is by many 
believed to be most important and valuable of all these remedies. 
S .ys Dr. Julius Althaus : “ It is not unreasonable to expect 
that the secretion of semen may be restored when lost, or im- 
proved when deficient, by the use of galvanism. A deficient se- 
cretion of milk in the breast of a female, or cerumen in the ears, 
or nasal mucus, and of saliva, may be stimulated by the applica- 
tion of electricity. The same effect may naturally be looked for 
by acting with the continuous current upon the secretory glands 
of the semen.” 
This unquestionably valuable curative agent is, however, 
dangerous in ignorant hands, and should only be used under the 
advice and direction of a physician skilled in its use. 
As to the various so-called “ electric suspensories ” and “ elec- 
tric belts ” which are so extensively advertised for sale, we have 
only to say that, in our opinion in most cases, money spent for 
them will be found to be wasted, however fetching, seductive and 
confident the advertisement may be. 
No man has a right to condemn a woman to childlessness. 
Every properly-constituted young woman desires children. Her 
maternal instincts cry out for one on whom to expend her mother 
love, and a childless wife is often, of all women, the most miser 
able, not only in the deprivation itself, but because she frequently THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
265 
incurs from those about her that pity which of all pity she cannot 
endure, for she thinks it a reproach. To most married men, too, 
the lack of someone to bear their name, or transmit their blood to 
future ages, is a grievous misfortune. And a woman has no right 
to marry who has cause to believe herself incapable of p oducing 
that crown of marriage for which the institution of marriage was 
particularly ordained, and to deprive a man, unless with his know- 
ledge and consent, of the opportunity of becoming the father of 
legitimate offspring. 
Of course, when the woman is at any rate past the age of 
child-bearing, the mere sterility of either party without impotence 
should form no obstacle to marriage. 266 
THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
CHAPTER XXV. 
IMPOTENCE AND STERILITY: 
FEMALE. 
THE same general remarks which were made in Chapter 
XXIV., on “ Impotence and Sterility in the Male,” also 
apply in a qualified degree to a similar condition in 
women. But the fact that in nearly every case of a childless 
married pair, the defect is attributed in the public mind to the 
wife, makes the condition of the barren woman easier to endure, 
because it is supposed to be so common ; while on the other hand, 
when impotence or sterility is actually brought home to the man, 
it is the more damaging to his feelings because so few men are 
even so suspected by their neighbors. 
Nevertheless, from the earliest records of the human race 
down to the present time, the instinct of motherhood has made 
women desire to have children, and they have instinctively either 
pitied or despised, according to the bent of their mind, the woman 
“ whose womb God has shut up,” and barrenness has in many 
ages and countries been esteemed by the woman herself a worse 
affliction than even death ; and many a woman has gloried in 
and praised God for the child to bear whom she even gave up 
her own life, because “ her reproach was taken away.” The story 
of Jephthah’s daughter (Judges xi., 30-40) is instructive. When 
this young virgin, in fulfilment of her father’s foolish vow, was 
about to be slain and offered up for a burnt offering, she asked 
and obtained leave to go with her companions into the mountains 
for two months, to bewail, not her approaching death, but the fact 
that she must die childless. This instinct is so universal that 
every properly constituted woman desires to have at least one 
child, to prove to the rest of womankind that she can, even though 
she is unwilling to so far subordinate her social pleasures to her 
parental instinct as to produce another. For this reason the re- 
proach sometimes cast upon a childless wife, that she is avoiding 
conception, is one we may fairly say never deserved ; and the con- 
temptuous manner in which many women deride others for their 
childlessness is as cruel as it is uncalled for. Even an unneces- 
sary reference to the fact, or a well-meant attempt at expressing THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
267 
sympathy, is very Table to give pain, and the kindest thing her 
friends can do in the matter is to make no sort of reference to it. 
This childless condition of the married woman may arise 
from impotence or sterility on the husband’s part, as described in 
Chapter XXIV., but if not, then it may arise from either of these 
conditions in the woman herself. 
Impotence consists in inability to receive the male organ. 
The cause sometimes is an inordinate tenderness in the vulva, or 
opening leading to the vagina, such that the attempt at coition 
causes unendurable pain. A woman who is thus afflicted need 
not on that account go childless. The formation of the ova may 
go on and menstruation take place in the normal manner, and if 
so she is capable of impregnation. A celebrated physician relates 
a case of this kind. The husband consulted him in regard to the 
condition of his wife. They had been married for a few months, 
but had never been able to have connection, the wife complaining 
that the attempt hurt her too much. The physician made an 
examination and found the external genitals acutely sensitive and 
the hymen unbroken, but the woman several months gone in preg- 
nancy. In the attempt at connection, semen had been cast into 
the vagina merely through the small opening in the hymen, and 
conception had taken place. Of course, such a hyper-sensitive 
condition can usually be remedied by proper medical treatment, 
and even if it fail, conception may be brought about as above de- 
scribed, or by injecting the semen with a small syringe, as de- 
scribed in Chapter XXIV. 
IMPOTENCE—FEMALE. 
In some cases impotency is caused by some malformation of 
the vagina, as where it is too small; but most cases of this sort 
are in a greater or less measure curable by the physician or 
surgeon ; the too small vagina may be stretched, or improper 
growths removed. Sometimes the entrance to the vagina is 
closed by a hymen so strong that the male organ is unable to 
rupture it; this can be remedied by the surgeon’s knife without 
danger. In other cases the labia are grown together by reason 
of some neglected inflammatory condition or the like ; this can be 
corrected in like manner. 
Indeed, cases of real, incurable impotence, such as the ab- 
sence of a vagina, are very rare. And if there be a Vagina into 268 
which the male organ of copulation can penetrate, even though 
the womb and ovaries are absent or rudimentary, there is no im- 
potence in the strict sense of the word, and a marriage would 
probably be valid in law, whether or not it would be justifiable in 
morals. This question of the moral justification of marriage under 
such circumstances is discussed in Chapter XXIV. 
THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION 
STERILITY—FEMALE. 
Sterility in women is the inability to conceive children. Virtual 
sterility may exist by reason of incapacity for sexual intercourse, 
but usually arises from other causes. There may be some obstacle 
to the entrance of the sem'nal fluid, or the spermatozoa, into the 
womb ; a displacement of the womb, whereby its mouth is turned 
backward against the wall of the vagina, will have th.s effect; so, 
of course, will any closure of the mouth of the womb. 
The ovaries may be diseased, or rudimentary, or may be ab- 
sent entirely, either from the time of birth, or having been re- 
moved by surgical operation. In these cases there w.ll be no ova 
in which impregnation can take place. In cases of the congenital 
absence, or of the non-development of the ovaries, the womb, too, 
will either be wanting, or merely rudimentary. 
There may be a perfect womb, and ovaries maturing perfect 
ova, but there may be some defect or closure of the Fallopian 
Tubes, so that the egg and the spermatozoa of the semen cannot 
reach each other. Again, through some defect in the womb, the 
fecundated ovum, oh reaching it, may never be able to find a 
lodgment, and will regularly pass out without ever developing, or 
there may be inflammation in the womb which will kill the sper- 
matoza, or the ova, on their being brought into contact with it. 
In all these cases, of course, no conception can take place, 
and the woman is sterile, but in many of them the cause may be 
removed by proper medical treatment, and no woman should go 
childless without having her case investigated by a competent 
physician; and, if necessary, the husband should do likewise. THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
269 
CHAPTER XXVI. 
SEMINAL EMISSIONS. 
(SPERMATORRHOEA.) 
THERE is no other subject on which men are so sensitive 
as on that of their sexual condition ; and many men face 
death itself with greater equanimity than they would face 
the loss of sexual power withal. Dr. Remondino tells of a man 
whom he knew in the rough early days of boating on the Missis- 
sippi River, who was a perfect terror to all the fighting men on 
the river. He was not a large man, nor particularly muscular, 
but he got the reputation of being able in a fight to seize his 
opponent’s privates, and, by one squeeze, to destroy their vitality 
and render the man sterile ; the consequence was that men would 
rather face a battery of artillery, or sleep in a small-pox hospital, 
than get into a combat with him. A very trifling ailment of the 
private parts is sure to cause the greatest alarm. 
This fact is taken advantage of by unscrupulous persons to 
torture the imagination of young men by describing a common 
physio’ogical fact as evidence of disease, in order to get money 
out of them by the sale of supposed remedies. That this business 
must bring in enormous sums of money may well be guessed from 
the multitude of costly advertisements which are used to call at- 
tention to their wares, all of which their dupes pay for. 
The alleged disease which seems to be a chief object of these 
gentlemen’s solicitude is that symptom now well-known to even 
laymen by the name of Spermatorrhoea, or Seminal Losses or 
Emissions. 
This means a loss or expulsion of semen without voluntary 
sexual excitement; and we may say that if the actual facts con- 
cerning this function were generally known, the business of these 
advertising gentlemen would suffer serious diminution. 
We may clear the ground at the outset by stating that this 
loss of semen, occurring during sleep with libidinous dreams, or 
while at stool, or when the passions are greatly excited, is not ne- 
cessarily or usually a symptom of any impaired condition. On the 
contrary, if not too frequent, these emissions are an evidence 
rather of sexual health. The testicles of the adult male are all 270 
THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
the time, but particularly upon any sexual excitement, secreting 
semen. This passes up and is stored in the seminal vesicles, at 
the base of the bladder ; and as the capacity of these reservoirs 
is limited, it must pass away again. A certain amount of it is 
perhaps absorbed, but the abundant secretion of early manhood, 
unless spent in sexual intercourse, must come away in seminal 
emiss'ons, and under these circumstances it is as natural for the 
seminal vesicles to empty themselves as for the bowels and 
bladder to do so. It may be stated in general terms that if these 
emissions do not occur oftener than once or twice or three times 
a week, they are, in early manhood especially, quite natural and 
proper. Indeed, perfect health is often found where these emis- 
sions take place even daily. 
Nevertheless, many young men, reading the terrifying list of 
symptoms found in these advertising pamphlets and in newspaper 
advertisements, become melancholy and debilitated, with poor 
appetites, disturbed rest, wandering minds, etc., etc., all which 
are caused, not by disease, but by reading and brooding over the 
list of symptoms, and imagining they can notice them all in their 
own cases. They are much like the hero in Jerome K Jerome’s 
“ Three Men in a Boat,” who fell to reading a “ doctor book,” 
and, from studying the symptoms carefully, soon convinced him- 
self that he had all the diseases there described, except “ house- 
maid’s knee,” and felt quite hurt because he had not that too. 
The real disease Spermatorrhoea is very rare. We shall 
avoid giving any list of symptoms, as the result might be just 
such as we have outlined above, to produce them in the patient’s 
imagination, but will content ourselves with saying that if a man 
appear to have any considerable seminal losses, and at the same 
time feels his health running down, the only wise thing to do is to 
go to some physician in whom he has confidence, state his case 
frankly and act on the physician’s advice, and he need give b.'s 
own mind no worry over it whatever. At the same time such a 
disease unquestionably exists, and, where it does exist, is un- 
doubtedly very injurious to health and happiness, and we think 
proper, for that reason, to give warning against those cause-s 
which produce it. 
Causes. There is no other cause which produces so many 
cases of spermatorrhoea as self-abuse. Indeed, the majority of 
all cases of this disease spring from it; and the worst of these cases THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
271 
is that they are unusually difficult of cure. Why ? Because the 
patient is very likely the helpless, hopeless slave of this vile habit; 
he has lost his nerve, his power of even strongly willing to give up 
the practice which is destroying him In many cases nothing 
short of a surgical operation, removing the testicles completely, 
will stop him. This is sometimes really resorted to, where it be- 
comes a matter of choice between eunichism on the one hand, or 
insanity or death on the other. 
Excessive indulgence in sexual intercourse may also cause 
this disease, though it is much less likely to than the solitary vice, 
because the solitary vice can be and is practiced at all hours and 
under all circumstances, and the losses and consequent drain on 
the nervous system are just so much greater. This ruinous in- 
dulgence is almost equally harmful if taken in illicit amours, or in 
the lawful embraces of the conjugal bed; but it is much more 
likely to occur with the unmarried, because they are more apt to 
yield to excess when opportunity occurs, on account of their long 
restraint. It is not to be supposed that it always requires a long 
course of excess to produce this evil; the unbridled passion of a 
single night may so wreck the nervous system that the disease is 
set up at once. This is peculiarly liable to happen to those men 
who are past the vigor of their earlier prime; and the wretched 
old bachelors who wreck their health in this way are far from few. 
Another cause to which also the unmarried are more liable is 
venereal disease, the after consequences of which, unless the dis- 
ease has received prompt and skilful attention, is apt to be a 
weakness of the genital organs, with incontinence of the semen. 
The frequent excitation of the passions by lascivious thoughts, 
obscene stories, impure imaginations and otherwise, is another 
cause of spermatorrhoea, akin in its character to masturbation, the 
solitary vice. 
But this lamentable disease may arise from causes entirely 
unassociated with disgraceful habits or debased mind, and reflect- 
ing little or no blame whatever on the unfortunate sufferer. Exces* 
sive mental labor with neglect of proper exercise and attention to 
bodily needs, habitual constipation, long-continued diarrhoea, the 
irritation caused by certain diseases of the skin, or by the accum- 
ulation of sebaceous matter under the foreskin, the excessive use 
of alcoholic liquors, coffee or tobacco, ulcers or worms in the lower 
bowel, stone in the bladder, inflammation of the parts from various 272 
THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
causes—any of them may cause this disorder. There may even be 
an inherited tendency to this disease. The wise physician is per- 
fectly aware of these things, and is very unlikely to wrongfully 
suspect the young man of being the victim of his own wrong- 
doing, who, fearing himself a sufferer from this disease, goes and 
lays his case plainly and candidly before him ; and even if it be 
true that his own vices are thus finding him out, it is still the 
wisest thing he can do to make a clean breast of the whole mat- 
ter, for his secret is safe with any reputable physician, who will 
not even despise him, for he knows that the wrong was probably 
done in ignorance, and the sufferer can only expect intelligent 
advice and treatment if his adviser be informed of all the facts. 
One other not infrequent cause of seminal emissions amount- 
ing to disease, is long engagements. The caresses and fondlings 
in which the engaged young man is almost sure to indulge, inevit- 
ably excite his passions violently, and the result is extraordinary 
activity of the semen-secreting function. This is almost sure to 
bring with it nocturnal emissions and a weakening of the sexual 
power, coupled eventually with spermatorrhoea, so that by the 
time the marriage has taken place, when the man should be in 
possession of the fullest sexual vigor, he finds himself with powers 
quite impaired, or even impotent. Especially is this liable to 
occur with those who, earlier in life, have been addicted to sexual 
excess, or to the solitary vice. 
We know that advice to have marriage follow pretty closely 
upon the heels of the engagement, unless the parties live a so 
great a distance from each other as to prevent frequent visits, or 
to forego those loving toyings and fondlings which are so pleasant 
to them, is almost sure to be disregarded in practice, however its 
justice may be approved in the abstract, but we cannot forbear to 
give warning, that the frequent excitement of ungratified passion 
which results from such a course, is sure to be visited with greater 
or less punishment. 
Mr. William Acton, the eminent surgeon, says : “ All medical 
experience proves that for anyone, especially a young man, to 
enter into a long engagement without any immediate hope of ful- 
filing it, is physically an almost unmitigated evil. I have reason 
to know that this condition of almost constant excitement has 
often caused not only dangerously frequent and long-continued 
nocturnal em'ssions, but most painful affections of the testes. THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
These results sometimes follow the progress of an ordinary two or 
three months’ courtship to an alarming extent. The danger and 
distress may be much more serious when the marriage is post- 
poned for years.” 
273 
Prevention and Cure. The course of life necessary to prevent 
Spermatorrhoea is indicated in describing its causes. Lead a 
pure life. If married, indulge in moderation, not every night, 
much less several times in one night. If unmarried, lead a chaste 
life, chaste in body and mind. Avoid impure thoughts and lust- 
ful imaginations, licentious reading and conversation, and eve:y- 
thing which excites the sexual passion. Lead as quiet a life as 
circumstances will permit, but pure and agreeable society is far 
better than solitary brooding. 
Even a natural weakness and predisposition to this trouble 
can be largely or quite overcome by observance of these recom- 
mendations and by attention to hygienic conditions, cleanlin .ss 
of the parts, cold bathing, regular exercise, and a wholesome, 
nutritious, but unstimulating diet. All those foods, relishes, 
spices, condiments, drugs and medicines which are described as 
sexual excitants, in the chapter on “ The Hygiene of Virility,” 
should be avoided. 
Sleeping cn a soft feather bed is also provocative of emissions. 
A mattress of hair or other moderately hard mattress is best. 
The covering, too, should be light and not too warm, the air pure 
and the room well ventilated. Care should also be taken to 
empty the bladder just before retiring. The pressure of a full 
bladder on the seminal vesicles is very apt to cause emissions. 
Most persons who are so troubled find them occur well on towards 
morning, when the bladder has got pretty well filled up again. 
In such cases one may sometimes find it prudent to set an alarm 
clock to awaken him about an hour before the time when the 
trouble usually occurs ; if he get up then and empty the bladder 
again, he will likely escape the trouble for that night. Sleeping 
lying on the back is also liable to cause emissions. The reason 
for this is similar to the reason last given ; the seminal vesicles, 
which are the reservoirs for the semen, lie along the base, or back 
lower side of the bladder, and lying on the back causes the weight 
of the bladder to press upon them, provoking sexual excitation 
and emissions. To get rid of a habit of sleeping on the back, it is 
sometimes necessary to adopt some mechanical means, such as 2/4 
THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
tying a towel round the body, with a large knot just over the 
spine. 
Many a patient who is afflicted with these losses, and at the 
same time with weakness, nervousness and debility, imagines the 
losses to cause the other troubles, when really they are the result, 
not the cause. Then, any treatment which will build up and 
give tone to the system, well-regulated diet and exercise, plenty 
of sleep, tonic medicines and whatever will improve the general 
health, is at the same time certain to cure those frequent cases of 
nightly losses arising from weak health. 
A cold bath taken before retiring is a useful preventative. A 
rather heroic treatment in connection with this is to pour a stream 
of cold water down the spine for a few minutes. 
A simple and effective means of preventing erections is de- 
scribed by Dr. Wood. It was used by him in two cases, one a 
very obstinate one, with perfect success. Says the doctor: “ I 
took a strip of isinglass adhesive plaster, two inches long by half 
an inch wide, moistened it and applied it along the back of the 
member. It worked like a charm, and the young man has not 
been troubled since, when the plaster is on. He is now entirely 
recovered and at work at his trade. THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
275 
CHAPTER XXVII. 
THE SOLITARY VICE. 
THIS habit, otherwise known as Masturbation (Latin— 
Masiicrbatio, probably from manus, the hand, and stupro, 
pollute), or Self-abuse, requires more than the occasional 
reference it has received from time to time throughout this book ; 
partly because its prevalence and injurious consequences are 
under-estimated by many, and partly because they are exagger- 
ated by many more. 
Fowler defines.this degrading vice as “ Indulging immodest 
feelings and actions, and imagining sexual pleasures with one of 
the opposite sex, whilst handling your own private parts.” He 
says: “Masturbation outrages Nature’s sexual ordinances more 
than any or all the other forms of sexual sin man can perpetrate. 
It is man’s sin of sins, and vice of vices ; and has 
caused incomparably more sexual dilapidation, paralysis and dis- 
ease, as well as demoralization, than all other sexual depravities 
combined. Neither Christendom nor heathendom suffers any 
evil at all to compare with this ; because of its universality, and 
its terribly fatal ravages on body and mind ; and because it at- 
tacks the young idols of our hearts, and hopes of our future years.” 
Sir James Paget, the eminent English Surgeon, takes a some- 
what less gloomy view of the matter. In addressing a class of 
physicians and students in a London hospital, he said: “ But on 
some subjects your teaching will have to be very clear as to mat- 
ters of fact; especially, for instance, as to the practice of mastur- 
bation, to which many of your patients will ascribe their chief 
distress 
“ Now, I believe you may teach positively that masturbation 
does neither more nor less harm than intercourse practiced with 
the same frequency, in the same conditions of general health, age 
and circumstances. Practiced frequently by the very young, that 
is, at any time before or at the beginning of puberty, masturba- 
tion is very likely to produce exhaustion, effiminacy, over-sensi- 
tiveness and nervousness ; just as equally frequent intercourse at 
the same age would probably produce them. Or, practiced every 
day, or several times a day, either act is likely to produce such 276 
THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
symptoms. And the mischiefs are likely or nearly sure to hap- 
pen, and to be greatest, if the excesses are practiced by those 
who, by inheritance or circumstances, are liable to any nervous 
disease, to spinal irritation, epilepsy, insanity, or any other. 
“ But the mischiefs are due to the quantity, not to the nature 
of the excesses ; and the quantity is to be estimated in relation 
to the age and power of the nervous system. I have seen as 
numerous and as great evils consequent upon excessive inter- 
course as upon excessive masturbation ; but I have not seen or 
heard anything to make me believe that the occasional practice 
of this latter vice has any other effects on one who practices it 
than has occasional intercourse. I wish I could say something 
worse of so nasty a practice ; an uncleanliness, a filthiness for- 
bidden by God. an unmanliness despised by men.” 
Dr. Napheys, who quotes the foregoing opinion of Sir James 
Paget, while not just prepared to differ from it in any particular, 
goes on to say : “ While so much of this opinion will be generally 
acknowledged to be true as asserts that the occasional indulgence 
in this detestable habit may not leave after it those permanent 
effects which the quacks pretend, and the dread of which drives 
so many to despair; on the other hand, it has been abundantly 
shown that there is in the habit itself a peculiar and distressing 
wear on the nervous system, which leaves most serious traces for 
a long time. 
“ It has, for instance, been demonstrated by Professor Gross, 
of Philadelphia, that a variety of stricture is brought on by mas- 
turbation, which may in turn lead to most serious consequences. 
These are, in the milder forms, undue sensitiveness of the urethra, 
with slight inflammation along its tract, and the erections become 
imperfect and feeble, and ejaculation too precipitate. This may 
continue until sexual desire is abolished, and a condition of hypo- 
chrondia sets in with all those difficult features which we have pre- 
viously described. 
“ There arc, moreover, other very serious differences between 
intercourse and solitary vice. The temptation to carry the latter 
to excess is far greater than is the case with the former ; and the 
excitations, abnormal and excessive, which are encouraged to 
provoke it, cannot but have a long-continued disastrous influence. 
“ Another grave charge is its prevalence in early, we may 
say very early, life. Even in infants it is not unknown, and should THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
277 
be carefully watched for. An able American writer on diseases 
of children, Dr. Jacobi, has recently called special attention to 
this subject. He points out that young children may be prompt- 
ed to it by some condition of the urine, by the presence of seat- 
worms, or by acquired nervous derangements, as well as by the 
vicious instruction of those around them.” 
Dr. W. T. Belfield, of New York, Professor of Secret and 
Urinary Diseases in the College of Physicians and Surgeons 
there, supports the opinion of Sir James Paget; in fact, he thinks 
that, act lor act, sexual intercourse is more exhausting than mas- 
turbation, and that the more common evil effects of masturbation 
arise from the greater facility, and correspondingly greater fre- 
quency, and the earlier age at which it is practiced. Professor 
Belfield says: “ There is no denying the fact that this custom is 
alarmingly prevalent among children of both sexes Parents 
cannot be too careful in supervising the habits of their children, 
for these often acquire the habit of self-pollution without know.ng 
what they do. In fact, the habit is practiced, in many instances, 
at an age when the child would not be supposed to be deriving 
any gratification from it. It has even been practiced by infants 
in arms. Every association of boys or girls, such as occurs in 
boarding schools, public schools, and the like, is a hot-bed for the 
propagation and disseminat on of this habit among innocent 
children. Every child who is entrust d to the care of hired serv- 
ants also runs a risk of contamination. This is, of course, a mat- 
ter for parents, guardians and teachers of children to detect and 
to prevent; it lies beyond the reach of the physician. 
“ A few words of information may, however, be comiorting 
and profitable to parents who discover that their children have 
been taught this habit. 
“ In the first place, the evils which are popularly attributed 
to the habit are grossly exaggerated. The medical profession 
has been singularly lax in instructing the people as to the actual 
facts in the case ; hence the popular information on the subject is 
derived from quacks, whose interest is furthered by exciting the 
fears and anxiety of those who have at some time been guilty of 
the practice. From such sources people have derived the belief 
that one who has been addicted to self-abuse is marked as a 
victim for all sorts of nervous diseases, terminating in insanity, 
imbecility, and death. These ideas are essentially erroneous ; 278 
THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
for no instance is on record in which insanity or imbecility could 
be traced positively to this habit. The numerous cases in which 
self-abuse is practiced by insane, imbecile and epileptic patients 
seem to be instances in 'which both the disease and the habit of 
self-pollution are the results of a common weakness of the nervous 
system, and not that either one is the effect of the other. 
“ The injury which is to be expected from indulgence in the 
habit of masturbation depends largely upon the extent to which 
the habit is practiced, as well as the age at which it was begun. 
As has been stated, every healthy male suffers a discharge of 
seminal fluid at stated intervals, no matter how continent he may 
be ; and the frequency of those emissions may vary extremely 
without exceeding the bounds of health, or causing injurious 
effects. The health of the individual is not impaired when the 
frequency of these emissions is much increased by marriage ; nor 
is his general condition necessarily deteriorated if the emissions 
are made to occur without marriage. Injury is to be expected 
when the habit is acquired at an early age, before the sexual 
powers are developed, and hence before they are capable of sus- 
taining the effort required of them in responding to the stimulation 
of sexual excitement. Unfortunately, in many cases, the boy 
becomes so addicted to the habit that he becomes incapable of 
thinking about or devoting his energies to anything else. The 
result must necessarily be a stinting of his intellectual powers. 
One other fact should be emphasized, namely, that the injury is 
simply the result of exhaustion of the vital powers ; and that this 
exhaustion results, not from the loss of the seminal fluid, but from 
the excitement incident to the escape of the fluid. The most ab- 
surd and extravagant ideas prevail as to the vital importance of 
the male fluid ; these ideas, derived chiefly from the advertise- 
ments of ‘ specialists,’ ascribe to this fluid the qualities of a vital 
essence. It is a prevalent belief that the loss of a single drop of 
this fluid exhausts a man as much as the loss of a considerable 
quantity of blood. Such ideas are, of course, absurd ; the ex- 
haustion which follows the loss of the seminal fluid is consequent 
merely upon the intense excitement which accompanies the act. 
This is the most intense and exhausting emotion of which the 
human animal is capable ; and indulgence in it is followed by a 
corresponding degree of exhaustion. As a matter of fact, a 
seminal emission, induced artificially, does not and cannot ex- THE SCIENCE OF GENERATION. 
279 
haust the individual so much as natural intercourse ; but the 
trouble is that, while the number of emissions in the natural way 
is, from the nature of things, limited, there is no limit to the 
license which a person may practice, who gratifies his sexual 
appetite by artificial means. Hence, masturbation is, or may be, 
more injurious than sexual congress, simply because it is so easily 
and generally practiced to an excess that is impossible in natural 
intercourse.” 
Professor Belfield, while giving no invariable rules for the 
treatment of this habit, points out that the method of treating it 
must vary greatly in different cases. Where the child is pale and 
feeble, medical treatment and dietary attention which will im- 
prove, his health will often enable him to overcome the habit of 
self-pollution. But in most cases the most effectual method is to 
engage the child’s thoughts and energies constantly in employ- 
ment or recreation which will absorb all his attention and employ 
all his vigor; and in instructing and encouraging him in overcom- 
ing the habit, treating him, not with harsh rebukes or violence, but 
with the warmest sympathy and support. The use of mechanical 
means, such as tying the hands and feet, is justifiable only as a 
last resort, and is seldom effectual. Such means should scarcely 
be adopted, except upon the advice of a responsible physician. 
In those many cases in which the habit arose from the irrita- 
tion caused by stricture of the foreskin, or by the accumulations 
of secretions under it, or by the various skin diseases and urinary 
troubles which may affect the parts, or by seat-worms, the first 
thing is, of course, to remove those causes by proper attention to 
the child’s cleanliness of person, and by the appropriate medical 
treatment.  OF THIS BOOK 
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office address very plainly. TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS—PAGE 7. 
Procreation, or How Young are Produced—General Outline. 
CHAPTER I.—PAGE 9. 
Influence of the Sexual System. The two Sexual Principles. 
Sex in the lower forms of life. Separation of the Sexes in the 
higher forms of life. Variation in modes of uniting the Sexual 
elements. Formation of the Sexual elements. 
CHAPTER II.—PAGE 12. 
Pubic bone and Mons Veneris. Its hairy covering. The 
Labia Pudendi, Labia Majora or External Lips, and the Labia 
Minora or Nymphae, description ; functions ; undue sensitiveness ; 
removal ; Egyptian circumcisers ; jealous precautions; develop- 
ment in the Hottentot women ; abnormalities. The Clitoris; 
description ; function ; amputation as a punishment of fornication ; 
cleanl ness as a precaution against vicious habits; bicycling dang- 
ers ; abnormalities; comparative anatomy. The Vulva or open- 
ing. The Vestibulum. The Hymen ; its condition not a true 
test of Virginity ; Isaiah’s views; imperforate hymen; abnormal 
hymen Comparative anatomy. 
The Gen'tal Organs of the Human Female—External. 
The Female Genital Organs—Internal. 
CHAPTER III.—PAGE 25. 
The Ovaries ; their situation, appearance, development, 
structure and function ; shrivel on Change of Life. Egg-laying 
without copulation. Periods of Ovulation in various animals. 
The relation of Ovulation to Menstruation and to Conception. 
Comparative physiology. Manner of Ovulation, or escape of the 
egg from the ovary. Where does Impregnation take place ? The 
Ovary the distinctively female organ. The Graafian Cell; causes 
of its rupture. The Corpus Luteum or Scar; its significance as 
to pregnancy. Defective Ovaries. Effect of Sexual excitement 
on Ovarian action. Causes of Sexual feeling, etc. The Fallopian 
Tubes ; form and size ; the fimbrise ; their functions ; debility of; 
erectile tissue of; paralysis and closure. The Womb, Uterus or 
Matrix;- its function ; wanting in some animals ; situation, form, 
size, parts ; supports ; falling of; composition and structure ; male 282 
TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
organ does not enter it; abnormalities ; comparative anatomy of; 
double and forked wombs. The Vagina; situation; structure 
and form ; its erectile tissue ; glands in ; imperfections and mal- 
formations. 
The Ovum or Egg of the Female ; Its Structure and the 
Changes which It Undergoes. 
CHAPTER IV.—PAGE 49. 
Human Egg essentially similar to that of any other animal; 
composition of Yolk or Vitellus ; Germinal Vesicle; minute size 
of human ovum ; progressive expulsions of. 
CHAPTER V.—PAGE 52. 
Puberty.—Ovaries at birth, their condition and development; 
first appearance and cause of Menstruation. Changes in the girl’s 
physical appearance and condition at puberty. Age of puberty. 
Engrossing importance of the Menstrual function and ovulation ; 
their effect on the female mind. Physical concomitants and 
symptoms of the Menstrual function. Character of the discharge. 
Influence of climate. Frequency of the period. 
The Turn or Change of Life.—Cessation of Menstruation ; 
Conception in old age. Peculiar notions regarding Menstruation. 
Time for Marriage. 
Menstruation During Pregnancy.—Not usual, but sometimes 
occurs ; second conception. 
Menstruation Duri?ig Nursing.—Liability to conception then. 
Connection During Menstruation. — Sometimes justifiable; 
usually not so. 
Menstruation, or the Monthly Flow. 
CHAPTER VI.—PAGE 69. 
The proper care of a young girl at this period. Inherited 
tendencies. Chlorosis or green sickness. Food. Sleep. Exer- 
cise ; outdoors. Clothing ; the corset. Regular habits. School; 
mental labors. Light reading and companionship. 
Hygiene of Puberty—Female. 
CHAPTER VII.—PAGE 79. 
The Genital Organs of the Human Male. 
The Testes or Testicles. The Vas Deferens. The Seminal 
Vesicles, reservoirs of semen. Ejaculatory ducts. The Prostate 
Gland. The Scrotum or Bag. The Penis. Absence, defective 
development and malformation of the Penis. Want of develop- 
ment in the Penis; how to remedy. Abnormal Testicles. TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
283 
CHAPTER VIII.—PAGE 105. 
Emasculation, Castration and Eunuchism. 
Purpose of; methods of producing; effect of; incomplete 
and copulating eunuchs. Supplies for the eunuch market. Un- 
intentional Emasculation. Devices to ensure continence. 
CHAPTER IX.—PAGE 114. 
The Semen. 
Composition of. The Spermatozoa ; their size, power of loco- 
motion, tenacity of life, origin ; Cripples and deformed persons 
from ; effect of drugs on ; electricity. Cases of prolonged virility. 
Comparative physiology. 
CHAPTER X.—PAGE 124. 
How accomplished in various animals ; the instinct for; incit- 
ants to. Hygiene of the Marital relation ; comparative ardor of 
the Sexes ; temperance in Sexual intercourse ; perioHs when it 
should be omitted ; excess in, its danger to man ; effects of ex- 
cess. King August the Strong. 
Sexual Union. 
CHAPTER XI.—PAGE 134, 
Impregnation—Conception. 
Pouchet’s ten Laws of Fecundation ; a discussion of them. 
The tenth law ; where does impregnation occur ? Sex in plants. 
Fate of the Spermatozoa ; coalesence of the male and female 
pro-nuclei. 
CHAPTER XII. - PAGE 145. 
Development of the New Being. 
First changes in the Ovum after Impregnation. The Primi- 
tive Trace. The Amnion and Liquor Amnii. How connection 
with the mother is formed. The.Placenta, the feeding and breath- 
ing ground of the Foetus. The Umbilical Cord .Thel Foetus in its 
Successive Stages. Size of Children at birth. The Fontanelles or 
soft spots in the infant’s head. The Sutures or seams in the skull. 
CHAPTER XIII.—PAGE 158. 
Changes in the Uterus, its form, size and position. Changes 
in the Blood ; in the Heart; in the Urine. 
Changes in the Mother During Pregnancy. 
CHAPTER XIV.—PAGE 165. 
Importance of Diagnosis. Sensations during Intercourse. 
Signs, and Symptoms of Pregnancy. 284 
TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
Cessation of Menstruation. Morning Sickness, vomitings ; vari- 
ous other phenomena, cravings and longings. Burlesqued by 
Richard Steele. Changes in the Breasts. Other Color Changes 
in the Skin. Movements of the Foetus—Quickening. Changes 
in the Abdomen. 
CHAPTER XV.—PAGE 177. 
Respect for Pregnancy in ancient times ; at the present day. 
Food during pregnancy; clothing; cleanliness ; sleep; care of 
the Breasts. Miscarriage ; age when most likely ; how early can 
a child live ? Causes of; symptoms. Birth-marks or Mother’s 
marks; cases of alleged ; improbability of. Effect of Mother’s 
blood on Foetus. 
Hygiene of Pregnancy. 
CHAPTER XVI.—PAGE 191. 
Duration of Pregnancy. 
Average duration. First pregnancy usually shorter. Gardner 
peerage case. Cases of Protracted pregnancy. How to calculate 
the time of expected labor. 
The Father and Mother During Pregnancy. 
CHAPTER Xv II.—PAGE 195. 
The Marital Relation during pregnancy ; when proper ; when 
improper; is it ever required; influence on the child; influence 
on subsequent offspring, “ throwing back.” Influence of condition 
of mother ; Educating the unborn child. 
Childbirth, Parturition, Delivery, Confinement, Accouchment. 
CHAPTER XVIII.—PAGE 202. 
Earliest symptoms ; successive stages. Cause of expulsion 
of foetus. Childbirth after death of mother. The Caesarean 
operation. Mortality of Childbed ; at what age least; proper age 
for marriage; birth of male children more dangerous. Duration 
of labor. 
CHAPTER XIX.—PAGE 208. 
Twins, Triplets, Etc., Superfoetation, Extra-Uterine Pregnancy 
and other Unusual Conceptions. 
Plural births abnormal? Twinring, etc., runs in families. 
Table of Statistics of plural births in Europe. Sex of twins, etc. 
Cause of plurality. How twins enveloped. Superfoetation and 
Superfecundation ; definitions of; causes of; instances of. Extra- 
Uterine pregnancy; tubal; abdominal; ovarian; causes of; 
dangers of. Intra-Foetal pregnancies ; instances of. Monstrosi- TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
285 
tic? or Freaks of Nature ; causes of. Hermaphrodism ; origin of 
the name ; alleged instances of; superstitions regarding. 
CHAPTER XX.—PAGE 229. 
Ginx’s baby; excessive family. Legitimate reasons for 
avoidance of conception. Invalid reasons for. Evil results of. 
Means of; when proper; abstinence, complete ; partial abstinence ; 
various injections improper ; preventing ejaculation ; Onanism ; 
mechanical contrivances ; objectionableness of these. Criminal 
abortion ; rare amongst the poor; the Criminal Code regarding ; 
abortion is murder. Entire or periodical abstinence the only 
proper means. 
The Avoidance of Offspring. 
Production of Sex at Will; and How to Ascertain the Sex 
of the Unborn Child. 
CHAPTER XXI.—PAGE 240. 
Notions regarding Sex-production ; importance of; the Thury 
plan of producing the sex desired. Ascertaining the sex ; foetal 
heart-beat. 
CHAPTER XXII—PAGE 245. 
The Hygiene of Puberty—Male. 
Puberty ; meaning of; changes incident to, physical, mental; 
how to prevent too early development; physical and intellectual 
exercise ; cleanliness; irritation of the organs to be avoided; 
sleeping accommodation; personal habits; flogging. Age of 
puberty ; heredity ; constitution ; occupation. 
CHAPTER XXIII. —PAGE 251 
The Hygiene of Virility. 
The period of virility; time for marriage ; use of drugs; 
odors ; influence of various foods and drinks; how to preserve 
the sexual power. 
CHAPTER XXIV.—PAGE 255. 
lmpotence and Sterility—Male. 
Importance of the subject. Definitions. Impotence, fancied, 
from timidity or nervousness, etc.; ancient notions ; true impo- 
tence rare. Temporary, from distress or pre-occupation. Use of 
electricity ; Phosphoric Acid Lemonade, recipe for. Impotence 
from drugs, etc. ; from fatness; from spermatorrhoea. Legal 
effect of Impotence. Sterility in the male ; various causes. Arti- 286 
TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
fic’al Impregnation, or the production of children without personal 
sexual intercourse. How to tell whether childlessness is due to 
the husband or wife. Electricity. Quack advertisements. Natural 
desire of offspring. 
CHAPTER XXV.—PAGE 265. 
Women often wrongly blamed. Jephthah’s daughter. No 
woman willingly childless. Female Impotence; definition of; 
causes of; usually curable. P emale Sterility or barrenness ; causes 
of. How to tell whether childlessness owing to husband or to wife. 
Impotence and Sterility—Female. 
CHAPTER XXVI.—PAGE 269. 
The real disease very rare. • A certain amount of seminal 
loss natural ; physiological reasons for it. Advice to those who 
fear they have Spermatorrhoea. Causes of the disease ; how to 
prevent it; how to cure. 
Seminal Emissions or Losses (Spermatorrhoea). 
CHAPTER XXVII.—PAGE 275. 
Masturbation or Self-abuse. Origin of the word. Meaning. 
Its commonness. Sir James Paget’s views. Why it is harmful. 
Effects exaggerated by quacks. Causes of it; how to prevent 
it; how to cure. 
The Solitary Vice. AGENTS WANTED EVERYWHERE V LIBERAL 
PROFITS. Address 
THE LONDON PUBLISHING COMPANY. 
London, Canada. 
CORRECTION. 
For “prostrate gland” read “prostate gland” on 
pages 79, 83 and 87. 
INDEX. 
A Page. 
Abdomen, changes in during preg- 
nancy.. 174 
Abortion, criminal 236-8 
law against 237-8 
is murder 238 
Abraham’s case ; 59 
Accouchment, see Confinement. 
Age, old ; childbearing in 59 
begetting children in. 122 
Air, fresh 72 
Alcohol, its effect on the Sperma- 
tozoa 120 
Amnion, the 147 
Animalculse, seminal 114-5 
Aphrodite the Goddess 223 
August the Strong. 132 
Avoidance of Offspring. 229 
valid reasons for 231 
invalid reasons 232 
various means for 233-5 
B 
Ballottment as a test of Pregnancy, 
illustration 164 
Bicycling for females 18 
Birds, egg-production of 136 
Births, plural, see Twins, etc. 
Blood, the, during pregnancy 162 
c 
Castration 105 
origin of the word. 105 
various purposes of 105-6 
mortality consequent on 112 
and see Eunuchism. 
Page. 
Catamenia 28 
Children, avoidam. o., s_e Avoid- 
ance. 
Change of Life 58 
Chastity, enforced. 113 
Chlorosis or Green Sickness 70 
Chorion, the 148 
Circumcision, benefits of 247 
Cleanliness about the Genitals 18 
in pregnancy 179 
in male puberty. 247 
Clitoris, the 17-19 
excitement of •. 17-19 
of beasts 19 
Clothing, in Puberty, female 72 
in pregnancy. 178 
Companionship, in female puberty. 76 
Conception; when it can take place 30 
where it takes place.. .28, 134, 140 
avoidance of. 229 
Connection, during Menstruation. . 64 
during Pregnancy 195 
excess in, danger to the man.. 130 
as regards health 133 
Corpus Luteum 32-33 
Corsets in female puberty. 73 
Confinement, Symptoms of 202 
Caesarean operation. 203 
mortality of childbed 204 
in case of male foetuses. 207 
Courses, monthly. . 28 
Cravings in pregnancy 168 
in puberty, see Chlorosis 70 288 
INDEX. 
Page. 
D 
Danger in excessive sexual indulg- 
ence 130 
in childbirth. 204 
Delivery, see Confinement. 
Development of ovum witlm ut im- 
pregnation 139 
of new being or foetus 145 
successive stages of. . . .et seq., 1 52 
the primitive trace. 147 
amnion and liquor amnii 147 
how connection with the mother 
formed 148 
the placenta 148 
Plate showing placenta, etc. . 149 
the Umbilical cord or navel- 
st™g I52 
Drugs, evil effects of 252, 260 
kill spermatozoa 120 
Ducts, ejaculatory 83 
Duverney, Glands of. 46 
E 
Education of the child unborn 199 
Eggs or Ova 25, 26, 27, 49 
development of 26 
in beasts 27 
changes in on impregnation... 145 
egg-production of birds 136 
Ejaculatory Ducts 83 
Emasculation. 105 
Emissions of Semen 269 
Embryo, development of, see De- 
velopment. 
Eunuchism 105 
effects of 108 
in the Harem. 107 
Velutti the Singer 108 
in beasts 109 
copulation of 109 
source of eunuch slaves IIO 
unintended in 
death-rate on castration 112 
Excess in sexual indulgence. 130 
fate of August the Strong 132 
see Impotence and Sterility. 
Exercise in female puberty 71 
in male puberty 246 
p Pact’. 
Fallopian Tubes 35 
Flow, Monthly, see Menstruation. 
Foetus, the, in successive months.152'7 
movements of, quickening.... t72 
affect of parental intercourse 
upon - 196 
influence of mother’s mental and 
physical condition on 199 
heart-beat of, to tell the sex of 244 
Fontanelles, the, or boneless spots 
in the head of the young infant. . 156 
Food in puberty 7° 
in pregnancy 178 
in virility 253 
Foreskin or prepuce, the 247 
Freaks of Nature, Monstrosities... 221 
<3 
Genital Organs, importance and in- 
fluence of 9 
female, external. 12 
sectional view of 13 
internal 25 
male 79 
sectional view <f 78 
Ginx’s Baby 229 
Gians Penis, ;ee Penis. 
Graafian Vesicles or Cells 25 
rupture of 31 
Green Sickness, Chlorosis 7° 
H 
Heart, the, enlargement of during 
pregnancy. 162 
Hereditary dangers in puberty 69 
Heredity in age of puberty 250 
Hermaphrodism and Hermaphro- 
dites 9> 222 
Hottentots, peculiarities of their 
organs 17 
removal of one testicle by 105 
Hygiene of puberty, see Puberty. 
of the marital relation 127 
of virility, see Virility. 
Hymen, the 20-22 
rupture of 2C, 22 
no test of virginity 21 
the Jewish Maidens’care for. . 20 
in be.si* 22 INDEX. 
289 
Page. 
I 
Impotence, male 255 
humiliation of 255 
definition of 256 
fancied or real 256 
causes of 256-8, 260, 261 
cure of. 259 
legal eff ct of on 11 arriage.... 261 
Impotence, female. 266 
definition of 267 
causes of 267 
cure of. 267 
Impregnation, Conception 134 
where it occurs 28, 134, 140 
Pouc’net’s ten laws o! 134 
plate illustrating mode of. .. ,-r- 143 
artificial production of the hu- 
man species 144 
Intercourse, fruitful. 165 
and see Connection and Copu- 
lation. 
Infant, new-bo n, size and weight of 155 
skull and hair of 155 
Fontanelles and Sutures in skull 156 
and see l cetus. 
Isaiah on affected virginity 20 
J 
Jewish Maidens in Isaiah’s time... 20 
L 
Labia or Lips of the Genitals 15 
Labor, see Confinement, duration 
of 1 207 
Life, Change or Turn of 58 
Longfellow, H. W., on female pu- 
berty, “The Maiden” 68 
Longings in pregnancy 168 
Losses of Semen 269 
Loss of Virility or Manhood, see 
Virility. 
Love, sexual. 126 
“ love potions ” 252 
M 
Male organs 79 
sectional view of 78 
Manhood, see Virility. 
Marital Relation, the 127 
Page. 
Marks, birth-marks or Mother’s 
marks 184 
Marriage, proper age for, in females 62 
in males 251 
tim ■ of the month for 62 
Masturbation or Self-abuse 275 
effect of 275-9 
why injurious 275-9 
prevalence of 276 
causes of 277 
cure of. 279 
Menstruation or the Monthly Flow, 
et seq., 28 
notions concerning 53 
when it begins 51 
symptoms 56 
quantity of fluid. 57 
frequency 5 8 
cessation 166 
during pregnancy 63 
during nursing 63 
connection duringmenstruati n 64 
passion during 65 
natural purpose of 65 
analogy of to the Rut cr Heat 
in the lower animals 66 
Miscarriage. -. . 180 
disease from 180, 238 
causes of 182 
symptoms of 183 
how to avoid 184 
M' ns Veneris or Mount of Love . . 12 
M nthly Flow, see Menstruation. 
Monstrosities 221 
Morning Sickness 167 
Mother’s Marks 184 
Mother, influence of on the unborn 
child i 199 
Murder of the unborn 238 
N 
Navel, the, in pregnancy 174 
Nymphse, the 15 
unduly large 16 
unduly sensitive 16 
amputation of 16 
in Hottentot women 17 290 
Page 
o 
Odors exciting passion 125, 126 
Onanism 235 
Organs, female 14 
sectional view of 13 
male 79 
sectional view of 78 
Outline of pn creation 9 
Ovaries . 25 
the essential female organ.... 10 
removal of 12 
Ovum (and see Egg). .. .et seq., 25, 49 
escape of from cell 31 
pass to womb 29 
structure of 49 
changes in 50 
Oviparous animals 135 
Ovoviviparous animals .... 136 
Ovulation 29, 31 
P 
Parturition, see Confinement. 
Passion, sexual, in females 127 
seat of 15, 16, 17-19, 42 
of men, the cause of child-mur- 
der 238-9 
Penis, the 84 
sectional v:ews of 78, 85 
absence defective development 
and malformations of 90 
remedies for et seq. 91 
want of development 92 
causes et seq. 93 
remedies for et seq. 92 
Placenta, the 148 
Plural births, see Twins, etc. 
Pregnancy 138 
changes in the mother, .et seq. 158 
Pregnancy, signs of 165 
Ballottment to discover 164 
sensations during fruitful inter- 
course 163 
cessation of menstruation.... 166 
morning sickness 167 
cravings and longings 168 
changes in the breasts 170 
color changes in the skin 172 
INDEX. 
Pagb. 
quickening 172 
changes in the abdomen 174 
Pregnancy, Hygiene of 177 
respect paid to pregnancy.... 177 
food, clothing 179 
cleanliness, sleep 179 
care of the breasts 180 
miscarriage, see M iscarriage, 
Birth-marks or Mother’s 
marks 184 
duration of pregnancy, how to 
calculate 191-193 
connecti n during 195 
influence of such connection on 
the child 196 
influence of mother 199 
Pregnancy, abnormal ; Extra-uter- 
ine, abdominal, tubal, etc. . 216 
Prepuce or Foreskin 247 
Primitive trace of foetus 147 
Pr .state Gland 83 
Pubes, female 12 
male 87 
Puberty, female 52, 53 
signs of and changes incident to 53 
the maiden at puberty—plate. 68 
hygiene of. 69 
danger from inhe.ited tenden- 
cies 69 
chlorosis or green sickness.... 70 
food 70 
sleep y1 
exercise 
outdoors, fresh air 72 
clothing. 
corsets 73 
regular habits 7. 
school. 
/ 5 
light reading and companion- 
shiP 76 
the poet Longfellow, extract 
from “ The Maiden ” 68 
Puberty, male, hygiene of 245 
changes incident t 245 
physical and mental exercise. . 246 
cleanliness 
z47 
foieskm INDEX. 
291 
Page. 
irritation of the organs 248 
sleeping accommodation 248 
flogging is injurious. 249 
heredity in age of 250 
constitution 250 
occupation 250 
O 
Quadruplets, see Twins. 
Quickening, see Pregnancy 172 
R 
Reading.. 76 
Reptiles 136 
Respect due to pregnancy 177 
s 
Sarah, Abraham’s wife. 59 
School during puberty 75, 246 
Scrotum or Bag, the. 84 
Self-abuse, see Masturbation. 
Semen, the 114 
Spermatozoa or Animalculse in— 
plate 115 
Seminal Emissions 269 
how far natural; causes and 
cure. et seq. 269 
Seminal Vesicles and plate showing 
82, 83 
Sex, production of at will 240 
origin of 240 
how to ascertain . . 2 13 
Sexual principles or elements, the 
two 9 
sexual union, instinct of, et seq. 124 
Signs of pregnancy, see Pregnancy; 
of puberty, see Puberty; 
of virility, see Virility. 
Sickness in morning 167 
Skin during pregnancy 172 
Sleep in puberty 71 
in pregnancy 179 
Solitary Vice, see Masturbation. 
Spermatorrhoea 269 
and see Seminal Emissions. 
Spermatozoa, origin of 118 
crippled 119 
habits of 119 
drugs kill 120 
effect of alcohol on 120 
Page. 
none before puberty 121 
in old age 122 
Sterility, male 255,61 
definition of 256 
causes 261-2 
cure 263 
is wife or husband defective.. . 263 
Sterility, female 265 
definition of 268 
causes 268 
cure 268 
Superfecundation 214 
Superfoetation 214 
Sutures in Skull 156 
T 
Talmakis, the Nymph. .. 223 
Testicles or Testes ; the essential 
male organ 10 
structure, etc 79 
sectional views of t 81 
abnormal IOI 
absent 103 
Thury plan of sex-production 242 
Tobacco, its effect on Virility 260 
Tressoria, or hair of puberty 12 
Tubes, Fallopian 35 
Turn or Change of Life 58 
Twins, triplets, quadruplets, etc. . . 208 
frequency of 211 
positn n of in the womb- plate 209 
coverings of in womb. . 213 
sex of 211 
death-rate in . 212 
habit and heredity in twinning 212 
how to tell when twins in the 
womb.. 213 
u 
Urine, the, during pregnancy 162 
Uterus or Womb 39 
with its appendages, view of. . 24 
sectional view of, natural size. 38 
falling of 41 
in beasts 43, 
double, forked or bifid 44 
sectional view of when preg- 
nant 153 292 
INDEX. 
Page 
its changes during pregnancy 
158-161 
V 
Vagina or passage to Womb 44 
Vasa Efferentia 80 
Vasa Deferentia 80 
Venus, the Goddess of sexual love. 223 
Vestibulum 20 
Vesicles, Graafian et seq., 25 
Germinal 49 
Seminal 82, 83 
Virginity, tests of 21 
Virility or Manhood, definition of. 245 
hygiene of 251 
Pa fi*. 
period of 251 
fear of loss of 251 
ill effects of drugs on 252, 260 
effects of tobacco on 260 
influence of various foods and 
drinks on 253 
how to preserve virility 254 
Viviparous animals 135 
Voice, impairment of by excess.... 131 
Vulva, the 20 
w 
Wedding, time of the month for .. 62 
Wolffian Bodies 162 
Womb, see Uterus.