ACTION OF THE MALE. 689 



had been more than once previously seen, and the penetration of which to the 

 Ovum there was good reason to suspect: and these have been confirmed by 

 the observations of Dr. A. Farre on the Ovum of the Earth-worm, which he 

 has distinctly seen to be penetrated by Spermatozoa. The act of Fecunda- 

 tion is evidently analogous, therefore, in Animals, to the process which has 

 been described as taking place in the Flowering Plants. In many of the 

 lower tribes of Animals, the spermatic fluid effused by an individual of one 

 sex, comes into direct contact with the ova previously deposited by the other; 

 but in all the higher tribes, as in Man, the act of fecundation is performed be- 

 fore, or shortly after the ova quit the ovarium. With these general views, we 

 shall now be prepared to consider the share which each sex has in the Function 

 of Reproduction. 



2. Action of the Mule. 



901. The Spermatic fluid secreted by the Testes of the Male ( 867), differs 

 from all other secretions, in containing a large number of very minute bodies, 

 only discernible with a high power of the Microscope ; and these, in ordinary 

 cases, remain in active motion for some time after they have quitted the living 

 body. The Human Spermatozoon (of which representations are given in 

 Plate I., Fig. 18), consists of a little oval flattened body from the l-600th to 

 the l-800th of a line in length, from which proceeds a long filiform tail gradu- 

 ally tapering to the finest point, of l-50th or at most l-40th of a line in length. 

 The whole is perfectly transparent ; and nothing that can be termed structure 

 can be satisfactorily distinguished within it.* The movements are principally 

 executed by the tail, which has a kind of vibratile undulating motion. They 

 may continue for many hours after the emission of the fluid ; and they are not 

 checked by its admixture with other secretions, such as the urine and the 

 prostatic fluid. Thus, in cases of nocturnal emission, the Spermatozoa may 

 not unfrequently be found actively moving through the \irine in the morning; 

 and those contained in the seminal fluid collected from females that have just 

 copulated, are frequently found to live many days. Their presence may be 

 readily detected by a Microscope of sufficient power, even when they have 

 long ceased to move, and are broken into fragments ; and the Physician and 

 the Medical Jurist will frequently derive much assistance from an examination 

 of this kind. Thus, cases are of no uncommon occurrence, especially among 

 those who have been too much addicted to sexual indulgence, in which seminal 

 emissions take place unconsciously and frequently, and produce great general 

 derangement of the health; and the true nature of the complaint is obscure, 

 until the fact has been detected by ocular examination. Again, in charges of 

 rape, in which evidence of actual emission is required, a microscopic exami- 

 nation of the stiffened spots left on the linen will seldom fail in obtaining proof, 

 if the act have been completed: in such cases, however, we must not expect 

 to meet with more than fragments of Spermatozoa; but these are so unlike 

 anything else, that little doubt need be entertained regarding them. It has 

 been proposed to employ the same test, in juridical inquiries respecting doubt- 

 ful cases of death by suspension : seminal emissions being not unfrequent 

 results of this kind of violence: but there are many obvious objections which 

 should prevent much confidence being placed in it.t 



* It has been asserted that distinct oral and anal orifices, with appearances of internal 

 organs, have been seen in the Spermatozoa of certain Mammalia ; but these observations 

 have not been confirmed ; and they are not borne out by the attentive examination of the 

 larger Spermatozoa of other animals. 



f See the Author's Article "Asphyxia," in the Library of Practical Medicine, and the 

 authorities there referred to. 



58* 



