3y^4 Dr Knox's theory of Hermaphrodism. 



Part II. — •Containijig the d&termmatk)n of tJie . snoeual or- 

 gans in the male andfemaUy and what is essentially male 

 and which fer tale. 



To make this explanation intelligible, we must first deter- 

 mine what are male and what female organs ; for in the normal 

 state certain male organs are always developed to a certain 

 extent in the female, and certain female organs in the male. 

 Thus, in woman the clitoris is an organ essentially male, and in 

 man the mammae are organs essentially female. 



The essentially male organs are the testicles, the vasa de^ 

 ferentia^ the vesicnlcB seminales, the prostate, Cowper's glands, 

 and the penis. 



The essentially female organs are the ovaries, the Fallopian 

 tubes, the uterus, the round ligaments of the uterus, the va- 

 gina, and the mammae. 



If a greater or less number of the above kinds of organs be 

 co-existent in the same individual, however analogous they 

 may be, they cannot be said to be fundamentally identical ; 

 yet there must be some germ out of which the superfluous or- 

 gans have been formed. 



The most rational opinion is, that the type of the genital 

 organs is, as has been mentioned, hermaphroditical, that is, they 

 at first comprehend the elements of both sexes. 



The cause of hermaphrodism is thus explained in a clear 

 and easy way. 



The elements of both sexes being present, either the one 

 or the other, according to the regular course of developement, 

 will come to perfection, thus constituting the male sex if the 

 male organs are perfected, and the female sex if the female 

 organs are perfected. 



Cases may happen and do happen in which both sets of or- 

 gans are developed to a certain extent.* What has been said 



* In such cases, the two sets of organs have not as yet been observed to be 

 so fully developed as to be fit for the performance of both male and female 

 functions. This, like the sterility of hybrids, is probably dependent on some 

 deep law of the organization. Yet in the case described by Mr Thomas, 

 and that examined by Dr Knox, there was nothing in the anatomical 

 structure which could have prevented one set of organs, the male, from 

 performing their functions ; nay, the propensities shown by the animal 



