64 WALTER HEAt*E. 



peoples there is a marked disposition to indulge in sexual 

 intercourse at particular times of the year, which are un- 

 doubtedly comparable to the so-called " breeding seasons " of 

 the lower mammals. Further, in certain domesticated animals 

 and certain wild animals kept in captivity the males do not 

 " rut " only at certain times of the year, but ai'e prepared to 

 propagate at all times (dog) or almost at all times (captive 

 cattle or deer) throughout the year. 



4. There is some truth in this objection; but it must not be 

 forgotten that, among the lower mammals, while captivity 

 and domestication reduce the violence of the sexual passion, 

 they increase its frequency; and that in civilised woman, in 

 all probability, it is this variation of the function still further 

 exaggerated which is responsible for the difference (see 

 also 2). 



5. Here again the objection is largely due to a mistaken 

 use of the term " heat," which in this case is used to denote 

 oestrus. 



Menstruation, that is pro-oestrum, in women is as necessary 

 to the production of the species as pro-oestrum in the lower 

 animals can be ; the fact that oestrus is less pronounced in 

 the former is true, but it is not altogether absent, and has 

 already been referred to in the replies to propositions num- 

 bered 2 and 4. 



6. This objection has reference to the question of ovulation, 

 which has not been treated of in this paper ; with regard to 

 it I would merely say, that ovulation in certain of the lower 

 mammals is not necessarily coincident with oestrus, while in 

 some of them oestrus and ovulation are quite separate 

 functions. Ripe ova are not found at all times in each 

 human female, and the fact that they may be found at times 

 which are not coincident with menstruation, is merely further 

 evidence that these functions are independent also in women. 

 Further, the degree of independence which these two functions 

 assume is apparently variable in the human female. 



7. The answer to this objection is contained in the foregoing 

 paper. 



