888 GENERATION. 



Action of the Male. The act of sexual intercourse is preceded, in the male, by a 

 longer or shorter period of excitement, the most important manifestation of which is 

 erection and rigidity of the penis. This is largely controlled by the nervous system. It 

 may be due to distention of the vesiculae seminales, and, perhaps, of the tubes of the 

 testicle and epididymis after prolonged continence, to the imagination, or to the presence 

 or thought of a female exciting desire. The excitement may, also, be arrested by a sud- 

 den feeling of disgust, modesty, or fear ; and it sometimes happens that the erethism 

 is so intense that the male organ becomes flaccid without ejaculation. An occurrence of 

 this kind frequently occasions such an amount of mortification and apprehension for the 

 future, that, from the mere dread of a similar accident, there is frequently an incapacity 

 for intercourse when, in all other respects, the conditions are absolutely normal. Physi- 

 cians have frequent occasion to observe this, especially in the newly-married, who are 

 often afflicted with the fear of permanent sexual incapacity and seek professional advice. 

 This illustrates the influence of the nervous system upon the sexual organs, in the ab- 

 sence of diseased conditions. 



Unlike certain of the lower animals, the human subject presents no distinct perio- 

 dicity in the development of the spermatozoids ; but, in reiterated connection, excite- 

 ment and an orgasm may occur when the ejaculated fluid has no fecundating properties. 

 Such frequently-repeated sexual acts are abnormal ; but, from a purely physiological 

 point of view, prolonged continence is equally unnatural and may react unfavorably on 

 the nervous system. No absolute or even approximative rule can be laid down with re- 

 gard to the frequency with which intercourse may take place within physiological limits. 

 We may assume that these conditions are fulfilled, first, when intercourse is confined 

 within the limits of legitimacy, after the unusual excitement of novelty has passed ; 

 second, when both the male and female are in perfect health, and no undue degree of 

 lassitude follows coitus, after a proper period of repose ; third, when there is no marked 

 diminution of sexual desire, except that which may be accounted for by age ; fourth, 

 when pregnancy occurs at proper intervals, progresses normally, and is followed by the 

 normal period of lactation ; fifth, when menstruation is regular, and when there is a 

 period, usually after the cessation of the flow, during which there is unusual sexual ex- 

 citement, responded to by the male, and disappearing after the sexual desires have been 

 satisfied. It may be somewhat rare to find these conditions fulfilled in all respects, as so 

 few men and women in civilized life are absolutely normal during adult age, and as the 

 sources of unnatural sexual excitement are so numerous ; but they approximative^ rep- 

 resent the physiological performance of the generative functions in both sexes. It is true 

 that the female can frequently endure sexual excesses better than the male, because she 

 is more passive, and may often not participate in the venereal excitement ; but, if we 

 assume that intercourse is physiologically confined within the limits fixed by social laws, 

 the same rules as regards frequency of the sexual act should apply to both. It is certain 

 that intercourse is not normal in the female during menstruation or during the greater 

 part of the period of utero-gestation ; and, at these times, it is physiological that the male 

 should be continent. Taking our view chiefly from what appear to be the sexual require- 

 ments of the female, intercourse most properly takes place at the time following the men- 

 strual flow, when there is usually a certain amount of sexual excitement, and this should 

 not be immediately repeated, though it may be physiological after a few days. As sexual 

 excitement is gratified and diminishes, intercourse, as far as the desires of the female are 

 concerned, is suspended, and it does not take place to any great extent during pregnancy. 

 This seems to correspond with the normal progress of the generative functions, as we 

 have traced it in the female. It is evident that this is a subject of great delicacy and 

 one that is with difficulty brought to the requirements of rigid scientific inquiry; still 

 it can hardly be avoided in a full account of the physiology of generation, and it is a 

 question often presented to the practical physician. 



Although we have not yet considered fully the mechanism of erection, but little re- 



