874 GENERATION. 



existing upon the side on which the tube was impervious. In some instances in which 

 the corpus luteum has been found on the side on which the tube was closed, tubal preg- 

 nancy has occurred upon the opposite side. In these cases, the ovum must have passed 

 across the uterus. It is possible that, the subject lying upon one side, a current of liquid 

 may have taken a direction from the ovary to the opposite tube, but this can be only a 

 matter of conjecture. 



Puberty and Menstruation. 



At a certain period of life, usually between the age of thirteen and of fifteen years, 

 the human female undergoes a remarkable change and arrives at what is termed the age 

 of puberty. At this time, there is a marked increase in the general development of the 

 body ; the limbs become fuller and more rounded ; a growth of hair makes its appearance 

 upon the mons veneris ; the mammary glands increase in size and take on a new stage of 

 development ; Graafian follicles enlarge, and one or more approach the condition favor- 

 able to rupture and the discharge of ova. At this time, also, certain changes are observed 

 in the moral as well as in the physical attributes of the female. There is then a sort of 

 indefinite consciousness of a capacity for new functions, with an indescribable change in 

 feeling for the opposite sex, due to the first development of sexual instincts. The female 

 becomes capable of impregnation, and continues so, in the absence of pathological condi- 

 tions, until the cessation of the menses. 



It is a commonly-recognized fact that the age of puberty is earlier in warm than in 

 cold climates; and numerous instances are on record, in which the menses have appeared 

 exceptionally, much before the usual period. Generally, at the age of forty or forty-five, 

 the menstrual flow becomes irregular, occasionally losing its sanguineous character, and 

 it usually ceases at about the age of fifty years. Sometimes it is said that the menses 

 return, with a second period of fecundity, though this is rare. According to most writers, 

 while climate has a certain influence over the time of cessation as well as the first appear- 

 ance of the menses, this is not very marked. When the menses appear early in life, they 

 usually cease at a correspondingly early period ; but this is by no means constant. There 

 are, also, numerous exceptions to the ordinary limits to the period of fecundity. Haller 

 observed a case of a young girl, nine years of age, who had menstruated for several years, 

 and others, who had become pregnant at nine, ten, and twelve years. He also quotes 

 cases of women who have been fruitful at from fifty -four to seventy years of age. Other 

 instances of this kind are on record, which it is unnecessary to quote. The occurrence 

 of pregnancy after the age of fifty or fifty-five is certainly doubtful. 



Menstruation. 



It is unnecessary to discuss farther the correspondence between menstruation in the 

 human female and the condition of heat in the lower animals, as we have already seen, 

 under the head of ovulation, that these two conditions are essentially identical. In the 

 lower animals, the female will admit the male only at the period of heat ; and, in some 

 animals in the savage state, it is only at this time that the male is capable of copulation. 

 The variations in sexual temperament in the human female are so considerable, and the 

 sentiments toward the opposite sex are so subordinate to artificial conditions of society 

 and civilization, that it is difficult to establish a parallel, in this regard, between her and 

 the lower animals. Some females rarely or never experience sexual excitement and have 

 no orgasm during intercourse ; while others seem to be capable of sexual ardor at any time. 

 Women who are in the habit of promiscuous relations with the other sex frequently lose 

 the sexual feeling and simulate excitement during coitus. It is very difficult, indeed, to 

 say positively how far the facts observed in the lower animals are applicable to the human 

 subject, as we must depend largely upon statements which, of themselves, are entitled to 

 but little consideration. It is nevertheless true that, in some women, sexual desire is 



