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and was drawn vigorously into the interior of the cavity of the 

 neck. These phenomena lasted about 20 seconds, then everything 

 returned to the normal state, the opening closed again, and the 

 neck reassumed its position. . . . When I add that the patient was 

 very intelligent, that there was no inflammatory state, either in 

 the mouth or neck of the uterus, or in the vagina, and that only 

 a displacement existed, one will be able to believe with me that 

 this is evidence of what occurs during coitus, and that the passage 

 of the spermatic fluid into the uterus may thus be clearly 

 explained." 



It is therefore undeniable that the sperm, discharged normally 

 in the immediate vicinity of the uterine neck, may, through the 

 descent of the uterus, caused by its erection and the simultaneous 

 contraction of the vagina, be aspirated into the cervical canal 

 during the rhythmic movements of the " tench mouth," which 

 Beck picturesquely calls gaping; even in this case, the efficacy 

 of chemotactic phenomena already described is not excluded. It 

 is more difficult to explain how the sperm which has penetrated 

 into the uterus ascends to the oviducts, for the cilia of the 

 uterine epithelium have constantly a movement directed from 

 above downwards. It is possible that the ciliary wave acts on 

 the spermatozoa, exciting them to move " against stream." This 

 kind of rheotactic reaction of the spermatozoa is most probably 

 a chemotactic reaction on their part to the ovum, because as 

 Verworn observes (1894) the spermatozoa move against the 

 current even when maturation of the follicle and the passage of 

 the ovum through the oviduct have not occurred. Roth (1893) 

 also observed the phenomenon of positive rheotaxis in bacteria as 

 well as in spermatozoa. 



The locomotion of the spermatozoa, due as we have seen in 

 the preceding chapter to the special oscillations of the tail, is 

 sufficiently rapid to enable them, under the most favourable 

 conditions, to pass through a distance of 1 to 3 mm. in a minute ; 

 so that to pass over in a straight line the tract of 16 to 20 cm. 

 which stretches from the external opening of the uterine neck to the 

 infundibulum of the Fallopian tubes, would require about three- 

 quarters of an hour. Experiments and observations on animals, 

 however, show that several hours may elapse between coitus and 

 the arrival of the spermatozoa at the tubular infundibulum. 



The ovum differs from the spermatozoon in not being capable 

 of moving itself by its own efforts, and is impelled passively by 

 extrinsic forces around it. Considering the anatomical relations 

 between the ovary and the ovarian infundibulum, and the ease 

 with which they change their position according to the position 

 of the body, it is difficult to explain by what process the ovum, 

 after the bursting of the Graafian follicle, is impelled towards 

 the infundibulum, and through the oviduct. It is supposed by 



