694 



HEUMAPIIRODITISM. 



point a hard mass could be felt, probably con- 

 sisting of the prostate gland ; and more up- 

 wards and outwards, nearly in the natural 

 situation of the bulb, was seen the split urethra 

 (c) with a row of three considerably sized open- 

 ings (J'f), which, under pressure and irritation 

 of the genital parts, gave out several drops of a 

 transparent mucous fluid. Otto considers these 

 openings as the extremities of the ducts of the 

 prostate and Cowper's glands, and of the semi- 

 nal canals. The right half of the scrotum con- 

 tained a small testicle about the size of that of a 

 boy often years of age ; the left testicle lay like- 

 wise external to the abdominal ring, and was 

 still softer and smaller than the right. Both 

 were furnished with spermatic cords. The ge- 

 neral configuration of the individual was strong, 

 muscular, and meagre ; the beard was thin and 

 soft, and the face, mammae, thorax, pelvis, and 

 extremities were evidently masculine. 



Along with the preceding instances we are 

 inclined to classify the case of Maria Nonzia, 

 as detailed by Julien and Soules.* This indi- 

 vidual was born in Corsica in 1695, was twice 

 married as a female, and at last divorced in 

 1739 by her second husband, after having lived 

 sixteen years in wedlock. The penis was two 

 inches in length, but imperforate, and the mea- 

 tus urinarius was placed at its root. Two 

 bodies, like ordinary sized testicles, and fur- 

 nished with spermatic cords, were felt in the 

 divided scrotum ; and there was a narrow false 

 vagina or perinaeal canal one inch and three 

 lines in depth, and crossed at its upper extre- 

 mity by two small traversing membraneous 

 bridles. The character and appearance of the 

 person were masculine ; the visage was beard- 

 ed ; the mammae were as fully developed as in 

 the adult woman, but the nipples were each 

 surrounded with hair. 



So far as the preceding details go, they seem 

 amply sufficient to justify us in considering 

 Maria Nonzia as a malformed male ; and we 

 are still inclined to take this view of the case, 

 notwithstanding the statement inserted in the 

 report of Julien and Soules, that the menses 

 were present as in other women. For not to 

 insist upon the circumstance that the reporters 

 do not shew that they made any minute or 

 satisfactory inquiry into this alleged fact, and 

 not improbably took it upon the mere word of 

 the subject of the case, who was necessarily 

 greatly interested in maintaining the reputed 

 female character, it would be requisite, in any 

 such paradoxical instance, to ascertain if the 

 discharge actually agreed in character with the 

 menstrual fluid, or was not pure blood, the re- 

 sult of an haemorrhage from the genito-urinary 

 passages, or from the rectum, where, as in other 

 parts of the body, this form of disease frequently 

 assumes a periodical type. We would be in- 

 clined to apply even still more strongly these 

 remarks to the celebrated case of Hannah Wild, 

 detailed by Dr. Sampson.f This person had 



* Observ. sur VHist. Nat. sur la Physique ct sur 

 la Vr. inture, torn. i. p. 18, with a plate. 



t Ephem. Nat. Curios. Dec. i. an. iii. p. 323. 



evidently the male genital organs malformed in 

 the manner mentioned with regard to the other 

 cases included under the present section, and 

 possessed all the secondary sexual peculiarities 

 of the male ; so that we can only receive with 

 great doubt and distrust the alleged existence 

 of the menstrual discharge, and the more so, as 

 this is evidently stated on the report of the 

 subject of the case alone, who, deriving a pre- 

 carious subsistence from the exhibition of his 

 malformations, had a deep interest in amplify- 

 ing every circumstance that could enhance the 

 public curiosity with respect to the reality of 

 his hermaphroditic character. 



At the same time, however, it must be re- 

 marked that in some instances of spurious her- 

 maphroditism, it is found extremely difficult or 

 even impossible during life to determine with 

 precision the true or predominant sex of the 

 malformed individual ; and in regard to several 

 well-known cases on record, we find on this 

 point the most discrepant opinions offered by 

 different authors. Thus while Morand,* Ar- 

 naud,f and Deliusf described Michel-Anne 

 Drouart as a male; Guyot, Ferrein,|| and 

 Caldanilf maintained that this person was a 

 female; and Mertrud** regarded the individual 

 as an example of a real hermaphrodite. 



A useful lesson of caution to us against our 

 forming too decided and dogmatic an opinion 

 in cases in which the sexual conformation ap- 

 pears in any marked degree doubtful, has 

 lately been offered in the instance of Maria- 

 Dorothe'e Durie'e, or, as this individual was 

 named in the latter years of his life, Charles 

 Durge. While Metzgerft considered this per- 

 son as a specimen of that kind of equivocal 

 sexual formation to which the designation of her- 

 maphroditism is truly applicable, Hufeland,Jt 

 Mursinna, Gall, Brookes,|||| and otherslHT 

 declared the sex of Duriee to be in reality 

 female; and Stark,*** Mertens,ftt and the 

 Members of the Faculty of Medicine at Paris JJ{ 

 were equally positive in regarding the indivi- 

 dual as merely a malformed male. The dis- 

 section of the body of Duriee by Professor 

 Mayer has, as we shall afterwards state more in 

 detail, shewn the sexual conformation of this 

 individual to consist of a true mixture of both 

 the male and female organs. 



Mem. de 1'Acad. des Sc. 1750, p. 165. 



t Dissert, sur les Hcrmaphr. p. 298. 

 Frank, Saminlung. Th. viii. R. 398. 

 Mem. de 1'Acad. des Sc. 1756, p. 71. 

 Ib. 1767, p. 205. 

 Mem. dclla Socicta Italiaua, t. vii. p. 130. 



* Arnaud, loc. cit. p. J98. 



tt Gericht. -medic. Abhandlungen. Bd. i. s. 177. 



Jt Journ. der Praklischcn Ueilkunde, Bd. xii. 

 s. 170. 



Journ. fur die Chirurgie, Arzneikunde, &c. 

 Bd. i. s. 555. 



III! Medical Gazette for October, 1836. 



11 IT Von dem Ncuangckommen. Hermaphrod. 

 Berl. 1801. 



*" Neuen Archiv. fur die Gebuitshiilfc. Bd. ii. 

 s. 538. 



tttBeschrcibtingdcrmannHchenGescnlecbtsthcile 

 von M. D. Durricr. Leipzig, 1802, with two plates. 



}}t Med. Gaz. for October, 1836. 



