GENERATION. 



443 



portant in this place. The male of some in- 

 sects, it is well known, die as soon as they have 

 fecundated the female ; many plants and ani- 

 mals propagate only once, while others give 

 rise to many successive families ; but we are 

 not acquainted with any general law to which 

 such differences can be referred. 



Effects of castration. Nothing illustrates in 

 a more striking manner the intimate relation 

 which the sexual function bears to the general 

 organization and functions of the body than the 

 effect of castration, or the removal of the forma- 

 tive and essential parts of the sexual organs in 

 either sex. \Vhen both the ovaries or testicles 

 have been removed or destroyed, the power of 

 propagation is of course entirely lost. When 

 this operation is performed at an early age, 

 there is also caused a remarkable alteration of 

 the constitution and general habit of body of 

 the animal. The functional and structural pe- 

 culiarities of the body become less marked, and 

 there is a great tendency in general to the uni- 

 versal deposition of fat in different textures. 



In the castrated male, the form and texture 

 of the body approaches that of the female, and 

 the mental faculties seem to partake in a certain 

 degree of a similar modification. The voice 

 remains high and clear and hence the barba- 

 rous custom prevailing to the present day in 

 Italy and elsewhere of making eunuchs for the 

 sake of their high voices in singing. 



In the spayed female, on the other hand, 

 there is a certain approach to the characters of 

 the male. In women in whom it has been 

 necessary to extract the ovaries on account of 

 disease, the bones and muscles have been ob- 

 served to have a more masculine contour, the 

 voice is harsh like a man's, the breasts are flat, 

 and there is frequently a formidable beard, and 

 hair on different parts of the body. 



The same or similar circumstances have been 

 remarked in those unfortunate malformed indi- 

 viduals who present an approach to hermaphro- 

 dite formation, or in whom there is imperfect 

 development of either the male or female geni- 

 tal organs. So also it has been observed that 

 the females of some animals, as the sow, phea- 

 sant, and pea-hen, and even the human species, 

 when the period of life for propagation is 

 passed, assume some of the male characteris- 

 tics, such as the plumage in the birds men- 

 tioned, bristles in the sow, &c. 



It is well known that the annual change of 

 the horns in deer is intimately connected with 

 the generative function. Mr. J. Hunter first 

 shewed by experiment that when the deer are 

 castrated while the horns are complete, they 

 remain permanently and are not changed as in 

 the natural condition ; and that, if the opera- 

 tion be performed when the horns have fallen, 

 they will not again be renewed. 



The operation of castration, particularly when 

 it is not performed till late in life, while it pro- 

 duces complete sterility in the female and im- 

 potence in the male, does not entirely destroy 

 sexual desire, for eunuchs and the castrated 

 males of many animals are known to be lasci- 

 vious. Some writers would even have us believe 

 that it is possible for the power of propagation 



to remain in the male after castration. These 

 cases appear extremely doubtful, and, even ad- 

 mitting the truth of the statement that a cas- 

 trated male has propagated, this by no means 

 invalidates the statement that the removal of 

 the testicles has destroyed all productive power, 

 because it is possible that some seminal fluid 

 may have been retained in the seminal vesicles 

 and vasa deferentia. The operation does not 

 prevent the erection of the penis or venereal 

 orgasm from taking place; consequently the 

 act of sexual union, and even some emission of 

 fluid from the vesicula? seminales and prostatic 

 body, may occur in the castrated animal ; and 

 in some kinds of animals, it may further be re- 

 marked, that the union of such males with the 

 females, though altogether unproductive, is 

 attended with several of the more important 

 changes which belong to fruitful sexual union, 

 such as the excitement of the internal organs of 

 the female, the discharge of vesicles from the 

 ovary, and the formation of corpora lutea. 



The removal of one testicle or ovary only 

 does not appear to be attended with any change 

 in the sexual or other functions ; and it appears 

 to be equally inconsistent with fact, that those 

 originally provided with only one of these 

 essential organs, are endowed with less procrea- 

 tive power than others, as that those who are 

 said to have had more than the usual number 

 are remarkably salacious or fertile. 



3. Sexual feeling. In all animals in which 

 the distinction of sex exists, the first act of the 

 generative process or the union of the sexes is 

 insured by instinctive feelings experienced by 

 both of them in a greater or less degree. 

 These feelings generally depend upon the con- 

 dition of the body, and in particular of the 

 genital organs, which at the time of pro- 

 pagation are in a greater than ordinary state 

 of excitement. From the increase of peculiar 

 secretions, at the breeding season, the odour of 

 the genital organs of animals becomes stronger 

 than at other times, and seems to have a very 

 direct effect in exciting the sexual appetite. 

 These feelings are in the greater number of 

 animals strongest in the male, and he conse- 

 quently generally seeks the retiring female; 

 but in other instances the reverse is the case. 



In the human species also, similar feelings 

 exist, but under the control of the intellectual 

 and moral powers of the mind. Hence the 

 immense variety we observe in the effects of the 

 exercise of the sexual passions on different peo- 

 ple, and hence the various modifications which 

 they undergo from the state of civilization 

 among different nations; on the one hand 

 being productive of scenes and habits of dis- 

 gusting obscenity among those barbarous peo- 

 ple whose propensities are unrestrained by 

 mental cultivation ; and on the other, attended 

 by social ties and higher intellectual ideas 

 among those in whom, from education and the 

 cultivation of the mind, the bodily appetites or 

 passions, subject to the reason, assume a milder, 

 less selfish, and more elevated character. Hence 

 it comes that the various customs of different 

 nations, legislative enactments of ancient and 

 modern statesmen, and even some religious in- 

 2 G 2 



