64 SEX-LORE 



ejaculation; the act itself is the sex act (sexual in* 

 tercourse, coitus, or coition). 



The vagina forms a hollow tube, having its aper- 

 ture just beneath the pubes, and leading backwards 

 and slightly upwards into the womb (or uterus), which 

 is a pear-shaped organ made up almost entirely of 

 thick muscles. It has a relatively small cavity, which 

 is connected with the vagina. In birds the vagina 

 and the external aperture of the bowels (anus) 

 are not separate, both ending together in a common 

 passage which is called the cloaca. In all higher 

 female animals the two passages are separate. In 

 the male the passage of the penis runs into the 

 bladder. Being also connected, as we have seen, with 

 the testicles, it serves the double purpose of voiding 

 the urine and of emitting the sperm during the act 

 of copulation. In the female the urinary passage is 

 separate from the vagina; its opening lies just under 

 the pubes, slightly above the outer aperture of the 

 vagina. The external aperture of the vagina is, in 

 the human female, partly closed by a fine membrane 

 (the hymen) stretched across it; this is generally of 

 semilunar shape, occupying the lower part of the 

 vaginal aperture, thus leaving only a small perfora- 

 tion at the upper end of the vaginal opening. The 

 hymen is generally torn in the first sex act; though 

 it must be pointed out that it may occasionally remain 

 intact even after repeated intercourse. Piercing of 

 the hymen is certainly not absolutely essential for 

 insuring impregnation (that is, fertilization). On the 

 other hand, cases of impregnation have been observed 

 where no immission of the penis took place, since the 

 male germs have active movements of their own, and 

 can enter the vagina by their own mobility. 



