4i6 O F P U B E R T Y. 



of this membrane. They acknowledge, that 

 they have fometnnes,but very feldom, feen thofe 

 flefhy protuberances called carunculae myrti- 

 formes connected by a membrane j but they 

 maintain that this membrane was preternatu- 

 ral. Anatomifts are not lefs divided with regard 

 to the number and qualities of thefe carunculae. 

 Are they only rugofities of the vagina ? Are they 

 diftindt and feparate parts? Are they the remains 

 of the hymen ? Is their number uniform? Does 

 only one, or many, accompany the Hate of vir- 

 ginity ? All thefe queftions have been Hated, and 

 each has received a different folution. 



This oppofition of fentiment, in a matter 

 which depends on infpedlion, is an inconteftible 

 proof, that mankind have often an ardent defire 

 to difcover things in Nature which exift in their 

 own imaginations only. Many anatomifls of 

 reputation have never been able to difcover ei- 

 ther the hymen or carunculae, even before the 

 age of puberty. Thofe who fupport the con- 

 trary opinion, at the fame time acknowledge, 

 that thefe parts are not always the fame ; that 

 their form, fize, and texture, vary in different 

 fubjeds ; that, in place of the hymen, fome- 

 times there is but one caruncula, at other times 

 there are two or more united by a membrane ; 

 that the fhape of the aperture is not uniform, 

 &c. What is the confequence ? We muft con- 

 clude, that the caufes of this mark of virginity 

 3re equivocal and inconftant ; and that, even 



when 



