GENERATION. 



ercHing the generative fun(Sions of both fexcs — of impreg- 

 nating or being impregnated — but alfo, that there is no 

 clearly dofcribcd inftanct- of the fmalleft mixture of organs 

 in any human perfon, afcertained by aftual (liffcftion, and 

 tcftified by perfons of competent anatomical (kill. All the 

 fuppofed inilances of hermaphrodites mutl then ho referred 

 to one of the following claffes ; in which unufual fituations 

 of certain organs, vicious conformations, various monftro- 

 iities, impcrfealy developed male organs, or a greater pro- 

 minence thr.n ufual of fomo female parts, occafion a devia- 

 tion from the acciiftomed type, fuppofed to conftilute her- 

 maphroJifm, very capable, when affilted by lies and fraud, 

 of impofmg on t'liole who know notliing of natural appear- 

 ances, and often miflaken by thofe who ought to have 

 known better. Hence have arifen the numerous ilatements, 

 contained even in the writings of anatomifts and phyficians, 

 and lending to prove the exiitence of the prodigy, of which 

 no well authenticated faft has hitherto determined the reality. 

 A fomd fpuit of criticifm, founded on a more accurate 

 knowledge of natural appearances, reduces to their juft 

 ftandard thofe fingular deviations from the ordinary type, 

 fiom which ignorance, credulity, and a love of the maivcl- 

 lous, have drawn fuch extravagant and ridiculous confe- 

 quences. 



2d Clafs — Male individuals, with unufur.l formations of 

 the urinary and generative organs ; (androgynus.) Where 

 the ordinary tvpe is confiderably changed, an appearance is 

 fomctimes produced, very capable of deceiving fupcrlicial 

 obfervers : there is a kind of ikctch, or imperfeft attempt, 

 at a double apparatus of organs. But the male fex gene- 

 rally predominates very clearly in thefe cafes, and the arn- 

 biguity depends commonly on the tcRes being contained in 

 feparate parallel folds of the (kin ; the penis being imperfo- 

 rate ; and the urethra opening in the perineum, on the fur- 

 face of a blind pouch, having a red and tender appearance, 

 and eafily miftaken for the vagina. In fuch an individual 

 the penis, being imperforate, and probably fmaller than ufual, 

 is coniidered as a large chtoris ; the folds of (kin holding the 

 teftes very much refembW the female labia, and the red flit, 

 behind which the urethra ends, is tolerably analogous to the 

 vagina. The imperforation of the penis, and the opening 

 of the ejaculatory dufts near the perineum, at which their 

 contents cfcapc, deprives thofe individuals of the power of 

 procreation ; and the fterility of their marriages, if they 

 ent.T iiitu that ftate, in fpite of their imperfeft forr.iation, 

 arifes e jtircly from this caufc. The teilcs and veficula; femi- 

 nales appear to be perfect in thefe cafes. The individuals 

 experience the ordmary fexual defires, and the feminal fluids 

 are expelled at the unnatural opening in the perineum. A 

 funilar deformity occurs not unfrcquently in the goat and 

 /heep ; Ariftotle having obfcrved it in the former. The 

 ycader will find examples in Haller's Conrim._-ntarius de Her- 

 ir.aphrodllis, whore a vaft number of inftances is quoted ; 

 jn Wrifberg's Commentatio de Singulari genitaHura Defor- 

 niitate in puero Hermaphroditium Mentiente ; § 7, note i : 

 in Morcau Hifloire Naturelle de la Femme, torn. i. p. 224: 

 in Mertrud, DiiTertation fur la fap eafe Hcr:naphrjdite, 

 qui paroit aux yeux du publique, Paris i 749, foLo : Agoty, 

 Obf.-rvations fur I'Hiftoire Naturelle, la phyliqiw, &c. avec 

 des planehes imprimces en couleiu", Paris 4to. 1752 



An inll.iace, limil.ir to the kind jud d' fer.b d, is related 

 and drawn by Wrifberg in the memoir above quoted : but 

 there was this difference, that the reftum, as well ?s the 

 urethra, op.-ned m the unnatural lituation in the perineum ; 

 this male child had been chrilened by a female name. 



Other lefseffential deviatijns from the accullomed organi- 

 sation have given rife to the opinion that the judividuals were 



hermaphrodites. A fiiTure, of various depths, has exiftcd 

 in the perineum ; covered with a fecrction from numerous 

 febaceous glands ; when all the other organs were perfeft in 

 every refpeft. Wrilberg knew an inftance of this kind at 

 Gottingen : the individual was always deemed an herma- 

 phrodite, but he had the natural defires and powers of a 

 male. The .ibfence of the teiles from the fcrotum has 

 given rife to the fame opinions. A confinement of the penis 

 to the fcrotum, by a particular formation of the integu- 

 ments, has occafioncd perfons to be reputed hermaphrodites. 

 In thefe the urine is in the direftion downwards, and the 

 confinement of the organ will not allow of its performing 

 the fexual funftions. The parts may be fet free by a fur- 

 gical operation. 



The lad defcription of males, fuppofed to be hermaphro- 

 dites, are thofe in whom the urinary bladder is deficient^ 

 together with the lower and anterior portion of the abdo- 

 minal mufcles and integuments, and the iympliyfis pubis, a 

 red and fenfible mafs of an irregular and fungous-like fur- 

 face, with the ureters opening on it, is placed at the low*r 

 part of the abdomen. Conliderable alterations take place in 

 the generative organs, in confequence of this defonijity. The 

 urethra is deficient, and the penis confcquently imperforate* 

 The feminal dutls open near the fungous mafs above-men- 

 tioned, or on the open furface of the urethra, or even ter- 

 minate in blind extremities. As the tuberofities of the if- 

 chia are at an unufual dillance from each other, the crura 

 penis are concealed within the body for a greater length, 

 and the pendulous part of the organ is extremely (hort, fel- 

 dom rxceeding two inches in length, even in the adult. 

 The urethra appears as if it had been flit open, forming a 

 band or groove, inftead of a perfedl canal, and rendering 

 the glans penis bifid. The fituation of the urethra is alfo 

 very remarkable ; for, inftead of running, as it naturally 

 docs, in the lower angle formed by the junftion of the cor- 

 pora cavernofa, it has commonly paffed along the upper 

 angle, giving the penis and glands the appearance of being in- 

 verted. That the part now defcribed is really the urethra, 

 is evident from its vafcular furface, with lacuna; opening 

 upon it, from the prefencc of the caput gallinaginis, and of 

 the openings of the feminal ducts. In conlequence of the 

 glands being bifid at its upper furface, the prepuce is at- 

 tached only to the lower half, and is conncfted by a frKnum, 

 as ufual. The teiticles, in fome inilances, are contained in 

 the fcrotum, in others in folds of integument rtfembling 

 the labia of the female ; and in fome do not delccnd. The 

 fcrotum is rarely pendulous, being increafed in br adth in 

 confequence of the feparation of the oifa pubis- The fexual 

 appetite, in fome of thefe individuals, has been, weak, in 

 others flrong, in others altogether wanting. It is evident 

 that they are not capable of procreaiing the fpecies , in con- 

 fequence of the (hortnefs and imperforation of the penis, 

 and the feminal dufts opening externally. See Dr. Duncan, 

 jun. on this fubjeft, in the Edinburgh Medical and Surgical 

 Journal, vol. i. pp. 4^ and 132 : where he has collected to- 

 gether a vail number of cafes. 



3d Cl'.'.fs. — Female individuals ; (androgyne). An un- 

 •jfiially large fize of the clitoris, is one of thofe c.iufes which 

 have led to miflakes concerning the fex. This is not a corn- 

 men occurrence in thefe countries, but is faid to be much 

 more frec[Uent in warm climates ; .' fomuch that a furgical 

 o; e atio'i for removing the part ir defcribed by the Arabi- 

 aas. Thefe individuals are perhtt females in all other cir-- 

 cumftances of their organization, and the menftrual diftharge 

 fufficiently charaftorizes them. In many of the recorded in- 

 ftances of this defcription, there is probably exaggeration, 

 as any enlargement of the clitoris Cviu hardly make it fuffi- 



cientl) 



