GENERATION. 



wlmt is expelled in copulcition. Its opaque whitenefs and 

 vifcidity completely oblcure the properties of the fluid fe- 

 cretcd iii the teilis, and bellow on the feminal liquor its moft: 

 obvious charaClers. The opinion which luppoios that the 

 fi-men is formed, or that part of it is produced in the prollate, 

 is not therefore fo very far from the truth. A thick, white, 

 p.iid opaque liquor may be expreffcd in coniidenibie abundance 

 from the proilatic dufts on each fide of the caput gallinagi- 

 nis after death. PhyfiologiitS afcribe to the proilatic lluid 

 the-officeof ircreafing the bulk of the femen, and of thereby 

 augmenting its impetus, fo that it may arrive with greater 

 force at the place of its dellination. 



It has been conjetlured that a nervous fluid is mixed with 

 the femon, and lience the weaknefs of the male after copula- 

 tion has been explained. We may be excufed from difcufling 

 this opinion until we know what nervous fluid is. The con- 

 vullive exertion of the whole frame, which occin-s iu the ve- 

 nereal organs, will fufficiently account for the fenfe of 

 fatigue that follows It. 



It appears from what we have faid, that the fluid expelled 

 in copulation is furniihed in a fmall proportion only by the 

 teiles ; that a peculiar fecretion of the veficulos feminales is 

 added to this, and that the chief bulk is made up of the 

 proilatic liquor. An important quellion arifes here, which 

 ot thefe is the eflential and immediate agent in impregnation ? 

 The general prailice iu the Eaft, continued from ages ol 

 the moll remote antiquity, of entrufting their females to the 

 care of eunuchs, and the common operation of gelding, as 

 performed on various domellic animals, lead us to aflign this 

 prerogative to the fluid fecreted in the teilis. In emafcu- 

 lating animals, or men, the teiles are cut or torn out, or they 

 are compreffed fo as to dellroy their organization, or the 

 cord is fo fqueezed or bruiled as to annihilate the tuntlions of 

 the part. Yet, under the circumilauci-S juft enumerated, 

 >ve read of numerous examples where venereal delires have 

 been experienced, where erection, copulaliuti, and emiffion 

 have taken place, and even where children have been be- 

 gotten. Thefe examples, however, are too repugnant to the 

 general effetl of cattration, as oblervable in man and animals, 

 to allow of our admitting them. Ordinarily we obferve not 

 only that no defires are felt, but alfo that the lofs of t'le 

 organs, in which the natural and leading ftimulus refides, oc- 

 caiions the other parts concerned in the bufinefs of genera- 

 tion to be much diminiflied in fize, and altered in appear- 

 ance. Where emalculation has been performed merely by 

 comprefiing the cord or teilis, tlie organization of the part 

 may not have been dcltroyed fufficiently to interrupt its 

 functions, and fuch an anlmjl might be Hill capable of fecun- 

 dating ; but no well authenticated inllance can be produced 

 of impregnation being eifefted v.'hcre the tefl;es had been 

 cut out in any male animal. Yet it cannot be doubted that 

 eunuchs may have cretlions, lince the ieat of the phyfical 

 feeling is in the glands, and the whole apparatus concerned 

 in ereclion remains entire after the lofs of the teiles. A 

 man, after the latter occurrence, like one who has loft his 

 powers through age, may at times be ftisiulated by the re- 

 colletlion of pall joys. Hence, in the Eaft they value 

 thofe eunuchs moll highly, in whom the penis as well as the 

 teftes has been removed ; no caufe for the flighteft jealoufy 

 can then remain. The proftatic liquor, or that of the vefi- 

 culx feminales, might be difcharged in tl.c eunuch. If an 

 animal has impregnated another after calti-ation, there may 

 have been fome lemen remaining in the veficulE femmales. 



Befides the fatls now enumerated, we may obferve that 

 all animals which copulate have telles ; but that fcveral have 

 either no prollate or no veficul^e. 



The lecreted femea is either expelled from the body, fuU 



filling thcpurp.>fesof its formation ; or it is retained in its 

 receptacles, and taken up by the absorbents. The feminal 

 vefl^.ds are always full of their peculiar flu'ds, which are only 

 difcharg.'d at c onliderable intervals, and often only at pe- 

 riods of fome months or years. As the teftis and vedciife 

 feminales pofTefs numerous abforbcnts, .we cannot doubt that 

 the contained flui3s arc conveyed by thefe veflcls into the 

 general circulation. It has been a general opinion that this 

 abforption produces many of the ch?.ng;-s which arc well- 

 known to take place at puberty ; and wh'.cii obviouflv de- 

 jiend, as we have already fhewn, on the teiles. We refer 

 to a former part of the article on this fnbjeft. The males 

 of animals, when the rutting feal'on approaches, have their 

 whole bodies penetrated by a lingular fetor, fo that they are 

 unfit for food. The flefli at this time putrifies more rapidly 

 than at other feafons in the ll:ig. That abforbed femen is 

 tlie caufe of this fetor, is rendered probable by the fadl, 

 that the removal of the teiles deftroys it ; and by its abfence 

 from caftrated animals of the fame fpecies. The fame caufe 

 lias been aifigned for the phenomena confcquent on concen- 

 tion in the fenude ; but this feems very doubtful. This ab- 

 forbed i'emen has been fuppofod by phyiiologifts to aft as a 

 ftimulus on the heart, and the organs of motion, to incrcafe 

 the mufcular ftrength, and to contribute thereby to health 

 ot body and ftrengtli of mind. Hence, too, tl-.ey have ex- 

 plained the foftnefs and inllp^dity of the flcfh obfen-ed in 

 fome animals after the copulating feafon ; as, for inftancc, 

 in the boar. The tlefli of the i'ahnoii is remarkably changed 

 in colour and flavour at tliis time. Caftration produces de- 

 bilitating effects both on the boJ\ a;id mind "of man and 

 animals ; the ferocious and powerful bull is changed into the 

 mild .and patient ox. The influence of the fame proccfs in 

 mankind has been already noticed ; and we have fu.Ticientlv 

 proved that the remarkable developem.ent of the frainc at the 

 time of puberty arifes entirely from the influence of thu 

 tefticles. And it is no lefs true that tlie reft of the fexual 

 organs are particularly affected by the prefence and aclivity 

 of the teftes. In this country we iiave little or no opportu- 

 nities of obferving in eunuchs »he effeft of the mutilation on 

 the other organs of generation'; but v.-e can fee the confe- 

 quences in animals. In Mr. Hunter's opinion, the penis, 

 urethra, and all pai-ts connefted with them, are fo fub- 

 fervient to the tefticles, that he conceives that few of them 

 would have exilled if there had been no tefticles in tiie ori- 

 ginal conftruction of the body ; thefe parts would then have 

 been fo formed as to affift merely in the expulfion of the 

 urine. To illuftrate this opinion, let us obferve what is the 

 difference between thefe parts in the perfect male, a"d in a 

 male that has been deprived of the tefticles when very young, 

 at an age when they have had no fuch influence on' the a;;^ 

 mal economy as to afFeft the growth of the other part;-. In 

 the perfecl male the peni.s is large ; the corpora cavernofa 

 being capable of dilatation. The corpus fpongiofum is 

 very vafcular ; and that part of the canal which is called the 

 bulb is coiifiderably enlarged, forming a cavity ; the mufculi 

 acceleratorts urinx, as they are calh d, are ftrciig and 

 healthy. In many animals which have long penifes, thev are 

 continued forwards to the end of it, and iu others thev arc 

 not extended !"« far, but are very large. On the cont'rarv, 

 in the caftrated animal, the penis is fmall and not capable of 

 much dilatation ; the corpus Ipongiofum is lefs vafcular ; the 

 cavity at the bulb is a little larger than the canal of tlie 

 urethra ; and the mufcles are whiu-, final!, and have a li 'a- 

 meiitous appearance. The fame wbfervations are true, if ap. 

 plied to the erec\ore.^ penis. The jjcnis of the perf<ct male 

 is of lufiicienl length, when erected, to reuch to tlie further 

 end of the vagina of the femr.lr. In the caftrated luiimai ii 



