GENERATION. 



is much (Tiorter ; and ereftlons having thus become unneccf- ftrong (late of t!ic animal, nutritious and perhaps rather o;e- 

 fary, the parts which (houkl projeft often adhere to the in- nerous food, and a certain warmth of the weather, pro- 

 fide of the prepuce. The prollate, Cowper's glands, and mote the feminal fecretion. All thefe cucumilances diipoie 

 the Kl;ind6 aloi'g ''>«^ urethra, of which the lacunre are the the organs for adion, when the natural feelings are didy ex- 

 cxcretory duds, in the pcrfetl male, are large and pulpy, fe- cited; and the oppofite caufes, as infirm hcakh, fatigue, 

 creting a confiderable ([uaiitity of a Ilimy mucus, which is infufficient or bad food, and conliderable cold,^prevent the 

 fait to the talle, is moll probably for the purpofe of lu- feehngs or difpofitions neeeffary for the aftion of the genera- 

 bricatingthofe parts, and is only thrown out when the animal tive organs from taking place. The rcprodudive funaion is 

 is in vigour for copulation; while in the tailrated animal fo much influenced by the i'cafon in animals, that it is only 

 they are fniall, flabby, t'-mgh, and ligameutous, and have carried on at a particular time of the year ; and tlie lc?.dmg 

 "little fecretion." Animal Economy, p. 39. organs (the tcllicles) are reduced in many inilances to a Yery 

 It mull be acknowledged that we have no very dircft proof fmall fizc in the winter. But in man, and in fuch domefti- 

 thal any aftual abforption of femen takes place from the cated animals as are not in a ftate of nature, no fuch change 

 tefticles or vcficulx, and fome phyfiologills deny it altoge- takes place in the tefticfes ; they are coufequently always ia 



• -. . . . . good condition, and in that ftate to which other animals that 



are left to themfelves, can only attain in the warmer i'ealuii. 



ther. " I very much doubt,'' fays Blumenbach, " whether 

 real femen be ever abforbed from its veficular refervoirs in a 

 healthy man ; — (lill more of what has been occailonally 

 aflcrted, that it is immediately conveyed into the ticiglibour- 

 ing veins : and moft of all, that fuch abforption (fuppofing 

 its exiftence to be granted) rtiould be coHlidered as a provi- 

 fion afainft premature venereal ftimuli. On the contrary, it 

 we compare the phenomena obferved in aniir.alo, the impe- 

 tuous ii-rehftible nature of their defires at particular feafons 

 of the year, with the conftitution of fuch as are caftrated, 



lily ; 



That the femen, fecreted in the terpentine tubuli of the 

 teftis, is conveyed from them into the epididymis, andtiiencc 

 into the vas deferens, is fuflicienily obvious from the anatomi- 

 cal ilrufture. De Graaf proved it ttill further, by tying tlie 

 vas deferens of a dog before copulation : all the lecreliiig 

 tubes vvei-e dillended to the utmoft, and the tellis conlider- 

 ably fwollen. 



We cannot doubt that the fecretorv veffels of the teftis 



we (hall rather deem fuch abforption the caufe of that ungo- propel their contents by fome contraiEtik- power ; although 



vernable and almoft furious appetite. I conceive that a very the precife manner in which this is effefted efcapes our ob- 



differ-'Jit means (peculiar, as far as I know, to the human fervation. Does the elevation of the teftis to the ring, by 



fubj 'ft) has been adopted to anfwer the purpcfejuft alluded the aftion of the creraafter, conftantly obferved to accom- 



to; viz. nofturnal emiffions, which I refer to the natural ex- pany emiffion, promote the progrefs of the fecreted fluid? 



cretions of man, inafmuch as their more rare or frequent oc- The immenfe length and numerous turns of tlie femuial tubes 



currence, according to varieties of temperament and coiifti- muft render the paflage of this fluid from its firft fecretion 



tution, ferves to liberate him from the troublefome and in- very flow : hence, when the fup])ly contained in the veficulx 



is entirely exhauiled, an intermifiiou of fome time is necella- 

 ry for the reproduftion of a fuflicient fupply ; hence too, 

 ip the dog, where there are no veficuloe, the aft of copula- 

 tion is unufually prolonged. 



It has been generally conCdered that the fluid produced in 

 unmarried man, of a fanguine temperament, plethoric habir, the teftes is depofited and retained in the veiicula; feminales, 

 lively and warm imagination, particularly if he indulges in as in refervoirs, until occafion occurs for its difcharge. 



convenient confequences of an abundant feminal fecretion. 

 It may be readily granted tliat barbarous nations, of a 

 phlegmatic temperament, and praftifing irregular fexual inter- 

 courfe, do not require fuch an excretion : yet, I think it 

 muft be deemed a very natural and fuitable relief in a young 



Mr. Hunter has endeavoured to fliew that thefe bags are not 

 to be regarded in the light of receptacles for the femen, 

 but as dellined to perfonn a peculiar fecretion. The com- 

 mon opinion refts on the fafts of the very free communica- 

 tion between the vafa dcferenti^ and veficulje, on the courfe 



d luxurious mode of life and enjoys perfeft health. See 

 Clir. Rud. Jaenifch de pollutione nofturna. Getting. 

 1795, 4to. Inftitut. Phyflol. feft. 36. 



The length of courfe, and tlie fmall diameter of the fper- 

 matic artery, together with the impoliibillty of forcing any 

 injefted fluid from i's branches into the fecretory tubes of which iu)ofted fluids take in the dead body, and the extreme 

 the tefticle, have led phyfiologifts to cenclude that the fecre- minutenefs, numerous convolutions, and great length of the 

 tion of the feminal fluid is performed very flowly. But va- feminal tubes, which feem very unfavourable to the produc-i 

 rious circumftances are capable of accelerating this procefs. tion of femen in the fudden way, and at the veiy {hort notice- 

 " Princeps eft amor ;" fays Haller, Elem. Phyfiol. 7. 551. at which it mull be formed, if we do not fuppote it to come 

 " Nemo forte fuerit, quin in juventute fuafeminam concupi- from the veficulse. We have already detailed the proofs by 

 vcrit ; quin fi cafta fuit, in ejus familiaritate ignes conceperit which it appears that thefe organs perfonn a fecretion ; but 

 cccultos : quin fenferit cum dolore et iucommodo fibi teftes none of thofe fafts fliew that the contents of the veficulae 



intumefcere, et vafa feminalia ; dolore certe tanto, ut vix 

 tangere poifet earn regionem, vix incedere. Manifeilo in 

 hoc malo accelerataeft fecretio leminis,ejufque liquoris major 

 penus teftem diilendit. Id mali genus ex reddita tranquilli- 

 tate animi, et abfentia aniots feminoc fedatur ; et celcrius 

 ctiam fanatur fruitione cupitse puella:, et fi neutrum remedium 



may not confift, in part, of matter formed in the teftis. We 

 know that the gall-bladder produces a copious fecretion of 

 its own ; but that it alfo receives bile from the hepatic duft 

 through the duftus cyftlcus. Mr. H. endeavours to adduce 

 a decifive argument from comparative anatomy : he llate* 

 that in many animals, the parts correiponding to the human, 



acceflerit in diflicilcs tumorcs abirc poterit. Quare in uni- veficula; feminales have no communication with the vafa defc. 



vcrfiun, ut plurimum ad movendam venerem irritanieiita fa- rentia, and moreover, that their ftrufture, in fevcral iiiftances» 



ciunt defideiatx feminae, aut imagines alpcftu lubricie, aut feeras little calculated to make them refervoirs. Where the 



a'ia quEecunque, quae per legem affociationis idearum volup- obvious ftrufture is fo different, we are by no means war- 



tatis memoriam renovant ; ita abfentia ejufmodi ftimuli, et ranted in concluding that the fun<5lIon3 are exaftly funilar. 



cogitationes perpetuo ad alia averfs, ipiaque rehgio, ita mi- To argue that the fem.eu does not pais into the veficulx of 



nuunt feminis gentrationem, ut multo minori copia gigna- man, where the vafa deferentia are fo intimately conneiled to 



tur, neque molellum fit, et demuin vafa feminis pene coale- thofe bags, becaufe the analogous parts are not conuedled in 



fcent, et genitaUuru moles ipfa diminuatur." A healthy and other animals, ia not more reafonable, than it would be to 



affun» 



