GENERATION. 



affirm that the fluid of the vafa dcfercntia palTes into the ve- 

 ficuls in animals, where the two are not conneftetl, becaiife 

 the ftrufture leads us to infer that it does to in man. 



Mr. Hunter continues, " we may likcwife infer, from 

 what has been faid, that the femen is not retained in rcfcr- 

 voirs after it is fecreted, and kept there till it is ufcd ; but 

 that it is fecreted at the time, in confequence of certain af- 

 fcclions of the mind ftimulating the teilicles to this aftion : 

 for we find, that if lafcivious ideas are excited in tl'.e mind, 

 and the paroxyfm is afterwards prevented from coming on, 

 the tefticles become painful and fwelled from the quantity of 

 femen fecreted, and the increafed aftion of the veffels ; 

 which pain and fwelling are removed immediately upon the 

 paroxyfm being brought on and the femen evacuated ; but if 

 that does not take place, the aftiov. of the vefTels is Hill kept 

 lip, and the pain in the teilicles will generally continue till 

 the paroxyfm and the evacuation of the femen are brought 

 on, which renders the aft complete ; without which a Hop 

 cannot be put to the aftion of the vefTels that produce the fe- 

 cretion, northe parts be allowed to fall back to their natural Hate. 

 There is at this time no fenfation felt in the fituation of the 

 veficulcE feminales. The pain in the tefticles, in confe- 

 quence of their being filled with femen ; and the aftion 

 bei:i^ incomplete, is fometimes fo confiderable as to make it 

 neceflary to produce an evacuation of the femen to relieve 

 the patient." Animal Economy, p. 33. 



We certainly admit with Mr. H. that the veficulae femi- 

 nales of the human fubjeft perform a particular fecretion ; 

 but we do not conceive liim to have fucceeded in proving that 

 they are not alfo refervoirs for the femen. 



The opinion, which denies the veficali feminales to be re- 

 fervoirs for the f.-men, is defended alfo by J. A. Chaptal, in 

 the Journal de Phyfique, February 9, 1787, p. loi. Soem- 

 merring has refuted it in the third vol. of Blumenbach's Me- 

 dicinifche Bibliothek, p. 87. 



The tranfmifTion of the femen, from its dufts or veficulse, 

 into the urethra, takes place under the intluencc of a parti- 

 cular (late of mind ; and its expulfion from the body is effeft- 

 ed, in all animals which have a penis, by means of what is 

 called the erection of that organ. In the human fub'ieft, this 

 is an increafe of volume produced by the dillention of the three 

 corpora cavernofa. Among the exciting caufes of this procefs, 

 we mav enumerate, in the firil place, the prefence of a fuflicient 

 iupply of feminal fluid : when this is prefent, any additional 

 ilimulus ealily produces the effeft. Hence, we obferve, that 

 the venereal powers of animals are the greateft, when their 

 teltes are of the largell iize ; hence, too, we may perhaps 

 explain the erection fometimes obferved after a full meal. A 

 fecond and more powerful excitement is derived from mental 

 caufes. " Altera caufa," fays Haller, " in fano homine efl. 

 imaginatio, five cupido veneris, quae ex quacunque caufa 

 orta, leftione, vifa piftu.-a, memoria voluptatis prillinae, con- 

 fabulatione, taftu, et aliis caufis, in fano homine continuo in 

 ereftionem crumpit. Eadem nofturnam illam et folltari:im 

 venerem fola ab^olvit, qua fe natura nimii feminis onere libe- 

 ral variis, pro varia ieminis ab'jndantia, et fenfu acriori aut 

 obtufiori, intcrvallis. Nam pueris facillima, fenibus ea venus 

 rarior ell, aut nulla. Soli homini data eft, forte quod homo 

 potifiimum memoria et imaginatione valeat. Imaginationem 

 folam, non ercclionem, fed plenam venerem, eliam in vigilan- 

 tibus perfeciiTe adfunt teftimonia. Neque poteft abfqHe ima- 

 ginatione excitata unquam hoc opus perfici ; ut turpi, ne- 

 que haftenus adamata in femina venus vix exerceri poffit. 

 Inde ills impotentix ex verecundia, ex imaginaria debilitate, 

 quo fafcinum revoco, aut ex odio, qua; quidem fpecies cum 

 relativa poteftate coiijunfta eft. Hinc manifefta iniquitas 

 ejus legis, qux ex congrelTii de virilitate mariti judicabat, 



S 



qnem in exof;! uxore, poft fummam injuriam pafTam, in con, 

 fpedlu tot hominum, ferrcum oporteret elTe, ut iis cum im- 

 pedimentis venerea jura perficiat. Quare in Gallii anno, 

 1677, die 18. menfis .Tanuarii, ridicula lex abolita fuit, 

 cum Marchio de Lanrjey, a judice poft congreflum pro impo- 

 tcnte damnatus, difiolato matrimonio, cum alia uxore multos 

 filios generaflet." (Element. Phyfiol. 7. 557.) The pecu- 

 liar odour exhaled fnam the female organs, particularly at 

 certain feafons, is a very powerfu! incentive of venereal feel- 

 ings in the animal kingdom. Haller confiders that this caufe 

 adls in the human race alfo. " Propius partes genitales 

 ipfas adficit, et excretioncm extorquet, auget et perficit, 

 fritlio glandis, et potiffimum colliculorum, qui funt fub 

 ortis urethrse, quocunque fere modo ea friftio adminiftrctur. 

 Sed ea cum voluptatc pcculiari, fumma, pene nimia, conjun- . 

 gitur, agitque iterum manifeilo in Mcrvos, ut vel ex acuto 

 fenfu glandis conjicere licet.'' Elem. Phyf. ibid. 



Eretlion of the penis takes place from various caufes, not 

 enumerated under the foregoing heads ; and then it has no 

 concern with the expulfion of the feminal fluid. When a 

 perfon wakes in the morning, with the bladder tolerably full 

 of urine, the organ is commonly eredl ; but it fubfides when 

 the water is evacuated. Striking the nates with a rod is 

 well known to produce erection ; and has fometimes been 

 reforted to to roufe dormant paflions. Calculus, ftrangu- 

 ry, and hemorrhoids are fometimes attended with this fymp- 

 tnm ; which has been occafionally obferved alfo in other af- 

 fedlions. It is often particularly troublefome in gonor- 

 rhoea ; and has been obferved many times after death, parti- 

 cularly in thofe who have been hanged. (See Morgagni de 

 Sed. et Cauf. Ep. xix.) Mechanical obftrufticn to the re- 

 turn of blood from the part will produce ereftion, and even 

 fuch a fwelling as ends in gangrene, if the obftacle be con- 

 fiderableand long continued. Ligatures, thoughtlefsly placed 

 on the penis by children, and the ftriclure produced by 

 the retracted glands in paraphymofis, come under this defcrip- 

 tion. In the fame way dangerous fwelling has been produc- 

 ed by di-awing a ring over the penis. The effeft of inter- 

 cepting the return of blood is clearly fliewn, in an experi- 

 ment made by Mr. Hunter on the dog. " In April 1760, 

 in the prefence of Mr. Blount, I laid bare the penis of a 

 dog, almoft through its wiiole length ; traced the two veins 

 that came from the glans (which in this animal makes the 

 largeil part of the penis), and fepar.ated them from the arte- 

 ries by difledlion, tliat I might be able to comprefs them at 

 plea'.ure, without a.fFefting the arteries. I then compieiied 

 the two veins, and found that the glans and large bulb be« 

 came full and extended ; but when I irritated the veins, in or- 

 der to fee if there was any power of contraftion in them, 

 which might occafionally ftop the return of the blood, no 

 fuch appearance could be obferved.'' Animal Economy, 

 p. 40, note a. 



That eredlion is produced by blocd being fent into the 

 penis fafter than it can le returned, and that the encreafed 

 fize of the organ is entirely produced by this fanguiaeou* 

 diftention, are points clearly alcertained. The obftacle to 

 its return is fo complete, that no mechanical prefTure applied 

 to the body of the penis can force the blood on into the 

 s'cins. The exacl mode, in which this object is accompliih- 

 ed, has not, we believe, been as yet afcertained. There cer- 

 tainly is no power capable of directly coinpreiring the veins: 

 and the ereftor penis in particular, by drawing the organ 

 away from the fyjiphyfis pubis, would rather free them front 

 preflurc. The accelerator urinae, by fqueezing the blood for- 

 wards from the bulb, may make the front of the corpus 

 fpongiofum and glans rather more firm when they are 

 ereft, but can produce no effedl on the penis in general. 



Neither 



