GENERATION. 



a fecretion of feminal fluid generally takes place about tlie 

 twelfth or fourteenth year, infoii-.iich that it is commonly 

 difchaigcd from the efiVft of dreams. Soon after this time 

 there is a complete capacity of performing the fexual func- 

 tions J and there is a well-icnown inftance of a prince who 

 b;-got twins in his 1 6th year. The approach of puberty is 

 ngulated conliderably by the climate, and alfo by manners ; 

 in warm coivitries it comes on earlier tlian we have men- 

 tioned, and later in colder regions. In the higher ranks of 

 fociety, where the feelings arc prematurely and ai-tliicially 

 excited, and encouraged by a copious and generous diet, 

 and loole morality, the generative funftions may be called 

 into cxercife more early, than under the oppolite circum- 

 flances. As the individual approaches to the yoth year, 

 the venereal lufceptibility is conliderably diminiflicd. Semen 

 is ftill lecreted, but hardlvever emitted duringfleep, even after 

 the longell abilinence. The venereal adl is more flowly 

 performed, but is equally eiTicncious in producing impreg- 

 nation. From this tine tlic powers are gi'aduallv diminiflied ; 

 but a man of 60 may iliU become n father, although fome 

 legiflators have chofen to determine otherwife. A longer 

 continued and more powerful irritation is required to pro- 

 duce ercdtion and emillion at this age. In rare examples 

 men have been known to retain their powers of propagation 

 even to the age of 100 years ; and it is very well authenti- 

 cated that Thomas Pane married at 120, and performed 

 the duties of a huiband until th.e age of 140. Thefe latter 

 examples muft, however, be regarded as deviations from the 

 ordinary courfe ; and we have equally remarkable in (lances 

 of the generative funftlons being performed at an unufually 

 early age. Perhaps the moft remarkable cafe of this kind 

 is a boy now living in I^ondon, of whom an account is given 

 in the Medico-Chinirgical Tranfaftions, vol. i. p. 276, & 

 feq. At the time of birth this child had much long hair 

 on the head, and the futures of the cranium were perfectly 

 clofed. At the end of the firft year thofe changes took, 

 place which ufually happen at puberty. The penis and 

 teiles increafed in iize, hairs appeared en the pubes, and th.e 

 tone of the vaice was evidently altered. From this time 

 his body grew ve-y rapidly, and the exprcffion of his fea- 

 tures, as well as the general organization, had a completely 

 manly charafter. The prominence of the thyroid cartilage, 

 and the voice, refcmbled thofe of a youth of 16. " The pubes' 

 and Icrotum are covered with black cr.rling hair. Tlie penis 

 ;'.nd teftcs are as large as I have fcen in fome adults. The 

 latter are firm and perfeft in their foimation, and the cord 

 may be diftinftly felt. The ufual brown appearance of the 

 integuments of thefe parts is here to be obfcrved." There has 

 been a fecretion of fumer. from the end of the fecond year^ 

 This account was drawn up when he was three years old. 

 In his " Anecdotes de Mcdecine,'' Borden mentions three 

 boys who tfed flrong venereal delires between 10 and 1 1 

 years of age : the generative orgai-.s were unufuallv large 

 in thefe individuals, and were fully capable of exercihng 

 their ordinary fuiitlii ns at this time. " lis ne penfaient 

 qu'au plaillr pliyilque de lamour ; iis ne femblaient avoir 

 autre fenfation qiie celle de cetle paffion ; ils fe fondaient, 

 pour ainfi dire^ en T'erme ; ils tiraient leur car:'.ftere indi- 

 viduel de I'organifme feminal." 



The moilfuitable and natural ftate after the ac;eof puberty, 

 is that of marriage. If the defigns of nature are not fulfilled ; 

 if, by rcfuiingto fatisfy the impi-rious callscf lo .e, we prevent 

 the exeefs of vital energy, v.-hich foon animates the genera- 

 tive organs, from being carried off in its riatural channel, 

 the accumulated Irritability of thefe organs will frequently 

 ditturb the whole frame by its re-aAion. The phyfical 

 feeling of love, the irjpulfe of reprodudion, has generally a 



remarkable charafter of violence and energy in animals. 

 The phenomena of the rutting feafon fnew the effec'^s of 

 this powerful apprtite in a much llronger point of view than 

 they arc feen in the human fubjeft ; as the influence of the 

 paflion is iiere heightened by its being reduced within a fliort 

 period of time. Great fiercenefs, impetuous motions, and 

 often even convulfions, arc tiie cffefts of the new want in 

 many animals. Parrots, canary-biid.s, and biill-fmches, ex- 

 perience attacks apparently of an cpilept'c kind, when fepa- 

 rated from their females. The phyf.cal appi'-te is rarely 

 accompanied with fuch phenomena in man. With many in- 

 dividuals, the obfcrvance of the laws of chaftity hardlv re- 

 quires an effort. However, if the influence of the genera- 

 tive organs fliould predominate fo far as to conftitutea wcU- 

 charafterized erotic temperament ; if an ardtnt imagination 

 and a forced ftate of celibacy flioidd ilrengthen this tempe- 

 rament, its influence on the conftitution may be excefllve, and 

 caiife various kinds of general diforder. Under the influence 

 of fuch circumllances, a foldier feized and attempted to vio- 

 late a girl in public at Montpelier. Neither the publicity of 

 the lituation, nor the cries of his victim, nor the exclamations 

 and blows of thefarroundlngpcrfons, could prevail with him to 

 relinquiili his attempt, for which he was hanged. (Borden, 

 Anecdotes de Mcdecine.) The unnatural vbl'incnce obferved 

 from miilaken notions of religion, has produced very remark- 

 ableeffctts in lome cafes. Ancccleliafticmcntioned bv Bufl'on, 

 in whom the feelings were very flrong, fearing he (liould be 

 tempted to break his vow, cut away the organs. The fame 

 author relates the fufferings cf another individual during a 

 kind of erotic dehrium, which lailcd for fix months, and 

 feems to have amounted nearly to mental derangement. 



Female Organs of Gimralljii — Woman contributes more 

 largely than man to thebufinefsofreproduelion ; andtheappa- 

 ratus dellined to this function includes the generative organs, 

 properly fo called, and the brealts. Thefe ifolated parts arc 

 appropriated to the execution of a common objeft, to which 

 each contributes in its own way, and tlicir developement is 

 regula.ted by a common law. They are called into aftivity 

 at the lame epocha, and their refpeftlve funftions ceafe, or 

 at lealt their capacity of fulfilling them ceafes at the fame 

 time. The clofe fympathy which connects them has been 

 remarked at all times. The breads, however, are mani- 

 feftly dependent on the generative organs ; while the former 

 excrcife but a very flight influence on the latter. As the 

 male organs are calculated by then- formation to convey the 

 prolific fluid, fo the female are conllructed with a view to 

 its reception ; and the two differ ooinphtily from each other. 

 Yet there is a conliderable reftniblaiice in fome parts of the 

 apparatus in both fexes. Thus ihe clitoris, which is con- 

 cealed under the pubis in the fuperior commHTure of the 

 labia, refemblcs the penis in many points ;■ diiTcrinti^ from it 

 by having no conne£t;on with tlie urethra, and eonfequently 

 being imperforate, alfo in being very fmall in well-formed 

 individuals. The mofl con\T;nient arrangement oftlic fubjeit, 

 for anatomical defcription, is that in which the organs are 

 dividf d into the external and internal. The latter include 

 the eiiential agents of the generative procefs in the female ; 

 vh. the vagina, with the uterus and its appendages. The 

 former confilt of a longitudinal flit, pkced between the 

 thigiis, con:<iiningthe termim-.tion of the urethra and vagina, 

 and i-ertain prominent parts conipcded chiefly of folds of the 

 integuments.. 



The external organs, wliich can be feen witlieut the aid of 

 difit^ti.on, are the mons veneris, the vidva or LMdendum, the 

 labia, frenulum, fofla navicularis, clitoris, nympiia:, meatus 

 uiinarius, and opening of the vagina. 



A broad prominence, pLced in front of the pubes, and' 



between- 



