GENERATION. 



fiones, in maniam, in furorem uterinum incidunt ; quam neo 

 fcmel villi ; inquc earum feminarum apertis cadaveribus 

 fchirri, et fteatomata, & liydropcs ovarii reperiuntur. 

 Quarc, nifi morum cuftodia vetuerit, ea mala pleraque, et fu- 

 ror uterinus, et vera mania, veneris ufu folvuntur." Haller, 

 Elem. Pliyfiol. t. 8. p. 14. We may affirni, in {hort, 

 that from the time when the organs, which characterize tliefe 

 amiable and fenfible beings, are fully endowed with all their 

 vital powers, woman is conltantly fubjeft to their influence, 

 until the period arrives when fhe is no longer capable of the 

 life of the fpecies, when (he has pafTed through the revolu- 

 tion of her latter age, and enjoys quietly her individual life, 

 during the remainder of which women differ much lefs, in 

 every refpeft, from the other fex. 



A delineation of the effefts, which the phyfical cligngcs 

 occurring at the time of puberty produce on the moral cha- 

 rafter and ideas of women, may be feen in the eloquent 

 ■work of Cabanis, " Rapports du Phyfique et Moral de 

 THomme." The various morbid derangements of the men- 

 ftrual procefs will be confidered in the medical department 

 of this diftionary. 



The generative procefs is fub'ieA to very different laws in 

 animals and in the human fpecies. In the former, particu- 

 lar feafons of the year are appropriated to thefe funftion?, 

 and the organs undergo certain phyfical changes, by w hith 

 they are rendered fit for the procefs. It is a pccuharity be- 

 longing to the human race, that they are confined to no 

 feaion in exercifing thefe funftions. Mod animals, and 

 particularly birds, copulate in fpring : and that warmth has 

 much influence in the affair is evident from this, that animals 

 of warmer countries fcldom copulate or are fecundated in 

 Europe. Perhaps women conceive rather more frequently 

 in fpring ; at Icaft accoucheurs have obferved that there ai-e 

 moft labours in the months of December and January. 



As the effeft of fexual communication is fo important, it 

 cannot be indifferent to the dofign of nature to what part of 

 the uterine fyftem the fcmcn (hould be conveyed. It admits 

 of no doubt, that it either remain.-, in the vagina, paffesinto 

 the uterus, or elfe extends its courfe along the Fallopian 

 tubes to be applied to the furface of the ovaries, which it 

 ftimulates, and from which the new animal derives its cxi'.l- 

 ence; but the queftion whether it be one orother of theft-, has 

 givenbirth to morephyfiological controverfy than perhaps any 

 other operation of a living animal. Thofe who have en- 

 tered the lifts have ranged themfelves either on the fide of 

 iipplication of the femen to the ovaries, by means of the 

 tubes ; or on that of the inutility of this procefs. Thefe 

 Litter contend for an abforption of this fluid by the vagina, 

 M\d a peculiarexcitement of the '.vhole frame asa confequence, 

 of which excitement the changes produced on the ovaries, are 

 to be regarded as the local effefts. The advocates for the 

 firft opinion allege, that the femen has been feen both in the 

 uterus and tubes, and quote as their authority the obfervations 

 of Morgagni for the former, and Ruvfch for the latter. 

 When feen in this laft fituation, fome have thought that it 

 was conveyed thither by the mufcular power of thefe parts, 

 in the manner of a periftaltic motion, beginning at the ute- 

 rus, and ending at the fimbriated tL-rmination of the tube ; and 

 when at this laft, it was fuppoied that the femen was applied 

 to the furface of the ovaries, and impregnated them by ac- 

 tual contadt. Various analogies, drawn from tlie animal and 

 vegetable kingdoms, have been adduced for and againft thofe 

 different opinions : but luch arguments muft be received 

 with caution. Where different inllruments are employed 

 to produce the fame ultimate effcft, we may reafonably 

 oonclude that the means ufed are effentially different. On 

 Ellis principle no direft conclufions can be drawn refpefting 

 Vol. XVI. 



the human fpecies, from obfervations cither on vegetables, 

 or even on frogs, toads, and newts. The impregation of 

 birds, being effected by femen conveyed into the body, re- 

 fembles that of the human fubjcft more than the former*; 

 but they differ fo widely in the mode of perfecting the 

 foetus from the ovum, that v.-e cannot reft with much confi- 

 dence on their general analogy. 



To the obfervations of Morgagni and Ruyfch a nume- 

 rous train of facts has been oppofed, afcertained by the ex- 

 perimental labours of Harvey, De Graaf, Haller, and 

 others, in which no femen was ever feen beyond the vagina 

 in anim.als, examined at various periods after coition. One 

 experiment of Haller, on a flieep, conftitutes a fingle excep- 

 tion to this obfervation : he o^ice faw femen in the utcrug 

 forty-five minutes after coition. Thefe fads bring the ad- 

 vocates for the neceffity of a contaft of femen wiih the oto- 

 ries into a dikmma, from which they attempt to extricate 

 themfelves by contending, that fecundation does not l-equire 

 the application of femen to the ovaries in a palpable form ; 

 but that there is exhaled from it a fubtile fluid in a vaporific 

 ftate, called aura feminalis, and that the contaft of this 

 vapour is fully fufficient to impart to the ovaries their due 

 quantity of ftimulus. 



The opinion, that the prefence of the femenMn the vagina 

 alone was fufficient to account for impregnation, was defend- 

 ed by the uatement of cafes, in which, from fome anatomi- 

 cal peculiarities, it feemed almoft impoffible that the fecun- 

 dating fluid could be conveyed into the uterus ; yet in f^-vc- 

 ral of thefe cafes impregnation really took place. Thofe 

 who hold a contraiy opinion cither cavil at the accuracy of 

 the ftatement, or draw a different conclufion. In order to 

 throw fome light on this fubjeft by direct argumerts, Dr. 

 Haighton undertook a feries of experiments, tlie refults of 

 which are detailed in the 87th vol. of the Philofn-ihicnl 

 Tranfadlions. He divided the tubes which form the cci- 

 nua uteri in rabbits, and admitted them to the male, when 

 they had completely recovered from the experiment ; but 

 this operation feemed to deftroy entirely not only the power 

 of conception, but alfo the difpofition to employ the mesins. 

 After feveral ineffeftual trials, he varied the experiment by 

 dividing one tube only, and in many inftances the animals 

 concei\ed afterwards. Corpora lutea were found on both 

 fides of the body, but fa-tuics only on the found fide. If 

 the former bodies are produced only after conception, which 

 the dodor affumes, then conception muft have taken place 

 here, altliough the direft accefs of femen to the ovarium was 

 interrupted ; for the operation in queftion completely obli- 

 terates the tube. It muft be acknowledged that the proof 

 is incomplete in thefe cafes ; we cannot juftly affcrt that 

 conception has taken place, when no foetus was formed. 

 Dr. H. attempts to elude this objection, by fliewing that 

 the divifion of tiie tube at any period after coition, but be- 

 fore the paffage of tlie germs from the ovar\-, -will equallf 

 prevent the appearance of foctufes ; accordingly no fa-tufes 

 were feen in the tube, when it was divided as late as fortv- 

 eight hours after coition. But if the operation be deferivd 

 until the time at which the rudiments of the new anin-.nl 

 have paffed into the tube, the anions of the parts fuffer no 

 interruption, and fcctufes are formed in the tube of the mu- 

 tilated fide. " If,'' adds the Dr. " the ovaries are fuf- 

 ceptible of thoir proper excitement only from the contaft 

 cf femen, how did it happen that the effects of that excite- 

 ment were not more obvious v/here nothing had been done 

 to intercept its courfe for 48 hours, than" in thofe where 

 all communication between fhe uterus and ovary had 

 been cut off before the means of impregnation had beei. 

 employed ? I think it ntuft appear, ou iracino- nature's 



1 " fteps 



