GENERx\TION. 



{ieps through die different llages of this wterk, that they 

 are the produfl of that hwv in the coiillitution, uhidi is 

 called fympathy or confent of parts. That the femcn firft; 

 ilimuldtcs the vagina, os uteri, cavity of the uterus, or all of 

 them. By fympathy the ovarian vcfieles enlarge, projeft, 

 and biirft. By fympathy the tubes incline to tiie ovaries, 

 and having embraced ihcm, convey the rudiments of the foe- 

 tus into the uterus. By fympathy the uterus makes the 

 ncceffary preparation for perfefting the fornvalion and 

 growth of the fcetus. And, by fympathy the brealls fur- 

 jiilh milk for its fupport after birth." 



Phyfiologills have certainly not yet afcertained, by direft 

 obfervation, whether or no the femen enters the uterus and 

 tubes ; and confequcntly all explanatitm of the niode in 

 vhich it co-operates in conception muil be, in a great mea- 

 fure, hypotheticaL If we cannot fpeak from aftiial know- 

 ledge on a point, which mufl be fo important as the prefent, 

 in the generative procefs, and the determining oi which 

 mud be fo effential towards forming right notions ot the 

 nature of the bufinefs, how uncertain muft our rtprefenta- 

 tion be of the more intricate and obfcure parts ol the fub- 

 jeft! 



Haller's work furnifhes us with the following account of 

 " qua: feminis in coitu accidant.'' Primum voluptas efl. 

 Earn plerique nullam fatentur, et etiam ex, qute poffunt 

 abfque dedecore fateri, confirmant, fe abfque grato fenfu 

 concepifTe. Sinceriores alia; et appetunt venerem, et fe ea 

 deleftari agnofcunt. Potefl autem is fenfus in alia et alia 

 muliere major efTe minorve. Cum ea voluptate congeiHo 

 humorum ad partes genitales & calor conjungitur. Dixi 

 odium internum uteri fentire. Clitoris fenfu eil acerrimo, 

 fed in venere pal-um aflicitur. Vagina; columnr.s putes efTe 

 fenfu acriori ; neque carent papillis, ut neque vulvae odium, 

 neque nymphae. Potedin his partibus voluptas locum habere, 

 et ab ea fanguis in organa genitalia concieri, ut caleant, tur- 

 geant & acrius fentiant. Certum ed tamen in iis piiellis, 

 qu:e cum voluptate coeunt, vaginam tumefcere, ut maritum 

 propius ampleftatur. Id poted partim mufculi fphinderis 

 officio fieri, qiiem vis nervofa ad contradlionem Irritat, pur- 

 timex tumentibus vafis plexuimi venoforum, et corporum 

 cavernoforum vagina et clitoridis." Elem. Phyfiol. 8. 



The circumdances jud defcribed do not appear to be 

 cffential to the bufmels of fecundation ; they contribute 

 to the important objeft of reproduftion in a fecondary 

 manner. The ftrong defire implanted in all animals, and 

 the phyfical gratification experienced in its indulgence, en- 

 fure the union of the fexes, and confequently the continua- 

 tion of the fpecies. The celebrated Spallanzani has given 

 to the world a very intcreding feries of experiments, by 

 which it is proved that impregnation in many cafes may be 

 effetled by artificial means. He proved the fird in the cafe 

 of various amphibia, as the frog, newt, and toad : and after- 

 wards in the bitch. He experimented on a fpaniel bitch, 

 which had before had whelps. He confined her very clofely 

 until file was in heat,^ and then proceeded in the following 

 manner : " A young dog, of the fame breed, furniflied 

 me, by a fpontaneous emifiion, with 19 grains of feed, which 

 v/ere immediately injeited into the matrix, by means of a 

 fmall fyringe introduced into the vagina. As the natural 

 heat of the feed in animals of warm blood may be a condi- 

 tion necedary to render fecundation efiicacious, I had taken 

 care to give the fyringe the degree of heat which man and 

 dogs are found to polfefs, which is about 30'. Two days 

 after the injetlion, the bitch went off' her heat, and in twenty 

 days her belly appeared fwoUen, which induced me to fet 

 her at liberty en the twenty-fixth. Meanwhile the fwelling 



of the belly increafed ; and fixty-two day; after tlie inje£t:un 

 of the feed, the bitch brought forth three lively whelps, two 

 male, and one female, refembhng in cslour and (hape not 

 the bitch only, but the dog alfo from which the feed had 

 been taken."' (Didertalions, vol. il. p. 250.) The experi- 

 ment was repeated with fuccefs by Dr. RolTi, ibid. 476. 

 \Ve have an account of a fimdar trial in the human fubject, 

 made at the fuggeilion of Mr. Hunter. It was in an in- 

 dance of maIfonii:iLion, where the urethra opened in the 

 perineum. " Under thefe circumdances the pcrfon married. 

 When he had connection the emifiion v.as complete, which 

 proved that the tedicles were perfeft, but the femen always 

 paded out at the perineum. The late Mr. Hunter was 

 confulted to remedy, if pofiiblc, this inconvenience, and to 

 enable the perfon to beget children. He advifed that the 

 huftiand dionld be prepared with a fyringe fitted for the 

 pnrpole, prcviouflv warmed ; and that, immediately after 

 the emifiion had taken place, it fiiould be taken up by the 

 fyringe, and injcdhd into the vagina, while the female 

 organs were dill under the influence of the coitus, and in 

 the proper date for receiving the femen. This experiment 

 was aftually made, and the wife proved with child. On 

 a fubjeft of this kind it is proper to fpeak with caution ; 

 but, from all the attending circumdances, no doubt was 

 entertained by Mr. Hunter, or the huftiand, that the 

 impregnation was entirely the effeft of the experiment." 

 Plome on Hermaphrodites, in Philof. Tranfaft. for 

 1799. 



Various circumdances have been cnnmerated, as proofs 

 that conception has taken place ; as peculiar feelings during 

 coition, horripilation, and even dridor dentium, &c. Haller's 

 fenfible remarks on this fubjeft feem to us to be nearer the 

 trutli. " Hxc omnia quidem mihi nimia videntur, et dif- 

 ficiliima expertu. Neque enim femina, dum maritum ad- 

 mittit, otiolo ed ad experimentum animo : neque, nifi longo 

 abhinc teir.porc noriint fere fe concepifTe, quando jam ejuf- 

 modi phenomena de memoria clapfa funt. A feminis certe^ 

 a qiubus verum poteram expeftare, nihil de horripilatior.e, 

 neque de dolore potui difcere." Ibid. 



The opinions concerning the eff^ufion of a feminal fluid 

 by the female, and its mixture with that of the male, are 

 altogether imaginary. That a mucous duid is fonietimes 

 poiu-cd out in coition, from the apparatus already delcribcd 

 in the external organs and the vagina, is undoubted ; but 

 this happens only in lafcivious women, or fuch as live luxu- 

 rionfly ; it confiils merely of mucu?, and is difcharged exter- 

 nally, inftead of pafling into the uterus. 



Circumdances do not admit of the internal changes which 

 accompany and follow copulation and conception, beir>g ac- 

 curately afcertained in the human fubject ; and, confequenllyy, 

 thefe have been invedigated in various animals. Mr. Gruik- 

 diank gives the following defcription of the parts in a rabbit 

 at heat. The orifice and internal furface of the vagina are 

 as black as ink from the great determination of blood. The 

 ovaria had, under their external furfaces, a great number of 

 black, round, bloody fpots, fomewhat lefs than mudard- 

 feeds. Thefe black fpots are the calyces or cups which 

 fecrete the ova ; they^,,^re extremely vafcular ; "the ova 

 themfelves are tranfparent, and caiTy no vifible blood-ved'els. 

 Thefe calyces, on the expulfion of the ova, enlarge and be- 

 come yellow, projetting above the external furface of the 

 ovaria, and form the corpora lutea : a certain mark of con- 

 ception in all quadrupeds, and in women themfelves, whether 

 the embryo is vifible or not. The nfe of the corpora lutea 

 is not yet made out ; but the orifice, through which the 

 ovum burds into the Fallopian tnbe, is often extremely 

 manifeftj and always has a ragged border, as lacerated pitrts 



ufudUy 



