THE MIKA OR KULPI OPERATION. 121 
The prepuce was intact, there having been no preliminary circum- 
cision as sometimes occurs. The exposed urethral mucosa had 
the bluish, injected, hardened appearance common to mucous 
membrane in such circumstances. The man had a considerably 
urinous odour, in fact he was anything but a pleasant companion 
to the photographer! That is not difficult to understand, when 
we think of the amount of wetting of the parts adjacent to the 
orifice which must almost necessarily happen at each micturition, 
and of the fact that in Sydney he was not so lightly clad as he 
would most likely be on his native heath. As to the actual man- 
ner in which micturition is performed Miklouho-Maclay! says that 
it is in an upright position, the organ being raised by the hand 
and the legs widely separated. 
As to the origin of the custom we can now only surmise, but 
these possibilities suggest themselves, viz.—l Quite certainly 
hypospadiacs would be met amongst the aboriginals, who would 
not, and could not faii to notice the condition. May not some 
aboriginal naturalists and philosophers have noted that, when the 
malformation did not actually prevent copulation, the seminal 
fluid escaped to an unusual extent, and that such unions were 
followed by unusually few children? This of course raises the 
crucial point is the Mika operation associated with limited repro- 
duction? Before discussin g this I shall note the other possibilities. 
2. What is more likely than that in such a life as that of the 
aborigines, wounds and lacerations of the urethra should occur, 
be badly tended and in the end lead to permanent fistulas more 
or less extensive, or do not often fistulous openings result from 
disease of these regions?’ Dr. Milne Robertson suggests that rude 
Surgery for the relief of inflammation may have formed the start- ~ 
ing point. Here again, the aboriginal observer would come in, 
for he might be supposed to notice the escape of spermatic fluid 
through the opening. 
3. May there not have been a deliberate and well reasoned out 
“Peration undertaken for the express purpose of letting the fluid’ 
ae 1 Loc. cit., Band x11., p. 86. i 
