THE MIKA OR KULPI OPERATION. 123 
the vagina with it. Further, we are told, and it is certainly the 
case in the subject of my photograph, that the release of the 
corpora cavernosa below permits the organ to be flattened and 
widened, especially during erection. This willitself tend to widen 
the vaginal orifice and so permit the fluid to enter more easily. 
Thus while the imperfection of the tube prevents all the fluid 
being lodged well within the passage, a quantity will certainly 
be left within the lower part of it. In my opinion therefore, it 
is a question of degree—in the normal condition a large quantity 
is left in the passage, in the mika condition it is a small quantity. 
What then is the probable effect of this diminution of the 
quantity of fluid introduced? I think there will generally be 
upon the whole, lessened chance of fecundation, but in particular 
cases it may not be very marked at all, and the recorded obscrva- 
tions as to the number of children in the camps of mika-practising 
tribes support this view, which, however, is opposed to the opinions 
expressed by many writers. Creed,! for instance, regards the 
mika as the “ most perfect form of “ Malthusianism practicable,” 
and says that “impregnation is impossible, and this effect seems 
to be the desired end for which the operation is performed.” Eyre 
however, who first described the condition, does not go so far as 
that. He says, “this extraordinary and inexplicable custom 
must have a great tendency to prevent the rapid increase of 
population, and its adoption may perhaps be a wise ordination 
of Providence for that purpose, in a country of so desert and arid 
a character as that which these people occupy.” 
Taking everything into consideration, I conclude that— 
(1) Nothing whatever can be definitely stated as to the origin of 
the custom. 
(2) The operation does not necessarily render the man sterile. It 
merely diminishes his fertility ; what the degree of diminu- 
tion may be will depend entirely on circumstances. 
1 Loc, cit., p. 95. 
