and subsequent possible Fertilisation of their Ova, 55 



months after Spallanzani had completed the experiment mentioned 

 above], Pierre Rossi (No. 27) repeated this experiment. He also 

 chose a " Barbet " bitch for the purpose. When she appeared to be 

 coming "on heat " he locked her up in a room, to open which two 

 keys were necessary ; one of these he handed to M. Nicholas Branchi, 

 Professor of Chemistry in the University of Pisa, and the other he 

 held himself. 



On the 25th January the bitch was ready for coition and sperma- 

 tozoa was injected into her in the same way as Spallanzani describes 

 his experiment. The injection was repeated on the 26th, 28th, and 

 30th of the same month. On the 1st February " heat " ceased, on 

 the 26th the abdomen was swollen and the mammas enlarged, and 

 the bitch was set at liberty. On the 27th March, sixty- two days 

 after the first injection, she littered four young. 



The care with which both, but especially the latter, of these 

 ■experiments was conducted, leaves little room for doubt that the 

 bitches produced young in consequence of artificial insemination. 



It is a matter for surprise that such extremely interesting experi- 

 ments did not stimulate research in the same direction. They do 

 not, however, appear to have done so, at any rate I can find no 

 reference since Spallanzani's day until quite recently, of any experi- 

 ments on the artificial insemination of the lower mammals. 



The human female, on the other hand, ha,s been made the subject 

 of like experiments by various medical men. Hunter (No. 14), in 

 1799, seems to have been the first to advise the artificial insemination 

 of woman in order to insure pregnancy. In the case which he 

 records, the operation was performed in consequence of the fact that 

 the husband of the woman suffered from hypospadias, and the 

 seminal fluid was merely injected into her vagina. It is recorded that 

 success attended the operation and that the woman became pregnant 

 and bore a child. 



Since Hunter's day various medical men have practised artificial 

 insemination on women who were supposed to be sterile, with more 

 or less success. Their method has been, to inject spermatozoa into the 

 uterus of the woman by means of a specially devised instrument and 

 in that way to overcome certain defects or obstructions in the female 

 generative organs ; such as flexion or constriction of the canal of the 

 cervix ; rigidity of the cervix ; hypertrophy of the lips of the external 

 os which may effectually close the orifice ; inability to retain the sper- 

 matozoa in the vagina owing to violent muscular contraction, or to 

 retroversion of the uterus (Sims, No. 33) ; a want of sufficient mus- 

 cular power ; abnormal structure or size of the cervix or os uteri 

 which prevents the free action of the functions of the cervix 

 ["aspirations," Courty (No. 3)] ; abnormal or excessive vaginal secre- 

 tions, &c. 



