CONCEPTION. 
gins. The entrance into , the canal of the uterus from 
without, is guarded by the nymphse, which form an emi¬ 
nence on each fide, fo peculiarly conftrutted and arranged, 
that we mult think lightly pf the phyfiologilt who could 
fuppofe them to be only appendages in office to the ure¬ 
thra. Indeed, as nature frequently operates more than 
one end by a particular ltru;cture, we lhall not pretend to 
limit the lecondary or inferior offices which the nymphse 
may promote ; but we fee much reafon to believe them 
created to affilt powerfully in preventing the efcape of 
the male femen, and of thereby expofing it to the action 
of the ablorbent fyitem. A multitude of circumftances 
corroborate this belief; and it will' not be impaired by 
the allegation, that thefe ridges by no means conftitute 
a regular and complete valve. Immediately within this 
barrier, a itrudture, on the fame .principles as thofe of 
the nymphse, but more elegant and powerful, commences; 
and it is continued over the furface of the vagina, gra¬ 
dually growing finer, till it is ioll in fmoothnels near the 
upper extremity of the canal. This llrudture is the rugse 
of the vagina, fo accurately drawn and defcribed by the 
late Dr. Hunter, in Plate II. of the article Abortion, 
vol, i. p. 26; and in Dr. Haller’s figure of the gravid 
uterus, given under Anatomy, in the fame volume, 
p.264.; but degraded by lome anatomilts, who mark it 
only as ufeful in exciting venereal enjoyment, or admit¬ 
ting expaniion during coition and parturition. It is in- 
finuating a mean and difgraceful reflection on the im¬ 
portant order and operations of nature to fuppofe, that 
thefe rugae, which are not cafuaily arranged, but are re¬ 
gulated with as much precifion and uniformity as we can 
trace in any other part of the genital fyitem ; we fay it is 
nugatory and prefuinptuous to alien, that this intricate, 
extenfive, and beautiful, arrangement, has been fo mi¬ 
nutely laboured for no other purpole, but merely to ex¬ 
cite a greater titillation during the grofs commerce of the 
fexes, and a greater extenfion during parturition. This 
fi:ru6ture may indeed promote fecondary purpoles ; but 
it is intended for much nobler ends. Had thefe rugse 
been conltrufted merely for Ample contraction and dila¬ 
tation, they would have covered equally the whole lur- 
face of the. vagina, which certainly does not happen 5 
neither, if theie had been their principal ules, would they 
be fo foon and fo eafily obliterated. We believe, then, 
that the rugse of the vagina are thus contrived princi¬ 
pally to protradl the femen in that vifeus, after the penis 
is withdrawn, and thereby to favour abforption ; Spe¬ 
cially as the qualities of the femen coincide wonderfully 
with thefe intentions. 
The lemen, as it is fecreted from the blood of the teftes, 
is very different from that heterogeneous mixture which 
is expelled by the urethra in coition 5 though, by the 
alteration, its fecundating quality is not improved. When 
it is conveyed into the vcficles, it is of a thin confidence, 
of a pale yellowiffi colour, and little in quantity. In 
thefe veficles it is fqmewhat infpiffated, and its colour 
heightened ; and, tetter it is mixed with the liquor of the 
proftrate glands, it becomes ftill thicker, and of a more 
wbitifh colour. This confiltence, which the femen ac¬ 
quires in its progrefs, may produce other flight proper¬ 
ties ; but the principal intention of it feems to b.e, to cor- 
refpond more effectually with the abforbent pqvycr of the 
vagina: for thus, by the increafed tenacity of the fernen, 
the remora of its fecundating part mull be protracted in 
the vagina, while at the fame time the abforbents are al¬ 
lowed more time to attach thofe active fubtle parts in¬ 
tended to be carried into the circulating fyitem. We may 
add here, in order farther to confirm the opinion con¬ 
cerning the ufe of the tenacity of the femen, that when 
too little of this mucilage is derived from the glans, or 
when it is of a depraved or thin quality, the whole mix¬ 
ture elcapes the machinery of the vagina too rapidly, and 
hence coition becomes unproductive. This is the feminal 
lerofity, as it is called, which is held to be one of the few 
caufes of fterility in man. And we may 'd farther, 
7 
that when the confent and power of procreation begin to 
fail on the part of the woman, the crenulations of the 
vagina are then always vilibly decayed, whether affeCted 
by the advances ot age, or by imprudently-reiterated ve¬ 
il ery, To aft in concert, then, with thefe unqueltionable 
qualities of the femen, the furface of the vagina, by 
means of its rugae, from their elevation and airangement, 
mult have a very confiderabie effeCt in heightening the 
remora we have delcribed. No doubt, if nature only had 
in view the prevention of the yegrefs of the femen, we 
might have met with a much Ampler medianilin ; but as 
to this part very different offices, and all of them mate¬ 
rial, were allotted, it has been intricately qualified for 
them all. Thus, upon the whole, we fee an admirable 
difpofition in the femen, and in the furface of the vagi¬ 
na, to facilitate and promote the aCtion of the abforbent 
veffels. 
Though the abforbent fyitem has not been traced with 
the fame minutenefs and fuccefs which have followed the 
inveftigation of the fanguiferous fyitem, it is however 
known to be very general, and very powerful, and it is 
remarkably fo in the cavity of the pelvis. How, other- 
wife, is that eft'ufion which is conilantly going on, in or¬ 
der to lubricate the whole genital fyitem in the female, 
and to prevent the coalefcence or concretion of its fides, 
refumed ? In thofe unfortunate females, whofe menfes 
have taken place, but in whom likewife the expullion of 
them has been prevented by the unruptured hymen, or 
by unnatural membranes blocking up the paflage, much 
oi the blood has always been relorbed ; and in thole whofe 
diieafe has exilted long, and where the thick parts of the 
biood have begun to be broken down, the colluvies has 
been reforbed, and a train of lymptoms induced, not to 
be accounted for by the mere turgidity which this ob- 
ItruCtion occafioned. The infection and progrefs of iy- 
philis, or confirmed lues, not only eltablilh the certainty 
of a very rapid and powerful abforption in the vagina, 
but alio exhibit the power and influence of the irregu¬ 
larities of its furface. It is l'urely very evident, that the 
chief application of the venereal virus, whether in go¬ 
norrhoea or f'yphilis, but efpecially in gonorrhoea, mult 
be near the farther extremity of the vagina, though there 
can be no doubt but the ulcerated glans may often affeCl 
the exterior- parts by its introduction ; but in a confirmed 
lues, the fundus of the vagina is rarely the feat of ulcer, 
and it is never affected in gonorrhoea. Here, the furface 
of the vagina being moftly lmooth, the poiion runs down¬ 
wards, till, falling upon the rugse, it is there intercepted 
and retarded. Here then the poifon is multiplied, and 
leifurely applied to the mouths of the lymphatics, through 
which it is carried into the blood ; where, affimilating 
together, it contaminates the whole mafs.. Though the 
progrefs of the fyphilitic poifon is not always thus regu¬ 
lar, the variations do not affeCt this opinion. When the 
lymphatics,, and their glands, are vigorous and eafily per¬ 
meable 5 when the application of .the venereal virus is 
within the nymphse; and when it is fufficiently aCtive, 
the firlt fyltenis of difeafe arife from general contamina¬ 
tion ; and were this poifon always very mild, and taken 
up by the abforbents within the nymphse, there is no 
doubt but the whole mafs would almoit always he difeafed, 
without much chance of ulcer or preceding bubo. But 
there aye many circumftances which tend to retard the 
fpeedy abforption of fyphilitic virus, even when it is ex¬ 
tremely aCtive ; and, among thefe, the inflammation which 
in general it mult induce, is not perhaps the lealt confi¬ 
derabie; but thefe cannot affeCt the ablorption of the le- 
minal fluid of the male. The fyphilitic virus too, may, 
from the laxity and lubricity of the vagina, (a-circum- 
itance very general in immodelt women,) not only elcape 
abforption, but may be carried outwards, to exercife its 
energy on the external parts. And it is from thefe rea- 
fons partly, that immodelt women are fo little diipoled to 
conception, and that modelt women, when fubje&ed to 
venereal infection, generally experience the more latent 
and 
