[72] "Analysis of the Sexual Impulse," in vol. iii of these _Studies_.
[73] "The accomplishment of no other function," Hyrtl remarks, "is so
intimately connected with the mind and yet so independent of it."
[74] The process is still, however, but imperfectly understood; see Art.
"Fécondation," by Ed. Retterer, in Richet's _Dictionnaire de Physiologie_,
vol. vi, 1905.
[75] Thus a male foetus showing reptilian characters in sexual ducts was
exhibited by Shattock at the Pathological Society of London, February 19,
1895.
[76] J. Kohlbrugge, "Die Umgestaltung des Uterus der Affen nach den
Geburt," _Zeitschrift für Morphologie_, bd. iv, p. 1, 1901.
[77] There are, however, no special nerve endings (Krause corpuscles), as
was formerly supposed. The nerve endings in the genital region are the
same as elsewhere. The difference lies in the abundance of superposed
arboreal ramifications. See, e.g., Ed. Retterer, Art. "Ejaculation,"
Richet's _Dictionnaire de Physiologie_, vol. v.
[78] Hyrtl, _Op. cit._, vol. ii, p. 39.
[79] Sensations of pleasure without those of touch appear to be normal at
the tip of the penis, as pointed out by Scripture, quoted in _Alienist and
Neurologist_, January, 1898.
[80] See the previous volume of these _Studies_, "Sexual Selection in
Man," p. 161.
[81] See, e.g., Ploss and Bartels, _Das Weib_, vol. i, beginning of
chapter VI.
[82] Hyrtl states that the name _labia_ was first used by Haller in the
middle of the eighteenth century in his _Elements of Physiology_, being
adopted by him from the Greek poet Erotion, who gave these structures the
very obvious name cheilea, lips. But this seems to be a mistake, for the
seventeenth century anatomists certainly used the name "labia" for these
parts.
[83] Bergh tentatively suggests, as regards the pubic hair, that its
appearance may be due to the upright walk in man and the human position
during coitus, the hair preventing irritation of the genitals from the
sweat pouring down from the body and protecting the skin from direct
friction in coitus. (In both these suggestions he was, however, long
previously anticipated by Fabricius ab Aquapendente.) The fanciful
suggestion of Louis Robinson that the pubic hair has developed in order to
enable the human infant to cling securely to his mother is very poorly
supported by facts, and has not met with acceptance. It may be mentioned
that (as stated by Ploss and Bartels) the women of the Bismarck
Archipelago, whose pubic hair is very abundant, use it as a kind of
handkerchief on which to clean their hands.
[84] Routh and Heywood Smith have noted that the pubic hair tends to lose
its curliness and become straight in women who masturbate. (_British
Gynæcological Journal_, February, 1887, p. 505.)
[85] Schurig, _Muliebria_, p. 75. Plazzon in 1621 said that in Italian it
had a popular name, _il besneegio_.
[86] Schurig brought together in his _Gynæcologia_ (pp. 2-4) various early
opinions concerning the clitoris as the seat of voluptuous feeling.
[87] Hyrtl, _Op. cit._, vol. ii, p. 193.
[88] Adler, _Die Mangelhafte Geschlechtsempfindung des Weibes_, 1904, pp.
117-119.
[89] The voluptuous sensations caused by sexual contacts producing
movements of the womb are probably normal and usual. They may even occur
under circumstances unconnected with sexual emotion, and Mundé
(_International Journal of Surgery_, March, 1893) mentions incidentally
that in one case while titillating the cervix with a sound the woman very
plainly showed voluptuous manifestations.
[90] Henle stated that fine hairs are frequently visible on the nymphæ;
Stieda (_Zeitschrift für Morphologie_, 1902, p. 458) remarks that he has
never been able to see them with the naked eye.
[91] R.L. Dickinson, "Hypertrophies of the Labia Minora and Their
Significance," _American Gynæcologist_, September, 1902. It is perhaps
noteworthy that Bergh found that in 302 cases in which the nymphæ were of
unequal length, in all but 24 the left was longer.
[92] It may be remarked that Bergh believes that the nymphæ, and indeed
the external genitals generally, are congenitally more strongly developed
in libidinous persons, and at the same time in brunettes, while in public
prostitutes this is not usually the case, which confirms the belief that
exalted sexual sensibility does not usually lead to prostitution. He adds
that prostitution, unless carried on for many years, has little effect on
the shape of the external genitals.
[93] Schurig (_Muliebria_, 1729, Section II, cap. II) gives numerous
quotations on this point; thus De Graaf wrote in his book on the sexual
organs of women: "Tales protuberantiæ nymphæ appellantur ea propter quod
aquis e vesica prosilientibus proxime adstare reperiantur, quandoquidem
inter illas, tanquam duos parietes, urina magno impetu cum sibilo sæpe et
absque labiorum irrigatione erumpit, vel quod sint castitatis præsides,
aut sponsam primo intromittant."
[94] Havelock Ellis, "The Bladder as a Dynamometer," _American Journal of
Dermatology_, May, 1902. If a woman who has never been pregnant, standing
in the erect position before commencing the act of urination presses apart
the labia minora with index and middle fingers the stream will be
projected forward so as to fall usually at a considerable distance in
front of a vertical line from the meatus; if when the act is half
completed the fingers are removed, the labia close together and the
stream, though maintained at a constant pressure, at once changes its
character and direction.
[95] In poetry this term was employed by Plautus, _Pseudolus_, Act IV, Sc.
7. The Greek aidoion sometimes meant vagina and sometimes the external
sexual parts; kolpos was used for the vagina alone.
[96] It is curious, however, that the European physicians of the
seventeenth and even eighteenth centuries were doubtful of its value as a
sign of virginity and considered it often absent.
[97] For a summary of the beliefs and practices of various peoples with
regard to the hymen and virginity see Ploss and Bartels, _Das Weib_, vol.
i, Chapter XVI.