obscenity, its inutility, and its inconveniences. Its obscenity; for
what could be more infamous, more contrary to public decency and to the
reverence due to an oath than the impurity of the proof, both in its
preparation and execution? Its inutility; for what could be less certain
and more defective? Can it be, for one moment, imagined that a
conjunction ordered by judges between two persons embittered by a
law-suit, agitated with hate and fury against each other, can operate in
them? Experience has shown that, of ten men the most vigorous and
powerful, hardly one was found that came out of this shameful combat
with success; it is equally certain that he who had unjustly suffered
dissolution of his marriage, for not having given a proof of his
capacity in the infamous Congress, had given real and authentic
evidences of it in a subsequent marriage. This degrading mode of proof,
in short, far from discovering the truth, was but the cause and
foundation for impotence and falsehood. Its inconveniences; these
are--the declared nullity of a legitimate marriage--the dishonour cast
upon the husband, and the unjust damages, oftentimes exorbitant, which
he is condemned to pay--two marriages contracted upon the dissolution of
the first--both of which, according to purity and strictness, are
equally unlawful--the error or the malice discovered, _ex post facto_,
and, nevertheless, by the authority of the law, became irreparable.
It was in the power of the magistrate, upon a complaint of impotency
being alleged by a wife against her husband, to order examiners to make
an inspection of the husband's parts of generation, and upon their
report to decide whether there was just cause for a divorce; and this
without proceeding to order the congress. The following are a few cases
of this description, and are extracted from the reports and judgments of
the Officialty at Paris in cases of impotency.
Case I. Jean de But, master fringe maker, was, in 1675, charged with
impotency by Genevieve Helena Marcault, his wife; he being inspected by
Renauolot, a physician, and Le Bel, a surgeon, by order of the official;
they declared that, after a due and thorough examination of all the
members and parts of the said De But, as well genital, as others which
might throw a light upon the case and likewise his condition of body,
his age, the just conformation and proportion of his limbs, but
especially his penis, which was found to be of as proper a thickness,
length and colour as could be wished: and likewise his testicles, which
exhibited no perceptible viciousness or malformation, they are of
opinion that from all these outward marks, which are the only ones they
consider themselves justified in judging from, the said De But is
capacitated to perform the matrimonial act. Signed by them at Paris,
July 18, 1675, and attested by the Sieur de Combes. And on August 23,
1675, by the sentence of M. Benjamin, official, the said Marcault was
non-suited and ordered to return to her husband and cohabit with him.
Case II. Inspection having been ordered by the official of Paris of the
body of Joseph Le Page, who is taxed with impotency by Nicola de Loris,
his wife, the said inspection was made by Deuxivoi and De Farci,
physicians, and Paris and Du Fertre, surgeons; their report is as
follows:--
"We have found the exterior of his person to be like that of
other men's, the penis of a good conformation and naturally
situated, with the nut or glans bare, its adjoining parts
fringed with soft, fine hair, the scrotum of an
unexceptional thickness and extent, and in it vessels of
good conformation and size, but terminating unequally; on
the right side, they end in a small, flabby substance
instead of a true testicle; and on the left side we observed
a testicle fixed to the extremity of one of the vessels, as
usual, invested in its tunicle, which left testicle we do
not find to be at all flabby, but of a middling size: upon
the whole, we are of opinion that the said Le Page is
capable of the conjugal act but in a feeble manner. Signed
and dated March 5, 1684. By the sentence of M. Cheron, the
official, the said De Loris's petition is rejected, and she
is enjoined to return to her husband."
Case IV. Peter Damour being accused of impotency by his wife Louisa
Tillot an inspection was ordered to be made by Rainset and Afforti,
physicians, and Franchet and Colignon, surgeons. They report as
follows:--"We have proceeded to inspect Peter Damour, master saddler at
Paris, and having attententively examined his parts of generation, we
have found them well constituted and in good condition as to their size,
conformation and situation for the conjugal act; according, however to
the statement of the said Damour himself, the erection is imperfect, the
penis not being sufficiently rigid for perforating the vagina; admitting
this, however, to be the case, we are of opinion that the imperfection
may be remedied, repaired, and rectified, in time, by proper remedies.
Signed January 16, 1703." In consequence the official, M. Vivant, refused
Villot's demand, and ordered her to go home to her husband and cohabit
with him as her lawful spouse.
Case V. In the suit of Demoiselle Maris Louise Buchères accusing of
impotence Antoine de Bret, an inspection was ordered and performed by
Venage and Lita, physicians, Lombard and Delon, surgeons. They reported
as follows: "We find the string of the foreskin shorter than it should
be for giving the nut free scope to extend itself when turgid:--that the
body of the left testicle is very diminutive and decayed, its tunicle
separated, the spermatic vessels very much disordered by crooked swollen
veins--that the right testicle is not of a due thickness, though thicker
than the other: that it is somewhat withered and the spermatic vessels
disordered by crooked swollen veins. On all which accounts we do not
think that the natural parts of the said Sieur de Bret have all the
disposition requisite for the well performing the functions they were
designed for; yet we cannot say that he is impotent until we have
inspected the wife. Paris July 11, 1703, Signed." On the 22d of July,
1703, the wife was inspected by the said physicians and surgeons and by
two matrons; the result of which was that they observed no visciousness
of conformation in her womb: the valvula were circular and the carunclæ
myrtiformes, placed in the neck of the vagina, were soft, supple,
flexible, entire, and did not seem to have suffered any violence or
displacing, and the cavity of the womb-pipe was free and without any
obstacle. Therefore they are of opinion that she is not capable of the
conjugal act, and that there has been no intromission, consequently that
she is a virgin, and that if the marriage had not been consummated, it
is her husband's fault, because of his great debility and defective
conformation of his parts of generation. Another inspection of the same
parties was ordered Aug. 1, 1703. Bourges and Thuillier being the
physicians, and Tranchet and Meri the surgeons, who declared that after
due and careful examination they had found no defect which could hinder
generation. Their report is dated Paris, Aug. 13, 1703. M. Chapelier
ordered, in consequence, both parties,--viz., the Sieur De Bret and the
said Buchères to acknowledge each other for man and wife.
Case VI. On the 2nd April, 1653, the Chevalier René de Cordovan, Marquis
de Langey, aged 25 years, married Maria de Saint Simon de Courtomer
between 13 and 14 years of age. The parties lived very happily for the
first four years, that is to say, up to 1657, when the lady accused her
husband of impotency. The complaint was heard before the _Lieutenant
Civil_ of the _Chatelet_, who appointed a jury to examine the parties.
The examination was made, and the report declared that both parties were
duly and fully qualified for performing the conjugal act. In order to
invalidate this report the lady affirmed that if she was not a virgin it
was in consequence of the brutal efforts of one whose impotency rendered
him callous as to the means he employed to satisfy himself. The
Chevalier de Langey, much incensed at this imputation, demanded the
_Congress_; the judge granted the petition, the wife appealed from the
sentence, but it was confirmed by the superior courts.
For carrying the sentence into effect, the house of a person named
Turpin, who kept baths, was chosen. Four physicians, five surgeons and
five matrons were present. It is impossible to enter into the details of
this disgusting prequisition; they are given in full detail in the
_procès verbal_. Suffice it to say that the event being unfavourable to
the chevalier, his marriage was declared void by a decree of the 8th of
February, 1659.
By this decree the chevalier was not only condemned to pay back the
dowry which he had had with his wife, but was prohibited from
contracting another marriage--the lady, on the contrary, was allowed to
enter into any other engagement she might think fit, as being considered
entirely freed from her former bonds.
The next day after this decree the chevalier made his protest against it
before two notaries, declaring that he did not acknowledge himself to be
impotent, and that he would, in defiance of the prohibition imposed upon
him, enter into wedlock again whenever he pleased.
The lady St. Simon contracted a marriage with Peter de Caumont, Marquis
de Boèsle, and from this marriage were born three daughters. At the same
time the Chevalier de Langley married Diana de Montault de Navaille, and
their marriage was followed by the birth of seven children.
In 1670 the Marchioness de Boèsle, the ci-devant Countess de Langey,
died.
It was in consequence of the ulterior proceedings in the law courts
respecting the real paternity of the children of the marchioness that
the government availed itself of the opportunity of abolishing, as we
have seen, the useless and obscene ordeal of the congress.
We shall conclude the present Essay by transcribing Dr. Willick's
judicious observations upon the sexual intercourse.
_Of the_ SEXUAL INTERCOURSE _in particular; its physical
consequences with respect to the Constitution of the
Individual; under what circumstances it may be either
conducive or detrimental to Health._
A subject of such extensive importance, both to our
physical and moral welfare, as the consequences resulting
from either a too limited or extravagant intercourse between
the sexes deserves the strictest enquiry, and the most
serious attention of the philosopher.
The inclination to this intercourse, and the evacuation
connected with it, are no less inherent in human nature than
other bodily functions. Yet, as the semen is the most subtle
and spirituous part of the human frame, and as it
contributes to the support of the nerves, this evacuation is
by no means absolutely necessary; and it is besides attended
with circumstances not common to any other. The emission of
semen enfeebles the body more than the loss of twenty times
the same quantity of blood; more than violent cathartics,
emetics, &c.; hence excesses of this nature produce a
debilitating effect on the whole nervous system, on both
body and mind.
It is founded on the observations of the ablest
physiologists, that the greatest part of this refined fluid
is re-absorbed and mixed with the blood, of which it
constitutes the most rarified and volatile part; and that it
imparts to the body singular sprightliness, vivacity, and
vigour. These beneficial effects cannot be expected if the
semen be wantonly and improvidently wasted. Besides the
emission of it is accompanied with a peculiar species of
tension and convulsion of the whole frame, which is always
succeeded by relaxation. For the same reason, even
libidinous thoughts, without any loss of semen, are
debilitating, though in a less degree, by occasioning a
propulsion of blood to the genitals.
If this evacuation, however, took place only in a state of
superfluity, and within proper bounds, it is not detrimental
to health. Nature, indeed, spontaneously effects it in the
most healthy individuals during sleep; and as long as we
observe no difference in bodily and mental energy after
such losses, there is no danger to be apprehended from them.
It is well established and attested by the experience of
eminent physicians, that certain indispositions, especially
those of hypochondriasis and complete melancholy and
incurable by any other means, have been happily removed in
persons of both sexes, by exchanging a single state for
wedlock.
There are a variety of circumstances by which the physical
propriety of the sexual intercourse is in general to be
determined. It is conductive to the well being of the
individual, if the laws of nature and society (not an
extravagant or disordered imagination) induce man to satisfy
this inclination, especially under the following conditions:
1. In young persons, that is, adults, or those of a middle
age; as from the flexibility of their vessels, the strength
of their muscles, and the abundance of their vital spirits,
they can more easily sustain the loss thence occasioned.
2. In robust persons, who lose no more than is speedily
replaced.
3. In sprightly individuals, and such as are particularly
addicted to pleasure; for the stronger the natural and legal
desire, the less hurtful is its gratification.
4. In married persons who are accustomed to it; for nature
pursues a different path, according as she is habituated to
the reabsorption or the evacuation of this fluid.
5. With a beloved object; as the power animating the nerves
and muscular fibres is in proportion to the pleasure
received.
6. After a sound sleep, because then the body is more
energetic; it is provided with a new stock of vital spirit,
and the fluids are duly prepared;--hence the early morning
appears to be designed by nature for the exercise of this
function; as the body is then most vigorous, and being
unemployed in any other pursuit, its natural propensity to
this is the greater; besides, at this time a few hours sleep
will, in a considerable degree restore the expended powers.
7. With an empty stomach; for the office of digestion, so
material to the attainment of bodily vigour, is then
uninterrupted. Lastly.
8. In the vernal months; as nature at this season in
particular, incites all the lower animals to sexual
intercourse, as we are then most energetic and sprightly;
and as the spring is not only the safest, but likewise the
most proper time with respect to the consequences resulting
from that intercourse. It is well ascertained by experience
that children begotten in spring are of more solid fibres,
and consequently more vigorous and robust, than those
generated in the heat of summer or cold of winter.
It may be collected from the following circumstances,
whether or not the gratification of the sexual intercourse
has been conducive to the well-being of the body; namely, if
it be not succeeded by a peculiar lassitude; if the body do
not feel heavy, and the mind averse to reflection, these are
favourable symptoms, indicating that the various powers have
sustained no essential loss, and that superfluous matter
only has been evacuated.
Farther, the healthy appearance of the urine in this case,
as well as cheerfulness and vivacity of mind, also prove a
proper action of the fluids, and sufficiently evince an
unimpaired state of the animal functions, a due
perspiration, and a free circulation of the blood.
There are times, however, in which the gratification is the
more pernicious to health, when it has been immoderate, and
without the impulse of nature, but particularly in the
following situations.
1. In all debilitated persons; as they do not possess
sufficient vital spirits, and their strength after this
venerating emission is consequently much exhausted. Their
digestion necessarily suffers, perspiration is checked, and
the body becomes languid and heavy.
2. In the aged; whose vital heat is diminished, whose frame
is enfeebled by the most moderate enjoyment, and whose
vigour, already reduced, suffers a still greater diminution
from every loss that is accompanied with a violent
convulsion of the whole body.
3. In persons not arrived at the age of maturity; by an easy
intercourse with the other sex, they become enervated and
emaciated, and inevitably shorten their lives.
4. In dry, choleric and thin persons; these, even at a
mature age, should seldom indulge in this passion, as their
bodies are already in want of moisture and pliability, both
of which are much diminished by the sexual intercourse,
while the bile is violently agitated, to the great injury of
the whole animal frame. Lean persons generally are of a hot
temperament; and the more heat there is in the body the
greater will be the subsequent dryness. Hence, likewise, to
persons in a state of intoxication, this intercourse is
extremely pernicious; because in such a state the increased
circulation of the blood towards the head may be attended
with dangerous consequences, such as bursting of
blood-vessels, apoplexy, etc. The plethoric are particularly
exposed to these dangers.
5. Immediately after meals; as the powers requisite to the
digestion of food are thus diverted, consequently the
aliment remains too long unassimilated, and becomes
burdensome to the stomach.
6. After violent exercise; in which case it is still more
hurtful than in the preceding, where muscular strength was
not consumed, but only required to the aid of another
function. After bodily fatigue, on the contrary, the
necessary energy is in a manner exhausted, so that every
additional exertion of the body must be peculiarly
injurious.
7. In the best of summer it is less to be indulged in than
in spring and autumn; because the process of concoction and
assimilation is effected less vigorously in summer than in
the other seasons, and consequently the losses sustained are
not so easily recovered. For a similar reason the sexual
commerce is more debilitating, and the capacity for it
sooner extinguished in hot than in temperate climates. The
same remark is applicable to very warm temperature combined
with moisture, which is extremely apt to debilitate the
solid part. Hence hatters, dyers, bakers, brewers, and all
those exposed to steam, generally have relaxed fibres.
It is an unfavourable symptom if the rest after this
intercourse be uneasy, which plainly indicates that more has
been lost than could be repaired by sleep; but if, at the
same time, it be productive of relaxation, so as to affect
the insensible perspiration, it is a still stronger proof
that it has been detrimental to the constitution.[72]
ESSAY III.
APHRODISIACS, OR, EROTIC STIMULI, AND
THEIR OPPOSITES, AS KNOWN TO, AND USED BY,
THE ANCIENTS AND MODERNS.
When it is considered how strongly the sexual desire is implanted in
man, and how much his self-love is interested in preserving or in
recovering the power of gratifying it, his endeavours to infuse fresh
vigour into his organs when they are temporarily exhausted by
over-indulgence, or debilitated by age cannot appear surprising.
This remark particularly applied to natives of southern and eastern
climes, with whom the erotic ardour makes itself more intensely felt;
since it is there that man's imagination, as burning as the sky beneath
which he first drew breath, re-awakens desires his organs may have long
lost the power of satisfying, and consequently it is there more
especially that, notwithstanding the continual disappointment of his
hopes, he still pertinaciously persists in searching for means whereby
to stimulate his appetite for sexual delights. Accordingly it will be
found that in the remotest ages, even the vegetable, animal, and
mineral kingdoms have been ransacked for the purpose of discovering
remedies capable of strengthening the genital apparatus, and exciting it
to action.
But however eager men might be in the above enquiry, their helpmates
were equally desirous of finding a means whereby they might escape the
reproach of barrenness,--a reproach than which none was more dreaded by
eastern women. Such means was at last discovered, or supposed to be so,
in the mandrake,[73] a plant which thenceforth became, as the following
quotation proves, of inestimable value in female eyes.
"And Reuben went in the days of wheat harvest, and found
mandrakes in the field, and brought them unto his mother,
Leah. Then Rachel said to Leah, Give me, I pray thee, of thy
son's mandrakes.
"And she said unto her, Is it a small matter that thou hast
taken my husband? and wouldest thou take away my son's
mandrakes also? And Rachel said, Therefore he shall lie with
thee to-night for thy son's mandrakes.
"And Jacob came out of the field in the evening, and Leah
went out to meet him, and said, Thou must come in unto me,
for surely I have hired thee with my son's mandrakes. And he
lay with her that night.
"And God harkened unto Leah, and she conceived and bare
Jacob the fifth son."[74]
There is only one other passage in the Bible in which this plant is
alluded to, and that is in Solomon's song:
"The mandrakes give a smell, and at our gates are all manner of
pleasant fruits, new and old, which I have laid up for thee, O my
beloved."[75]
All that can be gathered from the former of the above quotations is that
these plants were found in the fields during the wheat harvests and
that, either for their rarity, flavour, or, more probably, for their
supposed quality of removing barrenness in women, as well as for the
stimulating powers attributed to them, were greatly valued by the female
sex. In the quotation from Solomon's Song, the Hebrew word _Dudaim_
expresses some fruit or flowers exhaling a sweet and agreeable odour,
and which were in great request among the male sex.[76]
According to Calmet, the word _Dudaim_ may be properly deduced from
_Dudim_ (pleasures of love); and the translators of the Septuagint and
the Vulgate render it by words equivalent to the English one--mandrake.
The word _Dudaim_ is rendered in our authorized version by the word
_mandrake_--a translation sanctioned by the Septuagint, which, in this
place, translates _Dudaim_ by [Greek: mêla mandragorôn],
_mandrake_--apples, and in Solomon's Song by [Greek: oi mandraorai]
(_mandrakes_). With this, Onkelos[77] and the Syrian version agree; and
this concurrence of authorities, with the fact that the mandrake
(_atropa mandragora_) combines in itself all the circumstances and
traditions required for the Dudaim, has given to the current
interpretation, its present prevalence.
Pythagoras was the first (followed by Plutarch) who gave to this plant
the name of [Greek: anthrôpomorphos] (man-likeness), an appellation
which became very generally used; but why he gave it is not precisely
known: Calmet, however, suggests as a reason the partial resemblance it
bears to the human form, from the circumstance of its root being parted
from the middle, downwards.
The opinion respecting the peculiar property of the mandrake was not
confined to the Jews, but was also entertained by the Greeks and Romans,
the former of whom called its fruit--love-apples, and bestowed the name
of _Mandragorilis_ upon Venus. Dioscorides knew it by that of [Greek:
Mandragoras], and remarks that the root is supposed to be used in
philters or love-potions;[78] and another writer lauds it as exciting
the amorous propensity, remedying female sterility, facilitating
conception and prolificness, adding the singular fact that female
elephants, after eating its leaves, are seized with so irresistible a
desire for copulation, as to run eagerly, in every direction, in quest
of the male.[79]
Speaking of the plant Eryngium, the elder Pliny says: "The whole variety
of the Eryngium known in our (the Latin) language as the _centum capita_
has some marvellous facts recorded of it. It is said to bear a striking
likeness to the organs of generation of either sex; it is rarely met
with, but if a root resembling the male organ of the human species be
found by a man, it will ensure him woman's love; hence it is that Phaon,
the Lesbian, was so passionately beloved of Sappho."[80] If it be true,
as is asserted by medical writers, that the above root contains an
essential oil of peculiarly stimulating qualities, the fact would
account, not only for Sappho's passion for Phaon, but also for the high
value set upon it by the rival wives of Jacob.
For the same reason as that suggested by Calmet, Columella calls the
mandrake _semihomo_:
"Quamvis _semihominis_ vesano gramine fœta
Mandragoræ pariat flores."[81]
"Let it not vex thee if thy teeming field
The half-man Mandrake's madd'ning seed should yield;"