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  • THE DETERMINATION OF SEX

    THE DETERMINATION OF SEX

    The term “The Determination of Sex” is employed in two general senses in scientific circles.

    The first usage is that of the biologist, and it includes within its scope merely the discovery and understanding of the causes which determine whether the embryo shall develop into a male or into a female. In the discussion of the subject from this standpoint there is but little, if any, attention given to the question of whether the sex of the unborn child may be determined by methods under the control of man. The biologist simply studies the causes which seem to lead to the production of an individual of one or the other sex, without regard to whether these causes, when discovered, may or may not be amendable to human control.

    An authority, speaking of this standpoint concerning the question referred to, says: “We may discover the causes of storms or earthquakes, and when our knowledge of them is sufficiently advanced we may be able to predict them as successfully as astronomers predict eclipses, but there is little hope that we shall ever be able to control them. So it may be with sex; a complete understanding of the causes which determine it may not necessarily give us the power of producing one or the other sex at will, or even of predicting the sex in any given case. Whether we shall ever be able to influence the causes of sex-determination cannot as yet be foretold; at present, biologists are engaged in the less practical, but immensely interesting, problem, of discovering what those causes are.”

    The second usage of the term, includes and embraces the idea of the voluntary determination or control of the sex of the future child, by means of certain methods or certain systems of treatment, etc. Of recent years, science has been devoting considerable attention to the question of whether or not man may not be able to produce any particular sex at will, by means of certain systems or methods of procedure. Many theories have been evolved, and many plans and methods have been advocated, often with the expenditure of much energy and enthusiasm on the part of the promulgators and their adherents.

    In this lesson there will be briefly presented to you the general consensus of modern thought on the subject, with a general outline of the favorite methods and systems advocated by the several schools of thought concerned in the investigation.

    Professor Doncaster, the well-known authority on the subject, says: “But little progress has been made in the direction of predicting the sex of any child, and, if possible, even less in artificially influencing the determination of its sex. When the general principles arrived at are borne in mind, it must be confessed that the prospects of our ever attaining this power of control or even of prediction are not very hopeful, but the possibility of it cannot be yet regarded as entirely excluded. The general conclusions arrived at are that sex is determined by a physiological condition of the embryonic cells, that this condition is induced, at least in the absence of disturbing causes, by the presence of a particular sex-chromosome. [A “chromosome” is a portion of the chromatin, or substance characteristic of the nucleus of the cell, this nucleus seemingly controlling the life-processes of the cell.] But there is evidence, which for the present at least cannot be neglected, that certain extraneous conditions acting on the egg or early embryo may perhaps be able to counteract the effect of sex chromosome.

    “Quite generally, then, there are two conceivable methods by which the sex might be artificially influenced in any particular case; firstly, if means could be found of ensuring that any particular fertilized ovum received the required chromosomes; and, secondly, by the discovery of methods which always effect the ovum or embryo in such a way as to produce the desired sex. Many suggestions for applying both methods have been made, some of which have attained considerable notoriety, but hitherto none of them has stood the test of practical experience. In the case of the higher animals, especially of the mammals, in which the embryo develops in the maternal uterus until long after the sex is irrevocably decided, it is obviously difficult to apply methods which might influence the sex after fertilization, even if it were certainly known that such methods were ever really effective.

    “Apart from the few experiments like those of Hertwig on rearing tadpoles at different temperatures, there have been a very few cases in which there is even a suggestion that the sex of the fertilized egg can be modified by environment, and the belief that this is possible has been entirely abandoned by many of the leading investigators of the subject. It is probable, therefore, that if it will ever be possible to predict or determine artificially the sex of a particular child, the means will have to be sought in some method of influencing the output of germ-cells in such a way that one kind is produced rather than the other. It is in this way that Heape and others interpret the results of their investigations; they find that certain conditions affect the sex-ratio of cells, and they explain the result by assuming that under some circumstances male-determining ova are produced in excess, and under other circumstances, female-determining.”

    Professor Rumley Dawson holds to the opinion that the male-determining and female-determining ova are discharged alternately from the ovaries. In woman one ovum is usually discharged each month, and it is maintained that on one month the ovum is male-determining, and in the next, female-determining. It is obvious that exceptions must occur, for boy and girl twins are quite common, but if the cases which support the hypothesis are taken by themselves, and the exceptions explained away, it is possible to make out a strong case in favor of this theory. Some authorities hold that the right ovary produces male-determining ova, and the left ovary female-determining, and that the two ovaries discharge an ovum alternately, but an impartial examination of the evidence for this belief shows that it rests on very slender foundations. Experiments on the lower animals have shown that after the complete removal of one ovary the female may produce young of both sexes. Women, also, have produced children of a particular sex after the corresponding ovary has been removed, and it is hardly possible to believe that the removal in all these cases was incomplete. On the whole it must be concluded that the theory is insufficiently supported by the evidence.

    Another widely promulgated and vigorously supported theory is that which holds that the sex of the future child may be determined by specific nutrition of the mother before conception, and in some cases after conception. Schenk’s theory, advanced about 1900, attracted much attention at the time. He based his method on the observation that a number of women whose children were all girls all excreted sugar in their urine, such as happens in the case of persons affected with diabetes. From this he suspected that the physiological condition which leads to the excretion of sugar was inimical to the development of male-determining ova, and that males could be produced by its prevention. He therefore recommended that those who desire a male child should undergo treatment similar to that prescribed for diabetes for two or three months before conception, and held that a boy would be produced by these methods. Although this method has had considerable vogue, it cannot be held to have been established on a scientific basis.

    Doncaster says “The general conclusion with regard to man must therefore be that if sex is determined solely by the spermatozoon there is no hope either of influencing or predicting it in special cases. On the other hand, there is considerable evidence that the ovum has some share in the effect, and if this is so, before any practical results are reached it will be necessary to discover which of two conceivable causes of sex-determination is the true one. It is possible that there are two kinds of ova, as well as two kinds of spermatozoa, and that there is a selective fertilization of such a kind that one kind of spermatozoon only fertilizes one kind of ovum, the second kind of spermatozoon the second kind of ovum. If this should prove to be the case, it is possible that means might be found of influencing or predicting that kind of ovum which is discharged under any set of conditions. Secondly, it is possible that the ova are potentially all alike, but that their physiological condition may under some circumstances be so altered that the sex is determined independently of the spermatozoon. * * * It is hardly possible to avoid the conclusion that the sex of the offspring may be influenced, at least under certain circumstances, by the mother. The search for means of influencing the sex of the offspring through the mother is not of necessity doomed to failure. No results of a really positive kind have been obtained hitherto, and some of the facts point so clearly to sex-determination by the male germ-cell alone in man and other animals that many investigators have concluded that the quest is hopeless; but until an adequate explanation has been given of certain phenomena discovered in the investigation of the subject, it seems more reasonable to maintain an open mind, and to regard the control of sex in man as an achievement not entirely impossible of realization.”

    Another writer on the subject has said: “Every individual among the higher animals, whether male or female, begins as an impregnated ovum in the mother’s body. Any such ovum contains elements of constitution from both of its parents. In the earliest existence of this impregnated ovum, there is a season of sexual indifference, or indecision, in which the embryo is both male and female, having the characteristic rudiments of each sex, only indifferently manifested. In this stage, the embryo is susceptible of being influenced by external conditions to develop more strongly in the one or the other direction and thus become distinctly and permanently male or female. It is evident that this is the season in the development of the individual in which influencing conditions and causes must operate in deciding its sex, although it is possible in some of the lower animals to alter the tendency of sex in the embryo from one sex to the other, even after it has been quite definitely determined. It is well established, in fact, that differences do not come from a difference in the ova themselves; that is, there is not one kind of ova from the female which becomes female, while other ova become male, for it is possible to alter the tendency toward the one sex or the other after the ovum has been fertilized and the embryo has begun its career of development. This possible change in sex tendency in the embryo also proves that sex is not decided by a difference in the spermatozoa; that is some of the sperm cells from the father are not male, while others are female, in their constitution.

    “It is incorrect to suppose, as has been held by some theorists, that one testicle give rise to male spermatozoa and the other to female spermatozoa, for both male and female offspring have been produced from the same male parent after one testicle or the other has been removed. The same is true in cases in which either ovary has been removed from the mother; that is, male and female offspring are produced from mothers in whom either ovary has been removed. In like manner, the sex of offspring is shown not to be materially affected by the comparative vigor of the parents; thus, a stronger father than mother does not necessarily produce one sex to the exclusion of the other. These negative decisions are important because they simplify the solution of the problem of sex-determination, by excluding, more or less fully, various causes which have been supposed to operate quite forcibly in deciding the sex of offspring. Some of the more positive agencies that enter into the determination of sex are found (1) in the influence of nutrition upon the embryo during its indifferent stage of sexual development, and (2) in the constitution and general condition of the mother before and during the early stages of pregnancy. These two factors appear to enter more fully than any others in the decision of the sex in offspring, and deserve the greatest consideration. The influence of food in supplying the embryo with nourishment for its development is, perhaps, the most potent of these determining causes.”

    Investigators along the line of theory indicated in the above last quotation, i. e., the theory of sex determination by means of nourishment of the mother and embryo, have presented a volume of reports which demand respectful consideration. The general report may be said to be the discovery that abundant nourishment during the period of sexual neutrality tends to produce females; while lack of abundant nutrition during such period tends to produce males.

    These experiments, of course, have been chiefly performed upon the lower animals. The frog has been a favorite subject of such experiments—the tadpole stage being the one selected, because in that stage there exists a lack of sex, the stage being one of sex neutrality. Professor Yung’s celebrated experiments will illustrate this class of experiments. Here were chosen 300 tadpoles, which when left to themselves manifested a ratio of 57 prospective females to 43 prospective males. These were divided into three classes of 100 tadpoles each. Each class was then fed upon one of several kinds of nutritious diet in order to ascertain the change in sex-tendency due to such food. The first set, with an original ratio of femaleness of 54 to 46, were fed abundantly on beef, and the ratio of femaleness was changed to 78 to 22. The second class, with a ratio of femaleness of 61 to 39, were fed on fish (specially nourishing to frogs), and the ratio changed to 81 to 19. The third class, with a ratio of 56 to 44, were fed upon a still more nutritious diet (i. e., that of frogs’ flesh), and the ratio was raised to 92 to 8. In short, the experiments showed that the increase of nourishment in diet changed every two out of three male-tendency tadpoles into females. The experiment was held to prove that a rich diet, affording nourishment, during the period of sexual neutrality in the embryo, tended to develop femaleness.

    The advocates of this theory also point to the instance of the bees. With the bees, the larva of ordinary worker-bees are fed ordinary food, and do not develop sex; while the larva which is intended to produce the queen-bee is fed specially nutritious “royal food,” and consequently develops larger size and full female sex powers. If the queen is killed, or dies, the hive of bees proceeds to produce a new queen by means of feeding a selected larva with the “royal food” and thus developing full femaleness in it. It is said by some authorities that in cases in which some other of the larva accidently receive, through mistake, crumbs of the “royal food,” they, too, grow to an extraordinary size, and develop fertility. This fact is held by the advocates of the nutrition theory to go toward establishing the fact that abundant nourishment of the embryo, during the neutral stage, tends to produce femaleness in it. They also claim that caterpillars which are very poorly nourished before entering into the chrysalis stage usually develop into male butterflies, while those highly nourished in the said stage tend to become females. Experiments on sheep have shown that when the ewes are particularly well nourished the offspring will show a large proportion of females.

    A writer, favoring the theory in question, says: “In general, it is reasonable to infer that the higher sexual organization which constitutes the female is to be attained in the greatest number of cases by embryos which have superior vital conditions during the formative period. Among human beings, some facts of general observation become significant in the light of the foregoing inferences. After epidemics, after wars, after seasons of privation and distress, the tendency is toward a majority of male births. On the other hand, abundant crops, low prices, peace, contentment and prosperity tend to increase the number of females born. Mothers in prosperous families usually have more girls; mothers in families of distress have more boys. Large, well-fed, fully developed, healthy women, who are of contented and passive disposition, generally become mothers of families abounding in girls; while mothers who are small or spare of flesh, who are poorly fed, restless, unhappy, overworked, exhausted by frequent childbearing, or who are reduced by other causes which waste their vital energies, usually give birth to a greater number of boys. As a general proposition, the facts and inferences tend to establish the truth of the doctrine with women, that, the more favorable the vital conditions of the mother during the period in which the sex of her offspring is being determined, the greater the ratio of females she will bear; the less favorable her vital conditions at such times, the greater will be her tendency to bear males. That many apparent exceptions occur does not disprove the general tendency here maintained. Moreover, it is impossible to know in all cases what were the conditions of the mother’s organism at the time in which her child was in its delicate balance between predominant femaleness and maleness; else many cases which seemingly disprove the proposition would be found to be forcible illustrations of its truth. Still further, it is probable that other causes besides those here mentioned act with greater or less effect in determining the sex of offspring.”

    Based upon this general theory of the relation of nutrition to sex-determination, many methods and systems have been devised by as many authorities, and have been followed and promulgated by as many schools. Without going into the almost endless detail which would be necessitated by a synopsis of these various methods and systems, it may be said that they all consist of plans having for their object the decrease of nutrition of the woman in cases in which male children are desired, and the increase of nutrition in cases in which female children are sought for. This increase or decrease in nutrition is enforced for a reasonable period before the time selected for the conception of the child, and also for a reasonable period after the time of conception. The decrease in nutrition does not consist of “starvation,” but rather of a “training diet” similar to that followed by athletics, and from which dietary all rich foods, sweets, etc., are absent. In fact, the average dietary advocated by the “Eat and Grow Thin” writers would seem to be almost identical with that of the “male offspring” theorists.

    Many persons who have followed the methods and systems based on the nutrition theory above mentioned claim to have been more or less successful in the production of the particular sex desired, but many exceptions to the rule are noted, and some writers on the subject are disposed to regard the reported successes as mere coincidences, and claim that the failures are seldom reported while the successes are widely heralded. The present writer presents the claims of this school to the attention of his readers, but without personally positively endorsing the idea. He is of the opinion that the data obtainable is not as yet sufficient to justify the strong claims made for the theory in some quarters; but, at the same time, he does not hesitate to say that there are many points of interest brought out in the presentation of the theory, and that many thoughtful persons seem to accept the same as reasonably well established and logical.

    Another theory which has been heard of frequently of late years is that in which it is held that the ova are expelled in alternating sex, each month. Thus, if a male ovum is expelled in January, the February ovum will be a female one, according to this theory. Under this theory if the date of conception of a child be ascertained, and the sex of the child noted at its birth, it is a simple matter to count forward from the menstrual period following which the child was conceived, and thus determine whether the ovum of any succeeding period is male or female. It should be noted, however, that the periods are regulated by the lunar months, and not the calendar months. The fact that twins of different sexes are sometimes born would seem to disturb this theory—but not more than any other theory of sex-determination voluntarily produced, for that matter. The several schools explain this apparent discrepancy by the familiar saying that “exceptions prove the rule.”

    Another theory of sex-determination is that which holds that when conception occurs within a few days after the last day of menstruation, the child will be a girl; and that when conception occurs at a later period, the child will be a boy. Methods and systems based upon this theory are also reported as being reasonably successful in producing satisfactory results. But, inasmuch as there appears to be a great difference in individual women in this respect (even according to the claims of this school of sex-determination), it would seem that it would be difficult to proceed with certainty in the matter in most cases. One of the writers advocating this method, says: “Conception within five days after the end of the menstrual period is almost certain to produce a girl child; within five days to ten days, it may be either a boy or a girl; from ten to fifteen days, it is almost sure to be a boy; from eighteen to twenty-five days is the period of probable sterility, in which conception is extremely unlikely to occur.”

    In conclusion, it may be said that Nature undoubtedly has certain rules of sex-determination which govern in these cases; and that it is possible if not indeed probable that these rules may some day be discovered by man, and turned to account; but that it is very doubtful whether the secret has as yet been solved by the investigators. The writer may be pardoned for suggesting that, in his opinion, if the discovery is ever made it will likely be found to be very simple—so simple that we have probably overlooked it because it was in too plain sight to attract our attention. Nature’s methods are usually very simple, when once discovered. She hides her processes from man by making them simple, it would seem.

    PRIVATE Sex Advice to Women By R. B. Armitage, M. D.

    For Young Wives and those who Expect to be Married.

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  • PHYSIOLOGY OF THE FEMALE SEX ORGANISM

    PHYSIOLOGY OF THE FEMALE SEX ORGANISM

    In the preceding lesson you have been shown “just what” each one of the sex organs of the woman is. In the present lesson you will be shown “just what” each of these organs does—what its functions and offices are. The preceding lesson dealt with the anatomy of these organs; the present lesson will deal with the physiology thereof.

    Beginning with the Ovaries, the fundamental and basic sex organs of the woman, you will have explained to you the wonderful processes performed by each of these organs in turn.

    The Ovaries. The Ovaries in the woman are akin to the testicles in the man. Without the Ovaries there would be no ova or eggs, and without the ova there would be possible no reproductive purposes, and therefore no office for the sex organs at all, for reproduction is the fundamental office, function, and purpose of the entire sexual organism.

    In our consideration of the office, purposes, and functions of the Ovaries, however, we must not overlook a certain secondary phase of such functioning. While it is true that the primary purpose of both the testicles of the male, and the Ovaries of the female, is that of providing seed from which the offspring of the individual may be produced, it is likewise true that there exists a secondary purpose which may be called the “individual” purpose as contrasted with the “racial” and primary one.

    This secondary or “individual” purpose of the Ovaries is that of manufacturing certain secretions which are absorbed by the blood of the woman, and which play an important part in her physical and mental well-being and activities. These secretions begin before puberty in the woman, and continue after her menopause; whereas the manufacture of the ova begins only at puberty, and ceases with the menopause, keeping pace with the manifestation of menstruation in its beginning and its ending.

    Nature provides these chemical secretions from the Ovaries for the purpose of giving the woman her characteristic physical form and contour, her form, her breasts, her long hair, her broad pelvis, her soft voice, and other secondary sex characteristics; and also of providing for the normal development of the other sex organs. As a proof of this statement, science shows us that if a woman’s ovaries are completely removed there is usually a consequent atrophy or “drying up” of the Uterus and the Vagina, and often even of the Vulva. Moreover, the presence of this internal secretion manifests in arousing and maintaining in the woman her normal sexual desire, and her normal pleasure in the company of her mate; it being noted that if the ovaries are removed, particularly in early life, the woman is apt to lose all sexual desire and normal womanly feeling toward the other sex. And, finally, these secretions make for general physical and mental health and well-being in the woman, and contribute to her vivacity, energy, and activity in all directions. As writers on the subject have well pointed out, this is the reason that capable surgeons usually try to leave at least a portion of the Ovaries when performing an operation for the removal of those organs on account of diseased condition.

    The Ovum. The Ovum, or human egg, is a small spherical body, measuring from one two-hundred-and-fortieth to one one-hundred-and-twentieth of an inch in diameter. It has a colorless transparent envelope, the latter enclosing the yolk which consists of granules or globules of various sizes embedded in a viscid fluid. In the center of the yolk is found a very small vesicular body consisting of a tenuous transparent membrane, which is known as “the germinal vesicle;” this, in turn, contains a very tiny granular structure, opaque, of yellow color, known as “the germinal spot.”

    When the time is reached in which the ovum or egg is to be discharged, the Graafian follicle becomes enlarged by reason of the accumulation of the fluids in its interior, and exerts such a steady and increasing pressure from within, outward, that the surrounding tissue yields to it, and it finally protrudes from the Ovary, from whence it is then expelled with a gush, owing to the elasticity and reaction of the neighboring tissues.

    Following this rupture there occurs an abundant hemorrhage from the vesicles of the follicle, the cavity being filled with blood, which then coagulates and is retained in the Graafian follicle. The formation and development of the Graafian follicle begins at puberty and continues until the menopause or “change of life” of the woman. Many follicles are produced, but many do not produce ova, and so gradually atrophy. The ripening and discharge of the eggs produce a peculiar condition of congestion of the entire female sexual organism, including the Fallopian Tubes, the Uterus, the Vagina, and even of the Vulva, which results in a condition of Sexual Excitement. Among the lower animals the female will allow the male to approach her for copulation only at this period, this being the time when the egg is ready for fertilization.

    When the female infant is born, her Ovaries contain the germs of about 100,000 ova. The greater portion of these, however, disappear, until at the time of her puberty the number of germs of ova contains only about 30,000 ova. This number is far more than the woman will ever need, and is Nature’s provision against diseased portions of the Ovaries, accidents, etc. Only one ovum ripens and matures each month from puberty until menopause, so that the woman really requires only about 300 to 350 ova on the average. This liberality on the part of Nature, however, does not begin to approach her lavishness in the case of seed of the male, for in his case while only one spermatozoon is required to fertilize an ovum (and in fact only one is permitted to do so), we find that in each normal act of ejaculation of semen by the male over 250,000 spermatozoa are projected.

    The ripening and discharge of the egg from the Ovaries, and the consequent congestion above referred to, accompanied by what is called Menstruation, occurs regularly each lunar month (28 days). What is called Ovulation consists of the monthly maturing and expulsion of the ripe ovum or egg, while Menstruation (as we shall see later on) consists of the monthly discharge of blood and mucus from the inner surface of the Uterus; the two processes occur in connection with each other, yet neither can be considered as the cause of the other.

    Menstruation. It may be well to call your attention at this point to the process known as Menstruation, or “the monthly flow,” or “the courses” of women. Menstruation is the monthly flow of bloody fluid which occurs in all healthy (non-pregnant) women from puberty to the menopause or “change of life.”

    By “Puberty” is meant the age at which a woman begins her period of possible child-bearing experience. In temperate climates the average age of puberty is about fourteen years, while in tropical countries it is often a year or so earlier, and in arctic countries a year or so later. The time, however, depends materially upon the temperament, race, hygiene, and general environment of the individual girl. At this period the girl gradually changes into the young woman. Her figure changes, her bust develops, her hips broaden, and her mental and emotional nature undergoes a change. Also the menstrual flow begins to manifest at this time; at first scanty and irregular, but gradually changing into the characteristic flow each month.

    At the period of puberty, the girl undergoes marked emotional changes. She becomes very “emotional” as a rule, and quite “sensitive.” She becomes filled with strange, unaccountable longings, ideas, and “notions.” She usually manifests a great emotional interest in her girl friends, and often manifests marked jealousy in connection with these friendships. The girl is apt to indulge in day-dreaming at this period, and becomes quite romantic and “flighty.” She devours love stories, and delights in imagining herself as the heroine of similar adventures. The period from the beginning of puberty to that of the attainment of full sexual maturity is known as the period of “adolescence,” and generally extends to about the age of eighteen in the case of girls.

    By the Menopause is meant that period of the woman’s “change of life,” the average time of which is about the age of forty-five years, although this varies greatly in different individuals. As a rule, it is held that the period of the woman’s child-bearing possibility extends over an average period of thirty years. At the Menopause the woman’s reproductive activity declines and finally ends. The Ovaries diminish in size, the Graafian follicles cease to form and develop; the Fallopian Tubes atrophy; and there occur other physical, mental, and emotional changes in the woman. While the age of forty-five is held to be the average age at which the Menopause occurs in women, still it is not at all uncommon to find women who menstruate regularly up to the age of fifty, or fifty-two, or even fifty-five, while a large number of women menstruate regularly at the age of forty-eight.

    Some women undergo little or no physical or emotional disturbance at the time of the Menopause. In such cases their periods become more or less irregular, with extending intervals between periods; the flow becomes more and more scanty; then several periods are skipped altogether; and finally the periods cease entirely. Other women, however, experience more or less physical disturbance during the years of the “change.” They sometimes experience loss of appetite, or a capricious appetite, headaches, loss of weight, or else a sudden taking on of fatty tissue. They often become quite irritable and “notiony,” and often become quarrelsome and pugnacious, and in some cases manifest unreasonable jealousy. But, in the opinion of many of the best authorities, much of this trouble comes from the mental expectancy of them by the woman, resulting from the notion that a woman must have these things happen to her. The power of the mind over the body is now well known, and we have here another instance of its effect. The remedy is obvious.

    Another matter which disturbs the woman at this time, in many cases, is the common belief that after “the change” she will lose all of her sex attractiveness, and her sexual feelings, etc. This is a grave error, for the experience of all observing physicians is that no such results follow this period of the woman’s life. Many women become even more attractive to the other sex after this time, by reason of acquiring a certain maturity and “ripeness” which proves very attractive to many men—often to young men as well as older ones. Moreover, the sexual desires do not cease with the cessation of the reproductive functions. On the contrary, it often happens that such emotions and desires are increased in the woman at, and after, this time of her life. So true is this that this period has been called “The Dangerous Age” for women, and the experience of many a woman of forty-five to fifty will corroborate this statement. The woman at this time should beware of contracting unwise love affairs and entanglements, and of yielding to impulses toward men other than her mate. A word to the wise should be sufficient in this case.

    To return to the main subject of Menstruation, it may be said that the monthly flow, when once established, occurs at intervals of every twenty-eight days, on the average, although in some individual cases it occurs as often as every twenty-one days, while in others it occurs as seldom as once in every six weeks, all without exceeding the bounds of normal functioning. Menstruation ceases temporarily during pregnancy, in normal cases, and often also ceases during the period of lactation or nursing. The menstrual period lasts on an average for four or five days, the flow increasing for the first half of the period, and decreasing during the last half. At the beginning of the period there is often manifested a general congestion of all of the sexual organs of the woman, and often of the breasts as well. There is also usually found a sense of physical discomfort, from which more or less irritable feeling arises. In rare cases there are found severe cramps and pains, and in some cases the woman finds it necessary to call in medical aid, or to go to bed, or both. In such cases a cure is often worked by improving the general health, and by observing common sense hygienic rules.

    Menstruation is caused by a hypertrophy of the mucus membrane of inner surface of the Uterus, which is followed by a shedding of the hypertrophied membrane. This leaves exposed the underlying vessels, which bleed. New mucus membrane is formed after the period. The menstrual flow consists of a thin, bloody fluid, having peculiar odor, in which is combined blood, thin skin, and mucus membrane, and also mucus from the Uterus and the Vagina, the blood being light in consistency and not clotted.

    During the menstrual period the ovum, or egg, is discharged, and enters the Uterus, as we shall see presently.

    The Life-History of the Ovum. The physiology of the remaining sexual organs of the woman may perhaps best be studied by considering the story of the Life-History of the Ovum, or human egg, for the functions of such organs are concerned with such life-history of the egg, and really exist merely to create such a history, or rather, to produce the process which constitutes the basis of such history.

    The ovum, or egg, when discharged from the ovary, is at first surrounded by a few cells which serve as nourishment, but which soon disappear. It enters the Fallopian Tube and begins its journey toward the Uterus, being urged on its way by the constant movement of the lining-cells of the interior of the tube, in the direction of the Uterus. Certain changes in structure occur. Its passage to the Uterus may be interrupted, and the ovum lost and finally cast off. But the ovum that is successful finally arrives at the Uterus where it awaits impregnation or fertilization by the spermatozoon of the male.

    If copulation occurs within a reasonable time after the arrival of the ovum, it is impregnated or fertilized. Fecundation results and conception ensues, the ovum then remaining attached to the walls of the Uterus, and in time develops into the foetus. If, however, the ovum is not impregnated, because of absence of copulation or from other causes, it gradually loses its vitality, and is finally cast off with the several uterine secretions.

    It should be explained here that the “spermatozoon” of the male (the plural of the term is “spermatozoa”) is the male generative “seed.” The sperum, semen, or seminal fluid of the male is filled with hundreds of thousands of spermatozoa. Each spermatozoon is a minute living, moving creature, resembling a microscopic tadpole. It has a head, a rod-like body, and a thin hair-like tail, the latter being kept in constant motion from side to side, by means of which the tiny creature is enabled to travel rapidly from one point to another. The human spermatozoon measures about one six-hundredth of an inch in length. It is composed of protoplasm, the substance of which all living creatures are composed. The spermatozoa are believed to be developed from a parent sperm-cell, by the process of segmentation or subdivision, which process is common to all cell-life. The numerous spermatozoa dwell in a gelatinous substance, which, mingling with the other fluidic secretions of the glands of the male, constitutes the male seminal fluid, sperm, or semen, which is ejaculated by the male during the process of copulation.

    Fecundation (i. e. fertilization, impregnation; the process by which the male reproductive element is brought in contact with the female ovum or egg) is brought about by the blending of the male reproductive element (or spermatozoon) with the female reproductive element (or ovum, or egg). This blending is of course accomplished by the bringing together in mutual contact the two reproductive elements just mentioned. The sexual act which results in this “bringing together” of the two elements is known as “copulation,” or “coition.” In copulation or coition the seminal fluid of the male, containing an enormous number of spermatozoa, is ejaculated from the male intromittent organ into the receptive canal or channel of the female (the Vagina), and in this way finally comes into actual contact with the female ovum or egg which is awaiting it in the Uterus of the female.

    The spermatozoa (in the process of copulation) are deposited in the Vagina of the female, usually at its upper end, but sometimes in the lower portion; and in rare andpeculiar cases even at or about the Vaginal Orifice or outer vaginal opening. In either case they travel up the remaining portion of the Vagina and finally enter the Uterus or womb. The spermatozoa possess wonderful vitality and power of locomotion. There are cases recorded in which the spermatozoa deposited on or about the outer female genitals have managed to travel inward and upward until they have finally reached the Uterus, where conception has resulted. Such cases, of course, are rare, but they exist, well authenticated and accepted by medical science as facts.

    It must not be supposed, however, that the impregnation of the ovum occurs only in the womb proper. Cases are known in which the spermatozoa have traveled along the Fallopian Tubes and impregnated the ovum there; and in very rare cases the spermatozoon seems to have penetrated even to the Ovary itself, and there impregnated the ovum on the surface of the Ovary. Some excellent authorities, in fact, insist that all normal impregnation occurs at the end of the Fallopian Tube—the point of its entrance into the upper part of the womb, rather than in the body of the womb, or at its mouth, as the older authorities taught. But wherever the actual contact of spermatozoon and ovum occurs, the blending of the elements is performed and fertilization, impregnation, or fecundation is accomplished.

    As a result of copulation, then, the spermatozoon (or a number of spermatozoa) comes in contact with the female ovum or egg. Then one or more of them, by means of a furious lashing of the tiny tail, manages to penetrate the outer covering of the ovum, and enters the space between the outer covering and the real body of the egg. Several spermatozoa may effect an entrance into this outer space, but only one is permitted to enter the real body of the egg. [Twins are produced by the impregnation of two ova by two spermatozoa, at the same time. The presence of the two ova at the same time is unusual]. The moment that the real body of the ovum is penetrated by the successful spermatozoon, a tough covering or thick membrane forms around the ovum and thus prevents the entrance of other spermatozoa. The successful spermatozoon then loses its tail, and the remaining head and body become what is known as “the male pronucleus.”

    The authorities are uncertain as to the exact nature of the change which occurs when the ovum is penetrated by the spermatozoon. The outward manifestations of the change and transformation arising from the blending of the male and female elements are of course well known, but the “life process” eludes the power of the microscope. When Nature forms the thick membranous coating over the impregnated ovum, she draws the veil over one of her most important secrets. The first segmentation-nucleus having been formed by the blending and forging together of the male and female pronuclei, the process of segmentation begins.

    Segmentation proceeds as follows: the impregnated egg splits into halves, forming two joined cells; then into quarters, forming four joined cells; then into sixteenths, then into thirty-seconds, sixty-fourths, and so on, until the ovum consists of a combined mass of very minute granular-like cells, the whole resembling a mulberry. The segmentation of the nucleus precedes and then continues with the segmentation of the yolk. After the egg has been divided into a great number of these cells, the latter begin a centrifugal action resulting in the formation of a complete inner lining of closely packed cells, with a central cavity filled with the yolk liquid.

    In the meantime, the Uterus has been prepared for the reception of the impregnated and transformed ovum. A thick, spongy, juicy, mucus membrane forms, into whichthe changing ovum passes and attaches itself; the mucus membrane soon enveloping it and shutting it off from the rest of the Uterus. There now appears at one point on the ovum an opaque streak, which is called “the primitive trace” of the embryo—the first beginning of the young living creature. The “primitive trace” then grows in length and breadth. At this point we must leave the history of the ovum, or human egg, for the present; its further development will be related in the succeeding lesson, the subject of which is “Gestation.”

    PRIVATE Sex Advice to Women By R. B. Armitage, M. D.

    For Young Wives and those who Expect to be Married.

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  • ANATOMY OF THE FEMALE SEX ORGANISM

    ANATOMY OF THE FEMALE SEX ORGANISM

    Every woman should be given plain, practical, sane, sensible instruction concerning the sex organism of woman, its functions, its laws, its use, and its abuse. This important feature of the physical organism plays an all powerful part in the life of every woman, and particularly in the life of the married woman. It is nature’s mechanism for the reproduction of the race. Every child that is born into the world is conceived, gestated, and finally delivered as a result of the functioning of this organism. Therefore, such instruction and knowledge is vitally necessary, not only for the intelligent performance of the duties of parenthood, but also for the best interests of race-preservation, race-culture, and the physical well-being and health of the individual woman.

    And yet, custom and ancient prejudice have drawn the veil over this most important subject, so that it is difficult for the average woman to find practical, clean information concerning her own anatomy and physiological functions concerned with her sex-life. To many it has appeared that the particular organs and parts of the body concerned with the reproductive functions of the woman are base, unclean, and impure, and that any woman discussing them, or seeking information regarding them, must be immoral or at least not “respectable.” Anatomical charts and physiological treatises on the subject are tabooed outside of the doctor’s office. Women are considered immodest if they seek to acquaint themselves with the facts of life concerning one of their most important classes of physical functions. It is considered “not nice” for a young woman to know anything about her physical being in those phases which play the most important part in her life. Can there be anything more ridiculous and insane? This is a matter which excites the most intense surprise, disgust, and despair in the average person possessing a scientific tendency. But the dawn is breaking, and a better day is ahead of the race concerning these things.

    The sex organs of the woman are divided into two classes, as follows: (1) The external organs; and (2) the internal organs. Let us consider each of these classes in turn.

    THE EXTERNAL SEX ORGANS OF THE WOMAN.

    The external sex organs of the woman are as follows: The Mons Veneris; the Labia Majora; the Labia Minora; the Clitoris; the Meatus Urinarius; and the Vaginal Orifice. The term “the Vulva” is applied to the external sex organs of the woman in general, but more particularly to the Labia Majora and the Labia Minora (the larger and smaller “lips,” respectively). The term “Vulva” is the Latin term meaning “folding doors.”

    The Mons Veneris is the fatty eminence or elevation just above the other external organs, which forms a mount from which its name (literally, “The Mount of Venus”) is derived. At puberty it becomes covered with hair.

    The Labia Majora are the large “outer lips” or folds of skin which enclose the Vaginal Orifice, and which are situated just below the Mons Veneris.

    The Labia Minora are the small “inner lips” of folds of membrane, which are concealed within the Labia Majora, or “outer lips,” and are seen only when the latter are parted.

    The Clitoris is a small organ, about an inch in length, situated at the upper part of the Labia Minora or “inner lips,” and usually being partly or wholly covered by the upper borders thereof. At its extremity it has a small rounded enlargement which is extremely sensitive and excitable, and which is the principal seat of sensation in the woman’s sexual organism.

    The Meatus Urinarius is the orifice of the urethra of the woman, the purpose of which is to afford an exit for the urine. It is located about an inch below the Clitoris and is just above the Vaginal Orifice. It is a common error among uninformed women that the urine passes out through the Vagina; but this, of course, is incorrect, as the two canals and their respective orifices are entirely separate from each other, though situated closely together.

    The Vaginal Orifice is the outer entrance to the Vagina, or Vaginal Canal or Channel. This orifice is located just below the Meatus Urinarius. In the virgin it is usually partly closed by what is known as “The Hymen,” (vulgarly known as the “maiden head”), although in many cases the latter is absent even in the case of young girl infants. It was formerly regarded as an infallible sign of virginity, and its absence was regarded as a proof that virginity was lacking. But this old superstition is passing away, for science has shown that the Hymen is often absent even in the case of young children and infants, and, on the other hand, is sometimes present after several years of married life, and even during pregnancy. Much unhappiness has been caused in some cases where the husband has doubted the virginity of his wife because of the absence of the Hymen, but consultation with a capable physician usually removes this misunderstanding.

    The Hymen is a membranous fold, sometimes circular in shape, with an opening in the center, though in other cases it extends only across the lower part of the orifice. The opening in the center is for the purpose of allowing the menstrual blood and the other secretions of Uterus and Vagina to flow through. In a few cases this opening is absent, the Hymen being what is called “imperforate”; in which case the girl experiences difficulty when menstruation begins, and a physician is required to make a slit or opening in it. In some girls and women the Hymen is quite tough, while in others it is very thin and is easily broken. In the latter cases the young girl frequently breaks the membrane during vigorous exercise, such as jumping rope, etc. And, as has before been said, in some cases infant girls are born without even a trace of the Hymen. Under the circumstances, it is seen that the presence or absence of the Hymen is far from being an infallible proof of the presence or absence of virginity, and the belief in the same is now regarded as almost a superstition of the past.

    THE INTERNAL SEX ORGANS OF THE WOMAN.

    The internal sex organs of the woman are as follows: The Vagina; the Uterus and its appendages; the Fallopian Tubes; the Ovaries, and their ligaments, and the round ligaments.

    The Vagina is the canal or channel leading from the Vaginal Orifice to the Uterus or womb. It is situated in front of the rectum, and behind the bladder. In length, it averages from three to five inches; and it curves upward and backward, reaching to the lower part of the neck of the womb, or Uterus, which part of the neck is enclosed by it. It is a strong fibro-muscular structure, lined with mucous membrane; and is not smooth inside, but is arranged in inner folds or rings which are capable of great extension.

    On either side of the Vagina, near the outer orifice, are two small glands, about the size of a pea, which secrete a peculiar fluid, and which are known as the Glands of Bartholine. The office of the Vagina is that of a complementary to the male organ during the copulative process; to also sustain the weight of the Uterus; to also afford a passage for the infant at the time of its birth; and also to serve as a passage for the menstrual fluid.

    The Uterus, or Womb, is the internal sex organ of the woman which serves to hold the fertilized ovum, or egg, from the time of impregnation, during the period of pregnancy during which the ovum develops into the young child, and until the time of the delivery of the child.

    The Uterus is a hollow pear-shaped muscular organ, about three inches in length, nearly an inch thick, and about two inches broad across its upper part, or fundus; the lower part, or cervix, being much narrower. The cervix, or “neck” of the womb, projects into the Vagina, forming the “os uteri,” or “mouth of the womb,” at that point. The Uterus is composed chiefly of a muscular coat, its walls consisting of strong muscular fibres which contract independently of the will, as do similar muscles in the stomach and bladder. These muscular walls are capable of enormous distention during pregnancy. The muscles of the healthy womb are capable of a tremendous pressure and resistance, and are capable of expelling the child with but slight labor at the time of delivery.

    The Uterus is located just behind and slightly above the bladder, and is supported by eight ligaments which, in a healthy condition, hold it firmly and easily in place. Displacements of the Uterus are due to the weakening or relaxing of some or all of these ligaments, generally caused by general weakness or else by excessive physical exercise or labor. The principal Displacements of the Uterus are as follows: Prolapsus, or lowering of the womb in the vagina; Antroversion, or the bending forward of the womb; Anteflexion, or the “doubling up” of the womb forward on itself; Retroversion, or the bending backward of the womb; and Retroflexion, or the “doubling up” of the womb backward on itself. Extreme degrees of the last four mentioned forms of displacement often interfere with impregnation.

    The internal surface of the Uterus is lined with mucous membrane thickly studded with minute hairlike cells which manifest continuous motion. This motion, in the lower part of the womb, is in the direction of the fundus or upper part of the womb; in the upper part of the womb, the motion is in the opposite direction; the purpose of these opposing movements being to carry the male elements toward that portion of the womb into which the Fallopian Tubes discharge the products of the Ovaries, as we shall see presently.

    The Uterus is supplied with follicles around its neck which secrete a very firm, adhesive mucus substance, which serves as a gate or door across the mouth of the womb during the period of pregnancy, and which also serves to prevent the accidental displacement of the ovum or egg. During and just after menstruation, the Uterus becomes enlarged and more vascular. During pregnancy, it largely increases in weight. After delivery, it resumes its normal size, but the cavity is larger than before conception. In old age, it becomes atrophied and denser in structure.

    The Fallopian Tubes are the ducts of the Ovaries, and serve to convey the ova, or eggs, from the Ovaries to the cavity in the Uterus. They are two in number, one on each side, each tube being about four inches in length. They extend from either side of the fundus of the womb, through the broad ligaments which hold them and the Ovaries in position until they communicate with the Ovaries. They are lined with a membrane composed of the same kind of peculiar hair-like cells which are found in the lining of the womb, the purpose in this case being to urge forward the ova or eggs toward the Uterus.

    At the ovarian end of the tubes the latter expand into a fringed, trumpet-shaped extremity, the fringe being known as “the fimbria.” The tubes are only about one-sixteenth of an inch in diameter, and their small caliber makes it easy for them to clog up as the result of slight inflammation, or to become clogged up or sealed at their mouths or openings, thus causing sterility or inability of the woman to conceive. If the tubes are clogged, or sealed up, it of course is impossible for the ova or eggs to reach the uterus.

    The Ovaries are the two oval-shaped bodies lying one on either side of the Uterus. In them the ova, or eggs, are formed. They are each about one and one-half inches long, about one inch wide, and about one-half an inch thick. In addition to their attachment to the broad ligament, they are held in position by folds or ligaments running to the fundus of the Uterus and to the fimbriated extremities of the Fallopian Tubes. The Ovaries are covered by a dense, firm coating which encloses a soft fibrous tissue, abundantly supplied with blood-vessels, which is called the stroma. Imbedded in the mesh-like tissue of the stroma are found numerous small, round, transparent vesicles, in various stages of development, known as the Graafian follicles, which are lined with a layer of peculiar granular cells. These Graafian follicles are the receptacles or sacs which contain the ova, or eggs, which constitute the female reproductive germ. Each vesicle contains a single ovum or egg.

    Summary.

    From the foregoing, it is seen that we may enumerate the sex organs of the woman as follows, proceeding from the external to the internal organism: First, the Mons Veneris, or prominent eminence above the more important external sex organs; then the Labia Majora, or large outer “lips” or folds, which are plainly discernable to the ordinary view; then the Labia Minora, or smaller inner “lips” or folds, and the Clitoris or small sensitive organ, and the Meatus Urinarius or urinary orifice, all of which are discernable only when the folds of the Labia Majora are parted or opened. Then, proceeding upward and backward from the Vaginal Orifice, we find the Vagina, or channel or canal leading to the Uterus or Womb; then we find the Uterus or Womb at the upper end of the canal or channel of the Vagina. Then extending from either side of the Uterus or Womb we find those two important sets of organs known as the Fallopian Tubes, and the Ovaries, respectively. The Ovaries discharge their ova, or eggs, into the Fallopian Tubes, from whence they are conveyed to the Uterus or Womb, with which the tubes are connected and into which they open at its upper and large end.

    The Pelvis is that bony arch in the cavity of which are contained the internal sex organs of the woman. The Pelvis is a bony basin which holds and supports the pelvic organs, and is composed of three important parts, as follows: (1) The Sacrum, consisting of five sections of the vertebral column, or spine, fused together so as to constitute the solid part of the lower spine and the back of the Pelvis; (2) the two Hip-Bones, one on each side of the Pelvis; (3) the Pubic Arch, or the front part of the Pelvis, formed by the junction of the two Hip-Bones in front. Attached to the Hip-Bones are the thighs, and also the large Gluteal Muscles which constitute the buttocks, or “seat.”

    The Pelvis of the woman is quite different from that of the man. It is shallower and wider, and lighter in structure than that of the male, and the margins of the Hip-Bones are more widely separated, thus making the hips of the woman far more prominent than those of the man. Also, the Sacrum is shorter than that of the man, and the Pubic Arch wider and more rounded than his. This difference in the bony structure is made necessary by the demand for larger space in the female Pelvis required for the purposes of childbirth. These differences are not so perceptible in childhood, but become marked and pronounced at puberty.

    PRIVATE Sex Advice to Women By R. B. Armitage, M. D.

    For Young Wives and those who Expect to be Married.

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