The Ovaries, or egg-vessels of a human female, are two bodies situated on each side of the Pelvis just within the lower edge of the hip bone. They vary in size, averaging about the same as the male testicle, but of a different shape, being flat and oblong, like an almond. When in a healthy state, they are of pale red color, and have a rough exterior. Every Ovary consists of a large number of cells about the size of a buck-shot, called the Graafian Vesicles, and which contain a transparent fluid. On looking at this fluid with a glass, the Ovum, or germ of the human being, can be plainly seen in each cell. It is very small—not much larger than a grain of sand. A healthy and perfectly formed female has some thirty or more of these vesicles. It is impossible to tell the exact number, because all of them are not fully developed at the same time. In fact, they ripen and become perfect in succession, from month to month, and one is expelled at each menstrual flow, as described below, beginning at the age of puberty, and so continuing until the turn of life, when all have been expelled and the Ovaries then become barren. The Ovum generally comes from each side alternately—the right ovary expelling its egg one month, and the left the next, and so on. But where disease or any cause has disabled one Ovary, the other one, if healthy, expels its egg monthly. Such are the curious workings of Nature. When an Ovum, or egg, is fully developed, it leaves the Ovary, and passing through a very curious hollow ligature called the Fallopian Tube, is thus conveyed into the Womb. This occurs once in four weeks in a healthy female. In order to detach this ripe egg from the Ovary, real inflammation is experienced, which causes a discharge of blood and mucus, called the menstrual or monthly flow. This constant action of the Ovaries has a most extraordinary influence upon the whole being of woman. It not only The Ovum usually reaches the Womb from one to two days after the monthly flow ceases. After being retained a certain time by a thin membrane called the Decidua, the membrane loosens and passes out of the body, taking the Ovum along with it. While it remains in the Womb, it is of course liable to be impregnated by the semen from the male; but the moment it is expelled, no impregnation can take place until another monthly flow. Many French females, who have studied this subject closely and attentively, are enabled to tell with certainty when the Ovum leaves them, and they avoid contact with the other sex except during the interval between its expulsion and their next monthly turn. In this way they avoid child-bearing. The usual healthy time during which the Ovum remains in the Womb, is fourteen days. In some females it remains as long as sixteen or seventeen days. Cases of supposed barrenness are frequently those where the ova are expelled from the womb very soon after lodging there. It is then necessary for the husband, if he desires children, to cohabit with his wife immediately after the menstrual flow ceases. On the contrary, those who would avoid having offspring, (unless they use the means pointed out in another part of this book,) should refrain from sexual indulgence until the Ovum has been expelled, which is generally the third week after the menstrual flow has ceased. By a curious provision of Nature, the blood and vital energy required to ripen and expel the monthly Ovum in a female, is turned in another channel during pregnancy, and tends to secrete the milk and the fluids on which the growing foetus subsists. Thus the ova lie dormant during that period, and they seldom begin to ripen again until the new-born infant is weaned. It will be understood, from the foregoing facts, that no female can produce more than a certain number of ova. When all are exhausted, the turn of life takes place. It is, therefore, desirable that girls should not become sexually excited before the full age of puberty, as such excitement is sure to hasten that period. The sooner they begin to menstruate, the sooner they become old women. In the same way maiden ladies usually reach the turn of life sooner than child-bearing women. In some women, the Ovaries being originally weak, or diseased, they are irregular in their menstrual periods, or have frequent flooding from the debilitated state of the organs. Deformity of children is supposed to arise from imperfect ova, and want of sufficient vital force to fully develop them. The ripening of the Ovum, or egg, is in many respects like unto the ripening of an apple on the tree. Some are perfect and beautiful, while others are deformed and ungainly in appearance. The two Fallopian Tubes, which connect the ovaries with the Womb, are very curious. They are hollow ligaments, a little larger at one end than the other. On dissection they are found to be lined with fine thread-like points, which point towards the smallest end of the tube, adjoining the Womb. These points are in perpetual motion, like small worms, and this operation is what causes the egg to pass through the tube. For the same reason nothing can go back in these tubes from the Womb to the Ovaries. These tubes also afford a passage for the secretions and fluids, which would otherwise accumulate in the Ovaries of women in ill health. A considerable portion of the discharges from the Vagina, to which some females are subject, come from the Ovaries through the Fallopian Tubes into the Womb, and thence to the lower passage. Sexual or amative feeling on the part of the female affects these tubes, by causing them to straighten and relax, thus working the points on the inner surface, and hastening the The Uterus, or Womb, is suspended mid-way between the lower edges of the hip-bones. Its upper part goes up between the bladder and the rectum, and lies upon the bladder. Its lower part joins the passage called the Vagina, which is usually about four or live inches in length. In fact, the neck of the Womb hangs down into the Vagina, and is the cause of an indescribable delightful feeling on the part of the female when in connection with the male. Many women say that they experience very little sexual feeling, and that the act of copulation is to them a matter of indifference. This is because the mouth of the Womb is not reached or touched by the glans of the male organ; and the pleasurable sensation of the female is then confined to a slight irritation of the Clitoris and NymphÆ, in the private parts. When the amorous sensations of the female are excited during connection, the Womb becomes engorged with blood, and moves up and down in the Vagina, bringing the neck in contact with the glans of the male organ, and this contact, if not too violent, is the perfection of sexual indulgence for both parties. The Vagina is a curved passage from the Womb to the lower private parts of the female called the Vulva. It is a tubular passage, the diameter of which varies from one and a half to two inches, and is usually from four to five inches in length. This curved tube possesses some curious powers, which are in action only during connection with the male. It is lined with a mucus membrane throughout, The entrance to the Vagina, a small oval opening, easily seen by parting the lips of the private parts, is usually closed in virgins by a thin membrane, or skin, which grows over it. This is called the Hymen; and in ancient times its presence was considered necessary at marriage to establish the virginity of the bride. If in reality such proof was demanded, we think that very many brides must have been pronounced lewd, for there is scarcely one woman in a hundred at the present day who preserves her Hymen intact until she is twenty years old. In some, it is broken at the first menstrual flow—in others, any debilitating disease of the parts destroys it—and many girls who constantly bathe and wash their private parts, unconsciously wash away this membrane. These are cases where it is very thin; but where it has strength to resist such accidents, it may even then be quickly destroyed by any attempt of the female to produce sexual excitement. Some curious facts are related in the medical books of the toughness of the Hymen in certain cases. Dr. Wakley, of London, was applied to by a woman who alleged that though her husband regularly performed his marital duties, yet she herself could not enjoy the nuptial act. On examination, In some women the mouth of the Vagina is so small that a first connection is painful, tearing the part and causing a flow of blood. When such women become widows, or refrain from sexual intercourse for a long period, the same tearing and flow of blood may again occur on resuming connection. The external appearance of the private parts of a female, as given in the engraving, we will here particularize. The peculiar round and plump prominence at the lower extremity of the abdomen, is a thick layer of fatty matter over the pubic bone, called the Mons Veneris. This is usually covered with hair at the age of puberty. In some cases the hair grows very profusely, and to the length of six or eight inches. Others have but little hair, and some none at all. The growth of hair is usually considered the sign of womanhood, though it is really no proof of that condition. Many girls have a growth of hair over the Mons at the age of ten or eleven years, while the menstrual flow will not commence until some years after. The two outer lips of the part are also covered with hair. These are called Labia, and inside they have little glans or follicles which discharge a mucus of a peculiar smell, which is At the upper junction of the NymphÆ is the Clitoris, a very curious formation which resembles a miniature male penis. This is an organ which, when irritated, causes sexual desires. It is usually about the size of a pea, though in some cases it is larger. The growth of the Clitoris to an unnatural size is what has given rise to a belief in the existence of hermaphrodites, or persons of double sex. I can easily understand how these reports originated. A female infant with a Clitoris of a very large size would naturally induce such a belief by persons ignorant of physiology—for the Clitoris is always proportionably a great deal larger before puberty—and particularly so when the child is first born. In an unnatural growth, then, of this member, the private parts of an infant would certainly present a hermaphroditic appearance. It is almost unnecessary to say that no such human beings ever existed as hermaphrodites. Those that have been so called were females with an enlarged Clitoris. This enlargement being a source of some mortification to the girl as she grows to womanhood, it should be partially amputated, an operation which can be performed with perfect safety. Young girls of amorous desires get up a sexual excitement, and produce masturbation, by rubbing the Clitoris; and in boarding schools they often practice the habit upon one another until they cause repeated Orgasms, and in this manner injure their health. Many of the diseases of after life may be traced to such unnatural pranks—particularly the weakness which causes miscarriage and excessive flooding. |