We have stated elsewhere that there are certain times during the month when it is impossible for a woman to be impregnated by sexual connection. This is a fact that may be relied upon with the utmost certainty, and we will discuss it more in detail. The Vesicles of the Ovary are constantly growing and ripening, as we have shown. Once in four weeks one or more of them is ready to leave its cell. Inflammation commences—which is called the Menstrual Flow—the Vesicle then begins to enlarge, and by the time the flow ceases, it bursts open, when the Ovum or Egg within escapes and is taken up by some very curious little membranes and drawn into the Fallopian Tube. It passes through this tube into the Womb, and it is generally two days, and often longer, in making the passage. Meantime a thin, delicate membrane, called the Decidua, forms in the Womb, and is ready to receive the Egg and detain it there, otherwise it would pass out and be lost. This membrane will generally last about a week, when it gradually loosens and passes out, taking the Egg along with it. If, however, the Egg be impregnated—in other words, if the female have connection with a man, and the Semen comes in contact with the Egg during this period, the Decidua from that moment begins to grow fast to the Womb, and becomes one of the coverings that protect the new being during the foetal state.

It will thus be understood that during the first twenty-four hours after the Menstrual Flow has ceased, there is very little danger of impregnation, and in some females this time might be extended to two or three days with safety. The Zoospermes of the Semen will live for twenty-four hours within the Womb, and it is possible for the Egg to be impregnated by them the moment it leaves the Fallopian Tube. We therefore state the probable time that impregnation cannot take place to be twenty-four hours, allowing the second twenty-four hours for the possibility of there being living Semen in the Womb. After the Decidua and Egg have passed out of the Womb, which is from ten to sixteen days after the Menstrual Flow has ceased, impregnation, or conception, is then utterly impossible until after another monthly turn is over, and so on. French women are famous for a clear understanding of all the phenomena attending impregnation, and they generally avoid it at pleasure. They know exactly when the Decidua and Egg leaves them—they watch for it, and it is said many of them search for it and take it away violently. At all events, there are multitudes of the class called grisettes—females who are content to live and cohabit with any decent man who offers them a support—who never get into the family way at all. Their secret is supposed to be a physiological knowledge, or art, which enables them to destroy the Decidua, or membrane which keeps the Egg from passing out of the Womb. We confess we cannot understand how so delicate an operation can be performed by a woman upon her own person; but the thing is not impossible.

Married people who desire to avoid having children might generally attain their object by refraining from sexual intercourse for a week or ten days after the cessation of the Menstrual Flow; or, they might follow the precaution recommended in our chapter on Prevention during that period. It is supposed that conception takes place within seven days after the monthly turn nineteen times out of twenty. But to be on the safe side, you should wait longer—even to sixteen days—unless you can discover when the Decidua and Egg pass off. There are certain symptoms connected with this expulsion of the Egg which may be detected. A thin, colorless, watery fluid comes from the Vagina, and is often so abundant as to wet the external parts. This will continue for some hours, and will be followed by a grayish-white clot about the size of a pea. The discharge of this clot is frequently accompanied by slight pains and bearing down of the Womb. This is the Decidua and Egg. When a woman can discover, with certainty, the passage of this clot, she is then safe from impregnation until after her next monthly turn.

The manner in which the Egg of the female is impregnated by the male Semen is curious and interesting. In its first state, while in the Ovary, there may be seen within it a little dot called the Germinal Vesicle. When the Egg is fully ripe, and just as it leaves the Ovary, this little dot is by some unknown process expelled, leaving an open passage to the very centre. The Egg is then ready for impregnation; for, on passing into the Womb, if the male Semen come in contact with it, one of the animalculÆ instantly darts into this open passage and buries itself. All these curious operations of Nature have been discovered by the use of the Microscope, and they are not only very interesting, but are of great importance to mankind.

It will be seen from these explanations of the principles of Impregnation, that a healthy woman may conceive under almost any circumstances—that the idea that a first and only connection would not impregnate is erroneous—that the most brutal violation may cause conception—in short, that if a female were rendered senseless by drugs, or by a blow upon the head, this would not prevent the impregnation of the Egg if the time were propitious.

Sexual enjoyment of the female during connection may hasten the accomplishment of the desired end in various ways, but it is by no means necessary to impregnation or conception. Indeed, there are many females of cold temperament who seldom experience any very pleasing sensations during connection, and some who have no sexual desires at all. I knew a case in Hartford, Connecticut, many years ago, where a wealthy gentleman desired offspring. He had lost his Penis when quite a young man; but yet he was able, at times, to discharge Semen from the urinary passage. He was married after the loss of his private member, and lived with his wife—a very worthy woman—ten years, never dreaming that he could ever become a father. One day a physician banteringly told him of a similar case in Vienna, where the man had actually become a father by the use of a small glass syringe, with which he injected his Semen into the Vagina. It was a singular coincidence that this Hartford gentleman afterwards became the father of two interesting little ones. He had doubtless used the Syringe!

There is a class of amorous women who cannot be impregnated at all. They are afflicted with a sort of disease called Nymphomania, or insatiable passion for venery. Such cases are rare, but still they occur. A young lady patient of mine, in describing this disease, said that she had the most irresistible disposition to lasciviousness imaginable; that when alone she could not desist from rubbing the parts until she became exhausted and sunk down in perspiration: she slept well, but as soon as she was awake the same propensity recurred. Another lady (married) who consulted me, said she had always been brought up virtuously, and had hitherto been well disposed; but now a man could scarcely pass her without her experiencing those sensations which were alone her husband’s right.

Nymphomania is attended with obscenity, restlessness, and delirium. The patients delight to talk obscenely, and solicit men to satisfy their desires, both by words and gestures. It is generally caused by masturbation, or undue irritation of the private parts when very young; and the usual treatment is to keep them well syringed out with castile soap and water, and wear a bag of powdered camphor on the back of the neck. Camphor taken internally is also good. A very little camphor introduced into the water with which you wash the part will likewise act favorably.

Young females troubled with Nymphomania, who thereby bring themselves into disgrace, are more to be pitied than despised: for it requires a great degree of moral firmness for them to resist both the promptings of Nature and those of licentious men at the same moment. Parents and guardians should act accordingly.