The hymen : anatomically, medico-legally and historically considered / by E.S. M'Kee.

  • McKee, Edward S.
Date:
1908
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Licence: In copyright

Credit: The hymen : anatomically, medico-legally and historically considered / by E.S. M'Kee. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    view as to the development of the vagina and hymen. Until the third month of fetal life the vagina is formed by the coalesced Muellerian ducts, ending blindly at their lower ends; there is no lower aperture, no hymen. In the beginning of the third month proliferation of the epithelium lining the lower ends of the Wolfian ducts takes place, forming what he calls the Wolfian bulbs; the peripheral cells are active, the central ones become less acti\ e, and become arranged in layers of squamous cells, resem- 13 14 13. Hymen semilunaris ruptured. 14. Hymen annularis ruptured. bling the structure of vaginal epithelium at full time or in the adult state. The hy- meneal opening is brought about by the epi- thelial involution from the uro-genital sinus meeting the distended Wolfian bulbs. Different hymens tear differently. The direction and manner of the tear depends on the shape and position of the hymen and the amount of force used. The semilunar usually tears in the mid line posteriorly, the annular hymen tears in several different flaps; a resistant hymen with small opening tears usually at its base and floats like a sail in the entrance to the harbor. Ordinarily we find the remnants of the annular hymen in four flaps. It has been claimed by some that the rup- ture of the hymen from masturbation can be easily differentiated from that by sexual intercourse. 'I'he signs of masturbation are hyperdevelopment, multiple folding and ex- cessive pigmentation of the genitals which correspond to the masturbating hand. Slight rupture of the hymen occurs usually on one side, that of the masturbating hand, and at this point adherence of the hymen to the labia minora by cicatricial tissue often results at the point of rupture. We may have the evidences of masturbation and criminal as- sault both present at the same time, and in a by far greater number of cases the medical expert can swear to nothing beyond “pene- tration by some blunt instrument.” THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE HYMEN INTACTUS IN MEDICAL JURISPRUDENCE. When we reflect that the condition of the hymen is often the only evidence by which a differentiation between rape and assault with intent to commit rape can be made, it is easy to see the importance of this integrity in a case which has come to trial. Some authors quote as many as a hundred or more cases of hymen remaining intact up to the time of delivery. Prostitutes have been found with intact hymens, having made their living for many years by sexual intercourse. The writer w'cll remembers one such case in his practice. . Cases are reported where the hymen is still intact after labor and even after repeated labors. This goes to show that a very large body may pass through a lax annular hymen without causing a rupture. Verdicts have been given against men for adultery and rape w'hen the women were found to have the hymen intact. When it is known that conception may take place with the hymen intact juries are loth to ac- cord it much standing as a sign of virginity. THE HYMEN ABROAD. Among some Asiatic tribes vir^o intacta has no charms for aspiring husbands. They consider the matter strictly business, and prefer a widow to a virgin, as she has no hindrances to coition and is a better house- wife. He who has a wddowed daughter can realize twice as much on her second mar- riage as on her first. It W'as Chaucer who said: “If twenty crowns for thy lip .so red, What would I give for thy maidenhead?” Yet the ancient Egyptians considered it a useless obstruction and cut it away. Athana- sius says that the Phoenicians turned the bride over to a favorite slave to have her relieved of her virginity. Tiberius promulgated a law that no virgin should be hung. She must first be relieved of her hymen by the hangman. T here are numerous instances among the ancients where they were w’eak-backed and demor- alized enough to consider the hymen only a hindrance to sexual intercourse, and have it removed by priests or little ivory idols. In the Figi Islands, when a young man has ar- rived at the age when he is to assume th.e