Volume 1
Cyclopaedia of obstetrics and gynecology / edited by Egbert H. Grandin.
- Grandin, Egbert H. (Egbert Henry), 1855-
- Date:
- 1889
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: Cyclopaedia of obstetrics and gynecology / edited by Egbert H. Grandin. Source: Wellcome Collection.
Provider: This material has been provided by the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. The original may be consulted at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.
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![CHAPTEB II. FECUNDATION. 'TDEOUNDATION, or impregnation, is the result of the combination of the male and female elements, the semen and the ovum. To make this combination requires the connection of the two sexes by copulation. Copulation. Copulation, or coition, consists of the union of the two sexes, which should be preceded in man by erection of the penis, the placing of the glans in the genital organs, and 'the emission of semen or fecundating fluid, which is thus carried directly into the genital organs. It is this flnal phenomenon of emission which is followed by the progression of the semen into the genitals, the fecundating liquid thus seeking the ovum, which has been deposited in the tube. In woman, copulation is a much more passive act than in man. It con- sists of the reception of the male organ, accompanied by the erection of the clitoris and bulbs of the vagina, but without emission properly so- called, it being only an exaggerated secretion of the vulvar and vaginal glands, and particularly of the vulvo-vaginal glands. In one sex as well as in the other, the act is preceded by desire, the sexual appetite, and is accompanied by voluptuous sensations, generally greater in man than in woman, and which are intended to insure the accomplishment of a function on which the re]3roduction of our kind depends. But, although in man this feeling is as absolute as possible, in woman it is much less clear or developes later. Besides, it is not necessary to fecundation, and it is not rare to see mothers of families in whom this voluptuous sensation has never been present. Again, although in man there is always an emission of fecundating liquid, ovulation comes but once a month in woman. Copulation is therefore not always followed by fecundation. The voluptuous sensa- tion, in its turn, is not necessary to fecundation, and examples of women who have been impregnated while sleeping from the effects of alcohol or chloroform, and through artiflcial fecundation, prove that the woman is really passive in the act of copulation. Her active part is conflned to the emission of the ovum and its progress through the tube. The flnal union of this ovum and the semen forms in reality fecundation. Occasionally, on the contrary, the first conjugal attempts occasion, especially in nervous women, vulvar and vaginal pains, with a painful](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b21704867_0001_0125.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
