The Biology, Physiology and Sociology of Reproduction Part 2

The _epididymis_ referred to above, consists of a ma.s.s of coiled tubes and blood vessels. After the secretion pa.s.ses through the tortuous coils of ciliated tubes of the epididymis, it is collected into a single tube called the _vas deferens_, which pa.s.ses as a part of the spermatic cord from the s.c.r.o.t.u.m, up through the groin and over the pubic arch into the pelvic cavity, pa.s.sing down back of the bladder where it is slightly dilated into an _ampulla_, beyond which the duct is again contracted into a narrow tube, and the two ducts, one from either side, converge and pa.s.s into the _prostate gland_, where they empty into the _urethra_.

_The seminal vesicles._--The seminal vesicles are small bladder-like organs supposed originally to contain the secreted s.e.m.e.n collected from the testes. There are two of these vesicles, from each a small duct joins the vas deferens making up what is known as the _ejaculatory duct_. The two ejaculatory ducts coming together in the prostate gland open into the urethra. _The seminal vesicles possess glandular walls and secrete the substance which they contain, no part of the secretion of the testes normally finding its way into the vesicles._

_The prostate gland, a portion of which is h.o.m.ologous with the female uterus and called uterus masculinus_, is situated around the neck of the bladder and is traversed not only by the urethra (prostatic portion), but also by the ejaculatory ducts. There are numerous gland ducts which--collecting the secretion of the prostate gland--open into the urethra in the prostatic portion.

Just beyond the prostate are two small glands called _Cowper's Glands_ whose ducts enter the urethra some distance beyond the prostate, at the root of the p.e.n.i.s.

2. PHYSIOLOGY.

In the treatment of the physiology of the various structures just described, we may well reverse the order of treatment, thus leading up step by step to a consideration of the more important organs.

a. =Urethra.= The ca.n.a.l or duct of the p.e.n.i.s is called the urethra, and it is important in considering its physiology to remember that it has not only a double function to perform, but that the performance of one function in a measure temporarily unfits it for performance of the other and makes it necessary for a special measure of preparation.

The urinary excretion from the kidneys collecting in the urinary bladder is pa.s.sed out periodically through the urethra. This same channel must transmit periodically secretions from the s.e.xual apparatus.

b. =Cowper's Glands= secrete only under s.e.xual excitement, and usually they secrete only when the s.e.xual excitement reaches a stage which induces an erection. The secretion is composed of a clear _alkaline mucus_.

The purpose served in the natural economy by this alkaline mucus is a very important one and it is essential that every young man should understand it.

It will be remembered that the male urethra affords pa.s.sage not only for the urine, but also for the generative products. The urine is acid in reaction and the frequent pa.s.sage of urine along the urethra leaves that duct acid in reaction under usual conditions. The spermatozoa are very sensitive to acid and their vitality is seriously impaired by acid of any kind, particularly the acid of the urine.

Nature has provided that the secretion from Cowper's glands should precede the generative products along the urethra, thus neutralizing the acid and insuring for the spermatozoa an alkaline pa.s.sage from the body.

Besides this important function of the secretion from Cowper's glands, the slimy transparent mucus appearing at the glans p.e.n.i.s under s.e.xual excitement serves as a natural lubricant covering the glans of the male organ. A secretion from the female similarly prepares her organs for s.e.xual contact so that the delicate mucous membrane, particularly of the female organs, shall not suffer abrasion.

Many young men have experienced the appearance of the secretion from Cowper's glands and wholly misunderstanding its nature have feared that they were losing some vital fluid. This misunderstanding of the nature of this fluid makes the young man especially subject to the misrepresentations of the advertising quack and charlatan who allege that he is losing vital fluid and will, if not treated, undergo general debility and loss of procreative power. This brief explanation of the significance of the secretion of Cowper's glands will protect the young man from any such misrepresentations.

c. =The Prostate Gland.=--That the prostate gland is intimately a.s.sociated with reproduction is evident from the fact that in those male animals that have suffered castration before p.u.b.erty, the prostate gland withers and practically disappears. What then is the role that this gland plays? Like Cowper's glands, it secretes only during s.e.xual excitement. Under such excitement its ducts become gorged with a secretion peculiar to it and at the moment of the emission or the e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.i.o.n of the s.e.m.e.n the numerous ducts empty their contents into the urethra to be mingled with and made a part of the s.e.m.e.n.

The secretion of the prostate is composed of a watery solution of protein and of alkaline salts and so closely similar to the secretion of the seminal vesicles that we will consider its action along with that of the secretion from the vesicles.

d. =The Seminal Vesicles.=--_The seminal vesicles secrete continuously._ The secretion is composed of an aqueous solution of alb.u.min and of alkaline salts. This secretion together with the secretion from the prostate gland is poured into the urethra at the moment of s.e.xual o.r.g.a.s.m; they become mixed in their transit through the urethra with the secretion from the testes. This mixture is known as s.e.m.e.n. [See pg. 42.]

It used to be supposed that the s.e.m.e.n was secreted wholly by the testes; that the testes were secreting continuously and that the seminal vesicles were receptacles for the gradually acc.u.mulating s.e.m.e.n from the testes. The researches of Steinach and others have made the old theory untenable and demonstrate that the s.e.m.e.n is a mixture from three distinct sources; that the t.e.s.t.i.c.l.es secrete their contribution to the s.e.m.e.n only during s.e.xual stimulation; while the seminal vesicles secreting their products continuously become periodically filled and distended.

Let us inquire regarding the function of this alkaline alb.u.minous secretion from the vesicles and prostate. For what purpose does Nature prepare such a secretion? The spermatozoa frequently remain several days in the organs of the female before the ovum is found and fertilized. During these several days the spermatozoa are exerting no small amount of energy in their vigorous flagellate movement. For such an expenditure of energy they must receive nourishment and stimulation. The nourishment is supplied by the alb.u.min and proteid of the vesicular and prostatic secretions. The stimulation is supplied by the salts also secreted by these glands. The recent researches of Loeb and others have demonstrated the importance of mineral salts in stimulating the activity of living cells. One can cite no better example of this stimulant action than the influence of these vesicular and prostatic salts upon the activity of the spermatozoa.

The vesicles and prostate may be looked upon as the commissariat of the army of spermatozoa; the vesicles acc.u.mulating a stock of supplies to be drawn upon at short notice; the prostate representing a factory where a considerable quant.i.ty of supplies can be prepared at short notice.

This _periodic distention of the seminal vesicles_ is a matter of very considerable hygienic importance and must be thoroughly understood by every young man who would lead a normal s.e.xual life.

These organs in common with all other organs of the body are supplied with two sets of nerves, one set pa.s.sing away to the spinal cord and carrying messages which indicate the condition of the organ or the presence and character of any local stimulus; the other pa.s.sing away from the spinal cord to the organ and carrying secretory and motor impulses. The secretory impulses are more or less continuous and as a result, these glands secret continuously and become periodically distended as described above. The motor impulses pa.s.s to the muscles within the walls of the vesicles, causing a strong spasmodic contraction of these muscles at the moment of emission of s.e.m.e.n, thus throwing the contents of the vesicles into the urethra at the same moment when the epididymis the vas deferens and the ducts of the prostate are emptying their secreted contents into the urethra.

Now the sensory nerves pa.s.sing from the seminal vesicles up to the erection and emission centers are stimulated by any unusual pressure within the vesicles. Unusual pressure may be caused either by distention due to acc.u.mulated secretion or by pressure upon the vesicles from over-distended r.e.c.t.u.m or bladder. It sometimes happens that two or more of these influences are acting at the same time.

These impulses are most likely to be effective when the subject is asleep, and particularly if he is lying upon his back. The result of the stimulus is to cause an erection, accompanied usually by an erotic dream, the whole phenomenon culminating in an emission of the contents of the seminal vesicles and followed, of course, by a relief of the pressure which was the cause of the condition. This phenomenon has been variously called _nocturnal emission_, "pollution" and "dreaming-off."

Vecki, a specialist in physiology, hygiene and pathology of the s.e.xual apparatus, says that the nocturnal emission is a normal physiological phenomenon, the object of which is to relieve pressure in the seminal vesicles, and that in normal cases it occurs in fairly regular periods, these periods varying in length with different individuals, according to their physical condition and habits, the period being two to four weeks, usually; though a considerably longer or shorter period would not be looked upon as pathological. Vecki describes the normal nocturnal emission as being accompanied by an erection, erotic dreams, and an o.r.g.a.s.m, the subject being wholly unconscious of the condition until he is awakened at the moment of o.r.g.a.s.m. Normally, the subject experiences on the following day a feeling of relief and well-being and should, normally, be wholly free from headache, depression or languor.

Inquiry among a large number of normal healthy men convinces the author that it is not at all unusual for these emissions to occur as infrequently as once in two months in normal healthy men. On the other hand, it is not unusual for them to occur as frequently as once in ten days or even once a week and still be within the physiological limit.

However, when the emission occurs as frequently as once per week, it should be looked upon as abnormal if it is followed by depression, headache or la.s.situde. Cases are not unusual in which the nocturnal emission is experienced as often as three times in a week after which there will be a period of two to four weeks without an emission, followed again by very frequent emissions, and a free period. This phenomenon is an individual peculiarity, and is not to be looked upon as abnormal.

Cases of too frequent nocturnal emissions accompanied by languor and headache are usually caused by irritability or lack of tonicity of the s.e.xual apparatus, particularly of the seminal vesicles and the ducts. This irritability and loss of tone is not infrequently caused by masturbation, though it may also be caused by excessive s.e.xual intercourse, making itself manifest, of course, in either case, on cessation of the habit of masturbation or the excessive s.e.xual intercourse.

Another cause of too frequent nocturnal emissions and one wholly separate from any abuse of the s.e.xual function is irritability and mechanical irritation of the s.e.xual apparatus--perhaps especially the membranous and prostatic portion of the urethra--caused by the presence of an excessive amount of oxalates in the urine. Oxalates occur in the urine in sharp angular crystals and would seem to be in a high degree irritating to the tender mucous membrane of the upper part of the urethra. The almost invariable presence of these crystals in excess in those cases that have not been accounted for by abuse of the s.e.xual function leads one to adopt the plausible theory that the crystals are the cause of the irritability. However, we must not lose sight of the fact that these crystals may be simply an accompaniment of the too frequent emissions, and that the presence of oxalates in the urine may be caused by some disturbance in the nutritive processes that go on in the body, which disturbance causes not only the irritability of the s.e.xual apparatus, but also the presence of the crystals.

When the seminal vesicles are much distended it occurs not infrequently that the pa.s.sage of a hard ma.s.s of fecal material through the r.e.c.t.u.m will, by simple mechanical pressure on the seminal vesicles, force out a few drops, perhaps as much as a teaspoonful, of the contents of the vesicles. This would be called an _involuntary emission_, but the liquid pa.s.sed out must not be looked upon as s.e.m.e.n.

It is simply the secretion of the seminal vesicles, and in losing it, one is not losing a vital fluid or a fluid, any portion of which would be reabsorbed; he is simply losing a fluid which would, in the natural course of events, have pa.s.sed away within the next few days as a nocturnal emission.

These details have been explained in order that the young man may fully understand the physiology of his s.e.xual apparatus and not be disturbed by the advertis.e.m.e.nts or the pamphlet literature of charlatans who make a business of frightening young men into the belief that in these experiences they are losing "vital fluid"--that they are victims of "lost manhood," or that they are entering into a condition of "general debility" and "impotence." As an actual fact, involuntary loss of vital fluid (spermatorrhea), is a rare case even in the practice of specialists in genito-urinary diseases, and in these rare cases, the condition is usually a result of very great excesses, s.e.xual debauchery or one of the sequelae of venereal disease.

[Read: Appendix 1, 13 and 17.]

e. =Testes.= No rational idea of the physiology of the testes can be given without laying down as a fundamental physiological law, that _the testes secrete under s.e.xual stimulation only_. This same general principle applies to all glands, i.e., that they secrete only under the influence of some special stimulation. In harmony with that law, the testes secrete only under the influence of s.e.xual stimulation.

The s.e.xual stimulation may be sub-divided into two general categories, i.e., conscious s.e.xual stimulation and subconscious s.e.xual stimulation.

_Conscious s.e.xual stimulation_ is partly psychical and partly physical. The physical stimulation is produced by physical proximity of a member of the opposite s.e.x. The physical and psychical phases of conscious s.e.xual stimulation are so intimately interwoven that it is exceedingly difficult to discuss one without constant reference to the other, and it may be said in this connection that the psychical att.i.tude of the two individuals of opposite s.e.x who are brought into close physical proximity will modify very greatly their local s.e.xual responses.

Reverting to the lower animals: when a female in rut or heat is brought into proximity to the male, there seems to be on the part of each animal a consciousness of the character and att.i.tude of the other animal and both animals are step by step excited by various physical contacts and probably also psychical conditions to a high state of s.e.xual excitement, leading to the natural ultimate result, coitus, in which event the s.e.xual excitement culminates in the o.r.g.a.s.m of the male, which empties the secreted s.e.m.e.n into the organs of the female.

It will be easily understood that, in human subjects whose social relations permit them to indulge in coitus, close physical proximity, and various caresses lead, step by step in the normal course of nature to s.e.xual excitement and s.e.xual desire which culminates as described above for the lower animals.

To revert to the function of the testes, we may say that during these various stages of s.e.xual stimulation and excitement the testes are actively secreting thousands upon thousands of nascent spermatozoa, which being released, are hurried along, partly by their own flagellate movements and partly by the action of the cilia in the ducts of the epididymis and the peristaltic contractions of the vas deferens--hurried along the vas to the ampulla. If the period of s.e.xual excitement extends over fifteen to thirty minutes, the whole duct system from the epididymis to the ampulla becomes gorged with the secreted testicular product. This secretion consists of active motile spermatozoa, of spermatic granules and of mucus. The latter is secreted by the ducts of the epididymis and the vas deferens, the t.e.s.t.i.c.l.e itself furnis.h.i.+ng only spermatozoa, spermatic granules and a small amount of liquid, just sufficient in quant.i.ty to float the spermatozoa out of the testes into the ducts.

At the moment of s.e.xual o.r.g.a.s.m occurs what is known as, the emission of s.e.m.e.n. In this act the whole contents of the ampulla, vas deferens and ducts of the epididymis, the contents of the seminal vesicles, and the contents of the ducts of the prostate gland are all poured out by spasmotic muscular contractions into the urethra and by contraction of the walls of the urethra, ejected from that tube through the mouth of the urethra. Thus, in the act of emission, there is an intimate mixing together of the three contributions to the s.e.m.e.n, i.e., the _testicular, vesicular and prostatic_.

_Sub-conscious s.e.xual Stimulation._--Sub-conscious s.e.xual stimulation is not accompanied by erection or any mental or physical manifestation of s.e.xual excitement.

When a s.e.xually mature individual is brought into more or less intimate relations with a s.e.xually mature individual of the opposite s.e.x under conditions where the secondary s.e.xual qualities may have free and unrestricted play, there can be no reasonable doubt that both individuals experience a sub-conscious s.e.xual stimulation which will influence them both physically and psychically through sub-conscious response of their s.e.xual apparatus. One can easily imagine, for example, that a young man may meet upon the skating rink in winter a young lady for whom he has a very sincere admiration and respect; she on the other hand entertains for him a similar admiration and respect. They may skate together the whole afternoon and converse upon politics, art or philosophy, the young woman feeling herself swung along--almost actually carried on her companion's strong arm.

The whole experience is, in the highest degree, pleasurable and exhilarating to her, yet she may be conscious of absolutely no s.e.xual stimulation. On the other hand, the young man experiences most exalted pleasure in the company of his young lady friend--through the pressure of her hand upon his arm, the lithe, graceful movement of body and limbs, the smile, the light in the eye and the soft voice. All of these give him an exquisite pleasure that he will be unable to a.n.a.lyze, even if he were inclined to do so.

In his case, as in the case of the young woman, there has been absolutely no conscious s.e.xual stimulation; in the case of neither individual has there been a thought of s.e.x as such or of their s.e.xual apparatus, yet without a shadow of doubt, the s.e.xual organs of both individuals have been more or less active during this period--they have been subject to sub-conscious s.e.xual stimulation.

In the case of the male, his testes have been awakened into an activity of probably considerably less degree than in the case of conscious s.e.xual stimulation, and during this activity of the gland a certain amount of the secretion has been formed.

The most natural question at this point is--What becomes of this secretion? It is not likely that any great number of spermatozoa are released, those that are probably make their way along the vasa deferentia to the ampullae. The liquid secretion of the testes probably does not leave the testes but is reabsorbed. While there are many features of this mysterious influence of the testes which have never yet been cleared up, this seems certain, that the testes elaborate what may be called an internal secretion, and that the elaboration of this internal secretion is influenced by such stimulation as has just been described above, under the head of sub-conscious s.e.xual stimulation.

An _internal secretion_ is a secretion formed by a gland, to be poured into the blood or lymph system, while an _external secretion_ is poured out through ducts to the exterior. The thyroid and adrenal glands form internal secretions only, which secretions, poured into the blood and lymph, profoundly affect the nutrition of the body. The salivary glands and gastric glands form external secretions only; which, when poured upon the food, digest it. The liver, pancreas and testes form both external and internal secretions. The external secretion of the testes is that which is poured out in a s.e.xual emission, as described above; the internal secretion of the testes consists of substances formed by the testes of s.e.xually mature individuals, which substances, poured into the blood, profoundly affect the development of the individual and his whole physical and psychical character.

VIRILITY.

The best example that can be cited of the effect of this internal secretion is the male of the horse kind.

Most young men have seen either at horse shows or upon farms or ranches pedigreed stallions. No person can see one of these splendid animals without admiring, if not actually standing in awe of his inimitable physical force, beauty of form and grace and power of action. He is a physical ideal of the horse kind. What is the source of his strength and beauty?

The physical features that one notes peculiar to the stallion are, first, the great breadth and depth of chest, great ma.s.s of shoulder and hip muscles, and the high arched neck, fiery eye and luxuriant mane and tail. Second, the functional features next noticeable are the greater alertness and evident physical exuberance as manifested especially in the gait and the frequent whinnying. The thoughtful observer at the horse show or on the ranch cannot but compare these animals with the gelding.

Two colts on the ranch may be full brothers,--from the same pedigreed stallion and the same pedigreed dam. At the age of two years these two young horses may be as alike as two peas in a pod. One of these promising young animals is chosen, because of some commendable peculiarity of temperament or action, to remain unmutilated, as a procreator of his kind upon the ranch. The other is subjected to the veterinarian's knife and ecraseur and deprived of the testes,--the male s.e.xual glands. From the day of this operation these two animals (in every respect alike, except that one is unmutilated while the other is deprived of the glands mentioned above) develop along radically different lines. The stallion develops during his third year into the n.o.ble animal described above. This third year is his period of p.u.b.erty and the changes which he undergoes physically and psychically are closely parallel to the changes which the human subject undergoes during his period of p.u.b.erty. The gelding, on the other hand, develops into an animal that is in every respect a neuter.

Physically this animal develops a body almost identical with that of the female of the same species. Temperamentally the gelding is a patient, plodding, beast of burden, and though under good grooming he may show considerable life, while under the control of his driver, he seldom shows any interest in other members of the horse family, either male or female, and in the pasture or on the ranch his neutral s.e.x temperament is ever apparent. While he may contend mildly for a place at the feeding trough, he never essays the defense of any weaker members of the herd, and one stallion would put a hundred like him to flight.