e mainly to the action of the sphincter
cunni (analogous to the bulbo-cavernosus in the male), is only a part of
the localized muscular process. At first there would appear to be a reflex
peristaltic movement of the Fallopian tubes and uterus. Dembo observed
that in animals stimulation of the upper anterior wall of the vagina
caused gradual contraction of the uterus, which is erected by powerful
contraction of its muscular fiber and round ligaments while at the same
time it descends toward the vagina, its cavity becoming more and more
diminished and mucus being forced out. In relaxing, Aristotle long ago
remarked, it aspirates the seminal fluid.

Although the active participation of the sexual organs in woman, to the
end of directing the semen into the womb at the moment of detumescence, is
thus a very ancient belief, and harmonizes with the Greek view of the womb
as an animal in the body endowed with a considerable amount of
activity,[117] precise observation in modern times has offered but little
confirmation of the reality of this participation. Such observations as
have been made have usually been the accidental result of sexual
excitement and orgasm occurring during a gynaecological examination. As,
however, such a result is liable to occur in erotic subjects, a certain
number of precise observations have accumulated during the past century.
So far as the evidence goes, it would seem that in women, as in mares,
bitches, and other animals, the uterus becomes shorter, broader, and
softer during the orgasm, at the same time descending lower into the
pelvis, with its mouth open intermittently, so that, as one writer
remarks, spontaneously recurring to the simile which commended itself to
the Greeks, "the uterus might be likened to an animal gasping for
breath."[118] This sensitive, responsive mobility of the uterus is,
indeed, not confined to the moment of detumescence, but may occur at other
times under the influence of sexual emotion.

It would seem probable that in this erection, contraction, and descent of
the uterus, and its simultaneous expulsion of mucus, we have the decisive
moment in the completion of detumescence in woman, and it is probable that
the thick mucus, unlike the earlier more limpid secretion, which women are
sometimes aware of after orgasm, is emitted from the womb at this time.
This is, however, not absolutely certain. Some authorities regard
detumescence in women as accomplished in the pouring o