nervous system and the entire
body, constituting what is called the _venereal orgasm_, and
terminating in the man by the ejaculation of semen.

The localizations of irritability in woman are multiple, and to the
clitoris must be added the nipples, the vulva, and even, it is said,
the neck of the womb. In man the parts round the anus may also,
besides the glans penis, form an excitable region. At the acme of
erection the glans is turgid, and is applied directly against the neck
of the womb (Fig. 18). In this way the sperm is ejaculated directly
against the neck of the womb.

In the woman an analogous phenomenon takes place; the clitoris becomes
turgid and the mild and repeated friction of the mucous membranes,
together with contact on other sensitive parts, produces a voluptuous
sensation as in the man. Through nervous association, the repeated
excitation determines secretion from certain glands of the vagina
which lubricate the vulva (glands of _Bartholin_). At the maximum
point of voluptuous feeling the woman experiences something analogous
to the venereal orgasm of the man. There is thus manifested in the two
sexes an intense and reciprocal desire of penetration one by the
other, a desire which powerfully favors fecundation. In the woman as
in the man the end of the orgasm is followed by an agreeable
relaxation which invites sleep.

The hereditary or instinctive nervous actions produce after coitus a
profound effect of contrast. When the sexual appetite commences, the
odors, especially those of the sexual organs, the contacts, the
movements, and the sight of the individual of the opposite sex, all
increase desire, producing a voluptuous excitation stronger than all
contrary feeling. Hardly is the sexual act consummated than all
vanishes like a dream. What was a moment before the object of the most
violent desire becomes indifferent, and sometimes even excites a
slight feeling of disgust, at least as regards certain odors,
sometimes even regarding touch and sight. The name sexual appetite
(libido sexualis) is given to the passionate and purely sexual desire
of the two sexes for each other. It varies greatly in different
individuals.

According to _Ferdy_ and other authors, the neck of the womb, during
the venereal orgasm of the woman, executes movements of suction in the
glans penis. I do not know if this is a fact, but it is certain that
the female orgasm is useless for conception. Absolutely cold women,
incapa