r of
children 13. Montgomery, Colomb, and Knehel, each, have recorded the
birth of twins in women beyond the usual age of the menopause, and
there is a case recorded of a woman of fifty-two who was delivered of
twins.

Impregnation without completion of the copulative act by reason of some
malformation, such as occlusion of the vagina or uterus, fibrous and
unruptured hymen, etc., has been a subject of discussion in the works
of medical jurisprudence of all ages; and cases of conception without
entrance of the penis are found in abundance throughout medical
literature, and may have an important medicolegal bearing. There is
little doubt of the possibility of spermatozoa deposited on the
genitalia making progress to the seat of fertilization, as their power
of motility and tenacity of life have been well demonstrated. Percy
reports an instance in which semen was found issuing from the os uteri
eight and one-half days after the last intercourse; and a microscopic
examination of this semen revealed the presence of living as well as
dead spermatozoa. We have occasional instances of impregnation by
rectal coitus, the semen finding its way into an occluded vaginal canal
by a fistulous communication.

Guillemeau, the surgeon of the French king, tells of a girl of
eighteen, who was brought before the French officials in Paris, in
1607, on the citation of her husband of her inability to allow him
completion of the marital function. He alleged that he had made several
unsuccessful attempts to enter her, and in doing so had caused
paraphimosis. On examination by the surgeons she was found to have a
dense membrane, of a fibrous nature, entirely occluding the vagina,
which they incised. Immediately afterward the woman exhibited morning
sickness and the usual signs of pregnancy, and was delivered in four
months of a full-term child, the results of an impregnation occasioned
by one of the unsuccessful attempts at entrance. Such instances are
numerous in the older literature, and a mere citation of a few is
considered sufficient here. Zacchias, Amand, Fabricius Hildanus, Graaf,
the discoverer of the follicles that bear his name, Borellus, Blegny,
Blanchard, Diemerbroeck, Duddell, Mauriceau, a Reyes, Riolan, Harvey,
the discoverer of the circulation of the blood, Wolfius, Walther,
Rongier, Ruysch, Forestus, Ephemerides, and Schurig all mention cases
of conception with intact hymen, and in which there was no entrance of
the penis. Tol