in animals. And animals permit intercourse at no time except
during the rut.

Recent investigations have disclosed to fact that the number of women
whose sexual appetite is _heightened_ during the time immediately
preceding, during, and following the menses, is quite considerable.
And there is also a smaller percentage of women who experience the
desire _at no other time except_ during the menses.

Speaking generally, relations during the menses should be discouraged.
There are several reasons for it. The first reason, which need not be
gone into in detail, is an esthetic one. The second reason is that
intercourse during menstruation may in some cases lead to congestion
of the uterus and ovaries. Third, the menstrual discharge, which as we
know does not consist of pure blood but is a mixture of blood, mucus,
and degenerated lining membrane of the uterus, may give rise to a
catarrh of the urethra in the man. Fourth, and this is a point to be
borne in mind, any discharge that a woman may be suffering from is
always aggravated during menstruation. For these reasons relations
during the menses are undesirable.

But where the woman has strong libido during that time and has no
libido at any other time, relations may be indulged in during the last
day or two of the menses. Any unpleasantness may be obviated and any
discharge may be removed by the woman taking a mild, warm, antiseptic
injection before coitus. The ancient idea of the injuriousness of the
relations during menstruation and the disastrous results likely to
follow them have only a very slender foundation. They rest on no
scientific basis and though it may be sad to state facts, there are
many couples who do indulge in such relations as a regular thing and
without any injury to either husband or wife.

CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

SEXUAL INTERCOURSE DURING PREGNANCY

Complete Abstinence During-Pregnancy--Bad Results of Complete
Abstinence--Intensity of Relations During First Four
Months--Intercourse During Fifth, Sixth and Seventh
Months--Intercourse During Eighth and Ninth Months--Abstinence
After Birth of Child.

The question whether sexual intercourse is permissible during
pregnancy is often put to the physician. Some extremists and theorists
demand complete abstinence during the entire duration of pregnancy.
Such abstinence is not only not feasible, but is unnecessary and may
prove a disrupting factor; it may create not only dissension, it may