association of the power of generation with a god in the form of a serpent
is, indeed, common; see, e.g. Sir W.M. Ramsay, _Cities of Phrygia_, vol.
i, p. 94.
[361] It is noteworthy that one of the names for the penis used by the
Swahili women of German East Africa, in a kind of private language of
their own, is "the snake" (Zache, _Zeitschrift für Ethnologie_, p. 73,
1899). It may be added that Maeder ("Interprétation de Quelques Rêves,"
_Archives de Psychologie_, April, 1907) brings forward various items of
folk-lore showing the phallic significance of the serpent, as well as
evidence indicating that, in the dreams of women of to-day, the snake
sometimes has a sexual significance.
[362] W.R. Smith, _Kinship and Marriage in Early Arabia_, 1885, p. 307.
The point is elaborated in the same author's _Religion of Semites_, second
edition, Appendix on "Holiness, Uncleanness, and Taboo,"
pp. 446-54. See
also Wellhausen, _Reste Arabischen Heidentums_, second edition, pp.
167-77. Even to the early Arabians, Wellhausen remarks (p. 168), "clean"
meant "profane and allowed," while "unclean" meant
"sacred and forbidden."
It was the same, as Jastrow remarks (_Religion of Babylonia_, p. 662),
among the Babylonian Semites.
[363] J.C. Frazer, _The Golden Bough_, Chapter IV.
[364] E. Durkheim, "La Prohibition de l'Inceste et ses Origines," _L'Année
Sociologique_, Première Année, 1898, esp. pp. 44, 46-47, 48, 50-57.
Crawley (_Mystic Rose_, p. 212) opposes Durkheim's view as to the
significance of blood in relation to the attitude towards women.
[365] _British Association Report on North Western Tribes of Canada_,
1890, p. 581.
[366] _Laws of Manu_, iv, 41.
[367] Pliny, who, in Book VII, Chapter XIII, and Book XXVIII, Chapter
XXIII, of his _Natural History_, gives long lists of the various good and
evil influences attributed to menstruation, writes in the latter place:
"Hailstorms, they say, whirlwinds, and lightnings, even, will be scared
away by a woman uncovering her body while her monthly courses are upon
her. The same, too, with all other kinds of tempestuous weather; and out
at sea, a storm may be stilled by a woman uncovering her body merely, even
though not menstruating at the time. At any other time, also, if a woman
strips herself naked while she is menstruating, and walks round a field of
wheat, the caterpillars, worms, beetles, and other vermin will fall from
off the ears of corn."
[368] See Bourke, _Scatologic Rites of all Nations_, 1891, pp. 217-219,
250 and 254; Ploss and Max Bartels, _Das Weib_, vol. i; H.L. Strack, _Der
Blutaberglaube in der Menschheit_, fourth edition, 1892, pp. 14-18. The
last mentioned refers to the efficacy frequently attributed to menstrual
blood in the Middle Ages in curing leprosy, and gives instances, occurring
even in Germany to-day, of girls who have administered drops of menstrual
blood in coffee to their sweethearts, to make sure of retaining their
affections.
[369] See, e.g., Dufour, _Histoire de la Prostitution_, vol. iii, p. 115.
[370] Dr. L. Laurent gives these instances, "De Quelques Phenomènes
Mécaniques produits au moment de la Menstruation,"
_Annales des Sciences
Psychiques_, September and October, 1897.
[371] _Journal Anthropological Society of Bombay_, 1890, p. 403. Even the
glance of a menstruating woman is widely believed to have serious results.
See Tuchmann, "La Fascination," _Mélasine_, 1888, pp.
347 _et seq._
[372] As quoted in the _Provincial Medical Journal_, April, 1891.
APPENDIX B.
SEXUAL PERIODICITY IN MEN.
BY F.H. PERRY-COSTE, B. Sc. (LOND.).
In a recent _brochure_ on the "Rhythm of the Pulse"[373]
I showed _inter
alia_ that the readings of the pulse, in both man and woman, if arranged
in lunar monthly periods, and averaged over several years, displayed a
clear, and sometimes very strongly marked and symmetrical, rhythm.[374]
After pointing out that, in at any rate some cases, the male and female
pulse-curves, both monthly and annual, seemed to be converse to one
another, I added: "It is difficult to ignore the suggestion that in this
tracing of the monthly rhythm of the pulse we have a history of the
monthly function in women; and that, if so, the tracing of the male pulse
may eventually afford us some help in discovering a corresponding monthly
period in men: the existence of which has been suggested by Mr. Havelock
Ellis and Professor Stanley Hall, among other writers.
Certainly the mere
fact that we can trace a clear monthly rhythm in man's pulse seems to
point strongly to the existence of a monthly physiological period in him
also."
Obviously, however, it is only indirectly and by inference that we can
argue from a monthly rhythm of the pulse in men to a male sexual
periodicity; but I am now able to adduce more direct evidence that will
fairly demonstrate the existence of a sexual periodicity in men.
We will start from the fact that celibacy is profoundly unnatural,
and is, therefore, a physical--as well as an emotional and
intellectual--abnormality. This being so, it is entirety in accord with
all that we know of physiology that, when relief to the sexual secretory
system by Nature's means is denied, and when, in consequence, a certain
degree of tension or pressure has been attained, the system should relieve
itself by a spontaneous discharge--such discharge being, of course, in the
strict sense of the term, pathological, since it would never occur in any
animal that followed the strict law of its physical being without any
regard to other and higher laws of concern for its fellows.
Notoriously, that which we should have anticipated _a priori_ actually
occurs; for any unmarried man, who lives in strict chastity, periodically
experiences, while sleeping, a loss of seminal fluid--
such phenomena being
popularly referred to as _wet dreams_.[375]
During some eight or ten years I have carefully recorded the occurrence of
such discharges as I have experienced myself, and I have now accumulated
sufficient data to justify an attempt to formulate some provisional
conclusions.[376]
In order to render these observations as serviceable as may be to students
of periodicity, I here repeat (at the request of Mr.
Havelock Ellis) the
statement which was subjoined, for the same reasons, to my "Rhythm of the
Pulse." These observations upon myself were made between the ages of 20
and 33. I am about 5 feet, 9 inches tall, broad-shouldered, and weigh
about 10 stone 3 lbs. _net_--this weight being, I believe, about 7 lbs.
below the normal for my height. Also I have green-brown eyes, very
dark-brown hair, and a complexion that leads strangers frequently to
mistake me for a foreigner--this complexion being, perhaps, attributable
to some Huguenot blood, although on the maternal side I am, so far as all
information goes, pure English. I can stand a good deal of heat, enjoy
relaxing climates, am at once upset by "bracing" sea-air, hate the cold,
and sweat profusely after exercise. To this it will suffice to add that my
temperament is of a decidedly nervous and emotional type.
Before proceeding to remark upon the various rhythms that I have
discovered, I will tabulate the data on which my conclusions are founded.
The numbers of discharges recorded in the years in question are as
follows:--
In 1886, 30. (Records commenced in April.) In 1887, 40.
In 1888, 37.
In 1889, 18. (Pretty certainly not fully recorded.) In 1890, 0 (No records kept this year.[377]) In 1891, 19. (Records recommenced in June.) In 1892, 35.
In 1893, 40.
In 1894, 38.
In 1895, 36.
In 1896, 36.
In 1897, 35.
Average, 37. (Omitting 1886, 1889, and 1891.) Thus I have complete records for eight years, and incomplete records for
three more; and the remarkable concord between the respective annual
numbers of observations in these eight years not only affords us intrinsic
evidence of the accuracy of my records, but, also, at once proves that
there is an undeniable regularity in the occurrence of these sexual
discharges, and, therefore, gives us reason for expecting to find this
regularity rhythmical. Moreover, since it seemed reasonable to expect
that there might be more than one rhythm, I have examined my data with a
view to discovering (1) an annual, (2) a lunar-monthly, and (3) a weekly
rhythm, and I now proceed to show that all three such rhythms exist.
THE ANNUAL RHYTHM.
It is obvious that, in searching for an annual rhythm, we must ignore the
records of the three incomplete years; but those of the remaining eight
are graphically depicted upon Chart 8. The curves speak so plainly for
themselves that any comment were almost superfluous, and the concord
between the various curves, although, of course, not perfect, is far
greater than the scantiness of the data would have justified us in
expecting. The curves all agree in pointing to the existence of three
well-defined maxima,--viz., in March, June, and September,--these being,
therefore, the months in which the sexual instinct is most active; and the
later curves show that there is also often a fourth maximum in January. In
the earlier years the March and June maxima are more strikingly marked
than the September one; but the uppermost curve shows that on the average
of all eight years the September maximum is the highest, the June and
January maxima occupying the second place, and the March maximum being the
least strongly marked of all.
Now, remembering that, in calculating the curves of the annual rhythm of
the pulse, I had found it necessary to average two months' records
together, in order to bring out the full significance of the rhythm, I
thought it well to try the effect upon these curves also of similarly
averaging two months together. At first my results were fairly
satisfactory; but, as my data increased year by year, I found that these
curves were contradicting one another, and therefore concluded that I had
selected unnatural periods for my averaging. My first attempted remedy was
to arrange the months in the pairs December-January, February-March, etc.,
instead of in January-February, March-April, etc.; but with these pairs I
fared no better than with the former. I then arranged the months in the
triplets, January-February-March, etc.; and the results are graphically
recorded on Chart 7. Here, again, comment would be quite futile, but I
need only point out that, _on the whole_, the sexual activity rises
steadily during the first nine months in the year to its maximum in
September, and then sinks rapidly and abruptly during the next three to
its minimum in December.
The study of these curves suggests two interesting questions, to neither
of which, however, do the data afford us an answer.
In the first place, are the alterations, in my case, of the maximum of the
discharges from March and June in the earlier years to September in the
later, and the interpolation of a new secondary maximum in January,
correlated with the increase in age; or is the discrepancy due simply to a
temporary irregularity that would have been equally averaged out had I
recorded the discharges of 1881-89 instead of those from 1887 to 1897?
The second question is one of very great importance--
socially, ethically,
and physically. How often, in this climate, should a man have sexual
connection with his wife in order to maintain himself in perfect
physiological equilibrium? My results enable us to state definitely the
minimum limits, and to reply that 37 embraces annually would be too few;
but, unfortunately, they give us no clue to the maximum limit. It is
obvious that the necessary frequency should be greater than 37 times
annually,--possibly very considerably in excess thereof,--seeing that the
spontaneous discharges, with which we are dealing, are due to
over-pressure, and occur only when the system, being denied natural
relief, can no longer retain its secretions; and, therefore, it seems very
reasonable to suggest that the frequency of natural relief should be some
multiple of 37. I do not perceive, however, that the data in hand afford
us any clue to this multiple, or enable us to suggest either 2, 3, 4, or 5
as the required multiple of 37. It is true that other observations upon
myself have afforded me what I believe to be a fairly satisfactory and
reliable answer so far as concerns myself; but these observations are of
such a nature that they cannot be discussed here, and I have no
inclination to offer as a counsel to others an opinion which I am unable
to justify by the citation of facts and statistics.
Moreover, I am quite
unable to opine whether, given 37 as the annual frequency of spontaneous
discharges in a number of men, the multiple required for the frequency of
natural relief should be the same in every case. For aught I know to the
contrary, the physiological idiosyncrasies of men may be so varied that,
given two men with an annual frequency of 37 spontaneous discharges, the
desired multiple may be in one case X and in the other 2X.[378] Our data,
however, do clearly denote that the frequency in the six or eight summer
months should bear to the frequency of the six or four winter months the
proportion of three or four to two.[379] It should never be forgotten,
however, that, under all conditions, both man and wife should exercise
prudence, both _selfward_ and _otherward_, and that each should utterly
refuse to gratify self by accepting a sacrifice, however willingly
offered, that may be gravely prejudicial to the health of the other; for
only experience can show whether, in any union, the receptivity of the
woman be greater or less than, or equal to, the _physical_ desire of the
man. To those, of course, who regard marriage from the old-fashioned and
grossly immoral standpoint of Melancthon and other theologians, and who
consider a wife as the divinely ordained vehicle for the chartered
intemperance of her husband, it will seem grotesque in the highest degree
that a physiological inquirer should attempt to advise them how often to
seek the embraces of their wives; but those who regard woman from the
standpoint of a higher ethics, who abhor the notion that she should be
only the vehicle for her husband's passions, and who demand that she shall
be mistress of her own body, will not be ungrateful for any guidance that
physiology can afford them. It will be seen presently, moreover, that the
study of the weekly rhythm does afford us some less inexact clue to the
desired solution.
One curious fact may be mentioned before we quit this interesting
question. It is stated that "Solon required [of the husband] three
_payments_ per month. By the Misna a daily debt was imposed upon an idle
vigorous young husband; _twice a week_ on a citizen; once in thirty days
on a camel-driver; once in six months on a seaman."[380]
Now it is
certainly striking that Solon's "three payments per month" exactly
correspond with my records of 37 discharges annually.
Had Solon similarly
recorded a series of observations upon himself?
THE LUNAR-MONTHLY RHYTHM.
We now come to that division of the inquiry which is of the greatest
physiological interest, although of little social import. Is there a
monthly period in man as well as in woman? My records indicate clearly
that there is.
In searching for this monthly rhythm I have utilized not only the data of
the eight completely-recorded years, but also those of the three years of
1886, 1889, and 1891, for, although it would obviously have been
inaccurate to utilize these incomplete records when calculating the
yearly rhythm, there seems no objection to making use of them in the
present section of the inquiry. It is hardly necessary to remark that the
terms "first day of the month," "second day," "third day," etc., are to be
understood as denoting "new-moon day," "day after new moon," "third lunar
day," and so on; but it should be explained that, since these discharges
occur at night, I have adopted the astronomical, instead of the civil,
day; so that a new moon occurring between noon yesterday and noon to-day
is reckoned as occurring yesterday, and yesterday is regarded as the first
lunar day: thus, a discharge occurring in the night between December 31st
and January 1st is tabulated as occurring on December 31st, and, in the
present discussion, is assigned to the lunar day comprised between noon of
December 31st and noon of January 1st.
Since it is obvious that the number of discharges in any one
year--averaging, as they do, only 1.25 per day--are far too few to yield a
curve of any value, I have combined my data in two series. The dotted
curve on Chart 9 is obtained by combining the results of the years
1886-92: two of these years are incompletely recorded, and there are no
records for 1890; the total number of observations was 179. The broken
curve is obtained by combining those of the years 1893-97, the total
number of observations being 185. Even so, the data are far too scanty to
yield a really characteristic curve; but the _continuous_ curve, which
sums up the results of the eleven years, is more reliable, and obviously
more satisfactory.
If the two former curves be compared, it will be seen that, on the whole,
they display a general concordance, such differences as exist being
attributable chiefly to two facts: (1) that the second curve is more even
throughout, neither maximum nor minimum being so strongly marked as in the
first; and (2) that the main maximum occurs in the middle of the month
instead of on the second lunar day, and the absence of the marked initial
maximum alters the character of the first week or so of this curve. It is,
however, scarcely fair to lay any great stress on the characters of curves
obtained from such scanty data, and we will, therefore, pass to the
continuous curve, the study of which will prove more valuable.[381]
Now, even a cursory examination of this continuous curve will yield the
following results:--
1. The discharges occur most frequently on the second lunar day.
2. The days of the next most frequent discharges are the 22d; the 13th;
the 7th, 20th, and 26th; the 11th and 16th; so that, if we regard only the
first six of these, we find that the discharges occur most frequently on
the 2d, 7th, 13th, 20th, 22d, and 26th lunar days--i.e., the discharges
occur most frequently on days separated, on the average, by four-day
intervals; but actually the period between the 20th and 22d days is that
characterized by the most frequent discharges.
3. The days of minimum of discharge are the 1st, 5th, 15th, 18th, and
21st.
4. The curve is characterized by a continual see-sawing; so that every
notable maximum is immediately followed by a notable minimum. Thus, the
curve is of an entirely different character from that representing the
monthly rhythm of the pulse,[382] and this is only what one might have
expected; for, whereas the _mean_ pulsations vary only very slightly from
day to day,--thus giving rise to a gradually rising or sinking curve,--a
discharge from the sexual system relieves the tension by exhausting the
stored-up secretion, and is necessarily followed by some days of rest and
inactivity. In the very nature of the case, therefore, a curve of this
kind could not possibly be otherwise than most irregular if the discharges
tended to occur most frequently upon definite days of the month; and thus
the very irregularity of the curve affords us proof that there is a
regular male periodicity, such that on certain days of the month there is
greater probability of a spontaneous discharge than on any other days.
5. Gratifying, however, though this irregularity of the curve may be, yet
it entails a corresponding disadvantage, for we are precluded thereby from
readily perceiving the characteristics of the monthly rhythm as a whole. I
thought that perhaps this aspect of the rhythm might be rendered plainer
if I calculated the data into two-day averages; and the result, as shown
in Chart 10, is extremely satisfactory. Here we can at once perceive the
wonderful and almost geometric symmetry of the monthly rhythm; indeed, if
the third maximum were one unit higher, if the first minimum were one unit
lower, and if the lines joining the second minimum and third maximum, and
the fourth maximum and fourth minimum, were straight instead of being
slightly broken, then the curve would, in its chief features, be
geometrically symmetrical; and this symmetry appears to me to afford a
convincing proof of the representative accuracy of the curve. We see that
the month is divided into five periods; that the maxima occur on the
following pairs of days: the 19th-20th, 13th-14th, 25th-26th, 1st-2d,
7th-8th; and that the minima occur at the beginning, end, and exact middle
of the month. There have been many idle superstitions as to the influence
of the moon upon the earth and its inhabitants, and some beliefs
that--once deemed equally idle--have now been re-instated in the regard of
science; but it would certainly seem to be a very fascinating and very
curious fact if the influence of the moon upon men should be such as to
regulate the spontaneous discharges of their sexual system. Certainly the
lovers of all ages would then have "builded better than they knew," when
they reared altars of devotional verse to that chaste goddess Artemis.
THE WEEKLY RHYTHM.
We now come to the third branch of our inquiry, and have to ask whether
there be any weekly rhythm of the sexual activity. _A priori_ it might be
answered that to expect any such weekly rhythm were absurd, seeing that
our week--unlike the lunar month of the year--is a purely artificial and
conventional period; while, on the other hand, it might be retorted that
the existence of an _induced_ weekly periodicity is quite conceivable,
such periodicity being induced by the habitual difference between our
occupation, or mode of life, on one or two days of the week and that on
the remaining days. In such an inquiry, however, _a priori_ argument is
futile, as the question can be answered only by an induction from
observations, and the curves on Chart 11 (_A_ and _B_) prove conclusively
that there is a notable weekly rhythm. The existence of this weekly rhythm
being granted, it would naturally be assumed that either the maximum or
the minimum would regularly occur on Saturday or Sunday; but an
examination of the curves discloses the unexpected result that the day of
maximum discharge varies from year to year. Thus it is[383]
Sunday in 1888, 1892, 1896.
Tuesday in 1894.
Thursday in 1886, 1897.
Friday in 1887.