Part 3 (2/2)
Parturition.--At the end of the period of development, the young being is forcibly expelled from the laboratory of nature in which it has been formed. In other words, it is born; and this process is termed _parturition_. Though, at first thought, such an act would seem an utter impossibility, yet it is a very admirable ill.u.s.tration of nature's adaptation of means to ends. During the months of gestation, while the uterus has been enlarging to accommodate its daily increasing contents, the generative pa.s.sages have also been increasing in size and becoming soft and distensible, so that a seeming impossibility is in due time accomplished without physical damage, though possibly not without intense suffering. However, it is a most gratifying fact that modern medical science may do much to mitigate the pains of childbirth. It is possible, by a proper course of preparation for the expected event, to greatly lessen the suffering usually undergone; and some ladies a.s.sert that they have thus avoided real pain altogether. Although the curse p.r.o.nounced upon the feminine part of the race, in consequence of the sin of Eve, implies suffering in the parturient act, yet there is no doubt that the greater share of the daughters of Eve are, through the perverting and degenerating influences of wrong habits and especially of modern civilization, compelled to suffer many times more than their maternal ancestor. We have sufficient evidence of this in the fact that among barbarian women, who are generally less perverted physically than civilized women, childbirth is regarded with very little apprehension, since it occasions little pain or inconvenience.
The same is true of many women among the lower laboring cla.s.ses. In short, while it is true that more or less suffering must always accompany the parturient act, yet the excessive pain usually attendant upon the process is the result of causes which can in many cases be removed by proper management beforehand and at the time of confinement.
After being relieved of its contents, the uterus and other organs rapidly return to nearly their original size.
Changes in the Child at Birth.--In the system of the child a wonderful change occurs at the moment of its expulsion into the outer world. For the first time, its lungs are filled with air. For the first time they receive the full tide of blood. The whole course of the circulation is changed, and an entirely new process begins. It is surprising in how short a s.p.a.ce of time changes so marvelous can be wrought.
Nursing.--The process of development is not fully complete at birth.
The young life is not yet prepared to support itself; hence, still further provision is necessary for it. It requires prepared food suited to its condition. This is provided by the _mammae_, or b.r.e.a.s.t.s, of the female, which are glands for secreting milk. The fully developed gland is peculiar to the female; but a few instances have been known in which it has been sufficiently developed to become functionally active in men, as well as in young girls, though it is usually inactive even in women until near the close of gestation. It is a curious fact that the b.r.e.a.s.t.s of a new-born child occasionally contain milk.
The first product of the mammae is not the proper milk secretion, but is a yellowish fluid called _colostrum _. The true milk secretion begins two or three days after delivery.
The lacteal secretion is influenced in a very remarkable manner by the mental conditions of the mother. By sudden emotions of grief or anger, it has been known to undergo such changes as to produce in the child a fit of indigestion, vomiting, diarrhea, and even convulsions and death. Any medicine taken by the mother finds its way into the milk, and often affects the delicate system of the infant more than herself.
This fact should be a warning to those nursing mothers who use stimulants. Cases are not uncommon in which delicate infants are kept in a state of intoxication for weeks by the use of alcoholic drinks by the mother. The popular notion that lager-beer, ale, wine, or alcohol in any other form, is in any degree necessary or beneficial to a nursing woman is a great error which cannot be too often noticed and condemned.
Not only is the mother injured, instead of being benefited by such a practice, but great injury, sometimes life-long in its consequences, is inflicted upon the babe at her breast who takes the intoxicating poison at second hand, and is influenced in a fourfold degree from its feebleness and great susceptibility.
ANATOMY OF THE REPRODUCTIVE ORGANS.
Having now considered the functions and somewhat of the structures of the princ.i.p.al organs of reproduction, we may obtain a more definite idea of the relation of the several organs of each cla.s.s by a connected review of the anatomy of the parts.
Male Organs.--As previously stated, the external organs of generation in the male are the _p.e.n.i.s_ and the _t.e.s.t.i.c.l.es_, the latter being contained in a pouch called the _s.c.r.o.t.u.m_. The p.e.n.i.s is the organ of urination as well as copulation. Its structure is cellular, and it contains a vast number of minute coils of blood-vessels which become turgid with blood under the influence of s.e.xual excitement, producing distention and erection of the organ. A ca.n.a.l pa.s.ses through its entire length, called the _urethra_, which conveys both the urine and the seminal fluid. The organ is protected by a loose covering of integument which folds over the end. This fold is called the _foreskin_ or _prepuce_.
The fluid formed by each t.e.s.t.i.c.l.e is conveyed by the _vas deferens_, a curved tube about two feet in length, to the base of the bladder.
Here the vas deferens joins with another duct which communicates with an elongated pouch, the _vesicula seminalis_, which lies close upon the under side of the bladder. The single tube thus formed, the _ejaculatory duct_, conveys the seminal fluid to the urethra, from which it is discharged.
As the production of seminal fluid is more or less constant in man and some animals, while its discharge is intermittent, the vesiculae seminales serve as reservoirs for the fluid, preserving it until required, or allowing it to undergo absorption. Some claim that the zoosperms are matured in these organs. They always contain seminal fluid after the age of p.u.b.erty. During coition, their contents are forcibly expelled by a spasmodic contraction of the muscles which surround them and the ducts leading from them.
The Prostate Gland.--Surrounding the ejaculatory ducts and their openings into the urethra at the base of the bladder is the _prostate gland_, which produces a peculiar secretion which forms a considerable portion of the seminal fluid, being mingled with the secretion of the testes during its e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.i.o.n. This gland sometimes becomes the seat of somewhat serious disease. In old age it usually becomes somewhat indurated, and often to such an extent as to seriously affect the health and comfort of the individual by interference with urination and by occasioning pain.
Anterior to this organ, in the urethra, is a curious little pouch, the _utriculus_, which corresponds to the v.a.g.i.n.a and uterus in the female.
Just in front of the prostate gland are two small bodies known as Cowper's glands. They secrete a fluid which combines with the seminal secretion.
Female Organs.--The _ovaries_, _uterus_, or _womb_, _Fallopian tubes_, and _v.a.g.i.n.a_ have already been described in part. The external organs of the female are included in the term _v.u.l.v.a_ or _pudenda_. The most superficial parts are the _l.a.b.i.a_, two thick folds of integument. Just within these are two thinner folds, the _l.a.b.i.a minora_ or _nymphae_.
These, together with the _c.l.i.toris_, situated just above, are extremely sensitive organs, being the chief seat of s.e.xual sense in the female.
At the lower part is the opening to the v.a.g.i.n.a, which in the virgin is usually partially guarded by a thin membrane, the _hymen_. This is not always a reliable test of virginity, however, as commonly regarded, since it may be destroyed by disease or accident, and may exist even after the occurrence of pregnancy.
The v.a.g.i.n.a extends from the v.u.l.v.a to the lower end of the uterus, which it incloses, pa.s.sing between the bladder and the r.e.c.t.u.m. The lower extremity of the uterus presents a small opening which leads into its interior. Upon either side, at its upper and larger end, is a minute opening, the mouth of the Fallopian tube. The latter organs extend from the uterus outward nearly to the ovaries, toward which they present a number of small filaments, one of which is in contact with each ovary.
These filaments, together with the interior of the tubes, are covered with a peculiar kind of cells, upon which are minute cilia, or hairs, in constant motion. Very curiously, they all move in the same direction, toward the cavity of the uterus. When an ovum escapes from the ovary in connection with menstruation, it is by these delicate hairs propelled along a filament of tissue to the Fallopian tube, and thence by the same means is conveyed to the uterus. It may come in contact with the zoosperms at any point between the ovary and the lower orifice of the uterus, and thus undergo fecundation.
p.u.b.erty.--For a certain period after birth, the s.e.xual organs remain in a partially developed condition. This period varies in duration with different animals; in some cases being very brief, in others, comprising several years. Upon the attainment of a certain age, the individual becomes s.e.xually perfect, and is then capable of the generative act. This period is called p.u.b.erty. In man, p.u.b.erty commonly occurs between the ages of ten and fifteen years, varying considerably in different climates. In this country, and in other countries of about the same lat.i.tude, p.u.b.erty usually occurs at the age of fourteen or fourteen and one-half years in females, and a few months later in males.
In cooler climates, as in Norway and Siberia, the change is delayed to the age of eighteen or nineteen years. In tropical climates it is hastened, occurring as early as nine or ten years. In warm climates it is no uncommon thing for a girl to be a mother at twelve; and it is stated that one of the wives of Mahomet was a mother at ten.
Other causes besides climate tend to hasten the occurrence of this change, as habits, temperament, const.i.tutional tendency, education, and idiosyncrasy.
Habits of vigorous physical exercise tend to delay the access of p.u.b.erty.
<script>