Hermaphrodite

“ Hermaphrodites, or Fricatrices, nor was it ever known, and it is impossible, that a Woman should be transformed into a Man. But a Male Child at it’s Birth being thought a Female, as was said before, when his Parts begin to come out which lay hid, may, indeed, become a Man.’
Hence it is plain, that our Author would make Use of the Word Hermaphrodite, not as crediting such an Existence, as it expresses, in human Nature; but as thinking it a Term fit only to serve him in his Explication of some of the Diseases of the Parts of Generation. ”

“ The fifth Sort are call'd perfect Hermaphrodites, because they are incapable of using either of the Sexes; but some Persons fancy there are a sort of Hermaphrodites which can make use of both Sexes, and Engender both ways, though this is easily confuted, when we consider that one of the privy Parts of an Hermaphrodite is generally useless, as being contrary to the Laws of Nature, and what confusion would it be, to find in one and the same Person a Man's and Woman's Testicles, a Womb and a Penis? ”

“ These are the several Sorts of Hermaphrodites, mentioned by Monsieur Venette; and the four first of them, tho' they have the Name, yet Nature has not refus'd them the Advantage to make use of their Genital Parts, and to Engender as others. The Male Hermaphrodite may get Children, and the Female conceive; so that neither the one nor the other differ from Men or Women, but only by a superfluity or a deficiency of Parts, and such as does not disturb the business of Generation. ”

“ This Division of Hermaphrodites differs in some measure from that of Manardus and Laurentius, but is of as little account as either. This first Part of it declares a perfect Male, which he owns to be capable of Procreation; and because he finds (or supposes) an accidental Mark like a Slit or Hole in the Perinæum, he makes this Male an Hermaphrodite in an instant, though at the same time he confesses the Hole to be always superficial, as not at all penetrating into any Part of the Body, and that neither Urine nor Seed can pass thro’ it. ”

“ Now as the Fœtus increases in a natural Way, the neighbouring Parts of the Pudenda grow more in Proportion than the Clitoris, drawing away the Integuments, whereby it becomes by Degrees less conspicuous; but when it continues it’s Growth, together with the [148] rest, maintaining it’s first proportional Size, the Person is reported to be an Hermaphrodite; the natural Structure of this Part being in a great Measure like that of a Penis virilis. ”

“ Hermaphrodite, hėr-maf′rod-īt, n. an animal or a plant in which the two sexual characteristics are united: an abnormal individual in whom are united the properties of both sexes.—adj. uniting the distinctions of both sexes.—ns. Hermaph′rodism, Hermaph′roditism, the union of the two sexes in one body.—adjs. Hermaphrodit′ic, -al, pertaining to a hermaphrodite: partaking of both sexes.—Hermaphrodite brig, a brig square-rigged forward and schooner-rigged aft. [L.,—Gr. Hermaphrodītos, the son of Hermēs and Aphroditē, who, when bathing, grew together with the nymph Salmacis into one person.] ”

“ Agreeable to the list mention'd Opinion, some Naturalists will have it, that an Hermaphrodite, which is very vigorous as to both Sexes, may Engender within himself, without the Company of another Person, having Matter to form a Child, a Place to conceive it, and proper Liquid for Nourishment: In the same manner as Jack Hares engender once in their Lives, and that Stags do the same, which is maintain'd by the learned Langius: But these Generations are both impossible and ridiculous, the Naturalists must certainly be deceiv'd, in taking some Parts of the Female for the Testicles of the Male ”

“ On the other hand, when all three hermaphrodites coexist, and pollen is carried from one to the other, the scheme is perfect; there is no waste of pollen and no false co-adaptation. In short, nature has ordained a most complex marriage-arrangement, namely a triple union between three hermaphrodites,—each hermaphrodite being in its female organ quite distinct from the other two hermaphrodites and partially distinct in its male organs, and each furnished with two sets of males. ”

“ We have said that two kinds of cells represent reproduction, namely, sperm and germ-cells. These may be furnished by different individuals, or both may be found in one. When both are found in the same individual, the parent is said to be a natural hermaphrodite. A perfect hermaphrodite possesses the attributes of both male and female—uniting both sexes in one individual. Natural hermaphroditic reproduction occurs only among inferior classes of animals, and naturalists inform us that there are a greater number of these than of the more perfect varieties. ”

“ And an Hermaphrodite, which is also called an Androgynus, shall be Heir, either as Male or Female, according to that Kind of the Sex which doth prevail, and accordingly ought to be baptized.’
Would not any one imagine that these supposed Androgyni, instead of being of the same Nature with us, (however morbid or deformed their Parts of Generation might be) were rather another Race of Animals sui generis, than what they really are? when a String of Laws, compiled with so much Accuracy, and in such a formal Manner, concerning them, has been exhibited and increased in all Ages ”

“ Hence it is plain that the Causes assign’d by our Author for the Production of this double nature in human Bodies, can produce no such Effect; for the World is by this time assur’d, that the Mechanism of Generation is otherwise carry’d on, and that no animal Being whatsoever is generated in the Manner laid down by our Author and his Predecessors, therefore no Hermaphrodite can be the Effect of such a Scheme of Generation. ”

“ We thus see hermaphrodite ants with one half of the body male and the other half female—black on one side and red on the other, a large eye on one side and a small eye on the other, thirteen joints in one antenna and twelve in the other, and so on. In this case the mental faculties are sometimes female, sometimes male, according as the ecphoria of the brain is influenced by the hereditary mneme of the male or female part of the hermaphrodite sexual organs, which results in a male or female brain. ”

“ Although the existence of Hermaphrodites and Males within the limits of the same species, is a new fact amongst animals, it is far from rare in the Vegetable Kingdom: the male flowers, moreover, are sometimes in a rudimentary condition compared to the hermaphrodite flowers, exactly in the same manner as are the male Iblas. If the final cause of the existence of these Complemental Males be asked, no certain answer can be given; the vesiculæ seminales in the hermaphrodite of Ibla quadrivalvis, appeared to be of small diameter ”

“ A Person that is bold and sprightly, having a strong Voice, much Hair on the Body, particularly on the Chin and privy Parts, with the rest of such Signs as discover Manhood, are certain Demonstrations that the Hermaphrodite has the privy Parts of a Man in a more predominant manner than those of the other Sex ”

“ Shall we, for Example, sit down with some Authors, and say, that Hares [2] are always of both Sexes; that the Rhinoceros [3] is always Male; that the Vulture [4] is always Female; that of all Animals [5] , Goats, Sheep, Horses, Men, and Hares, are most liable to become Hermaphrodites? ”

“ And indeed, were we to have regard to the Notions of some of the Ancients concerning Generation, as, that the Male and Female Semina meeting form’d a Child of either Sex, according to the Predominance of the Strength or Quantity of either Semen, and if both were equal in Quantity and Quality, a Child of both [8] Sexes was begotten, I say, were we to have regard to this, we might still be liable to be borne away by this Hypothesis, as Authors have been hitherto, which would inevitably seduce us to believe, that there are Hermaphrodites in human Nature. ”

“ But it is observable, that where there is a perfect Penis and Scrotum found in a Child, there is never the least Sign of any Part proper to a Female annexed to it; but that, on the contrary, whatsoever Subject is said to be an Hermaphrodite has the Feminine Parts in Perfection, and no Penis nor Scrotum, nor, according to De Graaf’s Dissection, any Organ serving to their Nutrition, Action, Accretion, or any other Function, but only the Clitoris (common to all Women) somewhat larger than Ordinary, which will fully appear when we come to speak of him. ”

“ With this peculiar transition generation, which has arisen in the lower stages asexually, and in the following higher stages by the union of a male and a female cell, and which hence is hermaphrodite, there are generally associated later two other single generations—viz., a generation preceding and one following the hermaphrodite, the former as a sex-producing generation, the other as a sex-produced generation. ”

“ The hermaphrodite was thus, according to the Greeks, a female with male genitals. Because modern usage has diverted the term "hermaphrodite" to a different signification, the word "androgyne" has come into use to denote an individual with male genitals, but whose physical structure otherwise, whose psychical constitution, and vita sexualis approach the female type. ”

“ There are some human beings—variants—who possess hermaphrodite characteristics, usually combining the more or less completely developed organs of one sex with the rudimentary organs of the opposite sex.
These hermaphrodite characters are not without their significance—namely, the innate bisexuality of man. While in the normal person, the attributes of one sex are dominant, there are always present in latent form some evidences of the opposite sex. ”

“ This may be a sufficient Caution to young Gentlemen not to be too hasty in their Marriages, lest, in a vigorous Consummation with a very youthful Partner, the imaginary Female should at once appear an Hermaphrodite. ”

“ All female Fœtus’s, during the greatest Part of the Time of Gestation, have the Clitoris as large in Proportion to their [147] Sizes, and sometimes larger, than the Angolan Woman before-mentioned, which is evident from several then shewed together to the Society; this, I am inclined to believe, is Nature’s common Rule all over the World. Now it is impossible that so many Hermaphrodites should be found at once, since we have so very few Instances among the European Nations of those so reputed ”

“ We have noticed the many instances of tiny complemental males, in connection with hermaphrodite forms, which, as Darwin states, must have arisen from the advantage ensuring cross-fertilisation in the females who harbour them. Even among hermaphrodite slugs we find very definite evidence of the advance of love; and in certain species an elaborate process of courtship, taking the form of slow and beautiful movements, precedes the act of reproduction. ”

“ But we are, according this Hypothesis, at a terrible Loss to know (if the Males had no seminal Matter) how a Female could be produced, tho’ the latter were never so well stored with such female seminal Matter; because, the former being without it, there could be no consummate Coitus, and consequently no Female; so that, to sum up this Opinion, we must conclude, if both contribute, Hermaphrodites must ensue; if the Males only, Males must only be born; but if Males have nothing to emit, neither Male nor Female could [57] be begotten, and Generation must drop by Degrees. ”

“ A monstrosity recalling the cloacal arrangement of the bird is met with as a more extreme defect in the same parts.
Hermaphroditism.—Although this anomalous condition does not fall under defective closure in the middle line, it may be said to be due to a similar failure of purpose, or to an uncertainty in the nisus formativus at a corresponding stage of development. Strictly speaking, a hermaphrodite is a creature containing ovaries and testes—the essential organs of each sex. ”

“ All the individuals being alike, it seems probable that they have been derived from one sex, and the general nature of hermaphroditism deduced above may lead us to suppose that that sex was originally male, the female having been suppressed. In certain Cirripedia, e.g. most species of Scalpellum, there exist, besides the hermaphrodite individuals, complemental males, so that here a superficial conclusion might be drawn that the hermaphrodites represent the female sex. ”

“ There is little doubt that it was once common to all organisms, an intermediate stage in the sex-progress, after the differentiation of the sexes had been accomplished.
Hermaphroditism must be regarded as a temporary or transitional form. [40] It is found persisting in various degrees in many species—snails, earth-worms, and leeches, for example, can act alternately as what we call male and female. Other animals are hermaphrodite in their young stages, though the sexes are separate in adult [77] life, as, for example, tadpoles, where the bisexuality of youth sometimes linger into adult life. ”

“ Hermaphrodites are beings with malformations of the sexual organs, simulating a double sex. Physiologists do not admit, however, the existence of true hermaphrodites with double perfect organs, capable of performing the functions of both sexes. ”

“ It is to be much fear’d, something absurd must be the Consequence; for allowing that Hypothesis held and receiv’d by Hypocrates, Galen, and many of the Learned that followed them, that the Fœtus is always form’d of both these Semina mingled together, it must follow, from the Notion held by Empedocles, that no other than a Child of [56] two Sexes could be produced, and consequently the entire Race of Mankind must have been Hermaphrodites, since it was necessary both should contribute something, in order to consummate the Act of Generation. ”

“ In the human species true hermaphroditism is a very rare occurrence, whereas apparent hermaphroditism, the so-called pseudo-hermaphroditism, is comparatively frequent. The sexual life of pseudo-hermaphrodites has in some instances been very carefully studied, more especially with reference to the relationship of pseudo-hermaphroditism to the direction of the sexual impulse. ”