the
male. In woman, as in man, the curve of voluptuousness exhibits four
phases: an ascending limb, the equable voluptuous sensation, the acme,
and the rapid decline. There are, however, in this respect, certain
differences between man and woman, to which von Krafft-Ebing drew
attention, and whose existence was confirmed by Otto Alder.[9] Whereas
in the male the curve of voluptuousness both rises and falls with
extreme abruptness, in the female both the onset and the decline of
voluptuous sensation are slower and more gradual. There is an additional
difference between man and woman. In woman very often voluptuous
pleasure is entirely lacking; certainly such absence is far commoner in
women than in men--a condition of affairs which must on no account be
confused with _absence of the sexual impulse_. Even when the sexual
impulse is perfectly normal, the entire voluptuous curve with its acme
may be wanting. In such cases, the after-sense of complete satisfaction,
which occurs more especially when ejaculation has been associated with
an extremity of voluptuous pleasure, it is commonly also lacking.
Finally, it is necessary to add that in woman, as in man, the
reproductive glands appear to have a duplex function--such is, at least,
the belief to which recent investigations more and more definitely
point. The ovaries, that is to say, do not only produce ova; they also,
like the testicles, furnish an internal secretion, and the absorption
and distribution of this secretion by the blood are supposed to cause
the development of the secondary sexual characters in woman.

Having now concluded our account of the structure and functions of the
productive organs of adults, let us turn to consider the differences
between these organs and those of children. In the child, the testicles
are considerably smaller; smaller also are the penis and the other
genital organs. In the adult, the root of the penis is surrounded by the
pubic hair; this hair is absent in the child. The most important
distinctive characteristic, however, lies in the fact that in the child
the morphological elements upon which the capacity for procreation
depends, namely, the spermatozoa, are not yet present in the testicles.
The spermatozoa first make their appearance during that year of life
which is usually regarded as the year of the puberal development. The
microscopical appearances of the testicle, of which an account has
previously been given, thus naturally dif