s he was, however, long
previously anticipated by Fabricius ab Aquapendente.) The fanciful
suggestion of Louis Robinson that the pubic hair has developed in order to
enable the human infant to cling securely to his mother is very poorly
supported by facts, and has not met with acceptance. It may be mentioned
that (as stated by Ploss and Bartels) the women of the Bismarck
Archipelago, whose pubic hair is very abundant, use it as a kind of
handkerchief on which to clean their hands.

[84] Routh and Heywood Smith have noted that the pubic hair tends to lose
its curliness and become straight in women who masturbate. (_British
Gynaecological Journal_, February, 1887, p. 505.)

[85] Schurig, _Muliebria_, p. 75. Plazzon in 1621 said that in Italian it
had a popular name, _il besneegio_.

[86] Schurig brought together in his _Gynaecologia_ (pp. 2-4) various early
opinions concerning the clitoris as the seat of voluptuous feeling.

[87] Hyrtl, _Op. cit._, vol. ii, p. 193.

[88] Adler, _Die Mangelhafte Geschlechtsempfindung des Weibes_, 1904, pp.
117-119.

[89] The voluptuous sensations caused by sexual contacts producing
movements of the womb are probably normal and usual. They may even occur
under circumstances unconnected with sexual emotion, and Munde
(_International Journal of Surgery_, March, 1893) mentions incidentally
that in one case while titillating the cervix with a sound the woman very
plainly showed voluptuous manifestations.

[90] Henle stated that fine hairs are frequently visible on the nymphae;
Stieda (_Zeitschrift fuer Morphologie_, 1902, p. 458) remarks that he has
never been able to see them with the naked eye.

[91] R.L. Dickinson, "Hypertrophies of the Labia Minora and Their
Significance," _American Gynaecologist_, September, 1902. It is perhaps
noteworthy that Bergh found that in 302 cases in which the nymphae were of
unequal length, in all but 24 the left was longer.

[92] It may be remarked that Bergh believes that the nymphae, and indeed
the external genitals generally, are congenitally more strongly developed
in libidinous persons, and at the same time in brunettes, while in public
prostitutes this is not usually the case, which confirms the belief that
exalted sexual sensibility does not usually lead to prostitution. He adds
that prostitution, unless carried on for many years, has little effect on
the shape of the external genitals.

[93] Schurig (_Muliebria_, 1729, Section II, cap. II) giv