nche la
difficulte_."

If semen is a stimulant when ingested, it is easy to suppose that it may
exert a similar action on the woman who receives it into the vagina in
normal sexual congress. It is by no means improbable that, as Mattei
argued in 1878, this is actually the case. It is known that the vagina
possesses considerable absorptive power. Thus Coen and Levi, among others,
have shown that if a tampon soaked in a solution of iodine is introduced
into the vagina, iodine will be found in the urine within an hour. And the
same is true of various other substances.[137] If the vagina absorbs drugs
it probably absorbs semen. Toff, of Braila (Roumania), who attaches much
importance to such absorption, considers that it must be analogous to the
ingestion of organic extractives. It is due to this influence, he
believes, that weak and anaemic girls so often become full-blooded and
robust after marriage, and lose their nervous tendencies and shyness.[138]

It is, however, most certainly a mistake to suppose that the beneficial
influence of coitus on women is exclusively, or even mainly, dependent
upon the absorption of semen. This is conclusively demonstrated by the
fact that such beneficial influence is exerted, and in full measure, even
when all precautions have been taken to avoid any contact with the semen.
In so far as _coitus reservatus_ or _interruptus_ may lead to haste or
discomfort which prevents satisfactory orgasm on the part of the woman, it
is without doubt a cause of defective detumescence and incomplete
satisfaction. But if orgasm is complete the beneficial effects of coitus
follow even if there has been no possibility of the absorption of semen.
Even after _coitus interruptus_, if it can be prolonged for a period long
enough for the woman to attain full and complete satisfaction, she is
enabled to experience what she may describe as a feeling of intoxication,
lasting for several hours. It is in the action of the orgasm itself, and
the vascular, secretory, and metabolic activities set up by the psychic
and nervous influence of coitus with a beloved person, that we must seek
the chief key to the effects produced by coitus on women, however these
effects may possibly be still further heightened by the actual absorption
of semen.[139]

The positive action of semen, or rather of the testicular products, has
been much investigated during recent years, and appears on the whole to be
demonstrated. The notable d