ble of the least voluptuous sensation are as fruitful as those
who have pronounced venereal orgasms. It proves that the spermatozoa
arrive at their goal even when the womb is entirely passive. The great
variation of sexual desire in different individuals renders mutual
adaptation often very difficult. The venereal orgasm is sometimes more
rapid in man, sometimes in woman (more rarely in the latter). This
inequality is rather to the detriment of the woman, for the man can
still satisfy himself when the orgasm of the woman has terminated,
while the contrary is not possible without artificial manipulation.
Moreover, the frequence and intensity of the sexual appetite are often
much greater in one than in the other, which is detrimental to both.
Here again it is the woman who suffers the most, for the man can
always satisfy himself without the woman having voluptuous sensations.
What is commonly called good manners generally prevents the conjoints
from speaking of their sexual desires before marriage. This very often
results in grave deceptions, dissensions, and often even divorce. I
shall return to this subject in Chapter XIV.

Voluptuous sensations only represent the means employed by nature to
bring together the sexes with the object of reproducing the species. A
woman can be fecundated and give birth to a child by the aid of semen
injected into the uterus by a syringe. Moreover, it is rather
exceptional for the venereal orgasm to occur in the two sexes at the
same moment. It is essential for fecundation that the semen should
enter the womb. When the spermatozoa have reached the neighborhood of
the neck of the womb they swim by their own movements, not only along
the whole uterine cavity, but also along the Fallopian tubes and even
in the abdominal cavity, so that the force of ejaculation is of little
importance.

=Pregnancy.=--The womb enlarges considerably during pregnancy. It
exceeds the size of an adult head, and the muscles of its walls are
greatly increased, so as to be capable of expelling the child later
on.

The phenomena of pregnancy, birth and suckling are known to all, so
that I shall be brief. The almost sudden activity of the breasts after
childbirth is a very interesting correlative phenomenon. It suffices
to glance at one who has just become a mother and to observe the
complications which profoundly influence all her organism with regard
to the life of the infant, to comprehend to what extent the role o