attempted by all kinds of manipulations to cure the sexual
blindness of her husband; but this was a waste of labor, as the
unhappy wretch only regarded the performance as disgusting and
filthy. He was violently excited and became somnambulistic.

Soon afterwards the wife consoled herself with a lover of normal
sexual power, and they both overwhelmed the poor eunuch with
raillery. The latter, becoming furious, offered his wife a cake
poisoned with arsenic on her birthday, but she saw through the
stratagem. The poor wretch was sent for trial and condemned to a
long term of imprisonment for attempted poisoning. I consider
this judgment as a legal crime. In spite of my protests,
imbecility was not admitted, and the somnambulism was looked
upon as simulated.

On the other hand, the same lesions when they occur in the adult
neither destroy the correlative sexual characters, nor the power of
coitus, nor the voluptuous sensation of the orgasm.

In man, _aspermia_ sometimes occurs; the testicles appear to be well
formed, but the semen contains no spermatozoa. In spite of this the
aspermatic individual generally has erections, a certain amount of
sexual power and orgasm, and is capable of amorous feelings, although
his sexual functions are generally feeble. But he is incapable of
fecundating a woman.

Some women who have never menstruated possess normal ovaries and may
become pregnant.

Tuberculosis, tumors and inflammations of the testicles and ovaries
may cause sterility.

The erection of the penis is often rendered impossible by certain
deformities, such as _hypospadias_ and _epispadias_, in which the
urethral canal opens respectively below or above the penis.

Involuntary emissions of semen without erection, with or without
voluptuous sensation, is called _spermatorrhea_. This is often a
result of onanism, nervousness or constipation. Too much importance
has been attached to it. In hypochondriacs spermatorrhea becomes a
bugbear, which often makes them the dupes of charlatans. The less
attention is paid to it the quicker it disappears; especially when it
is of purely nervous origin, as is usually the case.

Phimosis, or narrowness of the opening of the prepuce is nearly always
of embryonic origin. It prevents the glans penis from becoming
exposed, at least during erection. It is a very common condition and
very disagreeable. If the prepuce is forcibly drawn back behind