times within an hour and
a quarter; her husband, a much older man, having two orgasms
during this period; the wife admitted that she felt a "complete
wreck" after this, but it is evident that if this case may be
regarded as authentic the orgasms were of extremely slight
intensity. A young woman, newly married to a physically robust
man, once had intercourse with him eight times in two hours,
orgasm occurring each time in both parties. Guttceit (_Dreissig
Jahre Praxis_, vol. ii. p. 311), in Russia, knew many cases in
which young men of twenty-two to twenty-eight had intercourse
more than ten times in one night, though after the fourth time
there is seldom any semen. He had known some men who had
masturbated in early boyhood, and began to consort with women at
fifteen, yet remained sexually vigorous in old age, while he knew
others who began intercourse late and were losing force at forty.
Mantegazza, who knew a man who had intercourse fourteen times in
one day, remarks that the stories of the old Italian novelists
show that twelve times was regarded as a rare exception.
Burchard, Alexander VI's secretary, states that the Florentine
Ambassador's son, in Rome in 1489, "knew a girl seven times in
one hour" (J. Burchard, _Diarium_, ed. Thuasne, vol. i, p. 329).
Olivier, Charlemagne's knight, boasted, according to legend, that
he could show his virile power one hundred times in one night, if
allowed to sleep with the Emperor of Constantinople's daughter;
he was allowed to try, it is said, and succeeded thirty times
(Schultz, _Das Hoefische Leben_, vol. i, p. 581).

It will be seen that whenever the sexual act is repeated
frequently within a short time it is very rarely indeed that the
husband can keep pace with the wife. It is true that the woman's
sexual energy is aroused more slowly and with more difficulty
than the man's, but as it becomes aroused its momentum increases.
The man, whose energy is easily aroused, is easily exhausted; the
woman has often scarcely attained her energy until after the
first orgasm is over. It is sometimes a surprise to a young
husband, happily married, to find that the act of sexual
intercourse which completely satisfies him has only served to
arouse his wife's ardor. Very many women feel that the repetition
of the act several times in succession is