, has long been recognized. Thus in the seventeenth
century Zacchia discussed whether such a practice is legitimate
(_Zacchiae Quaestionum Opus_, ed. of 1688, lib. vii, tit. iii,
quaest. VI). In modern times it is occasionally practiced, without
any theory, and is always appreciated by the woman, while it
appears to have no bad effect on the man. In such a case it will
happen that the act of coitus may last for an hour and a quarter
or even longer, the maximum of the woman's pleasure not being
reached until three-quarters of an hour have passed; during this
period the woman will experience orgasm some four or five times,
the man only at the end. It may occasionally happen that a little
later the woman again experiences desire, and intercourse begins
afresh in the same way. But after that she is satisfied, and
there is no recurrence of desire.

It may be desirable at this point to refer briefly to the chief
variations in the method of effecting coitus in their
relationship to the art of love and the attainment of adequate
and satisfying detumescence.

The primary and essential characteristic of the specifically
human method of coitus is the fact that it takes place face to
face. The fact that in what is usually considered the typically
normal method of coitus the woman lies supine and the man above
her is secondary. Psychically, this front-to-front attitude
represents a great advance over the quadrupedal method. The two
partners reveal to each other the most important, the most
beautiful, the most expressive sides of themselves, and thus
multiply the mutual pleasure and harmony of the intimate act of
union. Moreover, this face-to-face attitude possesses a great
significance, in the fact that it is the outward sign that the
human couple has outgrown the animal sexual attitude of the
hunter seizing his prey in the act of flight, and content to
enjoy it in that attitude, from behind. The human male may be
said to retain the same attitude, but the female has turned
round; she has faced her partner and approached him, and so
symbolizes her deliberate consent to the act of union.

The human variations in the exercise of coitus, both individual
and national, are, however, extremely numerous. "To be quite
frank," says Fuerbringer (Senator and Kaminer, _Health and Disease
in R