en
years, and spontaneously discharged. Barwell mentions a case in which a
gum elastic catheter that had been passed into the vagina for the
purpose of producing abortion became impacted in the pelvis for twenty
months, and was then removed.

Rupture of the Male Urethra.--The male urethra is occasionally ruptured
in violent coitus. Frank and the Philosophical Transactions are among
the older authorities mentioning this accident. In Frank's case there
was hemorrhage from the penis to the extent of five pounds. Colles
mentions a man of thirty-eight, prone to obesity, and who had been
married two months, who said that in sexual congress he had hurt
himself by pushing his penis against the pubic bone, and added that he
had a pain that felt as though something had broken in his organ. The
integuments of the penis became livid and swollen and were extremely
painful. His urine had to be drawn by a catheter, and by the fifth day
his condition was so bad that an incision was made into the tumor, and
pus, blood, urine, and air issued. The patient suffered intense rigors,
his abdomen became tympanitic, and he died. Postmortem examination
revealed the presence of a ruptured urethra.

Watson relates an instance of coitus performed en postillon by a man
while drunk, with rupture of the urethra and fracture of the corpus
spongiosum only. Loughlin mentions a rupture of the corpus spongiosum
during coitus. Frank cites a curious case of hemorrhage from a fall
while the penis was erect. It is not unusual to find ruptured urethrae
following traumatism, and various explanations are given for it in the
standard works on surgery.

Fracture of the Penis.--A peculiar accident to the penis is fracture,
which sometimes occurs in coitus. This accident consists in the
laceration of the corpora cavernosa, followed by extensive
extravasation of blood into the erectile tissue. It has also occurred
from injury inflicted accidentally or maliciously, but always happening
when the organ was erect. An annoying sequel following this accident is
the tendency to curvature in erection, which is sometimes so marked as
to interfere with coitus, and even render the patient permanently
impotent.

There is an account of a laborer of twenty-seven who, in attempting to
micturate with his penis erect, pressed it downward with considerable
force and fractured the corpora cavernosa. Veazie relates a case of
fracture of the corpora cavernosa occurring in coitus. D