. Macnaughton-Jones
describes the case of a woman of 32 with normal sexual feelings and fully
developed breasts, clitoris, and labia, but no vagina or internal
genitalia could be detected even under the most thorough examination. In a
case of Bridgman's, again, the womb and ovaries were absent, and the
vagina small, but coitus was not painful, and the voluptuous sensations
were complete and sexual passion was strong. In a case of Cotterill's, the
ovaries and uterus were of minute size and functionless, and the vagina
was absent, but the sexual feelings were normal, and the clitoris
preserved its usual sensibility. Munde had recorded two similar cases, of
which he presents photographs. In all these cases not only was the sexual
impulse present in full degree, but the subjects were feminine in
disposition and of normal womanly conformation; in most cases the external
sexual organs were properly developed.[15]

Fere (_L'Instinct sexuel_, p. 241) has sought to explain away
some of these phenomena, in so far as they may be brought against
the theory that the secretions and excretions of the sexual
glands are the sole source of the sexual impulse. The persistence
of sexual feelings after castration may be due, he argues, to the
presence of the nerves in the cicatrices, just as the amputated
have the illusion that the missing limb is still there. Exactly
the same explanation has since been put forward by Moll,
_Medizinische Klinik_, 1905, Nrs. 12 and 13. In the same way the
presence of sexual feelings after the menopause may be due to
similar irritation determined by degeneration during involution
of the glands. The precocious appearance of the sexual impulse in
childhood he would explain as due to an anomaly of development in
the sexual organs. Fere makes no attempt to explain the presence
of the sexual impulse in the congenital absence of the sexual
glands; here, however, Munde intervenes with the suggestion that
it is possible that in most cases "an infinitesimal trace of
ovary" may exist, and preserve femininity, though insufficient to
produce ovulation or menstruation.

It is proper to mention these ingenious arguments. They are,
however, purely hypothetical, obviously invented to support a
theory. It can scarcely be said that they carry conviction. We
may rather agree with Guinard that so great is the importance of
reproduct