Fruits of Philosophy: A Treatise on the Population Question

by Charles Knowlton

A woman being impregnated while she is already impregnated constitutes superfoetation. It is established beyond a doubt that such instances have occurred, yet those who have supposed that it is necessary for the semen to pass through the mouth of the uterus to produce conception have urged that superfoetation could not take place, because, say they—and they say correctly—"so soon as impregnation shall have taken place, the os uteri closes and becomes impervious to the semen ejected in subsequent acts of coition."

Dr. Dewees related two cases, evidently cases of superfoetation, that occurred to his own personal knowledge. The first shows that, agreeable to the old theory, the semen must have met with other difficulties than a closed month of the uterus,—it must have passed through several membranes, as well as the waters surrounding the foetus, to have reached even the uterine extremity of a Fallopian tube. The second case I will give in his own words:

"A white woman, servant to Mr. H., of Abington township, Montgomery county, was delivered about five and twenty years since of twins, one of which was perfectly white, the other perfectly black. When I resided in that neighborhood I was in the habit of seeing them almost daily and also had frequent conversations with Mrs. H. respecting them. She was present at their birth, so that no possible deception could have been practiced respecting them. The white girl is delicate, fair-skinned, light-haired and blue eyed, and is said very much to resemble the mother. The other has all the characteristic marks of the African; short of stature, flat, broad-nosed, thick-lipped, woolly-headed, flat-footed, and projecting heels; she is said to resemble a negro they had on the farm, but with whom the woman would never acknowledge an intimacy; but of this there was no doubt, as both he and the white man, with whom her connection was detected, ran from the neighborhood as soon as it was known the girl was with child."

I am aware that some have thought that they had actually discovered semen in the uterus, while Ruysch, an anatomist of considerable eminence, who flourished at the close of the seventeenth century, asserted in the most unequivocal manner that he found the semen in its gross white state in one of the Fallopian tubes of a woman, who died very soon after, or during the act of coition; but says Dewees, "the semen, after it has escaped from the penis, quickly loses its albuminous appearance and becomes as thin and transparent as water. And we are certain that Ruysch was mistaken. Some alteration in the natural secretion of the parts was mistaken for semen. This was nowise difficult for him to do, as he had a particular theory to support, and more especially as this supposed discovery made so much for it. It is not merely speculative when we say that some change in the natural secretion of the parts may be mistaken for semen, for we have the testimony of Morgani on our side. He tells us he has seen similar appearances in several instances in virgins and others, who have been subject during their lives to leucorrhæ, and that it has been mistaken by some for male semen."

On the whole I would say, that in some instances, where the mouth of the uterus is uncommonly relaxed, the semen may, as it were, accidentally have found its way into it; but that is not generally the case, nor is it essential to impregnation; and further, that whatever semen may at any time be lodged in the uterus, has nothing to do with conception. It is not consistent with analogy to suppose that the uterus has vessels for absorbing the semen and conveying it to the ovaria, considering the other important functions which we know it performs.

The circumstances under which a female is most likely to conceive are, first, when she is in health; second, between the ages of twenty-six and thirty; third, after she has for a season been deprived of those intercourses she had previously enjoyed; fourth, soon after menstruating. Respect-ing this latter circumstance, Dr. Dewees remarks, "Perhaps it is not erring greatly to say, that the woman is liable to conceive at any part of the menstrual interval. It is generally supposed, however, that the most favorable instant is immediately after the catamenia have ceased." Perhaps this is so as a general rule, but it is certainly liable to exceptions,* and he relates the following case which occurred to his own notice:

* This view, which concerns a question of the utmost
practical importance, is held at the present day by the
great physiologists. It is believed that although conception
may occur at other times, it is much more likely to happen
from intercourse a few days before or after the menstrual
periods; that is to say, during the time when ova are in
process of being ripened and detached from the ovaries, and
before they perish and are conveyed out of the body. "There
is good reason to believe," says Dr. Carpenter, "that in the
human female the sexual feeling becomes stronger at the
period of menstruation; and it is quite certain that there
is a greater aptitude for conception immediately before and
after that epoch, than there is at any immediate period.
This question has been made the subject of special inquiry
by M. Raciborski, who affirms that the exceptions to the
rule—that conception occurs immediately before or after or
during menstruation—are not more than six or seven per
cent. Indeed, in his latest work on the subject, he gives
the details of fifteen cases, in which the date of
conception could be accurately fixed, and the time of the
last appearance of the catamenia was also known, and in all
but one of them the correspondence between the periods was
very close."—"Human Physiology," p. 959. So, too, Dr.
Kirkes remarks, that "although conception is not confined to
the periods of menstruation, yet it is more likely to occur
within a few days after cessation of the menstrual flux than
at other times."—"Handbook of Physiology," p. 725.

"The husband of a lady who was obliged to absent himself many months in consequence of the embarrassment of his affairs, returned one night clandestinely, his visit being only known to his wife, his mother, and myself. The consequence of this visit was the impregnation of his wife. The lady was at that time within a week of her menstrual period; but as this did not fail to take place, she was led to hope that she had not suffered by the visit of her husband. But her catamenia not appearing at the next period, gave rise to a fear that she had not escaped! and the birth of a child nine months and thirteen days from the night of the clandestine visit proved her apprehensions too well grounded."

I think this case is an exception to a general rule; and, furthermore, favors an idea which reason and a limited observation, rather than positive knowledge, has led me to advance, the above, namely, that a woman is more likely to conceive, other things being the same, after being deprived for a season of those intercourses she had previously enjoyed. Had this lady's husband remained constantly at home, she would probably either not have conceived at all, or have done so a fortnight sooner than she did.

This case is also remarkable for two other facts: one, "that a woman in perfect health, and pregnant with a healthy child, may exceed the period of nine months by several days; the other, that a check is not always immediately given to the catamenial flow by an ovum being impregnated." Probably it is not so generally so as many suppose.