Buffon's Natural History. Volume 04 (of 10) / Containing a Theory of the Earth, a General History of Man, of the Brute Creation, and of Vegetables, Minerals, &c. &c

by comte de Georges Louis Leclerc Buffon

Of the irreparable injury done to their health by venereal indulgences, young persons can never be sufficiently warned. How many cease to be men, or who at least cease to enjoy the faculty of manhood, before the age of thirty? And how many at fifteen, or eighteen, have received the infection of a disease, which is not only in itself disgraceful, but often incurable.

It has already been observed, that at the age of puberty, the growth usually ceases. It often happens, however, that in the course of a tedious illness, the body increases more in length, than would have been the case in a state of perfect health. This is probably occasioned by the external organs of generation remaining without action during that period. The organic nutriment, having no irritation to determine it to those parts, does not reach them; and the want of this irritation is owing to an imbecility and lassitude of the parts, which prevent the secretion of the seminal fluid. As the organic particles, therefore, remain in the mass of blood, the extremities of the bones are necessarily enlarged, nearly in the same manner as those of eunuchs. Thus young people, on their recovery from along course of sickness, are frequently taller, but worst shaped, than formerly. Some, for instance, become crooked-backed, others crook-legged; and this, because the still ductile extremities of the bones have been necessarily extended by the superfluity of the organic particles, whose only office, in a state of health, would have been the formation of the seminal fluid.

To produce children is the object of marriage, though this object is sometimes frustrated. Among the different causes of sterility there are some alike common to men and women; but as in men they are more apparent, to men they are more commonly attributed. In both sexes, sterility is occasioned either by an inherent defect in the conformation of the organs, or by accidental injuries to the organs themselves. Among men, the most essential imperfections in the conformation are those which affect the testicles, or those parts called the erectores penis. The false direction of the urethra, which is sometimes not only oblique, but badly perforated, is another obstacle to generation; as is the adherence of the prepuce to the bridle, which may, however, be corrected. In women, the conformation of the matrix may likewise be imperfect; and the perpetual closure or expansion of the orifice of the matrix, are defects which are alike repugnant to generation. But the most frequent cause of sterility, both in men and women, is the corruption of the seminal liquid in the testes; for if the secretion, by which the semen be formed, is vitiated, the fluid must be incapable of impregnation; in which case, though the organs may have every appearance of being properly qualified for it, there will be no procreation; but these causes have no external appearance.

In cases of sterility, different means have been employed to discover whether the defect was to be imputed to the man or the woman. Of these, inspection is the chief; and indeed, if the sterility be occasioned by an external fault in the conformation, this is sufficient. But if the defect is in the internal organs, it is almost impossible to discover or remove it. There are men, to all appearance well formed, who want the genuine sign of a proper conformation; and others who have it in so slight a degree as to make the mark of virility extremely equivocal. This is the most animal part of the human frame, and is constantly under the influence of instinct, and not governed by that of the mind. Many young persons of the purest ideas have been subjected to the liveliest sensations, though ignorant of pleasure, or the cause, and others remain cold and languid notwithstanding the efforts of imagination.

When sterility does not arise from any defect in external conformation, it more frequently proceeds from the women than the men; for, besides the injurious effects of the fluor albus, I conceive there is another material cause. In the course of my experiments, as related in the preceding volume, I observed there were small protuberances in the female testicles which I called glandular bodies; they originate under the membrane of the testicle, in a short time begin to swell, and then opening, a fluid issues therefrom; from this time they begin to decay, and having disappeared, they are immediately succeeded by others, from which the testicles are constantly undergoing a kind of alteration; and I am inclined to think, that if any circumstance takes place to interrupt the necessary exercise of the vessels, the seminal liquor will become corrupt, and sterility also will follow.

Sometimes conception precedes puberty. Numbers of women have become mothers before the smallest appearance of the menstrua: and some to whom this evacuation was never known have brought forth children. Instances of this occur in our own climate, without travelling for them to Brazil; where whole nations, we are told, are perpetuated without any woman being subject to the menstrual discharge; an evident proof, that it is not the substance of this discharge, but the seminal liquid of male and female which are essentially necessary to generation. It is also known that the cessation of the menses, which generally happens about the age of forty or fifty, does not always disqualify women from conceiving, and that some women have really become pregnant at the age of sixty or seventy. These examples, however frequent, may be considered as exceptions to the general rule; but they are sufficient to convince us that the menstrual blood is by no means the constituent principle of generation.

In the ordinary course of Nature women do not conceive before the menses appear, nor after they have ceased. The age at which men first acquire the powers of procreation is less distinctly marked. His body must obtain a certain degree of growth, before the seminal fluid can be produced; and before it can be formed and perfected, that growth must become still greater. This usually happens between the age of twelve and eighteen; but the period at which the procreative faculty of man ceases, Nature seems to have left undetermined. At sixty or seventy, when age begins to enfeeble the body, the seminal fluid is less copious, and often unprolific; yet there are many instances of men still continuing to procreate at the age of eighty or ninety.

There also are examples of boys who have propagated at eight, nine, and ten years; and of girls who have conceived at seven, eight, and nine. But such facts are exceedingly rare, and ought to be classed as singular phenomena. The external sign of virility appears in infancy, but that is not sufficient; in order to accomplish the act of generation, there must be a previous production of semen; and this is never effected till the growth of the body is nearly finished. At first the quantity is very small, and for the most part unfruitful.