Family Limitation

by Margaret Sanger

Fountain Syringe.

Some women use the douche before the sexual act as a preventive. If this is done, any astringent such as boric acid, alum, citric acid, hydro-chlorate of quinine used in the solution will do. Only a pint of solution is needed for this purpose, following the act a larger douche is used as a cleanser. This can also be allowed with the regular antiseptic douche.

THE USE OF THE CONDOM OR "COTS."

There is little doubt that a thorough douching of the genital passage with an antiseptic solution performed by skilled hands immediately after the sexual act would destroy the male sperm, and nothing else would be necessary. But there is always the possibility that the sperm has entered the womb before the solution can reach it.

It is safer therefore to prevent the possibility of the contact of the semen and the ovum, by the interposition of a wall between them. One of the best is the condom or rubber "cot."

These are made of soft tissues which envelope the male organ (penis) completely and serve to catch the semen at the time of the act. In this way the sperm does not enter the vagina.

The condoms are obtainable at all drug stores at various prices. From two dollars a dozen for the skin gut tissues to one fifty a dozen for the rubber tissue. These are seamless, thin and elastic and yet tough; if properly adjusted will not break. Fear of breaking is the main objection to their use. If space has not been allowed for expansion of the penis, at the time the semen is expelled, the tissue is likely to split and the sperm finds its way into the uterus. The woman becomes pregnant without being conscious of it. If on the other hand care is given to the adjustment of the condom, not fitting it too close, it will act as one of the best protectors against both conception and venereal disease. Care must be exercised in withdrawing the penis after the act, not to allow the condom to peel off, thereby allowing the semen to pass into the vagina.

It is desirable to discard the condom after it has been used once. But as this is not always done, care must be taken to wash the condom in an antiseptic solution before drying it and placing it away for further use.

The condom is one of the most commonly known preventatives in the United States. It has another value quite apart from prevention in decreasing the tendency in the male to arrive at the climax in the sexual act before the female.