Part 2

_Q._ XV. ‘Can Hermaphrodites succeed in Copyholds? _Ans._ In the Affirmative, if more Male than Female. Others: though that Sex does not predominate by the Appearance of the Pudenda, yet if they seem, in other Works of Manhood, as Agility of Body, to be equal to Men, they may succeed in such Inheritance; for that they who resemble perfect Persons ought not to be accounted altogether imperfect, because that Imperfection is concealed, but Perfection is evident and manifest, therefore to be chosen. Others: that the Laws granting Feudes to the descending Males, do not include Hermaphrodites. Another: If, from Custom, Women cannot succeed in a Feude or Copyhold, so an Hermaphrodite cannot; which is to be understood of those only in whom the female Sex is most apparent; where such Hermaphrodites, who are more Female, are compared to Females, and those more masculine to Men, therefore the Law is to be determined accordingly.

_Q._ XVI. ‘How should an Hermaphrodite serve in any Office? _Ans._ In whatsoever Manner they best can themselves, and not by a Substitute, _&c._’

_Q._ XVII. ‘Can Hermaphrodites chuse, on their Parts, any one of their Brothers to succeed them? _Ans._ They may gratis, but not for Gratification, _&c._

‘Whosoever would know more of the Laws concerning Hermaphrodites, may consult the Doctors and Expounders of the Law; these being sufficient concerning them.’

We have not even in our own Kingdom been free from the same prejudiced Care, in providing Laws against them; for as we had borrowed many from other Nations, and added them to our own, so we find one among them concerning Hermaphrodites, mentioned by _Coke_[21] in his Commentary upon _Littleton_, where he speaks of them thus[22]:

‘Every Heir is either a Male, or Female, or an Hermaphrodite, that is, both Male and Female. And an Hermaphrodite, which is also called an Androgynus, shall be Heir, either as Male or Female, according to that Kind of the Sex which doth prevail, and accordingly ought to be baptized.’

Would not any one imagine that these supposed Androgyni, instead of being of the same Nature with us, (however morbid or deformed their Parts of Generation might be) were rather another Race of Animals _sui generis_, than what they really are? when a String of Laws, compiled with so much Accuracy, and in such a formal Manner, concerning them, has been exhibited and increased in all Ages; and is it not Matter of great surprize, to think that none had ever undertaken to convince the World of the Superstition and Vanity of such Laws? since those that were already in force, in all Nations, were as sufficient to bind a morbid Subject in all Cases, as a sound one; which alone is the Question here.

Though the World was lead on to credit and countenance those Whims till _Cicero_’s Time, and supposing none were found able or willing to set People right in this Opinion before him; yet we may, with great Assurance, ask, why the Learned since him should neglect the Hint given by that wise Man in his Book _De Divinatione_, where we find him making a Banter of several Superstitions then in Vogue with the _Romans_; among which he does not forget to enumerate the _Androgyni_[23]. ‘_Quid cum Cumis Apollo sudavit, capuæ victoria? Quid ortus Androgyni? nonne fatale quoddam Monstrum fuit?_’ Sure this, as well as any other Matter, worth the Notice of that noble Author, ought well to bespeak the Attention and Consideration of the whole World after him.

Several _Jewish_ Rabbins, and most of the _Hebrews_ before them, were of Opinion, that _Adam_ was first made an _Androgynus_[24], on the fore Part a Male, and behind a Female; that these were afterwards separated, and the female Part called _Eve_. This was their Manner of explaining those Passages of the Old Testament, ‘Male and Female created he them;’ and again, ‘Thou hast formed me behind and before:’ These Opinions gave Birth to many others afterwards, as well among the Pagan Philosophers, as among many Christian Divines; some of whom, in the Time of Pope _Innocent_ the Third were so far Followers of the Rabbins, that they thought the Sexes in _Adam_ would never have been divided if he had not sinned; which was granting that _Adam_ was created an Hermaphrodite, and that the two Sexes were taken asunder afterwards. Others[25] of these believed so firmly that Hermaphrodites existed, that they took Pains to confute the above Opinion, only fearing lest such should assume to themselves to have been the first human Creatures made, from the Words above-mentioned, ‘God created Man Male and Female, _&c._’ and consequently the most worthy.

From all these Things we see how little it is to be wondered at, that the Majority of the World should be thus riveted in their Notions of Hermaphrodites, since it appears, that Doctors of the _Jewish_, _Pagan_, and Christian Churches have been Promoters of them from Time to Time, by Doubts and Sentiments in themselves so trivial, as not to deserve any Credit from an impartial and judicious Reader.

Credulities of this Nature, though upon the most insignificant and ill-grounded Assertions, generally make great Progress in the Minds of Men and are sometimes so deeply rooted, that the Vicissitudes of many Ages have not been sufficient to open Mens Eyes, or make them sollicitous for the Truth. Of this Sort was the Notion of Witches in the World; for it is plain from Record, that many poor Women were condemned to the Flames or Gallows by the greatest Sages in the Law; and the Sentences against them were so arbitrary as never to be mitigated, but hurled them to Destruction without the least Regret or Pity from the Witnesses of such Barbarity; and yet how easy would it have been to discern (if Men gave themselves the Liberty to reflect a little upon the Nature of the Thing) that no Guilt, nor any such preternatural Knowledge as was said to center in them, could proceed from those ignorant simple People, that were always the Subjects of this Cruelty.

Thus it often fared with our reputed Hermaphrodites, who have been banished, tormented, abused, and employed in such Offices as were in themselves severe; cut off from the common Privileges and Freedoms enjoyed by the Publick wheresoever they have been; yea, and put to Death in an inhuman and pityless Manner. But the Disgrace which hangs over human Nature, from Mens harbouring such strange Notions of one another, is almost as bad; and more especially so, when several who are ranked among Men of Science shall espouse these Chimeras, or at least confess a Doubt concerning the Thing: So that it is not to be wondered at, if the weak-minded and injudicious should be impressed with a Belief of Reports of this Kind, and thereby lose all Humanity towards such Objects; and no wonder modest Ears should be grated with the Stories of such Creatures, since they are more frequently exposed to vast Numbers of the indiscreet Part of the World, than to Men of Knowledge and Decency.

Since this is the Case, and since Authors, of no little Account among the Learned, have taken great Pains to confirm the Certainty of the Existence of Hermaphrodites in human Nature, and, at the same Time, differ so much from each other concerning them; it could not but be very well worth while to attempt finding the Truth of what, I so much mistrusted, was asserted without any just Foundation, and what I could not but esteem a Scandal thrown upon the whole Race of Mankind; and therefore, upon seeing the Fœtus whose Description, with an Observation upon all female Fœtus’s, concludes the following Pages, I was the more encouraged to read upon and consider the Subject; and finding myself unable to reconcile the Accounts of Authors to Truth, and the Nature of Hermaphroditism to the Physiology of human Bodies, I was still the more eager to endeavour at being satisfactory to others as well as myself, about what has been so long a Riddle.

The Arrival of the _Angolan_ Woman in Town encouraged this Undertaking, both from the Belief of the Vulgar concerning her, and the Sentiments of others, who would allow her no Sex but the Masculine; which rendered it not an unseasonable Time to make a further Progress in this Essay towards reducing the Matter to a Certainty, which (however deficient) I hope, will be in some Measure acceptable to all Lovers of Truth in Natural History.

_BOOKS printed for_ J. WALTHOE.

Dr FREIND’s History of PHYSICK, from the Time of _Galen_, to the Beginning of the Sixteenth Century; chiefly with regard to Practice. In a Discourse written to Dr _Mead_. The _Third Edition_, in 2 Vols. 8vo.

R. WELSTED, M. D. _de Medicina Mentis_.

_Commentarium Nosologicum Morbos Epidemicos & Aëris Variationes in Urbe ~Eboracensi~ per sedecim Annos grassantes complectens._ _Autore_ CLIFTONO WINTRINGHAM, M. D.

An EXPERIMENTAL ENQUIRY on some Parts of the ANIMAL STRUCTURE. By CLIFTON WINTRINGHAM, jun.

T. LUCRETIUS CARUS of the Nature of Things. Translated into English Verse by THOMAS CREECH, _M. A._ The Sixth Edition. Illustrated with Notes, making a complete System of the Epicurean Philosophy, 2 Vols. 8vo.

A NEW METHOD OF IMPROVING Cold, Wet, and Barren LANDS, particularly Clayey Grounds.

_This Treatise contains, 1. The best Methods of draining wet Lands, either arising from their Situation or Springs. 2. Directions for burning Turf, Mole-hills, and Clay, for the Improvement of such Lands. 3. The many Advantages that arise from boggy Grounds by turning them into Plantations, according to the Nature of the Soil, and Situation of the Place. 4. Directions for making of Fishponds and Ditches for feeding or breeding Fish, and carrying off the Water. 5. The Method of burning barren Land in North-Britain. 6. How to ascertain the Value of Hilly Grounds, a Thing extremely useful to Landlord and Tenant. 7. Directions for making Gardens in Clayey Grounds, and a certain Method of improving Fruit-Trees. The Whole illustrated with Eight Copper-Plates, exhibiting the Figures of the Instruments necessary for such Improvements._ Price sewed 2 _s._ and 6 _d._

Observations on the different _Strata_ of _Earths_ and _Minerals_. By JOHN STRACHEY, Esq; _F. R. S._ Price 1 _s._

A

MECHANICAL and CRITICAL

ENQUIRY

Into the NATURE

OF

Hermaphrodites.

CHAP. I.

_Reasons against the Existence of an Hermaphrodital Nature in human Bodies._

An Hermaphrodite is an Animal, in which the two Sexes, Male and Female, ought to appear to be each distinct and perfect, as well with regard to the Structure proper to either, as to the Power of exercising the necessary Offices and Functions of those Parts. This Definition naturally arises from the very Term, and therefore, whatsoever is so accounted, and fails of answering these Characters in the most minute Particular, should be consider’d in another light, and indeed call’d by some other Name.

It would be an Injury to Truth to deny the Existence of an Hermaphrodital Nature, to all the animal World in general; but however, I am inclin’d to believe it is only proper to some Reptiles, and but a few of these; for among the several Tribes of larger Animals, whether of the Air, Earth, or Waters, there seldom are any, of late Years, to whom this double Nature is ascribed, but those of the Human; with how little Truth or Reason, even to these, I hope to make appear hereafter.

Whatever the Necessity might be for the Creation of certain of the Reptiles of this Nature, such as the Garden shell’d Snail, and the large Earth-worm, both of which are certainly so, which I can affirm from my own Knowledge, having often drawn both these asunder when in Coition, and observ’d them; as well as from so good Testimony, as Mr _Bradley_ in his Philosophical Account of the Works of Nature[26], where he has several curious Observations on these Animals, and a Figure of the Parts of Generation of a Snail, done as they appeared in a Microscope. As also from a Book intitled, _Spectacle de la Nature_, which is no less to be regarded than the former, both for Truth and Accuracy. I say, whatever may be the Cause of this, there does not appear in Reason the least occasion for it in larger Animals. As to the former, if we may attempt to guess at a Reason for their being thus created, it may perhaps not be amiss to surmise as follows, _viz._ We know these are very slow Creatures in their Motions, and consequently their Congress is the more seldom; and besides they are subject to so many destroying Accidents, that if the female Properties were but in one, it would hardly be sufficient to preserve their Species; hence it is that at the same Access they both beget, and bear in a reciprocal Manner. However, one Observation worthy of note is, that though they have a Capacity of both ways of engendering, it must be remark’d, that it is at the same Instant both are executed, and not successively or by Choice, being incapable of neglecting either to chuse the other. Besides, we find they are all so, through their whole Class; which to them is the same strict Law of Nature, that it is to other Animals to possess but a single Sex. Nor can this Law be ever violated in them, by any Means whatsoever, any more than that Law of Nature predominant in us should digress from what it always was, or be alter’d by any new Decree of the Divine Will, whose Decrees are already fix’d and unchangeable; our single Natures being sufficient to preserve the human Race, in a successive Series, and their double one being no more; which alone was the Purpose of such Formations in all animal Beings, and no other. But no such Restraints attend larger Animals, and therefore no such Nature is at all necessary in them; however, tho’ all others are limited to certain Seasons, as to their generative Capacities, it is very strange that no Appearance has ever been had of two Sexes in any one upon Dissection, (though many have been supposed of a double Nature) but the human; who have no limits set to their Powers of procreating, and who on all accounts seem to have the least need of any thing of the Kind.

If it be objected that it happens not to human Nature through any Necessity, but only from a Lusus of Nature; I answer, that no such Lusus can happen, and it will be very evident, if we only reflect a little upon the Nature of Generation, which will be more amply treated of in another Place; however, one Principle will be sufficient to our Purpose here, which is, that the Rudiments or Parts of all Animals whatsoever are already form’d in the Ovum[27], and that nothing can be produced by the Males, but a Juice capable of giving Motion, Explication, and Extension to those Parts, and that since we know the common Standard of Nature in human Bodies is, that there should be but one Sex in one Body, it is impossible that there should be the least Imperfection in the Rudiments of any one of the Ova, since they were implanted in Females from the Beginning of Time, by the Almighty _Fiat_, and were under the Restriction of that Law, that every Day’s Experience confirms to us is certain; for if there was not so absolute a Law, with respect to the being of only one Sex in one Body, we might then, indeed, expect to find every Day many preposterous Digressions from our present Standard. That there are certain Limits set to the Things of Generation appears no where better than when Animals of different Species meet and copulate; the Animal that is the Product of such a Congress is in no wise capable of producing an Off-spring like itself, to this there is an absolute _ne plus ultra_, and why? Because, indeed, if such were capable of Generation, we should, by degrees, have a new set of Heterogenous Animals upon Earth. But it is plain, it never was the Design of the Almighty, since every Species of Animals are the same now that they ever were, and we must, from this Argument, expect no other while time subsists. And indeed, were we to have regard to the Notions of some of the Ancients concerning Generation, as, that the Male and Female Semina meeting form’d a Child of either Sex, according to the Predominance of the Strength or Quantity of either Semen, and if both were equal in Quantity and Quality, a Child of both Sexes was begotten, I say, were we to have regard to this, we might still be liable to be borne away by this Hypothesis, as Authors have been hitherto, which would inevitably seduce us to believe, that there are Hermaphrodites in human Nature. And therefore, whensoever the Parts of both Sexes are seen distinct in any Subject, they are not in the same, but in different Bodies preternaturally join’d, and coalesced together in the Uterus, by Compression, Heat, Inflammation, or some other such Accident; of this there lately was an Example in Town at _Charing-Cross_, which had the Heads separate, and the Sexes appearing considerable Distance from each other. But who, with the least Propriety, can call these an Hermaphrodite, each Body having it’s peculiar Sex, and being morbid in their Conjunction.

The Notions that sprung up in the World concerning this Matter were (no doubt) first taken from Appearances that sometimes have happen’d of an extraordinary Elongation in the Clitorides of Females; the first Idea conceiv’d from thence must have been that of a Penis, and the Appearance of a Vulva join’d to it raised an Opinion of both Sexes in the same Body; hence proceeded the Invention of a proper Name for the surprising Unity of both Sexes; and hence, the Fictions of Poets, which the Learned are well acquainted with. It will not be very difficult to account in some Measure, for the rise of such erroneous Imaginations, if we only consider how ignorant the World was in former Ages of the animal Structure, and even of those that understood ought of it, how few there were, who (from the Obscurity of the Clitoris in Females in a natural State) knew that any such Part existed: It is therefore not much to be wonder’d at, that at the first Sight of a large Clitoris, divers odd Conjectures should arise, and supply the Fancy of those unskill’d in a due Knowledge of the Part, with Matter sufficient for the Erection of new Doctrine.

An Opinion of any kind, when once on foot, is a Law to Posterity, till repealed by the Doubts and Scrutinies of the Learned and Curious. Doubt is the only Path to Truth; for by this we examine, search, and discern Truth from Error; natural History affords Examples enough of Falshoods copy’d and handed down from Age to Age, through the whole Class of Writers, who never doubted each other, and consequently were never able to know the Truth of Things, upon which many Volumes have been wrote; and it is matter of no small surprise, that Authors never were able to take the least hint from the Practice of the People of some of the _Asiatick_, as well as the _African_ Nations, concerning these large Clitorides; for as in both these Parts of the World, the Women have them most commonly very long, and the People knowing that the Length of them produces two Evils, _viz._ the hindering the Coitus, and Womens abuse of them with each other, wisely cut or burn them off while Girls are young, and at the same time never entertain the least Notion of the Existence of any other Nature besides the Female in those Subjects who are thus depriv’d of that useless Part.

This Knowledge is not confin’d to Men of Science alone amongst the _Egyptians_ and _Ethiopians_, nor indeed amongst the _Asiaticks_; for every Parent knows when the Child has this part longer than ordinary, and performs the Operation at a proper Time; which De Graaff seems very much to approve[28]: ‘_And the Excision of this Part is as necessary as it is decent to those Eastern People._’—Which was also perform’d and taught, by several of the ancient Physicians[29], as particularly as any other Operation whatsoever; and yet even in our own Days, we find some Anatomists of Repute confessing a double Nature, and a Mixture of Sexes in the same Body, and others calling the Labia pudendi a divided Scrotum, and fancying Urine and Semen to pass thro’ the Clitoris. But it is observable, that where there is a perfect Penis and Scrotum found in a Child, there is never the least Sign of any Part proper to a Female annexed to it; but that, on the contrary, whatsoever Subject is said to be an Hermaphrodite has the _Feminine_ Parts in Perfection, and no Penis nor Scrotum, nor, according to _De Graaf_’s Dissection, any Organ serving to their Nutrition, Action, Accretion, or any other Function, but only the Clitoris (common to all Women) somewhat larger than Ordinary, which will fully appear when we come to speak of him.

There are many Authors who have given Histories of Women that have been detected in the Abuse of such large Clitorides, calling them Τριβας, Confricatrices, and the like, the Recital of one from _Tulpius_[30] may not be amiss, who after relating some Passages transacted by one of these and a certain Widow, makes this Reflection, ‘Though the Clitoris for the most Part lies hid, yet several have it so large, that they are thought by the Ignorant to be transformed into Men; but that this (whose History he writes) was in all respects a perfect Woman, having only the Clitoris half a Finger’s Length.’ And since this worthy Author has given us this Story so suitable to our present Purpose, it will not be unseasonable in this Place, to take some Notice of a Memoir in the Transactions of the _Royal Society_, presented by one Dr _Thomas Allen_[31], the Subject of which he calls an uncommon Lusus, and says, ‘This Hermaphrodite is not to be reckon’d amongst the Τριβαδες of the _Greeks_, nor to be equal’d by any Description yet extant.’ These Τριβαδες were no more than Women with Clitorides larger than ordinary. Such of them as are so may be capable, perhaps, of that Action from whence the Name arose, whether they perform it or not; and by considering the Sequel of this History, we shall find the Subject he describes to be no other than a very Woman, such as _Tulpius_ has given the History of. He says, ‘at six Years of Age, the Child playing and wrestling with her fellow Children, there appeared two Tumours like Hernias, but they proved Testicles, differing from those of a Man only in this, that each had its own distinct Scrotum; but in such a Manner, that the Production of both form’d the Labia of the Vulva.’

Our Author, after arming our Imaginations with an Expectation of something very extraordinary proceeds to describe a true Female Child, only he would allow her a Pair of Testes, but instantly owns the Scrota of these form’d the Labia. It would have been altogether as well to have said at once, the Labia were thicker than ordinary, for he could not positively say they were Testes without the Dissection of them, which was out of his Power, since we find him tracing her History to a more advanced Age. But further, he proceeds thus:

‘In the Sinus, or Fissura Magna, the Nymphæ and Carunculæ myrtiformes appear’d entire, and half the Vulva was cover’d with a thin Membrane from the Perinæum; and there was no Appearance of a Clitoris; the Uterus and its Neck were exactly like those of a Female.’