Safe Marriage | Page 8

the reproductive organs of man and
woman.
Now fertilisation does not necessarily occur whenever the male organ
comes in contact with the female organ. Fertilisation occurs only when
a male-cell (spermatazoon) unites with a female-cell (ovum); in other
words, when the spermatazoa in the seminal fluid of a man meet and
unite with the germ or ovum in the body of a woman. That is the
beginning of the child. This union of the two cells need not take place
during or immediately after sexual intercourse. It may occur many
hours, or even two or three weeks, after connection, because the
spermatazoa have motion of their own. They are tiny threadlike bodies,
which may work their way towards the ovum long after they have left
the body of the man and been placed in the body of the woman, and the
uterus has a searching movement, and may by its pulsations draw the
spermatazoa upwards. For these reasons a woman cannot be quite sure
of the exact time of fertilisation, and hence cannot predict exactly the
date of the child-birth. Generally the pregnancy lasts nine months, but
it may last longer--say ten months on rare occasions; and it may be
extended apparently by a delay in fertilisation.
PREVENTION OF CONCEPTION.
For many reasons which I need not enumerate here, the precautions
against impregnation can most easily and effectively be taken by the
woman, rather than by the man. She is the one fertilised, and therefore

she is the one to guard herself against fertilisation.
There are two methods of preventing fertilisation:--
(1) The chemical method, that is, the destruction of the male cells
(spermatazoa) by means of a suitable germicidal substance, such as
many of the disinfectants; and
(2) The mechanical method, that is, the adoption of measures which
keep the male and the female cells apart from one another.
[Illustration: INNER SIDE OF THIGH.
DIAGRAM 1.--Female organs of generation in normal condition. This
shows diagrammatically the position of the organs if a woman were cut
in two between the thighs. The rubber pessary is shown in position,
slightly distending upper end of vagina (or front passage), and covering
the opening into interior of womb. A suppository introduced
beforehand will dissolve and occupy the dotted space above rubber
pessary, forming a pool around the mouth of the womb. The walls of
the vagina are elastic and collapsible. Infection with gonorrhoea may
occur in the female urethra (or water passage) or in the vagina, etc.
Syphilis may infect internal and external parts of female organs; also
breasts, mouth, tongue, etc., and other openings of the body.]
Neither of these two methods in practical application by ordinary
women can be said to be completely certain. Both are apt to fail at
times. The chemical method, that is, the application by the woman of a
suitable soluble contraceptive suppository before connection, or of a
germicidal douche (such as a dilute solution of lysol) after connection,
or both these measures taken consecutively, may fail because of some
fault in application, or because the seminal fluid actually enters the
womb during intercourse; that is to say, when emission takes place, the
end of the male organ may be exactly opposite and close to the mouth
of the womb, and the spermatazoa in the seminal fluid enter directly
into the womb, and cannot then be removed or destroyed by douching
or contraceptives of any kind. Now if the physical conformation of the
reproductive organs of the husband and the wife render this event

possible or probable, then soluble suppositories and contraceptive
douching are alike unreliable, by themselves or in combination. On the
other hand, the mechanical method, that is, the use of a rubber protector,
preferably the spiral-spring occlusive[G] "Dutch" pessary, by the
woman may also fail, because the protector is porous or ill-fitting.
But--_if the two methods are combined, the chemical method and the
mechanical method, then the protection against fertilisation may be
regarded as almost absolute_. The completeness of the protection
depends, of course, upon the proper application and combination of the
measures advised.
[Footnote G: Judging by certain original letters (dated December, 1888,
to November, 1892), which I have seen myself, by the courtesy of
Messrs. E. Lambert & Son, of 60, Queen's Road, Dalston, London, E.8,
the rubber spring pessary was first suggested here by an English doctor,
and manufactured for him by Mr. E. Lambert Sen. Under date
December 23rd, 1888, the doctor wrote:--
"I think highly of the watch-spring rim. There will be very little fear of
conception with one of these new pessaries properly adjusted, as the
rim will press equally all round. The inflated pessary would be the most
perfect, however, if you could only contrive some method to prevent
escape of air and consequent flattening. Such a pessary would