After completely satisfactory
detumescence she may experience a feeling as of intoxication, lasting for
several hours, an intoxication that is followed by no evil reaction.
Such, so far as our present vague and imperfect knowledge extends, are the
main features in the process of detumescence. In the future, without
doubt, we shall learn to know more precisely a process which has been so
supremely important in the life of man and of his ancestors.
FOOTNOTES:
[98] The elements furnished by the sense of touch in sexual selection have
been discussed in the first section of the previous volume of these
_Studies_.
[99] See Appendix A. "The Origins of the Kiss," in the previous volume.
[100] See, e.g., Art. "Erection," by Retterer, in Richet's _Dictionnaire
de Physiologie_, vol. v.
[101] Guibaut, _Traite Clinique des Maladies des Femmes_, p. 242. Adler
discusses the sexual secretions in women and their significance, _Die
Mangelhafte Geschlechtsempfindung des Weibes_, pp. 19-26.
[102] In some parts of the world this is further aided by artificial
means. Thus it is stated by Riedel (as quoted by Ploss and Bartels) that
in the Gorong Archipelago the bridegroom, before the first coitus, anoints
the bride's pudenda with an ointment containing opium, musk, etc.
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