It may be doubted, however, whether there is any
satisfactory and reliable anaphrodisiac. Charcot, indeed, it is
said, used to declare that the only anaphrodisiac in which he had
any confidence was that used by the uncle of Heloise in the case
of Abelard. "_Cela_ (he would add with a grim smile) _tranche la
difficulte_."
If semen is a stimulant when ingested, it is easy to suppose that it may
exert a similar action on the woman who receives it into the vagina in
normal sexual congress. It is by no means improbable that, as Mattei
argued in 1878, this is actually the case. It is known that the vagina
possesses considerable absorptive power. Thus Coen and Levi, among others,
have shown that if a tampon soaked in a solution of iodine is introduced
into the vagina, iodine will be found in the urine within an hour. And the
same is true of various other substances.[137] If the vagina absorbs drugs
it probably absorbs semen. Toff, of Braila (Roumania), who attaches much
importance to such absorption, considers that it must be analogous to the
ingestion of organic extractives. It is due to this influence, he
believes, that weak and anaemic girls so often become full-blooded and
robust after marriage, and lose their nervous tendencies and shyness.
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