She has a
good appetite, sleeps well, and in no particular shows any sign
of ill health. The uterine examination reveals a short vagina,
and a small, round cervix uteri, rather less in size than the
average, and projecting very slightly into the vaginal canal.
Depth of uterus from os to fundus, two and a quarter inches, is
very nearly normal. No external sign of abnormal ovaries. She is
a well-developed, healthy young woman, performing all her
physiological functions naturally and regularly, except the
single function of menstruation. No vicarious menstruation takes
the place of the natural function, though she has been watched
very closely during the past two years, nor the least periodical
excitement. It is added that, though the clitoris is normal, the
mons veneris is almost destitute of hair, and the labia rather
undeveloped, while, "as far as is known," sexual instincts and
desire are entirely absent. These latter facts, I may add, would
seem to suggest that, in spite of the health of the subject,
there is yet some concealed lack of development of the sexual
system, of congenital character. In a case recorded by Plant
(_Centralblatt fuer Gynaekologie_, No. 9, 1896, summarized in the
_British Medical Journal_, April 4, 1896), in which the internal
sexual organs were almost wholly undeveloped, and menstruation
absent, the labia were similarly undeveloped, and the pubic hair
scanty, while the axillary hair was wholly absent, though that of
the head was long and strong.
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