Ploss and Bartels mention that among the peasants
in some parts of Germany, where it is believed that impregnation is
impossible during menstruation, coitus at that time would be frequent were
it not thought dangerous for the man.[113] It has also been a common
belief both in ancient and modern times that coitus during menstruation
engenders monsters.[114]
Notwithstanding all the obstacles that are thus placed in the way of
coitus during menstruation, there is nevertheless good reason to believe
that the first coitus very frequently takes place at this point of least
psychic resistance. When still a student I was struck by the occurrence of
cases in which seduction took place during the menstrual flow, though at
that time they seemed to me inexplicable, except as evidencing brutality
on the part of the seducer. Negrier,[115] in the lying-in wards of the
Hotel-Dieu at Angers, constantly found that the women from the country who
came there pregnant as the result of a single coitus had been impregnated
at or near the menstrual epoch, more especially when the period coincided
with a feast-day, as St. John's Day or Christmas.
Whatever doubt may exist as to the most frequent state of the sexual
emotions during the period of menstruation, there can be no doubt whatever
that immediately before and immediately after, very commonly at both
times,--this varying slightly in different women,--there is usually a
marked heightening of actual desire.
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