Precise evidence, however, is, for the most part,
lacking. Men have expended infinite ingenuity in establishing the remote
rhythms of the solar system and the periodicity of comets. They have
disdained to trouble about the simpler task of proving or disproving the
cycles of their own organisms.[117] It is over half a century since
Laycock wrote that "the _scientific_ observation and treatment of disease
are impossible without a knowledge of the mysterious revolutions
continually taking place in the system"; yet the task of summarizing the
whole of our knowledge regarding these "mysterious revolutions" is even
to-day no heavy one. As to the existence of a monthly cycle in the sexual
instincts of men, with a single exception, I am not aware that any attempt
has been made to bring forward definite evidence.[118] A certain interest
and novelty attaches, therefore, to the evidence I am able to produce,
although that evidence will not suffice to settle the question finally.
The great Italian physician, Sanctorius, who was in so many ways the
precursor of our modern methods of physiological research by the means of
instruments of precision, was the first, so far as I am aware, to suggest
a monthly cycle of the organism in men. He had carefully studied the
weight of the body with reference to the amount of excretions, and
believed that a monthly increase in weight to the amount of one or two
pounds occurred in men, followed by a critical discharge of urine, this
crisis being preceded by feelings of heaviness and lassitude.
Pages:
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215