He believes, however, that we may
accept a monthly cycle in men. "We may," he concludes, "regard
the human being--both male and female--as the subject of a
monthly pulsation which begins with the beginning of life, and
continues till death," menstruation being regarded as a function
accidentally ingrafted upon this primordial rhythm.
It is not unreasonable to argue that the possibility of such a
menstrual cycle is increased, if we can believe that in women,
also, the menstrual cycle persists even when its outward
manifestations no longer occur. Aetius said that menstrual
changes take place during gestation; in more modern times, Buffon
was of the same opinion. Laycock also maintained that menstrual
changes take place during pregnancy (_Nervous Diseases of Women_,
p. 47). Fliess considers that it is certainly incorrect to assert
that the menstrual process is arrested during pregnancy, and he
refers to the frequency of monthly epistaxis and other nasal
symptoms throughout this period (W. Fliess, _Beziehungen zwischen
Nase und Geschlechts-Organen_, pp. 44 et seq.). Beard, who
attaches importance to the persistence of a cyclical period in
gestation, calls it the muffled striking of the clock. Harry
Campbell (_Causation of Disease_, p. 54) has found
post-climacteric menstrual rhythm in a fair sprinkling of cases
up to the age of sixty.
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