It is,
however, scarcely fair to lay any great stress on the characters of curves
obtained from such scanty data, and we will, therefore, pass to the
continuous curve, the study of which will prove more valuable.[381]
Now, even a cursory examination of this continuous curve will yield the
following results:--
1. The discharges occur most frequently on the second lunar day.
2. The days of the next most frequent discharges are the 22d; the 13th;
the 7th, 20th, and 26th; the 11th and 16th; so that, if we regard only the
first six of these, we find that the discharges occur most frequently on
the 2d, 7th, 13th, 20th, 22d, and 26th lunar days--i.e., the discharges
occur most frequently on days separated, on the average, by four-day
intervals; but actually the period between the 20th and 22d days is that
characterized by the most frequent discharges.
3. The days of minimum of discharge are the 1st, 5th, 15th, 18th, and
21st.
4. The curve is characterized by a continual see-sawing; so that every
notable maximum is immediately followed by a notable minimum. Thus, the
curve is of an entirely different character from that representing the
monthly rhythm of the pulse,[382] and this is only what one might have
expected; for, whereas the _mean_ pulsations vary only very slightly from
day to day,--thus giving rise to a gradually rising or sinking curve,--a
discharge from the sexual system relieves the tension by exhausting the
stored-up secretion, and is necessarily followed by some days of rest and
inactivity.
Pages:
521
522
523
524
525
526
527
528
529
530
531
532
533
534
535
536
537
538
539
540
541
542
543
544
545