No question has been more keenly agitated than the ex istence of human hermaphrodites ; and the difficulty of the subject has been greatly increased, by that anxiety with which mankind conceal their nakedness ; and, by an unjust abhorrence entertained against whatever seems beyond the standard of ordinary configuration. The Jews, for exam ple, have a long catalogue of denunciations against persons labouring under disease or infirmity, natural or accidental ; and even in the islands which we ourselves inhabit, mon strous productions of animals are almost invariably destroy ed, as also those of mankind, where it can be effected with safety. But the vehemence of civil institutions seems to have been more conspicuously directed against those un fortunate beings known to labour under malformation of what they really are, when a string of laws compiled with so much accuracy, and in such a formal manner, has been ex hibited and increased in all ages?" Yet rational enactments, founded on experience, are by no means void of utility ; for observance of the law may prevent contention in all the mazes of doubt. Thus M. Ferrein, a modern physician, acquaints us, that he was consulted by the relatives of a young nobleman, labouring under a dubious conformation, who, if a male, as was commonly believed by them, would inherit a considerable estate, to which he could have no right if belonging to the other sex. Having afterwards occasion to illustrate the case, we shall not here anticipate the result. The 'subject of succession is doubtless fit for regulation, and consequently must frequently be determin ed by the predominance of sex. Happily the absurd penal laws, directed against this portion of our fellow creatures, are obsolete among us.
We shall now proceed to the opinions of recent philoso phers and naturalists, which afford more copious sources of knowledge and entertainment. These are widely dif ferent from what were received of old, and most of the moderns incline to a different opinion : they doubt whether there is any well authenticated instance of a person having been seen with the organs of both sexes complete.
The origin of sex is in itself a dark and mysterious sub ject. That of no living animal can be distinctly recognised at an early period of existence ; and some naturalists affirm, that there is reason to believe that the organization is such as to admit the evolution of the parts of the embryo, dis tinguishing either male or female ; and that this evolution takes place during some period of gestation. Thus Acker mann adopts the principle, that in omni individuo latent utriusgue sexus genitalia, a modo dictis dependet circum stantiis an bees an ilia evolvi et increscere debeant. The cause of evolution, however, if we rightly understand the author, will scarcely be admitted by naturalists ; for he seems to ascribe it to matter of which the presence can only be presumed ; Discrimen yuod a sexu est non absolu tum sed ad ceteras panes respectivum dici debet. &cut Petits vel ex materiel plasticx excessu vel ex oxygenii abun dantia, coaluit, et firout in prima uterince vita epocna in la ms incrementum vires agunt extraneee, da jam vii jam femi na nascitur. Sir Everard Home also appears to consider "the ovum, previous to impregnation, to have no distinc tion of sex, but to be so formed as to be equally fitted to become a male or female fcetus." On descending to the insect tribes, we find an intermediate kind between the two sexes, in those called neuters, incapable of generation. But certain naturalists have shewn, by ingenious experi ments, that among bees, where this distinction is most prominent, the imperfection may be removed by a parti cular sort of food early supplied, and the sexual organs of females amply unfolded.
Leaving the subject of proper hermaphrodites, or those with the combined sexual organs entire, and capable of performing the generative functions, we shall now give some account of the three classes into which hermaphro dites may be divided. First, individuals exhibiting a mix ture of.the sexual organs, neither being complete ; se condly, men labouring under a malformation of the parts ; and, thirdly, females with analogous imperfections, by en largement or defect. Examples of the first are extremely rare. Such perhaps is a case mentioned in Dr Baillie's Morbid Anatomy, where the person was 24 years of age, and examined as a patient of Nottingham hospital ; and such perhaps was an androgynous child, which is the sub ject of discussion by Ackermann. Another instance is re lated in the Journal de Medicine, of a person who was long considered a woman, treated as such in society, and who was either married or lived in concubinage with a man. At the same time, others may consider all these as more strict ly belonging to the class of males with malformation. The androgynous child of which we speak was born at Alentz in June 1803. Its singularity of structure was supposed indicative of the masculine gender by those present, and it was baptised as such. I laving died at the age of five or six weeks, Ackermann, who had previously inspected the external conlig-uration, obtained an opportunity of dissec tion, though the organs had declined along with the decay of the body during sickness. He found an intermixture of the sexual distinctions, removing the infant from a per fect male or female ; the glans imperforate, scrotal labia, an uterine sac, and other doubtful indications, of which he has given an ample detail, illustrated by engravings ; and at the same time lie expresses his conviction of the andro gynous nature of the subject.
A remarkable case came under the notice of some of the most learned continental physicians in the preceding cen tury, respecting Michel Ann Drouart, a native of Paris, born about the year 1734. This individual was baptized, treated, and dressed as a girl, but having attained the age of 16, a report was circulated of her being a hermaphrodite, which led to a minute inspection by M. Moraud, who has presented us both with the result in detail, and several en gravings. He found the external configuration partly masculine, partly feminine, but the former predominated. It corresponded to the age of the person, whereas the fe male characteristics belonged to a period of childhood, or early adolescence. An organ denoting virility appeared, but the urethra was absent ; neither could he determine the exact point of a deep fissure, occupying the scite of the scrotum, into which the urine was discharged ; and other medical men were equally unsuccessful. The breast was quite flat, and it al ways remained so ; the person had the gesture, step, and voice of a youth, some rudiments of a beard on the upper lip, and a decided propensity fpr fe males. Yet, "says M. Moraud," there was a strange inter mixture of the sexes in all respects ; for the bason was more enlarged ; and in comparing the two thighs together, one resembled that of a male, and the other that of a female." From these and concomitant circumstances, he formed an opinion that the subject was a male. Michel having left
Paris some time after, underwent another inspection by M. Cruger, principal surgeon to the King of Denmark, who was induced, on the other hand, to consider the female character predominant ; but he concludes, on the whole, that in strict definition the subject was neither male nor female. At the age of 21, some Genevese physicians had an opportunity of making their observations. The princi pal organ now exceeded the ordinary human dimensions in every respect ; a thin black beard, nearly such as a young man of that age should have, appeared ; and the breast and stature were completely those of the same sex. But now the propensities for males were supplanted by those formerly entertained ; for at the age of 17, those evacua tions characterising females of the human species had commenced, but experienced many irregularities and inter ruptions; and in 1761, had ceased for nearly three quar ters of a year. Cotemporary observers were then inclined to depart from M. Moraud's sentiments, and to believe that there was a predominance of the female sex. Howe ver, some of the most recent authors, and those who have studied the subject most profoundly, seem to rank Michel Ann Drouart with hermaphrodites, exhibiting an inter mixture of the sexual organs. M. Ferrein found the ap pearances in the more youthful subject above alluded to, completely the same as in the preceding individual in the es sential parts. The whole external mien, intimately resent bled that of girls at twelve years of age ; the breast was quite flat, and the voice rather masculine. The external sexual organ, which would have indicated a male, was much smaller, though of the same structure as before ; those of the female were somewhat misplaced, but the po sition of the urethra could be easily ascertained. Enough was disclosed, to induce M. Fermin to declare, that this young nobleman was in fact a female, and would conse quently be deprived of the expected inheritance. If his opinion be correct, the present case should be removed to the third class of persons designed hermaphrodites, though, from the doubts of the learned respecting the former, we are induced still to retain it here. It is not the structure of the sexual parts which is alone to be taken into view, hut the total organization combined. The personal con figuration, the habit of the body, the presence of a beard, the quality of the voice, propensities and dispositions, and other characteristics, added to'any uncommon structure of these parts, shew that some of the male and female proper ties are confounded together. At an early period of gestation, human females are frequently mistaken for males ; and hence an erroneous opinion has prevailed, of abortions at certain stages being more commonly of males. Many such foetuses have been exhibited by Dr Parsons and others in illustration of the fact : and M. Ferreira concludes his observations on the preceding case with words of the fol lowing purport : ec It' to constitute a hermaphrodites where in the sexes are combined, it is necessary to have the dis tinctive character of the male united to the female parts, there never was any woman who has not been a male during several months of her existence. In the earlier stages of pregnancy, that distinctive organ is prominent, and fashion ed very nearly after the manner of males, so that those un skilful in anatomy, may suppose the embryo a male, though truly a female ; nor on narrow inspection is the difference easily ascertained." The possibility of a complete du plication of the male and female organs is questioned, from there being no place in the human body which they could occupy, or wherein they could be contained. The same difficulty does not occur to us, and perhaps it can only be admitted where all the other parts, independent of them, are meant to be exactly of the natural structure and pro portions. If so intimate a resemblance prevails in the sex ual parts of the male and female embryo, something of an intermediate kind may be produced, should the position and developement of either be deranged ; and thus exhibit an intermixture of sex ; or, as we have some times wit nessed, a complete duplication of some essential organ, as the head, hands, or feet, the like may happen to other parts. Among animals, very extraordinary instances have occur red of some decidedly males, to external appearance, ne vertheless possessing female properties, such as the power of secreting milk. This faculty, indeed, is said in rare examples to reside in the nipples on the breast of men, the use of which is yet unknown by anatomists. A bull, which is repotted to have generated five calves, had a small ud der and small teats, which afforded a quantity of milk that on one occasion is said to have amounted to an English pint. In the Philosophical Transactions also, there is preserved an account of two wedders giving suck to lambs. Yet we cannot be too scrupulous in admitting such wonderful de viations• from the course of nature. At the same time it must be recollected, that the rudiments of the mamma exist in all the males of mankind and quadrupeds ; and that before the age of puberty in the former, and when the the powers of procreation cease, there is a more intimate resemblance bet weenthe sexes than at ether periods. Nor is it to i be omitted, that emasculation p °duces a decided approximation to the feminine character. But, in prose euting the intermixture of sexes in animals, an example is generally given in the free martin, on which the late ce lebrated Mr John Hunter observes—" When a cow brings forth two calves, and one of them a bull calf and the other to appearance a cow, the cow calf is unfit for propagation, but the bull calf becomes a very proper bull. This cow calf is called in this country a free martin." Mr Hunter, on dissection, found such an intermixture of organization, that the animal always partakes of the nature of both sex es, though that of the one is sometimes more predominant than that of the other. Its external aspect is also different from the appearance of each, and it never betrays any sex ual propensities. The muscular texture and the voice are peculiar, and the size is considerably larger than that of either bull or cow. Apparently there is much analogy be tween the free martin and an emasculated animal. Mr Hun ter observes, that he has frequently seen hermaphrodite hor ses ; that he dissected a hermaphrodite ass ; and that sheep of this description are also to be found. The dissection of a hermaphrodite dog is given by Sir Everard Home in the Philosophical Transactions for 1799, where there was only one characteristic of the female decidedly present. How ever, there appear several reasons to conclude, that some of the animals quoted as undoubted hermaphrodites, ought rather to be classed with females labouring under vicious conformation. The intermixture of the masculine organs is not sufficiently prominent.