It has been observed, that among wild pheasants, a hen sometimes appears with the feathers of a cock ; yet, on dissection, the female organs are found complete. Mr Hunter conceives, that this is a change which ensues at a certain age, and subsequent to the cessation of the pro creative faculties ; and he traces the history of three, where the alteration took place. But on descending still lower among the animal tribes, we find a multitude of beings apparently possessing the absolute character of hermaphrodism. Many of the mollusea contain individually the perfect organs belonging to either sex, not by acciden tal admixture or malformation, but by regular, natural arrangement. A sexual union takes place ; all impreg nate, and are impregnated ; and this ensues by a singular and interesting oistrioution of the parts. Such is the case with many of the mollusca, or soft bodied animals with external organs, and those in general included under the order Helminthology. There call be no generation, how ever, without their mutual concourse ; but in the animal eula some seem perfect hermaphrodites, in so far as they propagate in an isolated state, while in others the sexual union seems requisite. In the numerous genus of polypi, the young animal protrudes from the side of the mother, and in its turn becomes a parent in the same way, while no union with another sex follows ; or, as in the actinia, the yourig are formed within, and then discharged by the mouth. The subject of hermaphrodism may be still farther illustrated by a series of experiments which have recently been made on an extraordinary race of animals, bearing some analogy to the leech and snail, called planarix. In one species, the sexual union takes place, and the result is eggs including young. In ano ther, this union is never observed, but a portion of the tail separates by spontaneous division. It remains a shape less mass, and absolutely quiescent, until the, evolution of wanting organs enables it to perform all the functions of the parent. Having remained a certain time complete, this new animal loses a fragment of the tail, to become ano ther perfect being ; and thus their race is carried on. These creatures, therefore, seem to possess such struc ture as to enable each individual to reproduce its like.
Instances of mixed organs are of very rare occurrence in the human race. The most uncommon kind of con figurations, indeed, arc those which pass by the name of bermaphrodism. The older authors, nevertheless, on find ing any monstrosities or imperfections in the sexual parts, immediately pronounced the individual a hermaphrodite ; but as they were constantly in search of the marvellous, we must repose the less confidence in their observations. Nay, the moderns have, in some cases, too hastily be stowed this character ; and we arc told of an instance whi-re," the fore parts of the unhappy object were en tirely wanting ; even the bladder was not entire. It had the appearance as if the external parts of generation, and the anterior part of the bladder, had been cut off. Yet this unhappy object was vulgarly called a herma phrodite." The malformations of men are more frequently seen, and constitute the second class of hermaphrodites. Mr Brand relates, that being consulted in 1779, on occasion of some complaint in the groin of a child seven years of age, he found a vicious structure of the sexual organs, con sisting of the unnatural presence of an integument con lining the parts. This child had been baptized and brought
up as a girl ; but it was evident to him erroneously, for the male organs were present. By a slight incision of the integument, he liberated the restricted parts, and proved, to the great admiration of the parents, that they had mis taken a boy for a girl. The operator narrates these facts in a pamphlet, accompanied by three engravings, as large as life, of the appearances before and after the operation. \Vrisberg, a German anatomist, in discussing a case of malformation, quotes an instance of a child probably la bouring under a similar restriction. The parents, who were Jews, entertained so much doubt regarding the sex of their offspring, that they had deferred the accustomed rite of circumcision, until it should be determined whether it was actually a boy or a girl. But it died at the age of eight months. The same author mentions, that he re moved a lesser restriction in a young man ; and speaks of another person aged 46, reputed a hermaphrodite, who would not consent to undergo an operation, which, per haps, would easily have determined his sex. His wife, to whom he had been married five years, then obtained a divorce against him, on account of impotency. An ex ample of a mistake in sex, under more doubtful circum stances, is given by Abraham Kauu Boerhaave, a mem ber of the Petersburgh Academy of Sciences. The child of a trumpeter was baptized Charlotte, and for some time brought up and treated as a girl. But the parents af terwards entertained some doubts regarding its real sex, and at the age of seven resorted to skilful persons to establish the truth. Instead of being a girl, as had been supposed, it was declared to be a boy. Sex, however, is much more doubtful, though the predominance of or ganization indicates the male, where the scrotum is ab sent, with a fissure in the perineum, or a misdirection of the urethra. In the Transactions of the Academy of Siena, a person, named Augustine Broli, is described as being reputed a hermaphrodite, and having so little of the male, configuration, that he doubted whether he ought to marry. On consulting Dr Caluri, however, he was assured be might do so with safety. If the descrip tion be correct, procreation was impossible. Persons have been mistakenly educated and employed as of a sex to which they did not belong. This was the case with a young man, who was brought up and dressed as a woman, yet, after he died, he was found to be essentially a man. Caspar Bauhin, likewise, speaks of a servant hired by a peasant, who being viewed with remarkable favour by his wife, led to an unexpected discovery of sex, under a tnalformation. An instance of doubtful sex, though more probably referrible to the third class, is quoted by Acker mann, in the case of Dorothea Derrier. Here opposite opinions were entertained by three medical men, Hufeland, Mursinna, and Stark, from the sexual formation conjoined with the general character of the whole body. The mal formation of the male seems to be much more uncom mon in animals, or perhaps it has attracted less attention.