The hymen : an essay, delivered (by appointment) before the New York Medical Union / by T. Gaillard Thomas.

  • Thomas, T. Gaillard (Theodore Gaillard), 1832-1903.
Date:
[1859]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The hymen : an essay, delivered (by appointment) before the New York Medical Union / by T. Gaillard Thomas. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the National Library of Medicine (U.S.), through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the National Library of Medicine (U.S.)

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    THE HYMEN: /?£. AN ESSAY, DELIVERED (BY APPOINTMENT) BEFORE THE NEW YORK MEDICAL UNION. BY T. GAILLARD THOMAS, M.D. $03 Gentlemen : In the virgin there exists, at the entrance of the vagina, a thin veil, formed by a reduplication of the vaginal mucous membrane, which, while it precludes the entrance of any bulky substance into the canal above, admits in its normal condition of the free passage outwards of uterine and other dis- charges. This delicate membrane, in itself of so little import- ance, that its uses are even now unknown, and that its very existence was for centuries doubted by able anatomists, is, by its associations, and collateral relations, so important to the practitioner of medicine, that I trust you will not regard as in- judicious the choice of the subject of my remarks for this occa- sion. Origin of the term Hymen.—The names which we find by various authors applied to this membrane, are Engion, as sometimes called by old writers; the Flower of Virginity, as styled by others; and Hymen, as designated in the nomen- clature of modern times. The etymology of the last appellation is somewhat uncertain. In the mythology of ancient Greece, a god named Hymen, the offspring of Bacchus and Venus, was supposed to preside over marriage, and it is possible that his name was given to