Principles of forensic medicine.

  • Guy, William A. (William Augustus), 1810-1885.
Date:
1868
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Principles of forensic medicine. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Harvey Cushing/John Hay Whitney Medical Library at Yale University, through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the Harvey Cushing/John Hay Whitney Medical Library at Yale University.

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    urethra beneath the imperforate penis, these persons are called hypospadians. The existence of the testicles in the folds resembling the labia, or in the groin ; the communication of the opening beneath the imperforate penis, or in the perineum, with the bladder; the ab- sence of any organ corresponding to the uterus; and, in the adult, the absence of menstruation,—enable us at once to deter- mine the sex. In most of these cases the build of the body, the muscular development, the tone of voice, the tastes and habits, are more those of a man than of a woman. Nevertheless there are cases in which an enlargement of the breasts, coupled with a preference for the society of the male, might mislead in the ab- sence of a careful examination of the organs of generation. In other instances the sexual passion is absent. Several cases an- swering to this description are on record; and there are pre- parations illustrating these malformations in most of our mu- seums. A case by Mr. W. Loney (' Lancet,' May 7, 1856) is an excellent illustration of this class of malformations. Jane W , a lunatic, twenty-eight years of age, was admitted into the Mac- clesfield workhouse. She excited suspicion by her unwillingness to be washed, and on being examined, she was found to have a penis two inches long, and the same in circumference, placed on the pubes, just above and between the external labia; with a well-defined prepuce, which could be moved at pleasure, causing a slight erection. Just below this was an opening so small as to admit the little finger with difficulty; and a ligamentous band could be felt at about three inches distance from its mouth. The urethra could not be seen, but a catheter was passed into the bladder through this opening. The penis was imperforate. The hair of the head was short and curly, like a man's; the limbs very muscular and hairy; and the voice exceedingly rough and masculine. The mamma? were entirely absent, and there was more hair than usual about the pubes. She had never men- struated. Her taste was so depraved that she would eat old poultices with great delight. She was strong and healthy, and annoyed the young women in the same ward by the display of her amatory propensities. Sometimes the penis, well or ill-formed, is confined to the scrotum by a peculiar formation of the integuments. This mal- formation, with the other deviations from the normal structure just described, occurred in two cases, one a negro, the other a European, of which Cheselden gives engravings; and in the case of a child baptized and brought up as a girl, Mr. Brand by a slight incision liberated the restricted parts, and proved c 2