The causation of sex : a new theory of sex based on clinical materials ; together with chapters on the sex of the unborn child, and on the determination of sex at will / by E. Rumley Dawson.

  • Dawson, E. Rumley (Ernest Rumley), -1918.
Date:
1909
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Licence: Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)

Credit: The causation of sex : a new theory of sex based on clinical materials ; together with chapters on the sex of the unborn child, and on the determination of sex at will / by E. Rumley Dawson. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    2 THE CAUSATION OF SEX opiate of hasty persuasion ; for the answers to most great questions have only been arrived at after much patience combined with persistence and sustained work. It was not, therefore, till some thirteen years after first beginning the study of the Causation of Sex that I ventured, in December 1900, to bring the subject before the Obstetrical Society of London : it is remarkable, but it was the first time that the subject of the Causation of Sex in Mankind had ever been discussed by the Society ! Innovations, however, rankle with many, and, as was to be expected, but little knowledge of the subject was shown, and much of the criticism of the paper was irrelevant and inaccurate. The reception of the paper did not discourage me, and the following eulogistic notice of it from the pen of the then President of the Obstetrical Society, Mr. Alban Doran, F.R.C.S., appeared in vol. xliii. 1901, pp. 49 and 50, of the Society's Transactions : A very remarkable mçnograph on ' The Essential Factor in the Causation of Sex : a New Theory of Sex,' was read in December by Mr. E. Rumley Dawson. This communication was prepared after long study of cases of removal of one ovary, and of families where one sex predominated or prevailed entirely. . . . The boldest theory in this singular monograph was the assertion that the sex of the child depends upon which ovary supplied the ovum fertilised. This paper was strongly criticised in a very active discussion by several obstetrical and gynaecological authorities ; but the author, who showed great dialectical ability both in his written monograph and in his reply to his critics at the meeting, stoutly maintained the scientific value of his views. This memorable discussion on a sex problem—a subject always of interest, though on the borderland of the insoluble —was further remarkable as being the last piece of work done by the Obstetrical Society in the nineteenth century. Having thus led the way, I continued to note and observe, and the gradual collection of facts and cases stimulated me to further efforts, for I found new patients and new cases supplying almost daily fresh points or facts with which to build up and maintain my theory. Each individual fact brought forward in support of my