Sex efficiency through exercises : special physical culture for women / by Th. H. van de Velde ; [photos, by E. Steinemann].

the sudden cessation of masculine excitement and tumescence and the much more gradual ebb of feminine feeling after the supreme moments. And this " compensatory " process leads spontaneously to the most difficult of all the four phases of ideal communion : to the epilogue, or afterglow, which so often fails or even repels and wounds the sensibilities of a loving woman, but which may be the most idyllic and deeply satisfying of all. The woman herself may contribute to this consummation by the expert use of her C. C. muscle. A further and most valuable benefit for the mating woman is the power of prolonging coitus if her husband has already reached his climax before she has attained hers. If the disparity in the two-fold coital curve * is not too great, it may be made good by the action of the Constrictor. And the perivaginal muscles are the best agents in bringing about an immediate repetition of the act, should both parties desire it. This ability to clasp and retain the male organ in cases where potency is relatively slight or impaired and erection imperfect has often proved the salvation of a marriage tie, and such ability may be acquired by appro- priate pelvic exercises. We have spoken of the more external C. C. muscle in coitus. The levator vaginae (L. V.) may play a distinct part in retention of the male fluid. Many women who long in vain for motherhood, lament, in the privacy of gynaeco- logical consultation, that they cannot do this, and attribute their sterility to this cause. Their view is often doubtless exaggerated or wholly mistaken, but, nevertheless, it is generally true that the penetration of the sperm cells into the womb, and therefore the likelihood of fertilisation, may be greatly helped if the seminal ejaculation remains as long as possible in the immediate neighbourhood of the cervix, or neck of the womb, i.e., as deeply as possible inside the vaginal vault. The obvious method of attaining this is for the woman to take the attitudes in coitus which favour the flow of semen into her vagina by the action of gravitation, * See " Ideal Marriage," Chapter IX. (also XI.) for further important considerations, as well as Chapters V. and XIII. in " Fertility and Sterility in Marriage."