periods are often spoke of as the "monthlies."

After the ovum has reached the womb it remains there for a period of about ten days, after which, if it is not fertilized during that time, it passes out of the womb into the vaginal passage, and so out of the body. But if, at any time after it is ripe for fertilization, that is, from the time it begins its journey from the ovaries to the womb, and while it is in the womb, the ovum is met by the male sperm, it is liable to become fertilized—conception is possible. These are facts of the utmost importance, to be thoroughly understood and kept well in mind by all married people who would live happily together, as will be hereafter shown.

So much regarding the female part of the meeting of the ovum and the sperm. The male part of this mutual act is as follows:

The sperm, or spermatozoa, originate in the testicles. Each sperm is an individual entity and several thousands of them are produced and in readiness for use, at each meeting of the male and female generative organs; and if any one of the countless number comes in contact with the unfertilized ovum in the womb, conception is liable to result.

These sperms are so small that they are not visible to the naked eye, but they are readily seen by the use of a microscope. In shape they much resemble tad-poles in their earliest stages.

At the base of the penis, well up in the man's body, there is a large gland which surrounds the penis like a thick ring, and which is called the prostate gland. It secretes a mucous fluid which looks much like, and is about the consistency of the white of an egg. Close to this gland, and almost a part of it, is a sack, or pocket, into which the mucous secretion from the prostate gland is poured, and where it is kept, ready for use, in performing its part of the germinal act.

Now it is the business of this mucous fluid, which comes from the prostate gland, to form a "carrying medium" for the spermatozoa which originate in the testicles. There are small ducts leading from the testicles into the pocket which contains the prostate fluid. These are known as the seminal ducts, and through them the spermatozoa pass from the testicles into the prostate pocket. Here they mingle with the prostate fluid, in which they can move about freely, and by means of which they can be carried wherever this fluid goes. The combination of prostate fluid and spermatozoa is called "semen."

Seen under a microscope, a single drop of semen reveals a multitude of spermatozoa swimming about in the prostate-carrying medium. It is in this form that the vitalizing male element meets the female infertile ovum. This mass of live and moving germs is poured all around and about the region in which the ovum lies waiting to be fertilized, and every one of them seems to be "rushing about like mad" to find what it is sent to do, namely, to meet and fertilize the ovum. The manner of depositing the semen where it can come in contact with the ovum is as follows:

In order that this mingling of the male and female sources of life may be possible, it is necessary that there be a union of the male and the female generative organs. For such meeting, the penis is filled with blood, all its blood vessels being distended to their utmost capacity, till the organ becomes stout and hard, and several times its dormant size, as has been already told. In this condition it is able to penetrate, to its utmost depths, the vaginal passage of the female, which is of a nature to perfectly contain the male organ in this enlarged and rigid condition. Under such conditions, the penis is inserted into the widened and distended vaginal passage. Once together, a mutual back and forth, or partly in and out movement, of the organs is begun and carried on by the man and woman, which action further enlarges the parts and raises them to a still higher degree of tension and excitement. It is supposed by some that this frictional movement of the parts develops an electrical current, which increases in tension as the act is continued; and that it is the mission of the pubic hair, which is a non-conductor, to confine these currents to the parts in contact.

Now there are two other glands in these organs; one in the male and one in the female, which performs a most wonderful function in this part of the sexual act. These are the "glans penis" in the male and the "clitoris" in the female. The first is located at the apex of the male organ, and the other at the upper-middle and exterior part of the vulva. These glands are covered with a most delicate cuticle, and are filled with highly sensitive nerves. As the act progresses, these glands become more and more sensitized, and nervously surcharged, until, as a climax, they finally cause a sort of nervous explosion of the organs involved. This climax is called an "orgasm" in scientific language. Among most men and women it is spoken of as "spending."

On the part of the man, this orgasm causes the semen, which till this instant has remained in the prostate pocket, to be suddenly driven out of this place of deposit, and thrown in jets, and with spasmodic force, through the entire length of the penis, and, as it were, shot into the vaginal passage and the uterine cavity, till the whole region is literally deluged with the life-giving fluid. At the same time, the mouth of the womb opens wide; and into it pours, or rushes, this "father stuff," entirely surrounding and flooding the ovum, if it be in the womb. This is the climax of the sexual act, which is called "coitus," a word which means, going together.

With the myriads of spermatozoa swarming about it, if the vital part of the ovum comes in contact with some one of them, any one of which, brought into such contact, will fertilize it, conception results. The woman is then pregnant, and the period of gestation is begun.

This is a brief description of the act of coitus and of the means by which pregnancy takes place. It is, however, only a small part of the story of the sex relations of husbands and wives; and, be it said, a very small part of that, as will now be shown.

As has already been said, this use of the sex organs, merely to produce progeny, and so insure a continuance of the race, is a quality that mankind shares with all the rest of the animal kingdom. In all essentials, so far as the material parts of the act are concerned, the beginnings of the new life in the human family differ not a whit from that of any other mammals. In each case the ovum is produced by the ovaries of the female, passes into the womb, is there met by the semen from the male, fertilized by the spermatozoa, and so the foetus gets its start. This is the universal means by which the beginnings of all animal reproductive life takes place.