Volume 1

Dr Dimmick’s Anatomy of the Human Body

Anatomical Museums – The Role of the Sexual Organs – A Few Words on Puberty – Menstruation – Sexual Love in the Young – Sexual Desire – The Invariable Risks of Celibacy – The Marriage Age – The Practice of Physiognomy – Masculine Women and Effeminate Men – Masturbation – Disease

SIRS! Ladies! Allow me to impart the years of knowledge my medical calling has bestowed upon me. Within these pages I will reveal the mysteries of the human body; the secrets contained within those organs most revered for their life-creating properties; the dangers of untamed sexual desire; and the urgings that are present in all men, and all women. I will reveal to you, O captive Reader, the changes experienced by all who seek to fulfil their natural desires and the bodily and emotional differences felt by either sex. Take comfort in this, the most up-to-date and modern of volumes, which will satisfy any question you may wish to be answered, with the best and wisest of medical experience.

Any discussion on the anatomy of the human body can only begin with the physical differences of the flesh. For those who wish to delve deeper into the physical differences between each sex, I would willingly advise you to wander your way to that most celebrated of collections currently housed at 315 Oxford Street. Therein, you will discover the Anatomical Theatre of the illustrious German doctor, Joseph Kahn. Formerly ‘Dr. Kahn’s Anatomical Museum’, which once occupied three apartments at the Portland Rooms, and previously ‘Dr. Kahn’s New Museum and Gallery of Science’, in Tichborne Street.

The exhibit has now been housed permanently on Oxford Street, clearly accessible for all who wish to visit it. Inside there is the most informed and diverse exhibition of physiology, anatomy and pathology, exploring a wide variety of medical subjects; the development of the human form from its earliest stage; the growth of the bones; the five senses that are most astoundingly dissected; diseases resulting from sexual connection; specimens of human and animal brain, allowing for the most intriguing moments of comparative anatomy; and numerous heads, moulded and coloured, to demonstrate the sanguineous, phlegmatic and bilious temperaments. When they were first exhibited, a number of microscopic specimens from the world of embryology drew much comment from medical men, and I would allow that this demonstrates that each object has been placed in the collection by virtue of its purely educational and scientific nature. There is nothing to offend your sensibilities, only to arouse your curiosities.

For any student of physiology, a visit to this – the most popular of Anatomical Museums – is beyond compare. Indeed, The Lancet, which we know to be the leading medical journal of our time, gave the most empathic of recent declarations, ‘Altogether it is a splendid scientific collection, and a great deal of general information is to be obtained by a visit.’ Such a collection is unique in construction, and – I would say – most masterly mapped out. Although some have seen fit to malign it with condemnations in the press, you have my word that there is not a hint of vulgarity or sensuality in any part of the collection.

Does not Guy’s Hospital have its own Museum of a similar purpose? It houses over 10,000 specimens, 4,000 drawings and diagrams, as well as a supposedly unique collection of Anatomical Models, and a series of 500 models of skin diseases. That establishment is for the benefit of those who wish to become a student at Guy’s, whose medical education – after submittal of a satisfactory statement of their education and conduct – will be covered by a fee of £40 for the first year, £40 for the second, and £10 for every succeeding year of attendance; or £100 in one payment which will entitle the student to a perpetual ticket.

But what of my readers who have yet to venture towards our noble capital? Fear not, for Anatomical Museums can be found across our fair nation! I happened to chance across the ‘Berlin Collection of Anatomy’ on an 1874 excursion to Manchester. As I clutched the playbill proffered to me outside the new Town Hall, I was suspicious of the advertised ‘beautiful figures, brought from Paris, Florence, and Munich’, not believing them to be in any way comparable with those we see so readily in London.

But I was most surprised to find that the figures were indeed more than worthy to be judged against those held in my own, dearest, city. I would be as bold as to say I was awe-struck by the delicate specimens, which laid bare every vital organ of the human body in wax and other forms. Cards placed beside the specimens bore such mottos as ‘Educate the mind and the body will be educated’; ‘Knowledge is Power’; and most important of all, ‘to the pure all things are pure’. Thursdays were specifically set aside for ladies, and when regarding all of this I could see no flaw nor find any fault or malice in the exhibition’s design. I was most disappointed to learn the museum was raided some time later and its collection seized by the police on unfounded grounds of immorality.

There has been a subtle change in recent years by those within the medical profession and in league with the Society for the Suppression of Vice, to brand our beloved public museums of anatomy as ‘filthy, obscene, and indecent’ and ‘calculated to offend public decency and demoralise society’. Two surgeons, a Mr. Wright and a Mr. Law, reportedly used words to this effect before a grand jury on the subject. I cannot help but wonder what benefit this has been towards the medical profession, to remove from all persons the most gentle and innocent knowledge of their own human body. I heard recently of a prosecution brought against Mr. Joseph Woodhead, proprietor of an anatomical museum in Sheffield, whose figures were now deemed to be dangerous and immoral in their display.

I was greatly surprised to hear of this, as Mr. Woodhead’s figures were first exhibited at the Great Exhibition in London in 1851. Indeed, it was there that the most respectable members of society, including those of royalty, had viewed the models and the figures elicited great praise from the newspapers. There seems to be a most strange and unwelcome change in the mood of our society, one that seeks to restrict every man and woman, from every class, from an understanding of the very form we all inhabit. Unless you have the ability to secure an education in the medical profession, I fear you will soon be denied the knowledge previous generations obtained with ease!

So what of those who seek answers, unfettered by complicated and confusing medical language? What of those who fear the medical man and his secrets? This volume, which I thank the generous members of the society for allowing me to write, will set out all those questions the human mind asks as it grows from child to adult. I will focus on those physical aspects most relevant to the sexual organs and their activities; the journey through puberty; the irregularities faced by women; physiognomy and its importance to marriage; sexual immorality; and the disease risked by all who engage in illicit activities. My own life has allowed me to be most engaged with such study and my years as a medical man qualify the judgements that I will impart to you to be of the most learned and studious in character.

The Role of the Sexual Organs: -

The human species consists of two main elements, that of masculine and that of feminine. The masculine element we well know to be represented by wisdom, a certain majesty, and force, whilst the feminine element has always represented itself in grace, beauty, devotion, love, patience and intuition. It is the physical combination of these two elements, that of male and female, that allows us to indulge in the act of generation and so create a family line. This is only achieved with the proper understanding of sexual passion, that most natural and human of urges. All love between the sexes is based upon this sexual passion, but its manifestations, which can be numerous and utterly incomparable, will always be solely determined by the coarseness or refinement of the individuals concerned. Those persons who are of a coarse animal nature can exhibit only a coarse animal love.

There are those who believe that the reproductive organs have a single and sole use, that of the propagation of the species. But, whilst it is true that every part of the human economy has its own particular use, the sexual organs encompass several:

1. They are the most willing assistant in the resolving of animal passions.

2. They afford an outlet of accumulated secretion.

3. They are the secret incentive to sexual love.

4. They are the bond of union between the sexes.

There is an appetite created within them, similar to the state of hunger, which must be appeased else nature revolts. The dark outcome of such starvation is the dreaded symptom of masturbation, or worse; and the harmony of society is seen to fall before an unrestrained and maniacal fury created by the individual’s own solitude. The sexual passions are present in all creatures and yet they must only be engaged in once the physical body has grown enough to invest in them. The easiest and most celebrated way to appease this appetite is to marry, whereby you will furnish yourself with a mate for life and an equal partner for the resolving of your shared animal passions. Speaking from the practice of physiology, the right age to marry is known to be anytime after full puberty and only when there is felt to be a strong mutual attachment on both sides. Men generally desire to marry when they feel themselves to be men; women always as soon as they have become women.

Male Organs: - the biggest difference between the organs of generation of a man, and those of a woman, is that the man’s are all external to the body. They are his penis and the testicles, the latter being importantly pouched in the scrotum. The penis is used for both copulation and urination, although not simultaneously. The production of seminal fluid is continual, although its discharge is intermittent. At that time, the penis, subject to sexual excitement, will swell with blood and distend, producing an erection.

The Female Organs: - the ovaries, uterus or womb, and vagina are the woman’s internal organs and are situated within her abdomen. Her external organ is the vulva or pudenda, which is divided into two main parts; the labia majora, which is in two folds, and within these the labia minora. Situated inside the labia majora, and just above the labia minora, is the clitoris. These are the most sensitive of organs and the main seat of sexual sensation for a woman. Just below them is the opening to the vagina, which in virgins will often be guarded by a thin membrane known as the hymen. This is not always to be relied upon as a test of virginity as it can be destroyed by disease or accident, and in some cases has even been found to exist after the woman has gone through childbirth.

The Act of Union: - sexual congress, also known as the act of generation, the marital union, coitus or copulation, is accompanied by a nervous spasm which has been created by the excitement of the special nerves located on the man’s penis and the woman’s clitoris. The reaction is more exhausting to the human system than any other physical sensation it will encounter.

A Few Words on Puberty: -

Sexual love, although felt and acknowledged by the sexual organs, is based within the cerebral faculty. It can be cultivated or restrained the same as any other aspect of one’s character. In children, especially during the trials of puberty, it must not be snubbed or repressed. In cases where this has occurred it has often been from a false delicacy on the part of the parents. All that is commonly required is to make certain that proper attention is paid to diet and general habits. This will ensure that a proper and healthy change from child to adult is achieved. Certain circumstances have been known to require more rigorous attention to sexual morals. I have even heard that in 1859, in the lace factories of Nottingham, sexual intercourse occurs amongst boys and girls as young as 15, and even at that age they are frequently found to be suffering from venereal diseases. This is due in the most part to the unhealthily late hours the young threaders and winders are forced to keep, which lead to idle and irregular habits as they are often unoccupied during the daylight hours. This would be rectified with the proper attention to education and contraception.

Menstruation: -

It is the female child who will undergo the most dramatic of changes during puberty as her body adjusts to that of her womanly adult life. Several marked alterations will appear in her development and disposition. Most clearly displayed will be those of her bust, and the whole body and limbs will begin to assume a more rounded and shapely form so admired by the artists of our day. She will also undergo a change within her womb, as it prepares itself for when she will wish to bear children. This can be a most surprising change for a young girl, although occurring in the majority of women. Puberty is the herald of menstruation and first takes place in young ladies between the ages of 13 and 15. I have to say, it is well to bear in mind that it may be delayed somewhat, as its first occurrence depends very much on the yearly climate. In very hot climates girls are known to menstruate as young as ten years of age, whilst in colder climates it will be much later. As a rule, when the menses – as they can be known – appear at a younger age than usual they are known to disappear much earlier. This time of disappearance is known as the menopause or ‘Change in Life’; in our part of the world this happens between 44 and 50 years of age.

Let me explain to you the origins of the word ‘menstruation’. It is taken from the Latin mensis, meaning a month, and it is the medical name given to the flow experienced by women roughly once every month. I have been informed that it is perhaps better known to all concerned as the ‘monthlies’ or ‘periods’. Women are most often in the habit of saying that they are merely ‘unwell’ whenever the flow appears. At first thought, the sufferers of this monthly illness do seem to fall victim to a state of life that is a hidden weight in the balance of the sexes; it seems to be both one-sided and useless. There has been no more common wail that echoes from the female sex than the cry of, ‘Why on earth were we made such creatures?’ Or, more often, there are those who ask, ‘What is the meaning of all this suffering and inconvenience?’ In answer, I can offer both reassurance and an explanation to those in need: -

The discharge that occurs is a shedding of the mucous membrane of the womb. This internal lining, which often appears as a small amount of debris, is mixed amongst the most obvious sign of the ‘monthlies’, the blood. Within this mixed discharge there will be found the ovum, without which pregnancy cannot occur. This monthly event naturally reoccurs for two reasons: -

1. The womb is constructed so that it must repeatedly cleanse and repair itself. This allows it to become fit and ready to receive the material produced by a man which is vital to the successful continuation of the species.

2. Each ovary – of which there are two, situated as a kind of wing flanking each side of the womb – operates under a synchronous natural monthly urge, which passes an ovum into the womb each month before the discharge occurs.

The ‘monthlies’ will most commonly last from two to eight days and are equal in weight to about two to eight ounces. Any abnormalities in this would lead me to believe that there is some other underlying illness from which the woman is suffering and which should be investigated by her doctor. Equally, a woman should seek medical aid if her monthly is accompanied by any pain.

Menstruation is therefore very wonderful, and having opened the door onto the secret world of the feminine sex, I am in no doubt that you will agree with me that it presents a most interesting series of phenomena for study for all those of a scientific mind.

Sexual Love and the Young: -

With the onslaught of puberty, the passionate emotions of sexual love begin to be expressed. I most forcefully suggest to you that the young MUST be taught to understand it – it is only the senseless and frequently cruel and destructive force of prudery on the part of the parents that withholds such knowledge from their offspring. It is the most natural of all desires. As a medical man myself, I can see no benefit in not adeptly educating your offspring in the matters concerning their own physical and mental natures. Learn from the dangers of the aforementioned lace factories in Nottingham! Beware of the peril of moral education being passed from schoolboy to schoolboy!

Has not the law only recently been changed to protect the young from unwise sexual conduct before a suitable age? The Select Committee of the House of Lords, first appointed in 1881 ‘to inquire into the state of law relative to the protection of young girls from artifices to induce them to lead a corrupt life’ has just published the following recommendation to raise the age of allowed carnal knowledge from 13 to 16. It does not favour you to indulge in the belief that sexual love waits until the marriage day to appear. The age at which it becomes possible comes with the complete physiological change experienced by both boy and girl; as I have stated earlier, the arrival of such changes vary according to climate, constitutions and the habits of life.