The purpose of the sexual act ia to bring about a meeting of the spermatozoon of the male with that of the female; a meeting which occurs most commonly in the womb, but which may take place either in the vagina, the Fallopian tube, or the ovary; sometimes constituting, in the latter cases, an abnormal or extra-uterine pregnancy.

To bring about this meeting of the male and female seed all the means of attraction between the sexes which I have already noted under the head of sexual choice, all the powers of the sexual instinct, the desire for children, love, sympathy, association, everything embodied in the great Divine Purpose of Procreation, are brought into play, And it is a beautiful study, to the mind which understands it, as far as it may be understood, to watch the various wheels in this mysterious mechanism, each performing its allotted function with unfailing nicety, and, as the planets complete their great solar, or lunar orbits, by its harmonious rhythm rounding out the mysterious cycle of human life.

First there is the longing for sexual satisfaction, arising from tumescence, and the centrally or peripherally awakened sexual concepts; the temptation of female beauty; love, with all that it implies; lust, excited by irritation of the erection-center, rush of blood to the sexual organs, hyperaemia, and that bounding erection of the penis which is the first condition of a soul-satisfying sexual connection.