It is not only by comparing the sexes that we see that different genital organs have a different action, but it follows also from observing those doubtful beings termed _hermaphrodites_. In these individuals the genital organs disturbed in their regular development, present doubtful appearances and belong at the same time to the two sexes. In these individuals the organization being influenced in another manner is developed differently. Faithful to these organs which generally impress in the body the seal of sex, the general state of the body becomes equivocal like them and presents a mixture in different proportions of the male and female attributes. Thus in a girl whose history is stated by Beclard, and who among other imperfections of the external genital organs which rendered her sex doubtful, presented a complete closure of the vulva, and a clitoris so much developed that it resembled a penis, the larynx and voice were like those of a youth: the upper lip, the chin and cheeks presented a white beard, long and coarse hairs covered the lower extremities and surrounded the anus; finally the proportions of the trunk and limbs and the formation of the pelvis resembled those of man. (_Bull. de la Faculté de med._ vol. iv. p. 273.) It would be easy to refer to similar facts which have been frequently recorded. The general state of the economy, then, is somewhat connected with that of the genital parts, varies like them and takes part in the changes which they undergo. Hence it is astonishing to see libertines and onanists render themselves effeminate, and demoralize their constitution by using these parts in such a manner as to fatigue and change them: and to observe women robbing themselves in the same manner of their beauty, the delicacy of their form and the charm of their voice.
When man has attained his perfect development, the bonds which unite the genital organs to the rest of the body become less apparent and probably less intimate than before: they however are not destroyed. Castration certainly does not deprive the adult of all the characters, of all the faculties which had been developed by puberty: but it modifies them very much. The beard has been known to come out after the loss of the testes as if its existence were connected with theirs, as an effect is with its cause. The intellectual faculties particularly lose much of their energy, when the genital organs are removed. Those persons who have been mutilated not unfrequently become melancholy and finally commit suicide. (_Orfila, Leçons de medicine legale_, 1823, p. 126.) A remarkable case of enervation was observed by Richerand, in some soldiers whose testes had been shot away in action. Among other cases, he mentions a soldier who had previously been celebrated for his activity and valor, and who, after his mutilation took an aversion to any violent exercise, and to gain his livelihood, applied himself to such labours as are carried on by females, particularly to sewing gloves. (_Richerand, nosographie chirurgicale_, 2nd edition, vol. iv. p. 292.) Compare these facts with what takes place when age, that great operator, extinguishes the principle of virility. When one is old, is he as affectionate, as sensible, as devoted, as intelligent, as he was in youth? do not the general characters of an eunuch gradually come upon him? The genital organs then, even when in repose, regulate in more than one respect and at every period of life, the rest of the human body.