Note AW — Chapter XVI · ANAESTHESIA

Without this instinct, tumescence is impossible, and tumescence must be obtained in men for erection and in women for orgasm, before detumescence is possible. Hence coition must be in some slight degree desired by the man, or it cannot take place at all. The potency of man’s voluptas is, therefore, a condition sine qua non for copulation. Not so in woman, she may submit without desire or excitement and allow the man to enjoy complete satisfaction. But a man’s pleasurable excitement is the necessary condition of woman’s sexual gratification. The male potencies of voluptas and of erection are the conditions of copulation even for the woman, but the reverse is not the case.