Note 40 — Chapter IV · ToC

There are some who believe that the higher animals pass through a state of embryonic hermaphroditism, but decisive proof of this is wanting. In this connection the structural resemblance of the male and female sexual organs should be noticed; in each sex there is a complete but rudimentary set of parallels to the organs of the other sex. This primitive and fundamental unity of the male and female sex organs is very significant. Indeed, the whole question of hermaphroditism is one of deep suggestion when these embryological facts are brought into relation with the abnormalities which occur in the expression of the sexual impulses. See Evolution of Sex, chapter on "Hermaphroditism," pp. 65-80; also Bloch, Sexual Life of Our Times, pp. 11-12, 551-554. Wieninger's Sex and Character, pp. 6, 7, 13, 45, is also interesting.