Psychology of sex - Total No. of Records in System :: 2032

Nelson inTHE BIOLOGY OF SEX1888 brought forward the earliest evidence infavor of a monthly sexual cycle in men of a twenty-eightday length. Perry-Coste, on the strength of a more prolongedand elaborate investigation, also found some reasonto accept a menstrual rhythm of a strictly lunar character(291/2 days) though the conclusions he drew from his,data have been disputed. Von Romer found ground forbringing the evidence from involuntary emissions intoline with that from voluntary emissions in coitus, byshowingthat the acts of coitus of an unmarried man fallinto a monthly cycle, with two maxima somewhat approximatingto Perry-Coste's; he noted, moreover, that thechief maximum occurs at the time of the full moon, andthe secondary maximum at the time of the new moon.This would indicate that heightened sexual activity tendsto coincidebe offered)(whatever explanation of the coincidence maywith the times when, among primitive peoplesin many parts of the world, erotic festivals are held. Itmust, however, be added, that these conclusions are onlytentative, and the data have been questioned by MunroFox and others.A weekly cycle of involuntary sexual activity, with amaximum at or near Sunday,is often marked. This isprobably due to social causes. The same cannot be said,however, of the annual cycle of involuntary sexual activitywhich I first showed in 1898 and which I have sincebeen able to confirm by additional evidence. This evidenceshows clearly that there are two periods in the yearof increased spontaneous sexual activity; one in earlyspring and the other in autumn; it is often found that theautumn maximum is the highest.There is no detailed and extensive evidence at presentconcerning the existence of any yearly cycle of involuntarysexual activity in women. It is, however, in women,[331