At first I only designed myself the Honour of laying a few Thoughts before the _Royal Society_, concerning the Nature of such as are generally called _Hermaphrodites_; with a Description of a female Fœtus that came to my Hands, which is hereafter mentioned; but upon communicating my Design to some Gentlemen of Learning, they were of Opinion, that it was quite necessary to examine what Authors had said on that Head; which, indeed, opened a larger Field than I could have imagined, and lead me on to swell this Essay to it’s present Size. Some, perhaps, may ask what I have said in this Treatise, that they did not already know? or may pretend, they did not believe there were Hermaphrodites in the World; to this I answer, that tho’ there are some who will give their Reason leave to interfere when a mysterious Matter comes before them, yet of those few who may be called the learned among Men, how many are there that follow the Path of vulgar Errors, rather than take the Trouble of thinking seriously about such a Subject? and, consequently, how few must they be, that ever had a Notion of what appears, in the following Introduction, to have been transacted concerning Hermaphrodites in all Ages and Nations, by the wisest and most learned among them? so far therefore this Undertaking cannot be quite useless. The Quotations through the whole are genuine and faithful, taken for the most Part from the Authors themselves, very few excepted, which, for want of the Originals, I was obliged to others for, who had cited them on different Occasions, but, however, were Authors of good Credit; and which are made _English_ here, for the Benefit of such Readers as have not had a due Instruction in the Languages of the several Authors from whom they are taken. As some Words are often repeated through the whole Essay, I could not avoid taking the Liberty of forming the adjective Word _Macroclitorideus_; which, tho’ not in Use before, as I could find, is highly necessary here for two Reasons; first, because it is a short Way of expressing what, in _English_, would be a considerable Sentence; and, secondly, a much more decent Term, which I have endeavoured to keep up to all along, where the _English_ Word might be less agreeable; therefore since it is calculated for these Ends, the Freedom of adopting it may be excusable, if it should amount to a Crime in any one’s Opinion.