The second mode in which the act of venery acts during digestion, is by causing a general state of excitement, which adds to that caused by the digestive process. All the organs as the heart, lungs, brain, &c., are during digestion in a state of hyperemia, of congestion; they are crowded with blood, as is indicated by a great number of symptoms. It can easily be imagined that venereal excitement under such circumstances, may become the cause of inflammations and organick affections, or may, at least, contribute to their development; by increasing also a congestion caused by an abundant repast, it may immediately excite severe and fatal symptoms. Instances of individuals who have died during the act of coition, after leaving the dinner-table, are by no means rare. Campet states a case where a man on quitting the dinner-table, at which he had drank freely, was accosted by a public woman, went home with her, and died in her arms. A marshal of France a few years since, met his death in a similar manner. The act of venery, if indulged in during the period of menstruation, may sometimes derange this function. The injuries resulting from coition during pregnancy have never been doubted; by some, however, too much importance and by others too little has been attached to this state. Levret attributes most cases of abortion, which cannot otherwise be accounted for, to this cause. Zimmerman, Gardien, Murat, Dugès, &c., also regard this act as a frequent cause of miscarriage. Different conclusions have been drawn from these opinions. Some authors assert, that females have a right to deny their husbands during gestation. Montaigne is of this opinion. Some natives as the Mahometans, repudiate all intercourse with pregnant females. In some African tribes, pregnant women are secluded, and no one is allowed to have intercourse with them. Pallas states that the Calmuck Tartars condemn the person, whose incontinence has caused abortion, to pay a fine, the amount of which is directly in proportion to the age of the fetus. The most general opinion however of physicians on this subject, is that coition to a moderate extent during pregnancy, and where there is no disposition to miscarriage, is not generally detrimental: but that when this act is repeated imprudently, it may cause great excitement in the uterus, and be attended with abortion. Continence is particularly recommended to nervous females, and must be insisted upon when there is reason to fear abortion. We must however observe, that venereal excesses have often been indulged in during pregnancy with evil intents, but without producing the desired result.