Aphrodisiacs and Anti-aphrodisiacs: Three Essays on the Powers of ReproductionDavenport, John
Philosophy
Aphrodisiacs and Anti-aphrodisiacs: Three Essays on the Powers of Reproduction
Davenport, John
Phallicism; Sex; Sex customs -- France -- History -- 17th century
sweet-toned organ, in the front of which is a fine landscape
of moving figures on the earth, birds flying, swans, &c.,
gliding on the waters, a fine procession, too, is seen,
village nymphs strewing flowers before priests, brides,
bridegrooms, and their attendants, who, all entering into
the temple of Hymen, disappear from the delightful eye. The
painting and embellishment of this front are most masterly,
and reflect the highest honour on the artists by whom they
were executed; and the whole view is terminated with
fountains, waterfalls, shepherds, shepherdesses, and other
peasants, as pastoral sports and rural employment, and by a
little church, the dial of which points out truly and
distinctly the hour.
"In the celestial bed no feather bed is employed; sometimes
mattresses filled with sweet new wheat or cut straw, with
the grain in the ears, and mingled with balm, rose leaves,
lavender flowers, and oriental spices, and, at other times,
springy hair mattresses are used. Neither will you find upon
the celestial bed linen sheets; our sheets are of the
richest and softest silk or satin; of various colours suited
to the complexion of the lady who is to repose on them. Pale
green, for example, rose colour, sky blue, black, white,
purple, azure, mazarin blue, &c., and they are sweetly
perfumed in the oriental manner, with otto and odour of
roses, jessamine, tuberose, rich gums, fragrant balsams,
oriental spices, &c.; in short, everything is done to assist
the ethereal, magnetic, musical and electric influences, and
to make the lady look as lovely as possible in the eyes of
her husband and he, in hers. But to return, in order that I
might have for the important purposes, the strongest and
most springy hair, I procured, at a vast expense, the tails
of English stallions, which when twisted, baked and then
untwisted and properly prepared, is elastic to the highest
degree.
"But the chief elastic principle of my celestial bed is
produced by artificial loadstones. About fifteen hundred
pounds' weight of artificial and compound magnets are so
disposed and arranged as to be continually pouring forth in
an ever-flowing circle inconceivable and irrestibly powerful
tides of the magnetic effluxion, which is well known to have
a very strong affinity with the electric fire.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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