Phimosis is known to have been a cause of male impotence by its direct interference with the outward flow of the seminal fluid; but, although we have cases where impregnation has taken place by the aid of a warm spoon and a warm syringe, as in the case related in a former chapter, it must be admitted that the corona is not without some functional office in the act of procreation. Its shape indicates a valve action like that of the valve in a syringe-piston, and if we examine the two extremes of these conditions of glans--one devoid of corona, as many are, and the other with the corona in its most pronounced form, when in a state of erection--the difference, either in the appearance of the two organs or in the different philosophical action and results that must necessarily follow the use of these two differently shaped glans, will at once be apparent. Unfortunately--or, as many may consider it, most fortunate--the female organs are not always so shaped as to be in themselves wholly favorable to impregnation. The wearing of corsets, the habitual constipation of females, the relaxed and unnatural condition of the uterine ligaments and vagina in civilized women, all favor uterine displacement, with any or all forms of uterine ailments. To this we may add the effect of repeated miscarriages, application of astringent washes, irregular menstruation, etc., all of which conditions often result in an elongation of the neck, constriction of the cervical canal, with the external os placed on the depended point of the sharply pointed cervix, which is liable to point in any direction. Just imagine one of these conditioned females and one of the mouse-headed, corona-deficient, long-pointed glans males in the act of copulation! The conical penis finds its way in the reflected fold of the vagina, while the point of the uterus may be two or three inches in some other direction, making impregnation wholly impossible; besides, in the normal-shaped penis, the corona acting as a valve, behind which the circular muscular fibres of the vagina close themselves, tends to retain the seminal fluid in front, while the very shape of the organ assists in straightening out the vaginal canal and to bring the uterus in proper position. In the long, thin, narrow and pointed glans, devoid of corona, there is no mechanical means to retain the seminal discharge. Some years ago some one introduced the idea of postural copulation, to be tried in cases of sterility, and it has been found that impregnation would take place in some cases where it had formerly appeared impossible, this position having the effect of righting malpositions during the act, which were the cause of the sterility; but it stands to reason that, where the shape of the organ is such that it further favors malpositions, as well as where it offers no obstacle to the vagina immediately expressing or dropping out all the seminal fluid, impregnation is more difficult, and