Enough has been said already to remove the maudlin delicacy which some people entertain on the subject of human reproduction, and as it seems to us not out of place, we will say a few words on the subject. Copulation should never be an act of effort. To use a quaint but selfish phrase, “it should only be used when the man listeth.” Much mischief may be done by fruitless endeavours; violent palpitations of the heart may ensue that so quicken the circulation of the blood, and propel it with such violence towards the brain as to induce apoplexy. I have often had the question put as to which was the most fitting season for sexual indulgence. We know that man is omnivorous, and after certain intervals, is capable of reperforming the procreative act. Some hold morning to be the most healthy time, as the body is renovated by the night’s rest, but the lassitude which follows encroaches on the business duties of the day, and it is more probable that so far as the health is concerned, night is the preferable; the quietude and secrecy thereby afforded are additional incentives to love, and the exhaustion of the body is repaired by the several hours sleep that follows. Too frequent indulgence in venereal pleasures are strongly opposed to the procreation of children. Abstemiousness in sexual pleasures is a physical virtue where issue be desirable; and probably the period when conception is most likely to occur, is to refrain from intercourse till a day or two after the female has ceased menstruating. Women may be sterile, but they are rarely impotent. Sterility may depend upon the absence of a uterus, of which many instances are on record. It may depend upon morbid conditions of that organ where it exists; such as excessive debility, frequent floodings, prolapsus or descent of it, eversion or misplacement of it; from a retention of the menstrual secretion, from the presence of leucorrhœa, or the debility induced by a long prevalence of that disorder. Too frequent indulgence in cohabitation, promiscuous intercourse, &c., as with those unfortunates who gain their subsistence by such means, are direct causes of infecundity. To bring this subject to a close, I may observe, that although nature has been apparently thus freaksome in the constitution of mankind, she is amply generous and kind to those who choose to study and observe her laws. She pays no distinction to the past, present, or future. For many of our infirmities we have to thank those who have gone before us, and many are of our own producing, the conjoined consideration ought to induce us to reflect how we are justified in transferring them to those who follow. There are seasons for all enjoyments, and limits set to all; if we infringe those limits, we are answerable for the consequences: there is much happiness in this world and much misery: a skilful pilot will see most of it and live longest in it.