EXCURSUS TO THE PRINCESS WHO PISSETH OVER THE HYCOCK AND THE COMB.
The main theme of these two stories—the ability of a virgin girl to urinate to a great height—is founded on physiological fact, although, of course, grossly distorted and exaggerated. "In children," says Havelock Ellis, (Studies in the Psychology of Sex, vol. 5: Erotic Symbolism), "the vulva appears to look directly forward and the clitoris and urinary meatus easily appear, while in adult women, and especially after attempts at coïtus have been made, the vulva appears directed more below and behind, and the clitoris and meatus more covered by the labia majora; so that the child urinates forward, while the adult woman is usually able to urinate almost directly downwards in the erected position, though in some cases (as may occasionally be observed in the street) she can only do so when bending slightly forwards.
"This difference in the direction of the stream formerly furnished one of the methods of diagnosing virginity, an uncertain one, since the difference is largely due to age and individual variation. The main factor in the position and aspect of the vulva is pelvic inclination……"
Havelock Ellis, later on in the same volume of his Studies, again refers to the subject:
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