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Chief of the Department of Genito-Urinary Diseases andDermatology, Bronx Hospital Dispensary Editor of theAmerican Journal of Urology and Sexology; Editor of TheCritic and Guide; Author of Treatment of Sexual Impotenceand Other Sexual Disorders in Men and Women; Treatment ofGonorrhea in Men and Women; Limitation of Offspring by thePrevention of Conception; Sex Knowledge for Girls and Women;Sexual Problems of Today; Never-Told Tales; Eugenics andMarriage, etc. Fellow of the New York Academy of Medicine,of the American Medical Editors' Association, AmericanMedical Association, New York State Medical Society,Internationale Gesellschaft für Sexualforschung, AmericanGenetic Association, American Association for theAdvancement of Science, American Urological Association,etc., etc.
This old Oriental legend is so exquisitely charming, so superior tothe Biblical narrative of the creation of woman, that it deserves tobe reproduced in Woman: Her Sex and Love Life. There areseveral variants of this legend, but I reproduce it as it appeared inthe first issue of The Critic and Guide, January, 1903.
At the beginning of time, Twashtri—the Vulcan of Hindumythology—created the world. But when he wished to create awoman, he found that he had employed all his materials in thecreation of man. There did not remain one solid element. ThenTwashtri, perplexed, fell into a profound meditation from whichhe aroused himself and proceeded as follows:
He took the roundness of the moon, the undulations of theserpent, the entwinement of clinging plants, the trembling ofthe grass, the slenderness of the rose-vine and the velvet ofthe flower, the lightness of the leaf and the glance of thefawn, the gaiety of the sun's rays and tears of the mist, theinconstancy of the wind and the timidity of the hare, the vanityof the peacock and the softness of the down on the throat of theswallow, the hardness of the diamond, the sweet flavor of honeyand the cruelty of the tiger, the warmth of fire, the chill ofsnow, the chatter of the jay and the cooing of the turtle dove.
He combined all these and formed a woman. Then he made a presentof her to man. Eight days later the man came to Twashtri, andsaid: "My Lord, the creature you gave me poisons my existence.She chatters without rest, she takes all my time