There was fat on the pubis, the penis was short and small
and incapable of erection, the testicles of fetal size; he had no
venereal desires whatever, and as regards sex was virtually
neuter.
The legal aspect of hermaphroditism has always been much
discussed. Many interesting questions arise, and extraordinary
complications naturally occur. In Rome a hermaphrodite could be a
witness to a testament, the exclusive privilege of a man, and the
sex was settled by the predominance. If the male aspect and
traits together with the generative organs of man were most
pronounced, then the individual could call himself a man.
"Hermaphroditus an ad testamentum adhiberi possit qualitas sesus
incalescentis ostendit."
There is a peculiar case on record in which the question of legal
male inheritance was not settled until the individual had lived
as a female for fifty-one years. This person was married when
twenty-one, but finding coitus impossible, separated after ten
years, and though dressing as a female had coitus with other
women. She finally lived with her brother, with whom she
eventually came to blows. She prosecuted him for assault, and the
brother in return charged her with seducing his wife.
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