Hutcheson, quoted by Russell, has given a curious
case in an English seaman who, as was the custom at that time,
was impressed into service by H.M.S. Druid in 1807 from a trading
ship off the coast of Africa. The man said he had been examined
by dozens of ship-surgeons, but was invariably rejected on
account of rupture in both groins. The scrotum was found to be an
empty bag, and close examination showed that the testicles
occupied the seats of the supposed rupture. As soon as the
discovery was made the man became unnerved and agitated, and on
re-examining the parts the testicles were found in the scrotum.
When he found that there was no chance for escape he acknowledged
that he was an impostor and gave an exhibition in which, with
incredible facility, he pulled both testes up from the bottom of
the scrotum to the external abdominal ring. At the word of
command he could pull up one testicle, then another, and let them
drop simultaneously; he performed other like feats so rapidly
that the movements could not be distinguished.
In this connection Russell speaks of a man whose testicle was
elevated every time the east wind blew, which caused him a sense
of languor and relaxation; the same author describes a man whose
testicles ascended into the inguinal canal every time he was in
the company of women.
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