Part 6

Menstruation continued for:

6 years in 1 woman. 7 years in 1 woman. 9 years in 2 women. 11 years in 4 women. 15 years in 6 women. 16 years in 8 women. 17 years in 12 women. 18 years in 15 women. 19 years in 9 women. 20 years in 6 women. 21 years in 18 women. 22 years in 20 women. 23 years in 24 women. 24 years in 18 women. 25 years in 16 women. 26 years in 25 women. 27 years in 26 women. 28 years in 29 women. 29 years in 36 women. 30 years in 22 women. 31 years in 32 women. 32 years in 49 women. 33 years in 31 women. 34 years in 26 women. 35 years in 12 women. 36 years in 12 women. 37 years in 10 women. 38 years in 8 women. 39 years in 6 women. 40 years in 2 women. 43 years in 2 women. 45 years in 1 woman. 46 years in 1 woman.

Thus we see that the duration of the sexual life varies from 6 to 46 years. The most frequent duration is one of 32 years, next to this one of 29, next again, 31, 33, and 37 years, respectively. In 6 women only did the duration of the sexual life exceed 40 years, and in 4 only was it less than 11 years. In half of all my cases the duration of the sexual life was between 27 and 34 years, and from these figures we obtain an average duration of about 30 years.

For North Germany, Krieger gives data from which it appears that in this region the average duration of the sexual life is 30.49 years. In more than half of the 722 cases recorded by this writer the duration was between 31 and 37 years. In isolated cases the duration was very short, not exceeding 8, 9, or 10 years, or, on the other hand, as long as 47 years; whilst the number of cases increased fairly regularly up to the duration of 34 years, and thereafter again diminished.

As regards Austria, Szukits has collected information in the case of 269 women, and found, in these, that the duration of the sexual life varied from 12 to 45 years. The average duration was 29.16 years; in more than half of the women, the period of sexual activity lasted from 21 to 30 years; the shortest period observed was 12 years, the longest 45 years.

The period of sexual activity lasted:

12 years in 2 women. 14 years in 1 woman. 15 years in 2 women. 17 years in 3 women. 19 years in 3 women. 20 years in 17 women. 21 years in 10 women. 22 years in 7 women. 23 years in 5 women. 24 years in 17 women. 25 years in 7 women. 26 years in 13 women. 27 years in 5 women. 28 years in 26 women. 29 years in 18 women. 30 years in 17 women. 31 years in 8 women. 32 years in 8 women. 33 years in 13 women. 34 years in 8 women. 35 years in 18 women. 36 years in 19 women. 37 years in 14 women. 38 years in 9 women. 39 years in 8 women. 40 years in 1 woman. 42 years in 1 woman. 43 years in 1 woman. 44 years in 2 women. 45 years in 2 women.

In Poland, according to Raciborski, the duration of sexual activity is in Jewesses 23 years, but in women of Slavonic blood 31 years.

In France, according to Courty and Puech, the usual duration of the sexual life is from 28 to 30 years.

According to Puech, among 10 women menstrual activity lasted:

33 years in 2 women. 35 years in 1 woman. 36 years in 2 women. 39 years in 2 women. 43 years in 2 women. 44½ years in 1 woman.

Brierre de Boismont gives the following particulars of the duration of menstrual activity in 178 Frenchwomen:

5 years in 1 woman. 6 years in 1 woman. 8 years in 1 woman. 11 years in 1 woman. 16 years in 4 women. 17 years in 4 women. 18 years in 1 woman. 19 years in 3 women. 20 years in 3 women. 21 years in 4 women. 22 years in 3 women. 23 years in 12 women. 24 years in 8 women. 25 years in 8 women. 26 years in 11 women. 27 years in 7 women. 28 years in 6 women. 29 years in 7 women. 30 years in 13 women. 31 years in 13 women. 32 years in 9 women. 33 years in 9 women. 34 years in 7 women. 35 years in 5 women. 36 years in 10 women. 37 years in 6 women. 38 years in 5 women. 39 years in 2 women. 40 years in 7 women. 41 years in 1 woman. 42 years in 3 women. 44 years in 2 women. 48 years in 1 woman.

For England, Tilt gives the mean duration of menstrual activity, as observed in 500 women, as 31.21 years; it varies between 11 and 47 years; there are more cases with a period of 34 years than with any other integral number of years. Tilt found the duration to be:

11 years in 1 woman. 13 years in 1 woman. 15 years in 3 women. 16 years in 1 woman. 17 years in 2 women. 18 years in 4 women. 19 years in 1 woman. 20 years in 3 women. 21 years in 6 women. 22 years in 11 women. 23 years in 11 women. 24 years in 10 women. 25 years in 22 women. 26 years in 11 women. 27 years in 25 women. 28 years in 29 women. 29 years in 35 women. 30 years in 36 women. 31 years in 33 women. 32 years in 38 women. 33 years in 35 women. 34 years in 49 women. 35 years in 33 women. 36 years in 26 women. 37 years in 16 women. 38 years in 15 women. 39 years in 15 women. 40 years in 6 women. 41 years in 4 women. 42 years in 7 women. 43 years in 5 women. 44 years in 3 women. 45 years in 1 woman. 46 years in 1 woman. 47 years in 3 women.

For London the average figure is 34 years; for Paris, 30 years; for Vienna, 29 years; and for Berlin, 34 years.

From the data of various observers obtained from diverse nationalities, the following table has been compiled, exhibiting the mean duration of the sexual life:

Comparative Table Showing the Duration of the Sexual Life in Various Nationalities.

┌───────────┬────────┬────────┬─────────┬──────────┬─────────┬───────┬───────┐ │ │Germany.│Austria.│ France. │ England. │Denmark. │Norway.│Russia.│ ├───────────┼────────┼────────┼─────────┼──────────┼─────────┼───────┼───────┤ │Number of │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ Cases │ 722 │ 265 │ 178 │ 500 │ 312 │ 391 │ 100 │ ├───────────┼────────┼────────┼─────────┼──────────┼─────────┼───────┼───────┤ │Mean │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ duration │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ of │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ menstrual│ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ activity,│ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ in years │ 30.4 │ 29.1 │ 29.1 │ 31.8 │ 27.9 │ 32 │ 31 │ ├───────────┼────────┼────────┼─────────┼──────────┼─────────┼───────┼───────┤ │Observers’ │Krieger,│ │ Brierre │ │ │ │ │ │ names │ L. │ │ de │ │ │Faye & │ │ │ │ Mayer. │Szukits.│Boismont.│Whitehead.│Hannover.│ Vogt. │Lieven.│ └───────────┴────────┴────────┴─────────┴──────────┴─────────┴───────┴───────┘

In the temperate zone the sexual life of woman lasts longer than in the colder and subarctic regions. Still more favorable is the contrast between the temperate zone and the countries of the tropics, in which the duration of the period of menstrual activity is limited to eighteen or twenty years. According to some isolated observations the duration of sexual activity in Arabian women in Africa was as little as nine years.

A certain influence on the duration of the sexual life is exercised by the commencement of menstruation at an earlier or later age than the average. The total duration of menstrual activity is more variable in women who begin to menstruate early than in women who begin to menstruate late, in whom the duration of the sexual life is a more regular one. In those women who begin to menstruate early the mean duration of the sexual life is about thirty-three years, in those who begin to menstruate late it is about twenty-seven years.

The following data, based on the observation of 250 cases, are published by W. Guy, regarding the duration of the sexual life, that is to say of menstrual activity, in women beginning to menstruate early and those beginning to menstruate late, respectively:

Menstruation began. Duration of the sexual life. In 5 cases in the 8th to the 10th year Averaging 36.60 years. In 70 cases in the 11th to the 13th year Averaging 33.65 years. In 110 cases in the 14th to the 16th year Averaging 30.85 years. In 56 cases in the 17th to the 19th year Averaging 28.35 years. In 9 cases in the 20th year or later Averaging 20.45 years.

A further analysis of these 250 cases is given by Guy in the following table:

First appearance of menstruation. Average age at Duration of which menstrual menstruation activity. ceased, in years. In 1 case in the 8th year 42 34 years. In 2 cases in the 9th year 46 37 years. In 2 cases in the 10th year 47 37 years. In 10 cases in the 11th year 47.10 36.10 years. In 29 cases in the 12th year 45.34 33.34 years. In 31 cases in the 13th year 46.16 33.16 years. In 39 cases in the 14th year 45.33 31.33 years. In 40 cases in the 15th year 46.30 31.30 years. In 41 cases in the 16th year 46.14 30.14 years. In 26 cases in the 17th year 45.18 28.18 years. In 19 cases in the 18th year 46.87 28.87 years. In 11 cases in the 19th year 46.18 27.18 years. In 5 cases in the 20th year 40.80 20.80 years. In 3 cases in the 21st year 41.66 20.66 years. In 1 case in the 23d year 41 18 years.

Hannover also gives data respecting the relation between the duration of menstrual activity and the early or late appearance of menstruation. These data are tabulated as follows:

First appearance of menstruation. Average age at Duration of which menstrual menstruation activity. ceased, in years. In 5 cases in the 12th year 47.80 35.80 years. In 10 cases in the 13th year 45.89 32.89 years. In 50 cases in the 14th year 44.98 30.98 years. In 34 cases in the 15th year 45.56 30.56 years. In 38 cases in the 16th year 44.13 29.13 years. In 36 cases in the 17th year 43.00 26.00 years. In 49 cases in the 18th year 44.96 26.96 years. In 33 cases in the 19th year 44.79 25.79 years. In 38 cases in the 20th year 45.36 25.36 years. In 10 cases in the 21st year 44.10 23.10 years. In 4 cases in the 22d year 43.50 21.50 years. In 3 cases in the 23d year 44.33 21.33 years. In 4 cases in the 24th year 39.50 15.50 years.

Totals: In 412 cases the average age at the menopause was 44.82, and the average duration of menstrual activity was 27.973 years.