These four parts are:  first, the preparation for the act; second, the union of the organs; third, the motion of the organs; fourth, the orgasm.

In what immediately follows, these four stages of the act of coitus will be studied and traced in detail, with the utmost care, in the hope that such pursuit may result in the best possible good to the student.

Regarding the first part of the act, let it be said that here, above all other situations in the world “haste makes waste.” Put that down as the most fundamental fact in this whole affair! Right here is where ninety-nine one-hundredths of all the troubles of married life begin!  And the fault, right here, is usually (though not always) with the husband!  But he doesn’t mean to be bad.  Not once in a thousand times does he deliberately purpose to do wrong.  He is simply the victim of undirected and ungoverned passion, and of an ignorance which results in stupid blundering, or carelessness, or thoughtlessness.  What such a husband practically does is to rush blindly and furiously along a way he knows nothing of, but which he has been led to think he has a right to travel when and how he will!  The ordinary figure of a “bull in a china shop” can but faintly describe the smashing and grinding to powder of the most delicate situation that can occur in all human experiences, that result from such action as this.  Ideals that have touched heaven are tumbled from their lofty places and ruthlessly crushed to atoms; hopes that were beyond the power of words to express go out in despair; dreams become a hideous nightmare; and love, which was as pure as crystal waters, is muddied, befouled, and made into a cesspool! And all this because of ignorance or careless hurrying, of making haste where the utmost of time, caution and intelligent care should have obtained!

As has already been explained, when the act of coitus is to be engaged in, the sex organs of both the man and the woman undergo great changes.  Blood rushes to all these parts, in copious quantities, till they become gorged.  The result is that the penis is enlarged to several times its dormant size, and the vulva and vagina should, and will, under right conditions, undergo similar changes and transformation.

But there is usually a great difference in the length of time it takes for these changes to take place in men and women.  On the part of the man, as soon as his passion is aroused to any considerable extent, the penis at once makes itself ready for action.  It “tumesces,” or swells itself hard, almost instantly; and, so far as its mere physical stoutness is concerned, is as ready to enter the vagina then as ever, even if it has to force itself in.