| Index | ||
| Prologue | ||
| The Roper Report | ||
| Introduction | ||
| Section 1 | ||
| Section 2 | ||
| Section 3 | ||
| Section 4 | ||
| Section 5 | ||
| Section 6 | ||
| Section 7 | ||
| Section 8 | ||
| Section 9 | ||
| Section 10 | ||
| Appendix A | ||
| Appendix B | ||
| Perry's Tale | ||
| Pictorial Record | ||
Sexual Adaptation
Sec.4.1 From the first exploration of the planetary system of Gamma Draconis, the reproductive behavior of these beasts has been recognized as extraordinary, in fact unique in the worlds thus far described: travelers and trained morphologists alike were impressed by such traits as the cryptic ovulation of the females (not quite unique, but known in a total of no more than a dozen species of viviparous homoiothermic animals–including our own–in the entire galaxy); unique details of the male reproductive organs and male pheromones; the polyandry of fertile family groups (as well as other details); the deep emotional bonds between the male co-mates, and often with other males–indeed the rampant and openly homosexual behavior of all males; the twinned births; the transpecies copulation; the sexual symbiosis between wlkon and males of the species Monux hipparion (simplice, "monuxes", though earlier morphologists often used the more puristic form "monukhes"); the periodic group mating of the "wlkatar", a kind of vast orgy whose closest parallels are found in the reproductive strategies of certain fish species and other animal systems taxonomically and morphologically remote from large terrestrial felids.
But now it has finally been determined that a single factor ties together every strange detail of these beasts’ reproductive and, more specifically, sexual behavior.
This peculiarity means that within a typical wlko family group the males can remain sexually active only if they copulate with one another as often as they copulate with the female mate or mates. And since keeping his co-mate sexually active–and therefore able to sodomize him–is the only way a male co-mate can successfully reproduce himself, it would be an understatement to say that what early workers took for homosexual behavior is in fact crucial for reproduction of the species.
Note: Early visitors, on the analogy of the behavior among sexual inverts of our own species, took it for granted that promiscuity among non-mated wlko males would be common. In fact such behavior is strongly taboo (wlkatar excepted, of course). As detestable as they find being sodomized by monuxes, in fact, "cold" males regard copulation with other wlkon as an unthinkable alternative. Taboos may have any or no rationale, but according to the wlko themselves it was believed "in ancient times" that the semen from a male who sodomizes another male collects in the recpient’s testicles and is pooled with the recipient’s own semen. Like most rationales for taboos provided by members of a society, this explanation makes no sense. First, the institution of the wlkatar shows that "adultery" in the usual sense is not a problem for wlko values or reproductive priorities. Second, sexual relations with one’s male relatives, where the "selfish gene" question would be the least important, are the very most extreme form of this taboo, sufficiently so that all inquiries by field workers on the point were met, not with indignation, but with incomprehension on the part of the wlko being asked.
Sec.4.2 A number of anatomical details of the wlko males are specialized for their unique sexual cycle.
Sec.4.2.1 The male penis is, as in felids generally, normally carried fully sheathed. Upon sexual excitement, even before tumescence begins, the Hilbert glands (located around the shaft of the penis behind the glans), Cooper’s organs (in the urethra), and the Thompson glands (within the walls of the sheath)–both the Hilbert and Thompson organs unique to these animals–rapidly exude fluids. The rapidity and copiousness of these syrupy secretions is such that, typically, the very first physical evidence of sexual arousal on the part of a male wlko is not the emergence of the erection from the sheath, but the pooling-up, at the opening of the sheath, of a clear, very slightly yellowish, viscous, and slick liquid, known as hkshihh in the Wlko language. (The wlko are naturally unaware that three quite different secretions are involved.)
Fn 11. For example, not long after I moved camp for the fifth time, one of the co-wives came back from the lake and evinced surprise at finding her sister/co-wife at work on some chore. "Oh!" she said, in effect (in Wlko), "didn’t I hear you and Perry fucking–?" The other replied, a purr making her speech indistinct, "No, you heard Perry, all right, but he wasn’t fucking. He was making Drushka a man." She nodded in the direction of the coupling males, who were partly hidden by a log, "Perry" now lying quietly on his brother’s chest.
The first sister looked at the men with knowing affection; the other said something like, "I hope Drushka snapped, too. If not, he’ll be walking black, and I’m too busy for black right now."
The other said nothing, but went slowly over to the two men and sat down on her haunches beside them. Then she leaned over and licked "Perry’s" cheek, and "Drushka’s", and presently "Perry" rolled off his brother. From her position, I inferred that "Ranee" was grooming "Drushka’s" anus for him, then grooming his testicles and penis sheath. (Wlkwim have a crude saying, literally "Black wood [crude term for an erection] slips twice". "Slip" is the normal term for the retraction of the penis into its sheath, but the force of this proverb is that once a wlko is erect, his penis will normally "disappear" via intromission, whether vaginal or anal, before it will become flaccid and withdraw into the sheath.
With a low growl or grunt the male shifted his position, and in a lithe movement partially obscured by the log, he wound up lying on her chest. From the amount of licking that was going on, I inferred that "Drushka" had penetrated her. His brother was not a meter away, bent over to groom his belly and genitals, but glancing up from time to time at the copulating pair close enough to touch. He finished licking himself off, peered between his legs for a moment, vaulted over the log with the easy athleticism of his species, stood up, and walked over to me, folding his arms and stretching as he came. "I must be getting old or something" he said, in my language. "Of course, I just made "Drushka" a man. It worked, too! Just look at that kitten go at it!" He yawned, showing off the impressive dentition of a wlko, and drowsily remarked, half through the remains of the yawn, "Well, if he doesn’t get to me today and I go cold, that’s OK, we can link [a crude slang term for male/male intercourse] tomorrow. Then watch me pack cunt! And he’ll be the one begging this cat to make him a man!" He looked at me–gazed at me–for a minute perhaps and then said, quietly, with a nod, "After all, that’s my black in her cunt, right now. I mean, I put it there." He laughed, contentedly. "And this–" indicating his own sheathed penetralia–"this is his black as much as it is mine. Without Drushka I’d be as useless to the girls as that log over there." (See Sec.8 below for more on terminology.)
Rupellids, by contrast, can mate for four or even five days after being "made"–five is typical–and some individuals even longer. This is another source, if not one of the principal ones, of the dubious reputation that rupellid males have among the vulcid population for one or more kinds of vaguely-conceived sexual excess.
Sometimes these substances well out of the mouth of the sheath in such quantity that they run down the male’s fur; in all cases, by the time tumescence forces the penis from its sheath, in a healthy male of less than, say, 135 years old, the Hilbert and Thompson secretions, with some small contribution from Cooper’s organs, will be soaking his scrotum and, when the animal is particularly excited for some reason, literally dripping from it. (Fn 12)
These fluids are both lubricative (remarkably so) and pheromonal. They strike different non-wlko noses differently–most accounts report a musky odor, some in addition report various flowery or perfumed smells. The wlkon themselves simply say, in effect, that male sexual excitement is infectious. (Fn 13)
Sec.4.2.2 Furthermore, these secretions tint the fur and darken in time, so that a sexually active male (vid. inf.) will have a deep reddish-brown stain on his penis sheath, scrotum, and neighboring areas of the inguen, thighs, and anus, and the usual expression for a sexually active male is to say that he is "red". The fur of the females in the immediate vicinity of the vulva and inguen as far up as the umbilicus also is "red", as a result of the transfer of male secrections to her fur during copulation. This is evidence that she is not pregnant or nursing (i.e., is sexually receptive), since pregnant wlkwim do not copulate, and in the course of a week or two their fur loses the red coloration.
Sec.4.2.3 When the penis emerges from its sheath, which it does soon after the first appearance of hkshihh, the Hilbert glands continue to provide lubrication, which as stated may (depending on the orientation of the erect organ) be seen running down the shaft in dribbles to where it joins Thompson secretions welling out of the sheath itself, around the shaft of the erection.
Fn 12. The term hkshihh has at one time or another been associated with: n-hkSihh "to soak", hksihh "kind of berry; the nipples of a lactating wlkwy; a lactating wlkwy", hhkhssih "moonrise" (also–not in Hashimoto–"ear-spot"), hkihh "a kind of crab", or hkshih "the pale coat on the ventral areas of certain non-wlko animals". The wlko themselves think hkshihh is somehow connected with n-hkSihh, or with hkshih. On linguistic grounds neither guess is likely. It is, as Hashimoto suggested, much more likely to be a derivative in -hh from the archaic verb nez-kshih "prepare, make/get ready", containing the same element as Wlko nz-kshih "make" (the very verb used in the expression here rendered "make [someone] a man", i.e. copulate anally with a male wlko)
Fn 13. They will say, for example, that that is why co-mates both want to copulate with their female mate(s) at the same time. However, since it is the case that identical twin co-mates do not react to heterosexual copulation the same way as non-identical-twin co-mates do, something else must be operative. It has been suggested (Hashimoto) that males react differently to "alien" pheromones than to "their own"–identical twins being genetically identical. But this reasonable suggestion cannot account for the facts of homosexual copulation. A co-mate approached by his identical twin, even in the pre-tumescent stages of arousal, will practically instantaneously start to discharge the pre-erection fluids, and if his penis has not done so already, it will become erect when he is penetrated. Failure for the organ to do so is clear evidence that the wlko is either "cold" or seriously ill.
Next, in addition, a very thick matter, opaque, bright white, sebacious, and remarkably slick, collects rapidly at the cruciform meatus at the tip of the penis. This secretion the wlko call SkhtuS. All early observers took this white mass exuding from the meatus glandis, and adhering to the tip of the erect penis, to be a pre-intromissive expense of spermatic fluids. But the occasional spermatozoon detectable in it by microscopic examination is certainly incidental.(Fn 14)
The substance has two functions. First, it is lubricatory in character. Put differently, this SkhtuS is yet one more specialization for anal penetration. Second, like the hkshihh, its scent increases the sexual ardor of both female and male wlko.
Sec.4.2.4 The copious lubrication of the male penetralia is reflected in details of female anatomy as well. The wlko vagina, immdiately prior to intromission and during copulation, affords only the most vestigial secretions, and these seem to be more pheromonal in function than lubricatory (though they are in fact lubricatory, if only weakly so). That is, the male erect penis provides all the lubrication necessary for both anal and vaginal intercourse.
Sec.4.2.5 Dissection reveals that the anus of the male wlko, and in lesser degree the female, is remarkably densely innervated, the concentration of nerve-endings similar to the concentration of nerves on the human glans penis and even rivaling the dense innervation of the foreskin just below the glans and the frenulum penis.
More remarkably, the walls of the male rectum, which has a relatively narrow lumen to begin with, are muscular to a degree well beyond what is necessary for the voiding of feces, and the smooth-muscle bands are capable of contraction to such a degree that a sound of more than a centimeter or two in diameter meets definite resistance when inserted into the resulting lumen.
Note: the "third hand". The contraction of the rectum during anal intercourse is an index of the level of sexual arousal by the male being sodomized. It is usually not immediate (though it may be nearly so). Ordnarily it takes place after four to five minutes of copulation, starting with several pulsations before steady contraction begins. The contractile effect, which the wlkon refer to as their "third hand", is more or less rapid, and it is easily sensible to the penetrating penis. Adult wlkon being sodomized all claim to be able to sense their own bowel contraction clearly, but describe the sensation differently. Of the 42 adults I interviewed, 32 described the sensation as one of feeling "very full"; ten thought that they were feeling the penis in their rectum "getting huge" or the like. These appear to be different perceptions of the same sensation. What all agree upon is that the action of the "third hand" coincides with an increase in pleasurable sensations generated by the movements of the penetrating organ. Wlkon in fact explain that there are five stages to being sodomized. They are all definitely pleasurable, but are described as increasing in this quality, successively. The stages are: penetration; copulation before the "third hand" clasps the penis; copulation after the rectum contracts; ejaculation; and a post-ejaculative period of altered mood called by a Wlko word that might be translated "bliss" (the word they use for it when speaking our language).
Adolescent wlkon, who copulate very frequently after they are "opened", clearly feel the "third hand" effect on their penises from the first; but adolescents being penetrated are often slow to "learn" to recognize the sensations connected with their own rectal contractions. Whether this is a developmental matter, or a question of experience, has yet to be determined, though the latter is suggested by the fact that even very young copulating wlkon brothers report that the sensation of being penetrated anally "gets better and better" as copulation progresses toward orgasm. That is, even if the contraction of the rectum wall is not perceived as such, the enhanced aesthetic effect of increased friction between the rectum wall and the penetralia moving back and forth within the rectum (see Sec.4.2.6, next) is in fact perceived from the earliest experiences with sodomy.
Fn 14. The wlko themselves think that this precopulatory SkhtuS and ejaculated semen are the same thing. In the nature of things, however, the wlko almost never actually see their ejacula, or see it very clearly–spontaneous emissions do occur during male/male "sodomy" and the semen is soon licked off, but the fluids are basically lost in the belly fur. (Besides, Murdoch’s experiments suggest that the quantity of seminal discharge during spontaneous ejaculation is significantly smaller than the discharge at the climax of copulation in rectum or vagina. This agrees with the testimony of wlkon who claim to be able to feel the movement of SkhtuS in the urethra–it is described as a tingling or itching sensation–both precoitally and in ejaculation, but not, as a rule, while being sodomized.)
This latter point, in fact, might perhaps have been sufficient to lead the animals to observe more closely for themselves the substantial differences in texture between the lubricatory secretion and the ejaculum itself, since all males I talked to say that something makes the urethra tingle shortly before their testicles "snap" (for terminology see Sec.8.2, below), whereas the precoital secretion has no such effect. Indeed, expressions like "I felt my penis tingle [with rising SkhtuS, vel sim.]" are used of exceptionally stimulating precopulatory arousal and refer, if they in fact refer to anything factual, to the preejaculatory introduction of semen into the urethtra.
Sec.4.2.6 In addition to innervation for the detection of dilation/distension of the rectum–typical in animals generally but present in male wlko recta in unusual abundance–there are nerve endings in the intestinal wall which detect friction. Such sensitivity is unknown in the digestive tracts of any other animal. These nerve-endings are also found, but somewhat less abundantly, around the anal aperture itself. It required no great imagination for Murdoch to speculate that the reflex action during penetration that causes the walls of the rectum to contract heightens the sensory experience of the penis held in the clasp of the rectum. More speculative was his surmise, since verified, that the "third hand" contraction enhances, for the sodomized wlko, the pleasurable sensations that proceed from the distension and friction receptors (particularly the latter) in the rectum walls. (Fn 15)
Wlkwim have the same anatomical features in their lower digestive tract, but in very much lesser degree; in fact, as Murdoch himself remarked, in the absence of the male "model", it is unlikely that any anatomist would have noticed the homologous structures in the female rectum and anus. In any case, anal intercourse between wlko males and females, while known, is unusual. (It seems to occur mostly during wlkatar, see Sec.9.6 note, when the female’s vagina is already occupied by another wlko’s penis. When it happens on other occasions, it seems to have social and cultural significance.)
Sec.4.2.8 It had been clear from the earliest observations that during copulation wlkwim (female wlko) typically experience one or more intense discharge of nervous energy analogous to the ejaculatory climax in the male, manifested in muscular tremoring and tonus, vocalizations, clutching the male’s fur and mane, etc.. Early morphologists were puzzled, therefore, to discover no wlkwy organ homologous to the clitoris. Furthermore, dissections by anatomists (chiefly Murdoch and Horniman) found that while wlkwim vaginas are richly innervated, the nerves detect only dilation/distension. Further, while the tissues of the labia are innervated with nerve-endings sensitive to touch, they are only moderately so endowed, as elaborate and delicate as those tissues appear; and as much pleasure as the females manifestly derive from the stimulation of the labia (by licking, e.g.) it was early concluded that stimulation of the labia by the erect penis during intromission could result in no more than an enhancement of sexual pleasure originating in some other source.
Through a series of elegant experiments, Murdoch established that the specific local source of the stimulation leading to the orgasm-like experience of female wlkwim is the friction of the male’s pelvic region on a pair of pads in the female inguinal groove, just above the vulva and normally covered by a fold of skin in the groove where the thigh meets the torso. These are glabrous, oblong, and, when they are exposed by the female spreading her thighs wide apart, appear rugose. Horniman subsequently demonstrated that they are phylogenetically homologous to the nipples, being the last two pairs, which have fused into a single pair of areas ca. 3 cm in diameter. These are very richly innervated. Furthermore, they are made of erectile tissue: when the vagina is dilated, whether by a penis or any similar object, the nuptial pads enlarge and stiffen, becoming smooth. This physical change has aesthetic significance: wlkwim report that their sensitivity increases markedly. Wlkwim also report that any friction against these pads, even in the absence of vaginal stimulation, is pleasurable; and that rubbing them, or even pressure on them, during vaginal distension–i.e., when the pads are erect–is "beautiful" (the usual Wlko word for "sexually exciting/pleasurable").
Fn 16. It must be noted that not a great deal of testing has been done on this particular point. What set Murdoch’s investigations on the right path was a casual comment by a wlko that the only objection he had in connection with being sodomized by a human male was the nuisance of "getting rid of the SkhtuS" afterward. (In those days, the crews of visiting craft were allowed to barter for the sexual services of wlkos, offering knives and other utensils or even trinkets in exchange. Most preferred vaginal intercourse, but sexual inverts among the crews, and those who had developed a taste for anal intercourse with crewmates, copulated with males. Reportedly, being "made a man" by the wlkon–ironic expression!–was particularly in demand, and the animals were only occasionally sodomized in return. It was not long after such an experience that a beast made the remark about human semen to his brother/co-mate, in Murdoch’s hearing.)
Murdoch then tried inserting sperm samples collected from 13 different species into the recta of some wlkon he was holding for his experiments, and a matter of hours later retrieved the specimens from their bodies more or less unchanged, whereas wlko and monux spermatic fluids disappeared in one (wlko) to four (monux) hours without a trace. Subsequent dissections and in vivo experiments shed further light on the process, and led to the identification of Horniman Sites, named for Astrid Horniman, who described their structure and whose suggestions pointed the way to the discovery of how the sites select specifically for wlko and monux seminal components.
It remains to be demonstrated conclusively that the primary function of Horniman Sites is the digestion of wlko seminal discharges. This fact is undeniably convenient for the animals, and conserves nutrition, but its adaptive utility is actually more immediately evident in the case of monux semen. Being sodomized by monuxes is an enervating experience, and results in considerable and lasting abdominal discomfort for the wlkon experiencing it. A common remark in the aftermath of a visit to the monuxes is that the big cat is "too sore to eat" for some days. The ability to metabolize monux semen would contribute significantly to the success of the resexualizing process, indeed to the survival of the wlko altogether, since monux seminal discharges are copious and much of it is deposited much higher in the digestive tract than wlko semen is (see Sec.11).
These pleasurable and, ultimately, orgasmic sensations are enhanced during coition by the lubricating effect of the male’s hkshihh. (Fn 17)
This stimulation will result in "orgasm", however, if and only if the distal third of the vagina is at the same time distended to a certain degree.
The preferred vaginal sexual appliance ("dildo", sermone vulgo) is the inflorescence of a sort of large cat-tail, Ambidexter pseudophallus, which is also used as a vaginal swab for purposes of hygiene.
Note: as mentioned below (fn. 22), there is no word in Wlko for penile masturbation. Female self-stimulation is called lsohsh-htaSpu literally "taking care of oneself". One might wonder, given the unusual innervation of the wlko rectum and anus, that prior to our contact there seems to have been no autoerotic activity by wlkon. Very shortly after the introduction of metal woodworking tools, wlko were fashioning sexual appliances from wood–sizable peg-like artifacts, for use by males in anal autoerotic stimulation.
Fn 18. From what I could gather, they are practically expected to do so. Furthermore, male wlkon who are "cold" who notice that one of their wives is masturbating in this way, will very commonly mount her as if copulating, licking her cheeks and neck; but then, instead of feigning copulation, will stimulate, by licking, first her breast nipples, and then licking his way down her abdomen to the inguen, and licking the inguinal pads between her legs, one after the other in turn, until the female climaxes. This is obviously very pleasurable to the females, who grip the male’s mane, purr loudly, and make sinuous body movements, and in various ways advertise the approach of orgasm and its arrival.
It is not uncommon, indeed, for the male to continue in this manner through a wlkwy’s second or even third climax. I can personally corroborate wlkwim comments to earlier field workers to the effect that while the greatest sexual pleasure comes from proper copulation, being "licked to bliss" by a co-mate is "more beautiful" than pure masturbation.
All fieldworkers have reported "cold" (impotent) wlko males who, after licking the masturbating female to one or more climax, then lie for a time on top of her, chest to chest, as they affectionately lick one another’s faces, exactly as though they were relaxing after vaginal intromission and ejaculation.
These pegs are used only by "cold" males. Females have no interest in them, saying they feel "strange" compared to A. pseudophallus inflorescences. Mühlhäusler’s suggestion is that the rigidity of a wooden dildo is noticeable, perhaps even uncomfortable, when the female bends down to lick her inguinal pads, whereas A. pseudophallus used as a vaginal insert has some flexibility.
Males, on the other hand, have no interest in the cat-tail inflorescences, which (according to tradition, apparently based on experience) disintegrate under the pressure of the rectal and anal contractions.
The usual mode of lubricating the wooden anal masturbation appliances is the fruit of the ksehmhhss tree; see Appendix B. (Fn 19)
Sec.4.2.9 The wlko penis is anatomically unusual in several regards. First, it is large relative to the body size of the animal: in length, the fully-erect wlko penis is 20 to 25 or even 30 cm long. Roughly two-thirds of the length of the erect penis is a cylindrical shaft between 4.5 and 5 cm in diameter, tapering at the distal end to a blunt point. (Fn 20) The innervation is rich, as expected in an organ of penetration, but the concentrations of nerve-endings are distributed in a specific pattern: the great majority of them are concentrated two areas, in the tapering third at the tip of the penis, and in a zone at the base of the organ. The latter region, even when the penis is fully erect, extends below the rim ("lips", in Wlko) of the penis sheath. This distribution of nerve-endings has been shown to be adaptive for both vaginal and rectal coupling. In females, the six or eight cm. of the vagina just below the cervix is morphologically an extension of the womb: it is narrower than the rest of the sheath, and resists dilation, i.e., the male receives maximum penile stimulation from pushing his organ into the vagina to its full length, i.e., literally into the uterus. By contrast, when an erect penis is fully inserted in the male rectum, the "third hand" musculature lies more or less at the latitude of the least sensitive portion of the penis. At the same time, the zone of richly-innervated skin at the root of the penis encounters the anal sphincters, and the stimulation their pressure would provide, only when the organ is fully-inserted–indeed, the full effect of the anal friction is felt only if the sodomist makes special efforts to insert his penis to the maximum and it is easy to observe that male wlkon do just that when coupling anally. (Murdoch stated that the main source of stimulation of the zone of rich innervation at the root of the penis was the sheath itself. But Horniman, noticing that perhaps half of the sensitive zone is outside the sheath, made the surmise–amply confirmed by field observation–that wlkon experience, and seek, stimulation of these zones from the anal sphincters of a male they are sodomizing.) These two factors taken with the normal operation of the pleasure principle will ensure that a sodomizing wlko will withdraw and reinsert most of the length of his organ of penetration, in order to bring the two most sensitive portions of the shaft within the clasp of the "third hand" and the anal sphincters, alternately. The full insertion is so deep and energetic that the sheath may be clearly observed rumpling up against the pathic’s anus, unlike anything visible in normal vaginal coupling. During the several minutes prior to ejaculation, wlko homosexual coupling is very energetic. In fact this may be the inspiration for the Wlko expression "making [a] fire" sometimes used of male/male copulation. Heterosexual (vaginal) coupling, by contrast, resembles more a kind of sensual squirming around. These differences in style obviously relate to the different physiologies of the sex receiving a male’s penetralia. The "squirming" effect, as the male enjoys the maximum stimulation afforded by the deepest reaches of the vagina, also ensures the nearly continuous excitation (if less intense than during sodomy) of the nerve endings at the root of the male’s penis and, simultaneously, the female’s nuptial pads (Sec.4.2.8). What the adaptive function of the more energetic anal coupling might be, for either animal involved, is still unknown. What is known is that it is a fully sexual experience for both males.
Fn 19. Significantly, self-stimulation by such appliances, however, is inadequate to reestablish erectile power in wlkon. While males clearly relish the experience of autoerotic stimulation using a dildo, it results at most in an occasional weak exudation of hkshihh.
The inference is that penetration per se, i.e. dilation of the anus and distention of the rectum and friction applied to both, is inadequate to make a wlko sexually potent. Exactly what the critical factors are is not yet certain. The obvious hypothesis is that it has something to do with the sexual fluids themselves, either alone or in combination with anal/rectal stimulation. Suggestive are Horniman’s experiments which ascertained that wlko sperm deposited instrumentally in a male’s rectum resulted in a sensation of mild euphoria for an hour or so, or "bliss", as noted above. Since no such experience was reliably reported by female wlko when spermatic fluids were deposited in either vagina or rectum, one must agree with Horniman that it seems unlikely that there is some psychotropic agent in the semen itself. For now, it remains to test the hypothesis that the mere detection of wlko seminal matter by the Horniman sites is the source of the mood-altering experiences of the males, and also the source of their renewed erectile powers.
Fn 20. See Murdoch for a complete anatomy. For now it is sufficient to remark that the wlko penis is black and, since it is never visible without its accompanying secretions, very shiny. It consists structurally of four bundles of erectile tissue surrounding the urethra. Early accounts of the erect penis coming to a point are erroneous: the tip of it, which is very sensitive, is in fact a slightly concave surface, rather less than 1 cm. in diameter, in the center of which the urethra exits the body in the cross-shaped meatus glandis–a misnomer, since there is no glans. This surface appears to be specialized to collect the precopulatory exudation of SkhtuS mentioned above (Sec.4.2.3)
As far as clock-time goes, however, both the erect wlko penis, and the recepticle (rectum or vagina) which receives it, experience as much stimulation from friction and distension in the course of achieving a single male ejaculation as, say, the massive bandul equids on the same planet do in sixty to a hundred separate copulations/ejaculations.
The reason for difference in time required to reach ejaculatory orgasm during acts of homosexual sodomy vs vaginal copulation–which is statistically significant–has not been experimentally established. If wlkon were genuinely homosexual, that would lead to an obvious hypothesis, but the level of arousal and intensity of pleasure during orgasm on the part of the penetrating male animal seems to be roughly equivalent no matter which sex he is copulating with. The explanation may be purely mechanical: despite the obvious adaptations between penis and vagina, perhaps the mechanical stimulation of all nerve-endings in the penis is greater in the "clasp" of a male’s straight gut and anal sphincters than it is in the vagina, where there is nothing that specifically excites the richly innnervated region at the root of the erect penis. In any case, since the pleasurable sensations from the stimulation of the female’s nuptial pads are continuous throughout copulation and periodically lead to "orgasmic" releases of intense nervous activity, any prolongation of the copulatory act would have to be seen as an adaptive advantage from the point of view of wlko females.
Note: "Cock-whipping". Wlko do occasionally copulate vaginally in the style of rectal copulation, as mentioned in fn. 21. The usual term for this is nz-h-hskshuhhttilpss, a term only partly transparent but happily rendered "cock-whipping" by Hashimoto. At wlkatar, when a male "forgets" that he is penetrating a vagina, the female will usually remind him, but not always; and not a few wlko will occasionally copulate vaginally that way deliberately, to "flavor" their sex life (as they put it). For reasons as yet unexplained, many wlko females will specifically ask their co-mates to "cock-whip" them when they first become sexually receptive after giving birth (see next).
Sec.4.2.10 During pregnancy, a wlkwy will refuse intercourse with her husbands, while nevertheless remaining affectionate and physically intimate with them. In the case of a single wife or (as occasionally happens) both wives being pregnant at the same time, this means that the males have a choice between continuing to copulate with one another only, or "going cold", as the wlko expression has it–losing the power to penetrate and ejaculate altogether until they are "made a man" again.
(Wlko have a saying paralleled in many cultures: "A cock tells no lies".)
Fn 22. I can confirm the claims of previous observers that penile masturbation is unknown among wlko males. Most other 3 Gamma Draconis morph males masturbate freely, in the absence of cultural taboos. But this peculiarity of the wlkon, like everything else in their sexual behavior, is directly traceable to the role that male anal intercourse plays in their sexual repertoire.
Fn 23. For example, in the five family groups I visited: "Drushka" and "Perry" (non-identical twins) were avid lickers and it was not rare for them ("Perry" especially) to ejaculate while being sodomized. "Sam" and "Talbot" usually licked, especially "Sam", but both ejaculated only occasionally. "Lucas" and "Mark" were all over the map, with (it appeared) some small correlation between licking activity, while being penetrated, and spontaneous ejaculation. "Kevin" and "Dmitri", the youngest males I observed, were also the most enthusiastic as regards all outward signs of excitement while "being made". In fact they coupled with their wife only every few days. (They gave every evidence of being a happy family; I did not observe them long enough to form any opinion as to whether their skewed sexual behavior was attributable to their youth; or to the fact that they’d been sexually active, premaritally, for an unusually long time–fully ten years, when the norm is five to eight; or whether some genuine disorder in sexual orientation was involved.) The remaining case is the household with mixed-species co-mates, a wlko and a monux (see App. B). The monux was plainly homosexual, though he did occasionally copulate with his wlkwy "wife". His attentions to his co-mate were definitely enjoyed, with much licking and purring, and more tail-play than is normally observed with male/male copulation between wlkon. Moreover, "William", the wlko male, almost invariably ejaculated while being sodomized by "Chester", the monux, and I even detected what I took to be the two coordinating their orgasms. On the other hand, although there was no question that being penetrated by "William" was an intensely sexual experience for "Chester", spontaneous ejaculation is a moot point as he always masturbated while being sodomized. (As was the case when he was covering "William", there was clearly an effort to coordinate orgasms.)