Toronto Contraceptive Museum has collected more than 600 kinds of contraceptives over the years, making it the largest contraceptive museum in the world. However, according to Pitra Goldhead, the head of the museum department, not all these contraceptive devices invented by the ancients are effective, and some of them are even harmful to the human body and have fatal consequences.
However, several contraceptive devices invented by ancient people have obviously proved to be very effective. For example, an ancient contraceptive prescription was written in Egyptian hieroglyphics on an Egyptian papyrus 3,500 years ago. According to the prescription, wool balls soaked in gum Arabic, coconut and honey can be implanted into women for contraception. Although this prescription is very old, the experiment proves that it is very effective. Goldhead said: "Because gum Arabic contains lactic acid, it is a natural spermicide."
Ancient India: Animal Manure Contraception
In addition, in India and Egypt more than 3,000 years ago, the feces of crocodiles, elephants and other animals considered to have mysterious power were also used as contraceptives. In fact, because the feces of these animals are highly acidic, they do have a certain spermicidal effect. However, Goldhead said that the strong smell of animal feces obviously affected the "sexual interest" of ancient couples.
The embryonic form of modern condoms: sheep intestines
There were also many superstitious methods of contraception in the Middle Ages, but these methods were obviously ineffective. For example, some medieval European women used to make amulets with small bags containing mule earwax, weasel testicles and black cat bones, and tied them to their bodies during sexual intercourse to achieve contraceptive effect.
In addition, some ancient contraceptive methods are full of dangers to the human body. For example, ancient people used to drink graphite or mercury to achieve contraceptive effect, but this dangerous method can easily lead to death. In 1930s, westerners also invented a hexagonal block-something similar to a "uterine sleeve" to prevent women from getting pregnant, but this contraceptive was later called a "tool for torturing women".
In the museum's collection, there are condoms made of sheep intestines by the ancients, which are obviously a little close to the embryonic form of modern condoms.
The ancient Greeks and Romans stuffed all kinds of things into women's vaginas. Such as lump honey, cedar gum and even crocodile dung.
In ancient China and Japan, silk oiled paper, rags and sponges were stuffed into women's vaginas as barriers. The ancients in China also used fish fat as condoms. It is conceivable that it is not easy to find a suitable fish maw because of the different sizes of male penises. ……
Other contraceptive methods
After sexual intercourse, squat down to discharge semen, sneeze and jump up and down. The ancient Greeks believed that cleaning the vagina with alum, wine, seawater, mixed phenol soap or vinegar could also achieve the purpose of contraception.
One of the earliest sayings about contraception comes from the Bible. In Genesis, God asked human beings to stop sexual intercourse, which is also commonly known as "abstinence method".
From 384 to 322 BC, Aristotle, an ancient Greek philosopher, was regarded as the first person who proposed using natural chemicals such as aromatic asphalt, lead-containing ointment or olibanum oil as spermicide.
Pliny, an ancient Roman writer who wrote natural history from 23 to 79 AD, advised readers to refrain from sexual desire to avoid pregnancy. He was the first person to advocate abstinence as a contraceptive method.
/kloc-In the 7th century, the physician condom of King charles ii of England invented the male condom. Its raw material is lamb cecum, and the thinness of the best product can reach 0.038 mm (the current latex condom is generally 0.030 mm). At that time, it was a great event that sensationalized the whole world. Condom doctors were knighted for this invention, and Britain earned a lot of foreign exchange for it.
1725-1798 Casanova, the prodigal son, introduced the details of trying contraceptive methods in his autobiography. He described that he tried to hollow out half a lemon peel and use it as a primitive uterine cap.
1827, scientists discovered the existence of eggs, which was a major scientific breakthrough. All I know is that sperm will get pregnant after entering a woman's body. This discovery is the first step to understand human reproduction.
1832, Charles Norton, a doctor in Massachusetts, USA, invented a contraceptive solution that can be injected into the uterus through a syringe after sexual intercourse. This solution has different formulations, including salt, vinegar, liquid chlorine, zinc sulfite or potassium aluminum sulfate. In the next 40 years, injection was widely used.
1838 German doctor Friedrich Wilde opened a small uterine cap for the patient, which can cover the cervix during menstruation. This contraceptive method has never been widely used, but the world-famous "Wilde hat" has become the predecessor of modern uterine caps.
1839, Charles Goodyear invented rubber vulcanization treatment technology and put it into practical application, producing rubber condoms, intrauterine devices, vaginal irrigators and uterine caps.
In 1843, scientists made it clear that when sperm meets an egg, it will become pregnant. In the past, people thought that men created life; Women only provide places for life.
In the 1970s, various contraceptives appeared in the United States, such as condoms, contraceptive sponges, irrigators and uterine caps. These can be bought from catalogues, pharmacists, dry goods stores and even rubber vendors.
1873 On March 2, the United States Congress passed the Comstock Act, which clearly stipulated that contraceptives were obscene and prohibited from spreading through the post office or interstate trade. At that time, the United States was the only western country that issued a law declaring contraception illegal.
Catherine Dexter McCormick, 1875, a patron of the disabled movement, was born in a noble family in Dexter, Michigan.