Condom

CONDOM (from Latin preservare-to protect), synonym: condom, protective device, a means of mechanical protection of the penis from infection with venereal diseases during sexual intercourse, as well as one of the most common contraceptive methods (see). The first apocryphal references to the use of something similar to a condom appear already in the "Metamorphoses" of Liberatus (2nd century A.D.) and in Galen, but the inventor of the modern condom was the court physician of Charles II of England (17th century) Condom, who proposed dressing the sexual organ with the cecum of animals. Leaving aside infections in areas not protected by the condom (condom chancre, etc.), it should be recognized that the condom is the most valuable preventive means, protecting both partners simultaneously from venereal diseases; in particular, the condom on a man is the best means of personal prevention of gonorrhea for a woman. The only danger of the condom is rupture and the transfer of the infectious agent by the fingers that removed the condom from the sexual organs. An essential condition for using the condom is its strength and "freshness"; the best method for testing the strength of a condom is to fill it with water under pressure; the thinnest condoms have a thickness of only 0.008 mm and withstand the pressure of 1 liter of water. The best varieties are made from the cecum of ram, goat, deer ("coecal condom"). The processing of the raw material, i.e., the intestine, is done by scraping and immersing in alkaline water. Before use, it is recommended to moisten the condom with water, put it on, and lubricate it with oil. Rubber condoms (up to 0.1 mm thick) are the most common and used among us. There are condoms that stretch over the entire penis and only over the glans; the latter type ("Eichelcondom") is not recommended for use. According to Buschke, the use of a condom predisposes to "nervous" impotence, which is apparently explained by the necessity of a series of manipulations that, as it were, cool down the psychological preparation for the act, and the prolongation of the latter due to decreased sensitivity.