Sexual Characteristics
Historical document, translated for reference. It reflects medical knowledge of the 1920s–30s and is not medical advice.
Summary
This article from the 1930s Soviet medical encyclopedia defines sexual characteristics as features distinguishing the sexes. It notes that these differences can be extremely pronounced, as in the case of the worm Bonellia viridis, and classifies them into primary and secondary types based on anatomical criteria.
Encyclopedia entry (1928–1936)
Sexual Characteristics, signs that distinguish one sex from the other. The differences between the male and the female can be extremely distinct, for example, in the worm Bonellia viridis, where the female reaches a length of 1 m and the male about 2 mm. In such cases, the male and female are often described initially as different animals. Sexual characteristics are clearly expressed in some mammals (including humans), in many birds (chickens, pheasants, peacocks, etc.), and in many invertebrates (beetles, butterflies, etc.). Poll (N. Poll) proposed a classification of sexual characteristics based on anatomical signs. 1. Primary signs — the sexual glands. 2. Additional signs: a) internal and external genital signs, b) internal and external extragenital signs. The category 'a' includes the sexual ducts and copulatory organs, while category 'b' includes the so-called secondary sexual signs (see).
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“Sexual Characteristics.” Soviet Medical Encyclopedia. English translation of Bolshaya Meditsinskaya Entsiklopediya, 1st ed. (Moscow, 1928–1936), ed. N. A. Semashko. https://sovietmedicalencyclopedia.pages.dev/article/sexual-characteristics/