Some things aren’t as good as they used
to be, but that isn’t true of birth control.
Some tips from the footnotes of history,
used by women (and in some cases, men)
far less fortunate than us:
• A pessary made of dried crocodile dung
(Ancient Egypt)
• A mixture of olive oil and oil of cedar,
placed in the vagina (recommended by
Aristotle)
• Bloodletting, as current medical
tradition held that sperm was merely
blood turned white by the heat humor.
The French physician Jacques Ferrand,
author of A treatise on lovesickness ,
recommended that, if moderate
bloodletting failed to dampen libido, the
man must be bled until he “is ready to fall
downe for faintnesse, and losse of blood.”
• A sponge soaked in lemon juice and
inserted into the vagina (Medieval
Europe)
• The woman must hold her breath during
coitus, then sit with her knees bent and
sneeze to expel semen (Ancient Greece)
• A pessary made of nettle leaves
(Elizabethan England)
• A condom made from tortoise shell or
horn, which had the added benefit of
concealing impotence (Feudal Japan)
• Emetics and diuretics, which reduced
the desire for sex or simply made it
impossible (Elizabethan England)
• The woman must eat beans on an
empty stomach (Ancient Egypt)
• The woman must drink the froth from a
camel’s mouth (Ancient Africa)
• The woman must drink sheep urine or
rabbit blood (Medieval Europe)
• Inserting tar or elephant dung into the
vagina after coitus (11th-century Persia)
• A pessary made from cat testicles
(Ancient Greece)
• Half a lemon skin used as a cervical cap
(recommended by Casanova)
• A condom made from a goat bladder, to
be worn by the man or the woman
(Imperial Rome)
• The woman must wear weasel testicles
on her thigh or the amputated foot of a
live weasel around her neck (Medieval
Europe)
• Onion juice applied to the penis before
coitus (Ancient Egypt)
• A numbing genital bath of either cold
water or a mixture of ginger and vinegar
(Elizabethan England)
• In 1920s and 30s New York, the most
common form of birth control was coitus
interruptus, which doctors worried would
cause impotence in men and a hardening
of the uterus in women.
• Coitus obstructus: pressing on the
forepart of the testicle to block
ejaculation (Used in American Utopian
societies in the 19th century, and
recommended in Sanskrit texts)
• Ancient Greeks and Romans used
Silphium, a giant fennel, as a form of
medicinal birth control so much that it is
now extinct. Greek coins depicted a
woman touching the plant with one hand
and her genitals with the other. Its seed
resembled the stylized heart shape we
know today, and may be its inspiration.
(Take that, Hallmark.)
• Some women in rural North Carolina still
use a traditional oral contraceptive made
from Queen Anne’s Lace seeds, which are
chopped and put in a glass of water,
which is then drunk. Cutting the seeds
releases terpenoids, which block
progesterone.
• A pessary made of acacia gum, dates, an
unidentified plant, fiber, and honey
(Ancient Egypt)
• Coca-Cola douches, as Coke was
rumored to be an excellent spermicide,
and the classic bottle provided a “shake
and shoot” applicator (1950s and 60s
America)
• In 1971, a study in China found that six
percent of women used “having a
husband outside the city” as a form of
birth control.
and they say our fore fathers are better,if u ask your grand mother, they would tel u better, some used charms, some kolanuts under their bed,breastfeeding,jumping trees and so many others,if u ask they may tel u so many more..if u care to share

Like seriously?

second to last got me thinking...











who don try Andrew liver salt for here

Ijecs:

• A pessary made of nettle leaves
(Elizabethan England)

Talk about torture. Isn't Nettle warapa that itches so much it's practically a mild form of insanity? And women agreed to insert it into their own bodies?

Ok ooo