ABSTRACT
In his 1614 treatise, Discourse on Hermaphrodites, the distinguished Parisian physician, Jean Riolan, professed himself quite unsurprised that a hermaphrodite should turn up in Paris “to inform the learned and the curious of the secrets of nature, the composition of Hermaphrodites”; after all, Riolan noted, Paris was “the précis of the universe, which contains in itself all the marvels, beauties, and imperfections of the world” (Riolan 1614, 3, 2). But Paris had no monopoly on hermaphrodites, as Riolan well knew, since his treatise was in large part inspired by the case of a hermaphrodite in Rouen. Judging from the frequency with which they appeared in the pages of both learned and popular works of this period, one might indeed conclude that hermaphrodites were ubiquitous. At least they were objects of intense interest and speculation: their causes, classification and status were much discussed, and accounts of particular cases greedily read.
