The rich tradition of American sexological research began early in the nineteenth century. As we have seen, by the 1870s it became possible, on a limited scale, to observe human coitus directly. Dr. Beck observed human orgasm in August 1972. In fitting a woman with a pessary to correct retroversion of the uterus she was quick to request that Beck take care lest she experience orgasm, a likelihood in view of her nervous temperament and passionate nature. However, out of scientific curiosity, Beck decided to provoke an orgasm in the woman and observe what happened. "I now swept my right forefinger quickly three or four times across the space between the cervix and the pubic arch, when almost immediately the orgasm occurred..." Dr. Beck reported his observations in the "St. Louis Medical and Surgical Journal" for September 1872. An enlarged paper was delivered before the American Medical Association on 2 June 1974 and published in the "American Journal of Obstetrics and Diseases of Women and Children" for November of the same year.