This, we all know, was Catherine of Russia, a woman of inexhaustible sexual appetite. Foot-tickling and bottom-slapping gave her particular sexual delight, and people were employed for these purposes. Even late in life this doughty Czarina was persistently seeking out new thrills.

Dissatisfaction with the penis as a sexual tool has led men to a variety of measures for its improvement. Some of these would seem to be rather hazardous.

The Malays of Borneo, for instance, are reported in F. Henriques' "Love in Action" as perforating the penis with brass wire spread out at the ends soley to aid titillation of the vagina. Sometimes bamboo, ivory, or silver rods, with metal balls at the ends, can be used in the same way (Norman Haire, "The Encyclopaedia of Sex Practice").

When we survey all the sex aid paraphernalia in the modern magazines we may be forgiven for thinking that such things are a product of modern "permissiveness."

Clearly the ancient Romans did not have the opportunity to play around with electronic vibrators - but they had a variety of gadgets that have hardly been surpassed today. And even older peoples have used sex aid devices, e.g. dildoes.

Various Roman Caesars indulged themselves in a wide range of sexual pursuits. Nero and Caligula, for instance, were known for their orgies, sexual appetites, and "perverted" pleasures. Tiberius, perhaps, has the edge over them all. Throughout his life he indulged in all manner of sexual behaviour, and even in old age he contrived a private sporting house in which all forms of sexual behaviour would be performed in front of him. Young boys, whom he called his "minnows", would move between his legs while he was swimming, to lick and tease his penis.

There were actually two Mrs Phillipses in London, both claiming to be unique sex aid retailers. Here is an advertisement for one of them.

According to one authority the earliest account of a dildo in action in the English language is to be found in "The Choise of Valentines or the Merie Ballad of Nash his Dildo".

Nashe lived from 1567-1601: a detailed account, from this period, of a '{deviate" sexual act is very rare.

We recorded Abu'l Hayjeh who deflowered eighty virgins in a single night, but we may suspect that real possibilities lie elsewhere. The upper classes in eighteenth-century England developed a veritable obsession for deflowering virgins, and men boasted of their virility by claiming many conquests of this sort. One man claimed to have debauched no less than seventy girls in a single year (See B. Walker, "Sex and the Supernatural"). One purpose of the notorious Hellfire Clubs - devoted to drunkenness, wenching, group sex, etc. - was to provide

We have already mentioned some prodigious Western performers. To their names may be added Casanova ("Memoires") and Frank Harris ("My Life and Loves").

The Italian adventurer, Casanova, lives up to his prodigious reputation.

The "happy ring," also known as the "goat's eyelid,"was first introduced to the Mongol Emperors by Tibetan lamas in the thirteenth century. After a goat was killed its eyelids were removed together with the eyelashes. First they were put in quick-lime to dry; then they were steamed in a bamboo basket for not less than twelve hours -- this procedure was repeated several times. Once completed the process yielded a sex aid that could be tied round the penis (jade-stem) prior to coitus. The goat's eyelashes were supposed to give the woman a pleasant

The most celebrated use of a biblical virgin was the effort to rejuvenate the senile King David (1 Kings 1,1-4). David was "old and stricken in years," and so his servants thought that a virgin might help - "let her cherish him, and let her lie in thy bosom, that my Lord the king may get heat." They sought for "a fair damsel throughout all the coasts of Israel... the damsel was very fair, and cherished the king, and ministered to him: but the king knew her not." Adonijah, the son of Haggith, was not sorry: he declared "I will be king."