The Rabbit Test
Source: Listverse
Of course sex and pregnancy go together like love and marriage. There have been a number of ways to determine pregnancy through the years. In ancient Greece and Egypt women were encouraged to urinate on watered bags of wheat and barley. If a certain type of grain sprouted it was said that the woman was with child. Hippocrates recommended that a woman who suspected she was pregnant drink a solution of honey water, and if it resulted in abdominal cramps then pregnancy was the culprit.
In more modern times, two German gynecologists named Selmar Aschheim and Bernhard Zondek introduced the rabbit test with the hormone human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG). The doctors injected a woman’s urine into a female rabbit and if the animal’s ovaries responded to the hormone, the woman was ruled pregnant. Th hCG hormone still plays a role in over-the-counter pregnancy tests, but the rabbit test was most widely used from the 1930s to 1950s. It was considered a stepping stone during the middle of the 20th century to technology available today.
Next, check out 21 weird sex facts you really don’t want to know.
