This is how ancient people used contraception. Do you know?

Thanks to the development of modern science, we have many ways to prevent pregnancy, such as condoms. But the ancients did not have such advanced science and technology. In the early days, people did not even understand the principles of childbirth. How did they prevent pregnancy?

1: Indians were probably the first to realize that salt can be used as a contraceptive. An ancient medical book suggested that women insert a piece of "oiled rock salt" into their vagina before intercourse to achieve the purpose of contraception. Sometimes, honey or butter could be applied to the vagina to kill sperm that enter the vagina.

1: In Rome, another birthplace of civilization, women there used the "olive oil method of contraception," which was recommended by the great philosopher Aristotle in the 4th century BC.

1: The oldest contraceptive method that is still popular among people today is "On-amism". In the ancient Jewish custom, when the elder brother died without leaving any offspring, the younger brother had the obligation to marry the widowed sister-in-law and make the boy born as the legal heir of the deceased brother. The Bible records that Onan, the son of Judah, disobeyed his father's order and spilled his semen on the ground when he was having fun with his widowed sister-in-law. He was unwilling to sow seeds for his brother. As a result, God was angry and killed Onan. Although Onan died, the "On-amism" named after him has been passed down. Although God does not allow it, this method has been used by many good men and women.

1: A more reliable method was proposed by a Roman gynecologist in the 2nd century AD. He suggested making a "plug" out of wool, mixing it with some paste that can slow down the movement of sperm, and then plugging the uterus. It is not difficult to see that this is really a bit like the modern contraceptive tool cervical cap.

1: A contraceptive recipe recorded in an Egyptian papyrus can be said to be the earliest medical contraceptive method. This recipe instructs to mix crocodile feces with a paste, make it into strips, and put it in the vagina, which has the effect of absorbing semen and blocking sperm from entering the uterus. There is no record of how effective this method is, but some people like to use elephant feces instead of crocodile feces.

2: Before the 13th century, elephant dung was an important "external contraceptive" used by them. Modern scholars have studied this and the results are quite interesting. Elephant dung is acidic and does have a spermicidal effect, but crocodile dung is alkaline and is beneficial to the survival of sperm.

However, many young people do not want to have children too early, so contraception has become something that must be taken seriously in life.