Posted on 04/26/2013 8:41:08 PM PDT by oxcart
You might credit the legendary Scottish male virility of past time to single malt whiskey, or the sometimes brutal weather, or the fact that haggis is the national dish, but a Dutch researcher is proposing another answer:
It was the kilts.
Kilts, worn as they were meant to be worn, without underwear, lets our laddies swing freely in the breeze, creating, according to researcher Erwin Kompanje, the “ideal physiological scrotal environment.” Exposed to the bracing Highland coolness, testicles will make robust sperm.
The modern man’s “scrotal environment” is pretty confined these days, what with underwear and pants that hold our testicles close to the body and its 98.6-degree heat, Kompanje, a senior researcher in the department of intensive care at Erasmus University in Rotterdam, told NBCNews.com. But as he pointed out in a paper published online in the Scottish Medical Journal, “adequate spermatogenesis requires a temperature about 3 degrees [Celsius] lower than normal body temperature.” (That would translate to about 93 degrees Fahrenheit, compared to the normal body temperature of 98.6 Farenheit.)
Testicular temperature is regulated by the cremaster muscle – the muscle that covers the testicles -- that raises and lowers the scrotum in response to heat and cold. “The cremaster reflex only works, and has any sense, when the scrotum is hanging free,” Kompanje said. “In tight trousers it cannot work. In a naked man, or a man wearing a kilt, it can and will.”
(Excerpt) Read more at bodyodd.nbcnews.com ...
I do miss Mr. Flibble.
“Och, Laddie, I don’t know where we’ve been but it appears we’ve won first prize.”
The Scotsman:
Kawthahrine Zeta Jones my dear...
I’ve never worn kilts and have never interviewed my sperm. Nevertheless, I’m pretty sure I have happy sperm. If any pollsters want to check, they need to first clear it with me.
I know you do (pat pat pat pat)
She’s Welsh.
Techncially, he was napping on the couch and I put the squirrel up his pant leg. I noted the reaction.
That was right after I first got into scientific method involving experiment and observation.
To this day... if I mention that, he'll pull off whatever hat he's wearing and try to beat me to death with it.
/johnny
They don't let him have a knife.
/johnny
Several years ago I was working for a fortnight in Edinburgh when I happened upon a busker on Princes Street in full gear- kilt, leggings, sporran....playing “Amazing Grace” on the bagpipes. Corny, but the most beautiful rendition of the song I ever heard. It had me weeping for joy.
It was one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been and the people there are kind and amazing. I hope I can go back someday and see more of the country.
If I had a boyfriend I’d love him to wear a kilt!
Go ahead and scratch me off of your list of candidates.
/johnny
I think you may have two different jokes. The one my Scots background husband liked had two young ladies finding him lying drunk and exposed and deciding to cover him with a flower garland. He always used to complain about heat rash in summer and envied woman being able to wear dresses. So I got a short sleeve jacket pattern with zipper, bought very light weight denim material and made him a knee length tunic. He loved it, wore it at home all the time and never had rash any more. Also, loose boxers, not briefs.
British royalty is fairly well armed.
These days they don't do a lot of the wanton slaughter they used to do.
But I wouldn't try to sneak into the Queen's parlor even if her security staff wasn't there. I understand she carries a silenced pistol.
/johnny
That’s nice.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.