Unsavory though it may be, Friedman says thousands of doubters have paid 59 pounds ($86) for the CheckMate kit hoping to "end the nightmare of suspicion.''

``I ordered your kit and found semen. I feel justified with this to take our four kids and divorce (my husband). This is great...now I can make his life hell,'' one gleeful Californian woman wrote on the company's Web site.

A bewildered young soldier wrote that his suspicious mother performed the test on his wife's underwear while he was away on a tour of duty.

The result: one lurid purple patch and one equally lurid confession of an affair with his best friend.

Friedman said the British-based company, had received a storm of emails from the shocked, outraged, relieved and curious.

``Does it stick to car covers?'' one inquirer wanted to know.

Many voiced concern about privacy issues.

Friedman acknowledged the kit raised ``one heck of a lot'' of questions about trust, but he said there were plenty of people prepared to take a devious approach to win peace of mind.

A survey of those buying the kit showed about 40 percent were aged over 40, about 55 percent were women and almost half had been married for more than 15 years.

The survey also elicited the curious fact that almost 10 percent of British customers come from the seaside resort of Brighton -- long a favorite spot for those who fancy a dirty weekend.

Note: The reference to " the British-based company" was a mistake by the Reuters  reporter who did this particular story. The company is actually based in Seattle Washington USA with distributors in 7 different countries including the United Kingdom where this story originated in November 2001