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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/19924-h.zip b/19924-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..d0da4d5 --- /dev/null +++ b/19924-h.zip diff --git a/19924-h/19924-h.htm b/19924-h/19924-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..907453e --- /dev/null +++ b/19924-h/19924-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,13432 @@ +<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> + +<html> +<head> + <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1"> + <title>The Project Gutenberg e-Book of Plain Facts for Old and Young, + by J. H. Kellogg, M.D.</title> + <style type="text/css"> + <!-- + body {margin:10%; text-align:justify} + h1 {text-align:center} + h2 {text-align:center} + h3 {text-align:center} + h4 {text-align:center} --> + </style> +</head> + +<body> + + +<pre> + +Project Gutenberg's Plain Facts for Old and Young, by John Harvey Kellogg + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Plain Facts for Old and Young + +Author: John Harvey Kellogg + +Release Date: November 27, 2006 [EBook #19924] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PLAIN FACTS FOR OLD AND YOUNG *** + + + + +Produced by Ron Swanson + + + + + +</pre> + +<a name="ill001"></a> +<table align="center" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="6" summary="Illustration1"> + <tr> + <td width="404"> + <img src="images/sanitorium.jpg" alt="sanitorium"> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td width="404" align="center"> + The Sanitarium at Battle Creek, Mich. + </td> + </tr> +</table> +<br><br> +<a name="ill002"></a> +<table align="center" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="6" summary="Frontispiece"> + <tr> + <td width="662"> + <img src="images/kellogg.jpg" alt="Dr. Kellog"> + </td> + </tr> +</table> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>PLAIN FACTS</h2> +<h4>FOR</h4> +<h1>OLD AND YOUNG.</h1> +<br> +<br> +<center>BY</center> +<br> +<h2>J. H. KELLOGG, M.D.,</h2> + +<center><small>MEMBER AMERICAN PUBLIC HEALTH ASSOCIATION,<br> +AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE,<br> +AMERICAN SOCIETY OF MICROSCOPY,<br> +MEMBER MICH. STATE BOARD OF HEALTH,<br> +MEDICAL SUPERINTENDENT OF THE BATTLE CREEK SANITARIUM,<br> +AUTHOR OF NUMEROUS WORKS ON HEALTH, ETC.</small></center> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<center>PUBLISHED BY</center> +<h4>SEGNER & CONDIT,</h4> +<center>BURLINGTON, IOWA.<br> +1881.</center> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<center><small>Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1879, by</small><br> +J. H. KELLOGG, M.D.,<br> +<small>In the Office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington, D.C.</small> +<br> +ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.</center> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>PREFACE.</h2> +<br> +<p>The publishers of this work offer no apology for presenting it to the +reading public, since the wide prevalence of the evils which it exposes +is sufficient warrant for its publication. The subjects with which it +deals are of vital consequence to the human race; and it is of the utmost +importance that every effort should be made to dispel the gross +ignorance which almost universally prevails, by the wide diffusion, +in a proper manner, of information of the character contained in this +volume.</p> + +<p>This book has been written not for the young only, nor for any single +class of persons, but for all who are old enough to be capable of +understanding and appreciating it. The prime object of its preparation +has been to call attention to the great prevalence of sexual excesses +of all kinds, and the heinous crimes resulting from some forms of sexual +transgression, and to point out the terrible results which inevitably +follow the violation of sexual law.</p> + +<p>In order to make more clear and comprehensible the teachings of nature +respecting the laws regulating the sexual function, and the evils +resulting from their violation, it has seemed necessary to preface the +practical part of the subject by a concise description of the anatomy +of reproduction. In this portion of the work especial pains has been +taken to avoid anything like indelicacy of expression, yet it has not +been deemed advisable to sacrifice perspicuity of ideas to any prudish +notions of modesty. It is hoped that the reader will bear in mind that +the language of science is always chaste in itself, and that it is only +through a corrupt imagination that it becomes invested with impurity. +The author has constantly endeavored to impart information in the most +straightforward, simple, and concise manner.</p> + +<p>The work should be judiciously circulated, and to secure this the +publishers will take care to place it in the hands of agents competent +to introduce it with discretion; yet it may be read without injury by +any one who is sufficiently mature to understand it. Great care has +been taken to exclude from its pages those accounts of the habits of +vicious persons, and descriptions of the mechanical accessories of vice, +with which many works upon sexual subjects abound.</p> + +<p>The first editions of the work were issued with no little anxiety on +the part of both author and publishers as to how it would be received +by the reading public. It was anticipated that no little adverse +criticism, and perhaps severe condemnation, would be pronounced by many +whose education and general mode of thought had been such as to unfit +them to appreciate it; but it was hoped that persons of more thoughtful +and unbiased minds would receive the work kindly, and would readily +co-operate with the publishers in its circulation. This anticipation +has been more than realized. Wherever the book has been introduced, +it has met with a warm reception; and of the several thousand persons +into whose hands the work has been placed, hundreds have gratefully +acknowledged the benefit which they have received from its perusal, +and it is hoped that a large proportion have been greatly benefited.</p> + +<p>The cordial reception which the work has met from the press everywhere +has undoubtedly contributed in great measure to its popularity. The +demand for the work has exhausted several editions in rapid succession, +and has seemed to require its preparation in the greatly enlarged and +in every way improved form in which it now appears. The addition of +two whole chapters for the purpose of bringing the subject directly +before the minds of boys and girls in a proper manner, adds greatly +to the interest and value of the work, as there seemed to be a slight +deficiency in this particular in the former editions.</p> + +<div align="right">J. H. K. </div> + +B<small>ATTLE</small> C<small>REEK</small>, M<small>ICH</small>.,<br> +<i> <small>October, 1879</small></i>.<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CONTENTS.</h2> +<br> +<a href="#intro">INTRODUCTION</a>. +<br> +<br> +<center><a href="#chapa"><i>SEX IN LIVING FORMS</i></a>.</center> +<br> +<a href="#chapa1">Living beings</a>—<a href="#chapa2">Animals and + vegetables</a>—<a href="#chapa3">Life force</a>—<a href="#chapa4">Reproduction</a>—<a href="#chapa5">Spontaneous + generation</a>—<a href="#chapa6">Simplest form of + generation</a>—<a href="#chapa7">Hermaphrodism</a>—<a href="#chapa8">Sex in + plants</a>—<a href="#chapa9">Sex in animals</a>—<a href="#chapa10">Other sexual + differences</a>—<a href="#chapa11">Men and women differ in + form</a>—<a href="#chapa12">Modern mania for female + pedestrianism</a>—<a href="#chapa13">3,000 quarter miles in 3,000 quarter + hours</a>—<a href="#chapa14">A female walking-match</a>—<a href="#chapa15">The male + and female brain</a>—<a href="#chapa16">Vital organs of man and + woman</a>—<a href="#chapa17">Woman less muscular, more + enduring</a>—<a href="#chapa18">A pathological difference</a>—<a href="#chapa19">Why + a woman does not breathe like a man</a>—<a href="#chapa20">The reproductive + elements</a>—<a href="#chapa21">Sexual organs of plants</a>—<a href="#chapa22">Polygamous + flowers</a>—<a href="#chapa23">The female organ of flowers</a>—<a href="#chapa24">Sexual + organs of animals</a>—<a href="#chapa25">The spermatozoön</a>—<a href="#chapa26">The + ovum</a>—<a href="#chapa27">Fecundation</a>—<a href="#chapa28">Fecundation in + flowers</a>—<a href="#chapa29">Union of the ovum and zoösperm</a>—<a href="#chapa30">Curious + modes of reproduction</a>—<a href="#chapa31">Human beings are developed + buds</a>—<a href="#chapa32">Fecundation in + hermaphrodites</a>—<a href="#chapa33">Development</a>—<a href="#chapa34">Unprotected + development</a>—<a href="#chapa35">Partial protection of the ovum</a>—<a href="#chapa36">Development + in the higher animals and in man</a>—<a href="#chapa37">The uterus</a>—<a href="#chapa38">Uterine + gestation</a>—<a href="#chapa39">The primitive trace</a>—<a href="#chapa40">Curious relations + to lower animals</a>—<a href="#chapa41">Simplicity of early structures</a>—<a href="#chapa42">The + stages of growth</a>—<a href="#chapa43">Duration of gestation</a>—<a href="#chapa44">Uterine + life</a>—<a href="#chapa45">How the unborn infant + breathes</a>—<a href="#chapa46">Parturition</a>—<a href="#chapa47">Changes in the child at + birth</a>—<a href="#chapa48">Nursing</a>—<a href="#chapa49">Anatomy of the reproductive + organs</a>—<a href="#chapa50">Male organs</a>—<a href="#chapa51">The prostate + gland</a>—<a href="#chapa52">Female + organs</a>—<a href="#chapa53">Puberty</a>—<a href="#chapa54">Influence of diet on + puberty</a>—<a href="#chapa55">Brunettes naturally precocious</a>—<a href="#chapa56">Remarkable + precocity</a>—<a href="#chapa57">Premature development occasions early decay</a>—<a href="#chapa58">Early + puberty a cause for anxiety</a>—<a href="#chapa59">Changes which occur at + puberty</a>—<a href="#chapa60">Menstruation</a>—<a href="#chapa61">Nature of + menstruation</a>—<a href="#chapa62">A critical period</a>—<a href="#chapa63">Important + hints</a>—<a href="#chapa64">Menorrhagia</a>—<a href="#chapa65">Dysmenorrhoea</a>—<a href="#chapa66">Amenorrhoea + and chlorosis</a>—<a href="#chapa67">Hysteria</a>—<a href="#chapa68">Prevention better than + cure</a>—<a href="#chapa69">Extra-uterine + pregnancy</a>—<a href="#chapa70">Twins</a>—<a href="#chapa71">Monsters</a>—<a href="#chapa72">Hybrids</a>—<a href="#chapa73">Law + of sex</a>—<a href="#chapa74">Heredity</a>—<a href="#chapa75">Ante-natal + influences</a>—<a href="#chapa76">Law universal</a>—<a href="#chapa77">A source of + crime</a>—<a href="#chapa78">Circumcision</a>—<a href="#chapa79">Castration</a> +<br> +<br> +<center><a href="#chapb"><i>THE SEXUAL RELATIONS</i></a>.</center> +<br> +<a href="#chapb1">Sexual precocity</a>—<a href="#chapb2">Astonishing + ignorance</a>—<a href="#chapb3">Inherited passion</a>—<a href="#chapb4">Various causes of sexual + precocity</a>—<a href="#chapb5">Senile + sexuality</a>—<a href="#chapb6">Marriage</a>—<a href="#chapb7">Time to + marry</a>—<a href="#chapb8">Application of the law of heredity</a>—<a href="#chapb9">Early + marriage</a>—<a href="#chapb10">Mutual adaptation</a>—<a href="#chapb11">Disparity of + age</a>—<a href="#chapb12">Courtship</a>—<a href="#chapb13">Long + Courtships</a>—<a href="#chapb14">Flirtation</a>—<a href="#chapb15">Youthful + flirtations</a>—<a href="#chapb16">Polygamy</a>—<a href="#chapb17">Polyandry</a>—<a href="#chapb18">Divorce</a>—<a href="#chapb19">Who + may not marry</a>—<a href="#chapb20">Do not be in a hurry</a> +<br> +<br> +<center><a href="#chapc"><i>CHASTITY</i></a>.</center> +<br> +<a href="#chapc1">Mental unchastity</a>—<a href="#chapc2">Amativeness</a>—<a href="#chapc3">Unchaste + conversation</a>—<a href="#chapc4">Causes of unchastity</a>—<a href="#chapc5">Early + causes</a>—<a href="#chapc6">Diet vs. chastity</a>—<a href="#chapc7">Clerical + lapses</a>—<a href="#chapc8">Tobacco and vice</a>—<a href="#chapc9">Bad + books</a>—<a href="#chapc10">Idleness</a>—<a href="#chapc11">Dress and + sensuality</a>—<a href="#chapc12">How young women fall</a>—<a href="#chapc13">Fashion and + vice</a>—<a href="#chapc14">Reform in dress needed</a>—<a href="#chapc15">Round + dances</a>—<a href="#chapc16">Physical causes of + unchastity</a>—<a href="#chapc17">Constipation</a>—<a href="#chapc18">Intestinal + worms</a>—<a href="#chapc19">Local uncleanness</a>—<a href="#chapc20">Irritation of the + bladder</a>—<a href="#chapc21">Modern modes of life</a> +<br> +<br> +<center><a href="#chapd"><i>CONTINENCE</i></a>.</center> +<br> +<a href="#chapd1">Continence not injurious</a>—<a href="#chapd2">Does not produce + impotence</a>—<a href="#chapd3">Difficulty of continence</a>—<a href="#chapd4">Helps to + continence</a>—<a href="#chapd5">The + will</a>—<a href="#chapd6">Diet</a>—<a href="#chapd7">Exercise</a>—<a href="#chapd8">Bathing</a>—<a href="#chapd9">Religion</a> +<br> +<br> +<center><a href="#chape"><i>MARITAL EXCESSES</i></a>.</center> +<br> +<a href="#chape1">Object of the reproductive functions</a>—<a href="#chape2">Results of + excesses</a>—<a href="#chape3">Effects upon husbands</a>—<a href="#chape4">Testimony of a French + physician</a>—<a href="#chape5">Continence of trainers</a>—<a href="#chape6">A cause of throat + disease</a>—<a href="#chape7">A cause of consumption</a>—<a href="#chape8">Effects on + wives</a>—<a href="#chape9">The greatest cause of uterine disease</a>—<a href="#chape10">Legalized + murder</a>—<a href="#chape11">Indulgence during menstruation</a>—<a href="#chape12">Effects upon + offspring</a>—<a href="#chape13">Indulgence during pregnancy</a>—<a href="#chape14">Effect upon the + character</a>—<a href="#chape15">A selfish objection</a>—<a href="#chape16">Brutes and savages more + considerate</a>—<a href="#chape17">What may be done</a>—<a href="#chape18">Early moderation</a> +<br> +<br> +<center><a href="#chapf"><i>PREVENTION OF CONCEPTION:</i><br> +<small>ITS EVILS AND DANGERS</small></a>.</center> +<br> +<a href="#chapf1">Conjugal onanism</a>—"Male continence"—<a href="#chapf3">Shaker + views</a>—<a href="#chapf4">Moral bearings of the question</a>—<a href="#chapf5">Unconsidered + murders</a>—<a href="#chapf6">The charge + disputed</a>—<a href="#chapf7">Difficulties</a>—<a href="#chapf8">Woman's + rights</a>—<a href="#chapf9">What to do</a>—<a href="#chapf10">A compromise</a> +<br> +<br> +<center><a href="#chapg"><i>INFANTICIDE AND ABORTION</i></a>.</center> +<br> +<a href="#chapg1">Not a modern crime</a>—<a href="#chapg2">Causes of the + crime</a>—<a href="#chapg3">The nature of the crime</a>—<a href="#chapg4">Instruments of + crime</a>—<a href="#chapg5">Results of this unnatural crime</a>—<a href="#chapg6">An unwelcome + child</a>—<a href="#chapg7">The remedy</a>—<a href="#chapg8">Murder by proxy</a> +<br> +<br> +<center><a href="#chaph"><i>THE SOCIAL EVIL</i></a>.</center> +<br> +<a href="#chaph1">Unchastity of the ancients</a>—<a href="#chaph2">Causes of the "social + evil"</a>—<a href="#chaph3">Libidinous blood</a>—<a href="#chaph4">Gluttony</a>—<a href="#chaph5">Precocious + sexuality</a>—<a href="#chaph6">Man's lewdness</a>—<a href="#chaph7">Fashion</a>—<a href="#chaph8">Lack + of early training</a>—<a href="#chaph9">Sentimental + literature</a>—<a href="#chaph10">Poverty</a>—<a href="#chaph11">Ignorance</a>—<a href="#chaph12">Disease</a>—<a href="#chaph13">Results + of licentiousness</a>—<a href="#chaph14">Thousands of victims</a>—<a href="#chaph15">Effects of vice + ineradicable</a>—<a href="#chaph16">The only hope</a>—<a href="#chaph17">Hereditary effects of venereal + disease</a>—<a href="#chaph18">Man the only transgressor</a>—<a href="#chaph19">Origin of the foul + disease</a>—<a href="#chaph20">Cure of the "social evil"</a>—<a href="#chaph21">Prevention the only + cure</a>—<a href="#chaph22">Early training</a>—<a href="#chaph23">Teach + self-control</a>—<a href="#chaph24">Mental culture</a>—<a href="#chaph25">Early associations</a> +<br> +<br> +<center><a href="#chapi"><i>SOLITARY VICE</i></a>.</center> +<br> +<a href="#chapi1">Alarming prevalence of the vice</a>—<a href="#chapi2">Testimony of eminent + authors</a>—<a href="#chapi3">Not a modern vice</a>—<a href="#chapi4">Victims of all + ages</a>—<a href="#chapi5">Unsuspected rottenness</a>—<a href="#chapi6">Causes of the + habit</a>—<a href="#chapi7">Evil associations</a>—<a href="#chapi8">Corruption in + schools</a>—<a href="#chapi9">Wicked nurses</a>—<a href="#chapi10">Not an uncommon + case</a>—<a href="#chapi11">The instructor in vice</a>—<a href="#chapi12">Local + disease</a>—<a href="#chapi13">An illustrative case</a>—<a href="#chapi14">Other physical + causes</a>—<a href="#chapi15">Influence of stimulants</a>—<a href="#chapi16">Signs of + self-abuse</a>—<a href="#chapi17">Suspicious signs</a>—<a href="#chapi18">General + debility</a>—<a href="#chapi19">Early symptoms of consumption</a>—<a href="#chapi20">Premature and + defective development</a>—<a href="#chapi21">Sudden change in + disposition</a>—<a href="#chapi22">Lassitude</a>—<a href="#chapi23">Sleeplessness</a>—<a href="#chapi24">Failure + of mental capacity</a>—<a href="#chapi25">Fickleness</a>—<a href="#chapi26">Untrustworthiness</a>—<a href="#chapi27">Love + of solitude</a>—<a href="#chapi28">Bashfulness</a>—<a href="#chapi29">Unnatural + boldness</a>—<a href="#chapi30">Mock piety</a>—<a href="#chapi31">Confusion of + ideas</a>—<a href="#chapi32">Round shoulders</a>—<a href="#chapi33">Weak + backs</a>—<a href="#chapi34">Pains in the limbs</a>—<a href="#chapi35">Stiffness of the + joints</a>—<a href="#chapi36">Paralysis</a>—<a href="#chapi37">Gait</a>—<a href="#chapi38">Bad + positions</a>—<a href="#chapi39">Lack of development of the breasts</a>—<a href="#chapi40">Capricious + appetite</a>—<a href="#chapi41">Eating clay</a>—<a href="#chapi42">The use of + tobacco</a>—<a href="#chapi43">Unnatural paleness</a>—<a href="#chapi44">Acne</a>—<a href="#chapi45">Biting + the finger nails</a>—<a href="#chapi46">Palpitation of the + heart</a>—<a href="#chapi47">Hysteria</a>—<a href="#chapi48">Chlorosis</a>—<a href="#chapi49">Epileptic + fits</a>—<a href="#chapi50">Wetting the bed</a>—<a href="#chapi51">Unchastity of + speech</a>—<a href="#chapi52">Positive signs</a>—<a href="#chapi53">Results of secret + vice</a>—<a href="#chapi54">Effects in males</a>—<a href="#chapi55">Local + effects</a>—<a href="#chapi56">Urethral irritation</a>—<a href="#chapi57">Stricture</a>—<a href="#chapi58">Enlarged + prostate</a>—<a href="#chapi59">Urinary + diseases</a>—<a href="#chapi60">Priapism</a>—<a href="#chapi61">Piles</a>—<a href="#chapi62">Prolapsus + of rectum</a>—<a href="#chapi63">Extension of + irritation</a>—<a href="#chapi64">Atrophy</a>—<a href="#chapi65">Varicocele</a>—<a href="#chapi66">Nocturnal + emissions</a>—<a href="#chapi67">Exciting causes</a>—<a href="#chapi68">Are occasional emissions necessary + or harmless?</a>—<a href="#chapi69">Emissions not necessary to health</a>—<a href="#chapi70">Eminent + testimony</a>—<a href="#chapi71">Diurnal emissions</a>—<a href="#chapi72">Cause of diurnal + emissions</a>—<a href="#chapi73">Internal emissions</a>—<a href="#chapi74">An important + caution</a>—<a href="#chapi75">Impotence</a>—<a href="#chapi76">General + effects</a>—<a href="#chapi77">General + debility</a>—<a href="#chapi78">Consumption</a>—<a href="#chapi79">Dyspepsia</a>—<a href="#chapi80">Heart-disease</a>—<a href="#chapi81">Throat + affections</a>—<a href="#chapi82">Nervous diseases</a>—<a href="#chapi83">Epilepsy</a>—<a href="#chapi84">Failure + of special senses</a>—<a href="#chapi85">Spinal + irritation</a>—<a href="#chapi86">Insanity</a>—<a href="#chapi87">A victim's mental condition + pictured</a>—<a href="#chapi88">Effects in females</a>—<a href="#chapi89">Local + effects</a>—<a href="#chapi90">Leucorrhoea</a>—<a href="#chapi91">Uterine + disease</a>—<a href="#chapi92">Cancer of the womb</a>—<a href="#chapi93">Sterility</a>—<a href="#chapi94">Atrophy + of mammæ</a>—<a href="#chapi95">Pruritis</a>—<a href="#chapi96">General + effects</a>—<a href="#chapi97">A common cause of hysteria</a>—<a href="#chapi98">Effects upon + offspring</a>—<a href="#chapi99">Treatment of self-abuse and its effects</a>—<a href="#chapi100">Prevention + of secret vice</a>—<a href="#chapi101">Cultivate chastity</a>—<a href="#chapi102">Timely + warning</a>—<a href="#chapi103">Curative treatment of the effects of self-abuse</a>—<a href="#chapi104">Cure + of the habit</a>—<a href="#chapi105">How may a person help himself?</a>—<a href="#chapi106">Hopeful + courage</a>—<a href="#chapi107">General regimen and treatment</a>—<a href="#chapi108">Mental and moral + treatment</a>—<a href="#chapi109">Exercise</a>—<a href="#chapi110">Never + overeat</a>—<a href="#chapi111">Eat but twice a day</a>—<a href="#chapi112">Discard all stimulating + food</a>—<a href="#chapi113">Stimulating + drinks</a>—<a href="#chapi114">Sleeping</a>—<a href="#chapi115">Dreams</a>—<a href="#chapi116">Can + dreams be controlled?</a>—<a href="#chapi117">Bathing</a>—<a href="#chapi118">Improvement of general + health</a>—<a href="#chapi119">Prostitution as a remedy</a>—<a href="#chapi120">Marriage</a>—<a href="#chapi121">Local + treatment</a>—<a href="#chapi122">Cool sitz bath</a>—<a href="#chapi123">Ascending + douche</a>—<a href="#chapi124">Abdominal bandage</a>—<a href="#chapi125">Wet + compress</a>—<a href="#chapi126">Hot and cold applications to the spine</a>—<a href="#chapi127">Local + fomentations</a>—<a href="#chapi128">Local cold + bathing</a>—<a href="#chapi129">Enemata</a>—<a href="#chapi130">Electricity</a>—<a href="#chapi131">Internal + applications</a>—<a href="#chapi132">Use of + electricity</a>—<a href="#chapi133">Circumcision</a>—<a href="#chapi134">Impotence</a>—<a href="#chapi135">Varicocele</a>—<a href="#chapi136">Drugs</a>—<a href="#chapi137">Rings</a>—<a href="#chapi138">Quacks</a>—<a href="#chapi139">Closing + advice</a> +<br> +<br> +<center><a href="#chapj"><i>A CHAPTER FOR BOYS</i></a>.</center> +<br> +<a href="#chapj1">Who are boys?</a>—<a href="#chapj2">What are boys for?</a>—<a href="#chapj3">Boys + the hope of the world</a>—<a href="#chapj4">Man the masterpiece</a>—<a href="#chapj5">How a noble character + is ruined</a>—<a href="#chapj6">The marvelous human machine</a>—<a href="#chapj7">The two objects of human + existence</a>—<a href="#chapj8">The nutritive apparatus</a>—<a href="#chapj9">The moving + apparatus</a>—<a href="#chapj10">The thinking and feeling apparatus</a>—<a href="#chapj11">The purifying + apparatus</a>—<a href="#chapj12">The reproductive apparatus</a>—<a href="#chapj13">How a noble character + and a sound body must be formed</a>—<a href="#chapj14">The downhill + road</a>—<a href="#chapj15">Self-abuse</a>—<a href="#chapj16">A dreadful + sin</a>—<a href="#chapj17">Self-murderers</a>—<a href="#chapj18">What makes boys + dwarfs</a>—<a href="#chapj19">Scrawny and hollow-eyed boys</a>—<a href="#chapj20">Old + boys</a>—<a href="#chapj21">What makes idiots</a>—<a href="#chapj22">Young + dyspeptics</a>—<a href="#chapj23">The race ruined by boys</a>—<a href="#chapj24">Cases illustrating the + effects of self-abuse</a>—<a href="#chapj25">Two young wrecks</a>—<a href="#chapj26">A prodigal + youth</a>—<a href="#chapj27">Barely escaped</a>—<a href="#chapj28">A lost + soul</a>—<a href="#chapj29">The results of one transgression</a>—<a href="#chapj30">A hospital + case</a>—<a href="#chapj31">An old offender</a>—<a href="#chapj32">The sad end of a young + victim</a>—<a href="#chapj33">From bad to worse</a>—<a href="#chapj34">An indignant + father</a>—<a href="#chapj35">Disgusted with life</a>—<a href="#chapj36">Bad + company</a>—<a href="#chapj37">Bad language</a>—<a href="#chapj38">Bad + books</a>—<a href="#chapj39">Vile pictures</a>—<a href="#chapj40">Evil + thoughts</a>—<a href="#chapj41">Influence of other bad habits</a>—<a href="#chapj42">Closing advice to boys and young men</a> +<br> +<br> +<center><a href="#chapk"><i>A CHAPTER FOR GIRLS</i></a>.</center> +<br> +<a href="#chapk1">Girlhood</a>—<a href="#chapk2">How to develop beauty and + loveliness</a>—<a href="#chapk3">The human form divine</a>—<a href="#chapk4">A wonderful + process</a>—<a href="#chapk5">Human buds</a>—<a href="#chapk6">How beauty is + marred</a>—<a href="#chapk7">A beauty-destroying vice</a>—<a href="#chapk8">Terrible effects of + secret vice</a>—<a href="#chapk9">Remote effects</a>—<a href="#chapk10">Causes which lead girls + astray</a>—<a href="#chapk11">Vicious companions</a>—<a href="#chapk12">Whom to + avoid</a>—<a href="#chapk13">Sentimental books</a>—<a href="#chapk14">Various + causes</a>—<a href="#chapk15">Modesty woman's safeguard</a>—<a href="#chapk16">A few sad + cases</a>—<a href="#chapk17">A pitiful case</a>—<a href="#chapk18">A mind + dethroned</a>—<a href="#chapk19">A penitent victim</a>—<a href="#chapk20">A ruined + girl</a>—<a href="#chapk21">The danger of boarding-schools</a>—<a href="#chapk22">A desperate + case</a>—<a href="#chapk23">A last word</a>—<a href="#chapk24">A few words to boys and girls</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br><a name="p17"></a> +<div><h2><a name="intro">INTRODUCTION.</a></h2></div> +<br> +<p>Books almost without number have been written upon the subject treated +in this work. Unfortunately, most of these works are utterly unreliable, +being filled with gross misrepresentations and exaggerations, and +being designed as advertising mediums for ignorant and unscrupulous +charlatans, or worse than worthless patent nostrums. To add to their +power for evil, many of them abound with pictorial illustrations which +are in no way conducive to virtue or morality, but rather stimulate +the animal propensities and excite lewd imaginations. Books of this +character are usually widely circulated; and their pernicious +influence is fully as great as that of works of a more grossly obscene +character. In most of the few instances in which the evident motive +of the author is not of an unworthy character, the manner of presenting +the subject is unfortunately such that it more frequently than +otherwise has a strong tendency in a direction exactly the opposite +of that intended and desired. The writer of this work has endeavored +to avoid the latter evil by adopting a style of presentation quite +different from that generally pursued. Instead of restricting the +reader's attention rigidly to the sexual function in man, his mind is +diverted by frequent references to <a name="p18"></a>corresponding functions in lower +animals and in the vegetable kingdom. By this means, not only is an +additional fund of information imparted, but the sexual function in +man is divested of its sensuality. It is viewed as a fact of natural +history, and is associated with the innocence of animal life and the +chaste loveliness of flowers. Thus the subject comes to be regarded +from a purely physiological standpoint, and is liberated from the gross +animal instinct which is the active cause of sensuality.</p> + +<p>There are so many well-meaning individuals who object to the agitation +of this subject in any manner whatever, that it may be profitable to +consider in this connection some of the principal objections which are +urged against imparting information on sexual subjects, especially +against giving knowledge to the young.</p> + +<p>I. <i>Sexual matters improper to be spoken of to the young.</i></p> + +<p>This objection is often raised, it being urged that these matters are +<i>too delicate</i> to be even suggested to children; that they ought to +be kept in total ignorance of all sexual matters and relations until +nature indicates that they are fit to receive them. It is doubtless +true that children raised in a perfectly natural way would have no +sexual thoughts until puberty, at least, and it would be better if it +might be so; but from facts pointed out in succeeding portions of this +work, it is certain that at the present <a name="p19"></a>time children nearly always +do have some vague ideas of sexual relations long before puberty, and +often at a very early age. It is thus apparent that by speaking to +children of sexual matters in a proper manner, a new subject is not +introduced to them, but it is merely presenting to them in a true light +a subject of which they already have vague ideas; and thus, by +satisfying a natural curiosity, they are saved from supplying by their +imaginations distorted images and exaggerated conceptions, and from +seeking to obtain the desired information from evil sources whence they +would derive untold injury.</p> + +<p>What reason is there that the subject of the sexual functions should +be treated with such maudlin secrecy? Why should the function of +generation be regarded as something low and beastly, unfit to be spoken +of by decent people on decent occasions? We can conceive of no answer +except the worse than beastly use to which the function has been so +generally put by man. There is nothing about the sexual organism which +makes it less pure than the lungs or the stomach. "Unto the pure all +things are pure," may have been written especially for our times, when +there is such a vast amount of mock modesty; when so much pretense of +virtue covers such a world of iniquity and vice. The young lady who +goes into a spasm of virtuous hysterics upon hearing the word "leg," +is perhaps just the one who at home riots her imagination in voluptuous +French novels, if she commits no grosser breach of chastity. The parents +who are <a name="p20"></a>the most opposed to imparting information to the young are often +those who have themselves indulged in sexual excesses. In the minds +of such persons the sexual organs and functions, and everything even +remotely connected with them, are associated only with ideas of lust +and gross sensuality. No wonder that they wish to keep such topics in +the dark. With such thoughts they cannot well bear the scrutiny of +virtue.</p> + +<p>Sexual subjects are not, of course, proper subjects for conversation +at all times, or at any time in a spirit of levity and flippancy.</p> + +<p>II. <i>Knowledge is dangerous.</i></p> + +<p>Very true, knowledge is dangerous, but ignorance is more dangerous +still; or, rather, partial knowledge is more dangerous than a more +complete understanding of facts. Children, young people, will not grow +up in innocent ignorance. If, in obedience to custom, they are not +encouraged to inquire of their parents about the mysteries of life, +they will seek to satisfy their curiosity by appealing to older or +better informed companions. They will eagerly read any book which +promises any hint on the mysterious subject, and will embrace every +opportunity, proper or improper—and most likely to be the latter—of +obtaining the coveted information. Knowledge obtained in this +uncertain and irregular way must of necessity be very unreliable. Many +times—generally, in fact—it is of a most corrupting character, and +the <a name="p21"></a>clandestine manner in which it is obtained is itself corrupting +and demoralizing. A child ought to be taught to expect all such +information from its parents, and it ought not to be disappointed.</p> + +<p>Again, while it is true that knowledge is dangerous, it is equally true +that this dangerous knowledge will be gained sometime, at any rate; +and as it must come, better let it be imparted by the parent, who can +administer proper warnings and cautions along with it, than by any other +individual. Thus may the child be shielded from injury to which he would +otherwise be certainly exposed.</p> + +<p>III. <i>Young people should be left to find out these things for +themselves.</i></p> + +<p>If human beings received much of their knowledge through instinct, as +animals do, this might be a proper course; but man gets his knowledge +largely by instruction. Young people will get their first knowledge +of sexual matters mostly by instruction from some source. How much +better, then, as we have already shown, to let them obtain this +knowledge from the most natural and most reliable source!</p> + +<p>The following paragraph from Dr. Ware is to the point:—</p> + +<p>"But putting aside the question whether we ought to hide this subject +wholly from the young if we could, the truth, it is to be feared, is +that we cannot if we would. Admitting it to be desirable, every man +of experience in life will pronounce it to be <a name="p22"></a>impracticable. If, then, +we cannot prevent the minds of children from being engaged in some way +on this subject, may it not be better to forestall evil impressions +by implanting good ones, or at least to mingle such good ones with the +evil as the nature of the case admits? Let us be at least as wise as +the crafty enemy of man, and cast in a little wheat with his tares; +and among the most effectual methods of doing this is to impart to the +young just and religious views of the nature and purposes of the +relation which the Creator has established between the two sexes."</p> + +<p><i>When Shall Information Be Given?</i>—It is a matter of some difficulty +to decide the exact age at which information on sexual subjects should +be given to the young. It may be adopted as a safe rule, however, that +a certain amount of knowledge should be imparted as soon as there is +manifested a curiosity in this direction. If there is reason to believe +that the mind of the child is exercised in this direction, even though +he may have made no particular inquiries, information should not be +withheld.</p> + +<p><i>How to Impart Proper Knowledge.</i>—No little skill may be displayed +in introducing these subjects to the mind of the young person in such +a way as to avoid arousing his passions and creating sexual excitement. +Perhaps the general plan followed in the first portion of this work +will be found a very pleasant and successful method if studied +thoroughly and well executed.</p> +<a name="p23"></a> +<p>All information should not be given at once. First obtain the child's +confidence, and assure him by candor and unreserve that you will give +him all needed information; then, as he encounters difficulties, he +will resort for explanation where he knows he will receive satisfaction. +When the little one questions, answer truthfully and carefully.</p> + +<p>The following paragraph by Dr. Wilkinson is suggestive:—</p> + +<p>"When we are little boys and girls, our first inquiries about our +<i>whence</i> are answered by the authoritative dogma of the 'silver spade;' +we were dug up with that implement. By degrees the fact comes forth. +The public, however, remains for ages in the silver-spade condition +of mind with regard to the science of the fact; and the doctors foster +it by telling us that the whole subject is a medical property.... There +is nothing wrong in the knowing; and, though the passions might be +stimulated in the first moments by such information, yet in the second +instance they will be calmed by it; and, ceasing to be inflamed by the +additional goad of curiosity and imagination, they will cool down under +the hydropathic influences of science. Well-stated knowledge did never +yet contribute to human inflammation; and we much question whether the +whole theory of the silver spade be not a mistake; and whether children +should not be told the truth from the first; that before desire and +imagination are born, the young mind may receive, in its cool innocency, +a knowledge of the future <a name="p24"></a>objects of powers and faculties which are +to be subject afterward to such strong excitements."</p> + +<p>The experience of hundreds in the circulation of this work has proven +beyond all chance for question the truth of the foregoing remarks, and +often in a most striking manner. Scores of persons have written us, +"I would give all I possess in this world could I have had a copy of +'Plain Facts' placed in my hands when I was a lad," or, "Words cannot +express the gratitude I would now feel had some kind friend imparted +to me the invaluable information which this book contains; it would +have saved me a life of wretchedness."</p> + +<p>We have had the satisfaction of knowing in numerous instances that the +virtue and happiness of whole families have been secured by the timely +warnings of danger which parents have obtained from this work. We are +glad to be able to feel that it is now thoroughly demonstrated that +intelligent persons who have given this subject thought universally +approve of the objects of the work and the manner of presenting the +subject adopted in it. Those who at first question the propriety of +discussing the subject so freely and thoroughly as is here done, lose +their prejudice entirely upon giving the work a careful perusal. In +numerous instances it has occurred that those who were most decided +in their denunciations have become the most zealous and efficient +agents in its circulation after becoming more fully acquainted with +it.</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br><a name="p25"></a> +<div><h2><a name="chapa">SEX IN LIVING FORMS.</a></h2></div> +<br> +<p>Life, in its great diversity of forms, has ever been a subject of the +deepest interest to rational beings. Poets have sung of its joys and +sorrows, its brilliant phantasies and harsh realities. Philosophers +have spent their lives in vain attempts to solve its mysteries; and +some have held and thought that life was nothing more than a stupendous +farce, a delusion of the senses. Moralists have sought to impress +mankind with the truth that "life is real," and teeming with grave +responsibilities. Physiologists have busied themselves in observing +the phenomena of life, and learning, therefrom, its laws. The subject +is certainly an interesting one, and none could be more worthy of the +most careful attention.</p> + +<p><a name="chapa1"><b>Living Beings.</b></a>—Man possesses life in common with other beings almost +infinite in number and variety. The hugest beast that roams the forest +or plows the main is no more a living creature than the smallest insect +or microscopic animalculum. The "big tree" of California and the tiny +blade of grass which waves at its foot are alike imbued with life. All +nature teems with life. <a name="p26"></a>The practiced eye detects multitudes of living +forms at every glance.</p> + +<p>The universe of life presents the most marvelous manifestations of the +infinite power and wisdom of the Creator to be found in all his works. +The student of biology sees life in myriad forms which are unnoticed +by the casual observer. The microscope reveals whole worlds of life +that were unknown before the discovery of this wonderful aid to human +vision,—whole tribes of living organisms, each of which, though +insignificant in size, possesses organs as perfect and as useful to +it in its sphere as do animals of greater magnitude. Under a powerful +magnifying glass, a drop of water from a stagnant pool is found to be +peopled with curious animated forms; slime from a damp rock, or a speck +of green scum from the surface of a pond, presents a museum of living +wonders. Through this instrument the student of nature learns that life +in its lowest form is represented by a mere atom of living matter, an +insignificant speck of trembling jelly, transparent and structureless, +having no organs of locomotion, yet able to move in any direction; no +nerves or organs of sense, yet possessing a high degree of sensibility; +no mouth, teeth, nor organs of digestion, yet capable of taking food, +growing, developing, producing other individuals like itself, becoming +aged, infirm, and dying,—such is the life history of a living creature +at the lower extreme of the scale of <a name="p27"></a>animated being. As we rise higher +in the scale, we find similar little atoms of life associated together +in a single individual, each doing its proper share of the work +necessary to maintain the life of the individual as a whole, yet +retaining at the same time its own individual life.</p> + +<p>As we ascend to still higher forms, we find this association of minute +living creatures resulting in the production of forms of increasing +complicity. As the structure of the individual becomes more complex +and its functions more varied, the greater is the number of separate, +yet associated, organisms to do the work.</p> + +<p>In man, at the very summit of the scale of animate existence, we find +the most delicate and wonderfully intricate living mechanism of all. +In him, as in lower, intermediate forms of life, the life of the +individual is but a summary of the lives of all numberless minute +organisms of which his body is composed. The individual life is but +the aggregate life of all the millions of distinct individuals which +are associated together in the human organism.</p> + +<p><a name="chapa2"><b>Animals and Vegetables.</b></a>—The first classification of living creatures +separates them into two great kingdoms, animals and vegetables. +Although it is very easy to define the general characteristics of each +of these classes, it is impossible to fix upon any single peculiarity +which will be applicable in every case. Most vegetable organisms remain +<a name="p28"></a>stationary, while some possess organs of locomotion, and swim about +in the water in a manner much resembling the movements of certain +animals. Most vegetables obtain their nutriment from the earth and the +air, while animals subsist on living matter. A few plants seem to take +organic matter for food, some even catching and killing small insects.</p> + +<p>It is found impossible to draw the precise line between animals and +vegetables, for the reason just mentioned. The two kingdoms blend so +intimately that in some cases it is impossible to tell whether a certain +microscopic speck of life is an animal or a vegetable. But since these +doubtful creatures are usually so minute that several millions of them +can exist in a single drop of water, it is usually of no practical +importance whether they are animal or vegetable, or sometimes one and +sometimes the other, as they have been supposed to be by some +biologists.</p> + +<p>All living creatures are <i>organized</i> beings. Most possess a structure +and an organism more or less complicated; but some of the lowest forms +are merely little masses of a transparent, homogeneous jelly, known +as protoplasm. Some of the smallest of these are so minute that one +hundred millions of them could occupy the space of a cube one-thousandth +of an inch on each side; yet each one runs its course of life as regularly +as man himself, performing its proper functions even more perfectly, +perhaps.</p> +<a name="p29"></a> +<p><a name="chapa3"><b>Life Force.</b></a>—To every thinking mind the question often recurs, What +makes the fragrant flower so different from the dead soil from which +it grows? the trilling bird, so vastly superior to the inert atmosphere +in which it flies? What subtle power paints the rose, and tunes the +merry songster's voice? To explain this mystery, philosophers of olden +time supposed the existence of a certain peculiar force which is called +life, or vital force, or vitality. This supposition does nothing more +than furnish a name for a thing unknown, and the very existence of which +may fairly be doubted. In fact, any attempt to find a place for such +a force, to understand its origin, or harmonize its existence with that +of other well-known forces, is unsuccessful; and the theory of a +peculiar vital force, a presiding entity present in every living thing, +vanishes into thin air to give place to the more rational view of the +most advanced modern scientists, that vital force, so-called, is only +a manifestation of the ordinary forces of nature acting through a +peculiar arrangement of matter. In other words, life depends, not upon +a peculiar force, but upon a peculiar arrangement of matter, or +organization. It is simply a peculiar manifestation of the force +possessed by atoms exhibited through a peculiar arrangement of atoms +and molecules. This arrangement is what is known as organization; and +bodies which possess it are known as organized or living bodies. The +term life may be understood as <a name="p30"></a>referring to the phenomena which result +from organization.</p> + +<p>That life results from organization, not organization from life, is +more consonant with the accepted and established facts of science than +the contrary view. We might adduce numerous facts and arguments in +support of this view of the nature of life, but will not do so here, +as we have considered the subject at some length elsewhere.<small>[1]</small></p> + +<blockquote><small>1 See "Science and the Bible," pp. 36-46.</small></blockquote> + +<p><i>Nutrition</i> and <i>reproduction</i> are the two great functions of life, +being common not only to all animals, but to both animals and plants, +to all classes of living creatures. The object of the first, is the +development and maintenance of the individual existence; the second +has for its end the production of new individuals, or the preservation +of the race. Nutrition is a purely selfish process; reproduction is +purely unselfish in its object; though the human species—unlike the +lower animals, which, while less intelligent, are far more true to +nature—too often pervert its functions to the most grossly selfish +ends.</p> + +<p>The subject of nutrition is an important one, and well worthy the +attention of every person who values life. The general disregard of +this subject is undoubtedly the cause of a very large share of the ills +to which human flesh is heir; but our limited space forbids its +consideration here, and we shall confine our attention to reproduction.</p> +<br> +<a name="p31"></a> +<div><h3><a name="chapa4">R<small>EPRODUCTION</small>.</a></h3></div> + +<p>As before remarked, reproduction is a function common to all animals +and to all plants. Every organized being has the power to reproduce +itself, or to produce, or aid in producing, other individuals like +itself. It is by means of this function that plants and animals increase +or multiply.</p> + +<p>When we consider the great diversity of characters illustrated in +animal and vegetable life, and the infinite variety of conditions and +circumstances under which organized creatures exist, it is not +surprising that modes of reproduction should also present great +diversity both in general character and in detail. We shall find it +both interesting and instructive to consider some of the many different +modes of reproduction, or generation, observed in different classes +of living beings, previous to entering upon the specific study of +reproduction in man. Before doing thus, however, let us give brief +attention to a theoretical form of generation, which cannot be called +reproduction, known as</p> + +<p><a name="chapa5"><b>Spontaneous Generation.</b></a>—By this term is meant the supposed formation +of living creatures directly from dead matter without the intervention +of other living organisms. The theory is, in substance, an old one. +The ancients supposed that the frogs and other small reptiles so +abundant in the <a name="p32"></a>vicinity of slimy pools and stagnant marshes, were +generated spontaneously from the mud and slime in which they lived. +This theory was, of course, abandoned when the natural history of +reptiles became known.</p> + +<p>For several thousand years the belief was still held that maggots found +in decaying meat were produced spontaneously; but it was discovered, +centuries ago, that maggots are not formed if the flesh is protected +from flies, since they are the larvæ, or young, of a species of this +insect. A relic of the ancient belief in spontaneous generation is still +found in the supposition that horse-hair snakes, so-called, are really +formed from the hairs of horses. This belief is quite common, but +science long ago exposed its falsity.</p> + +<p>When the microscope was discovered it revealed a whole new world of +infinitesimal beings which were at first supposed to be of spontaneous +origin; but careful scientific investigation has shown that even these +mere specks of life are not independent of parentage. M. Pasteur and, +more recently, Prof. Tyndall, with many other distinguished scientists, +have demonstrated this fact beyond all reasonable chance for question.</p> + +<p>It is, then, an established law that <i>every living organism originates +with some previously existing living being or beings</i>.</p> + +<p>It may be queried, If it be true that life is but a manifestation of +the ordinary forces of matter,—<a name="p33"></a>which are common to both dead and living +matter,—being dependent upon arrangement, then why may it not be that +dead matter may, through the action of molecular laws, and without the +intervention of any living existence, assume those peculiar forms of +arrangement necessary to constitute life, as supposed by the advocates +of the theory in question? It is true that some who recognize the fact +that life is the result of organization maintain the doctrine of +<i>spontaneous generation</i>; that is, the production of life without any +agency other than the recognized forces of nature being brought about +simply by a fortuitous combination of atoms. Although this doctrine +cannot be said to be inconsistent with the theory of life presented, +yet it is by no means a legitimate or necessary result of it; and +observation proves its falsity.</p> + +<p>The testimony of all nature, as almost universally admitted by +scientific men, is that life originated through a creative act by the +first Great Cause, who gave to certain bodies the requisite arrangement +or organization to enable them to perform certain functions, and +delegated to them the power to transmit the same to other matter, and +thus to perpetuate life. The Creator alone has the power to originate +life. Man, with all his wisdom and attainments, cannot discover the +secret of organization. He may become familiar with its phenomena, but +he cannot unravel, further, the mystery <a name="p34"></a>of life. The power of organizing +is possessed only by the lower class of living or organized bodies, +those known as vegetable organisms or plants. A grain of wheat, a kernel +of corn, a potato, when placed under favorable conditions, takes the +inert, lifeless particles of matter which lie about it in the earth +and air, and organizes them into living substances like itself.</p> + +<p>To man and animals the Creator delegated the power to form their own +peculiar structures from the vitalized tissues of plants. Thus, both +animal and vegetable life is preserved without the necessity of +continued acts of creative power, each plant and each animal possessing +the power not only to preserve its own life, but also to aid, at least, +in the perpetuation of the species. The record of creation in Genesis +harmonizes perfectly with this view, it being represented that God +formed (organized or arranged) man, animals, and vegetable productions +from the earth.</p> + +<p><a name="chapa6"><b>Simplest Form of Generation.</b></a>—Deep down beneath the waters of the ocean, +covering its bottom in certain localities, is found a curious slime, +which, under the microscope, is seen to be composed of minute rounded +masses of gelatinous matter, or protoplasm. By watching these little +bodies intently for a few minutes, the observer will discover that each +is a living creature capable of moving, growing, and assuming a variety +of shapes. Continued observation will reveal the fact that <a name="p35"></a>these little +creatures multiply; and a more careful scrutiny will enable him to see +<i>how</i> they increase. Each divides into two equal parts so nearly alike +that they cannot be distinguished apart. In this case the process of +generation is simply the production of two similar individuals from +one.</p> + +<p>A small quantity of slime taken from the surface of a stone near the +bottom of an old well, or on the seaside, when placed under the +microscope, will sometimes be found to contain large numbers of small, +round, living bodies. Careful watching will show that they also +multiply by division; but before the division occurs, two cells unite +to form one by a process called <i>conjugation</i>. Then, by the division +of this cell, instead of only two cells, a large number of small cells +are formed, each of which may be considered as a bud formed upon the +body of the parent cell and then separated from it to become by growth +an individual like its parent, and, like it, to produce its kind. In +this case, we have new individuals formed by the union of two +individuals which are to all appearance entirely similar in every +particular.</p> + +<p><b>Sex.</b>—Rising higher in the scale of being, we find that, with rare +exceptions, reproduction is the result of the union of two dissimilar +elements. These elements do not, in higher organisms, as in lower forms +of life, constitute the individuals, but are produced by them; and being +unlike, they are produced by special organs, each adapted to the +<a name="p36"></a>formation of one kind of elements. The two classes of organs usually +exist in separate individuals, thus giving rise to distinctions of +<i>sex</i>; an individual possessing organs which form one kind of elements +being called a male, and one possessing organs for the formation of +the other kind of elements, a female. The sexual differences between +individuals of the same species are not, however, confined to the sexual +organs. In most classes of plants and animals, other sexual differences +are very great. In some of the lower orders of animals, and in many +species of plants, the male and female individuals are so much unlike +that for a long time after they were well known, no sexual relation +was discovered.</p> + +<p><a name="chapa7"><b>Hermaphrodism.</b></a>—An individual possessing both male and female organs +of reproduction is called an <i>hermaphrodite</i>. Such a combination is +very rare among higher animals; but it is by no means uncommon among +plants and the lower forms of animal life. The snail, the oyster, the +earth-worm, and the common tape-worm, are examples of true +hermaphrodites. So-called human hermaphrodites are usually +individuals in whom the sexual organs are abnormally developed so that +they resemble those of the opposite sex, though they really have but +one sex, which can usually be determined with certainty. Only a very +few cases have been observed in which both male and female organs were +present.</p> +<a name="p37"></a> +<p>There is now living in Germany an individual who bears the name of a +woman; but learned physicians have decided that the person is as much +man as woman, having the organs of both sexes. What is still more curious, +this person has the feelings of both sexes, having loved at first a +man, and afterward a woman. There have been observed, also, a very few +instances of individuals in whom the sexual organs of neither sex were +present. It thus appears that a person may be of both sexes or of no +sex at all.</p> + +<p><a name="chapa8"><b>Sex in Plants.</b></a>—To one unacquainted with the mysteries of plant life +and growth, the idea of attaching sexuality to plants seems very +extraordinary; but the botanist recognizes the fact that the +distinctions of sex are as clearly maintained in the vegetable as in +the animal kingdom. The sexual organs of the higher orders of plants +are flowers. That part of the flower which produces seeds answers to +the female; another part, which is incapable of forming seeds, answers +to the male. The fertile and sterile flowers are sometimes produced +on separate plants. Very frequently, they are produced upon separate +parts of the same plant, as in the oak, walnut, and many other forest +trees, and Indian corn. In the latter plant, so familiar to every one, +the "tassel" contains the male flowers, and the part known as the +"silk," with the portion to which it is attached—which becomes the +ear—the female or fertile flowers. <a name="p38"></a>In a large number of species, the +male and female organs are combined in a single flower, making a true +hermaphrodite.</p> + +<p><a name="chapa9"><b>Sex in Animals.</b></a>—As previously remarked, individuals of opposite sex +usually differ much more than in the character of their sexual organs +only. Among higher animals, the male is usually larger, stronger, and +of coarser structure than the female. The same contrast is observed +in their mental characters. With lower animals, especially insects, +the opposite is often observed. The female spider is many times larger +than the male. The male ant is small in size when compared with the +female. Nevertheless, in all classes of animals the difference in the +structure and the functions of the sexual organs is the chief +distinguishing character. These differences are not so great, however, +as they might at first appear. The male and female organs of +reproduction in man and other animals, which seem so dissimilar, when +studied in the light shed upon this subject by the science of embryology, +are found to be wonderfully alike in structure, differing far more in +appearance than in reality, and being little more than modifications +of one general plan. Every organ to be found in the one sex has an +analogue in the other which is complete in every particular, +corresponding in function, in structure, and usually in position.</p> + +<p><a name="chapa10"><b>Other Sexual Differences.</b></a>—In this country there is between five and +six inches difference in <a name="p39"></a>height and about twenty pounds difference in +weight between the average man and the average woman, the average man +being about five feet, eight inches in height, and weighing one hundred +and forty-five pounds; while the average woman is five feet, two or +two and one-half inches in height, and weighs one hundred and +twenty-five pounds. The relation of the sexes in height and weight +varies in degree in different countries, but is never changed. The +average height and weight of American men and women is considerably +above that of the average human being.</p> + +<p><a name="chapa11"><b>Men and Women Differ in Form.</b></a>—The differences in form are so marked +that it is possible for the skilled anatomist to determine the sex of +a human being who has been dead for ages, by an examination of the +skeleton alone. In man, the shoulders are broad, the hips narrow, and +the limbs nearly straight with the body. In woman, the shoulders are +narrow and usually rounded, and set farther back, the collar-bone being +longer and less curved, giving the chest greater prominence; while the +hips are broad.</p> + +<p>The consequence of these differences is that woman is generally less +graceful and naturally less skillful in the use of the extremities than +man, and hence less fitted for athletic sports and feats requiring great +dexterity. A girl throws a stone awkwardly, less from want of practice +than from a natural peculiarity of physical structure. A <a name="p40"></a>woman walks +less gracefully than a man, owing to the greater relative breadth of +her hips, requiring a motion of the body together with that of the limbs. +In consequence of this peculiarity, a woman is less fitted for walking +long distances.</p> + +<p><a name="chapa12"><b>Modern Mania for Female Pedestrianism.</b></a>—Nothing could be much more +inhuman than the exhibitions made in satisfying the mania for female +pedestrianism which has recently arisen. Not long since, in walking +down one of the principal streets of Boston, we passed, in going a +distance of thirty rods, three illuminated placards announcing to the +public that in as many different public halls four female pedestrians +were exhibiting their walking talents for the gratification of the +crowds of bawdy loafers and jockeys who congregated to criticize their +several "points," and bet on their walking capacity, as though they +were horses on a race-course or hounds on a fox hunt.</p> + +<p><a name="chapa13"><b>3,000 Quarter Miles in 3,000 Quarter Hours.</b></a>—We visited the halls and +ascertained that two of these misguided women were attempting the feat +of walking respectively 2,700 and 3,000 quarter miles in an equal number +of successive quarter hours. This would require almost incessant +exertion for nearly twenty-eight days in one case, and for more than +thirty-one days in the other, without at any time a period of unbroken +rest longer than ten minutes. Such a procedure, in the light of +physiology, is a greater inhumanity than the <a name="p41"></a>most merciless Boston +teamster would inflict upon his dumb brutes. Why does not Mr. Bergh +exercise his function in such cases? We did not wonder that the poor +women looked pale and suffering, and trudged along with a limping gait.</p> + +<p><a name="chapa14"><b>A Female Walking Match.</b></a>—At another hall we found two women engaged +in a "walking match." The hall was so crowded with spectators—with +very few exceptions of the male sex—that it was with difficulty the +narrow track could be kept clear.</p> + +<p>The sixty hours for which the walk was to be continued had nearly expired, +and the excitement grew more intense each moment. One of the walkers, +who was a few miles in advance, strode on at a pace almost marvelous, +constantly stimulated to greater efforts by the coarse shouts of the +masculine audience, who evidently took the same sort of interest in +the proceeding that they would in a dog race or a cock fight. The other +was pale and spiritless, and it seemed with difficulty that she dragged +herself along to keep upon the track until the last. At times she seemed +to be almost fainting, as the result of the long-continued excitement +and fatigue; but she managed to keep going until nine minutes before +the slow moving clock had measured off the sixty hours, when she became +too ill to be longer able to stand, and was carried off the track.</p> + +<p>The cheers for the winner were as vigorous as <a name="p42"></a>though a rebel fort had +been captured, a million people emancipated from slavery, or some great +and noble deed of honor or daring had been done; but no one thought +of the injury which had been done the contestant. We turned away in +disgust.</p> + +<p>The ancient Greeks and Romans amused themselves with witnessing the +gladiatorial contests of their male slaves; but it was left for +civilized America to introduce woman into the "ring" and make her show +her paces on the race-course. An ungraceful figure she cuts, and a +repulsive spectacle she presents; and worst of all is the havoc which +she makes with her health. At the very time that these four female +pedestrians were making their disgraceful exhibit in Boston, in another +part of the same city lay a helpless invalid who was once as noted a +"female walkist" as any of them, made hopelessly ill by the same +disregard of the plainest laws of nature.</p> + +<p><a name="chapa15"><b>The Male and the Female Brain.</b></a>—But there are other important physical +differences to which we must call attention. Man possesses a larger +brain than woman, but she makes up the deficiency in size by superior +fineness in quality. The female brain differs from the masculine organ +of mentality in other particulars so marked that one who has given the +subject attention can determine with perfect ease the probable sex of +the owner of almost any skull which might be presented to him. This +difference in the conformation of the skull is <a name="p43"></a>undoubtedly due to a +difference in mental character, which, in turn, depends upon a +difference in cerebral development. Faculties which are generally +largely developed in one are usually smaller in the other, and the +reverse.</p> + +<p><a name="chapa16"><b>Vital Organs of Man and Woman.</b></a>—The anatomist also observes an +interesting difference in the size of the various vital organs. For +example, while a woman has a heart proportionally smaller than the same +organ in man, she has a larger liver. Thus, while less well fitted for +severe physical exertion by less circulatory power, she has superior +excretory powers.</p> + +<p><a name="chapa17"><b>Woman Less Muscular, More Enduring.</b></a>—This peculiarity of structure is +perfectly harmonious with the fact which experience has established +so often as to make the matter no longer a question, that woman is less +fitted for severe muscular exertion than man, but possesses in a +superior degree the quality known as endurance. With a less robust frame, +a more delicately organized constitution, she will endure for months +what would kill a robust man in as many weeks. More perfect elimination +of the wastes of the body secures a higher grade of vitality. On no +other hypothesis could we account for the marvelous endurance of the +feminine part of the civilized portion of the human race, ground down +under the heel of fashion for ages, "stayed," "corseted," "laced," and +thereby distorted and deformed in a manner that <a name="p44"></a>would be fatal to almost +any member of the masculine sex.</p> + +<p><a name="chapa18"><b>A Pathological Difference.</b></a>—Most physiologists mention another +particular in which woman differs materially from man; viz, in +naturally employing, in respiration, chiefly the upper part of the +lungs, while man breathes chiefly with the lower part of the lungs. +For several years we have carefully studied this question, and we have +been unable to find any physiological or anatomical reason sufficient +to account for this fact, if it be such.</p> + +<p><a name="chapa19"><b>Why a Woman Does not Breathe Like a Man.</b></a>—It is undoubtedly true that +most women do breathe almost exclusively with the upper part of the +chest; but whether this is a <i>natural</i> peculiarity, or an acquired, +unnatural, and depraved one, is a question which we are decidedly +inclined to answer in harmony with the latter supposition, basing our +conclusion on the following undeniable facts:—</p> + +<p>1. In childhood, and until about the age of puberty, respiration in +the boy and the girl is exactly the same.</p> + +<p>2. Although there is a change in the mode of respiration in most females, +usually soon after the period of puberty, marked by increased +intercostal respiration and diminished abdominal or deep respiration, +this change can be accounted for on other than physiological grounds.</p> + +<p>3. We believe the cause of this modification of <a name="p45"></a>respiration is the +change in dress which is usually made about that time. The young girl +is now becoming a woman, and must acquire the art of lacing, wearing +a corset, "stays," and sundry other contrivances by means of which to +produce a "fine form" by distorting and destroying all natural grace +and beauty in the "form divine."</p> + +<p>4. We have met a number of ladies whose good fortune and good sense +had delivered them from the distorting influence of corset-wearing and +tight-lacing, and we have invariably observed that they are as capable +of deep respiration as men, and practice it as naturally.</p> + +<p>We are thoroughly convinced that this so-called physiological +difference between man and woman is really a pathological rather than +a natural difference, and is due to the evils of fashionable dress, +which we have exposed at some length in another work exclusively devoted +to that subject.<small>[2]</small> In short, we believe that the only reason why women +do not, under ordinary circumstances, breathe as do men, is simply +<i>because they can not</i> breathe naturally.</p> + +<blockquote><small>2 "Evils of Fashionable Dress, and How to Dress +Healthfully."</small></blockquote> + +<p><a name="chapa20"><b>The Reproductive Elements.</b></a>—As has been previously observed, in all +except the very lowest forms of life, two elements are necessary to +the production of a new individual, or a reproduction of the species—a +male element and a female element. The special organs by means of which +<a name="p46"></a>these elements are produced, brought together, and developed into the +new individual in a more or less perfect state, are termed <i>sexual +organs</i>, as we have already seen. As an introduction to the specific +study of the sexual organs in the human species, let us briefly consider +the</p> + +<p><a name="chapa21"><b>Sexual Organs of Plants.</b></a>—As already remarked, flowers are the sexual +organs of plants. Nothing is more interesting in the natural world than +the wonderful beauty, diversity, and perfect adaptability to various +conditions and functions, which we see in the sexual parts of plants. +An exceedingly interesting line of study, which has occupied the +attention of many naturalists, is the wonderful perfection displayed +in the adaptability of the male and female parts of plants to each other. +Without burdening the reader with unnecessary technicalities of detail, +we will briefly notice the principal parts of vegetable sexual organs +as illustrated in flowers.</p> + +<p>Complete flowers are made up of four parts, two of which, the <i>stamen</i> +and <i>pistil</i>, are essential, while the other two, the calyx and corolla, +are accessory.</p> + +<p>The <i>calyx</i> is that part which surrounds the flower at its outer and +lower part. It varies greatly in form and color, but is most frequently +of a green or greenish color.</p> + +<p>Just within the calyx is the <i>corolla</i>, which usually forms the most +attractive, showy, and beautiful part of the flower. The beautifully +colored <a name="p47"></a>petals of the rose, geranium, dahlia, and other similar flowers, +form their corollas.</p> + +<p><b>Vegetable Husbands.</b>—Within the cup formed by the calyx and corolla +are placed the <i>stamens</i> and <i>pistils</i> of the flower, the first being +the male organs proper, and the second the female organs of the flower.</p> + +<p>The stamen is composed of a stem or filament, at the summit of which +are placed two little sacks called the <i>anther</i>, which contain a fine, +microscopic dust, the <i>pollen</i>, which contains the male reproductive +element of the flower. This part of the plant corresponds to the male +organ of reproduction in animals. A stamen has been called, not inaptly, +a vegetable husband. Some flowers have many stamens, or vegetable +husbands, which reminds us of the custom in Thibet and some other +Eastern countries which allows a woman to have several husbands.</p> + +<p><a name="chapa22"><b>Polygamous Flowers.</b></a>—The great naturalist, Linnæus, whose name was +immortalized by his careful study and classification of organized life, +made the number of stamens possessed by various flowers the basis of +a systematic classification.</p> + +<p>For example, a flower having but one stamen was classed as <i>monandria</i>, +which means, literally, one husband; one having two stamens was +classified as <i>diandria</i>; flowers having a large number of male organs +were termed <i>polyandria</i>, or many husbands.</p> +<a name="p48"></a> +<p><a name="chapa23"><b>The Female Organ of Flowers.</b></a>—The <i>pistil</i> occupies the very center +of the flower. It produces and contains in a cell, the female element, +termed the <i>ovule</i>. It is surmounted by the <i>style</i> and the <i>stigma</i>.</p> + +<p>A series of plants in which the sexual organs are not visible to the +eye are termed <i>cryptogamia</i>, which means literally, hidden marriages.</p> + +<p>As we proceed to study the anatomy of the human sexual apparatus we +shall be constantly struck with the remarkable correspondence between +animals and vegetables in the structure and functions of the sexual +apparatus.</p> + +<p><a name="chapa24"><b>Sexual Organs of Animals.</b></a>—The male reproductive element is called a +<i>spermatozoön</i> or <i>zoösperm</i>. The female element is called an <i>ovum</i>, +literally, an egg.</p> + +<p><a name="chapa25"><b>The Spermatozoön.</b></a>—The male reproductive element of animals is formed +by an organ called the <i>testis</i>, or <i>testicle</i>, of which each male +possesses two. They are elastic, glandular bodies, and are formed +within the cavity of the abdomen, near the kidneys, but usually pass +out of the abdominal cavity and descend to their permanent position +before birth. The opening in the abdominal wall is usually completely +closed in a short time; but occasionally it remains open, giving rise +to congenital hernia, an accident in which a loop of intestine follows +the testicle down into the scrotum, either completely or partially. +In a few animals, as in the <a name="p49"></a>porcupine, the opening is never fully closed, +and the testis remains in the cavity of the body most of the time, +passing out only at certain periods. We also occasionally meet cases +of human beings in which the testes have never descended from their +place in the abdominal cavity, giving the individuals the appearance +of eunuchs. This condition, however, though an abnormal one, does not +in any way interfere with the function of the organs, as those who happen +to possess it often imagine. We have also met with cases in which the +organs were movable, and could readily be pressed up into the abdominal +cavity, through the unclosed inguinal cavity, which afforded them a +passage downward in the process of development.</p> + +<p>As before remarked, these peculiarities do not affect the functions +of the organs in any appreciable degree, although they not infrequently +give rise to some apprehension on the part of those subject to them. +The left testicle is sometimes a little smaller than the right, another +fact which is seized upon by quacks as a means of exciting the fears +of young men who have been addicted to bad habits, although the +peculiarity is generally without important significance.</p> + +<p>The testicles are connected with the urinary passage by means of two +ducts which terminate near the base of the bladder, at which point they +connect with the urethra. We need not dwell at <a name="p50"></a>further length upon the +structure of the testicles, as this subject receives fuller attention +elsewhere.</p> + +<p>Human spermatozoa are about 1/600 of an inch in length. Those of +reptiles are very much larger. One of the remarkable features of these +minute elements is their peculiar movements. While alive, the +filamentous tail is in constant action in a manner strongly resembling +the movements of the caudal appendage of a tadpole. This wonderful +property led the earlier observers to believe that they were true +animalcula. But they are not to be regarded as such, though one can +scarcely make himself believe otherwise while watching their lively +evolutions, and apparent volitionary movement from one point to +another.</p> + +<p>Spermatozoa originate in the testis as cells, which are filled with +granules. After a time, each granule acquires a long appendage, and +then the cell has become converted into a bundle of small zoösperms. +Development still continues, until finally the thin pellicle on the +outside of the bundle is ruptured, thus liberating the young +spermatozoa, which speedily complete their full development. The +spermatozoön is pure protoplasm, which is the basis of all life, and +its power of spontaneous motion is due to this fact.</p> + +<p>In man, the formation of spermatozoa continues with greater or less +rapidity from puberty to old age, though at the two extremes of +existence they are imperfectly developed. When not <a name="p51"></a>discharged from the +body, they are said to be absorbed. Some physiologists claim that they +are composed of a substance identical with nerve tissue, and that by +absorption they play a very important part in the development and +maintenance of the nervous system.</p> + +<p>It is asserted by good authorities that the reproductive element in +man is not so well developed as to be really fit for the reproduction +of the species before the age of twenty-four or twenty-five. After the +age of forty-five or fifty, the reproductive elements deteriorate in +quality, and become again unfitted for vigorous procreation.</p> + +<p>The fully developed zoösperms are suspended in a transparent, +gelatinous fluid, which, mingled with the secretion of the prostate +gland and other fluids which it meets during its expulsion from the +body, constitutes the <i>semen</i>.</p> + +<p><a name="chapa26"><b>The Ovum.</b></a>—The female element of generation, the ovum, is produced by +an organ called the <i>ovary</i>, of which there are two in each individual. +In size and form, the ovary closely resembles the testicle. Like the +latter organ, also, it is formed within the body early in the process +of development; but instead of passing outward and downward, as does +the testicle, it remains within the abdominal cavity, suspended in +place by ligaments. It is connected with a duct which receives the ovum +as it is discharged, and conveys it to the uterus.</p> +<a name="p52"></a> +<p>The human ovum varies in size from 1/240 to 1/120 of an inch in diameter, +and consists of a single cell. Ova are not formed in such large numbers +as zoösperms. As a general rule, in the human female, a single ovum +is developed and discharged once in about four weeks, during the period +of sexual activity.</p> + +<p><a name="chapa27"><b>Fecundation.</b></a>—It is often asked, and the question has elicited some +discussion, Which is the principal reproductive element; the zoösperm, +or the ovum? The ancients supposed the male element to be the essential +element, being simply nourished and developed by the female; but modern +research in biological science does not sustain this view. Probably +neither one enjoys especial preëminence; for neither can undergo +complete development without the other. In very rare cases, the ovum +has been observed to undergo a certain amount of development of itself; +but a perfect individual can be produced only by the union of the two +kinds of elements, which process is known as <i>fecundation</i>. The instant +this union occurs, the life of a new individual begins. All the changes +which result between that moment and the birth of the individual are +those of development only. Indeed, the same existence continues from +the instant of the union of the two elements, not only until birth, +but through growth, the attainment of maturity, the decline of life, +and even until death.</p> +<a name="p53"></a> +<p>It is interesting to observe the different methods by which fecundation +is effected, both in plants and animals, for this is a process common +to both.</p> + +<p><a name="chapa28"><b>Fecundation in Flowers.</b></a>—The great naturalist, Linnæus, was the first +to explain the reproductive process in plants. He tells us that "the +flower forms the theater of their amours; the calyx is to be considered +as the nuptial bed; the corolla constitutes the curtains; the anthers +are the testes; the pollen, the fecundating fluid; the stigma of the +pistil, the external genital aperture; the style, the vagina, or the +conductor of the prolific seed; the ovary of the plant, the womb; the +reciprocal action of the stamens on the pistil, the accessory process +of fecundation."</p> + +<p>Thus marvelous is the analogy between the reproductive organs and their +functions in plants and animals. Through this one vital process we may +trace a close relation between all the forms of life, from the humblest +plant, or even the mere specks of life which form the green scum upon +a stagnant pool, to man, the masterpiece of creation, the highest of +all animated creatures. In all the realm of Nature there can be found +no more remarkable evidences of the infinite skill and wisdom of the +Creator of all things.</p> + +<p>In many instances the action of plants seems almost to be prompted by +intelligence. At the proper moment, the corolla contracts in such a +way as to bring the stamens nearer to the stigma, or in <a name="p54"></a>contact with +it, so as to insure fecundation. In some aquatic plants the flowers +elevate themselves above the surface of water while the process of +fecundation is effected; submerging themselves again immediately +afterward.</p> + +<p>Other very curious changes occur in flowers of different species during +the reproductive act. The stigma is observed to become moistened, and +even to become distinctly odorous. Often, too, it becomes intensely +congested with the juices of the plant, and sometimes even acquires +an uncommon and most remarkable degree of contractility. This is the +case with the stigma of the tulip and one variety of sensitive plant, +and is in these plants observed to occur not only after the application +of the pollen to the stigma, but when excited by any other means of +stimulation. The flowers of some plants, during and after fecundation, +also show an increase of heat, in some cases so marked as to be readily +detected with the thermometer. This is said to be the case with the +<i>arum</i> of Italy.</p> + +<p>In some plants in which the pistil is longer than the stamens, thus +elevating the stigma above the anthers, the female organ is often +observed to bend over and depress itself so as to come within reach +of the anthers.</p> + +<p>In most instances the fecundation of flowers is chiefly effected +through a purely mechanical process, though in these cases also we see +a wonderful adaptation of parts to conditions.</p> +<a name="p55"></a> +<p>When the male and female parts of flowers are situated on different +plants, as is the case in the willow, the poplar, the melon vine, and +many other species, the pollen of the male flower is wafted by the wind +or gentle breeze to the stigma of the female flower, which will usually +be found at no very great distance, although fertilization may take +place in this way at very considerable distances. Bees, moths, and many +other species of insects, serve a very important purpose in this work, +transporting the fertilizing dust upon their wings, antennæ, +sucking-tubes, and feet. Small birds, and even the humble snail, which +would scarcely be credited with any useful function, are also very +serviceable in the same direction. The part performed by insects in +the reproductive process of many plants is so great that they have been +very poetically termed "the marriage priests of flowers."</p> + +<p>Nature provides for thorough fecundation in these cases by placing the +plants which bear the male and the female flowers near each other. This +fact accounts for the unproductiveness of certain varieties of +strawberries unless mixed with plants of some other variety, it being +well known to nursery-men that some varieties produce only the female +parts of flowers.</p> + +<p><b>Modes of Fecundation in Animals.</b>—The modes by which fecundation is +effected in animals are still more various and wonderful than in plants. +<a name="p56"></a>In some of the lower animals, as in most fish and reptiles, both elements +are discharged from the bodies of the parents before coming in contact, +there being no contact of the two individuals. In this class of animals +the process is almost wholly analogous to fecundation in those plants +in which the male and female flowers are on different plants or +different parts of the same plant. In the female fish, a large number +of ova are developed at a certain season of the year known as the +spawning season. Sometimes the number reaches many thousands. At the +same time, the testicles of the male fish, which are contained within +the abdominal cavity, become distended with developed zoösperms. When +the female seeks a place to deposit her eggs, the male closely follows; +and as she drops them upon the gravelly bottom, he discharges upon them +the zoösperms by which they are fecundated. The process is analogous +to some species of frogs. When the female is about to deposit her eggs, +the male mounts upon her back and rides about until the eggs are all +deposited, discharging upon them the fertilizing spermatozoa as they +are laid by the female.</p> + +<p>In higher orders of animals, fecundation takes place within the +generative organs of the female by contact between the male and the +female organs. To effect this, there are necessitated certain accessory +organs, the <i>penis</i> in the male and the <i>vagina</i> in the female.</p> +<a name="p57"></a> +<p>Nothing in all the range of nature is more remarkable than the +adaptation of the two varieties of sexual organs in each species. This +necessary provision is both a powerful means of securing the +perpetuation of the species, and an almost impassable barrier against +amalgamation.</p> + +<p>The act of union, or sexual congress, is called <i>coitus</i> or <i>copulation</i>. +It is accompanied by a peculiar nervous spasm due to excitement of +special nerves principally located in the <i>penis</i> in the male, and in +an extremely sensitive organ, the <i>clitoris</i>, in the female. The +nervous action referred to is more exhausting to the system than any +other to which it is subject.</p> + +<p><a name="chapa29"><b>Union of the Ovum and Zoösperm.</b></a>—The zoösperms not only come in contact +with the ovum, but penetrate the thin membrane which incloses its +contents, and enter its interior, where they disappear, becoming united +with its substance. In the ova of certain fishes, small openings have +been observed through which the spermatozoa find entrance. Whether such +openings exist in human ova is an undecided question; but it is probable +that they do.</p> + +<p><a name="chapa30"><b>Curious Modes of Reproduction.</b></a>—A peculiar kind of reproduction is +observed in a variety of polyp, a curious animal which very much +resembles a shrub in appearance. It attaches itself to some solid object, +and then, as it grows, sends out little protuberances resembling buds. +Some of <a name="p58"></a>these separate and fall off, swimming about as separate animals. +These never become like the parent polyp; but they lay eggs, which hatch, +and become stationary polyps like their grandparent, and in their turn +throw off buds to form swimming polyps. In this case we have two kinds +of generation combined, alternating with each other.</p> + +<p>Plant-lice afford a curious illustration of a similar generation. Males +and females unite and produce eggs. The creatures produced by the +hatching of eggs are neither males nor perfect females. They are +<i>imperfect females</i>. They are all alike, so that no sexual union occurs. +Instead of laying eggs, they produce live young like themselves, which +appear to be developed from internal buds similar to the external buds +of the polyp. After this method of reproduction has continued for eight +or ten generations, a few perfect individuals appear, and the first +process is repeated.</p> + +<p>The common honey-bee affords another illustration like the last. A +virgin queen sometimes lays eggs, which always produce males, or drones. +After union with a male, she lays eggs in the royal cells which become +perfect females like herself. She also seems to have the power to lay, +at will, unfecundated eggs, from which drones are produced.</p> + +<p><a name="chapa31"><b>Human Beings Are Developed Buds.</b></a>—It has been very aptly suggested by +an eminent physiologist that the ovum and zoösperm may be correctly +<a name="p59"></a>considered as internal buds. Thus it would appear that generation is +universally a process of budding. A child is but a compound bud, an +offshoot from its parents. This idea is not a mere fancy, but has a +scientific basis. As all the exquisite details of the most beautiful +flower are in essence contained within the tiny bud which first makes +its appearance, so is the developed human being, the full-grown man +or woman, virtually contained within the tiny cell called the ovum after +it has been impregnated or fecundated by the zoösperms. In short, men +and women are blossoms in a strictly scientific sense.</p> + +<p><a name="chapa32"><b>Fecundation in Hermaphrodites.</b></a>—The process of fecundation in +hermaphrodite animals is very peculiar. In some cases, as in the snail, +the union of two individuals is usually necessary, though each +possesses both kinds of organs. In other cases, as in the tape-worm, +the oyster, and numerous other mollusks, a single individual has the +power to fertilize its own ova, thus being wholly independent. Human +hermaphrodites are usually so deformed that fecundation is not effected, +which is a fortunate safeguard against the multiplication of such +monstrosities.</p> + +<p><a name="chapa33"><b>Development.</b></a>—After the union of the two elements, known as fecundation +or <i>conception</i>, if the conditions are favorable, development occurs, +and the little germ is in due process of time developed into an +individual which is an exact counterpart <a name="p60"></a>of its parents. During this +developmental process, the embryonic being is variously treated by +different classes of animals.</p> + +<p><a name="chapa34"><b>Unprotected Development.</b></a>—Most fishes and reptiles discharge their ova +before fecundation, or soon after, and pay no further attention to them. +The fish deposits its eggs in a little hollow scooped out in the gravelly +bed of a stream, or sows them broadcast upon the waters. The turtle +buries its eggs in the sand, and leaves them to be hatched by the sun. +The ostrich disposes of her eggs in the same way. Many other species +of animals pay no regard to the protection of the germs which are +destined, if placed under favorable conditions, to become individuals +like themselves.</p> + +<p><a name="chapa35"><b>Partial Protection of the Ovum.</b></a>—There are some exceptions, however, +to this general rule among fishes and reptiles. Even fishes manifest +a degree of parental solicitude in certain cases. The male of a species +of South American fish gathers up the eggs after fecundation has taken +place, and carries them in his mouth until they are hatched. Another +male fish carries the eggs of his mate in a little pouch upon the lower +and posterior part of his body.</p> + +<p>Certain species of frogs carry their eggs wound about their legs; others +suspend them from the abdomen. Another variety carries its young upon +its back. Prof. Wyman describes a "swamp toad" which patiently takes +the eggs of his mate, one by <a name="p61"></a>one, and fastens them upon her back, +observing great regularity in arrangement. These several devices are +evidently for the purpose of protecting, in some degree, the young +individual during the helpless stage of its existence.</p> + +<p><a name="chapa36"><b>Development in the Higher Animals and Man.</b></a>—Higher animals are less +prolific, and their development is a more complicated process; hence, +their young need greater protection, and, for this reason, the ova, +instead of being discharged from the body of the female after +fecundation, are retained.<small>[3]</small> As we have seen that a suitable +receptacle is sometimes provided outside of the body, so now a +receptacle is needed, and is provided in the interior of the body of +the female. This receptacle is called</p> + +<blockquote><small>3 Curious examples of internal development sometimes occur +in animals which usually deposit eggs. Snakes have been known to produce +both eggs and living young at the same time. At the annual meeting of +the American Society for the Advancement of Science, at Detroit, Mich., +in August, 1875, we had the pleasure of examining a specimen, exhibited +by Prof. Wilder, of a chick which had undergone a considerable degree +of development within the ovary of the hen. It had a head, a rudimentary +brain, and internal viscera, but no feathers nor limbs. It was, in fact, +an egg hatched before it had been laid. The anomaly excited much +interest at that time and since among biologists.</small></blockquote> + +<p><a name="chapa37"><b>The Uterus.</b></a>—This is a hollow, pear-shaped organ, located in the median +line, just behind the bladder, between it and the rectum. It is +supported in place by various ligaments and by the <a name="p62"></a>juxtaposition of +other organs. Its larger end is directed upward, and communicates upon +each side with a very narrow tube which is prolonged outward on either +side until it nearly touches the ovary of the same side. Its lower and +smaller end fills the internal extremity of the passage previously +described as the vagina. When an ovum is matured, it escapes from the +ovary into the narrow tube referred to, called the <i>Fallopian tube</i>, +and passes down into the cavity of the uterus. If fecundation does not +occur, it is expelled or absorbed after six to twelve or fourteen days. +If copulation occurs, however, zoösperms are brought into the cavity +of the uterus, and, coming in contact with the ovum, fecundate it. This +is <i>conception</i>. When the natural process is allowed to proceed, +development occurs.</p> + +<p><a name="chapa38"><b>Uterine Gestation.</b></a>—This is the term applied to the process last +referred to. We shall not attempt to describe in detail this most +wonderful and intricate of all living processes; but will sketch only +the chief points, leaving the reader who would obtain a more complete +knowledge of the subject to consult any one of the numerous +physiological and obstetrical works which deal with it in a very +exhaustive manner.</p> + +<p>As soon as the ovum is impregnated by the male element, it begins a +process of symmetrical division. The first division produces two cells +out of the single one which first existed. By the next <a name="p63"></a>division, four +segments are produced; then eight, sixteen, etc. While this process +is going on, the ovum becomes adherent to the internal wall of the uterus, +and is soon enveloped by its mucous membrane, which grows up about +and incloses it.</p> + +<p><a name="chapa39"><b>The Primitive Trace.</b></a>—When the process of segmentation has advanced +to a certain point, the cells are aggregated together in a compact layer +at the surface. Soon a straight line appears upon this layer, which +is called the <i>primitive trace</i>. This delicate line becomes the basis +for the spinal column; and upon and about it the whole individual is +developed by an intricate process of folding, dividing, and +reduplication of the layer of cells. One end of the line becomes the +head, and the other becomes the tail. Even man has a caudal appendage +at an early stage of his existence. After a further lapse of time, little +excrescences, buds, or "pads," appear in the proper positions to +represent the arms and legs. After further development the ends split +up into fingers and toes, and by the continued development of the parts, +perfect arms and legs are formed.</p> + +<p><a name="chapa40"><b>Curious Relation to Lower Animals.</b></a>—It is a very remarkable fact that +in the lower animals we have numerous examples in which the permanent +condition of the individual is the same as some one of the stages through +which man passes in the process of development. The same author +previously quoted makes the following interesting statements:—</p> +<a name="p64"></a> +<p>"The webbed feet of the seal and ornithorhynchus typify the period when +the hands and feet of the human embryo are as yet only partly subdivided +into fingers and toes. Indeed, it is not uncommon for the 'web' to +persist to some extent between the toes of adults; and occasionally +children are born with two or more fingers or toes united to their tips.</p> + +<p>"With the seal and the walrus, the limbs are protruded but little beyond +the wrist and ankle. With the ordinary quadrupeds, the knee and elbow +are visible. The cats, the lemurs, and the monkeys form a series in +which the limbs are successively freed from the trunk, and in the +highest apes they are capable of nearly the same movements as the human +arm and leg, which, in their development, passed through all these +stages."</p> + +<p><a name="chapa41"><b>Simplicity of Early Structures.</b></a>—The first structures formed are +exceedingly simple in form. It is only by slow degrees that the great +complicity which characterizes many organs is finally attained. For +example, the heart is at first only a straight tube. By enlargement +and the formation of longitudinal and transverse partitions, the fully +developed organ is finally produced. The stomach and intestines are +also at first but a simple straight tube. The stomach and large +intestine are formed by dilatation; and by a growth of the tube in length +while the ends are confined, the small intestines are formed. The other +internal organs are successively developed by similar processes.</p> +<a name="p65"></a> +<p><a name="chapa42"><b>The Stages of Growth.</b></a>—At first insignificant in size—a simple cell, +the embryonic human being steadily increases in size, gradually +approximating more and more closely to the human form, until, at the +end of about nine calendar months or ten lunar months, the new +individual is prepared to enter the world and begin a more independent +course of life. The following condensation of a summary quoted by Dr. +Austin Flint, Jr., will give an idea of the size of the developing being +at different periods, and the rate of progress:—</p> + +<p>At the end of the third week, the embryon is a little less than +one-fourth of an inch in length.</p> + +<p>At the end of the seventh week, it is three-fourths of an inch long. +The liver, lungs, and other internal organs are partially formed.</p> + +<p>At the eighth week, it is about one inch in length. It begins to look +some like a human being, but it is impossible to determine the sex.</p> + +<p>At the third month, the embryon has attained the length of two to two +and one-half inches. Its weight is about one ounce.</p> + +<p>At the end of the fourth month, the embryon is called a fetus. It is +from four to five inches long, and weighs five ounces.</p> + +<p>At the fifth month, the fetus is nearly a foot long, and weighs about +half a pound.</p> + +<p>At the sixth month, the average length of the fetus is about thirteen +inches, and its weight one and a half to two pounds. If born, life could +continue a few minutes.</p> +<a name="p66"></a> +<p>At the seventh month, the fetus is from fourteen to fifteen inches long, +and weighs two to three pounds. It is now viable (may live if born).</p> + +<p>At the eighth month, the length of the fetus is from fifteen to sixteen +inches, and its weight from three to four pounds.</p> + +<p>At the ninth month, the fetus is about seventeen inches long, and weighs +from five to six pounds.</p> + +<p>At birth, the infant weighs a little more than seven pounds, the usual +range being from four to ten pounds, though these limits are sometimes +exceeded.</p> + +<p><a name="chapa43"><b>Duration of Gestation.</b></a>—The length of time required for the development +of a human being is usually reckoned as about forty weeks. A more precise +statement places it at about two hundred and seventy-eight days. This +limit is often varied from. Cases have occurred in which a much longer +time has been required, and numberless cases have occurred in which +human beings have been born several weeks before the expiration of the +usual time, as stated. There is some uncertainty respecting the exact +length of the period of gestation, which grows out of the difficulty +of determining, in many cases, the exact time when conception takes +place.</p> + +<p><a name="chapa44"><b>Uterine Life.</b></a>—The uterine life of the new individual begins with the +impregnation of the ovum, which occurs the instant it is brought in +contact <a name="p67"></a>with the zoösperms of the male. While in the uterus, the young +life is supported wholly by the mother. She is obliged to provide not +only for her own sustenance, but for the maintenance of her child. And +she must not only eat for it, but breathe for it as well, since it +requires a constant and adequate supply of oxygen before birth as much +as afterward.</p> + +<p><a name="chapa45"><b>How the Unborn Infant Breathes.</b></a>—Oxygen and nutriment are both supplied +to it through the medium of an organ called the <i>placenta</i>, which is +a spongy growth composed almost entirely of blood-vessels, and is +developed upon the inner wall of the uterus, at the point at which the +ovum attaches itself after fecundation. The growing fetus is connected +with this vascular organ by means of a sort of cable, called the +<i>umbilical cord</i>. The cord is almost entirely composed of blood-vessels +which convey the blood of the fetus to the placenta and return it again. +The fetal blood does not mix with that of the mother, but receives oxygen +and nourishment from it by absorption through the thin walls which alone +separate it from the mother's blood.</p> + +<p>The umbilical cord contains no nerves, as there is no nervous connection +between the mother and the child. The only way in which the child can +be influenced by the mother is through the medium of the blood, to +changes in which it is very susceptible, as we shall see more clearly +hereafter.</p> +<a name="p68"></a> +<p>The cord is attached to the body of the child at the point called the +<i>navel</i>, being cut off at birth by the <i>accoucheur</i>. With the placenta, +it is expelled soon after the birth of the child, and constitutes the +shapeless mass familiarly known as the <i>after-birth</i>, by the retention +of which the most serious trouble is occasionally caused.</p> + +<p><a name="chapa46"><b>Parturition.</b></a>—At the end of the period of development, the young being +is forcibly expelled from the laboratory of nature in which it has been +formed. In other words, it is born; and this process is termed +<i>parturition</i>. Though, at first thought, such an act would seem an utter +impossibility, yet it is a very admirable illustration of nature's +adaptation of means to ends. During the months of gestation, while the +uterus has been enlarging to accommodate its daily increasing contents, +the generative passages have also been increasing in size and becoming +soft and distensible, so that a seeming impossibility is in due time +accomplished without physical damage, though possibly not without +intense suffering. However, it is a most gratifying fact that modern +medical science may do much to mitigate the pains of childbirth. It +is possible, by a proper course of preparation for the expected event, +to greatly lessen the suffering usually undergone; and some ladies +assert that they have thus avoided real pain altogether. Although the +curse pronounced upon the feminine part of the race, in consequence +of the sin of Eve, implies suffering in <a name="p69"></a>the parturient act, yet there +is no doubt that the greater share of the daughters of Eve are, through +the perverting and degenerating influences of wrong habits and +especially of modern civilization, compelled to suffer many times more +than their maternal ancestor. We have sufficient evidence of this in +the fact that among barbarian women, who are generally less perverted +physically than civilized women, childbirth is regarded with very +little apprehension, since it occasions little pain or inconvenience. +The same is true of many women among the lower laboring classes. In +short, while it is true that more or less suffering must always +accompany the parturient act, yet the excessive pain usually attendant +upon the process is the result of causes which can in many cases be +removed by proper management beforehand and at the time of confinement.</p> + +<p>After being relieved of its contents, the uterus and other organs +rapidly return to nearly their original size.</p> + +<p><a name="chapa47"><b>Changes in the Child at Birth.</b></a>—In the system of the child a wonderful +change occurs at the moment of its expulsion into the outer world. For +the first time, its lungs are filled with air. For the first time they +receive the full tide of blood. The whole course of the circulation +is changed, and an entirely new process begins. It is surprising in +how short a space of time changes so marvelous can be wrought.</p> +<a name="p70"></a> +<p><a name="chapa48"><b>Nursing.</b></a>—The process of development is not fully complete at birth. +The young life is not yet prepared to support itself; hence, still +further provision is necessary for it. It requires prepared food suited +to its condition. This is provided by the <i>mammæ</i>, or breasts, of the +female, which are glands for secreting milk. The fully developed gland +is peculiar to the female; but a few instances have been known in which +it has been sufficiently developed to become functionally active in +men, as well as in young girls, though it is usually inactive even in +women until near the close of gestation. It is a curious fact that the +breasts of a new-born child occasionally contain milk.</p> + +<p>The first product of the mammæ is not the proper milk secretion, but +is a yellowish fluid called <i>colostrum </i>. The true milk secretion begins +two or three days after delivery.</p> + +<p>The lacteal secretion is influenced in a very remarkable manner by the +mental conditions of the mother. By sudden emotions of grief or anger, +it has been known to undergo such changes as to produce in the child +a fit of indigestion, vomiting, diarrhea, and even convulsions and +death. Any medicine taken by the mother finds its way into the milk, +and often affects the delicate system of the infant more than herself. +This fact should be a warning to those nursing mothers who use +stimulants. Cases are not uncommon in which delicate infants are kept +in a state of intoxication for <a name="p71"></a>weeks by the use of alcoholic drinks +by the mother. The popular notion that lager-beer, ale, wine, or alcohol +in any other form, is in any degree necessary or beneficial to a nursing +woman is a great error which cannot be too often noticed and condemned. +Not only is the mother injured, instead of being benefited by such a +practice, but great injury, sometimes life-long in its consequences, +is inflicted upon the babe at her breast who takes the intoxicating +poison at second hand, and is influenced in a fourfold degree from its +feebleness and great susceptibility.</p> +<br> + +<div><h3><a name="chapa49">A<small>NATOMY OF THE</small> R<small>EPRODUCTIVE</small> O<small>RGANS</small>.</a></h3></div> + +<p>Having now considered the functions and somewhat of the structures of +the principal organs of reproduction, we may obtain a more definite +idea of the relation of the several organs of each class by a connected +review of the anatomy of the parts.</p> + +<p><a name="chapa50"><b>Male Organs.</b></a>—As previously stated, the external organs of generation +in the male are the <i>penis</i> and the <i>testicles</i>, the latter being +contained in a pouch called the <i>scrotum</i>. The penis is the organ of +urination as well as copulation. Its structure is cellular, and it +contains a vast number of minute coils of blood-vessels which become +turgid with blood under the influence of sexual excitement, producing +distention and erection of <a name="p72"></a>the organ. A canal passes through its entire +length, called the <i>urethra</i>, which conveys both the urine and the +seminal fluid. The organ is protected by a loose covering of integument +which folds over the end. This fold is called the <i>foreskin</i> or +<i>prepuce</i>.</p> + +<p>The fluid formed by each testicle is conveyed by the <i>vas deferens</i>, +a curved tube about two feet in length, to the base of the bladder. +Here the vas deferens joins with another duct which communicates with +an elongated pouch, the <i>vesicula seminalis</i>, which lies close upon +the under side of the bladder. The single tube thus formed, the +<i>ejaculatory duct</i>, conveys the seminal fluid to the urethra, from +which it is discharged.</p> + +<p>As the production of seminal fluid is more or less constant in man and +some animals, while its discharge is intermittent, the vesiculæ +seminales serve as reservoirs for the fluid, preserving it until +required, or allowing it to undergo absorption. Some claim that the +zoösperms are matured in these organs. They always contain seminal +fluid after the age of puberty. During coition, their contents are +forcibly expelled by a spasmodic contraction of the muscles which +surround them and the ducts leading from them.</p> + +<p><a name="chapa51"><b>The Prostate Gland.</b></a>—Surrounding the ejaculatory ducts and their +openings into the urethra at the base of the bladder is the <i>prostate +gland</i>, which produces a peculiar secretion which forms a <a name="p73"></a>considerable +portion of the seminal fluid, being mingled with the secretion of the +testes during its ejaculation. This gland sometimes becomes the seat +of somewhat serious disease. In old age it usually becomes somewhat +indurated, and often to such an extent as to seriously affect the health +and comfort of the individual by interference with urination and by +occasioning pain.</p> + +<p>Anterior to this organ, in the urethra, is a curious little pouch, the +<i>utriculus</i>, which corresponds to the vagina and uterus in the female. +Just in front of the prostate gland are two small bodies known as +Cowper's glands. They secrete a fluid which combines with the seminal +secretion.</p> + +<p><a name="chapa52"><b>Female Organs.</b></a>—The <i>ovaries</i>, <i>uterus</i>, or <i>womb</i>, <i>Fallopian tubes</i>, +and <i>vagina</i> have already been described in part. The external organs +of the female are included in the term <i>vulva</i> or <i>pudenda</i>. The most +superficial parts are the <i>labia</i>, two thick folds of integument. Just +within these are two thinner folds, the <i>labia minora</i> or <i>nymphæ</i>. +These, together with the <i>clitoris</i>, situated just above, are extremely +sensitive organs, being the chief seat of sexual sense in the female. +At the lower part is the opening to the vagina, which in the virgin +is usually partially guarded by a thin membrane, the <i>hymen</i>. This is +not always a reliable test of virginity, however, as commonly regarded, +since it may be destroyed by disease or <a name="p74"></a>accident, and may exist even +after the occurrence of pregnancy.</p> + +<p>The vagina extends from the vulva to the lower end of the uterus, which +it incloses, passing between the bladder and the rectum. The lower +extremity of the uterus presents a small opening which leads into its +interior. Upon either side, at its upper and larger end, is a minute +opening, the mouth of the Fallopian tube. The latter organs extend from +the uterus outward nearly to the ovaries, toward which they present +a number of small filaments, one of which is in contact with each ovary. +These filaments, together with the interior of the tubes, are covered +with a peculiar kind of cells, upon which are minute cilia, or hairs, +in constant motion. Very curiously, they all move in the same direction, +toward the cavity of the uterus. When an ovum escapes from the ovary +in connection with menstruation, it is by these delicate hairs +propelled along a filament of tissue to the Fallopian tube, and thence +by the same means is conveyed to the uterus. It may come in contact +with the zoösperms at any point between the ovary and the lower orifice +of the uterus, and thus undergo fecundation.</p> + +<p><a name="chapa53"><b>Puberty.</b></a>—For a certain period after birth, the sexual organs remain +in a partially developed condition. This period varies in duration with +different animals; in some cases being very brief, in others, +comprising several years. Upon the attainment of a certain age, the +individual becomes sexually <a name="p75"></a>perfect, and is then capable of the +generative act. This period is called puberty. In man, puberty commonly +occurs between the ages of ten and fifteen years, varying considerably +in different climates. In this country, and in other countries of about +the same latitude, puberty usually occurs at the age of fourteen or +fourteen and one-half years in females, and a few months later in males. +In cooler climates, as in Norway and Siberia, the change is delayed +to the age of eighteen or nineteen years. In tropical climates it is +hastened, occurring as early as nine or ten years. In warm climates +it is no uncommon thing for a girl to be a mother at twelve; and it +is stated that one of the wives of Mahomet was a mother at ten.</p> + +<p>Other causes besides climate tend to hasten the occurrence of this +change, as habits, temperament, constitutional tendency, education, +and idiosyncrasy.</p> + +<p>Habits of vigorous physical exercise tend to delay the access of puberty. +For this reason, together with others, country boys and girls generally +mature later than those living in the city by several months, and even +a year or two. Anything that tends to excite the emotions hastens +puberty. The excitements of city life, parties, balls, theaters, even +the competition of students in school, and the various causes of +excitement to the nervous system which occur in city life, have a +tendency to hasten the occurrence of the change which awakens the sexual +activities of the system into life. Hence, <a name="p76"></a>these influences cannot but +be considered prejudicial to the best interests of the individual, +mentally, morally, and physically, since it is in every way desirable +that a change which arouses the passions and gives to them greater +intensity should be delayed rather than hastened.</p> + +<p><a name="chapa54"><b>Influence of Diet on Puberty.</b></a>—The dietary has a not unimportant +influence in this respect. Stimulating food, such as pepper, vinegar, +mustard, spices, and condiments generally, together with tea and coffee, +and an excess of animal food, have a clearly appreciable influence in +inducing the premature occurrence of puberty. On this account, if on +no other, should these articles be prohibited to children and youth, +or used very sparingly. Those who advocate the large use of meat by +children and youth have not studied this matter closely in all its +bearings. While it is true that children and growing youth require an +abundance of the nitrogenous elements of food which are found +abundantly in beefsteak, mutton, fish, and other varieties of animal +food, it is also true that in taking those articles of food they take +along with the nutrient elements properties of a stimulating character, +which exert a decidedly detrimental influence upon the susceptible +systems of children and youth. At the same time, it is possible to obtain +the same desirable nitrogenous elements in oatmeal, unbolted wheat +flour, peas, beans, and other vegetable productions, which are wholly +free from injurious <a name="p77"></a>properties. We are positive from numerous +observations on this subject, that a cool, unstimulating, vegetable +or farinaceous diet would deter the development of the sexual organism +for several months, and perhaps for a year or two.</p> + +<p>While it might not be in all cases desirable to do this, it would at +least be wise to adopt such measures in cases in which the child is +unavoidably exposed to influences which have a tendency to hasten the +change.</p> + +<p>It is important to add in this connection a word of caution against +the adoption of a dietary too abstemious in character. It is necessary +that an abundance of good, wholesome food, rich in the elements of +nutrition, should be taken regularly. There is no doubt that many young +ladies have induced conditions of serious disease by actual starvation +of the system. A young woman who attempts to live on strong tea or coffee, +fine-flour bread, and sweet cake, is as certainly starving herself as +though she were purposely attempting to commit suicide by means of +starvation, and with as much certainty of the same result.</p> + +<p><a name="chapa55"><b>Brunettes Naturally Precocious.</b></a>—It has been observed that in girls +the occurrence of puberty is earlier in brunettes than in blondes; and +in general it makes its appearance earlier in persons of a nervous or +nervo-bilious temperament than in persons of a lymphatic temperament +or phlegmatic nature.</p> +<a name="p78"></a> +<p>Certain nationalities and families are marked by the earlier occurrence +of puberty than in others. In Jews, the change is commonly a year or +two in advance of other nationalities in this country. It also occurs +somewhat sooner in negroes and creoles than in white persons, the +African race seeming to retain something of the precocity occasioned +by the tropical influence of its native clime.</p> + +<p><a name="chapa56"><b>Remarkable Precocity.</b></a>—Cases occasionally occur in which puberty makes +its appearance at the age of three or four years. Indeed, a case has +been reported in this country in which a female child possessed all +the characteristics which are usually developed at puberty, from birth. +In this case the regular periodical changes began at birth.</p> + +<p><a name="chapa57"><b>Premature Development Occasions Early Decay.</b></a>—A fact which is of too +great importance to allow to pass unnoticed, is that whatever occasions +early or premature sexual development, also occasions premature decay. +Females in whom puberty occurs at the age of ten or twelve, by the time +their age is doubled, are shriveled and wrinkled with age. At the time +when they should be in their prime of health and beauty, they are +prematurely old and broken. Those women who mature late retain their +beauty and their strength many years after their precocious sisters +have become old, decrepit, and broken down. Thus, the matrons of thirty +and forty years in colder climates are much more attractive in +appearance than the <a name="p79"></a>maidens of sixteen; while quite the reverse is true +in this and other countries where sexual development is unduly +hastened.</p> + +<p><a name="chapa58"><b>Early Puberty a Cause for Anxiety.</b></a>—The unnaturally early appearance +of puberty is a just cause for apprehension, since it usually indicates +an inherent weakness of the constitution. When there are reasons for +fearing its occurrence, active measures should be taken to occasion +delay if possible. We call especial attention to this point, since there +are many who erroneously suppose the early occurrence of puberty to +be a sign of superior vigor.</p> + +<p><a name="chapa59"><b>Changes which Occur at Puberty.</b></a>—The changes which occur in the two +sexes at this period have been thus described:—</p> + +<p>"In both sexes, hair grows on the skin covering the <i>symphysis pubis</i>, +around the sexual organs, and in the axillæ (armpits). In man, the +chest and shoulders broaden, the larynx enlarges, and the voice becomes +lower in pitch from the elongation of the vocal cords; hair grows upon +the chin, upper lip, and cheeks, and often exists upon the general +surface of the body more abundantly than in woman." The sexual organs +undergo enlargement, and are more frequently excited. The testicles +first begin the secretion of the seminal fluid.</p> + +<p>"In woman, the pelvis and abdomen enlarge, but the whole frame remains +more slender, the muscles and joints less prominent, the limbs more +<a name="p80"></a>rounded and tapering [than in the male]. Locally, both external and +internal organs undergo a considerable and rapid enlargement. The +mammæ enlarge, the ovarian vesicles become dilated, and there is +established a periodical discharge of one or more ova, accompanied, +in most cases, by a sanguineous fluid from the cavity of the uterus."</p> + +<p>These changes, so varied and extraordinary, often occur within a very +short space of time; and as they are liable to serious derangement, +especially in the female, great care should be taken to secure for the +individual the most favorable conditions until they are successfully +effected. It is, however, a fact deserving of mention, that many of +the ills which are developed at this particular period are quite as +much the result of previous indiscretions and mismanagement as of any +immediate cause. A few suggestions with regard to the proper treatment +of individuals at this age may be in place.</p> + +<p>1. Do not allow the boy or girl to be overworked, either mentally or +physically. Great and important changes are occurring within the body, +and nature should not be overtaxed.</p> + +<p>2. Keep the mind occupied. While excessive labor should be avoided, +idleness should be as carefully shunned. Some light, useful employment +or harmless amusement—better some kind of work—should keep the mind +fully occupied with wholesome subjects.</p> +<a name="p81"></a> +<p>3. Abundant exercise out-of-doors is essential for both sexes. Sunshine +and fresh air are as necessary to the development of a human being as +for the expanding of a flower bud.</p> + +<p>4. Watch carefully the associations of the youth. This should be done +at all times, but especially just at the critical period in question, +when the general physical disturbances occurring in the system react +upon the mind and make it peculiarly susceptible to influences, +especially those of an evil character.</p> + +<p>5. None too much care can be exercised at this important epoch of human +life, provided it is properly applied; but nothing could be more +disastrous in its consequences than a weak solicitude which panders +to every whim and gratifies every perverted appetite. <i>Such</i> care is +a fatal error.</p> + +<p><a name="chapa60"><b>Menstruation.</b></a>—The functional changes which occur in the female are +much more marked than those of the male. As already intimated, the +periodical development and discharge of an ovum by the female, which +occurs after puberty, is accompanied by the discharge of a bloody fluid, +which is known as the <i>flowers</i>, <i>menses</i>, or <i>catamenia</i>. The +accompanying symptoms together are termed the process of +<i>menstruation</i>, or <i>being unwell</i>. This usually occurs, in the human +female, once in about four weeks. In special cases, the interval may +be a week less or a week longer; or the variation may be even greater. +Dalton describes the process as follows:—</p> +<a name="p82"></a> +<p>"When the expected period is about to come on, the female is affected +by a certain degree of discomfort and lassitude, a sense of weight in +the pelvis, and more or less disinclination to society. These symptoms +are in some cases slightly pronounced, in others more troublesome. An +unusual discharge of vaginal mucus then begins to take place, which +soon becomes yellowish or rusty brown in color, from the admixture of +a certain proportion of blood; and by the second or third day, the +discharge has the appearance of nearly pure blood. The unpleasant +sensations which were at first manifest, then usually subside; and the +discharge, after continuing for a certain period, begins to grow more +scanty. Its color changes from a pure red to a brownish or rusty tinge, +until it finally disappears altogether, and the female returns to her +ordinary condition."</p> + +<p>The menstrual function continues active from puberty to about the +forty-fifth year, or during the period of fertility. When it finally +disappears, the woman is no longer capable of bearing children. The +time of disappearance is termed the "change of life," or <i>menopause</i>. +Exceptional cases occur in which this period is greatly hastened, +arriving as early as the thirty-fifth year, or even earlier. Instances +have also been observed in which menstruation continued as late as the +sixtieth year, and even later; but such cases are very rare; and if +procreation occurs, the progeny is feeble and senile.</p> +<a name="p83"></a> +<p>With rare exceptions, the function is suspended during pregnancy, and +usually, also, during the period of nursing.</p> + +<p><a name="chapa61"><b>Nature of Menstruation.</b></a>—There has been a great amount of speculation +concerning the cause and nature of the menstrual process. No entirely +satisfactory conclusions have been reached, however, except that it +is usually accompanied by the maturation and expulsion from the ovary +of an ovum, which is termed ovulation. But menstruation may occur +without ovulation, and, <i>vice versa</i>.</p> + +<p>Menstruation is not peculiar to the human female, being represented +in the higher animals by what is familiarly termed the "rut." This is +not usually a bloody discharge, however, as in the human female, though +such a discharge has been observed in the monkey.</p> + +<p>It has been quite satisfactorily settled that the discharge of the ovum +from the ovary generally takes place about the time of the cessation +of the flow. Immediately after the discharge, the sexual desires of +the female are more intense than at other times. This fact is +particularly manifest in lower animals. The following remark by Prof. +Dalton is especially significant to those who care to appreciate its +bearing:—</p> + +<p>"It is a remarkable fact, in this connection, that the female of these +[domestic] animals will allow the approaches of the male only during +and immediately after the oestrual period [rut]; that is, just <a name="p84"></a>when +the egg is recently discharged, and ready for impregnation. At other +times, when sexual intercourse would be necessarily fruitless, the +instinct of the animal leads her to avoid it; and the concourse of the +sexes is accordingly made to correspond in time with the maturity of +the egg and its aptitude for fecundation."</p> + +<p>The amount of fluid lost during the menstrual flow varies greatly with +different individuals. It is estimated at from three ounces to half +a pint. In cases of deranged function, it may be much greater than this. +It is not all blood, however, a considerable portion being mucus. It +is rather difficult to understand why the discharge of so considerable +a quantity of blood is required. There is no benefit derived from a +very copious discharge, as some suppose. Facts seem to indicate that +in general those enjoy the best health who lose but small quantities +of blood in this manner.</p> + +<p><a name="chapa62"><b>A Critical Period.</b></a>—As the first occurrence of menstruation is a very +critical period in the life of a female, and as each recurrence of the +function renders her especially susceptible to morbid influences, and +liable to serious derangements, a few hints respecting the proper care +of an individual at these periods may be acceptable.</p> + +<p><a name="chapa63"><b>Important Hints.</b></a>—1. Avoid taking cold. To do this, it is necessary +to avoid exposure; not that a person must be constantly confined in +a warm room, for such a course would be the surest way in <a name="p85"></a>which to +increase the susceptibility to cold. Nothing will disturb the menstrual +process more quickly than a sudden chilling of the body when in a state +of perspiration, or after confinement in a warm room, by exposure, +without sufficient protection, to cold air. A daily bath and daily +exercise in the open air are the best known means of preventing colds.</p> + +<p>2. Intense mental excitement, as well as severe physical labor, is to +be sedulously avoided during this period. At the time of its first +occurrence, special care should be observed in this direction. Intense +study, a fit of anger, sudden grief, or even great merriment, will +sometimes arrest the process prematurely. The feeling of <i>malaise</i> +which usually accompanies the discharge is by nature intended as a +warning that rest and quiet are required; and the hint should be +followed. Every endeavor should be made to keep the individual +comfortable, calm, and cheerful. Feelings of apprehension arising from +a continual watching of symptoms are very depressing, and should be +avoided by occupying the mind in some agreeable manner not demanding +severe effort, either mental or physical.</p> + +<p>There is no doubt that many young women have permanently injured their +constitutions while at school by excessive mental taxation during the +catamenial period, to which they were prompted by ambition to excel, +or were compelled by the <a name="p86"></a>"cramming" system too generally pursued in +our schools, and particularly in young ladies' seminaries. It is not +to be supposed, however, that the moderate amount of sound study +required by a correct system of teaching would be injurious to a healthy +young woman at any time, and we have no doubt that a very large share +of the injury which has been attributed to over-study during the +catamenia has been induced by other causes, such as improper dress, +exposure to taking cold, keeping late hours, and improper diet.</p> + +<p>If there is any class of persons deserving of pity it is that large +class of girls and young women who are in every large city employed +as clerks, seamstresses, flower makers, and in other taxing and +confining occupations. In order to keep their situations they are +required to be on hand daily, being allowed no opportunity for rest +at the menstrual period. In many cases, too, they are compelled to +remain upon their feet all day behind a counter, or at a work table, +even at periods when a recumbent position is actually demanded by nature. +There should be less delicacy in relation to this subject on the part +of young women, and more consideration on the part of employers. Here +is a field for philanthropic effort which is well worthy of the best +efforts of any person of influence who will engage in it.</p> + +<p><b>Custom of Indian Women.</b>—The ease with which Indian women perform the +parturient act is <a name="p87"></a>proverbial. They suffer scarcely at all from the pains +of childbirth; and without doubt one reason of this is the preservation +of their sexual health by rest during the menstrual period. At those +seasons they invariably absent themselves from the lodge, and enjoy +absolute rest. We may readily suppose, from the nature of some of the +Mosaic laws, that a custom somewhat similar prevailed among the ancient +Hebrew women. If the hardy women of the forest are benefited by rest, +certainly our more delicate females may be thus benefited. All need +a degree of rest; with some it should be absolute.</p> + +<p>The reckless manner in which some young women treat themselves at the +menstrual period, is quite appalling to one who is acquainted with the +painful and inveterate character of the evils which arise from such +abuse. It is no uncommon thing for young ladies to attend balls, visit +skating rinks, and otherwise expose themselves to the influences in +every way the best calculated to do them the most harm at this particular +period, observing not the slightest precaution. Such recklessness is +really criminal; and the sad consequences of physical transgression +are sure to follow. A young lady who allows herself to get wet or chilled, +or gets the feet wet, just prior to or during menstruation, runs the +risk of imposing upon herself life-long injury. Mothers should look +carefully after their daughters at these periods, and impress upon them +the importance of special care.</p> +<a name="p88"></a> +<p>3. A third hint, which is applicable to both sexes and at all times, +is the necessity of attending promptly to the demands of nature for +relief of the bowels and bladder. School-girls are often very negligent +in this respect; and we have seen the most distressing cases of disease +which were entirely attributable to this disregard of the promptings +of nature. Obstinate constipation and chronic irritation of the bladder +are common effects. When constipation results, purgatives in the shape +of pills, salts, or "pleasant purgative pellets," are resorted to with +the certain result of producing only temporary relief, and permanent +damage.</p> + +<p>To escape these evil consequences, do this: 1. Establish a regular habit +of relieving the bowels daily at a certain hour; 2. Discard laxative +and cathartic drugs of every kind; 3. To aid in securing a regular +movement of the bowels, make a liberal use of oatmeal, wheat-meal, fruit, +and vegetables, avoiding fine-flour bread, sweetmeats, and condiments; +4. Take daily exercise, as much as possible short of fatigue; if +necessarily confined indoors, counteract the constipating influence +of sedentary habits by kneading and percussing the bowels with the hands +several minutes each day; 5. Never resist the calls of nature a single +moment, if possible to avoid it. In this case, as in numerous others, +"delay is dangerous." Ladies who desire a sweet breath—and what lady +does not—should remember that retained feces are one of the <a name="p89"></a>most +frequent causes of foul breath. The foul odors which ought to pass out +through the bowels find their way into the blood and escape at the lungs. +A medical man whose sense of smell is delicate soon learns to know a +constipated person by the breath. As one says, "What is more offensive +than the breath of a costive child?"</p> + +<p>Boerhaave, a famous old Dutch physician, left to his heirs an elegantly +bound volume in which, he claimed, were written all the secrets of the +science of physic. After his death, the wonderful book was opened, when +it was found to contain only the following sentence:—</p> + +<p>"Keep the head cool, the feet warm, and the bowels open."</p> + +<p>An old Scotch physician once gave the following advice to Sir Astley +Cooper for the preservation of health:—</p> + +<p>"Keep in the fear of the Lord, and your bowels open."</p> + +<p>4. Perhaps nothing tends more directly to the production of menstrual +derangements—as well as uterine diseases of every sort—than +fashionable modes of dress. We have not space here to give to the subject +the attention it deserves; it will be found treated of in works devoted +to the subject of dress exclusively. Some of the most glaring evils +are,—</p> + +<p>(1) Unequal distribution of clothing. The trunk, especially the abdomen +and pelvis, is covered with <a name="p90"></a>numerous layers of clothing, an extra amount +being caused by the overlapping of the upper and lower garments. Very +frequently, the amount of clothing upon these, the most vital parts, +is excessive. At the same time, the limbs are sometimes almost in a +state of nudity. A single cotton garment, or at most one of thin flannel, +is the only protection afforded to the limbs beneath the skirts, which +often serve no better purpose than to collect cold air and retain it +in contact with the limbs. A thin stocking is the only protection for +the ankles, and a thin shoe is the only additional covering afforded +the feet. Under such circumstances, it is no wonder that a woman catches +cold if she only steps out-of-doors on a chilly or damp day.</p> + +<p>(2) Another glaring fault is in the manner of suspending the skirts. +Instead of being fastened to a waist or suspended so as to give them +support from the shoulders, they are hung upon the hips, being drawn +tight at the waist to secure support. By this means, the organs of the +pelvis are pressed down out of place. The uterus becomes congested, +and painful menstrual derangements ensue.</p> + +<p>(3) Tight lacing, or compressing the waist with a corset, is a barbarous +practice which produces the same results as the one last mentioned. +Reform in all of these particulars is an imperative necessity for every +woman who desires to secure or retain sexual health.</p> + +<p>It is of the greatest importance that careful <a name="p91"></a>attention should be given +to the proper establishment of the menstrual function at the outset +of a woman's life of sexual activity. The first two years will be quite +likely to have a deciding influence respecting her health during her +whole future life. If a woman can get through the first two years after +puberty without acquiring any serious uterine or ovarian disease, she +will stand a good chance of enjoying a good degree of sexual health +during the balance of her life. The foundation of a great share of the +many thousands of cases of uterine disease is laid during this period.</p> + +<p>At this early period the daughter is usually too young to appreciate +the importance of observing slight deviations from the standard of +health, even if she were able to recognize them. Hence it is a duty +which no mother should neglect, to inquire into the exact frequency +of the periods, the amount and character of the discharge, and other +points necessary to ascertain whether or not there is any deviation +from the natural condition of health. If there is pain, it is a certain +evidence of something seriously wrong. If there is irregularity in any +particular, it is a matter well deserving of serious attention.</p> + +<p><a name="chapa64"><b>Menorrhagia.</b></a>—This condition is that in which there is a too profuse +discharge of blood. The system is weakened by the loss, and, so much +so, in many cases, that the individual does not recover her accustomed +strength before the occurrence of <a name="p92"></a>the next period, when she becomes +weakened still more. By a continuance of this periodical loss, the +person may be reduced to a state of almost utter helplessness. A deathly +pallor of the countenance, extreme emaciation, loss of strength, and +general debility mark the effects of the constant drain upon the system. +Thousands of young women continue to suffer in this way year after year, +until their constitutions are almost hopelessly wrecked, being +deterred by false notions of modesty or delicacy from consulting a +proper medical adviser and finding relief.</p> + +<p>The observance of a few simple precautions, and the application of +proper remedies, will check the unnatural loss in most of these cases +very promptly. In the first place, absolute rest, chiefly in a supine +position, must be observed not only during the menstrual period, but +for a few days previous to its commencement. If this does not restrain +the flow, then cool and even cold compresses may be applied to the lower +part of the abdomen and to the small of the back. In severe cases no +harm will come from the use of an ice-compress, made by inclosing +pounded ice between the folds of a towel. Great care must be taken to +make the hands, arms, feet, and limbs thoroughly warm by the application +of warm bottles and woolen blankets. These measures will scarcely fail +to accomplish the desired end, if employed thoroughly and judiciously. +It may be well to add just here that the popular fear <a name="p93"></a>of using cold +in such cases is groundless. No harm can come so long as the extremities +are kept warm, and the circulation well balanced. The patient must not +be made chilly, however. It is also of importance that the patient be +kept mentally quiet as well as physically so.</p> + +<p>Much good will result from these simple measures at the time of the +period; but a radical cure can only be effected by removing the cause +of the difficulty. The patient's general health must be improved, and +local congestion must be removed. This will be accomplished by +attention to general hygiene, gentle exercise out-of-doors between the +periods, abundance of good food, tonic baths and other necessary +treatment if there is derangement of the digestive organs, and daily +hip baths with a local douche. The hip bath should be taken in water +of a temperature of 92° at the beginning. After five minutes +the temperature may be lowered 5°. After five minutes more, it +may be lowered a few degrees more. By taking a warm foot bath at 95° +or 100° at the same time, quite a cool bath may be endured +without chilling. The bath should be continued 15 minutes to 30 minutes, +according to the strength of the patient. A shorter bath than this will +do little good, as the sedative effect will not be obtained.</p> + +<p>The douche may be taken at the same time with the bath, or before, as +is most convenient. The fountain or syphon syringe should be employed, +<a name="p94"></a>and the water used should range from 95° to 105°, as best +suits the sensations of the patient, being cooled a little toward the +last. In general, the hot douche, of a temperature from 100° +to 115°, or even 120°, is not only more agreeable, but +much more beneficial.</p> + +<p>By these simple remedies alone we have successfully treated scores of +cases of this sort. In some cases other remedies may be required, and +in nearly all, accessory remedies can be employed to advantage; but +the measures described are the main features of the most successful +mode of treatment.</p> + +<p><a name="chapa65"><b>Dysmenorrhoea.</b></a>—This condition is that in which there is more or less +pain and difficulty in connection with the menstrual process. The +causes are various, as congestion of the uterus, malformation, and +displacement or distortion of the organ. Some of these conditions +require the attention of a skilled physician to remedy; but all will +be palliated more or less by a course of treatment similar to that +described for the previous condition. A warm sitz or hip bath just at +the beginning of the period will often give almost magical relief. The +application of fomentations over the lower part of the abdomen, and +the corresponding portion of the spine, or of hot bags, bottles, etc., +in the same localities, is a measure of great utility. The patient +should be covered warm in bed, should keep quiet, and great care should +be used to keep the extremities well warmed. The use of electricity +is a very valuable <a name="p95"></a>aid in numerous cases, but this requires the services +of a physician, who should always be employed in severe cases when +within reach.</p> + +<p>In many cases of this form of disease the suffering is so great that +the constant dread of its periodical repetition becomes a source of +great unhappiness, and casts a gloom over the life of an individual +who would otherwise be as happy as could be desired.</p> + +<p><a name="chapa66"><b>Amenorrhoea and Chlorosis.</b></a>—These are serious disorders which require +prompt and vigorous attention. They depend less frequently on disorder +of the sexual organs themselves than upon some disorder of the general +system. They usually demand the attention of a competent physician, +and require a more accurate description of their nature and of proper +modes of treatment than we have space to give here.</p> + +<p><a name="chapa67"><b>Hysteria.</b></a>—From the most remote ages of medical history this disease +has been regarded as intimately connected with morbid states of the +female organs of generation, especially the uterus. That it is not +exclusively produced by causes of this kind is evidenced by the fact +that men also sometimes suffer from this curious malady. The phases +which it assumes are so numerous that we shall not attempt an accurate +description of it; neither is this required, as there are few who are +not familiar with its peculiar manifestations. It simulates almost +every disease. Even consumption and other <a name="p96"></a>formidable maladies have been +so completely simulated by this disorder as to deceive physicians of +long experience. We have met cases in which young ladies were supposed +to be in the last stages of pulmonary disease, were apparently gasping +almost their last breath, panting, coughing, and experiencing the usual +symptoms which accompany tuberculous disease of the lungs, when, upon +making a thorough physical examination of the chest, we could find no +evidence of pulmonary disease. In one case we incurred the everlasting +displeasure of a young lady by disclosing the real state of affairs; +but we were repaid in seeing an immediate disappearance of the symptoms, +and complete recovery within six weeks, although the young woman had +been considered hopelessly ill by her friends and physicians for six +months, and was tenderly watched over, petted, and mourned by friends +as one who must soon fall a victim to fell disease.</p> + +<p>The foundation of this disease is almost always laid in some +indiscretion by means of which disease of the uterus is induced, and +the most careful attention to this part of the organism is required. +It should not be treated as a trivial matter which is wholly the result +of a diseased imagination, and requires only mental treatment, since +it is a real malady, dependent upon morbid states of the system. It +requires substantial and thorough treatment as much as rheumatism, +dyspepsia, or any other of the numerous diseases to which humanity is +subject.</p> +<a name="p97"></a> +<p><a name="chapa68"><b>Prevention Better than Cure.</b></a>—We might mention numerous other diseased +conditions which grow out of inattention to the laws of health relating +to the sexual organism; but to dwell longer upon this part of the subject +would be to depart from the plan of this work, and we must forbear. +This whole class of maladies is noted for obstinacy in great numbers +of cases when the morbid conditions have existed for a long time. In +addition it should be remarked that some of the most inveterate +disorders of the nervous system originate in this same manner. The +thousands of ladies who are suffering with spinal irritation, organic +disease of the spine and other nervous disorders, are witnesses to this +fact. It is apparent, then, that prevention of these serious maladies +by attention to sexual hygiene, especially to the hygiene of +menstruation at the first establishment of that function, is a matter +of gravest importance. In fact, attention to hygiene is about all that +is required. With this, drugs will be rarely required; without, they +will be utterly useless.</p> + +<p><a name="chapa69"><b>Extra-Uterine Pregnancy.</b></a>—Sometimes the ovum becomes fecundated +before reaching the uterus, and, instead of passing onward into that +organ as usual, remains in its position in the Fallopian tube or even +on the surface of the ovary. Occasionally an ovum falls into the cavity +of the abdomen instead of passing into the tube. Even in this situation +it may be fecundated. <a name="p98"></a>Impregnated ova thus left in abnormal positions, +undergo a greater or lesser degree of development. They commonly result +in the death of the mother.</p> + +<p><a name="chapa70"><b>Twins.</b></a>—The human female usually matures but one ovum at each menstrual +period, the two ovaries acting alternately. Occasionally two ova are +matured at once. If fecundation occurs, the result will be a development +of two embryos at the same time. In rare cases, three or even four ova +are matured at once, and by fecundation produce a corresponding number +of embryos. As many as five children have been born alive at one birth, +but have not lived more than a few minutes.</p> + +<p>The occurrence of multiple pregnancies may be explained by the +supposition that ova matured subsequent to the first fecundation are +also fecundated.</p> + +<p>In lower animals, the uterus is often divided into two long segments +which afford room for the development of a number of young at once. +Some ancient writers make most absurd statements with regard to the +fecundity of females. One declares that the simultaneous birth of seven +or eight infants by the same mother was an ordinary occurrence with +Egyptian women! Other statements still more extravagant are made by +writers. For example: A traveler in the seventeenth century wrote that +he saw, in the year 1630, in a church near the Hague, a tablet on which +was an inscription stating that a certain noted countess gave birth +at once, in the year 1276, to 365 infants, who were <a name="p99"></a>all baptized and +christened, the males being all called John, and the females, Elizabeth. +They all died on the day of their birth, with their mother, according +to the account, and were buried in the church, where a tablet was erected +to their memory.</p> + +<p><a name="chapa71"><b>Monsters.</b></a>—Defects and abnormalities in the development of the embryon +produce all degrees of deviation from the typical human form. Excessive +development may result in an extra finger or toe, or in the production +of some peculiar excrescence. Deficiency of development may produce +all degrees of abnormality from the simple harelip to the most frightful +deficiency, as the absence of a limb, or even of a head. It is in this +manner that those unfortunate individuals known as hermaphrodites are +formed. An excessive development of some parts of the female generative +organs gives them a great degree of similarity to the external organs +of the male. A deficient development of the male organs renders them +very similar in form to those of the female. Redundant development of +the sexual organism sometimes results in the development of both kinds +of organs in the same individual in a state more or less complete. Cases +have occurred in which it has become necessary, for legal purposes, +to decide respecting the sex of an individual suffering from defective +development, and it has sometimes been exceedingly difficult to decide +in a given case whether the individual was male or female.</p> +<a name="p100"></a> +<p>Such curious cases as the Carolina twins and Chang and Eng were formerly +supposed to be the result of the union of two separate individuals. +It is now believed that they are developed from a single ovum. It has +been observed that the primitive trace—described in a previous +section—sometimes undergoes partial division longitudinally. If it +splits a little at the anterior end, the individual will have a single +body with two heads. If a partial division occurs at each end, the +resulting being will possess two heads and two pairs of legs joined +to a single body. More complete division produces a single trunk with +two heads, two pairs of arms, and two pairs of legs, as in the case +of the Carolina twins. Still more complete division may result in the +formation of two perfect individuals almost entirely independent of +each other, physiologically, but united by a narrow band, as in the +remarkable Siamese twins, Chang and Eng.</p> + +<p>In a curious case reported not a great while ago, a partially developed +infant was amputated from the cheek of a child some time after birth.</p> + +<p>The precise cause of these strange modifications of development is as +yet, in great degree, a mystery.</p> + +<p><a name="chapa72"><b>Hybrids.</b></a>—It is a well-known law of biology that no progeny result from +union of animals of different species. Different varieties of the same +species may in some cases form a fertile union, the result of which +is a cross between its two parents, possessing some of the qualities +of each. The mule <a name="p101"></a>is the product of such a union between the horse and +the ass. A curious fact is that the offspring of such unions are +themselves sterile almost without exception. The reason of this is that +they do not produce mature elements of generation. In the mule, the +zoösperms are either entirely absent or else very imperfectly +developed; hence the fact that a colt having a mule for its sire is +one of the rarest of curiosities, though a few instances have been +reported. This is a wise law of nature to preserve the purity of species.</p> + +<p><a name="chapa73"><b>Law of Sex.</b></a>—If there is a law by which the sex of the developing embryon +is determined, it probably has not yet been discovered. The influence +of the will, the predominant vitality of one or the other of the parents, +and the period at which conception occurs, have all been supposed to +be the determining cause. A German physician some time since advanced +the theory that the two testicles and ovaries produce elements of +different sexual character, the right testicle forming zoösperms +capable of producing only males, and the right ovary producing ova with +the same peculiarity. The left testis and the left ovary he supposed +to form the female elements. He claimed to have proved his theory by +experiments upon animals. Even if true, this theory will not be made +of practical importance. It is, in fact, nothing more than a revival +of an old theory held by physicians who flourished more than two +thousand years ago.</p> +<a name="p102"></a> +<p>More recently another German physician has advanced the theory that +the sex may be controlled at will by observing the time of fecundation. +He asserts that when fecundation occurs shortly after menstruation, +the result will be a female; but if impregnation occurs later in the +month, and prior to the three or four days preceding the next menstrual +period, a male will almost certainly be produced. This theory was +proposed by Prof. Thury of the academy of Geneva, who claims to have +thoroughly tested it in a great variety of ways, and always with an +affirmative result. Dr. Heitzman, of New York, an instructor in +pathological histology, and an eminent physiologist, informs us that +he has thoroughly tested this theory, and finds it to be entirely +reliable. There are numerous facts which seem to corroborate the truth +of this theory, and future investigations may give to it the dignity +of an established physiological fact.</p> + +<p><a name="chapa74"><b>Heredity.</b></a>—The phenomena of heredity are among the most interesting +of biological studies. It is a matter of common observation that a child +looks like its parents. It even happens that a child resembles an uncle +or a grandparent more nearly than either parent. The same peculiarities +are often seen in animals.</p> + +<p>The cause of this resemblance of offspring to parents and ancestors +has been made a subject of careful study by scientific men. We shall +present <a name="p103"></a>the most recent theory adopted, which, although it be but a +theory, presents such an array of facts in its support, and explains +the phenomena in question so admirably, that it must be regarded as +something more than a plausible hypothesis. It is the conception of +one of the most distinguished scientists of the age. The theory is known +as the doctrine of <i>pangenesis</i>, and is essentially as follows:—</p> + +<p>It is a fact well known to physiologists that every part of the living +body is made up of cellular elements which have the power to reproduce +themselves in the individual, thus repairing the damage resulting from +waste and injury. Each cell produces cells like itself. It is further +known that there are found in the body numerous central points of growth. +In every group of cells is found a central cell from which the others +originated, and which determines the form of their growth. Every minute +structure possesses such a center. A simple proof of this fact is found +in the experiment in which the spur of a cock was grafted upon the ear +of an ox. It lived in this novel situation eight years, attaining the +length of nine inches, and nearly a pound in weight. A tooth has been +made to grow upon the comb of a cock in a similar manner. The tail of +a pig survived the operation of transplanting from its proper position +to the back of the animal, and retained its sensibility. Numerous other +similar illustrations might be given.</p> +<a name="p104"></a> +<p>The doctrine of pangenesis supposes that these centers of nutrition +form and throw off not only cells like themselves, but very minute +granules, called gemmules, each of which is capable, under suitable +circumstances, of developing into a cell like its parent.</p> + +<p>These minute granules are scattered through the system in great numbers. +The essential organs of generation, the testicles in the male and the +ovaries in the female, perform the task of collecting these gemmules +and forming them into sets, each of which constitutes a reproductive +element, and contains, in rudimentary form, a representative of every +part of the individual, including the most minute peculiarities. Even +more than this: It is supposed that each ovum and each zoösperm contains +not only the gemmules necessary to reproduce the individuals who +produced them, but also a number of gemmules which have been transmitted +from the individuals' ancestors.</p> + +<p>If this theory be true,—and we can see no sound objection to it,—it +is easy to understand all the problems of heredity. The gemmules must +be very small indeed, but it may be suggested that the molecules of +matter are smaller still, so this fact is no objection to the theory.</p> + +<p>It will be seen, then, that each spermatozoön, or zoösperm, actually +contains, in an embryonic condition, every organ and tissue of the +individual producing it. The same is true of the ovum. In <a name="p105"></a>other words, +the reproductive elements are complete representatives, in miniature, +of the parents, and contain all the elements for producing an offspring +possessing the same peculiarities as the parents. Various modifying +circumstances sufficiently explain the dissimilarities between +parents and children.</p> + +<p>This theory is strikingly confirmed by the fact, previously mentioned, +that in certain cases the ovum alone, a single reproductive element, +may undergo a degree of development approaching very near to completion. +It is supposed that fecundation is chiefly necessary to give to the +gemmules the requisite amount of nourishment to insure development.</p> + +<p>As we shall see hereafter, this matter has a very important bearing +upon several practical questions.</p> + +<p><a name="chapa75"><b>Ante-Natal Influences.</b></a>—There can be no manner of doubt that many +circumstances which it is entirely within the power of the parents to +supply, exert a powerful influence in molding both the mental and the +physical characteristics of offspring. By carefully availing himself +of the controlling power given him by a knowledge of this fact, the +stock-raiser is enabled to produce almost any required quality in his +young animals. Pigeon fanciers show wonderful skill in thus producing +most curious modifications in birds. The laws of heredity and +development are carefully studied and applied in the production of +superior horses, cows, <a name="p106"></a>dogs, and pigeons; but an application of the +same principles to the improvement of the human race is rarely thought +of. Human beings are generated in as haphazard and reckless a manner +as weeds are sown by the wind. No account is taken of the possible +influence which may be exerted upon the future destiny of the new being +by the physical or mental condition of parents at the moment when the +germ of life is planted, or by the mental and physical conditions and +surroundings of the mother while the young life is developing. Indeed, +the assertion of a modern writer that the poor of our great cities +virtually "spawn children," with as little thought of influences and +consequences as the fish that sow their eggs broadcast upon the waters, +is not so great an exaggeration as it might at first sight appear to +be.</p> + +<p><a name="chapa76"><b>Law Universal.</b></a>—Men and women are constantly prone to forget that the +domain of law is universal. Nothing comes by chance. The revolutions +of the planets, studied by the aid of the telescope, and the gyrations +of the atoms, seen only by the eye of science, are alike examples of +the controlling influence of law. Notwithstanding this sad ignorance +and disregard of this vitally important subject, the effects of law +are only too clearly manifested in the crowds of wretched human beings +with which the world is thronged. An old writer sagely remarks, "It +is the greatest part of our felicity to be well born;" nevertheless, +it is the <a name="p107"></a>sad misfortune of by far the greater portion of humanity to +be deprived of this inestimable "felicity."</p> + +<p><a name="chapa77"><b>A Source of Crime.</b></a>—Who can tell how many of the liars, thieves, +drunkards, murderers, and prostitutes of our day are less responsible +for their crimes against themselves, against society, and against +Heaven, than those who were instrumental in bringing them into the +world? Almost every village has its boy "who was born drunk," a +staggering, simpering, idiotic representative of a drunken father, +beastly intoxicated at the very moment when he should have been most +sober.</p> + +<p>An interesting study of this question has recently been made by Mr. +Dugdale, a member of the Prison Association of the State of New York. +When visiting the various jails of the State, he found in one six persons +detained for crimes of various character, between all of whom there +was a family relation. Upon further inquiry, he found that of the same +family there were twenty-nine relatives in the vicinity, seventeen of +whom were criminals. Still further investigation developed the +following facts:—</p> + +<p>Within seventy-five years, a family of 1200 persons have sprung from +five sisters, several of whom were illegitimate, and three of whom were +known to be unchaste, and who married men whose father was an idle, +thriftless hunter, a hard drinker, and licentious.</p> +<a name="p108"></a> +<p>Of this family, the history of but 709 was traced. Of these, the facts +set forth in the following incomplete summary were found to be true:—</p> + +<table align="center" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="3" summary="Juke Family"> + <tr> + <td>Paupers,</td> + <td align="right">280</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Years of pauperism,</td> + <td align="right">798</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Criminals,</td> + <td align="right">140</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Years of infamy,</td> + <td align="right">750</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Thieves,</td> + <td align="right">60</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Murderers,</td> + <td align="right">7</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Prostitutes and adulteresses,</td> + <td align="right">165</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Illegitimate children,</td> + <td align="right">91</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>No. of persons contaminated by syphilitic disease,</td> + <td align="right">480</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Cost to the State in various ways,</td> + <td align="right">$1,308,000</td> + </tr> +</table> + +<p>Without doubt a complete summary would make this showing still more +appalling, since of the 709 whose histories were traced, it was in many +instances impossible to determine whether the individuals were guilty +of crime or unchastity or not, even where there were grounds for +suspicion. Such cases were not included in the summary.</p> + +<p>No amount of argument on this question could be so conclusive as are +these simple facts concerning the "Juke" family. It is certainly high +time that our legislators began to awaken to this subject, and consider +whether it would be an unprofitable experiment to make some attempt +to prevent the multiplication of criminals in this manner. We are not +prepared to offer a plan for securing such an end; but it is very clearly +important that something should be done in this direction.</p> +<a name="p109"></a> +<p>It is an established physiological fact that the character of offspring +is influenced by the mental as well as the physical conditions of the +parents at the moment of the performance of the generative act. In view +of this fact, how many parents can regard the precocious—or even +mature—manifestations of sexual depravity in their children without +painful smitings of conscience at seeing the legitimate results of +their own sensuality? By debasing the reproductive function to an act +of selfish animal indulgence, they imprinted upon their children an +almost irresistible tendency to vice. Viewing the matter from this +stand-point, what wonder that licentiousness is rife! that true +chastity is among the rarest of virtues!</p> + +<p>Prof. O. W. Holmes remarks on this subject: "There are people who think +that everything may be done if the doctor, be he educator or physician, +be only called in season. No doubt; but <i>in season</i> would often be a +hundred or two years before the child was born, and people never send +so early as that." "Each of us is only the footing up of a double column +of figures that goes back to the first pair. Every unit tells, and some +of them are <i>plus</i> and some <i>minus</i>. If the columns don't add up right, +it is commonly because we can't make out all of the figures."</p> + +<p>It cannot be doubted that the throngs of deaf, blind, crippled, idiotic +unfortunates who were "born so," together with a still larger class +of dwarfed, <a name="p110"></a>diseased, and constitutionally weak individuals, are the +lamentable results of the violation of some sexual law on the part of +their progenitors.</p> + +<p>If parents would stop a moment to consider the momentous +responsibilities involved in the act of bringing into existence a human +being; if they would reflect that the qualities imparted to the new +being will affect its character to all eternity; if they would recall +the fact that they are about to produce a mirror in which will be +reflected their own characters divested of all the flimsy fabrics which +deceive their fellow-men, revealing even the secret imaginings of their +hearts,—there would surely be far less of sin, disease, and misery +born into the world than at the preset day; but we dare not hope for +such a reform. To effect it, would require such a revolution in the +customs of society, such a radical reform in the habits and characters +of individuals, as nothing short of a temporal millennium would be able +to effect.</p> + +<p>It is quite probable that some writers have greatly exaggerated the +possible results which may be attained by proper attention to the laws +under consideration. All cannot be equally beautiful; every child +cannot be a genius; the influence of six thousand years of transgression +cannot be effaced in a single generation; but persevering, +conscientious efforts to comply with every requirement of health, +purity, morality, and the laws of nature, will accomplish wonders in +securing healthy <a name="p111"></a>children with good dispositions, brilliant intellects, +and beautiful bodies.</p> + +<p>This is not the proper place to describe in detail a plan to be pursued; +but the few hints given, if rightly appreciated, may enable those +interested in the subject to plan for themselves a proper course. In +concluding the subject, we may summarize its chief points as follows, +for the purpose of impressing them more fully upon the mind:—</p> + +<p>1. If a child is begotten in lust, its lower passions will as certainly +be abnormally developed as peas will produce peas, or potatoes produce +potatoes. If the child does not become a rake or a prostitute, it will +be because of uncommonly fortunate surroundings, or a miracle of divine +grace. But even then, what terrible struggles with sin and vice, with +foul thoughts and lewd imaginations—the product of a naturally +abnormal mind—must such an individual suffer! If he is unsuccessful +in the conflict, is he alone to blame? Society, his fellow-men, will +censure him alone; but He who knoweth all the secrets of human life +will pass a more lenient judgment on the erring one, and mete out +punishment where it most belongs.</p> + +<p>2. The same remarks apply with equal force to the transmission of other +qualities. If the interest of the parents is only for self, with no +thought for the well-being of the one whose destiny is in their hands, +they can expect naught but a selfish character, a sordid, greedy +disposition, in the child.</p> +<a name="p112"></a> +<p>3. The influence of the father is, at the outset, as great as that of +the mother. The unhappy or immoral thoughts of one alone at the critical +moment when life is imparted, may fix for eternity a foul blot upon +a character yet unformed.</p> + +<p>4. If during gestation the mother is fretful, complaining, and +exacting; if she requires to be petted and waited upon; if she gratifies +every idle whim and indulges every depraved desire and perverted +appetite—as thousands of mothers do—the result will surely be a +peevish, fretful child, that will develop into a morose and irritable +man or woman, imperious, unthankful, disobedient, willful, gluttonous, +and vicious.</p> + +<p>If such undesirable results would be avoided, the following suggestions +should be regarded:—</p> + +<p>1. For the beginning of a new life, select the most favorable time, +which will be when the bodily health is at its height; when the mind +is free from care and anxiety; when the heart is joyous, cheerful, and +filled with hope, love, high aspirations, pure and beautiful thoughts. +If, as one writer says, it is the duty of every human pair engaging +in the reproductive act to bring into existence the most perfect +specimen of the race of which they are capable, then it becomes a +monstrous crime to enter into relations which may produce a contrary +result. This may be a truth hard to accept, but who is prepared to +dispute it on logical or moral grounds?</p> + +<p>2. If a child has been properly conceived, the <a name="p113"></a>duty then devolves upon +the mother to secure its proper development. Is beauty desired, let +the mother be surrounded with beautiful objects; and let her mind dwell +upon such objects. If an active mind and brilliant intellect are +required, the mother should devote considerable time to study and +mental labor of a pleasant nature. The moral nature should be carefully +cultivated, to insure a lovely disposition. No angry words or unhappy +feelings should be tolerated. Purity of heart and life should be +maintained. The husband should do his part by supplying favorable +surroundings, suggesting cheerful thoughts, and aiding mental culture.</p> + +<p>3. After birth, the mother still possesses a molding influence upon +the development of her child through the lacteal secretion. Every +mother knows how speedily the child will suffer if nursed when she is +exhausted by physical labor or when suffering from nervous excitement, +as anger or grief. These facts show the influence which the mental +states of the mother exert upon the child even when the act of nursing +is the only physical bond between them.</p> + +<p>It would be a happy day for the race which should witness the recognition +of the fact that infants, even human beings in embryo, possess rights +which are as sacred as those of adult human beings.</p> + +<p><a name="chapa78"><b>Circumcision.</b></a>—The fold of integument called the prepuce, which has +been previously described, has upon its inner surface a large number +of glands <a name="p114"></a>which produce a peculiar secretion. Under certain +circumstances, and from inattention to personal cleanliness, this +secretion may accumulate, and then often becomes the cause of +irritation and serious disease. To prevent such disorders, and to +insure cleanliness, the Jewish law required the removal of the prepuce, +which constituted the rite of circumcision. The same practice is +followed by several modern nations dwelling in tropical climates; and +it can scarcely be doubted that it is a very salutary one, and has +contributed very materially to the maintenance of that proverbial +national health for which the Jews are celebrated. Eminent physicians +have expressed the opinion that the practice would be a salutary one +for all men. The maintenance of scrupulous cleanliness, by daily +cleansing, is at least an imperative duty.</p> + +<p>In some countries, females are also circumcised by removal of the +nymphæ. The object is the same as that of circumcision in the male. +The same evils result from inattention to local cleanliness, and the +same measure of prevention, daily cleansing, is necessitated by a +similar secretion. Local cleanliness is greatly neglected by both sexes. +Daily washing should begin with infancy and continue through life, and +will prevent much disease.</p> + +<p><a name="chapa79"><b>Castration.</b></a>—This operation consists in the removal of the testes of +the male. It does not at once obliterate the sexual sense, especially +if <a name="p115"></a>performed after puberty, but of course renders the individual +impotent, or incapable of reproduction. Persons upon whom it has been +performed are called eunuchs. It was a very common custom in ancient +times, being usually prompted by the jealousy of rulers, who allowed +no males but eunuchs to associate with their wives and concubines. The +effect upon the male is to render him effeminate in appearance and weak +in mind. If performed before puberty, the growth of the beard is scanty, +and the voice never acquires that deepness of tone natural to the +masculine voice.</p> + +<p>An analogous operation, termed <i>spaying</i>, is performed upon females, +consisting in the removal of the ovaries; effects similar to those in +the male, <i>sterility</i> without entire immediate loss of sexual sense, +being the usual result. Spaying is much more rarely performed than +castration. Both operations are now quite rare, seldom being resorted +to except in surgical cases. Castration is still practiced in some +Eastern countries.</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br><a name="p116"></a> +<div><h2><a name="chapb">THE SEXUAL RELATIONS.</a></h2></div> +<br> +<p>Just in proportion as the perpetuation of the race is more important +than the existence of any single individual, the organs of reproduction +may in a certain sense be said to rank higher than any other organs +of the human frame, since to them is intrusted the important duty of +performing that most marvelous of all vital processes, the production +of human beings. That this high rank in the vital economy is recognized +by nature, is shown by the fact that she has attached to the abuse of +the generative function the most terrible penalties which can be +inflicted upon a living being. The power of abuse seems to be almost +exclusively confined to man; hence, we find him the only one of all +living creatures subject to the awful penalties of sexual +transgression.</p> + +<p>The <i>use</i> of the reproductive function is perhaps the highest physical +act of which man is capable; its <i>abuse</i> is certainly one of the most +grievous outrages against nature which it is possible for him to +perpetrate. No observing person can doubt that the sexual relations +of men and women determine in a great degree their happiness or misery +in life. This subject, then, deserves due attention and careful +consideration. It is of no use to scout it; for <a name="p117"></a>it will inevitably +obtrude itself upon us, no matter now sedulously we attempt to avoid +it. It can be rightly considered only with the most perfect candor, +with the mind unbiased by passion, and prayerfully anxious to know and +<i>do</i> what is right.</p> + +<p>In the following paragraphs of this section are considered some of the +evils out of which grows much of the sexual suffering of men and women:—</p> + +<p><a name="chapb1"><b>Sexual Precocity.</b></a>—There are two periods in human life when the sexual +instincts should be totally dormant; and they are so when nature is +not perverted. The first is the period reaching from infancy to puberty. +The second is the period reached in advanced age.</p> + +<p>If raised strictly in accordance with natural law, children would have +no sexual notions or feelings before the occurrence of puberty. No +prurient speculation about sexual matters would enter their heads. +Until that period, the reproductive system should lie dormant in its +undeveloped state. No other feeling should be exhibited between the +sexes than that brotherly and sisterly affection which is so admirable +and becoming.</p> + +<p>Fortunate, indeed, would it be for humanity if this natural state always +existed; but it is a lamentable fact that it is rarely seen in modern +homes. Not infrequently, evidences of sexual passion are manifested +before the child has hardly learned to walk. It has been suggested that +this precocity is nothing remarkable or unnatural, since it is often +<a name="p118"></a>seen in little lambs and other young animals. To this it is only +necessary to reply that the development of the sexual instincts +perfectly corresponds with the longevity of the animal; if short-lived, +like the sheep, only a short period intervenes between birth and the +attainment of the sexual appetite and virility. If the animal is +intended for long life, as is the case with man, these manifestations +are delayed until a much later period, or should be. Certain insects +perform the sexual act as soon as they acquire their perfect form; but +they perish as soon as the act is completed.</p> + +<p><a name="chapb2"><b>Astonishing Ignorance.</b></a>—It is astonishing how ignorant and indifferent +the majority of people are upon this subject. A friend related to us +an incident which fairly illustrates the terrible apathy which prevails +among parents. While teaching a country school, he learned that a large +number of children, boys and girls, of ages varying from eight to twelve +and fourteen years, were in the habit of collecting together in barns +and other secluded places, and in a state of nudity imitating the "Black +Crook" with all possible additional nastiness. Horrified at such a +monstrous evil, he hastened to inform the parents of the corruption +in their midst. Imagine his astonishment when he was met with an +indifferent laugh and the response, "Pooh! it's only natural; perfectly +harmless; <i>just like little pigs!</i>" As though pigs were models for human +beings!</p> +<a name="p119"></a> +<p>It is not pleasant to consider what must have been the moral status +of parents who could hold such views; and it is no wonder that they +should produce such children. Doubtless they learned, too late, that +those "natural" manifestations were the outgrowth of incipient vices, +planted and fostered by themselves, which in later years destroyed +shame and gave loose rein to lust.</p> + +<p>Often the manifestation of sexual precocity is less gross, but almost +equally fraught with danger, nevertheless. Dr. Acton, a distinguished +English surgeon whom we shall frequently quote, makes the following +excellent remarks upon this subject:—</p> + +<p>"Slight signs are sufficient to indicate when a boy has this unfortunate +tendency. He shows marked preferences. You will see him single out one +girl, and evidently derive an unusual pleasure (for a boy) in her +society. His <i>penchant</i> does not take the ordinary form of a boy's good +nature, but little attentions that are generally reserved for a later +period prove that his feeling is different, and sadly premature. He +may be apparently healthy, and fond of playing with other boys; still +there are slight, but ominous, indications of propensities fraught with +danger to himself. His play with the girl is different from his play +with his brothers. His kindness to her is a little too ardent. He follows +her, he does not know why. He fondles her with a tenderness painfully +suggestive of a vague dawning of passion. No one can find fault with +<a name="p120"></a>him. He does nothing wrong. Parents and friends are delighted at his +gentleness and politeness, and not a little amused at the early +flirtation. If they were wise, they would rather feel profound anxiety; +and he would be an unfaithful or unwise medical friend who did not, +if an opportunity occurred, warn them that such a boy, unsuspicious +and innocent as he is, ought to be carefully watched and removed from +every influence calculated to foster his abnormal propensities.</p> + +<p>"The premature development of the sexual inclination is not alone +repugnant to all we associate with the term childhood, but is also +fraught with danger to dawning manhood. On the judicious treatment of +a case such as has been sketched, it probably depends whether the +dangerous propensity shall be so kept in check as to preserve the boy's +health and innocence, or whether one more shattered constitution and +wounded conscience shall be added to the victims of sexual precocity +and careless training. It ought not to be forgotten that in such cases +a quasi-sexual power often accompanies these premature sexual +inclinations. Few, perhaps, except medical men, know how early in life +a mere infant may experience erections. Frequently it may be noticed +that a little child, on being taken out of bed in the morning, cannot +make water at once. It would be well if it were recognized by parents +and nurses that this often depends upon a more or less complete +erection."</p> +<a name="p121"></a> +<p>We have been not more disgusted than shocked to see parents, whose +intelligence ought to teach them better, not only winking at, but +actually encouraging, these premature manifestations of passion in +their children. They may yet learn, by bitter experience, the folly +of their course, unless they make the discovery in time to avert the +calamitous results which threaten the future of their children, by +careful reformatory training.</p> + +<p><a name="chapb3"><b>Inherited Passion.</b></a>—It is important to inquire the cause of this +precocity. Said a father of our acquaintance, when remonstrated with +for encouraging his infant son in a ridiculous flirtation, "I did just +so when I was of his age." In this case the cause was evident. The child +was only acting out the disposition bequeathed him by his parent. How +often do the secret follies of parents stand out in bold relief in their +children. Such a legacy is nothing to be proud of.</p> + +<p>We again quote from Dr. Acton some observations on the causes of this +disorder,—for a grave disorder it is,—as follows:—</p> + +<p>"I should specify <i>hereditary</i> predisposition as by no means the least +common.... I believe that, as in body and mind, so also in the passions, +the sins of the father are frequently visited on the children. No man +or woman, I am sure, can have habitually indulged the sexual passions ... +without, at least, running the risk of finding that a disposition to +follow a similar career has been <a name="p122"></a>inherited by the offspring. It is in +this way only that we can explain the early and apparently almost +irresistible propensity in generation after generation indulging +similar habits and feelings."</p> + +<p><a name="chapb4"><b>Various Causes of Sexual Precocity.</b></a>—Another very powerful +predisposing cause of sexual precocity will be alluded to under the +head of "Marital Excesses." The irritation caused by worms in the rectum, +by local irritation or uncleanliness, or by irritation of the bladder, +are exciting causes which are not infrequent. The latter cause is +indicated by another symptom, the frequent wetting of the bed at night. +Such a symptom doubly demands immediate attention.</p> + +<p>The juvenile parties so common now-a-days, at which little ones of both +sexes, of ages varying from four or five years to ten or twelve, with +wonderful precocity and truthfulness imitate the conduct of their +elders at fashionable dinners, cannot be too much deprecated. Such +associations of the sexes have a strong tendency to develop prematurely +the distinctive peculiarities of the sexes. This is well evidenced by +the fact that on such occasions one of the most common and popular +entertainments is sham marriages. Parents greatly err in encouraging +or allowing their children to engage in amusements of so dangerous a +character. They are productive of no good, and are almost without +exception productive of positive and serious injury.</p> + +<p>Modern modes of life, improper clothing, the <a name="p123"></a>forcing system of cramming +in schools, the immodest example of older persons, and especially the +irritating, stimulating articles of diet which are daily set before +children, as well as older people, undoubtedly have a powerful +influence in stimulating the development of the sexual passions. This +subject is again referred to under the heading, "Chastity."</p> + +<p>Obscene books and papers, lewd pictures, and evil communications are +telling causes which will be further noticed elsewhere.</p> + +<p><a name="chapb5"><b>Senile Sexuality.</b></a>—As with childhood, old age is a period in which the +reproductive functions are quiescent unless unnaturally stimulated. +Sexual life begins with puberty, and, in the female, ends at about the +age of forty-five years, the period known as the <i>menopause</i>, or <i>turn +of life</i>. At this period, according to the plainest indications of +nature, all functional activity should cease. If this law is +disregarded, disease, premature decay, possibly local degenerations, +will be sure to result. Nature cannot be abused with impunity.</p> + +<p>The generative power of the male is retained somewhat longer than that +of the female, and by stimulation may be indulged at quite an advanced +age, but only at the expense of shortening life, and running the risk +of sudden death. Says Parise, "One of the most important pieces of +information which a man in years can attain is 'to learn to become old +betimes,' if he wishes to attain old age. <a name="p124"></a>Cicero, we are told, was asked +if he still indulged in the pleasures of love. 'Heaven forbid,' replied +he, 'I have forsworn it as I would a savage and a furious master.'"</p> + +<p>Some learned physicians place the proper limit of man's functional +activity at fifty years, if he would not render himself guilty of +shortening his days by sensuality. Other reasons for this course will +appear hereafter.</p> + +<p>When the passions have been indulged, and their diminishing vigor +stimulated, a horrid disease, <i>satyriasis</i>, not infrequently seizes +upon the imprudent individual, and drives him to the perpetration of +the most loathsome crimes and excesses. Passions cultivated and +encouraged by gratification through life will thus sometimes assert +a total supremacy in old age.</p> + +<p><a name="chapb6"><b>Marriage.</b></a>—The scope and plan of this work will allow of but the +briefest possible consideration of this subject upon which volumes have +been written, much to no purpose other than the multiplication of books. +We shall devote no space to consideration of the origin of the +institution, its expediency, or varied relations, as these topics are +foreign to the character of this work.</p> + +<p>The primary object of marriage was, undoubtedly, the preservation of +the race, though there are other objects which, under special +circumstances, may become paramount even to this. These latter we +cannot consider, as only the relations of the <a name="p125"></a>reproductive functions +in marriage come properly within our province.</p> + +<p>The first physiological question to be considered is concerning the +proper age for marriage.</p> + +<p><a name="chapb7"><b>Time to Marry.</b></a>—Physiology fixes with accuracy the earliest period at +which marriage is admissible. This period is that at which the body +attains complete development, which is not before twenty in the female, +and twenty-four in the male. Even though the growth may be completed +before these ages, ossification of the bones is not fully effected, +so that development is incomplete.</p> + +<p>Among most modern nations, the civil laws fixing the earliest date of +marriage seem to have been made without any reference to physiology, +or with the mistaken notion that puberty and nubility are identical. +It is interesting to note the different ages established by different +nations for the entrance of the married state. The degenerating Romans +fixed the ages of legal marriage at thirteen for females, and fifteen +for males. The Grecian legislator, Lycurgus, placed the ages at +seventeen for the female, and thirty-seven for the male. Plato fixed +the ages at twenty and thirty years. In Prussia, the respective ages +are fifteen and nineteen; in Austria, sixteen and twenty; in France, +sixteen and eighteen, respectively.</p> + +<p>Says Mayer, "In general, it may be established that the normal epoch +for marriage is the twentieth year for women, and the twenty-fourth +for men."</p> +<a name="p126"></a> +<p><a name="chapb8"><b>Application of the Law of Heredity.</b></a>—A moment's consideration of the +physiology of heredity will disclose a sufficient reason why marriage +should be deferred until the development of the body is wholly complete. +The matrimonial relation implies reproduction. Reproduction is +effected through the union of the ovum with the zoösperm. These elements, +as we have already seen, are complete representatives of the +individuals producing them, being composed—as supposed—of minute +gemmules which are destined to be developed into cells and organs in +the new being, each preserving its resemblance to the cell within the +parent which produced it. The perfection of the new being, then, must +be largely dependent on the integrity and perfection of the sexual +elements. If the body is still incomplete, the reproductive elements +must also be incomplete; and, in consequence, the progeny must be +equally immature.</p> + +<p><a name="chapb9"><b>Early Marriage.</b></a>—The preceding paragraph contains a sufficient reason +for condemning early marriage; that is, marriage before the ages +mentioned. It is probable that even the ages of twenty and twenty-four +are too early for those persons whose development is uncommonly slow. +But there are other cogent reasons for discountenancing early marriages, +also drawn from the physiology of reproduction, to say nothing of the +many reasons which might be urged on other grounds.</p> + +<p>1. During the development of the body, all its <a name="p127"></a>energies are required +in perfecting the various tissues and organs. There is no material to +be spared for any foreign purpose.</p> + +<p>2. The reproductive act is the most exhaustive of all vital acts. Its +effect upon an undeveloped person is to retard growth, weaken the +constitution, and dwarf the intellect.</p> + +<p>3. The effects upon the female are even worse than those upon the male; +for, in addition to the exhaustion of nervous energy, she is compelled +to endure the burdens and pains of child-bearing when utterly +unprepared for such a task, to say nothing of her unfitness for the +other duties of a mother. With so many girl-mothers in the land, is +it any wonder that there are so many thousands of unfortunate +individuals who never seem to get beyond childhood in their +development? Many a man at forty years is as childish in mind, and as +immature in judgment, as a well-developed lad of eighteen would be. +They are like withered fruit plucked before it was ripe; they can never +become like the mellow and luscious fruit allowed to mature properly. +They are unalterably molded; and the saddest fact of all is that they +will give to their children the same imperfections; and the children +will transmit them to another generation, and so the evil will go on +increasing, unless checked by extinction.</p> + +<p><a name="chapb10"><b>Mutual Adaptation.</b></a>—Another question of very great importance is that +of the mutual adaptation <a name="p128"></a>of the individuals. To this question we can +devote but a very brief consideration, and that will be more of the +nature of criticism than of a set of formal rules for governing +matrimonial alliances.</p> + +<p>A writer of some note, whose work on this and kindred subjects has had +quite an extensive circulation, advocates with great emphasis the +theory that parties contemplating marriage should in all cases select +for partners individuals as nearly like themselves as possible. Exact +duplicates would, in his opinion, make the most perfect union +attainable. To make his theory practicable, he is obliged to fall back +upon phrenology; and directs that a man seeking a wife, or a woman +seeking a husband, should obtain a phrenological chart of his head and +then send it around until a counterpart is found. If the circle of one's +acquaintance is so fortunate as to contain no one cursed with the same +propensities or idiosyncrasies as himself, the newspapers are to be +brought into requisition as a medium of advertising.</p> + +<p>If so strange a doctrine as this were advocated by an obscure individual +in some secluded hamlet, or found only in the musty volumes of some +forgotten author, it surely would be unworthy of notice; but coming +as it does from a quite popular writer, and being coupled with a great +amount of really valuable truth, it is sufficiently important to +deserve refutation. A brief glance at the practical working of the +theory will be a sufficient exposure of its falsity.</p> +<a name="p129"></a> +<p>According to this rule, a man or woman of large combativeness should +select a partner equally inclined to antagonism; then we should +have—what? the elements of a happy, contented, harmonious life? No; +instead, either a speedy lawsuit for divorce, or a continual domestic +broil, the nearest approach to a mundane purgatory possible. The +selfish, close-fisted, miserly money-catcher must marry a woman +equally sordid and stingy. Then together they could hoard up, for moths +and rust to destroy, or for interested relatives to quarrel over, the +pictorial greenback and the glittering dollar, each scrimping the other +down to the finest point above starvation and freezing, and finally +dying, to be forgotten as soon as dead by their fellow-men, and sent +among the goats at the great assizes. A shiftless spendthrift must +choose for a helpmeet (?) an equally slovenly, thriftless wife. A man +with a crotchet should select a partner with the same morbid fancy. +A man whose whole mental composition gravitates behind his ears, must +find a mate with the same animal disposition. An individual whose mental +organization is sadly unbalanced, is advised to seek for a wife a woman +with the same deficiencies and abnormalities.</p> + +<p>Any one can see at a glance the domestic disasters which such a plan +of proceeding would entail. Men and women of unbalanced temperaments +would become more unbalanced. An individual of erroneous tendencies, +instead of having <a name="p130"></a>the constant check of the example and admonitions +of a mate of opposite tendencies, would be, by constant example, +hastened onward in his sinful ways. Thus, to all but a very small +proportion of humanity, the married state would be one of infelicity +and degeneration.</p> + +<p>And what would be the progeny of such unions? The peculiarities and +propensities of the parents, instead of being modified and perhaps +obliterated in the children by corresponding differences in character, +would be doubly exaggerated. The children of selfish parents would be +thieves; those of spendthrifts, beggars; those of crotchety parents, +monomaniacs; those born of sensual parents, beastly debauchees. A few +generations of such a degenerating process would either exterminate +the race or drive it back to Darwin's ancestral ape.</p> + +<p>It must not be inferred, from our strictures upon the theory mentioned, +that we would advocate the opposite course, that is, the contraction +of marriage by individuals of wholly dissimilar tastes, aims, and +temperaments. Such alliances would doubtless be quite as wretched in +their results as those of an opposite character. It is with this as +with nearly all other subjects; the true course lies between the two +extremes. Parties who are negotiating a life partnership should be +careful to assure themselves that there exists a sufficient degree of +congeniality of temperament to make such close and continued +association agreeable.</p> +<a name="p131"></a> +<p><a name="chapb11"><b>Disparity of Age.</b></a>—Both nature and custom seem to indicate that the +husband should be a little older than the wife. Several reasons might +be given for this; but we need not mention them. When, however, the +difference of ages reaches such an extreme as thirty, forty, even fifty +or more years, nature is abused, good taste is offended, and even +morality is shocked. Such ill-sorted alliances are disastrous to both +parties, and scarcely more to one than the other. An old man who forms +a union with a young girl scarce out of her teens—or even younger—can +scarcely have any very elevated motive for his action, and he certainly +exposes himself to the greatest risk of sudden death, while insuring +his premature decay. A king once characterized such a course as "the +pleasantest form of suicide." It is doubtless suicidal, but we suspect +there are some phases of such an unnatural union which are not very +enjoyable.</p> + +<p>One reason of the great danger of such marriages to the old is the +exhaustive effects of the sexual act. As previously noted, in some +animals it causes immediate death. Dr. Acton makes the following +pertinent remarks:—</p> + +<p>"So serious, indeed, is the paroxysm of the nervous system produced +by the sexual spasm, that its immediate effect is not always unattended +with danger, and men with weak hearts have died in the act. Every now +and then we learn that men are found dead on the night of their wedding."</p> +<a name="p132"></a> +<p>"However exceptional these cases are, they are warnings, and should +serve to show that an act which <i>may</i> destroy the weak should not be +tampered with, even by the strong."</p> + +<p>"There are old men who marry young wives, and who pay the penalty by +becoming martyrs to paralysis, softening of the brain, and driveling +idiocy."</p> + +<p>Dr. Gardner quotes the Abbé Maury, as follows: "I hold as certain that +after fifty years of age a man of sense ought to renounce the pleasures +of love. Each time that he allows himself this gratification is <i>a +pellet of earth thrown upon his coffin</i>."</p> + +<p>Dr. Gardner further says: "Alliances of this sort have taken place in +every epoch of humanity, from the time of the patriarchs to the present +day,—alliances repugnant to nature,—between men bordering on +decrepitude and poor young girls, who are sacrificed by their parents +for position, or who sell themselves for gold. There is in these +monstrous alliances something which we know not how to brand +sufficiently energetically, in considering the reciprocal relations +of the pair thus wrongfully united, and the lot of the children which +may result from them. Let us admit, for an instant, that the marriage +has been concluded with the full consent of the young girl, and that +no external pressure has been exerted upon her will—as is generally +the rule—it will none the less happen that reflection and experience +will tardily bring regrets, <a name="p133"></a>and the sharper as the evil will be without +remedy; but if compulsion, or what is often the same thing, <i>persuasion</i>, +had been employed to obtain the consent which the law demands, the +result would have been more prompt and vehement. From this moment the +common life becomes odious to the unhappy victim, and <i>culpable hopes</i> +will arise in her desolate heart, so heavy is the chain she carries. +In fact, the love of the old man becomes ridiculous and horrid to her, +and we cannot sufficiently sympathize with the unfortunate person whose +duty [?] it is to submit to it. If we think of it an instant, we shall +perceive a repulsion, such as is only inspired by the idea of incest.... +So what do we oftenest observe? Either the woman violently breaks the +cursed bands, or she resigns herself to them; and then she seeks to +fill up the void in her soul by adulterous amours. Such is the somber +perspective of the sacrilegious unions which set at defiance the most +respectable instincts, the most noble desires, and the most legitimate +hopes. Such, too, are the terrible chastisements reserved for the +thoughtlessness or foolish pride of these dissolute gray-beards, who +prodigalize the last breath of their life in search of depraved +voluptuousness."</p> + +<p>The parents, the perpetrators of such an outrage against nature, are +not the only sufferers. Look at the children which they bring into the +world! Let Dr. Gardner speak again:—</p> + +<p>"Children, the issue of old men, are habitually <a name="p134"></a>marked by a serious +and sad air spread over their countenances, which is manifestly very +opposite to the infantile expression which so delights one in the little +children of the same age engendered under other conditions. As they +grow up, their features take on more and more the senile character; +so much so that every one remarks it, and the world regards it as a +natural thing. The old mothers pretend that it is an old head on young +shoulders. They predict an early death to these children, and the event +frequently justifies the horoscope. Our attention has for many years +been fixed upon this point, and we can affirm that the greater part +of the offspring of these connections are weak, torpid, lymphatic, if +not scrofulous, and do not promise a long career."</p> + +<p>In old age the seminal fluid becomes greatly deteriorated. Even at the +best, its component elements could only represent decrepitude and +infirmity, degeneration and senility. In view of such facts, says Dr. +Acton,—</p> + +<p>"We are, therefore, forced to the conclusion that the children of old +men have an inferior chance of life; and facts daily observed confirm +our deductions. Look but at the progeny of such marriages; what is its +value? As far as I have seen, it is the worst kind—spoilt childhood, +feeble and precocious youth, extravagant manhood, early and premature +death."</p> + +<p>Unions of an opposite character to those just <a name="p135"></a>considered, wherein a +young man marries a woman much older than himself, are more rare than +those of the other class. They are, perhaps, less deplorable in their +physical effects, but still highly reprehensible. They are seldom +prompted by pure motives, and can be productive of no good. Children +resulting from such unions are notably weak, unbalanced, and sorry +specimens of humanity.</p> + +<p>We have scarcely referred to the domestic misery which may result from +these disgraceful unions. If a young girl is brought home by a widower +to preside over his grown-up daughters, perhaps old enough to be her +mother, all the elements are provided for such a domestic hell as could +only be equaled by circumstances precisely similar. If children are +born, neither father nor mother is fit to act the part of a parent to +them. The father, by reason of his age, is fitful, uncertain, and +childish; to-day too lenient, to-morrow too exacting. The mother is +pettish, childish, indulgent, impatient, and as unskilled in +government as unfit for motherhood. In the midst of all this misrule, +the child grows up undisciplined, uncultivated, unsubdued; a misery +to his parents, a disgrace to his friends, a dishonor to himself.</p> + +<p>"What shall I do with him? and what will he do with me?" was the question +asked by a girl of eighteen whose parents were urging her to marry an +old man; and every young woman would do well to propound it under similar +circumstances.</p> +<a name="p136"></a> +<p>Were we disposed to define more specifically the conditions necessary +to secure the most harmonious matrimonial unions, it would be useless +to do so; for unions of this sort never have been, and never will +be—with rare exceptions—formed in accordance with a prescribed +method independent of any emotional bias. Nor is it probable that such +a plan would result in remedying, in any appreciable degree, existing +evils. It is a fact too patent to be ignored that a very large share +of the unhappiness in the world arises from ill-mated marriages; but +it is also true that nearly the whole of this unhappiness might be +averted if the parties themselves would endeavor to lessen the +differences between them by mutual approximation.</p> + +<p><a name="chapb12"><b>Courtship.</b></a>—We cannot well avoid devoting a few paragraphs to a part +of the subject so important as this, especially as it affords an +opportunity for pointing out some evils too patent and too perilous +to be ignored.</p> + +<p>Courting, in the sense in which we use the word, is distinctly an +American custom. The social laws of other civilized countries are such +as to preclude the possibility of the almost unrestrained association +of the sexes in youth which we see in this country. We do not offer +this fact as an argument in favor of foreign social customs, by any +means, although in this one particular they often present great +advantages, since in the majority of instances other evils as great +or even greater are encouraged. <a name="p137"></a>We mention the fact simply for the +purpose of bringing into bold relief the evils of the characteristic +American looseness in this particular.</p> + +<p>A French matron would be horrified at the idea of a young man asking +her daughter to accompany him alone on an evening ride, to a lecture, +concert, or other place of amusement, and much more should he ask the +privilege of sitting up all night in the parlor with the light turned +down, after the rest of the family had retired. Among respectable people +in France such liberties are not tolerated; and a young man who should +propose such things would be dismissed from the house instantly, and +would be regarded as unfit for association with virtuous people. If +a young man calls upon a young lady for the purpose of making her +acquaintance, he sees both her and her mother, or an aunt or older sister. +He never sees her alone. If he invites her to ride, or to accompany +him to an entertainment of any sort, he must always invite her lady +friend also; she goes along at any rate. There is afforded no chance +for solitary moonlight strolls or rides, nor any other of the similar +opportunities made so common by American courting customs. We are no +advocates of the formal modes of contracting matrimonial alliances +common among many nations, and illustrations of which we find at all +ages of the world. For example, among the ancient Assyrians it was a +custom to sell wives to the highest bidder, at auction, the sums +received for the handsomer <a name="p138"></a>one being given to the less favored ones +as a dowry, to secure a husband for every woman. The same custom +prevailed in Babylon in ancient times, and has been practiced in modern +times in Russia. At St. Petersburg, not many years ago, an annual sale +of wives was held on Whit Sunday, after the same plan followed by the +Assyrians.</p> + +<p>Among the early Jews it seems to have been the custom for parents to +select wives for their sons. In the case of Isaac, this important matter +was intrusted to an old and experienced servant, who was undoubtedly +considered much more competent to select a wife for the young man than +he was himself. The same custom has been handed down even to the present +time among some oriental nations. In many cases the parties are not +allowed to see each other until after the wedding ceremony is completed. +The Hungarians often betroth their children while they are yet in their +cradles, as did the Mexicans and Brazilians of the last century. In +some countries it has even been customary to betroth girls +conditionally before they were born. The primitive Moravians seem to +have adhered to the ancient Jewish custom in some degree, though making +the selection of a wife a matter of chance. The old people did all the +courting there was done, which was not much. When a young man desired +a wife, a helpmeet was selected for him by casting lots among the +marriageable young ladies of the community, and the young man was +obliged to <a name="p139"></a>abide by the decision, it being supposed that Providence +controlled the selection. We are not prepared to say that the young +man ran any greater risk of getting an uncongenial or undesirable life +companion by this mode of selection than by the more modern modes in +vogue among us.</p> + +<p>As before remarked, we do not present these customs as illustrations +of what might be considered a proper mode of conducting the preliminary +steps of matrimonial alliances. On the contrary, we unhesitatingly +pronounce them decidedly objectionable on moral grounds if not on +others, and we can readily see that such unions must have been in many +cases exceedingly unsatisfactory.</p> + +<p>In various other countries, marriage customs quite the opposite from +those described have been in vogue. In Irving's "Knickerbocker's +History of New York," a somewhat humorous account is given of a custom +which has prevailed in some parts of this country as well as others, +even within the memory of persons living at the present day, and is, +indeed, said to be not yet altogether obsolete in Finland. The author, +in dwelling upon the social customs of the early Dutch settlers of New +York, describes "a singular custom prevalent among them, commonly known +by the name of <i>bundling</i>,—a superstitious rite observed by the young +people of both sexes, with which they usually terminated their +festivities, and which was kept up with <a name="p140"></a>religious strictness by the +more bigoted part of the community. This ceremony was likewise, in those +primitive times, considered as an indispensable preliminary to +matrimony, their courtships commencing where ours usually finish,—by +which means they acquired that intimate acquaintance with each other's +good qualities before marriage, which has been pronounced by +philosophers the sure basis of a happy union. Thus early did this +cunning and ingenious people display a shrewdness of making a bargain, +which has ever since distinguished them."</p> + +<p>"To this sagacious custom, therefore, do I chiefly attribute the +unparalleled increase of the Yanokie or Yankee race; for it is a certain +fact, well authenticated by court records and parish registers, that, +wherever the practice of bundling prevailed, there was an amazing +number of sturdy brats annually born into the State, without the license +of the law, or the benefit of clergy."</p> + +<p><a name="chapb13"><b>Long Courtships.</b></a>—Chiefly for the reasons presented in the preceding +paragraphs, we are opposed to long courtships and long engagements. +They are productive of no good, and are not infrequently the occasion +of much evil. There may be circumstances which render a prolonged +engagement necessary and advisable; but, in general, they are to be +avoided.</p> + +<p>On the other hand, hasty marriages are still more to be deprecated, +especially when, as is too commonly the case, the probability is so +great that passion is the actuating motive far more than true <a name="p141"></a>love. +Marriage is a matter of most serious consequences, and deserving of +the most careful deliberation. Too often matrimony is entered upon +without any more substantial assurance of happiness as the result than +the individual has of securing a valuable prize who buys a ticket in +a lottery scheme. In the majority of cases, young people learn more +of each other's real character within six weeks after marriage than +they discovered during as many months of courting. To every young man +and woman we say, Look well before you leap; consider well, carefully, +and prayerfully. A leap in the dark is a fearful risk, and will be far +more likely to land you in a domestic purgatory than anywhere else. +Do not be dazzled by a handsome face, an agreeable address, a brilliant +or piquant manner. Choose, rather, modesty, simplicity, sincerity, +morality, qualities of heart and mind, rather than exterior +embellishments.</p> + +<p>"It is folly," suggests a friend, "to give advice on these subjects, +for no one will follow advice on this point, no matter how sensible +and reasonable he may be on all other subjects. The emotions carry the +individual away, and the reason loses control." This is all too true, +in nearly all cases. We believe in affection. The emotions have their +part to act. We have no sympathy with the theories of those who will +have all marriages made by rule. But reason must be allowed a voice +in the matter; and although there may be a time when <a name="p142"></a>the overwhelming +force of the emotions may force the reason and judgment into the +background, there has been a time previous when the judgment might have +held control. Let every young man and woman be most scrupulously careful +how he allows emotional excitement to gain the ascendency. When once +reason is stifled, the individual is in a most precarious situation. +It is far better and easier to prevent the danger than to escape from +it.</p> + +<p><a name="chapb14"><b>Flirtation.</b></a>—We cannot find language sufficiently emphatic to express +proper condemnation of one of the most popular forms of amusement +indulged in at the present day in this country, under the guise of +innocent association of the sexes. By the majority of people, +flirtation is looked upon as harmless, if not useful, as some even +consider, claiming that the experience gained by such associations is +valuable to young persons, by making them familiar with the customs +of society and the ways of the world. We have not the slightest +hesitation in pronouncing flirtation as pernicious in the extreme. It +exerts a malign influence alike upon the mental, the moral, and the +physical constitution of those who indulge it. The young lady who has +become infatuated with a passion for flirting, courting the society +of young men simply for the pleasure derived from their attentions, +is educating herself in a school which will totally unfit her for the +enjoyment of domestic <a name="p143"></a>peace and happiness should she have all the +conditions necessary for such enjoyment other than those which she +herself must furnish. More than this, she is very likely laying the +foundation for lifelong disease by the dissipation, late hours, late +suppers, evening exposures, fashionable dressing, etc., the almost +certain accompaniments of the vice we are considering. She is surely +sacrificing a life of real true happiness for the transient +fascinations of unreal enjoyment, pernicious excitement.</p> + +<p>It may be true, and undoubtedly is the case, that the greater share +of the guilt of flirtation lies at the door of the female sex; but there +do exist such detestable creatures as male flirts. In general, the male +flirt is a much less worthy character than the young lady who makes +a pastime of flirtation. He is something more than a flirt. In nine +cases out of ten, he is a rake as well. His object in flirting is to +gratify a mean propensity at the expense of those who are pure and +unsophisticated. He is skilled in the arts of fascination and intrigue. +Slowly he winds his coils about his victim, and before she is aware +of his real character, she has lost her own.</p> + +<p>Such wretches ought to be punished in a purgatory by themselves, made +seven times hotter than for ordinary criminals. Society is full of these +lecherous villains. They insinuate themselves into the drawing-rooms +of the most respectable <a name="p144"></a>families; they are always on hand at social +gatherings of every sort. They haunt the ball-room, the theater, and +the church, when they can forward their infamous plans by seeming to +be pious. Not infrequently they are well supplied with a stock of pious +cant, which they employ on occasion to make an impression. They are +the sharks of society, and often seize in their voracious maws the +fairest and brightest ornaments of a community. The male flirt is a +monster. Every man ought to despise him; and every woman ought to spurn +him as a loathsome social leper.</p> + +<p><a name="chapb15"><b>Youthful Flirtations.</b></a>—Flirting is not confined to young men and women. +The contagion extends to little boys and girls, whose heads ought to +be as empty of all thoughts of sexual relations as the vacuum of an +air-pump of air. The intimate association of young boys and girls in +our common schools, and, indeed, in the majority of educational +institutions, gives abundant opportunity for the fostering of this kind +of a spirit, so prejudicial to healthful mental and moral development. +Every educator who is alive to the objects and interests of his +profession knows too well the baneful influence of these premature and +pernicious tendencies. Many times has the teacher watched with a sad +heart the withering of all his hopes for the intellectual progress of +a naturally gifted scholar by this blighting influence. The most +dangerous period for boys and girls exposed to temptations of <a name="p145"></a>this sort +is that just following puberty, or between the ages of twelve and +eighteen or twenty. This period, a prominent educator in one of our +Western States once denominated, not inappropriately, "the agonizing +period of human puppyhood." If this critical period is once safely +passed, the individual is comparatively safe; but how many fail to pass +through the ordeal unseared!</p> + +<p>The most painful phase of this subject is the tacit—even, in many cases, +active—encouragement which too many parents give their children in +this very direction, seemingly in utter ignorance of the enormity of +the evil which they are winking at or fostering. Parents need +enlightenment on this subject, and need to be aroused to the fact that +it is one of the most momentous questions that can arise in the rearing +and training of children.</p> + +<p><a name="chapb16"><b>Polygamy.</b></a>—One hundred years ago the discussion of the public propriety +or impropriety of a plurality of wives would have been impossible. +Polygamy had not obtained a foothold as an institution in any civilized +land. Being well known as not uncommon among certain heathenish and +barbarous tribes, it was looked upon as a heathenish and debasing +institution, the outgrowth of ignorance and gross sensuality, and a +relic of a sensual age. Now, this is no longer true. Even in this, the +most enlightened of all lands, where there are most ample facilities +for culture, for moral and mental development, polygamy holds up its +hideous <a name="p146"></a>head in defiance of all the laws of God and man. It is true +that the perpetrators of this foul crime against humanity and Heaven +have been driven by the indignation of outraged decency to seek a +lurking place in the far-off wilderness of the Western territories; +yet the foul odors from this festering sore are daily becoming more +and more putrescent, and in spite of the distance, are contaminating +the already not overstrict morals of the nation.</p> + +<p>No better evidence of the blighting, searing effect of this gross social +crime could be found than the fact that not only is polygamy coming +to be winked at as something not so very bad after all, but men from +whom we have a right to expect something better are coming forward in +its defense.</p> + +<p>We have just been perusing a work written for the express purpose of +justifying and advocating polygamy, which was written by an evangelical +clergyman. He was evidently not willing to own his work, however, since +his name is carefully excluded from the title-page, and his publisher +put under an oath of secrecy. The arguments which he makes in favor +of polygamy are chiefly the following:—</p> + +<p>1. That it is approved by the Bible.</p> + +<p>2. That a robust man requires more than one woman to satisfy his sexual +demands.</p> + +<p>3. That there are more women than men; and since every woman has a right +to have a husband, the only way all can be supplied is to allow several +<a name="p147"></a>women, two or more, according to the capacity of the man, or as they +can agree, to form a marriage partnership with one man.</p> + +<p>4. That the great men of all ages have been polygamists in fact, if +not by open profession.</p> + +<p>5. That monogamy is a relic of the paganism of the ancient Greeks and +Romans, with whom it originated.</p> + +<p>6. That it is the only proper and effective cure for the "social evil," +and all its attendant vices and dire diseases.</p> + +<p>As this work has had quite a circulation, bearing the imprint of a +well-known Boston publisher, and has not received any answer that we +are aware of, we deem it worth while to give these arguments, which +are very strongly presented, at least a brief passing notice. We will +consider them in the order in which we have stated them.</p> + +<p>1. We deny most emphatically the assertion that polygamy is either +taught or approved by the Bible. It was tolerated in a people who had +long been in the darkness of Egyptian bondage, but never approved. +Indeed, the inspired writers have evidently taken pains to give +numerous examples of the evils growing out of that violation of the +law of God and Nature.</p> + +<p>2. The second argument is based upon the asserted fact that man +naturally possesses stronger sexual demands than woman; that these +demands are imperative; and that it is not only impossible, <a name="p148"></a>but in the +highest degree injurious, to restrain them.</p> + +<p>While it is true as a fact affirmed by constant observation that men +have stronger passions than women, in general, and that many men demand +of their wives a degree of sexual indulgence which is the cause of +serious injury to them, and even impossible for them to grant without +doing themselves the greatest wrong, it is by no means proven either +that these demands are imperative, that they are natural, or that they +are not injurious to the man as well as the woman, much less beneficial +to either. On the contrary, there is as great a weight of evidence as +could be required that restraint, self-control, and moderation in the +exercise of the sexual instinct is in the highest degree beneficial +to man, as well as to woman, and necessary for his highest development.</p> + +<p>3. While it is true that there are a few more adult women than men, +the difference is not sufficiently great to require the introduction +of polygamy as a remedy for enforced celibacy. At any rate this would +be unnecessary until all bachelors had been provided with wives, when +there would be found no necessity for further provision, since there +are large numbers of women who are utterly unfit to marry, who would +be injured by so doing, and would only serve to degenerate the race, +besides making themselves more wretched than they already are.</p> + +<p>Again, it is a well-known fact that more males <a name="p149"></a>than females are born, +the preponderance of adult females being caused by a greater mortality +among male children, together with the losses from accidents and war. +By a correct observance of the laws of health, together with the +abolition of wars, the disparity in relative numbers of the sexes would +disappear. Indeed, it might happen that men would be in the +preponderance.</p> + +<p>Still again, it is only in a few very populous and long-settled +communities that there are more women than men, as in the States of +Massachusetts, Connecticut, and a few others of the Eastern States, +and a few countries of Europe. In all newly settled countries the +reverse is true. The inquiry naturally arises, What shall be done under +these circumstances? Shall a woman be allowed more than one husband, +as is actually the case in some countries? "Oh! no;" our polygamist +replies, "A woman is not capable of loving more than one man, and is +not even able to satisfy the sexual demands of a single husband; so, +of course, a plurality of husbands is out of the question. A man is +capable of loving any number of women, being differently constituted +from a woman; and so the same rule does not apply."</p> + +<p>The writer evidently confounds love with lust. He will grant unstinted +reign to the lusts of man, but requires woman to be restrained, offering +as an apology for such a manifest unfair and unphilosophical +discrimination that "man is differently <a name="p150"></a>constituted from a woman, +sexually, requiring more active exercise of the sexual functions," a +conclusion which could be warranted only by the selection, as a typical +specimen of the male part of humanity, of a man with an abnormal +development of the animal propensities.</p> + +<p>A correct understanding and application of the laws of sexual hygiene +would effectually sweep away every vestige of argument based on this +foundation.</p> + +<p>4. In proof of the propriety of polygamy, as well as of its necessity, +the author referred to cites the well-known fact that Plato, Aristotle, +Bacon, Alexander, Cæsar, Napoleon, Burns, Byron, Augustus, Webster, +and numerous others of the noted men of all ages have been incontinent +men. The fact that these men were guilty of crime does not in the least +degree detract from the enormity of the sin. It is equally true that +many great men have been addicted to intemperance and other crimes. +Alexander was a Sodomite as well as a lecherous rake. Does this fact +afford any proof that those crimes are virtues instead of vices? Such +argument is hardly worthy of serious refutal, since it stultifies +itself.</p> + +<p>5. The fact that monogamy was practiced among the ancient Greeks and +Romans is in no way derogatory of it as an institution. Even if it could +be shown that it originated with those nations, still this would in +no way detract from its value or <a name="p151"></a>respectability. Do not we owe much +to those grand old pagans who laid the foundation for nearly all the +modern sciences, and established better systems of political economy, +and better schools for uniform culture of the whole individual, than +any the world has seen since? But monogamy did not originate with the +Greeks, neither was it invented by the Romans, nor by any other nation. +It originated with the great Originator of the human race. It is an +institution which has come down to us, not from Greece or Rome, but +from Paradise.</p> + +<p>If it was so important that man should have more than one woman to supply +his sexual demands, why was the Creator so short-sighted as to make +but one Eve? It would have been as easy to remove two or three or half +a dozen ribs from Adam's side as one; and as the whole world had yet +to be populated, a plurality of wives would certainly have accelerated +the process. Surely, if polygamy was ever required or excusable, it +ought to have been allowed at the start.</p> + +<p>Again, when Noah went into the ark, taking with him an assortment of +all species of animals, he took some kinds by pairs and some by sevens, +from which we might suspect, at least, that he observed the laws of +nature respecting polygamous and monogamous animals. But he took only +one wife for himself, and only one for each of his sons. <a name="p152"></a>Why not two +or half a dozen instead? Polygamy would certainly have accelerated the +repopulation of the earth most wonderfully; but Noah was monogamous. +To say, in view of such facts, that monogamy originated with the +paganism of ancient Greece and Rome, is blasphemy.</p> + +<p>6. The argument that polygamy will cure the "social evil" is exactly +equivalent to the argument that the removal of all restraint from the +sale and manufacture of intoxicating drinks, thus making them cheap +and common, is the best remedy for intemperance. An equally good +argument might be made for the cure of theft, murder, and every other +vice and crime, by a similar plan. Such reasoning is the veriest +sophistry. None but a biased mind could produce such flimsy arguments.</p> + +<p>But we forbear. We have already given this subject more attention than +it is worthy of, though we have failed to characterize the vice of +polygamy as it deserves. We leave this for the reader.</p> + +<p><a name="chapb17"><b>Polyandry.</b></a>—Perhaps we should add a word or two respecting this custom, +which seems to be a still greater outrage against nature than that of +polygamy, being the possession of a plurality of husbands by one woman. +This practice is in vogue in several countries at the present time, +being very common in Thibet, where it is not an unusual thing for a +woman in marrying the eldest of a family of brothers to include in the +contract all of the other brothers as well. Polyandry was also common +among <a name="p153"></a>the ancient Medes. Indeed, the Medes practiced both polygamy and +polyandry. A man was not considered respectable unless he had at least +seven wives; neither were women considered worthy of general esteem +unless they had as many as five husbands. In that country, the fact +that a woman was already married was in no degree a barrier to subsequent +marriages, even while the husband was living, and without the trouble +of a divorce. Those who maintain the propriety of polygamy would do +well to consider the historic facts respecting the opposite practice. +There appear to be as good grounds for believing one to have a basis +in the human constitution as the other.</p> + +<p><a name="chapb18"><b>Divorce.</b></a>—Another of the crying evils of the day, and one which menaces +in a most alarming manner the most sacred interests of society, is the +facility with which divorces may be obtained. In some States the laws +regulating divorce are so notoriously loose that scores and even +hundreds of people visit the States referred to every year with no other +object than to obtain a dissolution of the bonds of matrimony. The +effect of this looseness in the laws is to encourage hasty, +inconsiderate marriages, and to make escape from an uncongenial partner +so easy that the obligation to cultivate forbearance and to acquire +mutual adaptation which may not at first exist, is wholly overlooked.</p> + +<p>The Bible rule for divorce, laid down by the Great Teacher, is little +regarded in these degenerate <a name="p154"></a>days. He made adultery the only legitimate +cause for divorce; yet we now see married people breaking asunder their +solemn marriage ties on the occurrence of the most trivial difficulties. +If a couple become tired of each other and desire a change, all they +have to do is to forward the fee to a New York or Chicago lawyer, and +they will receive back in a short time the legal papers duly signed, +granting them the desired annulment of their vows.</p> + +<p>Although countenanced by human laws, there can be no doubt that this +shameless trifling with a divine institution is regarded by High Heaven +as the vilest abomination. In no direction is there greater need of +reformatory legislation than in this. The marriage contract should be +recognized in our laws as one which cannot be made and broken so lightly +as it now is. It should be annulled only for the most serious offenses. +The contrary course now pursued so frequently is most detrimental to +morals. Our divorce laws virtually offer a premium for unchastity.</p> + +<p>Not infrequently we see among the advertisements in the newspapers +notices like the following: "The undersigned is prepared to furnish +divorces to parties desiring the same at moderate rates, in short time, +and without publicity. —— ——."</p> + +<p>The animus of these advertisements is fraud. The parties so engaged +are the vilest scoundrels; and that they are allowed to continue to +ply their nefarious vocation is a foul blot upon the <a name="p155"></a>enlightened +civilization of a so-called Christian country. A publisher who will +insert such a notice in his journal, would advertise a brothel if he +dared. While there is so much interest in the suppression of obscene +literature, we would suggest that the proper authorities should direct +their attention to the suppression of unlawful divorces, and the proper +punishment of the villains engaged in forwarding this nefarious +business.</p> + +<p><a name="chapb19"><b>Who May not Marry.</b></a>—Many writers devote much space in laying down rules +which are to be implicitly followed by those seeking life partners. +We have attempted nothing of the sort, both from its impracticability, +and from the fact that such rules are never followed; and if the attempt +should be made to follow the prescribed rules, we are not sure that +more good than harm would be the result. Hence, we shall content +ourselves with calling attention to a few facts of great importance +respecting the conditions which imperatively forbid marriage, and +which cannot be violated without the certain entailment of great +suffering.</p> + +<p><i>1. Persons suffering with serious disease of a character communicable +to others by contagion or by hereditary transmission.</i></p> + +<p>Many people wonder why it is that diseases are so much more numerous +and varied in modern times than in the earlier ages of the race. There +has been an evident increase within a few centuries. While there are, +undoubtedly, numerous <a name="p156"></a>influencing causes, one which cannot be +overlooked is the hereditary transmission of disease, which preserves +those disorders which already exist, and adds new ones which originate +from new exciting causes. By this means, the human race is undoubtedly +being weakened, human life shortened, and diseases multiplied. Compare +the average age of human beings of the present day, less than forty +years, with the longevity of the early members of the race, who lived +more than as many score of years. Some mighty deteriorating influence +has been at work; and we hazard nothing in the assertion that the +marriage of diseased persons and kindred violations of the laws of human +hygiene have been not unimportant factors in producing this most +appalling diminution in the length of human life.</p> + +<p>Among the diseases which are most certain to be transmitted are +pulmonary tuberculosis, or consumption, syphilis, cancer, leprosy, +epilepsy, and some other nervous disorders, some forms of skin disease, +and insanity. The list might be extended; but these are the more common. +Persons suffering with these disorders have no right to marry, for at +least four reasons:—</p> + +<p>(1) It is a sin against the offspring of such unions, who have a right +to be born well, but are forced to come into the world with weakly +constitutions, diseased frames, and the certainty of premature death. +The children of consumptive and syphilitic parents rarely survive +infancy. If they <a name="p157"></a>do, it is only to suffer later on, as they surely will, +and, perhaps, to communicate the same destructive diseases to other +human beings; but these diseases rarely extend beyond the third +generation, the line becoming extinct. The most heart-rending +spectacles we have ever met have been the children of parents suffering +with the diseases mentioned. Their appearance is characteristic; no +physician of experience can fail to detect the sins of a profligate +parent in a syphilitic child. Every feature indicates the presence of +a blighting curse.</p> + +<p>There are those who assert that a man who has suffered with disease +of the character last mentioned may marry after the lapse of two or +three years from the disappearance of the active symptoms of the malady. +Such assertions we consider as most dangerous and pernicious. The +individuals who make them are well acquainted with the fact that of +all diseases this is the most difficult to eradicate when once the +system has become thoroughly infected by it. Not only three years but +thirty years may elapse after active symptoms disappear, yet the +disease may break out again in a new and still more serious and +complicated form. It may even lie entirely dormant or latent in the +system of the parent during his lifetime, but break out in all its +terrible destructiveness in his children. A man or woman who has once +suffered with this fell disease is contaminated for life; and it is +a crime for such an one to entail upon <a name="p158"></a>innocent, unoffending human +beings such a terrible legacy. Such a person has no right to marry; +or if married, has no right to perpetuate the results of his sins in +offspring. It is <i>never safe</i> to say to a man who has once been infected +that he is cured. If a cure ever takes place, it is exceedingly rare.</p> + +<p>(2) It is a crime against the race. One of the primary objects of +marriage is reproduction. As members of the human race, it is the duty +of parents to produce a high type of human beings, at least to do all +in their power to produce healthy offspring. If they cannot do this, +and are aware of the fact, they are guilty of abuse of the reproductive +function in bringing sickly offspring into the world to suffer.</p> + +<p>(3) It is injurious to the contracting parties themselves. If a person +has a communicable disease, as syphilis, leprosy, and some bad forms +of skin disease, the disease will certainly be communicated to the wife +or husband, and so a double amount of suffering will be entailed. The +dread disease, consumption, rightly called the scourge of civilization, +is now well known to be communicable. A few years ago we were consulted +by an old gentleman, a native of Canada, who was suffering with +pulmonary disease. We inquired respecting the history of the malady. +Said he, "Doctor, it may seem strange, but I believe I <i>inherited</i> +consumption from my wife, who died of consumption a few years ago." +Excepting the wrong <a name="p159"></a>use of the term inherit, we were not prepared to +dispute the old gentleman's ideas respecting the origin of his disease. +Living in close association for years with his wife, who was slowly +dying with disease of the lungs, it was quite possible for him to have +received the disease from her. So many cases of this kind have been +reported that it is now generally believed by medical men that +consumption is communicable from one person to another by the reception +into the system of the well person of the exhalations from the lungs +of the person affected.</p> + +<p>Another point worthy of mention here is the well-known fact that the +intimate association of married people modifies even the physical form +of both. Almost every one has noticed how much alike in appearance +married people who have lived many years together come to be. This +physical change undoubtedly extends further than to the features only. +The whole constitution is modified.</p> + +<p>A remarkable illustration of this fact is found in the frequent +observation that the children of a woman by a second husband often +resemble in appearance the first husband much more than their own father. +It has been observed that the children of negro women, even by husbands +of pure negro blood, are much lighter in color than usual if she has +had a child by a white man previously.</p> + +<p>The same fact is observed in lower animals. In England, some years ago, +a cross was effected <a name="p160"></a>between a male zebra and several young mares. Not +only the hybrid colts resulting from this union, but all the colts +afterward foaled by the same mares, from other horses, were striped +like the zebra.</p> + +<p>In view of these facts, it is evident that the system of the woman, +at least, may be profoundly affected in a similar manner by +constitutional weaknesses, as well as by other individual +peculiarities possessed by her husband.</p> + +<p>No person suffering with a contagious or infectious disease has any +right to communicate the same to another. Indeed, it is the moral duty +of every person so affected to do all in his power for the protection +of others from the same cause of suffering.</p> + +<p><i>2. Persons having a marked hereditary tendency to disease must not +marry those having a similar tendency.</i></p> + +<p>Every physician knows only too well the powerful influence of +hereditary causes in determining the length of human life. Persons, +one or both of whose parents have died of consumption, are very likely +to die of the same disease, and frequently at about the same age. The +children of such parents are commonly feeble and puny, and die early +if they survive infancy. When both parents possess the consumptive +tendency, the chance for life in the offspring is very poor indeed. +The same may be said of those suffering with cancer, epilepsy, insanity, +etc. Persons with a strong tendency to any <a name="p161"></a>one of the diseases mentioned +should in no case marry. If there is but a slight morbid tendency, +marriage may be admissible, but only with a partner possessing robust +health.</p> + +<p><i>3. Should cousins marry?</i></p> + +<p>Writers have devoted a good deal of attention to this subject, and we +have been shown statistics, reports of imbecile asylums, etc., for the +purpose of proving that the marriage of cousins results in the +production of idiots, and other defectives; but the results of more +careful examinations of the subject invalidate the views heretofore +held, and it must be acknowledged that when both parties are healthy +there is no more liability of mental incompetency in the children of +cousins, than in the offspring of persons more remotely related. It +must be added, however, that there are other reasons why the marriage +of cousins is not to be generally recommended. Besides the fact that +the feeling existing between cousins is often only that which is felt +by brothers and sisters for each other, there is the still more +important fact that on account of the blood relation, unions of this +kind are more apt than others to bring together persons having similar +morbid tendencies.</p> + +<p><i>4. Persons having serious congenital deformities should not marry.</i></p> + +<p>The reason for this rule is obvious. Persons suffering with serious +congenital defects, as natural blindness, deafness, deformity of the +limbs, or <a name="p162"></a>defective development of any part, will be more or less likely +to transmit the same deformities or deficiencies to their children. +There are, of course, cases of natural blindness, as well as of +disability in other respects, to which this rule does not apply, the +natural process of development not being seriously defective. It has +even been observed that there is a slight tendency to the reproduction +in the offspring, of deformity which has been artificially produced +in the parents, and has existed for a long time.</p> + +<p>Many ancient nations observed this rule. Infants born cripples were +strangled at birth or left to die. A Spartan king was once required +by his people to pay a heavy fine for taking a wife who was inferior +in size.</p> + +<p><i>5. Criminals should not marry.</i></p> + +<p>It has been satisfactorily shown by thorough and scientific +investigation that criminals often receive their evil proclivities +from their parents. What are known as the criminal classes, which are +responsible for the greater part of the crime committed, are constantly +and greatly on the increase. There is no doubt but that inheritance +is largely responsible for the continued increase of crime and +criminals. A drunkard begets in his child a thirst for liquor, which +is augmented by the mother's use of ale or lager during gestation and +nursing, and the child enters the world with a natural taste for +intoxicants. A thief transmits to his offspring a <a name="p163"></a>secretive, dishonest, +sneaking disposition; and the child comes into the world ticketed for +the State prison by the nearest route. So with other evil tendencies. +By legislation or by some other means, measures should be speedily +adopted for the prevention of this rapid increase of criminals, if there +is any feasible plan which can be adopted. We offer no suggestion on +this point, but it is one well worthy of the consideration of +philanthropic statesmen.</p> + +<p><i>6. Persons who are greatly disproportionate in size should not marry.</i></p> + +<p>While good taste would suggest the propriety of this rule, there are +important physiological reasons for its observance. While the lack of +physical adaptitude may be the occasion of much suffering and +unhappiness in such unions, especially on the part of the wife, being +even productive of most serious local disease, and sometimes of +sterility, it is in childbirth that the greatest risk and suffering +is incurred. More might be said on this point, but this is sufficient +for those who are willing to profit by a useful hint.</p> + +<p><i>7. Persons between whom there is great disparity of age should not +marry.</i></p> + +<p>The reasons for this have already been given at length, and we will +not repeat. In general, the husband should be older than the wife, from +two to five years. The husband may often be ten or twelve years the +senior of the wife; but when more <a name="p164"></a>than that, the union is not likely +to be a profitable or happy one, if it is not absolutely productive +of suffering and unhappiness. The ancient Greeks required that the +husband should be twenty years older than the wife; but this custom +was no more reasonable than that of another nation which required that +only old and young should marry, so that the sobriety of the old might +restrain the frivolity of the young.</p> + +<p><i>8. Persons who are extremely unlike in temperament should not marry.</i></p> + +<p>Persons who are so unlike in temperament and tastes as to have no mutual +enjoyments, no congeniality of feeling, will be incompatible as husband +and wife, and the union of such persons will be anything but felicitous. +No definite rule can be laid down; but those seeking a companion for +life would do well to bear this caution in mind, at the same time +remembering that too great similarity of character, especially when +there are prominent defects, is equally undesirable.</p> + +<p><i>9. Marriage between widely different races is unadvisable.</i></p> + +<p>While there is no moral precept directly involved in marriage between +widely different nations, as between whites and blacks or Indians, +experience shows that such marriages are not only not conducive to +happiness, but are detrimental to the offspring. It has been proven +beyond room for question that mulattoes are not so long-lived as either +blacks or whites.</p> +<a name="p165"></a> +<p><i>10. Persons who are unable to sustain themselves or a family should +not marry.</i></p> + +<p>Both moral and social obligations—if the two obligations may exist +independently—forbid marriage to a young man who is scarcely able to +provide for himself, much less to support a wife and a family. The theory +advocated by some that two can live almost as cheaply as one, so that +a saving will be made by a union of two in marriage, is a most fallacious +one. There may be occasional exceptions, but in general, young people +who marry with this idea in their heads find that they have reasoned +not wisely. It will not be disputed that a married couple may live upon +what is often spent foolishly by a young man; but a young man can be +economical if he will; and if he does not learn economy before marriage, +it is likely that he never will learn it.</p> + +<p>The marriage of paupers, to beget pauper children and foist them upon +the community for support, is an outrage against society. We believe +it is not improper to speak out plainly upon this subject, and in no +uncertain tone, notwithstanding the popular prejudice which cries, +"Hush, be quiet; don't interfere with individual rights, don't disturb +the peace of society," whenever anything is said which has a bearing +on a regard for propriety in matters relating to one of the most ancient, +the most sacred, and the most abused of all divinely appointed human +institutions. We have never <a name="p166"></a>been able to account for this strange +averseness to the consideration of this phase of the matrimonial +question, and the determined effort often made to ignore it whenever +it is broached. We purpose to speak out, notwithstanding the feeling +referred to, since we believe this to be a crying evil; and we have +no fears but that we shall have the hearty indorsement of every +individual who can so far lay aside his prejudices as to allow his native +common sense a fair chance to influence his judgment.</p> + +<p>In the country of Iceland, a land which is scarcely more than +semi-civilized, if a young man wishes to marry, the first thing to be +considered is his pecuniary situation. Before he can take to himself +a wife, he must appear before the proper authority and present evidence +that he is able to support a wife and family in addition to providing +for himself. Even the barbarous natives of Patagonia show an equal +degree of good sense, the chief of each tribe requiring that every young +man who wishes to marry shall first prove himself competent to provide +for a family, having attained the requisite degree of proficiency in +hunting and fishing, and having possessed himself of at least two horses +and the necessary equipments.</p> + +<p>In this country,—a civilized, so-called Christian country, blessed +with all the enlightenment of the nineteenth century, what do we see? +Instead of any regulation of the sort, the utmost indifference to such +clearly important considerations. If young <a name="p167"></a>people profess to love each +other and wish to marry, no one of their friends thinks of asking, "How +are they going to live after they are married? Has the young man a trade? +Has the young lady been so educated as to be self-sustaining if +necessary? Has the young man a home or the wherewithal to obtain one? +Has he a good situation, with prospects of being able to support his +wife comfortably and provide for a family?" These, or similar questions +are sometimes asked, but little respect is paid to them by any one, +least of all by the young people themselves, who ought to be most +interested. The minister never inquires respecting the propriety of +the wedding at which he is to officiate, and invokes the blessings of +Heaven upon a union which, for aught he knows, may be the grossest +violation of immutable laws, Heaven-implanted in the constitution of +the human race. The friends tender their congratulations and wishes +of "much joy," when in three cases out of four the conditions are such +that a preponderance of grief is an inevitable certainty, and "much +joy" an utter impossibility.</p> + +<p>There are exceptions to all general rules; but it is a fact of which +almost any one may convince himself that a man or a woman seldom rises +much higher than the level reached at marriage. If a young man has no +trade then, it is more than probable that he will never be master of +one. If he has not fitted himself for a profession, he will <a name="p168"></a>most likely +never attain to such a rank in society. He will, in all probability, +be a common laborer, living "from hand to mouth," with nothing laid +by for a rainy day.</p> + +<p>A wag says that a young couple just married, and for the first time +awakened to the full consciousness of the fact that they must provide +for themselves or starve, held the following dialogue: Husband. "Well, +wife, what are we going to do? How shall we live?" Wife. "Oh, my dear, +we shall get along very well, I am sure; you love me, don't you?" H. +"Certainly, dear, but we cannot live on love." W. "We can live on bread +and water; so long as we have each other, it doesn't matter much what +we have to eat." "That's so, my dear; well, you furnish the bread, and +I will skirmish around after the water." This exact dialogue may never +have taken place; but the circumstances which might have called it out +have occurred thousands of times. How many times has a dependent woman +who had hastily married an improvident husband awakened at the end of +a short honeymoon to find that she had only a limber stick or a broken +reed to lean upon, instead of a self-reliant, independent, +self-sustaining man, able to provide for her the comforts of a home +and to protect her from the rudeness and suffering of privation and +want.</p> + +<p>In our estimation it is as much a sin for a man to assume the obligation +of caring for a wife and <a name="p169"></a>family when he has no reasonable grounds for +believing himself able to do so, as for a man to go in debt a few hundreds +or thousands of dollars, and agree to pay the same when required, though +perfectly well aware that he will probably be unable to do so. Hence +we say again, with emphasis, the improvident should not marry; and we +shall insist upon urging this truth, notwithstanding the fact that the +very class of persons referred to are usually of all classes the most +anxious to enter the matrimonial state at the earliest possible moment, +and the most certain to bring into the world large families of children +still more improvident than themselves.</p> + +<p><i>11. Do not marry a person whose moral character will not bear the +closest scrutiny.</i></p> + +<p>By this we do not mean that absolute perfection should be required, +as this would interdict marriage altogether; but we wish to warn every +young man against marrying a young woman who treats lightly or +contemptuously matters which should be treated with profound respect; +who uses the name of Deity flippantly or rudely; who treats her parents +disrespectfully; who never cares to talk of subjects of a spiritual +nature; who is giddy, gay, dressy, thoughtless, fickle. Such a young +woman will never make a loving, patient, faithful, helpful wife.</p> + +<p>We wish also to warn every young woman against choosing for a husband +a man who has a strong leaning toward infidelity; who does not <a name="p170"></a>believe +in human responsibility; who makes a mock of religion; who is addicted +to profanity; who is either grossly intemperate or given to moderate +tippling, be it ever so little, so long as he does not believe in and +practice total abstinence; who uses tobacco; who is a jockey, a fop, +a loafer, a scheming dreamer, or a speculator; who is known to be +unchaste, or who has led a licentious life.</p> + +<p>The man who has no love for his Maker will be likely to have little +for his wife and children. He who does not acknowledge his +responsibility to a higher power will soon forget his obligations to +the wife he has promised to love and cherish. The man who is not willing +to sacrifice the gratification afforded by such pernicious habits as +dram-drinking and tobacco-using to insure the comfort and happiness +of his wife and children, is too selfish to make any woman a kind +husband.</p> + +<p>There is no greater error abroad than that held by not a few that "a +reformed rake makes the best husband." The man whose affections have +been consumed in the fires of unhallowed lust is incapable of giving +to a pure-minded woman the love that she expects and deserves. A person +cannot pass through the fire unscathed. The scars burned into the +character by the flames of concupiscence are as deep and lasting as +those inflicted upon the body, and even more so. Only "in the +regeneration" will the marks and scars of the reformed reprobate be +wholly effaced.</p> +<a name="p171"></a> +<p>We willingly grant that there have been numerous instances in which +noble women have by years of patient effort reformed their erring +husbands, restoring them to the paths of virtue and sobriety from which +they had wandered. We do not deny that it can be done again; but we +do not hesitate to say that the experiment is a most perilous one for +any woman to undertake, and one which not more than one woman in a +hundred can bring to a successful termination. The hazard is terrible. +Perhaps it is on this very account that many young women run the risk; +but they rarely understand what they are doing. The woman who marries +a drunkard will, ten chances to one, die a heart-broken drunkard's wife, +or follow her husband to a drunkard's grave. It is never safe for a +woman to marry a man who has been for years an habitual drunkard, since +he may relapse at any time; and the man who has only indulged moderately +should be thoroughly reformed and tested before the chances are taken +"for better or worse." Let him prove himself well first. A proposition +to reform on condition of marriage should be dismissed with disdain. +If a young man will not determine to do right because it is right, his +motives are sordid; and the probability is very great that so soon as +some stronger incentive appeals to his selfishness, he will forget his +vows and promises and relapse into his former vices.</p> +<a name="p172"></a> +<p><a name="chapb20"><b>Do Not Be in a Hurry.</b></a>—In conclusion, perhaps we could give no more +important advice than this: <i>Do not be in a hurry to marry.</i> There is +little danger that this advice will do harm, for ten illustrations of +the evil results of hasty marriage are seen to one in which the opposite +mistake is made. It rarely happens that a marriage made without +consideration and due deliberation on the part of both parties is a +happy one in its results. There are exceptional cases in which this +kind of matrimonial alliances result very satisfactorily; but these +cases are quite exceptional. The business of selecting a partner for +life, one who is expected to sustain the closest relation possible +between human beings, who must be prepared to share in another's sorrows +as well as joys, to sympathize with another's aspirations and +appreciate another's motives and sentiments,—such a task is certainly +one of the most serious of an individual's life and ought to be entered +upon with calmness, deliberation, and unbiased judgment and entire +self-control. When making a decision which must affect seriously an +individual's whole life-time, passion, caprice, and all motives +calculated to bias the judgment, should be laid aside. The happiness +and usefulness of a whole life-time may be marred by a word. There is +too much pending to be in a hurry.</p> + +<p>A certain philosopher once "compared a man about to marry to one who +was about to put his <a name="p173"></a>hand into a sack in which were ninety-nine serpents +and one eel; the moral of which is that there are ninety-nine chances +to one against a fortunate selection." If this is true of a man about +to marry, it is probably equally true that a woman under the same +circumstances has nine hundred and ninety-nine chances against, for +one in favor of, a fortunate selection.</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br><a name="p174"></a> +<div><h2><a name="chapc">CHASTITY.</a></h2></div> +<br> +<p>"Thou shalt not commit adultery." "Whosoever looketh on a woman to lust +after her, hath committed adultery with her already in his heart."</p> + +<p>In these two scriptures we have a complete definition of unchastity. +The seventh commandment, with the Saviour's commentary upon it, places +clearly before us the fact that chastity requires purity of thought +as well as of outward acts. Impure thoughts and unchaste acts are alike +violations of the seventh commandment. As we shall see, also, +unchastity of the mind is a violation of natural law as well as of moral +law, and is visited with physical punishment commensurate to the +transgression.</p> + +<p><a name="chapc1"><b>Mental Unchastity.</b></a>—It is vain for a man to suppose himself chaste who +allows his imagination to run riot amid scenes of amorous associations. +The man whose lips delight in tales of licentiousness, whose eyes feast +upon obscene pictures, who is ever ready to pervert the meaning of a +harmless word or act into uncleanness, who finds delight in reading +vivid portrayals of acts of lewdness,—such a one is not a virtuous +man. Though he may never have committed an overt act of unchastity, +if he <a name="p175"></a>cannot pass a handsome female in the street without, in imagination, +approaching the secrets of her person, he is but one grade above the +open libertine, and is as truly unchaste as the veriest debauchee.</p> + +<p>Man may not see these mental adulteries, he may not perceive these +filthy imaginings; but One sees and notes them. They leave their hideous +scars upon the soul. They soil and mar the mind; and as the record of +each day of life is photographed upon the books in Heaven, they each +appear in bold relief, in all their innate hideousness.</p> + +<p>O purity! how rare a virtue! How rare to find a face which shows no +trace of sensuality! One turns with sadness from the thought that human +"forms divine" have sunk so low. The standard of virtue is trailing +in the dust. Men laugh at vice, and sneer at purity. The bawdy laugh, +the ribald jest, the sensual glance, the obscene song, the filthy tale, +salute the eyes and ears at every street corner, in the horse-car, on +the railroad train, in the bar-room, the lecture hall, the workshop. +In short, the works and signs of vice are omnipresent.</p> + +<p>Foul thoughts, once allowed to enter the mind, stick like the leprosy. +They corrode, contaminate, and infect like the pestilence; naught but +Almighty power can deliver from the bondage of concupiscence a soul +once infected by this foul blight, this moral contagium.</p> +<a name="p176"></a> +<p><b>Mental Uncleanness.</b>—It is a wide-spread and deadly error, that only +outward acts are harmful; that only physical transgression of the laws +of chastity will produce disease. We have seen all the effects of +beastly abuse result from mental sin alone.</p> + +<p>"I have traced serious affections and very great suffering to this cause. +The cases may occur at any period of life. We meet with them frequently +among such as are usually called, or think themselves, continent young +men. There are large classes of persons who seem to think that they +may, without moral guilt, excite their own feelings or those of others +by loose or libidinous conversation in society, provided such impure +thoughts or acts are not followed by masturbation or fornication. I +have almost daily to tell such persons that physically, and in a +sanitary point of view, they are ruining their constitutions. There +are young men who almost pass their lives in making carnal acquaintances +in the street, but just stop short of seducing girls; there are others +who haunt the lower classes of places of public amusement for the +purpose of sexual excitement, and live, in fact, a thoroughly immoral +life in all respects except actually going home with prostitutes. When +these men come to me, laboring under the various forms of impotence, +they are surprised at my suggesting to them the possibility of the +impairment of their <a name="p177"></a>powers being dependent upon these previous vicious +habits."<small>[4]</small></p> + +<blockquote><small>4 Acton.</small></blockquote> + +<p>"Those lascivious <i>day-dreams</i> and amorous reveries, in which young +people—and especially the idle and the voluptuous, and the sedentary +and the nervous—are exceedingly apt to indulge, are often the sources +of general debility, effeminacy, disordered functions, premature +disease, and even premature death, without the actual exercise of the +genital organs! Indeed, this unchastity of thought—this adultery of +the mind—is the beginning of immeasurable evil to the human +family."<small>[5]</small></p> + +<blockquote><small>5 Graham.</small></blockquote> + +<p><a name="chapc2"><b>Amativeness.</b></a>—Certain phrenologists contend that the controlling +center of the sexual passion is the cerebellum, or little brain, which +is situated at the lower and back part of the head. They apparently +love to dwell upon the theme, and ride their hobby upon all possible +occasions, often in the most disgusting manner, and always leaving the +impression that they must be themselves suffering from perversion of +the very function of which they speak.</p> + +<p>There may be some doubt whether the function called amativeness is +located in the cerebellum at all; at least, it is perfectly certain +that amativeness is not the exclusive function of the cerebellum. Says +Carpenter, the learned physiologist, "The seat of the sexual sensation +is no longer supposed to be in the cerebellum generally; but probably +in its <a name="p178"></a>central portion, or some part of the medulla oblongata."</p> + +<p>The cerebellum is intimately connected with the principal vital organs; +hence, if it is largely developed, the individual will possess a +well-developed physical organism and a good degree of constitutional +vigor. He will have vigorous health, and probably strong sexual powers; +not, however, as a special function, but for the same reason that he +will have a good digestion.</p> + +<p>To the majority of mankind, apparently, amativeness, or sexual love, +means lust. The faculty has been lowered and debased until it might +almost be considered practically synonymous with sensuality. The first +step toward reform must be a recognition of a higher and purer relation +than that which centers every thought upon the gratification of the +animal in human nature. If one may judge from the facts which now and +then come to the surface in society, it would appear that the +opportunity for sensual gratification had come to be, in the world at +large, the chief attraction between the sexes. If to these observations +we add the filthy disclosures constantly made in police courts and +scandal suits, we have a powerful confirmation of the opinion. Even +ministers, who ought to be "ensamples to the flock," are rather "blind +leaders of the blind," and fall into the same ditch with the rest.</p> + +<p>This perversion of a natural instinct, and these <a name="p179"></a>sudden lapses from +virtue which startle a small portion of community and afford a filthy +kind of pleasure to the other part, are but the outgrowths of mental +unchastity. "Filthy dreamers," before they are aware, become filthy +in action. The thoughts mold the brain, as certainly as the brain molds +the thoughts. Rapidly down the current of sensuality is swept the +individual who yields his imagination to the contemplation of +lascivious themes. Before he knows his danger, he finds himself deep +in the mire of concupiscence. He may preserve a fair exterior; but +deception cannot cleanse the slime from his putrid soul. How many a +church-member carries under a garb of piety a soul filled with +abominations, no human scrutiny can tell. How many pulpits are filled +by "whited sepulchers," only the Judgment will disclose.</p> + +<p><a name="chapc3"><b>Unchaste Conversation.</b></a>—"Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth +speaketh." "Every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give +account thereof in the day of Judgment." "By thy words thou shalt be +condemned." Matt. 12: 34, 36, 37. In these three brief sentences, Christ +presents the whole moral aspect of the subject of this paragraph. To +any one who will ponder well his weighty words, no further remark is +necessary. Let filthy talkers but consider for a moment what a multitude +of "idle," unclean words are waiting for account in the final day; and +then let them consider what a load of condemnation must roll <a name="p180"></a>upon their +guilty souls when strict justice is meted out to every one before the +bar of Omnipotence, and in the face of all the world—of all the +universe.</p> + +<p>The almost universal habit among boys and young men of relating filthy +stories, indulging in foul jokes, making indecent allusions, and +subjecting to lewd criticism every passing female, is a most abominable +sin. Such habits crush out pure thoughts; they annihilate respect for +virtue; they make the mind a quagmire of obscenity; they lead to overt +acts of lewdness.</p> + +<p>But boys and youths are not alone in this. More often than otherwise, +they gain from older ones the phraseology of vice. And if the sin is +loathsome in such youthful transgressors, what detestable enormity +must characterize it in the old.</p> + +<p>And women, too, are not without their share in this accursed thing, +this ghost of vice, which haunts the sewing-circle and the parlor as +well as the club-room. They do not, of course, often descend to those +black depths of vulgarity to which the coarser sex will go, but couch +in finer terms the same foul thoughts, and hide in loose insinuations +more smut than words could well express. Women who think themselves +rare paragons of virtue can find no greater pleasure than in the +discussion of the latest scandal, speculations about the chastity of +Mrs. A. or Mr. B., and gossip about the "fall" of this man's daughter +or the amorous adventures of that woman's son.</p> +<a name="p181"></a> +<p>Masculine purity loves to regard woman as chaste in mind as well as +in body, to surround her with conceptions of purity and impregnable +virtue; but the conclusion is irresistible that those who can gloat +over others' lapses from virtue, and find delight in such questionable +entertainments as the most recent case of seduction, or the newest +scandal, have need to purify their hearts and re-enforce their waning +chastity. Nevertheless, a writer says, and perhaps truly, that "the +women comprise about all the real virtue there is in the world." +Certainly if they were one-half as bad as the masculine portion of +humanity, the world would be vastly worse than it is.</p> + +<p><a name="chapc4"><b>Causes of Unchastity.</b></a>—Travelers among the North American Indians have +been struck with the almost entire absence of that abandonment to vice +which might be expected in a race uninfluenced by the moral restraints +of Christianity. When first discovered in their native wilds, they were +free from both the vices and the consequent diseases of civilization. +This fact points unmistakably to the conclusion that there must be +something in the refinements and perversions of civilized life which +is unfavorable to chastity, notwithstanding all the restraints which +religion and the conventionalisms of society impose. Can we find such +influences? Yes; they abound on every hand and leave their blight in +most unwelcome places, oft unsuspected, even, till the work of ruin +is complete.</p> +<a name="p182"></a> +<p><a name="chapc5"><b>Early Causes.</b></a>—The earliest of all causes is hereditary predisposition. +As we have shown, a child conceived in lust can no more be chaste by +nature than a negro can be a Caucasian. But back of this there is a +deeper cause, as we shall see, one that affects parents as well as +offspring. Between infancy and puberty, are in operation, all those +influences mentioned under "Sexual Precocity."</p> + +<p>The frequent custom of allowing children of the opposite sex to sleep +together, even until eight or ten years of age, or longer, is a dangerous +one. We have known of instances in which little boys of seven or eight +have been allowed to sleep with girls of fourteen or sixteen, in some +of which most shameful lessons were taught, and by persons who would +not be suspected of such an impropriety. In one instance a little boy +of eight, occupying the same bed with three girls several years older, +was used for illustration by the older girl in instructing the younger +ones in the <i>modus operandi</i> of reproduction. The sexes should be +carefully separated from each other at least as early as four or five +years of age, under all circumstances which could afford opportunity +for observing the physical differences of the sexes, or in any way serve +to excite those passions which at this tender age should be wholly +dormant.</p> + +<p><a name="chapc6"><b>Diet vs. Chastity.</b></a>—From earliest infancy to impotent old age, under +the perverting influence of civilization, there is a constant +antagonism between <a name="p183"></a>diet and purity. Sometimes—rarely we hope—the +helpless infant imbibes the essence of libidinous desires with its +mother's milk, and thence receives upon its forming brain the stamp +of vice. When old enough to take food in the ordinary way, the infant's +tender organs of digestion are plied with highly seasoned viands, +stimulating sauces, animal food, sweetmeats, and dainty tidbits in +endless variety. Soon, tea and coffee are added to the list. Salt, +pepper, ginger, mustard, condiments of every sort, deteriorate his +daily food. If, perchance, he does not die at once of indigestion, or +with his weakened forces fall a speedy victim to the diseases incident +to infancy, he has his digestive organs impaired for life at the very +outset of his existence.</p> + +<p>Exciting stimulants and condiments weaken and irritate his nerves and +derange the circulation. Thus, indirectly, they affect the sexual +system, which suffers through sympathy with the other organs. But a +more direct injury is done. Flesh, condiments, eggs, tea, coffee, +chocolate, and all stimulants, have a powerful influence directly upon +the reproductive organs. They increase the local supply of blood; and +through nervous sympathy with the brain, the passions are aroused.</p> + +<p>Overeating, eating between meals, hasty eating, eating indigestible +articles of food, late suppers, react upon the sexual organs with the +utmost certainty. Any disturbance of the digestive function +<a name="p184"></a>deteriorates the quality of the blood. Poor blood, filled with crude, +poorly digested food, is irritating to the nervous system, and +especially to those extremely delicate nerves which govern the +reproductive function. Irritation provokes congestion; congestion +excites sexual desires; excited passions increase the local +disturbance; and thus each reacts upon the other, ever increasing the +injury and the liability to future damage.</p> + +<p>Thus, these exciting causes continue their insidious work through youth +and more mature years. Right under the eyes of fathers and mothers they +work the ruin of their children, exciting such storms of passion as +are absolutely uncontrollable.</p> + +<p><a name="chapc7"><b>Clerical Lapses.</b></a>—Our most profound disgust is justly excited when we +hear of laxity of morals in a clergyman. We naturally feel that one +whose calling is to teach his fellow-men the way of truth, and right, +and purity, should himself be free from taint of immorality. But when +we consider how these ministers are fed, we cannot suppress a momentary +disposition to excuse, in some degree, their fault. When the minister +goes out to tea, he is served with the richest cake, the choicest jellies, +the most pungent sauces, and the finest of fine-flour bread-stuffs. +Little does the indulgent hostess dream that she is ministering to the +inflammation of passions which may imperil the virtue of her daughter, +or even her own. Salacity once aroused, even in a minister, allows no +room for <a name="p185"></a>reason or for conscience. If women wish to preserve the virtue +of their ministers, let them feed them more in accordance with the laws +of health. Ministers are not immaculate.</p> + +<p>The remedy for the dangers to chastity arising from this source, is +pointed out in the article on "Continence."</p> + +<p><a name="chapc8"><b>Tobacco and Vice.</b></a>—Few are aware of the influence upon morals exerted +by that filthy habit, tobacco-using. When acquired early, it excites +the undeveloped organs, arouses the passions, and in a few years +converts the once chaste and pure youth into a veritable volcano of +lust, belching out from its inner fires of passion torrents of obscenity +and the sulphurous fumes of lasciviousness. If long-continued, the +final effect of tobacco is emasculation; but this is only the necessary +consequence of previous super-excitation. The lecherous day-dreams in +which many smokers indulge, are a species of fornication for which even +a brute ought to blush, if such a crime were possible for a brute. The +mental libertine does not confine himself to bagnios and women of the +town. In the foulness of his imagination, he invades the sanctity of +virtue wherever his erotic fancy leads him.</p> + +<p>We are aware that we have made a grave charge against tobacco, and we +have not hesitated to state the naked truth; yet we do not think we +have exaggerated, in the least, the pernicious influence of this foul +drug. As much, or nearly as <a name="p186"></a>much, might be said against the use of liquor, +on the same grounds.</p> + +<p><a name="chapc9"><b>Bad Books.</b></a>—Another potent enemy of virtue is the obscene literature +which has flooded the land for many years. Circulated by secret agencies, +these books have found their way into the most secluded districts. +Nearly every large school contains one of these emissaries of evil men +and their Satanic master. Some idea of the enormity and extent of this +evil may be gained from the following quotations from a published letter +of Mr. Anthony Comstock, who has been for some time employed by the +Young Men's Christian Association in suppressing the traffic by +arresting the publishers and destroying their goods:—</p> + +<p>"I have succeeded in unearthing this hydra-headed monster in part, as +you will see by the following statement, which, in many respects, might +be truthfully increased in quantity. These I have seized and +destroyed:—</p> + +<p>"Obscene photographs, stereoscopic and other pictures, more than one +hundred and eighty-two thousand; obscene books and pamphlets, more than +five tons; obscene letter-press in sheets, more than two tons; sheets +of impure songs, catalogues, handbills, etc., more than twenty-one +thousand; obscene microscopic watch and knife charms, and finger-rings, +more than five thousand; obscene negative plates for printing +photographs and stereoscopic views, about six hundred and twenty-five; +<a name="p187"></a>obscene engraved steel and copper plates, three hundred and fifty; +obscene lithographic stones destroyed, twenty; obscene wood-cut +engravings, more than five hundred; stereotype plates for printing +obscene books, more than five tons; obscene transparent playing-cards, +nearly six thousand; obscene and immoral rubber articles, over thirty +thousand; lead molds for manufacturing rubber goods, twelve sets, or +more than seven hundred pounds; newspapers seized, about four thousand +six hundred; letters from all parts of the country ordering these goods, +about fifteen thousand; names of dealers in account-books seized, about +six thousand; lists of names in the hands of dealers, that are sold +as merchandise to forward circulars or catalogues to, independent of +letters and account-books seized, more than seven thousand; arrest of +dealers since Oct. 9, 1871, more than fifty."</p> + +<p>"These abominations are disseminated by these men first obtaining the +names and addresses of scholars and students in our schools and colleges, +and then forwarding circulars. They secure thousands of names in this +way, either by sending for a catalogue of schools, seminaries, and +colleges, under a pretense of sending a child to attend these places, +or else by sending out a circular purporting to be getting up a directory +of all the scholars and students in schools and colleges in the United +States, or of taking the census of all the unmarried <a name="p188"></a>people, and +offering to pay five cents per name for lists so sent. I need not say +that the money is seldom or never sent, but I do say that these names, +together with those that come in reply to advertisements, are sold to +other parties; so that when a man desires to engage in this nefarious +business, he has only to purchase a list of these names, and then your +child, be it son or daughter, is liable to have thrust into its hands, +all unknown to you, one of these devilish catalogues."</p> + +<p>"Since the destruction of the stereotype plates of old books, secret +circulars have been discovered of a notice to dealers that twelve new +books are in course of preparation, and will soon be ready for +delivery."</p> + +<p>Says Hon. C. L. Merriam, as quoted by Dr. Lewis: "We find that the +dealers in obscene literature have organized circulating libraries, +which are under the charge of the most vicious boys in the schools, +boys chosen and paid by the venders, and who circulate among the +students, at ten cents a volume, any of the one hundred and forty-four +obscene books heretofore published in New York City."</p> + +<p>Largely through the influence of Mr. Comstock, laws have been enacted +which promise to do much toward checking this extensive evil, or at +least causing it to make itself less prominent. Our newspapers still +abound with advertisements of various so-called medical works, +"Marriage Guides," <a name="p189"></a>etc., which are fruits of the same "upas-tree" that +Mr. Comstock has labored so faithfully to uproot.</p> + +<p>It is a painful fact, however, that the total annihilation of every +foul book which the law can reach will not effect the cure of this evil, +for our modern literature is full of the same virus. It is necessarily +presented in less grossly revolting forms, half concealed by beautiful +imagery, or embellished by wit; but yet, there it is, and no law can +reach it. The works of our standard authors in literature abound in +lubricity. Popular novels have doubtless done more to arouse a prurient +curiosity in the young, and to excite and foster passion and immorality, +than even the obscene literature for the suppression of which such +active measures have recently been taken. The more exquisitely painted +the scenes of vice, the more dangerously enticing. Novel-reading has +led thousands to lives of dissoluteness.</p> + +<p><a name="chapc10"><b>Idleness.</b></a>—This evil is usually combined with the preceding. To +maintain purity, the mind must be occupied. If left without occupation, +the vacuity is quickly filled with unchaste thoughts. Nothing can be +worse for a child than to be reared in idleness. His morals will be +certain to suffer. Incessant mental occupation is the only safeguard +against unchastity. Those worthless fops who spend their lives in +"killing time" by lounging about bar-rooms, loafing on street corners, +or strutting up and down the boulevard, are <a name="p190"></a>anything but chaste. Those +equally worthless young women who waste their lives on sofas or in +easy-chairs, occupied only with some silly novel, or idling away life's +precious hours in reverie—such creatures are seldom the models of +purity one would wish to think them. If born with a natural propensity +toward sin, such a life would soon engender a diseased, impure +imagination, if nothing worse.</p> + +<p><a name="chapc11"><b>Dress and Sensuality.</b></a>—There are two ways in which fashionable dress +leads to unchastity; viz., 1. By its extravagance; 2. By its abuse of +the body.</p> + +<p>How does extravagance lead to unchastity? By creating the temptation +to sin. It affects not those gorgeously attired ladies who ride in fine +carriages, and live in brown-stone fronts, who are surrounded with all +the luxuries that wealth can purchase—fine apparel is no temptation +to such. But to less favored—though not less worthy—ones, these +magnificent displays of millinery goods and fine trappings are most +powerful temptations. The poor seamstress, who can earn by diligent +toil hardly enough to pay her board bill, has no legitimate way by which +to deck herself with the finery she admires. Plainly dressed as she +must be if she remains honest and retains her virtue, she is scornfully +ignored by her proud sisters. Everywhere she finds it a generally +recognized fact that "dress makes the lady." On the street, no one steps +<a name="p191"></a>aside to let her pass, no one stoops to regain for her the package that +slips from her weary hands. Does she enter a crowded car, no one offers +her a seat, though she is trembling with fatigue, while the showily +dressed woman who follows her is accommodated at once. She marks the +difference; she does not pause to count the cost, but barters away her +self-respect, to gain the respect, or deference, of strangers.</p> + +<p><a name="chapc12"><b>How Young Women Fall.</b></a>—It has been authoritatively stated that there +are, in our large cities, hundreds of young women who, being able to +earn barely enough to buy food and fuel and pay the rent of a dismal +attic, take the advice offered by their employers, "Get some gentleman +friend to dress you for your company." Others spend all their small +earnings to keep themselves "respectably" dressed, and share the board +and lodgings of some young <i>roué</i> as heartless as incontinent. Persons +unaccustomed to city life, and thousands of people in the very heart +of our great metropolis, have no conception of the frightful prevalence +of this kind of prostitution. Young women go to our large cities as +pure as snow. They find no lucrative employment. Daily contact with +vice obtunds their first abhorrence of it. Gradually it becomes +familiar. A fancied life of ease presents allurements to a hard-worked +sewing-girl. Fine clothes and comfortable lodgings increase the +temptation. She yields, and barters her <a name="p192"></a>body for a home without the +trouble of a marriage ceremony.</p> + +<p>Wealthy women could do more to cure the "social evil" by adopting plain +attire than all the civil authorities by passing license laws or +regulating ordinances. Have not Christian women a duty here? A few years +ago, some Nashville ladies made a slight move in the right direction, +as indicated in the following paragraph; but we have not heard that +their example has been followed:—</p> + +<p>"The lady members of the first Baptist Church, of Nashville, Tenn., +have agreed that they will dispense with all finery on Sunday, wearing +no jewels but consistency, and hereafter appear at church in plain +calico dresses."</p> + +<p>A more radical reform would have been an extension of the salutary +measure to all other days of the week as well as Sunday; though we see +no reason for restricting the material of clothing to calico, which +might, indeed, be rather insufficient for some seasons of the year.</p> + +<p><a name="chapc13"><b>Fashion and Vice.</b></a>—Let us glance at the second manner in which dress +lends its influence to vice, by obstructing the normal functions of +the body. 1. Fashion requires a woman to compress her waist with bands +or corsets. In consequence, the circulation of the blood toward the +heart is obstructed. The venous blood is crowded back into the delicate +organs of generation. Congestion <a name="p193"></a>ensues, and with it, through reflex +action, the unnatural excitement of the animal propensities. 2. The +manner of wearing the clothing, suspending several heavy garments from +the hips, increases the same difficulty by bringing too large a share +of clothing where it is least needed, thus generating unnatural local +heat. 3. The custom of clothing the feet and limbs so thinly that they +are exposed to constant chilling, by still further unbalancing the +circulation, adds another element to increase the local mischief.</p> + +<p>All of these causes combined, operating almost constantly,—with +others that might be mentioned,—produce permanent local congestions, +with ovarian and uterine derangements. The latter affections have long +been recognized as the chief pathological condition in hysteria, and +especially in that peculiar form of disease known as <i>nymphomania</i>, +under the excitement of which a young woman, naturally chaste and modest, +may be impelled to the commission of the most wanton acts. The +pernicious influence of fashionable dress in occasioning this disorder +cannot be doubted.</p> + +<p><a name="chapc14"><b>Reform in Dress Needed.</b></a>—The remedy for these evils, the only way to +escape them, is reformation. The dress must be so adjusted to the body +that every organ will be allowed free movement. No corset, band, belt, +or other means of constriction, should impede the circulation. Garments +should be suspended from the shoulders by <a name="p194"></a>means of a waist, or proper +suspenders. The limbs should be as warmly clad as any other portion +of the body. How best to secure these requirements of health may be +learned from several excellent works on dress reform, any of which can +be readily obtained of the publishers of this work or their agents.</p> + +<p><b>Fashionable Dissipation.</b>—The influence of so important an agent for +evil in this direction as fashionable dissipation, cannot be ignored. +By fashionable dissipation we mean that class of excesses in the +indulgence in which certain classes, usually the more wealthy or +aristocratic, pride themselves. Among this class of persons a man who +is known to be a common drunkard would not be recognized; such a person +would be carefully shunned; yet a total abstainer would be avoided with +almost equal care, and would be regarded as a fanatic or an extremist +at least. With persons of this class, wine-drinking is considered +necessary as a matter of propriety. Along with wine are taken the great +variety of highly seasoned foods, spices, and condiments in profusion, +with rich meats and all sorts of delicacies, rich desserts, etc., which +can hardly be considered much less harmful than stimulants of a more +generally recognized character.</p> + +<p>These indulgences excite that part of the system which generally needs +restraint rather than stimulation. A participant, an ex-governor, +recently described to us a grand political dinner given in honor <a name="p195"></a>of +a noted American citizen, which began at 5 <small>P.M.</small>, and continued until +nearly midnight, continuous courses of foods, wines, etc., being served +for nearly six hours. Similar scenes have been enacted in a score of +our large cities for the same ostensible purpose. Knowing that public +men are addicted to such gormandizing on numerous occasions, we do not +wonder that so many of them are men of loose morals.</p> + +<p>The tendency of luxury is toward demoralization. Rome never became +dissipated and corrupt until her citizens became wealthy, and adopted +luxurious modes of living. Nothing is much more conducive to sound +morals than full occupation of the mind with useful labor. Fashionable +idleness is a foe to virtue. The young man or the young woman who wastes +the precious hours of life in listless dreaming, or in that sort of +senseless twaddle which forms the bulk of the conversation in some +circles, is in very great danger of demoralization. Many of the usages +and customs of fashionable society seem to open the door to vice, and +to insidiously, and at first unconsciously, lead the young and +inexperienced away from the paths of purity and virtue. There is good +evidence that the amount of immorality among what are known as the +higher classes is every year increasing. Every now and then a scandal +in high life comes to the surface; but the great mass of corruption +is effectually hidden from the general public. Open profligacy is of +<a name="p196"></a>course frowned upon in all respectable circles; and yet wealth and +accomplishments will cover a multitude of sins.</p> + +<p>This freedom allowed to the vile and vicious is one of the worst features +of fashionable society. Such persons carry about them a moral +atmosphere more deadly than the dreaded upas-tree.</p> + +<p><a name="chapc15"><b>Round Dances.</b></a>—Whatever apologies may be offered for other forms of +the dance as means of exercise under certain restrictions, employed +as a form of calisthenics, no such excuse can be framed in defense of +"round dances," especially of the waltz. In addition to the associated +dissipation, late hours, fashionable dressing, midnight feasting, +exposures through excessive exertions and improper dress, etc., it can +be shown most clearly that dancing has a direct influence in stimulating +the passions and provoking unchaste desires, which too often lead to +unchaste acts, and are in themselves violations of the requirements +of strict morality, and productive of injury to both mind and body.</p> + +<p>Said the renowned Petrarch, "The dance is the spur of lust—a circle +of which the devil himself is the center. Many women that use it have +come dishonest home, most indifferent, none better."</p> + +<p>We cannot do better than to quote on this subject from a little work +entitled, "The Dance of Death," the author of which has given a great +amount of attention to this subject, and presents its evils in a very +forcible light, as follows:—</p> +<a name="p197"></a> +<p>"A score of forms whirl swiftly before us under the softened gaslight. +I say a score of <i>forms</i>—but each is double—they would have made two +score before the dancing began. Twenty floating visions—each male and +female. Twenty women, knit and growing to as many men, undulate, sway, +and swirl giddily before us, keeping time with the delirious melody +of piano, harp, and violin.</p> + +<p>"But draw nearer—let us see how this miracle is accomplished. Do you +mark yonder couple who seem to excel the rest in grace and ardor. Let +us take this couple for a sample. He is stalwart, agile, mighty; she +is tall, supple, lithe, and how beautiful in form and feature! Her head +rests upon his shoulder, her face is upturned to his; her naked arm +is almost around his neck; her swelling breast heaves tumultuously +against his; face to face they whirl, his limbs interwoven with her +limbs; with strong right arm about her yielding waist, he presses her +to him till every curve in the contour of her lovely body thrills with +the amorous contact. Her eyes look into his, but she sees nothing; the +soft music fills the room, but she hears nothing; swiftly he whirls +her from the floor or bends her frail body to and fro in his embrace.</p> + +<p>"With a last, low wail the music ceases. Her swooning senses come back +to life. Ah, must it be! Yes; her companion releases her from his embrace. +Leaning wearily upon his arm, the rapture faded from her eye, the flush +dying from her <a name="p198"></a>cheek—enervated, limp, listless, worn out—she is led +to a seat, there to recover from her delirium and gather her energies +as best she may in the space of five minutes, after which she must yield +her body to a new embrace."</p> + +<p>"And now tell me, friend of mine, did you not recognize an old +acquaintance in the lady we have been watching so closely? No! Then +believe me; she is no other than the 'pure and lovely girl' you so much +admired earlier in the evening, the so desirable wife, the angel who +was to 'haunt your dreams.'"</p> + +<p>The author just quoted publishes in his little work a letter from a +woman of great ability and strength of mind, of unblemished character +and national reputation, written in response to his request for her +opinion of the dance. The statements made in this remarkable letter +are so clear and convincing that every parent ought to read it. We quote +the chief portions as follows:—</p> + +<p>"'I will venture to lay bare a young girl's heart and mind by giving +you my own experience in the days when I waltzed.</p> + +<p>"'In those times I cared little for Polka or Varsovienne, and still +less for the old-fashioned "Money Musk" or "Virginia Reel," and +wondered what people could find to admire in those "slow dances." But +in the soft floating of the waltz I found a strange pleasure, rather +difficult to intelligibly describe. The mere anticipation fluttered +my pulse, <a name="p199"></a>and when my partner approached to claim my promised hand for +the dance, I felt my cheeks glow a little sometimes, and I could not +look him in the eyes with the same frank gayety as heretofore.</p> + +<p>"'But the climax of my confusion was reached when, folded in his warm +embrace, and giddy with the whirl, a strange, sweet thrill would shake +me from head to foot, leaving me weak and almost powerless, and really +almost obliged to depend for support upon the arm which encircled me. +If my partner failed from ignorance, lack of skill, or innocence, to +arouse these, to me, most pleasurable sensations, I did not dance with +him the second time.</p> + +<p>"'I am speaking openly and frankly, and when I say that I did not +understand what I felt, or what were the real and greatest pleasures +I derived from this so-called dancing, I expect to be believed. But +if my cheeks grew red with uncomprehended pleasure then, they grow pale +with shame to-day when I think of it all. It was the physical emotions +engendered by the contact of strong men that I was enamored of—not +of the dance, nor even of the men themselves.</p> + +<p>"'Thus I became abnormally developed in my lowest nature. I grew bolder, +and from being able to return shy glances at first, was soon able to +meet more daring ones, until the waltz became to me and whomsoever +danced with me, one lingering, sweet, and purely sensual pleasure, +where heart beat <a name="p200"></a>against heart, hand was held in hand, and eyes looked +burning words which lips dared not speak.</p> + +<p>"'All this while no one said to me, You do wrong; so I dreamed of sweet +words whispered during the dance, and often felt while alone a thrill +of joy indescribable yet overpowering when my mind would turn from my +studies to remember a piece of temerity of unusual grandeur on the part +of one or another of my cavaliers.</p> + +<p>"'Girls talk to each other. I was still a school girl, although mixing +so much with the world. We talked together. We read romances that fed +our romantic passions on seasoned food, and none but ourselves knew +what subjects we discussed. Had our parents heard us, they would have +considered us on the high road to ruin.</p> + +<p>"'Yet we had been taught that it was right to dance; our parents did +it, our friends did, and we were permitted. I will say also that all +the girls with whom I associated, with the exception of one, had much +the same experience in dancing; felt the same strangely sweet emotions, +and felt that almost imperative necessity for a closer communion than +that which even the freedom of a waltz permits, without knowing exactly +why, or even comprehending what.</p> + +<p>"'Married now, with home and children around me, I can at least thank +God for the experience which will assuredly be the means of preventing +my little daughters from indulging in any such <a name="p201"></a>dangerous pleasure. But, +if a young girl, pure and innocent in the beginning, can be brought +to feel what I have confessed to have felt, what must be the experience +of a married woman? <i>She</i> knows what every glance of the eye, every +bend of the head, every close clasp means, and knowing that, +reciprocates it, and is led by swifter steps and a surer path down the +dangerous, dishonorable road.</p> + +<p>"'I doubt if my experience will be of much service, but it is the candid +truth, from a woman who, in the cause of all the young girls who may +be contaminated, desires to show just to what extent a young mind may +be defiled by the injurious effects of round dances. I have not +hesitated to lay bare what are a young girl's most secret thoughts, +in the hope that people will stop and consider, at least, before handing +their lilies of purity over to the arms of any one who may choose to +blow the frosty breath of dishonor on their petals.'"</p> + +<p>Much more might be added on this important subject, would the limits +of this work allow; but this must suffice. We beg the reader to consider +carefully and prayerfully the facts presented before deciding that +dancing is so harmless as many persons suppose.</p> + +<p><a name="chapc16"><b>Physical Causes of Unchastity.</b></a>—Some of the physical causes of impurity +in women have been previously referred to, since it is through physical +injuries that unhealthful clothing exerts its influence. Too little +is generally known of the intimate <a name="p202"></a>connection between physical and +mental conditions. Doubtless, many vices originate in physical +imperfections. Indeed, when the full bearing of physical influences +upon the mind is allowed, it is difficult to avoid pleading extenuating +circumstances in the cases of the greatest share of transgressors of +both moral and civil laws. This principle is especially applicable to +sexual relations.</p> + +<p><a name="chapc17"></a>In males, one of the most general physical causes of sexual excitement +is <i>constipation</i>. The vesicula seminalis, in which the seminal fluid +is stored, is situated, as will be remembered, at the base of the bladder. +It thus has the bladder in front, and the rectum behind. In constipation, +the rectum becomes distended with feces, effete matter which should +have been promptly evacuated instead of being allowed to accumulate. +This hardened mass presses upon the parts most intimately concerned +in the sexual act, causing excessive local excitement. When this +condition is chronic, as in habitual constipation, the unnatural +excitement often leads to most serious results. One of these is the +production of a horrible disease, <i>satyriasis</i>, the nature of which +has been previously indicated.</p> + +<p><i>Constipation</i> in females has the same tendency, though the dangers +are not quite so great. The irritation is sufficient, however, to lead +to excitement of the passions.</p> + +<p><a name="chapc18"></a><i>Intestinal worms</i> often produce the same result in children.</p> +<a name="p203"></a> +<p><a name="chapc19"></a><i>Local uncleanliness</i> is another very frequent cause which is often +overlooked. The natural local secretions quickly become a source of +great irritation if not removed by daily washing. Certain anatomical +peculiarities sometimes exist in the male which greatly aggravate this +difficulty, and for which circumcision, or an equivalent operation, +is the remedy.</p> + +<p><a name="chapc20"></a><i>Irritation of the bladder</i>, producing incontinence of urine, is +another enemy to chastity. It should receive prompt attention and +treatment. In children, this irritability is indicated by wetting of +the bed at night. In cases of this kind, allow the child little drink +in the latter portion of the day. See that the bladder is emptied just +before he goes to bed. Wake him once or twice during the night, and +have him urinate. Use all possible means to remove the cause of +irritation by giving him plenty of out-of-door exercise and a very +simple, though nutritious, diet. Avoid meat, eggs, and condiments.</p> + +<p><a name="chapc21"><b>Modern Modes of Life.</b></a>—Aside from all of the causes already enumerated, +there are many other conditions and circumstances, the result of modern +habits of living, that tend directly toward the excitement of +sensuality. Superheated rooms, sedentary employments, the development +of the mental and nervous organizations at the expense of the muscular, +the cramming system in schools, too long confinement of school-children +in a sitting position, the allowance of too great freedom between the +<a name="p204"></a>sexes in the young, the demoralizing influence of most varieties of +public amusement, balls, church fairs, and other like influences too +numerous to mention, all tend in the one direction, that of abnormal +excitation and precocious development of the sexual functions.</p> + +<p>It is not an exaggeration to say that for one conforming to modern modes +of living, eating, sleeping, and drinking, absolute chastity is next +to an absolute impossibility. This would certainly be true without a +special interposition of Providence; but Providence never works +miracles to obviate the results of voluntary sin.</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br><a name="p205"></a> +<div><h2><a name="chapd">CONTINENCE.</a></h2></div> +<br> +<p>Continence differs from chastity in being entire restraint from sexual +indulgence under all circumstances, while chastity is only restraint +from unlawful indulgence. As we have both physical and mental chastity, +so continence should be both mental and physical. Many of the +observations on the subject of "Chastity" apply with equal force to +continence. The causes of incontinence are the same as those of +unchastity. The same relation also exists between mental and physical +continence as between mental and physical chastity.</p> + +<p>The subject of continence evidently has a somewhat wider scope than +that of chastity, as generally understood; but as we have considered +the latter subject so fully, we shall devote less space to this, leaving +the reader to make the application of such preceding remarks as reason +may suggest to him are equally appropriate here.</p> + +<p>Without stopping to consider the various circumstances under which +absolute continence is expedient, or desirable, or morally required, +we will proceed at once to examine the question, Is continence harmful?</p> + +<p><a name="chapd1"><b>Continence not Injurious.</b></a>—It has been claimed by many, even by +physicians,—and with <a name="p206"></a>considerable show of reason,—that absolute +continence, after full development of the organs of reproduction, could +not be maintained without great detriment to health. It is needless +to enumerate all the different arguments employed to support this +position, since they are, with a few exceptions, too frivolous to +deserve attention. We shall content ourselves chiefly with quotations +from acknowledged authorities, by which we shall show that the popular +notions upon this subject are wholly erroneous. Their general +acceptance has been due, without doubt, to the strong natural bias in +their favor. It is an easy matter to believe what agrees well with one's +predilections. A bare surmise, on the side of prejudice, is more telling +than the most powerful logic on the other side.</p> + +<p>"We know that this opinion is held by men of the world, and that many +physicians share it. This belief appears to us to be erroneous, without +foundation, and easily refuted."<small>[6]</small></p> + +<blockquote><small>6 Mayer.</small></blockquote> + +<p>The same writer claims "that no peculiar disease nor any abridgment +of the duration of life can be ascribed to such continence." He proves +his position by appealing to statistics, and shows the fallacy of +arguments in support of the contrary view. He further says:—</p> + +<p>"It is determined, in our opinion, that the commerce of the sexes has +no necessities that cannot be restrained without peril."</p> +<a name="p207"></a> +<p>"A part has been assigned to <i>spermatic plethora</i> in the etiology of +various mental affections. Among others, priapism has been attributed +to it. In our opinion, this malady originates in a disturbance of the +cerebral nerve power; but it is due much less to the retention of sperm +than to its exaggerated loss; much less to virtuous abstinence than +to moral depravity."</p> + +<p>There has evidently been a wide-spread deception upon this subject. +"Health does not absolutely require that there should ever be an +emission of semen, from puberty to death, though the individual live +a hundred years; and the frequency of involuntary nocturnal emissions +is an indubitable proof that the parts, at least, are suffering under +a debility and morbid irritability utterly incompatible with the +general welfare of the system."</p> + +<p><a name="chapd2"><b>Does not Produce Impotence.</b></a>—It has been declared that strict +continence would result in impotency. The falsity of this argument is +clearly shown by the following observations:—</p> + +<p>"There exists no <i>greater error</i> than this, nor one more opposed to +physiological truth. In the first place, I may state that I have, after +many years' experience, never seen a single instance of atrophy of the +generative organs from this cause. I have, it is true, met the complaint, +but in what class of cases does it occur? It arises, in all instances, +from the exactly opposite cause, abuse; the organs become worn out, +and hence arises atrophy. <a name="p208"></a>Physiologically considered, it is not a fact +that the power of secreting semen is annihilated in well-formed adults +leading a healthy life and yet remaining continent. No continent man +need be deterred by this apocryphal fear of atrophy of the testes, from +living a chaste life. It is a device of the unchaste—a lame excuse +for their own incontinence, unfounded on any physiological law."<small>[7]</small></p> + +<blockquote><small>7 Acton.</small></blockquote> + +<p>The truth of this statement has been amply confirmed by experiments +upon animals.</p> + +<p>The complaint is made by those whose lives have been far otherwise than +continent, that abstinence occasions suffering, from which indulgence +gives relief. The same writer further says that when such a patient +consults a medical man, "he should be told—and the result would soon +prove the correctness of the advice—that attention to diet, gymnastic +exercise, and self-control, will, most effectually relieve the +symptoms."</p> + +<p><a name="chapd3"><b>Difficulty of Continence.</b></a>—Some there are who urge that self-denial +is difficult; that the natural promptings are imperious. From this they +argue that it cannot but be right to gratify so strong a passion. "The +admitted fact that continence, even at the very beginning of manhood, +is frequently productive of distress, is often a struggle hard to be +borne—still harder to be completely victorious in—is not to be at +all regarded as an argument that it is an <i>evil</i>."<small>[8]</small></p> + +<blockquote><small>8 Ibid.</small></blockquote> +<a name="p209"></a> +<p>But if rigid continence is maintained from the first, the struggle with +the passions will not be nearly so severe as after they have once been +allowed to gain the ascendency. On this point, the following remarks +are very just:—</p> + +<p>"At the outset, the sexual necessities are not so uncontrollable as +is generally supposed, and they can be put down by the exercise of a +little energetic will. There is, therefore, as it appears to us, as +much injustice in accusing nature of disorders which are dependent upon +the genital senses, badly directed, as there would be in attributing +to it a sprain or a fracture accidentally produced."<small>[9]</small></p> + +<blockquote><small>9 Mayer.</small></blockquote> + +<p><a name="chapd4"><b>Helps to Continence.</b></a>—As already indicated, and as every individual +with strong passions knows, the warfare with passion is a serious one +if one determines to lead a continent life. He needs the help of every +aid that he can gain. Some of these may be named as follows:—</p> + +<p><a name="chapd5"><i>The Will</i>.</a>—A firm determination must be formed to lead a life of +purity; to quickly quench the first suggestions of impurity; to harbor +no unchaste desire; to purge the mind of carnal thoughts; in short, +to cleave fast to mental continence. Each triumph over vicious thoughts +will strengthen virtue; each victory won will make the next the easier. +So strong a habit of continence may be formed that this alone will be +a bulwark against vice.</p> +<a name="p210"></a> +<p><a name="chapd6"><i>Diet</i>.</a>—He who would keep in subjection his animal nature must +carefully guard the portal to his stomach. The blood is made of what +is eaten. Irritating food will produce irritating blood. Stimulating +foods or drinks will surely produce a corresponding quality of blood. +Irritating, stimulating blood will irritate and stimulate the nervous +system, and especially the delicate nerves of the reproductive system, +as previously explained. Only the most simple and wholesome food should +be eaten, and that only in such moderate quantities as are required +to replenish the tissues. The custom of making the food pungent and +stimulating with condiments is the great, almost the sole, cause of +gluttony. It is one of the greatest hindrances to virtue. Indeed, it +may with truth be said that the devices of modern cookery are most +powerful allies of unchastity and licentiousness. This subject is +particularly deserving of careful, candid, and studious attention, and +only needs such investigation to demonstrate its soundness.</p> + +<p><a name="chapd7"><i>Exercise</i>.</a>—Next to diet as an aid to continence, perhaps of equal +importance with it, is exercise, both physical and mental. It is a trite +proverb, the truth of which every one acknowledges, that "Satan finds +some mischief still for idle hands to do," and it is equally true that +he always has an evil thought in readiness—speaking figuratively—to +instill into an unoccupied mind. A person who desires to be pure and +continent in body and mind <a name="p211"></a>must flee idleness as he would the devil +himself; for the latter is always ready to improve upon the advantages +afforded by an idle moment, an hour given to reverie.</p> + +<p>We have the strongest testimony from the most eminent physicians in +regard to the efficacy of exercise in overcoming abnormal sexual +desires. Mr. Acton relates the following statement made to him by a +gentleman who has become distinguished in his profession:—</p> + +<p>"'You may be surprised, Mr. Acton,' said he, 'by the statement I am +about to make to you, that before my marriage I lived a perfectly +continent life. During my university career, my passions were very +strong, sometimes almost uncontrollable, but I have the satisfaction +to think that I mastered them; it was, however, by great efforts. I +obliged myself to take violent physical exertion; I was the best oar +of my year, and when I felt particularly strong sexual desire, I sallied +out to take my exercise. I was victorious always, and I never committed +fornication. You see in what vigorous health I am; it was exercise alone +that saved me.'"</p> + +<p>Says Carpenter, on the same subject, in a textbook for medical students, +"'Try the effect of close mental application to some of those ennobling +pursuits to which your profession introduces you, in combination with +vigorous bodily exercise, before you assert that the appetite is +unrestrainable, and act upon that assertion.'"</p> +<a name="p212"></a> +<p>Walking, riding, rowing, and gymnastics are among the best modes of +physical exercise for sedentary persons; but there is no better form +of exercise than working in the garden. The cultivation of small fruits, +flowers, and other occupations of like character, really excel all +other modes of physical exercise for one who can engage in them with +real pleasure. Even though distasteful at first, they may become very +attractive and interesting if there is an honest, persevering desire +to make them so. The advantages of exercises of this kind are evident. +1. They are useful as well as healthful. While they call into action +a very large number of muscles by the varied movements required, the +expenditure of vital force is remunerated by the actual value of the +products of the labor; so that no force is wasted. 2. The tillage of +the soil and the dressing of vines and plants bring one in constant +contact with nature in a manner that is elevating and refining, or at +least affords the most favorable opportunities for the cultivation of +nobility and purity of mind, and elevated principles.</p> + +<p>Exercise carried to such excess as to produce exhaustion is always +injurious. The same is true of mental labor as of physical exercise. +Plenty of sleep, and regular habits of retiring and rising, are +important. Dozing is bad at any time; for it is a condition in which +the will is nearly dormant, though consciousness still lingers, and +the <a name="p213"></a>imagination is allowed to run wild, and often enough it will run +where it ought not. Late study, or late hours spent in any manner, is +a sure means of producing general nervous irritability and sexual +excitement through reflex influence.</p> + +<p><a name="chapd8"><i>Bathing</i>.</a>—A daily bath with cool or tepid water, followed by vigorous +rubbing of the skin with a coarse towel and then with the dry hand, +is a most valuable aid. The hour of first rising is generally the most +convenient time. How to take different kinds of baths is explained in +other works devoted to the subject.<small>[10]</small> General and local cleanliness +are indispensable to general and local health.</p> + +<blockquote><small>10 See "Uses of Water" and "The Household Manual."</small></blockquote> + +<p><a name="chapd9"><i>Religion</i>.</a>—After availing himself of all other aids to continence, +if he wishes to maintain purity of mind as well as physical +chastity—and one cannot exist long without the other—the individual +must seek that most powerful and helpful of all aids, divine grace. +If, in the conflict with his animal nature, man had only to contend +with the degrading influences of his own propensities, the battle would +be a serious one, and it is doubtful whether human nature alone—at +least in any but rare cases,—would be able to gain the victory; but, +in addition to his own inherent tendencies to evil, man is assailed +at every point by unseen agencies that seek to drag him down and spoil +his soul with lust. These fiendish influences are only felt, not seen, +from which some argue that they do not exist. <a name="p214"></a>Such casuists must find +enormous depths for human depravity. But who has not felt the cruel +power of these unseen foes? Against them, there is but one safe, +successful weapon, "the blood of Christ which cleanseth from all sin."</p> + +<p>The struggling soul, beset with evil thoughts, will find in prayer a +salvation which all his force of will, and dieting, and exercising, +will not, alone, insure him. Yet prayer alone will not avail. Faith +and works must always be associated. All that one can do to work out +his own salvation, he must do; then he can safely trust in God to do +the rest, even though the struggle seems almost a useless one; for when +the soul has been long in bondage to concupiscence, the mind a hold +of foul and lustful thoughts, a panorama of unchaste imagery, these +hateful phantoms will even intrude themselves upon the sanctity of +prayer and make their victim mentally unchaste upon his knees. But +Christ can pity even such; and even these degraded minds may yet be +pure if with the psalmist they continue to cry, with a true purpose +and unwavering trust, "Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew +a right spirit within me." "Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; +wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow."</p> + +<p>At the first suggestion of an evil thought, send up a mental prayer +to Him whose ear is always open. Prayer and impurity are as incompatible +as oil and water. The pure thoughts that sincere <a name="p215"></a>prayer will bring, +displace the evil promptings of excited passion. But the desire for +aid must be sincere. Prayer will be of no avail while the mind is half +consenting to the evil thought. The evil must be loathed, spurned, +detested.</p> + +<p>It would seem almost unnecessary to suggest the impropriety of +resorting to prayer alone when sexual excitability has arisen from a +culpable neglect to remove the physical conditions of local excitement +by the means already mentioned. Such physical causes must be well looked +after, or every attempt to reform will be fruitless. God requires of +every individual to do for himself all that he is capable of doing; +to employ every available means for alleviating his sufferings.</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br><a name="p216"></a> +<div><h2><a name="chape">MARITAL EXCESSES.</a></h2></div> +<br> +<p>It seems to be a generally prevalent opinion that the marriage ceremony +removes all restraint from the exercise of the sexual functions. Few +seem to even suspect that the seventh commandment has any bearing upon +sexual conduct within the pale of matrimony. Yet if we may believe the +confessions and statements of men and women, legalized prostitution +is a more common crime than illicit commerce of the sexes. So common +is the popular error upon this subject, and so strongly fortified by +prejudice is it, that it is absolutely dangerous for a writer or speaker +to express the truth, if he knows it and has a disposition to do so. +Any attempt to call attention to true principles is mocked at, decried, +stigmatized, and, if possible, extinguished. The author is vilified, +and his work is denounced, and relegated to the ragman. Extremist, +fanatic, ascetic, are the mildest terms employed concerning him, and +he escapes with rare good fortune if his chastity or virility is not +assailed.</p> + +<p>We are not going to run any such risks, and so shall not attempt to +enunciate or maintain any theory. We shall content ourselves with +plainly stating established physiological facts by quotations from +standard medical authors, leaving each reader <a name="p217"></a>to draw conclusions and +construct a practical formula for himself.</p> + +<p><a name="chape1"><b>Object of the Reproductive Functions.</b></a>—Man, in whatever condition we +find him, is more or less depraved. This is true as well of the most +cultivated and refined ladies and gentlemen of the great centers of +civilization, as of the misshapen denizens of African jungles, or the +scarcely human natives of Australia and Terra del Fuego. His appetites, +his tastes, his habits, even his bodily functions are perverted. Of +course, there are degrees of depravity, and varieties of perversion. +In some respects, savages approach more nearly to the natural state +than civilized man, and in other particulars, the latter more nearly +represents man's natural condition; but in neither barbarism nor +civilization do we find man in his primitive state.</p> + +<p>In consequence of this universal departure from his original normal +condition,—the causes of which we need not here trace, since they are +immaterial in the consideration of this question,—when we wish to +ascertain with certainty the functions of certain organs of the human +body, we are obliged to compare them with the corresponding organs of +lower animals, and study the functions of the latter. It is by this +method of investigation that most of the important truths of physiology +have been developed; and the plan is universally acknowledged to be +a proper and logical one.</p> + +<p>Then if we wish to ascertain, with certainty, the <a name="p218"></a>true function of the +reproductive organs in man, we must pursue the course above indicated; +in other words, study the function of reproduction in lower animals. +We say <i>lower animals</i>, because man is really an animal, a member of +the great animal kingdom, though not a beast—at least he should not +be a beast, though some animals in human form approach very closely +to the line that separates humanity from brutes. We are brought, then, +for a solution of this problem, to a consideration of the question, +What is the object of the reproductive act in those members of the animal +kingdom just below man in the scale of being? Let science tell us, for +zoölogists have made a careful study of this subject for centuries.</p> + +<p>We quote the following paragraphs from one of the most distinguished +and reliable of modern physiologists;<small>[11]</small> the facts which he states +being confirmed by all other physiologists:—</p> + +<p>"Every living being has a definite term of life, through which it passes +by the operation of an invariable law, and which, at some regularly +appointed time, comes to an end.... But while individual organisms are +thus constantly perishing and disappearing from the stage, the +particular kind, or species, remains in existence.... This process, +by which new organisms make their appearance, to take the place of those +which are destroyed, is known as the process of <i>reproduction</i> or +<i>generation</i>.</p> +<a name="p219"></a> +<p>"The ovaries, as well as the eggs which they contain, undergo, at +particular seasons, a periodical development, or increase in growth.... +At the approach of the generative season, in all the lower animals, +a certain number of the eggs, which were previously in an imperfect +and inactive condition, begin to increase in size and become somewhat +altered in structure."</p> + +<p>"In most fish and reptiles as well as in birds, this regular process +of maturation and discharge of eggs takes place but once in a year. +In different species of quadrupeds it may take place annually, +semi-annually, bi-monthly, or even monthly; but in every instance it +recurs at regular intervals, and exhibits accordingly, in a marked +degree, the periodic character which we have seen to belong to most +of the other vital phenomena."</p> + +<p>"In most of the lower orders of animals there is a periodical +development of the testicles in the male, corresponding in time with +that of the ovaries in the female. As the ovaries enlarge and the eggs +ripen in the one sex, so in the other the testicles increase in size, +as the season of reproduction approaches, and become turgid with +spermatozoa. The accessory organs of generation, at the same time, +share the unusual activity of the testicles, and become increased in +vascularity and ready to perform their part in the reproductive +function."</p> + +<p>"Each of the two sexes is then at the same time under the influence +of a corresponding excitement. <a name="p220"></a>The unusual development of the genital +organs reacts upon the entire system, and produces a state of peculiar +activity and excitability, known as the condition of 'erethism.'"</p> + +<p>"It is a remarkable fact, in this connection, that the female of these +animals will allow the approaches of the male only during and +immediately after the oestral period; that is, just when the egg is +recently discharged, and ready for impregnation. At other times, when +sexual intercourse would be necessarily fruitless, the instinct of the +animal leads her to avoid it; and the concourse of the sexes is +accordingly made to correspond in time with the maturity of the egg +and its aptitude for fecundation."</p> + +<p>"The egg, immediately upon its discharge from the ovary, is ready for +impregnation. If sexual intercourse happens to take place about that +time, the egg and the spermatic fluid meet in some part of the female +generative passages, and fecundation is accomplished.... If, on the +other hand, coitus do not take place, the egg passes down to the uterus +unimpregnated, loses its vitality after a short time, and is finally +carried away with the uterine secretions."</p> + +<p>"It is easily understood, therefore, why sexual intercourse should be +more liable to be followed by pregnancy when it occurs about the +menstrual epoch than at other times.... Before its discharge, the egg +is immature, and unprepared for <a name="p221"></a>impregnation; and after the menstrual +period has passed, it gradually loses its freshness and vitality."</p> + +<blockquote><small>11 Dalton.</small></blockquote> + +<p>The law of periodicity, as it affects the sexual activity of males of +the human species, is indicated in the following remarks by the same +author:—</p> + +<p>"The same correspondence between the periods of sexual excitement in +the male and female, is visible in many of the animals [higher mammals], +as well as in fish and reptiles. This is the case in most species which +produce young but once a year, and at a fixed period, as the deer and +the wild hog. In other species, on the contrary, such as the dog, the +rabbit, the guinea-pig, etc., where several broods of young are +produced during the year, or where, as in the human subject, the +generative epochs of the female recur at short intervals, so that the +particular period of impregnation is comparatively indefinite, the +generative apparatus of the male is almost always in a state of full +development; and is excited to action at particular periods, apparently +by some influence derived from the condition of the female."</p> + +<p>The facts presented in the foregoing quotations from Dr. Dalton may +be summarized as follows:—</p> + +<p>1. The sexual function is for the purpose of producing new individuals +to take the place of those who die, and thus preserve the species from +becoming extinct.</p> + +<p>2. In the animal kingdom generally, the reproductive function is +<i>necessarily</i> a periodical act, <a name="p222"></a>dependent upon the development of the +reproductive organs of both the male and the female at stated periods.</p> + +<p>3. In those exceptional cases in which the organs of the male are in +a state of constant development, sexual congress occurs, in lower +animals, only at those periods when the periodical development occurs +in the female.</p> + +<p>4. Fecundation of the female element can only take place about the time +of periodical development in the female.</p> + +<p>5. The desire for sexual congress naturally exists in the female only +at or immediately after the time of periodical development.</p> + +<p>6. The constant development of the sexual organs in human males is a +condition common to all animals in which development occurs in the +female at short intervals, and is a provision of nature to secure a +fruitful union when the female is in readiness, but not an indication +for constant or frequent use.</p> + +<p>7. The time of sexual congress is always determined by the condition +and desires of the female.</p> + +<p>An additional fact, as stated by physiologists, is that, under normal +conditions, the human female experiences sexual desire immediately +after menstruation more than at any other time. It has, indeed, been +claimed that at this period only does she experience the true sexual +instinct unless it is abnormally excited by disease or otherwise.</p> +<a name="p223"></a> +<p>From these facts the following conclusions must evidently be drawn:—</p> + +<p>1. The fact that in all animals but the human species the act can be +performed only when reproduction is possible, proves that in the animal +kingdom in general the sole object of the function is reproduction. +Whether man is an exception, must be determined from other +considerations.</p> + +<p>2. The fact that the males of other animals besides man in which the +sexual organs are in a state of constant development do not exercise +those organs except for the purpose of reproduction, is proof of the +position that the constant development in man is not a warrant for their +constant use.</p> + +<p>3. The general law that the reproductive act is performed only when +desired by the female, is sufficient ground for supposing that such +should be the case with the human species also.</p> + +<p>The opinions of writers of note are given in the following quotations:—</p> + +<p>"The approach of the sexes is, in its purest condition, the result of +a natural instinct, the end of which is the reproduction of the species. +Still, however, we are far from saying that this ultimate result is, +in any proportion of cases, the actual thought in the minds of the +parties engaged."</p> + +<p>"The very lively solicitations which spring from the genital sense, +have no other end than to insure the perpetuity of the race."<small>[12]</small></p> + +<blockquote><small>12 Dr. Gardner.</small></blockquote> +<a name="p224"></a> +<p>"Observation fully confirms the views of inductive philosophy; for it +proves to us that coitus, exercised otherwise than under the +inspirations of honest instinct, is a cause of disease in both sexes, +and of danger to the social order."[13]</p> + +<blockquote><small>13 Mayer.</small></blockquote> + +<p>"It is incredible that the act of bringing men into life, that act of +humanity, without contradiction of the most importance, should be the +one of which there should have been the least supposed necessity for +regulation, or which has been regulated the least beneficially."<small>[14]</small></p> + +<blockquote><small>14 Dunoyer.</small></blockquote> + +<p>"But it may be said that the demands of nature are, in the married state, +not only legal, but should be physically right. So they are, when our +physical life is right; but it must not be forgotten that few live in +a truly physical rectitude."<small>[15]</small></p> + +<blockquote><small>15 Gardner.</small></blockquote> + +<p>"Among cattle, the sexes meet by common instinct and common will; it +is reserved for the human animal to treat the female as a mere victim +to his lust."<small>[16]</small></p> + +<blockquote><small>16 Quarterly Review.</small></blockquote> + +<p>"He is an ill husband that <i>uses his wife as a man treats a harlot</i>, +having no other end but pleasure. Concerning which our best rule is, +that although in this, as in eating and drinking, there is an appetite +to be satisfied, which cannot be done without pleasing that desire, +yet since that desire and satisfaction were intended by nature for other +ends, they should never be separated from those ends."</p> +<a name="p225"></a> +<p>"It is a sad truth that many married persons, thinking that the +flood-gates of liberty are set wide open, without measures or +restraints (so they sail in the channel), have felt the final rewards +of intemperance and lust by their unlawful using of lawful permissions. +Only let each of them be temperate, and both of them modest."<small>[17]</small></p> + +<blockquote><small>17 Jeremy Taylor.</small></blockquote> + +<p>Says another writer very emphatically, "It is a common belief that a +man and woman, because they are legally united in marriage, are +privileged to the unbridled exercises of amativeness. This is wrong. +Nature, in the exercise of her laws, recognizes no human enactments, +and is as prompt to punish any infringement of her laws in those who +are legally married, as in those out of the bonds. Excessive indulgence +between the married produces as great and lasting evil effects as in +the single man or woman, and is nothing more or less than legalized +prostitution."</p> + +<p><a name="chape2"><b>Results of Excesses.</b></a>—The sad results of excessive indulgences are seen +on every hand. Numerous ailments attributed to overwork, +constitutional disease, or hereditary predisposition, know no other +cause and need no other explanation.</p> + +<p><a name="chape3"><i>Effects upon Husbands</i>.</a>—No doubt the principal blame in this matter +properly falls upon the husband; but it cannot be said that he is the +greatest sufferer; however, his punishment is severe enough to clearly +indicate the enormity of the <a name="p226"></a>transgression, and to warn him to a +reformation of his habits. The following is a quotation from an eminent +medical authority:—</p> + +<p>"But any warning against sexual dangers would be very incomplete if +it did not extend to the excesses so often committed by married persons +in ignorance of their ill effects. Too frequent emissions of the +life-giving fluid, and too frequent excitement of the nervous system +are, as we have seen, in themselves most destructive. The result is +the same within the marriage bond as without it. The married man who +thinks that because he is a married man he can commit no excess, however +often the act of sexual congress is repeated, will suffer as certainly +and as seriously as the unmarried debauchee who acts on the same +principle in his indulgences—perhaps more certainly from his very +ignorance, and from his not taking those precautions and following +those rules which a career of vice is apt to teach the sensualist. Many +a man has, until his marriage, lived a most continent life; so has his +wife. As soon as they are wedded, intercourse is indulged in night after +night, neither party having any idea that these repeated sexual acts +are excesses which the system of neither can bear, and which to the +man, at least, are absolute ruin. The practice is continued till health +is impaired, sometimes permanently, and when a patient is at last +obliged to seek medical advice, he is thunderstruck at learning that +his sufferings arise <a name="p227"></a>from excesses unwittingly committed. Married +people often appear to think that connection may be repeated as +regularly and almost as often as their meals. Till they are told of +the danger, the idea never enters their heads that they are guilty of +great and almost criminal excess; nor is this to be wondered at, since +the possibility of such a cause of disease is seldom hinted at by the +medical man they consult."</p> + +<p>"Some go so far as to believe that indulgence may increase these powers, +just as gymnastic exercises augment the force of the muscles. This is +a popular error; and requires correction. Such patients should be told +that the shock on the system each time connection is indulged in, is +very powerful, and that the expenditure of seminal fluid must be +particularly injurious to organs previously debilitated. It is by this +and similar excesses that premature old age and complaints of the +generative organs are brought on."</p> + +<p>"The length to which married people carry excesses is perfectly +astonishing."</p> + +<p>"Since my attention has been particularly called to this class of +ailments, I feel confident that many of the forms of indigestion, +general ill health, hypochondriasis, etc., so often met with in adults, +depend upon sexual excesses.... That this cause of illness is not more +generally acknowledged and acted on, arises from the natural delicacy +which medical men must feel in putting such questions to <a name="p228"></a>their patients +as are necessary to elicit the facts."</p> + +<p>"It is not the body alone which suffers from excesses committed in +married life. Experience every day convinces me that much of the languor +of mind, confusion of ideas, and inability to control the thoughts, +of which some married men complain, arise from this cause."<small>[18]</small></p> + +<blockquote><small>18 Acton.</small></blockquote> + +<p>The debilitating effects of excessive sexual indulgence arise from two +causes; viz., the loss of the seminal fluid, and the nervous excitement. +With reference to the value of the spermatic fluid, Dr. Gardner +remarks:—</p> + +<p>"The sperm is the purest extract of the blood.... Nature, in creating +it, has intended it not only to communicate life, but also to nourish +the individual life. In fact, the re-absorption of the fecundating +liquid impresses upon the entire economy new energy, and a virility +which contributes to the prolongation of life."</p> + +<p><a name="chape4"><b>Testimony of a French Physician.</b></a>—A French author of considerable +note,<small>[19]</small> remarks on the same subject:—</p> + +<p>"Nothing costs the economy so much as the production of semen and its +forced ejaculation. It has been calculated that an ounce of semen was +equivalent to forty ounces of blood.... Semen is the essence of the +whole individual. Hence, Fernel has said, 'Totus homo semen est.' It +is the balm <a name="p229"></a>of life.... That which gives life is intended for its +preservation."</p> + +<blockquote><small>19 Parise.</small></blockquote> + +<p>It may be questioned, perhaps, whether physiology will sustain to the +fullest extent all the statements made in the last quotation; but +perhaps physiology does not appreciate so fully as does pathology the +worth of the most vital of all fluids, and the fearful results which +follow its useless expenditure.</p> + +<p><a name="chape5"><b>Continence of Trainers.</b></a>—"The moderns who are training are well aware +that sexual indulgence wholly unfits them for great feats of strength, +and the captain of a boat strictly forbids his crew anything of the +sort just previous to a match. Some trainers have gone so far as to +assure me that they can discover by a man's style of pulling whether +he has committed such a breach of discipline over night, and have not +scrupled to attribute the occasional loss of matches to this +cause."<small>[20]</small></p> + +<blockquote><small>20 Acton.</small></blockquote> + +<p><a name="chape6"><b>A Cause of Throat Disease.</b></a>—The disease known as "<i>clergyman's sore +throat</i>" is believed by many eminent physicians to have its chief origin +in excessive venery. It is well known that sexual abuse is a very potent +cause of throat diseases. This view is supported by the following from +the pen of the learned Dr. X. Bourgeois:—</p> + +<p>"We ought not, then, to be surprised that the physiological act, +requiring so great an expenditure <a name="p230"></a>of vitality, must be injurious in +the highest degree, when it is reiterated abusively. To engender is +to give a portion of one's life. Does not he who is prodigal of himself +precipitate his own ruin? A peculiar character of the diseases which +have their origin in venereal excesses and masturbation is chronicity."</p> + +<p>"Individual predispositions, acquired or hereditary, engender for each +a series of peculiar ills. In some, the debility bears upon the +pulmonary organs. Hence results the dry cough, prolonged hoarseness, +stitch in the side, spitting of blood, and finally phthisis. How many +examples are there of young debauchees who have been devoured by this +cruel disease!... It is, of all the grave maladies, the one which +venereal abuses provoke the most frequently. Portal, Bayle, Louis, say +this distinctly."</p> + +<p><a name="chape7"><b>A Cause of Consumption.</b></a>—This fatal disease finds a large share of its +victims among those addicted to sexual excesses, either of an illicit +nature or within the marriage pale, for the physical effects are +essentially identical. This cause is especially active and fatal with +sedentary persons, but is sufficiently powerful to undermine the +constitution under the most favorable circumstances, as the following +case illustrates:—</p> + +<p>The patient was a young man of twenty-two, large, muscular, and well +developed, having uncommonly broad shoulders and a full chest. His +<a name="p231"></a>occupation had been healthful, that of a laborer. Had had cough for +several months, and was spitting blood. Examination of lungs showed +that they were hopelessly diseased. There was no trace of consumption +in the family, and the only cause to which the disease could be +attributed was excessive sexual indulgence, which he confessed to have +practiced for several years.</p> + +<p><a name="chape8"><b>Effects on Wives.</b></a>—If husbands are great sufferers, as we have seen, +wives suffer still more terribly, being of feebler constitution, and +hence less able to bear the frequent shock which is suffered by the +nervous system. Dr. Gardner places this evil prominent among the causes +"the result of which we see deplored in the public press of the day, +which warns us that the American race is fast dying out, and that its +place is being filled by emigrants of different lineage, religion, +political ideas, and education."</p> + +<p>The same author remarks further on the results of this with other causes +which largely grow out of it:—</p> + +<p>"It has been a matter of common observation that the physical status +of the women of Christendom has been gradually deteriorating; that +their mental energies were uncertain and spasmodic; that they were +prematurely care-worn, wrinkled, and enervated; that they became +subject to a host of diseases scarcely ever known to the professional +men of past times, but now familiar to, and the <a name="p232"></a>common talk of, the +matrons, and often, indeed, of the youngest females in the community."</p> + +<p>So prevalent are these maladies that Michelet says with truth that the +present is the "age of womb diseases."</p> + +<p>Every physician of observation and experience has met many cases +illustrative of the serious effects of the evil named. Some years ago, +when acting as assistant physician in a large dispensary in an Eastern +city, a young woman applied for examination and treatment. She +presented a great variety of nervous symptoms, prominent among which +were those of mild hysteria and nervous exhaustion, together with +impaired digestion and violent palpitation of the heart. In our +inquiries respecting the cause of these difficulties, we learned that +she had been married but about six months. A little careful questioning +elicited the fact that sexual indulgence was invariably practiced every +night, and often two or three times, occasionally as many as four times +a night. We had the key to her troubles at once, and ordered entire +continence for a month. From her subsequent reports I learned that her +husband would not allow her to comply with the request, but that +indulgence was much less frequent than before. The result was not all +that could be desired, but there was marked improvement. If the husband +had been willing to "do right," entire recovery would have taken place +with rapidity.</p> +<a name="p233"></a> +<p>Another case came under our observation in which the patient, a man, +confessed to having indulged every night for twenty years. We did not +wonder that at forty he was a complete physical wreck.</p> + +<p><a name="chape9"><b>The Greatest Cause of Uterine Disease.</b></a>—Dr. J. R. Black remarks as +follows on this subject:—</p> + +<p>"Medical writers agree that one of the most common causes of the many +forms of derangement to which woman is subject consists in excessive +cohabitation. The diseases known as menorrhagia, dysmenorrhoea, +leucorrhoea, amenorrhoea, abortions, prolapsus, chronic inflammations +and ulcerations of the womb, with a yet greater variety of sympathetic +nervous disorders, are some of the distressing forms of these +derangements. The popular way of accounting for many of these ills is +that they come from colds or from straining lifts. But if colds and +great strain upon the parts in question develop such diseases, why are +they not seen among the inferior animals? The climatic alternations +they endure, the severe labor some of them are obliged to perform, ought +to cause their ruin; or else in popular phrase, 'make them catch their +deaths from cold.'"</p> + +<p><a name="chape10"><b>Legalized Murder.</b></a>—A medical writer of considerable ability presents +the following picture, the counterpart of which almost any one can +recall as having occurred within the circle of his <a name="p234"></a>acquaintance; +perhaps numerous cases will be recalled by one who has been especially +observing:—</p> + +<p>"A man of great vital force is united to a woman of evenly-balanced +organization. The husband, in the exercise of what he is pleased to +term his 'marital rights,' places his wife, in a short time, on the +nervous, delicate, sickly list. In the blindness and ignorance of his +animal nature, he requires prompt obedience to his desires; and, +ignorant of the law of right in this direction, thinking that it is +her duty to accede to his wishes, though fulfilling them with a sore +and troubled heart, she allows him passively, never lovingly, to +exercise daily and weekly, month in and month out, the low and beastly +of his nature, and eventually, slowly but surely, to kill her. And this +man, who has as surely committed murder as has the convicted assassin, +lures to his net and takes unto him another wife, to repeat the same +programme of legalized prostitution on his part, and sickness and +premature death on her part."</p> + +<p>Prof. Gerrish, in a little work from which we take the liberty to quote, +speaks as follows on this subject:—</p> + +<p>"One man reckless of his duty to the community, marries young, with +means and prospects inadequate to support the family which is so sure +to come ere long. His ostensible excuse is love; his real reason the +gratification of his carnal instincts. Another man, in exactly similar +circumstances, but <a name="p235"></a>too conscientious to assume responsibilities which +he cannot carry, and in which failure must compromise the comfort and +tax the purses of people from whom he has no right to extort luxuries, +forbears to marry; but, feeling the passions of his sex, and being +imbued with the prevalent errors on such matters, resorts for relief +to unlawful coition. At the wedding of the former, pious friends +assemble with their presents and congratulations, and bid the legalized +prostitution Godspeed. Love shields the crime, all the more easily +because so many of the rejoicing guests have sinned in precisely the +same way. The other man has no festival gathering.... Society applauds +the first and frowns on the second; but, to my mind, the difference +between them is not markedly in favor of the former."</p> + +<p>"We hear a good deal said about certain crimes against nature, such +as pederasty and sodomy, and they meet with the indignant condemnation +of all right-minded persons. The statutes are especially severe on +offenders of this class, the penalty being imprisonment between one +and ten years, whereas fornication is punished by imprisonment for not +more than sixty days and a fine of less than one hundred dollars. But +the query very pertinently arises just here as to whether the use of +the condom and defertilizing injections is not equally a crime against +nature, and quite as worthy of our detestation and contempt. And, +further, when we <a name="p236"></a>consider the brute creation, and see that they, guided +by instinct, copulate only when the female is in proper physiological +condition and yields a willing consent, it may be suggested that +congress between men and women may, in certain circumstances, be a crime +against nature, and one far worse in its results than any other. Is +it probable that a child born of a connection to which the woman objects +will possess that felicitous organization which every parent should +earnestly desire and endeavor to bestow on his offspring? Can the +unwelcome fruit of a rape be considered, what every child has a right +to be, a pledge of affection? Poor little Pip, in 'Great Expectations,' +spoke as the representative of a numerous class when he said, 'I was +always treated as if I had insisted on being born, in opposition to +the dictates of reason, religion and morality, and against the +dissuading arguments of my best friends.' We enjoin the young to honor +father and mother, never thinking how undeserving of respect are those +whose children suffer from inherited ills, the result of the +selfishness and carelessness of their parents in begetting them.</p> + +<p>"These accidental pregnancies are the great immediate cause of the +enormously common crime of abortion, concerning which the morals of +the people are amazingly blunted. The extent of the practice may be +roughly estimated by the number of standing advertisements in the +family <a name="p237"></a>newspapers, in which feticide is warranted safe and secret. It +is not the poor only who take advantage of such nefarious opportunities; +but the rich shamelessly patronize these professional and cowardly +murderers of defenseless infancy. Madame Restell, who recently died +by her own hand in New York, left a fortune of a million dollars, which +she had accumulated by producing abortions."</p> + +<p>A husband who has not sunk in his carnality too far below the brute +creation will certainly pause a moment, in the face of such terrible +facts, before he continues his sensual, selfish, murderous course.</p> + +<p><a name="chape11"><b>Indulgence during Menstruation.</b></a>—The following remarks which our own +professional experience has several times confirmed, reveal a still +more heinous violation of nature's laws:—</p> + +<p>"To many it may seem that it is unnecessary to caution against +contracting relationships at the period of the monthly flow, thinking +that the instinctive laws of cleanliness and delicacy were sufficient +to refrain the indulgence of the appetites; but they are little +cognizant of the true condition of things in this world. Often have +I had husbands inform me that they had not missed having sexual +relations with their wives once or more times a day for several years; +and scores of women with delicate frames and broken-down health have +revealed to me similar facts, and I have been compelled to make personal +appeals to the husbands."<small>[21]</small></p> + +<blockquote><small>21 Gardner.</small></blockquote> +<a name="p238"></a> +<p>The following is an important testimony by an eminent physician<small>[22]</small> +upon the same point:—</p> + +<p>"Females whose health is in a weak state ... become liable, in +transgressing this law, to an infectious disorder, which, it is +commonly supposed, can only originate or prevail among disreputable +characters; but Dr. Bumstead and a number of other eminent authorities +believe and teach that gonorrhoea may originate among women entirely +virtuous in the ordinary sense of the term. That excessive venery is +the chief cause that originates this peculiar form of inflammation, +has long been the settled opinion of medical men."</p> + +<blockquote><small>22 Dr. J. R. Black.</small></blockquote> + +<p>It seems scarcely possible that such enormity could be committed by +any human being, at least by civilized men, and in the face of the +injunctions of Moses to the Jews, to say nothing of the evident +indecency of the act. The Jews still maintain their integrity to the +observance of this command of their ancient lawgiver.</p> + +<p>"Reason and experience both show that sexual relations at the menstrual +period are very dangerous to both man and woman, and perhaps also for +the offspring, should there chance to be conception."<small>[23]</small></p> + +<blockquote><small>23 Mayer.</small></blockquote> + +<p>The woman suffers from the congestion and nervous excitement which +occur at the most inopportune moment possible. Man may suffer physical +injury, though there are no grounds for <a name="p239"></a>the assertions of Pliny that +the menstrual blood is so potent for evil that it will, by a mere touch, +rust iron, render a tree sterile, make dogs mad, etc., or that of +Paracelsus that "of it the devil makes spiders, fleas, caterpillars, +and all the other insects that people the air."</p> + +<p><a name="chape12"><b>Effects upon Offspring.</b></a>—That those guilty of the transgression should +suffer, seems only just; but that an innocent being who had no part +in the sin—no voice in the time or manner of its advent into the +world—that such a one should suffer equally, if not more bitterly, +with the transgressors themselves, seems anything but just. But such +is nature's inexorable law, that the iniquities of the parents shall +be visited upon the children; and this fact should be a most powerful +influence to prevent parental transgression, especially in this +direction, in which the dire consequences fall so heavily and so +immediately upon an innocent being.</p> + +<p>Says Acton, "The ill effects of marital excesses are not confined to +offending parties. No doubt can exist that many of the obscure cases +of sickly children, born of apparently healthy parents, arise from this +cause; and this is borne out by investigations amongst animals."</p> + +<p>Breeders of stock who wish to secure sound progeny will not allow the +most robust stallion to associate with mares as many times during the +whole season as some of these salacious human males <a name="p240"></a>perform a similar +act within a month. One reason why the offspring suffer is that the +seminal fluid deteriorates very rapidly by repeated indulgence. The +spermatozoa do not have time to become maturely developed. Progeny +resulting from such immature elements will possess the same deficiency. +Hence the hosts of deformed, scrofulous, weazen, and idiotic children +which curse the race, and testify to the sensuality of their progenitors. +Another reason is the physical and nervous exhaustion which the parents +bring upon themselves, and which totally unfits them to beget sound, +healthy offspring.</p> + +<p>The effects of this evil may often be traced in a large family of +children, nearly all of whom show traces of the excesses of their +parents. It commonly happens, too, that such large families are on the +hands of poor men who cannot earn enough to give them sufficient food +and comfortable clothing, with nothing whatever to provide for their +education. The overburdened mother has her strength totally exhausted +by the excessive demands upon her system incident to child-bearing, +so that she is unable to give her children that culture and training +which all children need. More than as likely as not she feels that they +were forced upon her, and hence she cannot hold for them all that tender +sympathy and affection a mother should feel. The little ones grow up +ignorant and often vicious; for want of home care drives them to the +street. Thus does one evil create another.</p> +<a name="p241"></a> +<p>It is certainly a question which deserves some attention, whether it +is not a sin for parents to bring into the world more children than +they can properly care for. If they can rear and educate three children +properly, the same work would be only half done for six; and there are +already in the world a sufficiency of half-raised people. From this +class of society the ranks of thieves, drunkards, beggars, vagabonds, +and prostitutes, are recruited. Why should it be considered an improper +or immoral thing to limit the number of children according to the +circumstances of the parents? Ought it not to be considered a crime +against childhood and against the race to do otherwise? It is seriously +maintained by a number of distinguished persons that man "is in duty +bound to limit the number of his children as well as the sheep on his +farm; the number of each to be according to the adequacy of his means +for their support."</p> + +<p><a name="chape13"><b>Indulgence during Pregnancy.</b></a>—Transgressions of this sort are followed +by the worst results of any form of marital excess. The mother suffers +doubly, because laden with the burden of supporting two lives instead +of one. But the results upon the child are especially disastrous. During +the time when it is receiving its stock of vitality, while its plastic +form is being molded, and its various organs acquiring that integrity +of structure which makes up what is called constitutional +vigor,—during this most critical of all periods in the life of the +new <a name="p242"></a>being, its resources are exhausted and its structure depraved—and +thus constitutional tendencies to disease produced—by the unnatural +demands made upon the mother.</p> + +<p><a name="chape14"><b>Effect upon the Character.</b></a>—Still another terrible consequence results +from this practice so contrary to nature. The delicate brain, which +is being molded, with the other organs of the body, receives its cast +largely from those mental and nervous sensations and actions of the +mother which are the most intense. One of the most certain effects of +sexual indulgence at this time is to develop abnormally the sexual +instinct in the child. Here is the key to the origin of much of the +sexual precocity and depravity which curse humanity. Sensuality is born +in the souls of a large share of the rising generation. What wonder +that prostitution flourishes in spite of Christianity and civil law?</p> + +<p>It is scarcely necessary to say that all medical testimony concurs in +forbidding indulgence during gestation. The same reasons require its +interdiction during the nursing period. The fact that fecundation would +be impossible during pregnancy, and that during this period the female, +normally, has no sexual desire, are other powerful arguments in favor +of perfect continence at this time.</p> + +<p>We quote the following from a work on health by Dr. J. R. Black:—</p> + +<p>"Coition during pregnancy is one of the ways in which the predisposition +is laid for that terrible <a name="p243"></a>disease in children, epilepsy. The unnatural +excitement of the nervous system in the mother by such a cause cannot +operate otherwise than by inflicting injury upon the tender germ in +her womb. This germ, it must be remembered, derives every quality it +possesses from the parents, as well as every particle of matter of which +it is composed. The old notion of anything like spontaneity in the +development of the qualities of a new being is at variance with all +the latest facts and inductions concerning reproduction. And so is that +of a creative fiat. The smallest organic cell, as well as the most +complicated organism, in form and quality, is wholly dependent upon +the laws of derivation.</p> + +<p>"These laws are competent to explain, however subtle the ultimate +process may be, the great diversities of human organization and +character. Impressions from without, the emotions, conduct, and play +of the organic processes within, are never alike from day to day, or +from hour to hour; and it is from the aggregate of these in the parents, +but especially of those in the mother immediately before and after +conception, that the quality of the offspring is determined. Suppose, +then, that there is every now and then an unnatural, excited, and +exhausted state of the nervous system produced in the mother by +excessive cohabitation, is it any wonder that the child's nervous +system, which derives its qualities from those of its parents, should +take its peculiar stamp from that of the parent in whom it lives, moves, +and has its being?</p> +<a name="p244"></a> +<p>"In the adult, epilepsy is frequently developed by excessive venery; +and the child born with such a predisposition will be exceedingly liable +to the disease during its early years when the nervous system is +notoriously prone to deranged action from very slight disturbing +causes.</p> + +<p>"The infringement of this law regulating intercourse during pregnancy +also reacts injuriously upon the mental capacity of the child, tending +to give it a stupid, animalized look; and, there is also good reason +to believe, aids in developing the idiotic condition."</p> + +<p><a name="chape15"><b>A Selfish Objection.</b></a>—The married man will raise the plea that +indulgence is to him a necessity. He has only to practice the principles +laid down for the maintenance of continence to entirely remove any such +necessity should there be the slightest semblance of a real demand. +Again, what many mistake for an indication of the necessity for +indulgence, to relieve an accumulation of semen, is in fact, to state +the exact truth, but a call of nature for a movement of the bowels. +How this may occur, has already been explained, as being due to the +pressure of the distended rectum upon the internal organs of generation +situated at the base of the bladder. It is for this reason, chiefly, +that a good share of sexual excesses occur in the morning.</p> + +<p>But, aside from all other considerations, is it not the most supreme +selfishness for a man to consider only himself in his sexual relations, +making his <a name="p245"></a>wife wholly subservient to his own desires? As a learned +professor remarks, in speaking of woman, "Who has a right to regard +her as a therapeutic agent?"</p> + +<p><a name="chape16"><b>Brutes and Savages More Considerate.</b></a>—It is only the civilized, +Christianized (?) male human being who complains of the restraint +imposed upon him by the laws of nature. The untutored barbarian, even +some of the lowest of those who wear the human form, together with nearly +all of the various classes of lower animals, abstain from sexual +indulgence during pregnancy. The natives of the Gold Coast and many +other African tribes regard it as a shameful offense to cohabit during +gestation. In the case of lower animals, even when the male desires +indulgence, the female resents any attempt of the sort by the most +vigorous resistance.</p> + +<p>Are not these wholesome lessons for that portion of the human race which +professes to represent the accumulated wisdom, intelligence, and +refinement of the world? Those who need reproof on this point may +reflect that by a continuance of the evil practice they are placing +themselves on a plane even below the uncouth negro who haunts the +jungles of Southern Africa.</p> + +<p>We quote the following from the pen of a talented professor in a +well-known medical college:—</p> + +<p>"I believe we cannot too strenuously insist upon this point—that +sexual intercourse should never be undertaken with any other object +than procreation, <a name="p246"></a>and never then unless the conditions are favorable +to the production of a new being who will be likely to have cause to +thankfully bless his parents for the gift of life. If this rule were +generally observed, we should have no broken-nosed Tristram Shandys +complaining of the carelessness of their fathers in begetting +them."<small>[24]</small></p> + +<blockquote><small>24 Dr. Gerrish.</small></blockquote> + +<p><a name="chape17"><b>What May Be Done?</b></a>—But what is the practical conclusion to be drawn +from all the foregoing? What <i>should</i> people do? what <i>may</i> they do? +Dr. Gardner offers the following remarks, which partially answer the +questions:—</p> + +<p>"We have shown that we can '<small>DO RIGHT</small>' without prejudice to health by +the exercise of continence. Self-restraint, the ruling of the passions, +is a virtue, and is within the power of all well-regulated minds. Nor +is this necessarily perpetual or absolute. The passions may be +restrained within proper limitations. He who indulges in lascivious +thoughts may stimulate himself to frenzy; but if his mind were under +proper control, he would find other employment for it, and his body, +obedient to its potent sway, would not become the master of the man."</p> + +<p>What are the "proper limitations," every person must decide for himself +in view of the facts which have been presented. If he find that the +animal in his nature is too strong to allow him to comply with what +seems to be the requirements of natural law, let him approximate as +nearly to the truth as <a name="p247"></a>possible. "Let every man be fully persuaded in +his own mind," and act accordingly, not forgetting that this is a matter +with serious moral bearings, and, hence, one in which conscience should +be on the alert. It is of no use to reject truth because it is unpalatable. +There can be nothing worse for a man than to "know the truth and do +it not."</p> + +<p>It is but fair to say that there is a wide diversity of opinion among +medical men on this subject. A very few hold that the sexual act should +never be indulged except for the purpose of reproduction, and then only +at periods when reproduction will be possible. Others, while equally +opposed to the excesses, the effects of which have been described, limit +indulgence to the number of months in the year.</p> + +<p>Read, reflect, weigh well the matter, then fix upon a plan of action, +and, if it be in accordance with the dictates of better judgment, do +not swerve from it.</p> + +<p>If the suggestion made near the outset of these remarks, in comparing +the reproductive function in man and animals—viz., that the seasons +of sexual approach should be governed by the inclination of the +female—were conscientiously followed, it would undoubtedly do away +with at least three-fourths of the excesses which have been under +consideration. Before rejecting the hint so plainly offered by nature, +let every man consider for a moment whether he has any other than purely +selfish arguments to produce against it.</p> +<a name="p248"></a> +<p><a name="chape18"><b>Early Moderation.</b></a>—The time of all others when moderation is most +imperatively demanded, yet least likely to be practiced, is at the +beginning of matrimonial life. Many a woman dates the beginning of a +life of suffering from the first night after marriage; and the mental +suffering from the disgusting and even horrible recollections of that +night, the events of which were scarred upon her mind as well as upon +her body, have made her equally as wretched mentally as bodily.</p> + +<p>A learned French writer, in referring to this subject, says, "The +husband who begins with his wife by a rape is a lost man. He will never +be loved."</p> + +<p>We quote the following very sensible words from Dr. Napheys:—</p> + +<p>"It sometimes happens that marriage is consummated with difficulty. +To overcome this, care, management, and forbearance should always be +employed, and anything like precipitation and violence avoided."</p> + +<p>Cases have come under our care of young wives who have required months +of careful treatment to repair the damage inflicted on their wedding +night. A medical writer has reported a case in which he was called upon +to testify in a suit for divorce, which is an illustration of so gross +a degree of sensuality that the perpetrator certainly deserved most +severe punishment. The victim, a beautiful and accomplished young lady, +to please her <a name="p249"></a>parents, was married to a man much older than herself, +riches being the chief attraction. She at once began to pine, and in +a very few months was a complete wreck. Emaciated, spiritless, haggard, +she was scarcely a shadow of her former self. The physician who was +called in, upon making a local examination, found those delicate organs +in a state of most terrible laceration and inflammation. The bladder, +rectum, and other adjacent organs, were highly inflamed, and sensitive +in the highest degree. Upon inquiring respecting the cause, he found +that from the initial night she had been subjected to the most excessive +demands by her husband, "day and night." The tortures she had undergone +had been terrific; and her mind trembled upon the verge of insanity. +She entered suit for divorce on the charge of cruelty, but was defeated, +the judge ruling that the law has no jurisdiction in matters of that +sort.</p> + +<p>In another somewhat similar case which came to our knowledge, a young +wife was delivered from the lecherous assaults of her husband—for they +were no better—by the common sense of her neighbor friends, who +gathered in force and insisted upon their discontinuance. It is only +now and then that cases of this sort come to the surface. The majority +of them are hidden deep down in the heart of the poor, heart-broken +wife, and too often they are hidden along with the victim in an early +grave.</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br><a name="p250"></a> +<div><h2><a name="chapf">PREVENTION OF CONCEPTION:</a></h2></div> +<h4>ITS EVILS AND DANGERS.</h4> +<br> +<p>The evil considered in the preceding section is by far the greatest +cause of those which will be dwelt upon in this. Excesses are habitually +practiced through ignorance or carelessness of their direct results, +and then to prevent the legitimate result of the reproductive act, +innumerable devices are employed to render it fruitless. To even +mention all of these would be too great a breach of propriety, even +in this plain-spoken work; but accurate description is unnecessary, +since those who need this warning are perfectly familiar with all the +foul accessories of evil thus employed. We cannot do better than to +quote from the writings of several of the most eminent authors upon +this subject. The following paragraphs are from the distinguished Mayer, +who has already been frequently quoted:—</p> + +<p>"The numerous stratagems invented by debauch to annihilate the natural +consequences of coition, have all the same end in view."</p> + +<p><a name="chapf1"><b>Conjugal Onanism.</b></a>—"The soiling of the conjugal bed by the shameful +maneuvers to which we have made allusion, is mentioned for the first +time in Gen. 38:6, and following verses: 'And it came to pass, when +he [Onan] went in unto his brother's <a name="p251"></a>wife, that he spilled it on the +ground, lest that he should give seed to his brother. And the thing +which he did displeased the Lord; wherefore he slew him.'</p> + +<p>"Hence the name of <i>conjugal onanism</i>.</p> + +<p>"One cannot tell to what great extent this vice is practiced, except +by observing its consequences, even among people who fear to commit +the slightest sin, to such a degree is the public conscience perverted +upon this point. Still, many husbands know that nature often succeeds +in rendering nugatory the most subtle calculations, and reconquers the +rights which they have striven to frustrate. No matter; they persevere, +none the less, and by the force of habit they poison the most blissful +moments of life, with no surety of averting the result that they fear. +So, who knows if the infants, too often feeble and weazen, are not the +fruit of these in themselves incomplete <i>procreations</i>, and disturbed +by preoccupations foreign to the generic act? Is it not reasonable to +suppose that the creative power, not meeting in its disturbed functions +the conditions necessary for the elaboration of a normal product, the +conception might be from its origin imperfect, and the being which +proceeded therefrom, one of those monsters which are described in +treatises on teratology?"</p> + +<p>"Let us see, now, what are the consequences to those given to this +practice of conjugal onanism.</p> + +<p>"We have at our disposition numerous facts <a name="p252"></a>which rigorously prove the +disastrous influence of abnormal coitus to the woman, but we think it +useless to publish them. All practitioners have more or less observed +them, and it will only be necessary for them to call upon their memories +to supply what our silence leaves. 'However, it is not difficult to +conceive,' says Dr. Francis Devay, 'the degree of perturbation that +a like practice should exert upon the genital system of woman by +provoking desires which are not gratified. A profound stimulation is +felt through the entire apparatus; the uterus, fallopian tubes, and +ovaries enter into a state of orgasm, a storm which is not appeased +by the natural crisis; a nervous super-excitation persists. There +occurs, then, what would take place if, presenting food to a famished +man, one should snatch it from his mouth after having thus violently +excited his appetite. The sensibilities of the womb and the entire +reproductive system are teased for no purpose. It is to this cause, +too often repeated, that we should attribute the multiple neuroses, +those strange affections which originate in the genital system of woman. +Our conviction respecting them is based upon a great number of +observations. Furthermore, the normal relations existing between the +married couple undergo unfortunate changes; this affection, founded +upon reciprocal esteem, is little by little effaced by the repetition +of an act which pollutes the marriage bed; from thence proceed <a name="p253"></a>certain +hard feelings, certain deep impressions which, gradually growing, +eventuate in the scandalous ruptures of which the community rarely know +the real motive.'</p> + +<p>"If the good harmony of families and their reciprocal relations are +seriously menaced by the invasion of these detestable practices, the +health of women, as we have already intimated, is fearfully injured. +A great number of neuralgias appear to us to have no other cause. Many +women that we have interrogated on this matter have fortified this +opinion. But that which to us has passed to the condition of +incontestable proof, is the prevalence of uterine troubles, of +enervation among the married, hysterical symptoms which are met with +in the conjugal relation as often as among young virgins, arising from +the vicious habits of the husbands in their conjugal intercourse.... +Still more, there is a graver affection, which is daily increasing, +and which, if nothing arrests its invasion, will soon have attained +the proportions of a scourge; we speak of the degeneration of the womb. +We do not hesitate to place in the foremost rank, among the causes of +this redoubtable disease, the refinements of civilization, and +especially the artifices introduced in our day in the generic act. When +there is no procreation, although the procreative faculties are excited, +we see these pseudo-morphoses arise. Thus it is noticed that polypi +and schirrus [cancer] <a name="p254"></a>of the womb are common among prostitutes. And +it is easy to account for the manner of action of this pathogenetic +cause, if we consider how probable it is that the ejaculation and +contact of the sperm with the uterine neck, constitutes, for the woman, +the crisis of the genital function, by appeasing the venereal orgasm +and calming the voluptuous emotions under the action of which the entire +economy is convulsed."</p> + +<p>"We may, we trust, be pardoned for remarking upon the artifices imagined +to prevent fecundation that there is in them an immense danger, of +incalculable limits. We do not fear to be contradicted or taxed with +exaggeration in elevating them into the proportions of a true +calamity."</p> + +<p>The following is from an eminent physician<small>[25]</small> who for many years +devoted his whole attention to the diseases of women and lectured upon +the subject in a prominent medical college:—</p> + +<p>"It is undeniable that all the methods employed to prevent pregnancy +are physically injurious. Some of these have been characterized with +sufficient explicitness, and the injury resulting from incomplete +coitus to both parties has been made evident to all who are willing +to be convinced. It should require but a moment's consideration to +convince any one of the harmfulness of the common use of cold ablutions +and astringent infusions and various medicated washes. Simple <a name="p255"></a>and often +wonderfully salutary as is cold water to a diseased limb, festering +with inflammation, yet few are rash enough to cover a gouty toe, +rheumatic knee, or erysipelatous head with cold water.... Yet, when +in the general state of nervous and physical excitement attendant upon +coitus, when the organs principally engaged in this act are congested +and turgid with blood, do you think you can with impunity throw a flood +of cold or even lukewarm water far into the vitals in a continual stream? +Often, too, women add strong medicinal agents, intended to destroy by +dissolution the spermatic germs, ere they have time to fulfill their +natural destiny. These powerful astringents suddenly corrugate and +close the glandular structure of the parts, and this is followed, +necessarily, by a corresponding reaction, and the final result is +debility and exhaustion, signalized by leucorrhoea, prolapsus, and +other diseases.</p> + +<p>"Finally, of the use of intermediate tegumentary coverings, made of +thin rubber or gold-beater's skin, and so often relied upon as absolute +preventives, Madame de Stael is reputed to have said, 'They are cobwebs +for protection, and bulwarks against love.' Their employment certainly +must produce a feeling of shame and disgust utterly destructive of the +true delight of pure hearts and refined sensibilities. They are +suggestive of licentiousness and the brothel, and their employment +degrades to bestiality the true feelings of manhood <a name="p256"></a>and the holy state +of matrimony. Neither do they give, except in a very limited degree, +the protection desired. Furthermore, they produce (as alleged by the +best modern French writers, who are more familiar with the effect of +their use than we are in the United States) certain physical lesions +from their irritating presence as foreign bodies, and also, from the +chemicals employed in their fabrication, and other effects inseparable +from their employment, ofttimes of a really serious nature.</p> + +<p>"I will not further enlarge upon these instrumentalities. Sufficient +has been said to convince any one that to trifle with the grand functions +of our organism, to attempt to deceive and thwart nature in her highly +ordained prerogatives—no matter how simple seem to be the means +employed—is to incur a heavy responsibility and run a fearful risk. +It matters little whether a railroad train is thrown from the track +by a frozen drop of rain or a huge bowlder lying in the way, the result +is the same, the injuries as great. Moral degradation, physical +disability, premature exhaustion and decrepitude are the result of +these physical frauds, and force upon our conviction the adage, which +the history of every day confirms, that 'honesty is the best policy.'"</p> + +<blockquote><small>25 Dr. Gardner.</small></blockquote> + +<p>Within the last ten years we have had under treatment many hundred cases +of ladies suffering from ailments of a character peculiar to the sex; +and in becoming acquainted with the history of <a name="p257"></a>individual cases we have, +in many instances, found that the real cause of the disease which had +sapped the vitality and undermined the constitution slowly but surely +until cheerful health and freshness had given place to suffering, +debility, and, in many cases, most deplorable melancholy, was the very +crime against nature mentioned in the preceding paragraphs. The effects +of these sins against nature are frequently not felt for years after +the cause has been at work, and even then are seldom attributed to the +true cause. In some instances we have known persons to suffer on for +many years without having once suspected that the cause of their +sufferings was a palpable violation of nature's laws. Uterine diseases +thus induced are among the most obstinate of diseases of this class, +being often of long standing, and hence of a very serious character. +Dr. Wm. Goodell of Philadelphia has recently called attention to the +fact that the prevention of conception is one of the most common causes +of prolapsus of the ovaries, a very common and painful disease. Not +infrequently, too, other organs, particularly the bladder, become +affected, either through sympathy or in consequence of the congested +condition of the contiguous parts.</p> + +<p>A difficulty which we have often met with has been the inability to +convince those who have been guilty of the practices referred to, of +the enormity of the sin against both soul and body. In spite of all +<a name="p258"></a>warnings, perhaps supplemented by sufferings, the practice will often +be continued, producing in the end the most lamentable results. Too +often it is the case that this reluctance to obey the dictates of +Nature's laws is the result of the unfeeling and unreasonable demands +of a selfish husband.</p> + +<p><a name="chapf3"><b>Shaker Views.</b></a>—The Shakers do not, as many suppose, believe wholly in +celibacy. They believe in marriage and reproduction regulated by the +natural law. They, also, would limit population, but not by interfering +with nature; rather, by following nature's indications to the very +letter. They believe "that no animals should use their reproductive +powers and organs for any other than the simple purpose of procreation." +Recognizing the fact that this is the law among lower animals, they +insist upon applying it to man. Thus they find no necessity for the +employment of those abominable contrivances so common among those who +disregard the laws of nature. Who will not respect the purity which +must characterize sexual relations so governed? Such a method for +regulating the number of offspring is in immense contrast with that +of the Oneida Community, which opens the door to the unstinted +gratification of lust, separates the reproductive act entirely from +its original purpose, and makes it the means of mere selfish, sensual, +beastly—worse than brutish—gratification.</p> + +<p>Those who are acquainted with the history of the founder of this +community are obliged to look <a name="p259"></a>upon him as a scheming sensualist who +well knows the truth, but deliberately chooses a course of evil, and +beguiles into his snares others as sensual as himself. The abominations +practiced among the members of the community which he has founded are +represented by those who have had an inside view of its workings as +too foul to mention. It seems almost wonderful that Providence does +not lay upon this gigantic brothel his hand of vengeance as in ancient +times he did upon Sodom, which could hardly have been more sunken in +infamy than is this den of licentiousness. It is, indeed, astonishing +that it should be tolerated in the midst of a country which professes +to regard virtue and respect the marriage institution. We are glad to +note that popular opinion is calling loudly for the eradication of this +foul ulcer. Only a short time ago a convention of more than fifty +ministers met at Syracuse, N. Y., for the express purpose of considering +ways and means for the removal of this blot "by legal measures or +otherwise." We sincerely wish them success; and it appears to us that +the people in that vicinity would be justified should they rise <i>en +masse</i> and purge their community of an evil so heinous, in case no civil +authority can be induced to do the work of expurgation.<small>[26]</small></p> + +<blockquote><small>26 Just as this edition is going to press we receive the +gratifying information that the younger members of the Community have +become disgusted with their sensual life and announced that their +former vile practices will be discontinued. Mr. Noyes with a few +followers has sought refuge in Canada.—<small>J. H. K.</small></small></blockquote> +<a name="p260"></a> +<p><a name="chapf4"><b>Moral Bearings of the Question.</b></a>—Most of the considerations presented +thus far have been of a physical character, though occasional +references to the moral aspect of the question have been made. In a +certain sense—and a true one—the question is wholly a moral one; for +what moral right have men or women to do that which will injure the +integrity of the physical organism given them, and for which they are +accountable to their Creator? Surely none; for the man who destroys +himself by degrees, is no less a murderer than he who cuts his throat +or puts a bullet through his brain. The crime is the same—being the +shortening of human life—whether the injury is done to one's self or +to another. In this matter, there are at least three sufferers; the +husband, the wife, and the offspring, though in most cases, doubtless, +the husband is the one to whom the sin almost exclusively belongs.</p> + +<p><a name="chapf5"><b>Unconsidered Murders.</b></a>—But there is a more startling phase of this +moral question. It is not impossible to show that actual violence is +done to a human life.</p> + +<p>It has been previously shown that in the two elements, the ovum of the +female, and the spermatozoön of the male, are, in rudimentary form, +all the elements which go to make up the "human form divine." Alone, +neither of these elements can become anything more than it already is; +but the instant that the two elements come in contact, <a name="p261"></a>fecundation takes +place, and the individual life begins. From that moment until maturity +is reached, years subsequently, the whole process is only one of +development. Nothing absolutely new is added at any subsequent moment. +In view of these facts, it is evident that at the very instant of +conception the embryonic human being possesses all the right to life +it ever can possess. It is just as much an individual, a distinct human +being, possessed of soul and body, as it ever is, though in a very +immature form. That conception may take place during the reproductive +act cannot be denied. If, then, means are employed with a view to prevent +conception immediately after the accomplishment of the act, or at any +subsequent time, if successful, it would be by destroying the delicate +product of the conception which had already occurred, and which, as +before observed, is as truly a distinct individual as it can ever +become—certainly as independent as at any time previous to birth.</p> + +<p>Is it immoral to take human life? Is it a sin to kill a child? Is it +a crime to strangle an infant at birth? Is it a murderous act to destroy +a half-formed human being in its mother's womb? Who will dare to answer +"No," to one of these questions? Then, who can refuse assent to the +plain truth that it is equally a murder to deprive of life the most +recent product of the generative act?</p> + +<p>Who can number the myriads of murders that <a name="p262"></a>have been perpetrated at +this early period of existence? Who can estimate the load of guilt that +weighs upon some human souls? and who knows how many brilliant lights +have been thus early extinguished? how many promising human plantlets +thus ruthlessly destroyed in the very act of germinating? It is to be +hoped that in the final account the extenuating influence of ignorance +may weigh heavily in the scale of justice against the damning testimony +of these "unconsidered murders."</p> + +<p><a name="chapf6"><b>The Charge Disputed.</b></a>—It will be urged that these early destructions +are not murders. Murder is an awful word. The act itself is a terrible +crime. No wonder that its personal application should be studiously +avoided; the human being who would not shrink from such a charge would +be unworthy of the name of human—a very brute. Nevertheless, it is +necessary to look the plain facts squarely in the face, and shrink not +from the decision of an enlightened conscience. We quote the following +portions of an extract which we give in full elsewhere; it is from the +same distinguished authority<small>[27]</small> whom we have frequently quoted:—</p> + +<p>"There is, in fact, no moment after conception when it can be said that +the child has not life, and the crime of destroying human life is as +heinous and as sure before the period of 'quickening' has been attained, +as afterward. But you still defend <a name="p263"></a>your horrible deed by saying: 'Well, +if there be, as you say, this mere animal life, equivalent at the most +to simple vitality, there is no mind, no soul destroyed, and, therefore, +there is no crime committed.' Just so surely as one would destroy and +root out of existence all the fowls in the world by destroying all the +eggs in existence, so certain is it that you do by your act destroy +the animal man in the egg and the soul which animates it.... Murder +is always sinful, and murder is the willful destruction of a human being +at any period of its existence, from its earliest germinal embryo to +its final, simple, animal existence in aged decrepitude and complete +mental imbecility."</p> + +<blockquote><small>27 Gardner.</small></blockquote> + +<p><a name="chapf7"><b>Difficulties.</b></a>—Married people will exclaim, "What shall we do?" +Delicate mothers who have already more children on their hands than +they can care for, whose health is insufficient to longer endure the +pains and burdens of pregnancy, but whose sensual husbands continue +to demand indulgence, will echo in despairing tones, while +acknowledging the truth, "What shall <i>we</i> do?" We will answer the question +for the latter first.</p> + +<p>Mr. Mill, the distinguished English logician, in his work on "The +Subjection of Woman," thus represents the erroneous view which is +popularly held of the sexual relations of the wife to the husband: "The +wife, however brutal a tyrant she may be chained to—though she may +know that he hates her, though it may be his daily pleasure to torture +<a name="p264"></a>her, and though she may feel it impossible not to loathe him—he can +claim from her and enforce the lowest degradation of a human being, +that of being made the instrument of an animal function contrary to +her inclinations."</p> + +<p><a name="chapf8"><b>Woman's Rights.</b></a>—A woman does not, upon the performance of the marriage +ceremony, surrender all her personal rights. The law recognizes this +fact if her husband beats her, or in any way injures her by physical +force, or even by neglect. Why may she not claim protection from other +maltreatment as well? or, at least, why may she not refuse to lend +herself to beastly lust? She remains the proprietor of her own body, +though married; and who is so lost to all sense of justice, equity, +and even morality, as to claim that she is under any moral obligation +to allow her body to be abused?</p> + +<p>Since the first edition of this work was published, we have many times +been appealed to by suffering wives in the most pathetic terms. In many +instances the poor wife was suffering with local disease of a serious +character, making sexual approaches in the highest degree painful as +well as repugnant; yet notwithstanding this, the demands of the husband +for the gratification of his bestial passions were, in many instances, +in no degree lessened by a knowledge of the facts in the case.</p> + +<p>In cases like these it is often a very delicate and exceedingly +difficult task to point out the duty of the suffering wife and mother. +The duty of the <a name="p265"></a>husband is very plain, and to him the wise physician +will appeal in a manner which cannot fail to arouse him to a sense of +his duty if there is yet left unconsumed by the fires of lust even a +vestige of genuine manhood.</p> + +<p><a name="chapf9"><b>What to Do.</b></a>—Now to the question as asked by the first parties—married +people who together seek for a solution of the difficulties arising +from an abandonment of all protectives against fecundation. The true +remedy, and the natural one, is doubtless to be found in the suggestion +made under the heads of "Continence" and "Marital Excesses." By a course +of life in accordance with the principles there indicated, all of these +evils and a thousand more would be avoided. There would be less sensual +enjoyment, but more elevated joy. There would be less animal love, but +more spiritual communion; less grossness, more purity; less +development of the animal, and a more fruitful soil for the culture +of virtue, holiness, and all the Christian graces.</p> + +<p>"But such a life would be impossible this side of Heaven." A few who +claim to have tried the experiment think not. The Shakers claim to +practice, as well as teach, such principles; and with the potent aids +to continence previously specified, it might be found less difficult +in realization than in thought.</p> + +<p><a name="chapf10"><b>A Compromise.</b></a>—There will be many, the vast majority, perhaps, who will +not bring their minds <a name="p266"></a>to accept the truth which nature seems to teach, +which would confine sexual acts to reproduction wholly. Others, +acknowledging the truth, declare "the spirit willing" though "the flesh +is weak." Such will inquire, "Is there not some compromise by means +of which we may escape the greater evils of our present mode of life?" +Such may find in the following facts suggestions for a "better way," +if not the <i>best</i> way, though it cannot be recommended as wholly free +from dangers, and though it cannot be said of it that it is not an +<i>unnatural</i> way:—</p> + +<p>"Menstruation in woman indicates an aptitude for impregnation, and this +condition remains for a period of six or eight days after the entire +completion of the flow. During this time only can most women conceive. +Allow twelve days for the onset of the menses to pass by, and the +probabilities of impregnation are very slight. This act of continence +is healthful, moral, and irreproachable."<small>[28]</small></p> + +<blockquote><small>28 Gardner.</small></blockquote> + +<p>It should be added to the above that the plan suggested is not absolutely +certain to secure immunity from conception. The period of abstinence +should certainly extend from the beginning of menstruation to the +fourteenth day. To secure even reasonable safety, it is necessary to +practice further abstinence for three or four days previous to the +beginning of the flow.</p> + +<p>Many writers make another suggestion which <a name="p267"></a>would certainly be +beneficial to individual health; viz., that the husband and wife should +habitually occupy separate beds. Such a practice would undoubtedly +serve to keep the sexual instincts in abeyance. Separate apartments, +or at least the separation of the beds by a curtain, are recommended +by some estimable physicians, who suggest that such a plan would enable +both parties to conduct their morning ablutions with proper +thoroughness and without sacrificing that natural modesty which +operates so powerfully as a check upon the excessive indulgence of the +passions. Many will think the suggestion a good one and will make a +practical application of it. Sleeping in single beds is reputed to be +a European custom of long standing among the higher classes.</p> + +<p>This subject cannot be concluded better than by the following +quotations from an excellent and able work entitled, "The Ten Laws of +Health"<small>[29]</small>:—</p> + +<p>"The obvious design of the sexual desire is the reproduction of the +species.... The gratification of this passion, or indeed of any other, +beyond its legitimate end, is an undoubted violation of natural law, +as may be determined by the light of nature, and by the resulting moral +and physical evils."</p> + +<p>"Those creatures not gifted with erring reason, but with unerring +instinct, and that have not the liberty of choice between good and evil, +cohabit <a name="p268"></a>only at stated periods, when pleasure and reproduction are +alike possible. It is so ordered among them that the means and the end +are never separated; and as it was the all-wise Being who endowed them +with this instinct, without the responsibility resulting from the power +to act otherwise, it follows that it is <small>HIS LAW</small>, and must, therefore, +be the true copy for all beings to follow having the same functions +to perform, and for the same end. The mere fact that men and women have +the power and liberty of conforming or not conforming to this copy does +not set them free from obedience to a right course, nor from the +consequences of disobedience."</p> + +<p>"The end of sexual pleasure being to reproduce the species, it follows, +from the considerations just advanced, that when the sexual function +is diverted from its end, reproduction, or if the means be used when +the end is impossible, harm or injury should ensue."</p> + +<p>"Perhaps the number is not small of those who think there is nothing +wrong in an unlimited indulgence of the sexual propensity during +married life. The marriage vow seems to be taken as equivalent to the +freest license, about which there need be no restraint. Yet, if there +is any truth in the law in reference to the enjoyment of the means only +when the end is possible, the necessity of the limitation of this +indulgence during married life is clearly as great as for that of any +other sensual pleasure.</p> +<a name="p269"></a> +<p>"A great majority of those constituting the most highly civilized +communities, act upon the belief that anything not forbidden by sacred +or civil law is neither sinful nor wrong. They have not found +cohabitation during pregnancy forbidden; nor have they ever had their +attention drawn to the injury to health and organic development, which +such a practice inflicts. Hence, a habitual yielding to inclination +in this matter has determined their life-long behavior.</p> + +<p>"The infringement of this law in the married state does not produce +in the husband any very serious disorder. Debility, aches, cramps, and +a tendency to epileptic seizures, are sometimes seen as the effects +of great excess. An evil of no small account is the steady growth of +the sexual passion by habitual unrestraint. It is in this way that what +is known as libidinous blood is nursed as well among those who are +strictly virtuous, in the ordinary meaning of the term, as among those +who are promiscuous in their intercourse.</p> + +<p>"The wife and the offspring are the chief sufferers by the violation +of this law among the married. Why this is so, may in part be accounted +for by the following consideration: Among the animal kind it is the +female which decides when the approaches of the male are allowable. +When these are untimely, her instinctive prompting leads her to resist +and protect herself with ferocious zeal. No one at all acquainted with +the <a name="p270"></a>remarkable wisdom nature invariably displays in all her operations, +will doubt that the prohibition of all sexual intercourse among animals +during the period of pregnancy must be for a wise and good purpose. +And, if it serves a wise and good purpose with them, why should an +opposite course not serve an unwise and bad purpose with us? Our bodies +are very much like theirs in structure and in function; and in the mode +and laws that govern reproduction there is absolutely no difference. +The mere fact that we possess the power to act otherwise than they do +during that period, does not make it right.</p> + +<p>"Human beings having no instinctive prompting as to what is right and +what is wrong, cohabitation, like many other points of the behavior, +is left for reason or the will to determine; or, rather, as things now +are to unreason; for reason is neither consulted nor enlightened as +to what is proper and allowable in the matter. Nature's rule, by +instinct, makes it devolve upon the female to determine when the +approaches of the male are allowable.</p> + +<p>"But some may say that she is helpless in the matter. No one dare to +approach her without consent before marriage; and why should man not +be educated up to the point of doing the same after marriage? She is +neither his slave, nor his property; nor does the tie of marriage bind +her to carry out any unnatural requirement."</p> + +<blockquote><small>29 J. R. Black, M.D.</small></blockquote> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br><a name="p271"></a> +<div><h2><a name="chapg">INFANTICIDE AND ABORTION.</a></h2></div> +<br> +<p>Few but medical men are aware of the enormous proportions which have +been assumed by these terrible crimes during the present century. That +they are increasing with fearful rapidity and have really reached such +a magnitude as to seriously affect the growth of civilized nations, +and to threaten their very existence, has become a patent fact to +observing physicians. The crime itself differs little, in reality, from +that considered in the last section, the prevention of conception. It +is, in fact, the same crime postponed till a later period.</p> + +<p>We quote the following eloquent words on this subject:—</p> + +<p>"Of all the sins, physical and moral against man and God, I know of +none so utterly to be condemned as the very common one of the destruction +of the child while yet in the womb of the mother. So utterly repugnant +is it that I can scarcely express the loathing with which I approach +the subject. Murder!—murder in cold blood, without cause, of an +unknown child; one's nearest relative; in fact, part of one's very +being; actually having, not only one's own blood in its being, but that +blood momentarily interchanging! Good God! Does it seem possible that +such <a name="p272"></a>depravity can exist in a parent's breast—in a mother's heart!</p> + +<p>"'Tis for no wrong that it has committed that its sweet life is so +cruelly taken away. Its coming is no disgrace; its creation was not +in sin, but—its mother 'don't want to be bothered with any more brats; +can hardly take care of what she has got; is going to Europe in the +spring.'</p> + +<p>"We can forgive the poor deluded girl—seduced, betrayed, +abandoned—who, in her wild frenzy, destroys the mute evidence of her +guilt. We have only sympathy and sorrow for her. But for the married +shirk who disregards her divinely-ordained duty, we have nothing but +contempt, even if she be the lordly woman of fashion, clothed in purple +and fine linen. If glittering gems adorn her person, within there is +foulness and squalor."<small>[30]</small></p> + +<blockquote><small>30 Gardner.</small></blockquote> + +<p><a name="chapg1"><b>Not a Modern Crime.</b></a>—Although this crime has attained remarkable +proportions in modern times, it is not a new one by any means, as the +following paragraph will suffice to show:—</p> + +<p>"Infanticide and exposure were also the custom among the Romans, Medes, +Canaanites, Babylonians, and other Eastern nations, with the exception +of the Israelites and Egyptians. The Scandinavians killed their +offspring from pure fantasy. The Norwegians, after having carefully +swaddled their children, put some food into their mouths, placed them +under the roots of trees or under the <a name="p273"></a>rocks to preserve them from +ferocious beasts. Infanticide was also permitted among the Chinese, +and we saw, during the last century, vehicles going round the streets +of Pekin daily to collect the bodies of the dead infants. To-day there +exist foundling hospitals to receive children abandoned by their +parents. The same custom is also observed in Japan, in the isles of +the Southern Ocean, at Otaheite, and among several savage nations of +North America. It is related of the Jaggers of Guinea, that they devour +their own children."<small>[31]</small></p> + +<blockquote><small>31 Burdach.</small></blockquote> + +<p>The Greeks practiced infanticide systematically, their laws at one time +requiring the destruction of crippled or weakly children. Among all +the various nations, the general object of the crime seems to have been +to avoid the trouble of rearing the children, or to avoid a surplus, +objects not far different from those had in view by those who practice +the same crimes at the present time.</p> + +<p>The destruction of the child after the mother has felt its movements +is termed infanticide; before that time it is commonly known as abortion. +It is a modern notion that the child possesses no soul or individual +life until the period of quickening, an error which we have already +sufficiently exposed. The ancients, with just as much reason, contended +that no distinct life was present until after birth. Hence it was that +they could practice without scruple the crime of infanticide to prevent +too great <a name="p274"></a>increase of population. "Plato and Aristotle were advocates +of this practice, and these Stoics justified this monstrous practice +by alleging that the child only acquired a soul at the moment when it +ceased to have uterine life and commenced to respire. From hence it +resulted that, the child not being animated, its destruction was no +murder."</p> + +<p>The prevalence of this crime will be indicated by the following +observations from the most reliable sources:—</p> + +<p>"We know that in certain countries abortion is practiced in a manner +almost public, without speaking of the East, where it has, so to speak, +entered into the manners of the country. We see it in America, in a +great city like New York, constituting a regular business and not +prevented, where it has enriched more than one midwife."</p> + +<p>"England does not yield to Germany or France in the frequency of the +crime of infanticide."<small>[32]</small></p> + +<blockquote><small>32 Jardien.</small></blockquote> + +<p>"Any statistics attainable are very incomplete. False certificates are +daily given by attending physicians. Men, if they are only rich enough, +die of 'congestion of the brain,' not 'delirium tremens;' and women, +similarly situated, do not die from the effects of abortion, but of +'inflammation of the bowels,' etc."</p> + +<p>"Infanticide, as it is generally considered (destroying a child after +quickening), is of very rare occurrence in New York, whereas abortions +<a name="p275"></a>(destroying the embryo before quickening) are of daily habit in the +families of the best informed and most religious; among those abounding +in wealth, as well as among the poor and needy."<small>[33]</small></p> + +<blockquote><small>33 Gardner.</small></blockquote> + +<p>"Perhaps only medical men will credit the assertion that the frequency +of this form of destroying human life exceeds all others by at least +fifty per cent, and that not more than one in a thousand of the guilty +parties receive any punishment by the hand of civil law. But there is +a surer mode of punishment for the guilty mother in the self-executing +laws of nature."<small>[34]</small></p> + +<blockquote><small>34 Black.</small></blockquote> + +<p>"From a very large verbal and written correspondence in this and other +States, I am satisfied that we have become <i>a nation of murderers</i>."<small>[35]</small></p> + +<blockquote><small>35 Reamy.</small></blockquote> + +<p>Said a distinguished clergyman of Brooklyn in a sermon, "Why send +missionaries to India when child-murder is here of daily, almost hourly, +occurrence; aye, when the hand that puts money into the +contribution-box to-day, yesterday or a month ago, or to-morrow, will +murder her own unborn offspring?</p> + +<p>"The Hindoo mother, when she abandons her babe upon the sacred Ganges, +is, contrary to her heart, obeying a supposed religious law, and you +desire to convert her to your own worship of the Moloch of Fashion and +Laziness and love of Greed. Out upon such hypocrisy!"</p> + +<p>Writers tell us that it has even become the boast <a name="p276"></a>of many women that +they "know too much to have babies."</p> + +<p>Says the learned Dr. Storer, "Will the time come, think ye, when +husbands can no longer, as they now frequently do, commit the crime +of rape upon their unwilling wives, and persuade them or compel them +to allow a still more dreadful violence to be wreaked upon the children +nestling within them—children fully alive from the very moment of +conception, that have already been fully detached from all organic +connection with their parent, and only re-attached to her for the +purposes of nutriment and growth, and to destroy whom 'is a crime of +the same nature, both against our Maker and society, as to destroy an +infant, a child, or a man?'"<small>[36]</small></p> + +<blockquote><small>36 "Is It I?"</small></blockquote> + +<p>Says another well-known author, "Ladies boast to each other of the +impunity with which they have aborted, as they do of their expenditures, +of their dress, of their success in society. There is a fashion in this, +as in all other female customs, good and bad. The wretch whose account +with the Almighty is heaviest with guilt too often becomes a +heroine."<small>[37]</small></p> + +<blockquote><small>37 A Woman's Thoughts about Women.</small></blockquote> + +<p><a name="chapg2"><b>Causes of the Crime.</b></a>—Many influences may combine to cause the mother +ruthlessly to destroy her helpless child: as, to conceal the results +of sin; to avoid the burdens of maternity; to secure ease and freedom +to travel, etc., or even from a false <a name="p277"></a>idea that maternity is vulgar; +but it is true, beyond all question, that the primary cause of the sin +is far back of all these influences. The most unstinted and scathing +invectives are used in characterizing the criminality of a mother who +takes the life of her unborn babe; but a word is seldom said of the +one who forced upon her the circumstances which gave the unfortunate +one existence. Though doctors, ministers, and moralists have said much +on this subject, and written more, it is reasonable to suppose that +they will never accomplish much of anything in the direction of reform +until they recognize the part the man acts in all of these sad cases, +and begin to demand reform where it is most needed, and where its +achievement will effect the most good. As was observed in the remarks +upon the subject of "Prevention of Conception," this evil has its origin +in "marital excesses," and in a disregard of the natural law which makes +the female the sole proprietor of her own body, and gives to her the +right to refuse the approaches of the male when unprepared to receive +them without doing violence to the laws of her being.</p> + +<p><a name="chapg3"><b>The Nature of the Crime.</b></a>—"The married and well-to-do, who by means +of medicines and operations produce abortions at early periods of +pregnancy, have no excuse except the pretense that they do not consider +it murder until the child quickens.</p> + +<p>"No, not murder, you say, for 'there has not <a name="p278"></a>been any life in the child.' +Do not attempt to evade, even to man, a crime which cannot be hidden +from the All-seeing. The poor mother has not herself felt the life of +the child perhaps, but that is a quibble only of the laws of man, founded +indeed upon the view, now universally recognized as incorrect, that +the child's life began when its movements were first strong enough to +be perceptible. There is, in fact, no moment after conception when it +can be said that the child has not life, and the crime of destroying +human life is as heinous and as sure before the period of 'quickening' +has been attained as afterward. But you still defend your horrible deed +by saying, 'Well, if there be, as you say, this mere animal life, +equivalent at the most to simple vitality, there is no mind, no soul +destroyed, and therefore, there is no crime committed.' Just so surely +as one would destroy and root out of existence all the fowl in the world +by destroying all the eggs in existence, so certain is it that you do +by your act destroy the animal man in the egg, and the soul which +animates it. When is the period that intelligence comes to the infant? +Are its feeble first strugglings any evidence of its presence? Has it +any appreciable quantity at birth? Has it any valuable, useful quantity +even when a year old? When, then, is it, that destruction is harmless +or comparatively sinless? While awaiting your metaphysical answer, I +will tell you when it is sinful. <a name="p279"></a>Murder is always sinful, and murder +is the willful destruction of a human being at any period of its +existence, from its earliest germinal embryo to its final, simple, +animal existence in aged decrepitude and complete mental +imbecility."<small>[38]</small></p> + +<blockquote><small>38 Gardner.</small></blockquote> + +<p>"There are those who would fain make light of this crime by attempting +to convince themselves and others that a child, while in embryo, has +only a sort of vegetative life, not yet endowed with thought, and the +ability to maintain an independent existence. If such a monstrous +philosophy as this presents any justification for such an act, then +the killing of a newly-born infant, or of an idiot, may be likewise +justified. The destruction of the life of an unborn human being, for +the reason that it is small, feeble, and innocently helpless, rather +aggravates than palliates the crime. Every act of this kind, with its +justification, is obviously akin to that savage philosophy which +accounts it a matter of no moment, or rather a duty, to destroy feeble +infants, or old, helpless fathers and mothers."<small>[39]</small></p> + +<blockquote><small>39 Black.</small></blockquote> + +<p><a name="chapg4"><b>Instruments of Crime.</b></a>—"The means through which abortions are effected +are various. Sometimes it is through potent drugs, extensively +advertised in newspapers claiming to be moral!—the advertisements so +adroitly worded as to convey under a caution the precise information +required of the liability of the drug to produce miscarriages. +<a name="p280"></a>Sometimes the information is conveyed through secret circulars; but +more commonly the deed is consummated by professed abortionists, who +advertise themselves as such through innuendo, or through gaining this +kind of repute by the frequent commission of the act. Not a few women, +deterred by lingering modesty or some sense of shame, attempt and +execute it upon themselves, and then volunteer to instruct and +encourage others to go and do likewise."<small>[40]</small></p> + +<blockquote><small>40 Black.</small></blockquote> + +<p><a name="chapg5"><b>Results of this Unnatural Crime.</b></a>—It is the universal testimony of +physicians that the effects of abortion are almost as deadly upon the +mother as upon the child. The amount of suffering is vastly greater; +for that of the child, if it suffer at all, is only momentary, in general, +while the mother is doomed to a life of suffering, of misery, if she +survives the shock of the terrible outrage against her nature. It has +been proved by statistics that the danger of immediate death is <i>fifteen +times as great as in natural childbirth</i>. A medical author of note +asserts that a woman suffers more injury from one abortion than she +would from twenty normal births. Says Dr. Gardner on this point:—</p> + +<p>"We know that the popular idea is that women are worn out by the toil +and wear connected with the raising of large families, and we can +willingly concede something to this statement; but it is certainly far +more observable that the efforts at the <a name="p281"></a>present day, made to avoid +propagation, are ten thousand-fold more disastrous to the health and +constitution, to say nothing of the demoralization of mind and heart, +which cannot be estimated by red cheeks or physical vigor."</p> + +<p><a name="chapg6"><b>An Unwelcome Child.</b></a>—But suppose the mother does not succeed in her +attempts against the life of her child, as she may not; what fearful +results may follow! Who can doubt that the murderous intent of the +mother will be stamped indelibly upon the character of the unwelcome +child, giving it a natural propensity for the commission of murderous +deeds?</p> + +<p>Then again—sickening thought—suppose the attempts to destroy the +child are unsuccessful, resulting only in horrid mutilation of its +tender form; when such a child is born, what terrible evidences may +it bear in its crippled and misshapen body of the cruel outrage +perpetrated upon it! That such cases do occur is certain from the +following narrative, which we might confirm by others similar in +character:—</p> + +<p>"A lady, determined not to have any more children, went to a professed +abortionist, and he attempted to effect the desired end by violence. +With a pointed instrument the attempt was again and again made, but +without the looked-for result. So vigorously was the effort made, that, +astonished at no result being obtained, the individual stated that +there must be some mistake, that the lady <a name="p282"></a>could not be pregnant, and +refused to perform any further operations. Partially from doubt and +partially from fear, nothing further was attempted; and in due process +of time the woman was delivered of an infant, shockingly mutilated, +with one eye entirely put out, and the brain so injured that this +otherwise robust child was entirely wanting in ordinary sense. This +poor mother, it would seem, needs no future punishment for her sin. +Ten years face to face with this poor idiot, whose imbecility was her +direct work—has it not punished her sufficiently?"</p> + +<p><a name="chapg7"><b>The Remedy.</b></a>—Whether this gigantic evil can ever be eradicated, is +exceedingly doubtful. To effect its cure would be to make refined +Christians out of brutal sensualists; to emancipate woman from the +enticing, alluring slavery of fashion; to uproot false ideas of life +and its duties,—in short, to revolutionize society. The crime is +perpetrated in secret. Many times no one but the criminal herself is +cognizant of the evil deed. Only occasionally do cases come near enough +to the surface to be dimly discernible; hence the evident inefficiency +of any civil legislation. But the evil is a desperate one, and is +increasing; shall no attempt be made to check the tide of crime and +save the sufferers from both physical and spiritual perdition? An +effort should be made, at least. Let every Christian raise the note +of warning. From every Christian pulpit let the truth be spoken in terms +too plain for <a name="p283"></a>misapprehension. Let those who are known to be guilty +of this most revolting crime be looked upon as murderers, as they are; +and let their real moral status be distinctly shown.</p> + +<p>All of these means will do something to effect a reform; but the radical +cure of the evil will only be found in the principles suggested in the +section devoted to the consideration of "Marital Excesses." The +adoption of those principles and strict adherence to them would +effectually prevent the occurrence of circumstances which are the +occasion of abortions and infanticides.</p> + +<p><a name="chapg8"><b>Murder by Proxy.</b></a>—"There is, at the present time, a kind of infanticide, +which, although it is not so well known, is even more dangerous, because +done with impunity. There are parents who recoil with horror at the +idea of destroying their offspring, although they would greatly desire +to be disembarrassed of them, who yet place them without remorse with +nurses who enjoy the sinister reputation of never returning the +children to those who have intrusted them to their care. These +unfortunate little beings are condemned to perish from inanition and +bad treatment.</p> + +<p>"The number of these innocent victims is greater than would be imagined, +and very certainly exceeds that of the marked infanticides sent by the +public prosecutor to the Court of the Assizes."</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br><a name="p284"></a> +<div><h2><a name="chaph">THE SOCIAL EVIL.</a></h2></div> +<br> +<p>Illicit intercourse has been a foul blot upon humanity from the earliest +periods of history. At the present moment, it is a loathsome ulcer +eating at the heart of civilization, a malignant leprosy which shows +its hideous deformities among the fairest results of modern culture. +Our large cities abound with dens of vice whose <i>habitués</i> shamelessly +promenade the most public streets and flaunt their infamy in the face +of every passer-by. In many large cities, especially in those of +Continental Europe, these holds of vice are placed under the +supervision of the law by the requirement that every keeper of a house +of prostitution must pay for a license; in other words, must buy the +right to lead his fellow-men "down to the depths of hell."</p> + +<p>In smaller cities, as well as in large ones, in fact, from the great +metropolis down to the country village, the haunts of vice are found. +Every army is flanked by bands of courtesans. Wherever men go, loose +women follow, penetrating even to the wildness of the miner's camp, +far beyond the verge of civilization.</p> + +<p>But brothels and traveling strumpets do not fully represent the vast +extent of this monster evil. There is a class of immoral women—probably +<a name="p285"></a>exceeding in numbers the grosser class just referred to—who consider +themselves respectable; indeed, who are considered very respectable. +Few are acquainted with their character. They live in elegant style +and mingle in genteel society. Privately, they prosecute the most +unbounded licentiousness, for the purpose of gain, or merely to gratify +their lewdness. "Kept mistresses" are much more numerous than common +prostitutes.</p> + +<p>The numerous scandal and divorce suits which expose the infidelity of +husbands and wives, are sufficient evidence that illicit commerce is +not confined to the unmarried; but so many are the facilities for +covering and preventing the results of sins of this description it is +impossible to form any just estimate of their frequency. The +incontinence of husbands and the unchastity of wives will only appear +in their enormity at that awful day when every one shall "stand before +the judgment-seat" and hear the penalty of his guilty deeds.</p> + +<p><a name="chaph1"><b>Unchastity of the Ancients.</b></a>—We are prone to believe that the present +is the most licentious age the world has ever known; that in the +nineteenth century the climax of evil has been reached; that the +libidinous blood of all the ages has culminated to produce a race of +men more carnal than all predecessors. It is a sickening thought that +any previous epoch could have been more vile than this; but history +presents facts which disclose in ancient times periods when lust was +even more <a name="p286"></a>uncontrolled than now; when vice was universal; and when +virtue was a thing unknown. A few references to historical facts will +establish this point. We do not make these allusions in any way to +justify the present immorality, but to show the part which vice has +acted in the overthrow of nations.</p> + +<p>From the sacred record we may judge that before the flood a state of +corruption prevailed which was even greater and more general than any +that has ever since been reached; only eight persons were fit to survive +the calamity which swept into eternity that lustful generation with +their filthy deeds.</p> + +<p>But men soon fell into vice again, for we find among the early Assyrians +a total disregard of chastity. Her kings reveled in the grossest +sensuality.</p> + +<p>No excess of vice could surpass the licentiousness of the Ptolemies, +who made of Alexandria a bagnio, and all Egypt a hot-bed of vice. +Herodotus relates that "the pyramid of Cheops was built by the lovers +of the daughter of this king; and that she never would have raised this +monument to such a height except by multiplying her prostitutions." +History also relates the adventures of that queenly courtesan, +Cleopatra, who captivated and seduced by her charms two masters of the +world, and whose lewdness surpassed even her beauty.</p> + +<p>Tyre and Sidon, Media, Phoenicia, Syria, and all the Orient, were sunk +in sensuality. Fornication was made a part of their worship. Women +carried <a name="p287"></a>through the streets of the cities the most obscene and revolting +representations. Among all these nations a virtuous woman was not to +be found; for, according to Herodotus, the young women were by the laws +of the land "obliged, once in their lives, to give themselves up to +the desires of strangers in the temple of Venus, and were not permitted +to refuse anyone."<small>[41]</small></p> + +<blockquote><small>41 Bourgeois.</small></blockquote> + +<p>St. Augustine speaks of these religious debaucheries as still practiced +in his day in Phoenicia. They were even continued until Constantine +destroyed the temples in which they were prosecuted, in the fourth +century.</p> + +<p>Among the Greeks the same corruptions prevailed in the worship of +Bacchus and Phallus, which was celebrated by processions of half-nude +girls "performing lascivious dances with men disguised as satyrs." In +fact, as X. Bourgeois says, "Prostitution was in repute in Greece." +The most distinguished women were courtesans, and the wise Socrates +would be justly called, in modern times, a libertine.</p> + +<p>The abandonment to lust was, if possible, still more complete in the +times of the Roman emperors. Rome astonished the universe "by the +boldness of its turpitudes, after having astonished it by the splendor +of its triumphs."</p> + +<p>The great Cæsar was such a rake that he has been said to have "merited +to be surnamed every <a name="p288"></a>woman's husband." Antony and Augustus were equally +notorious. The same sensuality pervaded the masses as reigned in the +courts, and was stimulated by the erotic poems of Ovid, Catullus, and +other poets of the time.</p> + +<p>Tiberius displayed such ingenuity in inventing refinements in +impudicity that it was necessary to coin new words to designate them. +Caligula committed the horrid crime of incest with all his sisters, +even in public. His palace was a brothel. The Roman empress, Messalina, +disguised herself as a prostitute and excelled the most degraded +courtesans in her monstrous debaucheries. The Roman emperor Vitellius +was accustomed to take an emetic after having eaten to repletion, to +enable him to renew his gluttony. With still grosser sensuality he +stimulated his satiated passions with philters and various aphrodisiac +mixtures.</p> + +<p>Nero, the most infamous of the emperors, committed rapes on the stage +of the public theaters of Rome, disguised as a wild beast.</p> + +<p>If this degraded voluptuousness had been confined to royalty, some +respect might yet be entertained for the virtue of the ancients; but +the foul infection was not restrained within such narrow bounds. It +invaded whole empires until they fell in pieces from very rottenness. +What must have been the condition of a nation that could tolerate such +a spectacle as its monarch riding through the streets of its metropolis +in a state of nudity, drawn <a name="p289"></a>by women in the same condition? Such a deed +did Heliogabalus in Rome.</p> + +<p>In the thirteenth century, virtue was almost as scarce in France as +in ancient Greece. Nobles held as mistresses all the young girls of +their domains. About every fifth person was a bastard. Just before the +Revolution, chastity was such a rarity that a woman was actually obliged +to apologize for being virtuous!</p> + +<p>In these disgusting facts we find one of the most potent agents in +effecting the downfall of the nations. Licentiousness sapped their +vitality and weakened their prowess. The men who conquered the world +were led captive by their own beastly passions. Thus the Assyrians, +the Medes, the Grecians, the Romans, successively fell victims to their +lusts, and gave way to more virtuous successors. Even the Jews, the +most enlightened people of their age, fell more than once through this +same sin, which was coupled with idolatry, of which their seduction +by the Midianites is an example.</p> + +<p>Surely, modern times present no worse spectacles of carnality than +these; and will it be claimed that anything so vile is seen among +civilized nations at the present day? But though there may be less +grossness in the sensuality of to-day, the moral turpitude of men may +be even greater than that of ancient times. Enlightened Christianity +has raised the standard of morality. Christ's commentary upon the +seventh commandment requires <a name="p290"></a>a more rigorous chastity than ancient +standards demanded, even among the Jews; for had not David, Solomon, +and even the pious Jacob more wives than one? Consequently, a slight +breach of chastity now requires as great a fall from virtue as a greater +lapse in ages past, and must be attended with as severe a moral penalty.</p> + +<p>We have seen how universal is the "social evil," that it is a vice almost +as old as man himself, which shows how deeply rooted in his perverted +nature it has become. The inquiry arises, What are the causes of so +monstrous a vice? so gross an outrage upon nature's laws? so withering +a blight upon the race?</p> + +<p><a name="chaph2"><b>Causes of the "Social Evil."</b></a>—A vice that has become so great an evil, +even in these enlightened times, as to defy the most skillful +legislation, which openly displays its gaudy filthiness and mocks at +virtue with a lecherous stare, must have its origin in causes too +powerful to be ignored.</p> + +<p><a name="chaph3"><b>Libidinous Blood.</b></a>—In no other direction are the effects of heredity +to be more distinctly traced than in the transmission of sensual +propensities. The children of libertines are almost certain to be rakes +and prostitutes. History affords numerous examples in illustration of +this fact. The daughter of Augustus was as unchaste as her father, and +her daughter was as immoral as herself. The sons of David showed evident +traces of their father's failing. Witness the incest of Amnon, and the +<a name="p291"></a>voluptuousness of Solomon, who had seven hundred wives and three +hundred concubines. Solomon's son was, likewise, a noted polygamist, +of whom the record says, "He desired many wives." His son's son +manifested the same propensity in taking as many wives as the +debilitated state of his kingdom enabled him to support. But perhaps +we may be allowed to trace the origin of this libidinous propensity +still further back. A glance at the genealogy of David will show that +he was descended from Judah through Pharez, who was the result of an +incestuous union between Judah and his daughter-in-law.</p> + +<p>Is it unreasonable to suppose that the abnormal passion which led David +to commit the most heinous sin of his life in his adultery with +Bath-sheba and subsequently procuring the death of her husband, was +really an hereditary propensity which had come down to him through his +ancestors, and which, under more favorable circumstances, was more +fully developed in his sons? The trait may have been kept dormant by +the active and simple habits of his early years, but asserted itself +in full force under the fostering influence of royal idleness and luxury. +In accordance with the known laws of heredity, such a tendency would +be the legitimate result of such a combination of circumstances.</p> + +<p>The influence of marital excesses, and especially sexual indulgence +during pregnancy, in producing <a name="p292"></a>vicious tendencies in offspring, has +been fully dwelt upon elsewhere in this work, and will not be +reconsidered here, it being only necessary to call attention to the +subject. Physiology shows conclusively that thousands of parents whose +sons have become libertines and their daughters courtesans, have +themselves implanted in their characters the propensity which led to +their unchastity.</p> + +<p><a name="chaph4"><b>Gluttony.</b></a>—As a predisposing cause, the influence of dietetic habits +should rank next to heredity. It is an observed fact that "all +libertines are great eaters or famous gastronomists." The exciting +influence upon the genital organs of such articles as pepper, mustard, +ginger, spices, truffles, wine, and all alcoholic drinks, is well known. +Tea and coffee directly excite the animal passions through their +influence upon the nerve centers controlling the sexual organs. When +children are raised upon such articles, or upon food with which they +are thoroughly mingled, what wonder that they occasionally "turn out +bad"? How many mothers, while teaching their children the principles +of virtue in the nursery, unwittingly stimulate their passions at the +dinner table until vice becomes almost a physical necessity!</p> + +<p>Nothing tends so powerfully to keep the passions in abeyance as a simple +diet, free from condiments, especially when coupled with a generous +amount of exercise.</p> + +<p>The influence of tobacco in leading to unchastity <a name="p293"></a>has been referred +to in another connection. This is assuredly a not uncommon cause. When +a boy places the first cigar or quid of tobacco to his lips, he takes—if +he has not previously done so—the first step in the road to infamy; +and if he adds wine or beer, he takes a short cut to the degradation +of his manhood by the loss of virtue.</p> + +<p><a name="chaph5"><b>Precocious Sexuality.</b></a>—The causes of a too early development of sexual +peculiarities, as manifested in infantile flirtations and early signs +of sexual passion, were dwelt upon quite fully in a previous connection, +and we need not repeat them here. Certain it is that few things can +be more dangerous to virtue than the premature development of those +sentiments which belong only to puberty and later years. It is a most +unnatural, but not uncommon, sight to see a girl of tender age evincing +all those characters which mark the wanton of older years.</p> + +<p><a name="chaph6"><b>Man's Lewdness.</b></a>—It cannot be denied that men are in the greatest degree +responsible for the "social evil." The general principle holds true +here as elsewhere that the supply is regulated by the demand. If the +patrons of prostitution should withdraw their support by a sudden +acquisition of virtue, how soon would this vilest of traffics cease! +The inmates of brothels would themselves become continent, if not +virtuous, as the result of such a spasm of chastity in men.</p> + +<p>Again, the ranks of fallen women, which are <a name="p294"></a>rapidly thinned by loathsome +diseases and horrid deaths, are largely recruited from that class of +unfortunates for whose fall faithless lovers or cunning, heartless +libertines are chiefly responsible. The weak girl who, through too much +trust, has been deceived and robbed of her dearest treasure, is disowned +by relatives, shunned by her acquaintances, and turned out upon a cold +world without money, without friends, without a character. What can +she do? Respectable employment she cannot find, for rumor follows her. +There seems to be but one door open, the one which she herself so +unintentionally opened. In despair, she enters the "open road to hell," +and to her first sad error adds a life of shame. Meanwhile, the villain +who betrayed her still maintains his standing in society, and plies +his arts to win another victim. Is there not an unfair discrimination +here? Should not the seducer be blackened with an infamy at least as +deep as that which society casts on the one betrayed?</p> + +<p><a name="chaph7"><b>Fashion.</b></a>—The temptation of dress, fine clothing, costly jewelry, and +all the extravagances with which rich ladies array themselves, is in +many cases too powerful for the weakened virtue of poor seamstresses, +operatives, and servant girls, who have seen so much of vice as to have +lost that instinctive loathing for it which they may have once +experienced. Thinking to gain a life of ease, with means to gratify +their love of show, they barter away <a name="p295"></a>their peace of mind for this world, +all hope for the next, and only gain a little worthless tinsel, the +scorn of their fellow-creatures, and a host of loathsome diseases.</p> + +<p><a name="chaph8"><b>Lack of Early Training.</b></a>—It is needless to demonstrate a fact so well +established as that the future character of an individual depends very +largely upon his early training. If purity and modesty are taught from +earliest infancy, the mind is fortified against the assaults of vice. +If, instead, the child is allowed to grow up untrained, if the seeds +of vice which are sure to fall sooner or later in the most carefully +kept ground are allowed to germinate, if the first buds of evil are +allowed to grow and unfold instead of being promptly nipped, it must +not be considered remarkable that in later years rank weeds of sin +should flourish in the soul and bear their hideous fruit in shameless +lives.</p> + +<p>Neglect to guard the avenues by which evil may approach the young mind, +and to erect barriers against vice by careful instruction and a chaste +example, leaves many innocent souls open to the assaults of evil, and +an easy prey to lust. If children are allowed to get their training +in the street, at the corner grocery, or hovering around saloons, they +will be sure to develop a vigorous growth of the animal passions. The +following extract is from the writings of one whose pen has been an +inestimable blessing to American youth:—</p> + +<p>"Among the first lessons which boys learn of their <a name="p296"></a>fellows are +impurities of language; and these are soon followed by impurities of +thought.... When this is the training of boyhood, it is not strange +that the predominating ideas among young men, in relation to the other +sex, are too often those of impurity and sensuality.... We cannot be +surprised, then, that the history of most young men is, that they yield +to temptation in a greater or less degree and in different ways. With +many, no doubt, the indulgence is transient, accidental, and does not +become habitual. It does not get to be regarded as venial. It is never +yielded to without remorse. The wish and the purpose are to resist; +but the animal nature bears down the moral. Still, transgression is +always followed by grief and penitence.</p> + +<p>"With too many, however, it is to be feared, it is not so. The mind +has become debauched by dwelling on licentious images, and by +indulgence in licentious conversation. There is no wish to resist. They +are not overtaken by temptation, for they seek it. With them the +transgression becomes habitual, and the stain on the character is deep +and lasting."<small>[42]</small></p> + +<blockquote><small>42 Ware.</small></blockquote> + +<p><a name="chaph9"><b>Sentimental Literature.</b></a>—In another connection, we have referred +particularly to the bawdy, obscene books and pictures which are +secretly circulated among the youth of both sexes, and to their +corrupting influence. The hope is not <a name="p297"></a>entirely a vain one that this +evil may be controlled; but there seems no possible practicable remedy +for another evil which ultimately leads to the same result, though by +less gross and obscene methods. We refer to the sentimental literature +which floods the land. City and school libraries, circulating libraries, +and even Sunday-school libraries, are full of books which, though they +may contain good moral teaching, contain, as well, an element as +incompatible with purity of morals as is light with midnight darkness. +Writers for children and youth seem to think a tale of "courtship, love, +and matrimony" entirely indispensable as a medium for conveying their +moral instruction. Some of these "religious novels" are actually more +pernicious than the fictions of well-known novelists who make no +pretense to having religious instruction a particular object in view. +Sunday-school libraries are not often wholly composed of this class +of works, but any one who takes the trouble to examine the books of +such a library will be able to select the most pernicious ones by the +external appearance. The covers will be well worn and the edges begrimed +with dirt from much handling. Children soon tire of the shallow sameness +which characterizes the "moral" parts of most of these books, and skim +lightly over them, selecting and devouring with eagerness those +portions which relate the silly narrative of some love adventure. This +kind of literature arouses in children <a name="p298"></a>premature fancies and queries, +and fosters a sentimentalism which too often occasions most unhappy +results. Through their influence, young girls are often led to begin +a life of shame long before their parents are aware that a thought of +evil has ever entered their minds.</p> + +<p>The following words from the pen of a forcible writer<small>[43]</small> present this +matter in none too strong a light:—</p> + +<p>"You may tear your coat or break a vase, and repair them again; but +the point where the rip or fracture took place will always be evident. +It takes less than an hour to do your heart a damage which no time can +entirely repair. Look carefully over your child's library; see what +book it is that he reads after he has gone to bed, with the gas turned +upon the pillow. Do not always take it for granted that a book is good +because it is a Sunday-school book. As far as possible, know <i>who</i> wrote +it, who illustrated it, who published it, who sold it.</p> + +<p>"It seems that in the literature of the day the ten plagues of Egypt +have returned, and the frogs and lice have hopped and skipped over our +parlor tables.</p> + +<p>"Parents are delighted to have their children read, but they should +be sure as to what they read. You do not have to walk a day or two in +an infested district to get the cholera or typhoid fever; <a name="p299"></a>and one wave +of moral unhealth will fever and blast the soul forever. Perhaps, +knowing not what you did, you read a bad book. Do you not remember it +altogether? Yes! and perhaps you will never get over it. However strong +and exalted your character, never read a bad book. By the time you get +through the first chapter you will see the drift. If you find the marks +of the hoofs of the devil in the pictures, or in the style, or in the +plot, away with it.</p> + +<p>"But there is more danger, I think, from many of the family papers, +published once a week, in those stories of vice and shame, full of +infamous suggestions, going as far as they can without exposing +themselves to the clutch of the law. I name none of them; but say that +on some fashionable tables there lie 'family newspapers' that are the +very vomit of the pit.</p> + +<p>"The way to ruin is cheap. It costs three dollars to go to Philadelphia; +six dollars to Boston; thirty-three dollars to Savannah; but, by the +purchase of a bad paper for ten cents you may get a through ticket to +hell, by express, with few stopping places, and the final halting like +the tumbling of the lightning train down the draw-bridge at +Norwalk—sudden, terrific, deathful, never to rise."</p> + +<blockquote><small>43 T. De Witt Talmage.</small></blockquote> + +<p><a name="chaph10"><b>Poverty.</b></a>—The pressing influence of poverty has been urged as one cause +of prostitution. It cannot be denied that in many cases, in large <a name="p300"></a>cities, +this may be the immediate occasion of the entrance of a young girl upon +a life of shame; but it may still be insisted that there must have been, +in such cases, a deficiency in previous training; for a young woman, +educated with a proper regard for purity, would sooner sacrifice life +itself than virtue. Again, poverty can be no excuse, for in every city +there are made provisions for the relief of the needy poor, and none +who are really worthy need suffer.</p> + +<p><a name="chaph11"><b>Ignorance.</b></a>—Perhaps nothing fosters vice more than ignorance. +Prostitutes come almost entirely from the more ignorant classes, though +there are, of course, many exceptions. Among the lowest classes, vice +is seen in its grossest forms, and is carried to the greatest lengths. +Intellectual culture is antagonistic to sensuality. As a general rule, +in proportion as the intellect is developed, the animal passions are +brought into subjection. It is true that very intellectual men have +been great libertines, and that the licentious Borgias and Medicis of +Italy encouraged art and literature; but these are only apparent +exceptions, for who knows to what greater depths of vice these +individuals might have sunk had it not been for the restraining +influence of mental culture?</p> + +<p>Says Deslandes, "In proportion as the intellect becomes enfeebled, the +generative sensibility is augmented." The animal passions seem to +survive when all higher intelligence is lost. We once saw <a name="p301"></a>an +illustration of this fact in an idiot who was brought before a medical +class in a clinic at Bellevue Hospital, New York. The patient had been +an idiot from birth, and presented the most revolting appearance, +seemingly possessing scarcely the intelligence of the average dog; but +his animal propensities were so great as to be almost uncontrollable. +Indeed, he showed evidences of having been a gross debauchee, having +contracted venereal disease of the worst form. The general prevalence +of extravagant sexual excitement among the insane is a well-known fact.</p> + +<p><a name="chaph12"><b>Disease.</b></a>—Various diseases which cause local irritation and +congestion of the reproductive organs are the causes of unchastity in +both sexes, as previously explained. It not unfrequently happens that +by constantly dwelling upon unchaste subjects until a condition of +habitual congestion of the sexual organs is produced, young women +become seized with a furor for libidinous commerce which nothing but +the desired object will appease, unless active remedial measures are +adopted under the direction of a skillful physician. This disease, +known as <i>nymphomania</i>, has been the occasion of the fall of many young +women of the better classes who have been bred in luxury and idleness, +but were never taught even the first lessons of purity or self-control. +Constipation, piles, worms, pruritis of the genitals, and some other +less common diseases of the urinary and <a name="p302"></a>genital systems, have been +causes of sexual excitement which has resulted in moral degradation.</p> + +<p><a name="chaph13"><b>Results of Licentiousness.</b></a>—Apparently as a safeguard to virtue, +nature has appended to the sin of illicit sexual indulgence, as +penalties, the most loathsome, deadly, and incurable diseases known +to man. Some of these, as <i>gonorrhea</i> and <i>chancroid</i>, are purely local +diseases; and though they occasion the transgressor a vast amount of +suffering, they may be cured and leave no trace of their presence except +in the conscience of the individual. Such a result, however, is by no +means the usual one. Most frequently, the injury done is more or less +permanent; sometimes it amounts to loss of life or serious mutilation, +as in cases we have seen. And one attack secures no immunity from +subsequent ones, as a new disease may be contracted upon every exposure.</p> + +<p>By far the worst form of venereal disease is <i>syphilis</i>, a malady which +was formerly confounded with the two forms of disease mentioned, but +from which it is essentially different. At first, a very slight local +lesion, of no more consequence—except from its significance—than a +small boil, it rapidly infects the general system, poisoning the whole +body, and liable forever after to develop itself in any one or more +of its protean forms. The most loathsome sight upon which a human eye +can rest is a victim of this disease who presents it well developed +in its later stages. In the <a name="p303"></a>large Charity Hospital upon Blackwell's +Island, near New York City, we have seen scores of these unfortunates +of both sexes, exhibiting the horrid disease in all its phases. To +describe them would be to place before our readers a picture too +revolting for these pages. No pen can portray the woebegone faces, the +hopeless air, of these degraded sufferers whose repentance has come, +alas! too late. No words can convey an adequate idea of their sufferings. +What remorse and useless regrets add to the misery of their wretched +existence as they daily watch the progress of a malignant ulceration +which is destroying their organs of speech, or burrowing deep into the +recesses of the skull, penetrating even to the brain itself! Even the +bones become rottenness; foul running sores appear on different +portions of the body, and may even cover it entirely. Perhaps the nose, +or the tongue, or the lips, or an eye, or some other prominent organ, +is lost. Still the miserable sufferer lingers on, life serving only +to prolong the torture. To many of them, death would be a grateful +release, even with the fires of retributive justice before their eyes; +for hell itself could scarcely be more awful punishment than that which +they daily endure.</p> + +<p><a name="chaph14"><b>Thousands of Victims.</b></a>—The venturesome youth need not attempt to calm +his fears by thinking that these are only exceptional cases, for this +is not the truth. In any city, one who <a name="p304"></a>has an experienced eye can +scarcely walk a dozen blocks on busy streets without encountering the +woeful effects of sexual transgression. Neither do these results come +only from long-continued violations of the laws of chastity. The very +first departure from virtue may occasion all the worst effects +possible.</p> + +<p><a name="chaph15"><b>Effects of Vice Ineradicable.</b></a>—Another fearful feature of this +terrible disease is that when once it invades the system its eradication +is impossible. No drug, no chemical, can antidote its virulent poison +or drive it from the system. Various means may smother it, possibly +for a life-time; but yet it is not cured, and the patient is never safe +from a new outbreak. Prof. Bumstead, an acknowledged authority on this +subject, after observing the disease for many years, says that "he never +after treatment, however prolonged, promises immunity for the +future."<small>[44]</small> Dr. Van Buren, professor of surgery at Bellevue Hospital +Medical College, New York, bears the same testimony.</p> + +<blockquote><small>44 Venereal Disease.</small></blockquote> + +<p>Prof. Van Buren also says that he has often seen the disease occur upon +the lips of young ladies who were entirely virtuous, but who were +engaged to men who had contracted the disease and had communicated it +to them by the act of kissing. Virtuous wives have not infrequently +had their constitutions hopelessly ruined by contracting the disease +from husbands who had themselves been <a name="p305"></a>inoculated either before or after +marriage, by illicit intercourse. Several such unfortunate cases have +fallen under our observation, and there is reason to believe that they +are not infrequent.</p> + +<p><a name="chaph16"><b>The Only Hope.</b></a>—The only hope for one who has contracted this disease +is to lead a life of perfect continence ever after, and by a most careful +life, by conforming strictly to the laws of health, by bathing and +dieting, he may possibly avoid the horrid consequences of the later +stages of the malady. Mercury will not cure, nor will any other poison, +as before remarked.</p> + +<p>The following strong testimony on this subject we quote from an +admirable pamphlet by Prof. Fred. H. Gerrish, M.D.:—</p> + +<p>"The diseases dependent upon prostitution are appallingly frequent, +a distinguished surgeon recently declaring that one person in twenty +in the United States has syphilis, a malady so ineradicable that a +profound observer has remarked that 'a man who is once thus poisoned +will die a syphilitic, and, in the day of Judgment, he will be a +syphilitic ghost.' Prof. Gross says: 'What is called scrofula, struma, +or tuberculosis, is, I have long been satisfied from careful +observation of the sick and a profound study of the literature of the +subject, in a great majority of cases, if not invariably, merely +syphilis in its more remote stages.' Though there are doubtless many +of us who believe that a not inconsiderable proportion of scrofulous +and <a name="p306"></a>phthisical cases are clearly due to other causes than syphilis, +we must admit that this statement contains a very large element of +truth."</p> + +<p><a name="chaph17"><b>Hereditary Effects of Venereal Disease.</b></a>—The transgressor is not the +only sufferer. If he marries, his children, if they survive infancy, +will in later years show the effects of their father's sin, exhibiting +the forms of the disease seen in its later stages. Scrofula, consumption, +cancer, rickets, diseases of the brain and nerves, decay of the bones +by caries or necrosis, and other diseases, arise in this way.</p> + +<p>But it generally happens that the child dies before birth, or lingers +out a miserable existence of a few days or weeks thereafter. A most +pitiable sight these little ones are. Their faces look as old as +children of ten or twelve. Often their bodies become reduced before +death to the most wretched skeletons. Their hollow, feeble cry sends +a shudder of horror through the listener, and impresses indelibly the +terrible consequences of sexual sin. Plenty of these scrawny infants +may be seen in the lying-in hospitals.</p> + +<p>No one can estimate how much of the excessive mortality of infants is +owing to this cause.</p> + +<p>In children who survive infancy, its blighting influence may be seen +in the notched, deformed teeth, and other defects; and very often it +will be found, upon looking into the mouth of the child, that the soft +palate, and perhaps the hard palate as <a name="p307"></a>well, is in a state of ulceration. +There is more than a suspicion that this disease may be transmitted +for several generations, perhaps remaining latent during the life-time +of one, and appearing in all its virulence in the next.</p> + +<p><a name="chaph18"><b>Man the Only Transgressor.</b></a>—Man is the only animal that abuses his +sexual organization by making it subservient to other ends than +reproduction; hence he is the only sufferer from this foul disease, +which is one of the penalties of such abuse. Attempts have been made +to communicate the disease to lower animals, but without success, even +though inoculation was practiced.</p> + +<p><a name="chaph19"><b>Origin of the Foul Disease.</b></a>—Where or when the disease originated, is +a mystery. It is said to have been introduced into France from Naples +by French soldiers. That it originated spontaneously at some time can +scarcely be doubted, and that it might originate under circumstances +of excessive violation of the laws of chastity is rendered probable +by the fact that gonorrhea, or an infectious disease exactly resembling +it, is often caused by excessive indulgence, from which cause it not +infrequently occurs in the newly married, giving rise to unjust +suspicion of infidelity on both sides.</p> + +<p>Read the following from a noted French physician:—</p> + +<p>"The father, as well as the mother, communicates the syphilitic virus +to the children. These poor little beings are attacked sometimes at +their <a name="p308"></a>birth; more often it is at the end of a month or two, before these +morbid symptoms appear.</p> + +<p>"I recall the heart-rending anguish of a mother whom I assisted at her +fifth confinement. She related to me her misfortune: 'I have already +brought into the world four children. Alas! they all died during the +first months of their existence. A frightful eruption wasted them away +and killed them. Save me the one that is about to be born!' cried she, +in tears. The child that I delivered was sickly and puny. A few days +after its birth, it had purulent ophthalmia; then, crusted and +ulcerated pustules, a few at first, numerous afterward, covered the +entire surface of the skin. Soon this miserable little being became +as meager as a skeleton, hideous to the sight, and died. Having +questioned the husband, he acknowledged to me that he had had +syphilis."<small>[45]</small></p> + +<blockquote><small>45 Bourgeois.</small></blockquote> + +<p><a name="chaph20"><b>Cure of the "Social Evil."</b></a>—With rare exceptions, the efforts of civil +legislation have been directed toward controlling or modifying this +vice, rather than extirpating it.</p> + +<p>Among other devices adopted with a view to effect this, and to mitigate +in some degree the resulting evils, the issuing of licenses for brothels +has been practiced in several large cities. One of the conditions of +the license makes it obligatory upon the keepers of houses of ill-repute +and their inmates to submit to medical examination at stated <a name="p309"></a>intervals. +By this means, it is expected to detect the cases of foul disease at +the outset, and thus to protect others by placing the infected +individuals under restraint and treatment. It will be seen that for +many reasons such examinations could not be effective; but, even if +they were, the propriety of this plan of dealing with the vice is +exceedingly questionable, as will appear from the following +considerations:—</p> + +<p>1. The moment that prostitution is placed under the protection of law +by means of a license, it at once loses half its disrepute, and becomes +respectable, as do gambling and liquor-selling under the same +circumstances.</p> + +<p>2. Why should so vile a crime as fornication be taken under legal +protection more than stealing or the lowest forms of gambling? Is it +not a lesser crime against human nature to rob a man of his money by +theft or by deceit and trickery than to snatch from him at one fell +swoop his health, his virtue, and his peace of mind? Why not as well +have laws to regulate burglary and assassination, allowing the +perpetrators of those crimes to ply their chosen avocations with +impunity under certain prescribed restrictions; if robbery, for +instance, requiring the thief to leave his victim money enough to make +his escape to another country; or, if murder, directing the assassin +to allow his intended victim time to repeat a sufficient number of <i>Ave +Marias</i> to insure his safe transit through purgatory or to <a name="p310"></a>pay a priest +for doing the same? Such a course would not be inconsistent with the +policy which legalizes that infamous traffic in human souls, +prostitution.</p> + +<p>3. By the use of certain precautionary measures the fears of many will +be allayed, so that thousands whose fear of the consequences of sin +would otherwise have kept them physically virtuous, at least, +erroneously supposing that the cause for fear has been removed, will +rush madly into a career of vice, and will learn only too late the folly +of their course.</p> + +<p><a name="chaph21"><b>Prevention the Only Cure.</b></a>—Those who have once entered upon a career +of sensuality are generally so completely lost to all sense of purity +and right that there is little chance for reforming them. They have +no principle to which to appeal. The gratification of lust so degrades +the soul and benumbs the higher sensibilities that a votary of +voluptuousness is a most unpromising subject for reformatory efforts. +The old adage that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure is +strikingly exemplified in this case. The remedy must be applied before +the depths have been reached. It was well said by a celebrated physician +to a young man beginning a life of vice, "You are entering upon a career +from which you will never turn back."</p> + +<p><a name="chaph22"><b>Early Training.</b></a>—The remedy, to be effective, must be applied early, +the earlier the better. Lessons on chastity may be given in early +infancy. The remedy may be applied even further back than <a name="p311"></a>this; children +must be virtuously generated. The bearing of this point will be fully +appreciated in connection with the principles established in the +preceding pages of this work, and which have already been sufficiently +elucidated.</p> + +<p>Children should be early taught to reverence virtue, to abhor lust; +and boys should be so trained that they will associate with the name +of woman only pure, chaste, and noble thoughts. Few things are more +deeply injurious to the character of woman, and more conducive to the +production of foul imaginations in children, than the free discussion +of such subjects as the "Beecher scandal" and like topics. The +inquisitive minds and lively imaginations of childhood penetrate the +rotten mysteries of such foul subjects at a much earlier age than many +persons imagine. The inquiring minds of children will be occupied in +some way, and it is of the utmost importance that they should be early +filled with thoughts that will lead them to noble and pure actions.</p> + +<p><a name="chaph23"><b>Teach Self-Control.</b></a>—One important part of early training is the +cultivation of self-control, and a habit of self-denial, whenever right +demands it. Another most essential part of a child's moral training +is the cultivation of right motives. To present a child no higher +motives for doing right than the hope of securing some pleasant reward, +or the fear of suffering some terrible punishment, is the surest way +to make of him a supremely selfish <a name="p312"></a>man, with no higher aim than to secure +good to himself, no matter what may become of other people. And if he +can convince himself that the pleasure he will secure by the commission +of a certain act will more than counterbalance the probable risk of +suffering, he will not hesitate to commit it, leaving wholly out of +the consideration the question, Is it right? or noble? or pure? A love +of right for its own sake is the only solid basis upon which to build +a moral character. Children should not be taught to do right in order +to avoid a whipping, or imprisonment in a dark closet,—a horrid kind +of punishment sometimes resorted to,—or even to escape "the lake of +fire and brimstone." Neither should they be constantly coaxed to +right-doing by promised rewards,—a new toy, a book, an excursion, nor +even the pleasures of Heaven. All of these incentives are selfish, and +invariably narrow the character and belittle life when made the <i>chief</i> +motives of action. But rather begin at the earliest possible moment +to instill into the mind a love for right, and truth, and purity, and +virtue, and an abhorrence for their contraries; then will he have a +worthy principle by which to square his life; then will he be safe from +the assaults of passion, of vice, of lust. A mind so trained stands +upon an eminence from which all evil men and devils combined cannot +displace it so long as it adheres to its noble principles.</p> +<a name="p313"></a> +<p><a name="chaph24"><b>Mental Culture.</b></a>—The cultivation of the physical organization must not +be neglected. Healthful mental discipline should receive equal +attention. By healthful mental discipline is not meant that kind of +superficial "cramming" and memorizing which constitute the training +of the average school, but sound culture; a directing of the mind from +facts to underlying principles; a development of the reasoning powers +so as to bring the emotions and passions into subjection; the +acquirement of the power to concentrate the mind, one of the best +methods of cultivating self-control,—these are some of the objects +and results of sound culture of the mind.</p> + +<p>To supply the mind with food for pure thoughts, the child should be +early inspired with a love for nature. The perceptives should be trained, +the child taught to observe closely and accurately. The study of the +natural sciences is a most valuable means of elevating the mind above +grossness and sensuality. To be successful in this direction, parents +must cultivate a love for the same objects themselves. Take the little +ones into the country, if they are not so fortunate as to live there, +and in the midst of nature's glories, point their impressible minds +upward to the Author of all the surrounding loveliness. Gather flowers +and leaves and call attention to the peculiarities and special beauties +of each, and thus arouse curiosity and cultivate habits of close +observation and attention.</p> +<a name="p314"></a> +<p><a name="chaph25"><b>Early Associations.</b></a>—As children grow older, watch their associations. +Warn them of evil influences and evil practices. Make home so attractive +that they will enjoy it better than any other place. Cultivate music; +its mellowing, harmonizing, refining influence is too great to be +prudently withheld. Children naturally love music; and if they cannot +hear it at home, they will go where they can hear it. Supply attractive +books of natural history, travels, interesting and instructive +biographies, and almost any other books but love-sick novels, and +sentimental religious story-books. Guard against bad books and bad +associates as carefully as though they were deadly serpents, for they +are, indeed, the artful emissaries of the "old serpent" himself. A taste +once formed for reading light literature destroys the relish for solid +reading; and usually the taste, once lost, is never regained. The +fascination of bad companionship once formed around a person is broken +with the greatest difficulty. Hence the necessity for watching for the +very beginnings of evil and promptly checking them.</p> + +<p>The mind should be thus fortified against the trifles and follies of +fashionable life. It should be elevated into a sphere far above that +occupied by those who pass their time in fashionable drawing-rooms in +silly twaddle, with thrumming a piano, with listless day-dreaming, or +in the gratification of perverted tastes and depraved instincts in any +other of the ways common to fashionable life.</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br><a name="p315"></a> +<div><h2><a name="chapi">SOLITARY VICE.</a></h2></div> +<br> +<p>If illicit commerce of the sexes is a heinous sin, self-pollution, or +masturbation, is a crime doubly abominable. As a sin against nature, +it has no parallel except in sodomy (see Gen. 19:5, Judges 19:22). +It is the most dangerous of all sexual abuses, because the most +extensively practiced. The vice consists in any excitement of the +genital organs produced otherwise than in the natural way. It is known +by the terms, self-pollution, self-abuse, masturbation, onanism, +manustupration, voluntary pollution, solitary or secret vice, and +other names sufficiently explanatory. The vice is the more extensive +because there are no bounds to its indulgence. Its frequent repetition +fastens it upon the victim with a fascination almost irresistible. It +may be begun in earliest infancy, and may continue through life.</p> + +<p>Even though no warning may have been given, the transgressor seems to +know, instinctively, that he is committing a great wrong, for he +carefully hides his practice from observation. In solitude he pollutes +himself, and with his own hand blights all his prospects for both this +world and the next. Even after being solemnly warned, he will often +continue this worse than beastly practice, <a name="p316"></a>deliberately forfeiting his +right to health and happiness for a moment's mad sensuality.</p> + +<p><a name="chapi1"><b>Alarming Prevalence of the Vice.</b></a>—The habit is by no means confined +to boys; girls also indulge in it, though, it is to be hoped, to a less +fearful extent than boys, at least in this country. A Russian physician, +quoted by an eminent medical professor in New York, states that the +habit is universal among girls in Russia. It seems impossible that such +a statement should be credible; and yet we have not seen it contradicted. +It is more than probable that the practice is far more nearly universal +everywhere than even medical men are willing to admit. Many young men +who have been addicted to the vice, have, in their confessions, declared +that they found it universal in the schools in which they learned the +practice.</p> + +<p>Dr. Gardner speaks of it as "the secret cause of much that is perverting +the energies and demoralizing the minds of many of our fairest and +best." He further says:—</p> + +<p>"Much of the worthlessness, lassitude, and physical and mental +feebleness attributable to the modern woman are to be ascribed to these +habits as their initial cause." "Foreigners are especially struck with +this fact as the cause of much of the physical disease of our young +women. They recognize it in the physique, in the sodden, colorless +countenance, the lack-luster eye, in the dreamy indolence, the general +carriage, the constant <a name="p317"></a>demeanor indicative of distrust, mingled +boldness and timidity, and a series of anomalous combinations which +mark this genus of physical and moral decay."</p> + +<p>The extent to which the vice is practiced by an individual is in some +cases appalling. Three or four repetitions of the act daily are not +uncommon; and the following from Dr. Copland is evidence of much deeper +depravity:—</p> + +<p>"There can be no doubt that the individual who has once devoted himself +to this moloch of the species becomes but too frequently its slave to +an almost incredible degree. A patient who was sent to London for my +advice confessed that he had practiced this vice seven or eight times +daily from the age of thirteen until twenty-four; and he was then +reduced to the lowest state of mental weakness, associated with various +bodily infirmities; indeed, both mental power and physical existence +were nearly extinguished."</p> + +<p><a name="chapi2"><b>Testimony of Eminent Authors.</b></a>—Says a medical writer, "In my opinion, +neither the plague, nor war, nor small-pox, nor similar diseases, have +produced results so disastrous to humanity as the pernicious habit of +onanism; it is the destroying element of civilized societies, which +is constantly in action, and gradually undermines the health of +a nation."</p> + +<p>"The sin of self-pollution, which is generally considered to be that +of Onan, is one of the most <a name="p318"></a>destructive evils ever practiced by fallen +man. In many respects it is several degrees worse than common whoredom, +and has in its train more awful consequences, though practiced by +numbers who would shudder at the thought of criminal connection with +a prostitute."<small>[46]</small></p> + +<blockquote><small>46 Dr. Adam Clarke.</small></blockquote> + +<p>"However revolting to the feelings it may be to enter upon such a subject, +it cannot be passed over in silence without a great violation of duty. +Unhappily, it has not been hitherto exhibited in the awful light in +which it deserves to be shown. <i>The worst of it is that it is seldom +suspected.</i> There are many pale faces and languid and nervous feelings +attributed to other causes, when all the mischief lies here."<small>[47]</small></p> + +<blockquote><small>47 Sir W. C. Ellis.</small></blockquote> + +<p>We scarcely need add further evidence of the fearful extent of this +evil, but will conclude with the following:—</p> + +<p>"The pernicious and debasing practice of masturbation is a more common +and extensive evil with youth of both sexes than is usually supposed." +"A great number of the evils which come upon the youth at and after +the age of puberty, arise from masturbation, persisted in, so as to +waste the vital energies and enervate the physical and mental powers +of man." "Many of the weaknesses commonly attributed to growth and the +changes in the habit by the important <a name="p319"></a>transformation from adolescence +to manhood, are justly referable to this practice."<small>[48]</small></p> + +<blockquote><small>48 Boston Medical and Surgical Journal.</small></blockquote> + +<p><a name="chapi3"><b>Not a Modern Vice.</b></a>—That this vice is not entirely a modern one is proved +by the fact that in many ancient writings directions are given for +treating its effects. Even Moses seems to have recognized disorders +of this class. Hippocrates and others devoted considerable attention +to them.</p> + +<p><a name="chapi4"><b>Victims of all Ages.</b></a>—The ages at which the habit may be practiced +include almost the whole extent of human life. We have seen it in infants +of only three or four years, and in old men scarcely less than sixty, +in both extremes marked by the most unmistakable and lamentable +consequences. Cases have been noted in which the practice was begun +as early as two years of age. It is common among African boys at nine +and ten years of age, according to Dr. Copland.</p> + +<p><a name="chapi5"><b>Unsuspected Rottenness.</b></a>—Parents who have no suspicion of the evil, +who think their children the embodiment of purity, will find by careful +observation and inquiry,—though personal testimony cannot be relied +upon,—that in numerous instances their supposed virtuous children are +old in corruption. Such a revelation has brought dismay into many a +family, only too late in some cases.</p> + +<p>Not long since a case came under our care which well illustrates the +apathy and blindness of parents with respect to this subject. The +parents of a <a name="p320"></a>young man whose mind seemed to be somewhat disordered, +sent word to us through a friend respecting his condition, asking advice. +We suspected from the symptoms described the real cause of the disease, +and urged prompt attention to the case. In a short time the young man +was placed under our immediate care without encouragement of a cure, +and we gave the case still closer study. The characteristic symptoms +of disease from self-abuse were marked, but the father was positive +that no influence of that kind could have been at work. He had watched +his son narrowly from infancy, and did not believe it possible for him +to have been guilty. In addition, the young man had long been remarkable +for his piety, and he did not believe there could be any possibility +of his being guilty of so gross a crime.</p> + +<p>A short time sufficed, however, to secure the indisputable evidence +of the fact by his being caught in the act by his nurse.</p> + +<p>This young man was a sad example of what havoc is made with the "human +form divine" by this debasing vice. Once a bright boy, kind, +affectionate, active, intelligent, the pride of a loving mother and +the hope of a doting father, his mind had sunken to driveling idiocy. +His vacant stare and expressionless countenance betokened almost +complete imbecility. If allowed to do so, he would remain for hours +in whatever position his last movement left him. If his hand was raised, +it <a name="p321"></a>remained extended until placed in a position of rest by his attendant. +Only with the utmost difficulty could he be made to rise in the morning, +to eat, drink, or walk. Only by great efforts could he be aroused from +his lethargy sufficiently to answer the most simple question. The +instinctive demands of decency in regarding the calls of nature were +not respected. In short, the distinguishing characteristics of a human +being were almost wholly obliterated, leaving but a physical semblance +of humanity; a mind completely wrecked, a body undergoing dissolution +while yet alive, a blasted life, no hope for this world, no prospect +for the next. In the insane asylums of the country may be seen hundreds +of these poor victims in all stages of physical and mental +demoralization.</p> + +<p><a name="chapi6"><b>Causes of the Habit.</b></a>—It is needless to recapitulate all the causes +of unchastity which have previously been quite fully dwelt upon, nearly +all of which are predisposing or exciting causes of solitary as well +as of social vice. Sexual precocity, idleness, pernicious literature, +abnormal sexual passions, exciting and irritating food, gluttony, +sedentary employment, libidinous pictures, and many abnormal +conditions of life, are potent causes in exciting the vile practice; +but by far the most frequent causes are evil associations, wicked or +ignorant nurses, and local disease, or abnormality. These latter we +will consider more particularly, as they have not been so fully dwelt +upon elsewhere.</p> +<a name="p322"></a> +<p><a name="chapi7"><b>Evil Associations.</b></a>—A child may have been reared with the greatest care. +From infancy he may have been carefully shielded from all pernicious +influences, so that at the age of ten or twelve, when he is for the +first time sent away to school, he may be free from vice; but when he +associates with his fellow-students, he soon finds them practicing a +habit new to him, and being unwarned, he speedily follows their filthy +example and quickly becomes fascinated with the vice. Thousands have +taken their first lessons in this debasing habit at school. Teachers +and scholars testify that it is often practiced even in school hours, +almost under the teacher's eyes; but where the infection most quickly +spreads is in the sleeping apartments, where more than one occupy the +same bed, or where several sleep in the same room.</p> + +<p>Nothing is more indispensable to purity of body and of morals than a +private sleeping room and single bed for each student. Such an +arrangement would protect the youth from the reception of much evil, +and would allow an opportunity for privacy which every young man or +youth needs for his spiritual as well as physical benefit. Not the least +benefit of the latter class is the opportunity for a thorough cleansing +of the whole body every morning, which is almost as indispensable to +purity of morals as cleanliness of body. The same suggestion is fully +as applicable to the sleeping arrangements of girls. The exceptional +cases in which this plan would not be the best are very few indeed.</p> +<a name="p323"></a> +<p><a name="chapi8"><b>Corruption in Schools.</b></a>—Says Dr. Acton, "I cannot venture to print the +accounts patients have given me of what they have seen or even been +drawn into at schools. I would fain hope that such abominations are +things of the past." The entrance of a single corrupt boy into a school +which may have been previously pure—though such schools must be +extremely rare—will speedily corrupt almost the entire membership. +The evil infection spreads more rapidly than the contagion of small-pox +or yellow fever, and it is scarcely less fatal.</p> + +<p>This danger exists not in public or city schools alone, but in the most +select and private schools. A father who had kept his two sons under +the care of a private governess for several years, and then placed them +in a small school taught by a lady, and composed of a few small children +from the most select families, was greatly astonished when informed +by a physician that his sons showed symptoms of the effects of +self-abuse. He was totally incredulous; but an investigation showed +that they had already practiced the vile habit for several years, having +learned it of an infantile school-mate.</p> + +<p>We were acquainted with one instance in which a primary school in a +secluded and select community was nearly broken up by the introduction +of this vile habit through a corrupt student. Many a watchful teacher +has seen the light of growing intelligence suddenly dim and wane in +the eye of his favorite student just when he was giving the <a name="p324"></a>most promise +of developing unusual talents in literature, mathematics, or some one +of the natural or physical sciences, and has been compelled to watch +the devastating influence of this deadly upas tree that often claims +the best and fairest human flowers as its victims.</p> + +<p><a name="chapi9"><b>Wicked Nurses.</b></a>—In those cases in which the habit is acquired at a very +early age, the work of evil is usually wrought by the nurse, perhaps +through ignorance of the effects of the habit. Incredible as it seems, +it is proved by numerous instances that it is not an uncommon habit +for nurses to quiet small children by handling or titillating their +genital organs. They find this a speedy means of quieting them, and +resort to it regardless or ignorant of the consequences.</p> + +<p><a name="chapi10"><b>Not an Uncommon Case.</b></a>—Prof. Lusk, of Bellevue Hospital College, New +York, related to his medical class in our hearing a case which came +under his observation in which all of the children in a large family +had been taught the habit by a wicked nurse for the purpose of keeping +them quiet after they were put to bed. The vileness that would lead +a person to thus rob childhood of its innocence, and blast its prospects +for this life and the next, is base enough for the commission of almost +any crime. Indeed, the crime could hardly have been a worse one had +the nurse referred to in the above case in cold blood cut the throats +of those innocent children; perhaps it might have been better for the +children.</p> +<a name="p325"></a> +<p>A gentleman once declared that if he should detect a person teaching +this crime to his child he would shoot him on the spot; and if homicide +is allowable under any circumstances, it seems to us it would be +extenuated by such an aggravation. If occasional bad associations will +work an immense damage to the youthful character, what terrible injury +may be wrought by an agent of sin, an instructor in vice, who is within +the household, who presides in the nursery, and exerts a constant +influence! No one can estimate it.</p> + +<p>Acton remarks on this point, "I need hardly point out how very dangerous +this is. There seems hardly any limit to the age at which a young child +can be initiated into these abominations, or to the depth of degradation +to which it may fall under such hideous teaching. Books treating of +this subject are unfortunately too full of accounts of the habits of +such children."</p> + +<p>In not a few instances the "hired man" has been the means of +communicating to innocent little boys the infamous knowledge which, +fortunately, they had not acquired in babyhood. With no knowledge of +the evil they are committing, they begin the work of physical damnation +which makes a hell of life and leads to endless death.</p> + +<p>The "hired girl" is often an equally efficient agent for evil in the +instruction of little girls in this debasing vice. Some time ago, the +very intelligent parents of a bright family of children were <a name="p326"></a>awakened +to the importance of this subject from the perusal of the first edition +of this work, and upon investigation were horrified to find that their +oldest child a promising daughter of ten, was already a victim to the +vile practice, having been initiated by a "hired girl." After using +in vain every means he could bring to bear upon the case, the father +brought her to us, and with tears in his eyes gave his story. After +telling of his unsuccessful attempts to effect a reform, he declared +that he would far prefer to place his daughter in the grave than to +see her grow up a wretched victim of this vice. We were most happy to +be able, after a few weeks' treatment, to restore her to her parents, +as we hope, permanently reformed. Not a few such cases are constantly +coming to the attention of the medical profession.</p> + +<p><a name="chapi11"><b>The Instructor in Vice.</b></a>—Are these lines perused by any one who has +ever taught another this vice so vile, and so certainly followed by +penalties so terrible—penalties not upon the instigator but upon the +hapless victim? let such a person clothe himself in sackcloth and ashes, +and do penance for the remainder of his life. The only way in which +he can hope to atone even in some small degree for such a heinous crime, +is by doing all in his power to warn those in danger against this sin. +When all men receive their just deserts, what will be the punishment +of such a one who has not, by thorough repentance and a life spent in +trying to undo the <a name="p327"></a>work of ruin so foully wrought, in some measure +disburdened himself of the consequences of his act!</p> + +<p>Sending children very early to bed before they are weary, "to get them +out of the way," or for punishment, is a grave error, as this may give +rise to the vice. Confining children alone in a room by themselves is +an equally reprehensible practice, as it favors the commission of the +act, at least, and may afford a favorable opportunity for its discovery. +Allowing children to form a habit of seeking solitude is an evil of +the same nature.</p> + +<p><a name="chapi12"><b>Local Disease.</b></a>—In the male, a tight or long foreskin is a frequent +cause of the habit. The constant contact of the prepuce with the most +sensitive part of the organ increases its sensibility. The secretion +is retained, and accumulates, often becoming hardened. In this manner +irritation is set up, which occasions uncomfortable feelings, and +attracts the hands to the part. Owing to the great degree of excitement +due to irritation, but a slight provocation is necessary to arouse +voluptuous sensations, and then the terrible secret is revealed. The +child readily discovers how to reproduce the same, and is not slow to +commit a frequent repetition of the act; and thus the habit is formed.</p> + +<p><a name="chapi13"><b>An Illustrative Case.</b></a>—A case in which the vice originated in this +manner was recently under our observation. The patient was a man of +considerable intellectual power and some culture, but showed +unmistakable signs of his early <a name="p328"></a>indiscretion. He stated that although +he mingled quite freely with other boys of his age, he obtained no +knowledge of the habit from others. He often heard allusions which he +did not understand, and of which he did not, fortunately, discover the +meaning. But he was afflicted with congenital <i>phimosis</i>, the prepuce +being so tight that retraction was impossible. This, together with +urinal irritation,—which occasioned nocturnal incontinence of +urine,—constipation, and highly seasoned food, produced so much local +irritation as to occasion frequent erections, and an increased +secretion. He soon noticed that there was an accumulation of hardened +secretion beneath the foreskin, and in attempting to remove this, he +accidentally provoked voluptuous sensations. He speedily abandoned +himself to the habit, often repeating it several times a day. Beginning +at the age of twelve years, he continued it for three or four years.</p> + +<p>Soon after acquiring the habit, he became aware of its tendencies, +through reading books upon the subject, but he found himself so +completely enslaved that abstinence seemed impossible. One resolution +to reform after another was formed, only to be speedily broken. His +unwholesome diet, habitual constipation, and especially the +unfortunate organic difficulty in his genital organs, produced an +almost constant priapism, which was only relieved, and then but +temporarily, by the act of pollution. His sedentary habits increased +the difficulty to an extreme degree.</p> +<a name="p329"></a> +<p>In the meantime, his constitution, naturally weak, was being gradually +undermined. He suffered from constant headache, heart-burn, pains in +the back and limbs, weakness, and lassitude. Yet he attributed none +of these ailments to the true cause. After the lapse of three or four +years thus spent, and after repeated ineffectual attempts, by a +powerful effort of the will, by the aid of prayer, and by adopting a +more wholesome diet, he succeeded in getting the mastery of his vice. +But the local difficulties still continued in a great degree, and under +particularly aggravating circumstances occasioned a relapse at long +intervals. After a time, the local difficulties grew less and less, +and enabled him to gain a complete victory over the habit, though the +results of previous sin still remained, for which he desired treatment.</p> + +<p>This case will serve as a fair illustration of many of similar character, +in which the child accidentally makes the discovery which leads him +to work his own ruin.</p> + +<p><a name="chapi14"><b>Other Physical Causes.</b></a>—Constipation, piles, irritable bladder, +fissure of the anus, local uncleanliness, and pruritis of the genital +organs, will produce the habit in both males and females in the manner +described. Sleeping on feather beds increases the local congestion, +and thus favors the exciting influences of any of the above-named causes. +It may, perhaps, itself be the exciting cause.</p> +<a name="p330"></a> +<p>We once treated a patient who was affected with stone in the bladder, +and who asserted that the constant irritation which he suffered in the +end of the penis was only relieved by friction. This might readily be +the cause of masturbation, though in this case the vice had been +acquired many years before, and was still continued in spite of all +efforts to reform.</p> + +<p>Lying upon the back or upon the abdomen frequently leads to self-abuse +by provoking sexual excitement. Certain kinds of exercises, as climbing, +in particular, have been attended by the same results. It is said that +children sometimes experience genital excitement amounting to pleasure +as the result of whipping.</p> + +<p><a name="chapi15"><b>Influence of Stimulants.</b></a>—The use of stimulants of any kind is a +fruitful cause of the vice. Tea and coffee have led thousands to +perdition in this way. The influence of tobacco is so strongly shown +in this direction that it is doubtful if there can be found a boy who +has attained the age of puberty and has acquired the habit of using +tobacco, who is not also addicted to this vile practice. Candies, spices, +cinnamon, cloves, peppermint, and all strong essences, powerfully +excite the genital organs and lead to the same result.</p> + +<p>It should be further added that there is evidence that a powerful +predisposition to this vice is transmitted to the children of those +who have themselves been guilty of it.</p> +<a name="p331"></a> +<p><a name="chapi16"><b>Signs of Self-Abuse.</b></a>—The net which this vice weaves around its victims +is so strong, and its meshes are so elaborately interwoven with all +his thoughts, his habits, and his very being, when it has been long +indulged, that it is important to be able to detect it when first +acquired, as it may then be much more easily overcome than at any +subsequent period. It is often no easy matter to do this, as the victim +will resort to all manner of cunning devices to hide his vice, and will +not scruple to falsify concerning it, when questioned. To be able to +accomplish this successfully, requires a careful study, first, of the +signs by which those who indulge in the practice may be known, and, +secondly, of the habits of the individuals.</p> + +<p>In considering the subject it will be found that there are two classes +of signs, as follows:—</p> + +<p>1. Those which may arouse suspicion, but any one of which, taken singly, +would not be an evidence of the practice.</p> + +<p>2. Those which may be regarded as positive. Several suspicious signs +together may constitute a positive sign. Under these two heads, we will +consider the signs of this vile habit.</p> + +<p>It is well to bear in mind the fact that one or two suspicious signs +are not evidence of the disease. It is likewise well to remember that +the habit may be found where least looked for, and where one would have +a right to expect perfect purity. Prejudice must be allowed no voice +upon <a name="p332"></a>either side. A writer has said that every young person under +puberty ought to be suspected of the disease. We can hardly indorse +this remark, in full, but it would be at least wise for every guardian +of children to criticize most carefully their habits and to quickly +detect the first indications of sinful practices. Parents must not +think that <i>their</i> children, at least, are too good to engage in such +sinful abuses. It is most probable that their children are very like +those of their neighbors; and any amount of natural goodness is not +a protection against this insidious vice when it presents itself as +a harmless pleasure to the unwarned and ignorant child.</p> + +<p><a name="chapi17"><b>Suspicious Signs.</b></a>—The following symptoms, occurring in the mental and +physical character and habits of a child or young person, may well give +rise to grave suspicions of evil, and should cause parents or guardians +to be on the alert to root it out if possible:—</p> + +<p>1. <a name="chapi18"><i>General debility</i></a>, coming upon a previously healthy child, marked +by emaciation, weakness, an unnatural paleness, colorless lips and gums, +and the general symptoms of exhaustion, when it cannot be traced to +any other legitimate cause, as internal disease, worms, grief, overwork, +poor air or poor food, and when it is not speedily removed by change +of air or appropriate remedial measures, may safely be attributed to +solitary vice, no matter how far above natural suspicion the individual +<a name="p333"></a>may be. Mistakes will be rare indeed when such a judgment is pronounced +under the circumstances named.</p> + +<p>2. <a name="chapi19"><i>Early symptoms of consumption</i></a>—or what are supposed to be such—as +cough, and decrease in flesh, with short breathing and soreness of the +lungs—or muscles of the chest—are not infrequently, solely the result +of this vice. That such is the case may be considered pretty surely +determined if physical examination of the lungs reveals no organic +disease of those organs. But it should be remembered that solitary vice +is one of the most frequent causes of early consumption. Several cases +which strikingly prove this have fallen under our own observation.</p> + +<p>3. <a name="chapi20"><i>Premature and defective development</i></a> is a symptom closely allied +to the two preceding. When it cannot be traced to such natural causes +as overstudy, overwork, lack of exercise, and other influences of a +similar nature, it should be charged to self-abuse. The early exercise +of the genital organs hastens the attainment of puberty, in many cases, +especially when the habit is acquired early, but at the same time saps +the vital energies so that the system is unable to manifest that +increased energy in growth and development which usually occurs at this +period. In consequence, the body remains small, or does not attain that +development which it otherwise would. The mind is dwarfed as well as +the body. Sometimes the <a name="p334"></a>mind suffers more than the body in lack of +development, and sometimes the reverse is true. This defective +development is shown, in the physical organization of males, in the +failure of the voice to increase in volume and depth of tone as it +should; in deficient growth of the beard; in failure of the chest to +become full and the shoulders broad. The mind and character show the +dwarfing influence by failure to develop those qualities which +especially distinguish a noble manhood. In the female, defective +development is shown by menstrual derangements, by defective growth +either in stature, or as shown in unnatural slimness, and in a failure +to develop the graces and pleasing character which should distinguish +early womanhood. Such signs deserve careful investigation, for they +can only result from some powerfully blighting influence.</p> + +<p>4. <a name="chapi21"><i>Sudden change in disposition</i></a> is a sign which may well arouse +suspicion. If a boy who has previously been cheerful, pleasant, dutiful, +and gentle, suddenly becomes morose, cross, peevish, irritable, and +disobedient, be sure that some foul influence is at work with him. When +a girl, naturally joyous, happy, confiding, and amiable, becomes +unaccountably gloomy, sad, fretful, dissatisfied, and unconfiding, be +certain that a blight of no insignificant character is resting upon +her. Make a careful study of the habits of such children; and if there +is no sudden illness to account for the <a name="p335"></a>change in their character, it +need not require long deliberation to arrive at the true cause, for +it will rarely be found to be anything other than solitary indulgence.</p> + +<p>5. <a name="chapi22"><i>Lassitude</i></a> is as unnatural for a child as for a young kitten. A +healthy child will be active, playful, full of life and animal spirits. +If a young child manifests indisposition to activity, a dislike for +play, lifelessness and languor, suspect his habits, if there is no other +reasonable cause to which to attribute his unnatural want of childish +sprightliness.</p> + +<p>6. In connection with the preceding symptom will generally be found, +instead of that natural brilliance of expression in the eyes and +countenance, an unnatural dullness and vacantness altogether foreign +to childhood. This is a just ground for suspicion.</p> + +<p>7. <a name="chapi23"><i>Sleeplessness</i></a> is another symptom of significance. Sound sleep is +natural for childhood; and if sleeplessness be not occasioned by +dietetic errors, as eating indigestible food, eating between meals, +or eating late suppers, it may justly be a cause for suspicion of evil +habits.</p> + +<p>8. <a name="chapi24"><i>Failure of mental capacity</i></a> without apparent cause should occasion +suspicion of evil practices. When a child who has previously learned +readily, mastered his lessons easily, and possessed a retentive memory, +shows a manifest decline in these directions, fails to get his lessons, +becomes stupid, <a name="p336"></a>forgetful, and inattentive, he has probably become the +victim of a terrible vice, and is on the road to speedy mental as well +as physical ruin. Watch him.</p> + +<p>9. <a name="chapi25"><i>Fickleness</i></a> is another evidence of the working of some +deteriorating influence, for only a weak mind is fickle.</p> + +<p>10. <a name="chapi26"><i>Untrustworthiness</i></a> appearing in a child should attract attention +to his habits. If he has suddenly become heedless, listless, and +forgetful, so that he cannot be depended upon, though previously not +so, lay the blame upon solitary indulgence. This vice has a wonderful +influence in developing untruthfulness. A child previously honest, +under its baneful influence will soon become an inveterate liar.</p> + +<p>11. <a name="chapi27"><i>Love of solitude</i></a> is a very suspicious sign. Children are naturally +sociable, almost without exception. They have a natural dread of being +alone. When a child habitually seeks seclusion without a sufficient +cause, there are good grounds for suspecting him of sinful habits. The +barn, the garret, the water-closet, and sometimes secluded places in +the woods, are the favorite resorts of masturbators. They should be +carefully followed and watched, unobserved.</p> + +<p>12. <a name="chapi28"><i>Bashfulness</i></a> is not infrequently dependent upon this cause. It +would be far from right to say that every person who is excessively +modest or timid is a masturbator; but there is a certain <a name="p337"></a>timorousness +which seems to arise from a sense of shame or fear of discovery that +many victims of this vice exhibit, and which may be distinguished from +natural modesty by a little experience. One very common mode of +manifestation of this timidity is the inability to look a superior, +or any person who is esteemed pure, in the eye. If spoken to, instead +of looking directly at the person to whom he addresses an answer, the +masturbator looks to one side, or lets his eyes fall upon the ground, +seemingly conscious that the eye is a wonderful tell-tale of the secrets +of the mind.</p> + +<p>13. <a name="chapi29"><i>Unnatural boldness</i></a>, in marked contrast with the preceding sign, +is manifested by a certain class of victims. It can be as easily +distinguished, however, as unnatural timidity. The individual seems +to have not the slightest appreciation of propriety. He commits openly +the most uncouth acts, if he does not manifest the most indecent +unchastity of manner. When spoken to, he stares rudely at the person +addressing him, often with a very unpleasant leer upon his countenance. +In some few cases there seems to be a curious combination of conditions. +While mentally fearful, timid, and hesitating, the individual finds +himself, upon addressing a person, staring at him in the most ungainly +manner. He is conscious of his ill manners, but is powerless to control +himself. This sign is one which could hardly be of use to any except +a very close observer, however, as few can <a name="p338"></a>read upon the countenance +the operations of the mind.</p> + +<p>14. <a name="chapi30"><i>Mock piety</i></a>—or perhaps we should more properly designate it as +mistaken piety—is another peculiar manifestation of the effects of +this vicious practice. The victim is observed to become transformed, +by degrees, from a romping, laughing child, full of hilarity and frolic, +to a sober and very sedate little—Christian, the friends think, and +they are highly gratified with the piety of the child. Little do they +suspect the real cause of the solemn face; not the slightest suspicion +have they of the foul orgies practiced by the little sinner. By the +aid of friends he may soon add hypocrisy to his other crimes, and find +in assumed devotion a ready pretense for seeking solitude. Parents will +do well to investigate the origin of this kind of religion in their +children.</p> + +<p>15. <i>Easily frightened</i> children are abundant among young masturbators, +though all easily frightened persons are not vicious. It is certain, +however, that the vice greatly exaggerates natural fear, and creates +an unnatural apprehensiveness. The victim's mind is constantly filled +with vague forebodings of evil. He often looks behind him, looks into +all the closets, peeps under the bed, and is constantly expressing fears +of impending evil. Such movements are the result of a diseased +imagination, and they may justly give rise to suspicion.</p> + +<p>16. <a name="chapi31"><i>Confusion of ideas</i></a> is another characteristic <a name="p339"></a>of the devotee of +this artful vice. If he attempts to argue, his points are not clearly +made. He may be superficially quick and cute, but is incapable of deep +thought, or abstruse reasoning; is often very dull of apprehension. +Ideas are not presented in logical order, but seem to fall out +promiscuously, and fairly represent the condition of a disordered brain. +Attempts at joking are generally failures, as the jest is sure to be +inappropriate or vulgar, and no one but himself sees any occasion for +laughter except at his stupidity. Such individuals are not scarce.</p> + +<p>17. Boys in whom the habit has become well developed sometimes manifest +a decided aversion to the society of girls; but this is not nearly so +often the case as some authors seem to indicate. It would rather appear +that the opposite is more often true. Girls usually show an increasing +fondness for the society of boys, and are very prone to exhibit marked +evidences of real wantonness.</p> + +<p>18. <a name="chapi32"><i>Round shoulders</i></a> and a stooping posture in sitting are +characteristics of young masturbators of both sexes. Whenever a child +seats himself, the head and shoulders droop forward, giving to the spine +a curved appearance.</p> + +<p>19. <a name="chapi33"><i>Weak backs</i></a>, <a name="chapi34"><i>pains in the limbs</i></a>, +<a name="chapi35"><i>and stiffness of the joints</i></a>, in +children, are familiar signs of the habit. To the first of these +conditions is due the habitual stooping posture assumed by these +children. The habit referred to is not the only cause <a name="p340"></a>of these +conditions, but its causative occurrence is sufficiently frequent to +give it no small importance as a suspicious indication.</p> + +<p>20. <a name="chapi36"><i>Paralysis</i></a> of the lower extremities, coming on without apparent +cause, is not infrequently the result of solitary indulgence, even in +very small children. We have seen several cases in which this condition +was traced to the habit of masturbation, in children under six years +of age.</p> + +<p>21. The <a name="chapi37"><i>gait</i></a> of a person addicted to this vice will usually betray +him to one who has learned to distinguish the peculiarities which almost +always mark the walk of such persons. In a child, a dragging, shuffling +walk is to be suspected. Boys, in walking rapidly, show none of that +elasticity which characterizes a natural gait, but walk as if they had +been stiffened in the hips, and as though their legs were pegs attached +to the body by hinges. The girl wriggles along in a style quite as +characteristic, though more difficult to detect with certainty, as +females are often so "affected" in their walk. Unsteadiness of gait +is an evidence seen in both sexes, especially in advanced cases.</p> + +<p>22. <a name="chapi38"><i>Bad positions</i></a> in bed are evidences which should be noticed. If +a child lies constantly upon its abdomen, or is often found with its +hands about the genitals, it may be at least considered in a fair way +to acquire the habit if it has not already done so.</p> + +<p>23. <a name="chapi39"><i>Lack of development of the breasts</i></a> in females, after puberty, +is a common result of self-pollution. <a name="p341"></a>Still it would be entirely unsafe +to say that every female with small mammary glands had been addicted +to this vice, especially at the present time when a fair natural +development is often destroyed by the constant pressure and heat of +"pads." But this sign may well be given a due bearing.</p> + +<p>24. <a name="chapi40"><i>Capricious appetite</i></a> particularly characterizes children +addicted to secret vice. At the commencement of the practice, they +almost invariably manifest great voracity for food, gorging themselves +in the most gluttonous manner. As the habit becomes fixed, digestion +becomes impaired, and the appetite is sometimes almost wanting, and +at other times almost unappeasable.</p> + +<p>25. One very constant peculiarity of such children is their extreme +fondness for unnatural, hurtful, and irritating articles. Nearly all +are greatly attached to salt, pepper, spices, cinnamon, cloves, vinegar, +mustard, horse-radish, and similar articles, and use them in most +inordinate quantities. A boy or girl who is constantly eating cloves +or cinnamon, or who will eat salt in quantities without other food, +gives good occasion for suspicion.</p> + +<p>26. <a name="chapi41"><i>Eating clay, slate-pencils, plaster, chalk,</i></a> and other +indigestible articles is a practice to which girls who abuse themselves +are especially addicted. The habit sometimes becomes developed to such +a wonderful extent that the victims almost rival the clay-eaters of +the Amazon in gratifying their propensity.</p> + +<p>27. Disgust for simple food is one of the traits <a name="p342"></a>which a victim of this +vice is sure to possess. He seems to loathe any food which is not +rendered hot and stimulating with spices and other condiments, and +cannot be induced to eat it.</p> + +<p>28. <a name="chapi42"><i>The use of tobacco</i></a> is good presumptive evidence that a boy is +also addicted to a practice still more filthy. Exceptions to this rule +are very rare indeed, if they exist, which we somewhat doubt. The same +influences which would lead a boy to the use of tobacco would also lead +him to solitary vice, and each sin would serve to exaggerate the other.</p> + +<p>29. <a name="chapi43"><i>Unnatural paleness</i></a> and colorless lips, unless they can be +otherwise accounted for, may be attributed to secret sin. The face is +a great tell-tale against this class of sinners. Justice demands, +however, that an individual should be given the benefit of a doubt so +long as there is a chance for the production of these symptoms by any +other known cause, as overwork, mental anxiety, or dyspepsia.</p> + +<p>30. <a name="chapi44"><i>Acne</i></a>, or <i>pimples</i>, on the face are also among the suspicious +signs, especially when they appear upon the forehead as well as upon +other portions of the face. Occasional pimples upon the chin are very +common in both sexes at puberty and for a few years afterward, but are +without significance, except that the blood may be somewhat gross from +unwholesome diet or lack of exercise.</p> + +<p>31. <a name="chapi45"><i>Biting the finger nails</i></a> is a practice very common in girls +addicted to this vice. In such persons there will also be found, not +infrequently, slight <a name="p343"></a>soreness or ulceration at the roots of the nails, +and warts, one or more, upon one or both the first two fingers of the +hand—usually the right.</p> + +<p>32. The eyes often betray much. If, in addition to want of luster and +natural brilliancy, they are sunken, present red edges, are somewhat +sore, perhaps, and are surrounded by a dark ring, the patient, +especially if a child, should be suspected and carefully watched. It +should be observed, however, that dyspepsia, debility from any cause, +and especially loss of sleep, will produce some or all of these signs, +and no one should be accused of the vice upon the evidence of these +indications alone, neither could he be justly suspected so long as his +symptoms could be accounted for by legitimate causes.</p> + +<p>33. An habitually moist, cold hand, is a suspicious circumstance in +a young person who is not known to be suffering from some constitutional +disease.</p> + +<p>34. <a name="chapi46"><i>Palpitation of the heart</i></a>, frequently occurring, denotes a +condition of nervous disturbance which has some powerful cause, and +which may often be found to be the vice in question.</p> + +<p>35. <a name="chapi47"><i>Hysteria</i></a> in females may be regarded as a suspicious circumstance +when frequently occurring on very slight occasions, and especially if +there is no hereditary tendency to the disease.</p> + +<p>36. <a name="chapi48"><i>Chlorosis</i></a>, or <i>green sickness</i>, is very often caused by the unholy +practice under consideration. It is very commonly attributed, when +occurring in <a name="p344"></a>young women, to menstrual derangements; but it is only +necessary to remember that these menstrual irregularities are in many +cases the result of the same habit, as has been already pointed out.</p> + +<p>37. <a name="chapi49"><i>Epileptic fits</i></a> in children are not infrequently the result of +vicious habits.</p> + +<p>38. <a name="chapi50"><i>Wetting the bed</i></a> is an evidence of irritation which may be +connected with the practice; it should be looked after.</p> + +<p>39. <a name="chapi51"><i>Unchastity of speech</i></a> and fondness for obscene stories betray a +condition of mind which does not exist in youth who are not addicted +to this vice.</p> + +<p>As previously remarked, no single one of the above signs should be +considered as conclusive evidence of the habit in any individual; but +any one of them may, and should, arouse suspicion and watchfulness. +If the habit really exists, but a short time will elapse before other +signs will be noticed, and when several point in the same direction, +the evidence may be considered nearly, if not quite, conclusive. But +persistent watching will enable the positive signs to be detected +sooner or later, and then there can no longer be doubt. It is, of course, +necessary to give the individual no suspicion that he is being watched, +as that would put him so effectually on his guard as, possibly, to defy +detection.</p> + +<p><a name="chapi52"><b>Positive Signs.</b></a>—The absolutely positive signs of solitary vice are +very few. Of course the most <a name="p345"></a>certainly positive of all is detection +in the act. Sometimes this is difficult, with such consummate cunning +do the devotees of this Moloch pursue their debasing practice. If a +child is noticed to seek a certain secluded spot with considerable +regularity, he should be carefully followed and secretly watched, for +several days in succession if need be. Many children pursue the practice +at night after retiring. If the suspected one is observed to become +very quickly quiet after retiring, and when looked at appears to be +asleep, the bedclothes should be quickly thrown off under some pretense. +If, in the case of a boy, the penis is found in a state of erection, +with the hands near the genitals, he may certainly be treated as a +masturbator without any error. If he is found in a state of excitement, +in connection with the other evidences, with a quickened circulation +as indicated by the pulse, or in a state of perspiration, his guilt +is certain, even though he may pretend to be asleep; no doubt he has +been addicted to the vice for a considerable time to have acquired so +much cunning. If the same course is pursued with girls, under the same +circumstances, the clitoris will be found congested, with the other +genital organs, which will also be moist from increased secretion. +Other conditions will be as nearly as possible the same as those in +the boy.</p> + +<p>Stains upon the night shirt or sheets, occurring before puberty, are +certain evidences of the vice in <a name="p346"></a>boys, as they are subject, before that +time, to no discharge which will leave a stain resembling that from +the seminal fluid, except the rare one from piles. In the very young, +these stains do not occur; but when the habit is acquired before puberty, +a discharge resembling semen takes place before the ordinary period. +Of course, the stains from urine will be easily distinguished from +others. The frequent occurrence of such stains after puberty is a +suspicious circumstance. A discharge in some respects similar may occur +in girls.</p> + +<p>Before puberty, the effect of the vice upon the genital organs is to +cause an unnatural development, in both sexes, of the sensitive +portions. When this is marked, it is pretty conclusive evidence of the +vice. In girls, the vagina often becomes unnaturally enlarged, and +leucorrhoea is often present. After puberty, the organs usually +diminish in size, and become unnaturally lax and shrunken.</p> + +<p>All of these signs should be thoroughly mastered by those who have +children under their care, and if not continually watching for them, +which would be an unpleasant task, such should be on the alert to detect +the signs at once when they appear, and then carefully seek for others +until there is no longer any doubt about the case.</p> +<br> +<a name="p347"></a> +<div><h3><a name="chapi53">R<small>ESULTS OF</small> S<small>ECRET</small> V<small>ICE</small>.</a></h3></div> + +<p>The physician rarely meets more forlorn objects than the victims of +prolonged self-abuse. These unfortunate beings he meets every day of +his life, and listens so often to the same story of shameful abuse and +retributive suffering that he dreads to hear it repeated. In these cases, +there is usually a horrid sameness—the same cause, the same inevitable +results. In most cases, the patient need not utter a word, for the +physician can read in his countenance his whole history, as can most +other people at all conversant with the subject.</p> + +<p>In order to secure the greatest completeness consistent with necessary +brevity, we will describe the effects observed in males and those in +females under separate heads, noticing the symptoms of each morbid +condition in connection with its description.</p> +<br> +<center><a name="chapi54">EFFECTS IN MALES.</a></center> +<br> +<p>We shall describe, first, the local effects, then the general effects, +physical and mental.</p> + +<p><a name="chapi55"><b>Local Effects.</b></a>—Excitement of the genital organs produces the most +intense congestion. No other organs in the body are capable of such +rapid and enormous engorgement. When the act is frequently repeated, +this condition becomes <a name="p348"></a>permanent in some of the tissues, particularly +in the mucous membrane lining the urethra. This same membrane continues +into and lines throughout the bladder, kidneys, and all the urinary +organs, together with the vesiculæ seminales, the ejaculatory ducts, +the vasa deferentia, and the testes. In consequence of this continuity +of tissue, any irritation affecting one part is liable to extend to +another, or to all the rest. We mention this anatomical fact here as +a help to the understanding of the different morbid conditions which +will be noticed.</p> + +<p><a name="chapi56"><i>Urethral Irritation</i></a>.—The chronic congestion of the urethra after +a time becomes chronic irritability. The tissue is unusually sensitive, +this condition being often indicated by a slight smarting in urination. +It often extends throughout the whole length of the urethra, and becomes +so intense that the passage of a sound, which would occasion little +if any sensation in a healthy organ, produces the most acute pain, as +we have observed in numerous instances, even when the greatest care +was used in the introduction of the instrument.</p> + +<p>Shooting pains are often felt in the organ, due to this irritation. +Pain is in some cases most felt at the root, in others, at the head. +It often darts from one point to another. Just before and just after +urination the pain is most severe.</p> + +<p><a name="chapi57"><i>Stricture</i></a>.—Long-continued irritation of the mucous membrane of the +urethra produces, ultimately, inflammation and swelling of the same +in some <a name="p349"></a>portion of its extent. This condition may become permanent, +and then constitutes real stricture, a most serious disease. More often +the swelling is but transient, being due to some unusual excess, and +will subside. Sometimes, also, a temporary stricture is produced by +spasmodic contraction of the muscular fibers surrounding the urethra, +which is excited by the local irritation. This kind of stricture is +often met in the treatment of spermatorrhoea.</p> + +<p><a name="chapi58"><b>Enlarged Prostate.</b></a>—This painful affection is a frequent result of the +chronic irritation in the urethra, which the gland surrounds, the +morbid action being communicated to it by its proximity. A diseased +action is set up which results in enlargement and hardening. It is felt +as a hard body just anterior to the anus, and becomes by pressure the +source of much additional mischief. Sometimes the disease progresses +to dangerous ulceration. It is attended by heat, pressure, and pain +between the anus and the root of the penis.</p> + +<p><a name="chapi59"><b>Urinary Diseases.</b></a>—The same congestion and irritability extend to the +bladder and thence to the kidneys, producing irritation and +inflammation of those organs. Mucus is often formed in large +quantities; sometimes much is retained in the bladder. Earthy matter +is deposited, which becomes entangled in the mucus, and thus a +concretion or stone is produced, occasioning much suffering, and +perhaps death.</p> +<a name="p350"></a> +<p>We saw, not long since, a case of this kind. The patient was nearly +sixty years of age, and had practiced masturbation from childhood. In +consequence of his vice, a chronic irritation of the urethra had been +produced, which was followed by enlargement of the prostate, then by +chronic irritation of the bladder and the formation of stone. His +sufferings were most excruciating whenever he attempted to urinate, +which was only accomplished with the greatest difficulty and suffering.</p> + +<p>One of the unpleasant results of irritation of the lining membrane of +the bladder is inability to retain the urine long, which requires +frequent urination and often causes incontinence of urine.</p> + +<p><a name="chapi60"><i>Priapism</i></a>.—This same morbid sensitiveness may produce priapism, or +continuous and painful erection, one of the most "terrible and +humiliating conditions," as Dr. Acton says, to which the human body +is subject. The horrid desperation of patients suffering under this +condition is almost inconceivable. It is, fortunately, rare, in its +most severe forms; but hundreds suffer from it to a most painful degree +as one of the punishments of transgression of nature's laws; and a most +terrible punishment it is.</p> + +<p><a name="chapi61"><i>Piles</i></a>, <a name="chapi62"><i>Prolapsus of Rectum</i></a>, <i>etc.</i>—As the result of the straining +caused by stricture, piles, prolapsus of the rectum, and fissure of +the anus are not infrequently induced, as the following case observed +at Charity Hospital, New York, illustrates:—</p> +<a name="p351"></a> +<p>The patient had a peculiar deformity of the genital organs, +<i>hypospadias</i>, which prevented sexual intercourse, in consequence of +which he gave himself up to the practice of self-abuse. He had become +reduced to the most deplorable condition of both mind and body, and +presented a most woebegone countenance. In addition to his general +ailments, he suffered from extreme prolapsus of the rectum and a most +painful anal fissure. His condition was somewhat bettered by skillful +surgical treatment.</p> + +<p><a name="chapi63"><i>Extension of Irritation</i></a>.—Serious and painful as are the affections +already noticed, those which arise from the extension of the congestion +and irritation of the urethra to those other organs most intimately +connected with the function of generation are still more dreadful in +themselves, and far more serious in their consequences. The irritation +extends into the ejaculatory ducts, thence backward into the seminal +vesicles, and downward through the vasa deferentia to the testes. These +organs become unnaturally excited, and their activity is increased. +The testicles form an abnormal amount of spermatozoa; the seminal +vesicles secrete their peculiar fluid too freely. From these two +sources combined, the vesicles become loaded with seminal fluid, and +this condition gives rise to a great increase of sexual excitement.</p> + +<p>In cases of long standing, the irritation of the urethra at the openings +of the ejaculatory ducts, a <a name="p352"></a>point just in front of the bladder, advances +to inflammation and ulceration. Here is now established a permanent +source of irritation, by which the morbid activity of the testes and +seminal vesicles is kept up and continually increased. This condition +is indicated by frequent twitchings of the ejaculatory and compressor +muscles in the perineum. It is also indicated by a burning sensation +at the root of the penis after urination, which, in severe cases, +amounts to very serious pain.</p> + +<p><a name="chapi64"><i>Atrophy, or Wasting of the Testes</i></a>.—The first result of the +irritation communicated to the testes, is, as already remarked, +increased activity; but this is attended by swelling in some cases, +more or less pain, tenderness, and, after a time, diminution in size.</p> + +<p>This degenerative process likewise affects the seminal fluid, which +becomes more or less deteriorated and incapable of producing healthy +offspring, even while it retains the power of fecundating the ovum, +which it also ultimately loses if the disease is not checked by proper +treatment, when the individual becomes hopelessly impotent, a happy +result for the race, for it prevents the possibility of his imparting +to another being his debilitated constitution.</p> + +<p><a name="chapi65"><i>Varicocele</i></a>.—This morbid condition consists in a varicose state of +the spermatic veins. It is almost always found upon the left side, owing +to an anatomical peculiarity of the spermatic vein of that <a name="p353"></a>side. It +has been supposed to be a result of masturbation and its effects, but +is certainly caused otherwise in many cases. It is not infrequently +found in these patients; but Prof. Bartholow contends that even in such +cases we should "consider its presence, in general, as accidental." +Atrophy of the left testicle is often produced by the pressure of the +distended veins; but this does not produce impotence. It occasionally +occurs simultaneously on both sides, and greatly aggravates the effects +of self-abuse, if it is not itself an effect of the vice.</p> + +<p><a name="chapi66"><b>Nocturnal Emissions.</b></a>—Seminal emissions during sleep, usually +accompanied by erotic dreams, are known as nocturnal pollutions or +emissions, and are often called <i>spermatorrhoea</i>, though there is some +disagreement respecting the use of the latter term. Its most proper +use is when applied to the entire group of symptoms which accompany +involuntary seminal losses.</p> + +<p>The masturbator knows nothing of this disease so long as he continues +his vile practice; but when he resolves to reform, and ceases to defile +himself voluntarily, he is astonished and disgusted to find that the +same filthy pollutions occur during his sleep without his voluntary +participation. He now begins to see something of the ruin he has wrought. +The same nightly loss continues, sometimes being repeated several times +in a single night, to his infinite mortification and chagrin. He hopes +the difficulty will subside of itself, but his hope is <a name="p354"></a>vain; unless +properly treated, it will probably continue until the ruin which he +voluntarily began is completed.</p> + +<p>This disease is the result of sexual excesses of any kind; it is common +in married men who have abused the marriage relation, when they are +forced to temporary continence from any cause. It also occurs in those +addicted to mental unchastity, though they may be physically continent. +It is not probable that it would ever occur in a person who had been +strictly continent and had not allowed his mind to dwell upon libidinous +imaginations.</p> + +<p><a name="chapi67"><b>Exciting Causes.</b></a>—The exciting causes which serve to perpetuate this +difficulty are chiefly two; viz., local irritation and lewd thoughts.</p> + +<p>The first cause is usually chiefly located in the urethra, and +especially at the mouths of the ejaculatory ducts. Distention of the +seminal vesicles with a superabundance of seminal fluid also acts as +a source of irritation. Constipation, worms, and piles have an +irritative influence which is often very seriously felt.</p> + +<p>Unchaste thoughts act detrimentally in a two-fold way. They first +stimulate the activity of the testes, thus increasing the overloading +of the seminal vesicles. Lascivious thoughts during wakefulness are +the chief cause of lascivious dreams.</p> + +<p>Emissions do not usually occur during the soundest sleep, but during +that condition which may be <a name="p355"></a>characterized as dozing, which is most often +indulged in early in the morning after the soundest sleep is passed. +This fact has an important bearing upon treatment, as will be seen +hereafter.</p> + +<p>At first, the emissions are always accompanied by dreams, the patient +usually awaking immediately afterward; but after a time they take place +without dreams and without awaking him, and are unaccompanied by +sensation. This denotes a greatly increased gravity of the complaint.</p> + +<p>Certain circumstances greatly increase the frequency of the emissions, +and thus hasten the injury which they are certain to accomplish if not +checked; as, neglect to relieve the bladder and bowels at night, late +suppers, stimulating food and drinks, and anything that will excite +the genital organs. Of all causes, amorous or erotic thoughts are the +most powerful. Tea and coffee, spices and other condiments, and animal +food have a special tendency in this direction. Certain positions in +bed also serve as exciting or predisposing causes; as sleeping upon +the back or abdomen. Feather beds and pillows and too warm covering +in bed are also injurious for the same reason.</p> + +<p>In frequency, emissions will vary in different persons from an +occasional one at long and irregular intervals to two or three a week, +or several—as many as four in one case we have met—in a single night.</p> + +<p>The immediate effect of an emission will depend <a name="p356"></a>somewhat upon the +frequency of occurrence and the condition of the individual. If very +infrequent, and occurring in a comparatively robust person, after the +seminal vesicles have become distended with seminal fluid, the +immediate effect of an emission may be a sensation of temporary relief. +This circumstance has led certain persons to suppose that emissions +are natural and beneficial. This point will receive attention shortly.</p> + +<p>If the emissions are more frequent, or if they occur in a person of +a naturally feeble constitution, the immediate effect is lassitude, +languor, indisposition and often inability to perform severe mental +or physical labor, melancholy, amounting often to despair and even +leading to suicide, and an exaggeration of local irritation, and of +all the morbid conditions to be noticed under the head of "General +Effects." Headache, indigestion, weakness of the back and knees, +disturbed circulation, dimness of vision, and loss of appetite, are +only a few of these.</p> + +<p><a name="chapi68"><b>Are Occasional Emissions Necessary or Harmless?</b></a>—That an individual +may suffer for years an involuntary seminal loss as frequently as once +a month without apparently suffering very great injury, seems to be +a settled fact with physicians of extensive experience, and is well +confirmed by observation; yet there are those who suffer severely from +losses no more frequent than this. But when seminal losses occur more +frequently than once a <a name="p357"></a>month, they will certainly ultimate in great +injury, even though immediate ill effects are not noticed, as in +exceptional cases they may not be. If argument is necessary to sustain +this position, as it hardly seems to be, we would refer to the fact +that seminal losses do not occur in those who are, and always have been, +continent both mentally and physically, when such rare individuals can +be found. They occur the most rarely in those who the most nearly +approach the standard of perfect chastity; so that whenever they occur, +they may be taken as evidence of some form of sexual excess. This fact +clearly shows that losses of this kind are not natural.</p> + +<p><a name="chapi69"><b>Emission not Necessary to Health.</b></a>—If it be argued that an occasional +emission is necessary to relieve the overloaded seminal vesicles, we +reply, the same argument has been used as an apology for unchastity; +but it is equally worthless in both instances. It might be as well argued +that vomiting is a necessary physiological and healthful act, and +should occur with regularity, because a person may so overload his +stomach as to make the act necessary as a remedial measure. Vomiting +is a diseased action, a pathological process, and is occasioned by the +voluntary transgression of the individual. Hence, it is as unnecessary +as gluttony, and must be wasteful of vitality, even though rendered +necessary under some circumstances. So with emissions. If a person +allows his mind to <a name="p358"></a>dwell upon unchaste subjects, indulges in erotic +dreams, and riots in mental lasciviousness, he may render an emission +almost necessary as a remedial effort. Nevertheless, he will suffer +from the loss of the vital fluid just the same as though he had not, +by his own concupiscence, rendered it in some degree necessary. And +as it would have been infinitely better for him to have retained and +digested food in his stomach instead of ejecting it—provided it were +wholesome food—so it would have been better for him to have retained +in his system the seminal fluid, which would have been disposed of by +the system and probably utilized to very great advantage in the repair +of certain of the tissues.</p> + +<p><a name="chapi70"><b>Eminent Testimony.</b></a>—An eminent English physician, Dr. Milton, who has +treated many thousands of cases of this disease, remarks in a work upon +the subject as follows:—</p> + +<p>"Anything beyond one emission a month requires attention. I know this +statement has been impugned, but I am quite prepared to abide by it. +I did not put it forward till I considered I had quite sufficient +evidence in my hands to justify me in doing so."</p> + +<p>"An opinion prevails, as most of my readers are aware, among medical +men, that a few emissions in youth do good instead of harm. It is +difficult to understand how an unnatural evacuation can do good, except +in the case of unnatural congestion. <a name="p359"></a>I have, however, convinced myself +that the principle is wrong. Lads never really feel better for +emissions; they very often feel decidedly worse. Occasionally they may +fancy there is a sense of relief, but it is very much the same sort +of relief that a drunkard feels from a dram. In early life the stomach +may be repeatedly overloaded with impunity, but I suppose few would +contend that overloading was therefore good. The fact is that emissions +are invariably more or less injurious; not always visibly so in youth, +nor susceptible of being assessed as to the damage inflicted by any +given number of them, but still contributing, each in its turn, a mite +toward the exhaustion and debility which the patient will one day +complain of."</p> + +<p><a name="chapi71"><b>Diurnal Emissions.</b></a>—As the disease progresses, the irritation and +weakness of the organs become so great that an erection and emission +occur upon the slightest sexual excitement. Mere proximity to a female, +or the thought of one, will be sufficient to produce a pollution, +attended by voluptuous sensations. But after a time the organs become +so diseased and irritable that the slightest mechanical irritation, +as friction of the clothing, the sitting posture, or riding horseback, +will produce a discharge which may or may not be attended by sensation +of any kind. Frequently a burning or more or less painful sensation +occurs; erection does not take place. Even straining at stool will +produce the discharge, or violent efforts to retain the feces when there +is unnatural looseness.</p> +<a name="p360"></a> +<p>The amount of the discharge may vary from a few drops to one or two +drams, or even more. The character of the discharge is of considerable +importance. When it occurs under the circumstances last described, viz., +without erection or voluptuous sensations, it may be of a true seminal +character, or it may contain no spermatozoa. This point can be +determined by the microscope alone. The discharge is the result of +sexual excitement or irritation, nevertheless, and indicates a most +deplorable condition of the genital organs. The patient is sometimes +unnecessarily frightened by it, and often exaggerates the amount of +the losses, and the symptoms arising from them. However, when a single +nocturnal emission occasions such detrimental results, what must be +the effect of repeated discharges occurring several times a day, or +every time an individual relieves his bowels, urinates, or entertains +an unvirtuous thought! If the losses were always seminal, the work of +ruin would soon be complete; fortunately, those discharges which are +the most frequent are only occasionally of a true seminal character. +It is not true, however, as has been claimed by some writers, one at +least, that they are never seminal, as we have proved by repeated +microscopic examinations.</p> + +<p><a name="chapi72"><b>Cause of Diurnal Emissions.</b></a>—The causes of these discharges are +spasmodic action of the muscles involved in ejaculation, which is +occasioned by local irritation, and pressure upon the seminal vesicles +<a name="p361"></a>by the distended rectum or bladder. They denote a condition of debility +and irritation which may well occasion grave alarm.</p> + +<p>In occasional instances, the internal irritation reaches such a height +that blood is discharged with the seminal fluid.</p> + +<p><a name="chapi73"><b>Internal Emissions.</b></a>—As the disease progresses, external discharges +finally cease, in some cases, or partially so, and the individual is +encouraged by that circumstance to think that he is recovering. He soon +discovers his error, however, for he continues to droop even though +the discharges apparently cease altogether. This seems a mystery until +some medical friend or a medical work calls his attention to the fact +that the discharges now occur internally instead of externally, the +seminal fluid passing back into the bladder and being voided with the +urine. An examination of the urine reveals the presence of cloudy matter +appearing much like mucus, or a whitish sediment. A microscopic +examination shows this matter to be composed largely of zoösperms, +which decides its origin.</p> + +<p><a name="chapi74"><b>An Important Caution.</b></a>—It is necessary, however, to caution the reader +not to pronounce every whitish sediment or flocculent matter found in +the urine to be a seminal discharge, for the great majority are of a +different character. They are, most frequently, simply mucus or +phosphates from the bladder. Seminal fluid cannot be distinguished <a name="p362"></a>from +mucus by any other than a careful microscopic examination. A microscope +of good quality and capable of magnifying at least one hundred and fifty +diameters is required, together with considerable skill in the operator. +Quacks have done an immense amount of harm by frightening patients into +the belief that they were suffering from discharges of this kind when +there was, in fact, nothing more than a copious deposit of phosphates, +which is not at all infrequent in nervous people, especially after +eating.</p> + +<p>When the condition described does really exist, however, the patient +cannot make too much haste to put himself under the care of a competent +physician for treatment. If there is even a reasonable suspicion that +it may exist, he should have his urine carefully examined by one +competent to criticize it intelligently.</p> + +<p>By many authors, the term spermatorrhoea is confined entirely to this +stage of the disease.</p> + +<p>It is said that the forcible interruption of ejaculation has been the +cause of this unfortunate condition in many cases. Such a proceeding +is certainly very hazardous.</p> + +<p>One more caution should be offered; viz., that the occasional presence +of spermatozoa in the urine is not a proof of the existence of internal +emissions, as a few zoösperms may be left in the urethra after a +voluntary or nocturnal emission, and thus find their way into the urine +as it is discharged from the bladder.</p> +<a name="p363"></a> +<p><a name="chapi75"><b>Impotence.</b></a>—In the progress of the disease a point is finally reached +when the victim not only loses all desire for the natural exercise of +the sexual function, but when such an act becomes impossible. This +condition may have been reached even before all of the preceding +symptoms have been developed. Ultimately it becomes impossible to +longer practice the abominable vice itself, on account of the great +degeneration and relaxation of the organs. The approach of this +condition is indicated by increasing loss of erectile power, which is +at first only temporary, but afterward becomes permanent. Still the +involuntary discharges continue, and the victim sees himself gradually +sinking lower and lower into the pit which his own hands have dug. The +misery of his condition is unimaginable; manhood lost, body a wreck, +and death staring him in the face.</p> + +<p>This is a brief sketch of the local effects of the horrid vice of +self-abuse. The description has not been at all overdrawn. We have yet +to consider the general effects, some of which have already been +incidentally touched upon in describing nocturnal emissions, with +their immediate results.</p> + +<p><a name="chapi76"><b>General Effects.</b></a>—The many serious effects which follow the habit of +self-abuse, in addition to those terrible local maladies already +described, are the direct results of two causes in the male; viz.,</p> + +<p>1. Nervous exhaustion;</p> + +<p>2. Loss of the seminal fluid.</p> + +<p>There has been much discussion as to which one <a name="p364"></a>of these was the cause +of the effects observed in these cases. Some have attributed all the +evil to one cause, and some to the other. That the loss of semen is +not the only cause, nor, perhaps, the chief source of injury, is proved +by the fact that most deplorable effects of the vice are seen in children +before puberty, and also in females, in whom no seminal discharge nor +anything analogous to it occurs. In these cases, it is the nervous shock +alone which works the evil.</p> + +<p>Again, that the seminal fluid is the most highly vitalized of all the +fluids of the body, and that its rapid production is at the expense +of a most exhaustive effort on the part of the vital forces, is well +attested by all physiologists. It is further believed by some eminent +physicians that the seminal fluid is of great use in the body for +building up and replenishing certain tissues, especially those of the +nerves and brain, being absorbed after secretion. Though this view is +not coincided in by all physiologists, it seems to be supported by the +following facts:—</p> + +<p>1. The composition of the nerves and that of spermatozoa is nearly +identical.</p> + +<p>2. Men from whom the testes have been removed before puberty, as in +the case of eunuchs, are never fully developed as they would otherwise +have been.</p> + +<p>The nervous shock accompanying the exercise of the sexual +organs—either natural or unnatural—is the most profound to which the +system is subject. <a name="p365"></a>The whole nervous system is called into activity; +and the effects are occasionally so strongly felt upon a weakened +organism that death results in the very act. The subsequent exhaustion +is necessarily proportionate to the excitement.</p> + +<p>It need not be surprising, then, that the effects of the frequent +operation of two such powerful influences combined should be so +terrible as they are found to be.</p> + +<p><a name="chapi77"><i>General Debility</i></a>.—Nervous exhaustion and the loss of the vivifying +influence of the seminal fluid produce extreme mental and physical +debility, which increases as the habit is practiced, and is continued +by involuntary emissions after the habit ceases. If the patient's +habits are sedentary, and if he had a delicate constitution at the start, +his progress toward the grave will be fearfully rapid, especially if +the habit were acquired young, as it most frequently is by such boys, +they being generally precocious. Extreme emaciation, sallow or +blotched skin, sunken eyes, surrounded by a dark or blue color, general +weakness, dullness, weak back, stupidity, laziness, or indisposition +to activity of any kind, wandering and illy defined pains, obscure and +often terrible sensations, pain in back and limbs, sleeplessness, and +a train of morbid symptoms too long to mention in detail, attend these +sufferers.</p> + +<p><a name="chapi78"><i>Consumption</i></a>.—It is well recognized by the medical profession that +this vice is one of the most <a name="p366"></a>frequent causes of consumption. At least +such would seem to be the declaration of experience, and the following +statistical fact adds weight to the conclusion:—</p> + +<p>"Dr. Smith read a paper before a learned medical association a few years +since in which he pointed out the startling fact that in one thousand +cases of consumption five hundred and eighteen had suffered from some +form of sexual abuse, and more than four hundred had been addicted to +masturbation or suffered from nocturnal emissions."<small>[49]</small></p> + +<blockquote><small>49 Acton.</small></blockquote> + +<p>"Most of those who early become addicted to self-pollution are soon +afterward the subjects, not merely of one or more of the ailments +already noticed, but also of enlargements of the lymphatic and other +glands, ultimately of <i>tubercular deposits in the lungs</i> and other +viscera, or of scrofulous disease of the vertebræ or bones, or of other +structures, more especially of the joints."<small>[50]</small></p> + +<blockquote><small>50 Copland.</small></blockquote> + +<p>Many young men waste away and die of symptoms resembling consumption +which are solely the result of the loathsome practice of self-abuse. +The real number of consumptives whose disease originates in this manner +can never be known.</p> + +<p><a name="chapi79"><i>Dyspepsia</i></a>.—Indigestion is frequently one of the first results. +Nervous exhaustion is always felt by the stomach very promptly. When +dyspepsia is once really established, it reacts upon the genital organs, +increasing their irritability as well as that <a name="p367"></a>of all the rest of the +nervous system. Now there is no end to the ills which may be suffered; +for an impaired digestion lays the system open to the inroads of almost +any and every malady.</p> + +<p><a name="chapi80"><i>Heart Disease</i></a>.—Functional disease of the heart, indicated by +excessive palpitation on the slightest exertion, is a very frequent +symptom. Though it unfits the individual for labor, and causes him much +suffering, he would be fortunate if he escaped with no disease of a +more dangerous character.</p> + +<p><a name="chapi81"><i>Throat Affections</i></a>.—There is no doubt that many of the affections +of the throat in young men and older ones which pass under the name +of "clergyman's sore throat" are the direct results of masturbation +and emissions.</p> + +<p>Dr. Acton cites several cases in proof of this, and quotes the following +letter from a young clergyman:—</p> + +<p>"When I began the practice of masturbation, at the age of sixteen, I +was in the habit of exercising my voice regularly. The first part in +which I felt the bad effects of that habit was in the organs of +articulation. After the act, the voice wanted tone, and there was a +disagreeable feeling about the throat which made speaking a source of +no pleasure to me as it had been. By-and-by, it became painful to speak +after the act. This arose from a feeling as if a morbid matter was being +secreted in the throat, so acrid that it sent tears to the eyes when +speaking, and would have taken away the <a name="p368"></a>breath if not swallowed. This, +however, passed away in a day or two after the act. In the course of +years, when involuntary emissions began to impair the constitution, +this condition became permanent. The throat always feels very delicate, +and there is often such irritability in it, along with this feeling +of the secretion of morbid matter, as to make it impossible to speak +without swallowing at every second or third word. This is felt even +in conversation, and there is a great disinclination to attempt to speak +at all. In many instances in which the throat has been supposed to give +way from other causes, I have known this to be the real one. May it +not be that the general irritation always produced by the habit referred +to, shows itself also in this organ, and more fully in those who are +required habitually to exercise it?"</p> + +<p><a name="chapi82"><i>Nervous Diseases</i></a>.—There is no end to the nervous affections to which +the sufferer from this vice is subject. Headaches, neuralgias, symptoms +resembling hysteria, sudden alternations of heat and cold, irregular +flushing of the face, and many other affections, some of the more +important of which we will mention in detail, are his constant +companions.</p> + +<p><a name="chapi83"><i>Epilepsy</i></a>.—This disease has been traced to the vile habit under +consideration in so many cases that it is now very certain that in many +instances this is its origin. It is of frequent occurrence in those +who have indulged in solitary vice or any other form of sexual excess. +We have seen several cases of this kind.</p> +<a name="p369"></a> +<p><a name="chapi84"><b>Failure of Special Senses.</b></a>—Dimness of vision, amaurosis, spots before +the eyes, with other forms of ocular weakness, are common results of +this vice. The same degeneration and premature failure occur in the +organs of hearing. In fact, sensibility of all the senses becomes in +some measure diminished in old cases.</p> + +<p><a name="chapi85"><b>Spinal Irritation.</b></a>—Irritation of the spinal cord, with its resultant +evils, is one of the most common of the nervous affections originating +in this cause. Tenderness of the spine, numerous pains in the limbs, +and spasmodic twitching of the muscles, are some of its results. +Paralysis, partial or complete, of the lower limbs, and even of the +whole body, is not a rare occurrence. We have seen two cases in which +this was well marked. Both patients were small boys and began to excite +the genital organs at a very early age. In one, the paralytic condition +was complete when he was held erect. The head fell forward, the arms +and limbs hung down helpless, the eyes rolled upward, and the saliva +dribbled from his mouth. When lying flat upon his back, he had +considerable control of his limbs. In this case, a condition of priapism +seems to have existed almost from birth, owing to congenital phimosis. +His condition was somewhat improved by circumcision. In the other case, +in which phimosis also existed, there was paralysis of a few of the +muscles of the leg, which produced club-foot. Circumcision was also +performed in this case and <a name="p370"></a>the child returned in a few weeks completely +cured, without any other application, though it had previously been +treated in a great variety of ways without success, all the usual +remedies for club-foot proving ineffectual. Both of these cases +appeared in the clinic of Dr. Sayre at Bellevue Hospital, and were +operated upon by him.</p> + +<p>We have recently observed several cases of spinal disease which could +be traced to no origin but masturbation. Two patients were small boys, +naturally quite intelligent. They manifested all the peculiarities of +loco-motor ataxia in older persons, walking with the characteristic +gait. The disease was steadily progressing in spite of all attempts +to stay it. An older brother had died of the same malady, paralysis +extending over the whole body, and finally preventing deglutition, so +that he really starved to death.</p> + +<p><a name="chapi86"><b>Insanity.</b></a>—That solitary vice is one of the most common causes of +insanity, is a fact too well established to need demonstration here. +Every lunatic asylum furnishes numerous illustrations of the fact. +"Authors are universally agreed, from Galen down to the present day, +about the pernicious influence of this enervating indulgence, and its +strong propensity to generate the very worst and most formidable kinds +of insanity. It has frequently been known to occasion speedy, and even +instant, insanity."<small>[51]</small></p> + +<blockquote><small>51 Arnold.</small></blockquote> +<a name="p371"></a> +<p>"Religious insanity," so-called, may justly be attributed to this cause +in a great proportion of cases. The individual is conscience-smitten +in view of his horrid sins, and a view of his terrible condition—ruined +for both worlds, he fears—goads him to despair, and his weakened +intellect fails; reason is dethroned, and he becomes a hopeless lunatic. +His friends, knowing nothing of the real cause of his mysterious +confessions of terrible sin, think him over-conscientious, and lay the +blame of his insanity upon religion, when it is solely the result of +his vicious habits, of which they are ignorant.</p> + +<p>In other cases, the victim falls into a profound melancholy from which +nothing can divert him. He never laughs, does not even smile. He becomes +more and more reserved and taciturn, and perhaps ends the scene by +committing suicide. This crime is not at all uncommon with those who +have gone the whole length of the road of evil. They find their manhood +gone, the vice in which they have so long delighted is no longer possible, +and, in desperation, they put an end to the miserable life which nature +might lengthen out a few months if not thus violently superseded.</p> + +<p>If the practice is continued uninterruptedly from boyhood to manhood, +imbecility and idiocy are the results. Demented individuals are met +in no small numbers inside of hospitals and asylums, and outside as +well, who owe to this vice their awful condition. Plenty of half-witted +men whom one meets <a name="p372"></a>in the every-day walks of life have destroyed the +better half of their understanding by this wretched practice.</p> + +<p><a name="chapi87"><b>A Victim's Mental Condition Pictured.</b></a>—The mental condition of a victim +of this vice cannot be better described than is done in the following +paragraphs by one himself a victim, though few of these unfortunate +individuals would be able to produce so accurate and critical a portrait +of themselves as is here drawn by M. Rousseau, as quoted by Mr. Acton:—</p> + +<p>"One might say that my heart and my mind do not belong to the same person. +My feelings, quicker than lightning, fill my soul; but instead of +illuminating, they burn and dazzle me. I feel everything. I see nothing. +I am excited, but stupid; I cannot think except in cold blood. The +wonderful thing is that I have sound enough tact, penetration, even +<i>finesse</i>, if people will wait for me. I make excellent impromptus at +leisure; but at the moment I have nothing ready to say or do. I should +converse brilliantly by post, as they say the Spaniards play at chess. +When I read of a Duke of Savoy who turned back after starting on his +journey to say, 'In your teeth! you Paris shop-keeper!' I said, 'That +is like me!'"</p> + +<p>"But not only is it a labor to me to express, but also to receive, ideas. +I have studied men, and I think I am a tolerably good observer; yet +I can see nothing of what I do see. I can hardly say that I <a name="p373"></a>see anything +except what I recall; I have no power of mind but in my recollection. +Of all that is said, of all that is done, of all that passes in my +presence, I feel nothing, I appreciate nothing. The external sign is +all that strikes me. But after a while it all comes back to me."</p> +<br> +<center><a name="chapi88">EFFECTS IN FEMALES.</a></center> +<br> +<p><a name="chapi89"><b>Local Effects.</b></a>—The local diseases produced by the vice in females are, +of course, of a different nature from those seen in males, on account +of the difference in organization. They arise, however, in the same +way, congestions at first temporary ultimately becoming permanent and +resulting in irritation and various disorders.</p> + +<p><a name="chapi90"><b>Leucorrhoea.</b></a>—The results of congestion first appear in the mucous +membrane lining the vagina, which is also injured by mechanical +irritation, and consists of a catarrhal discharge which enervates the +system. By degrees the discharge increases in quantity and virulence, +extending backward until it reaches the sensitive womb.</p> + +<p>Contact with the acrid, irritating secretions of the vagina produces +soreness of the fingers at the roots of the nails, and also frequently +causes warts upon the fingers. Hence the value of these signs, as +previously mentioned.</p> + +<p><a name="chapi91"><b>Uterine Disease.</b></a>—Congestion of the womb is also produced by the act +of abuse; and as the habit is continued, it also becomes permanent. +<a name="p374"></a>This congestion, together with the contact of the acrid vaginal +discharge, finally produces ulceration upon the neck, together with +other diseases.</p> + +<p>Another result of congestion is all kinds of menstrual derangements +after puberty, the occurrence of which epoch is hastened by the habit. +Prolapsus and various displacements are produced in addition to +menstrual irregularities.</p> + +<p><a name="chapi92"><b>Cancer of the Womb.</b></a>—Degeneration of this delicate organ also occurs +as the result of the constant irritation and congestion, and is often +of a malignant nature, occasioning a most painful death.</p> + +<p><a name="chapi93"><b>Sterility.</b></a>—Sterility, dependent on a total loss of sexual desire and +inability to participate in the sexual act, is another condition which +is declared by medical authors to be most commonly due to previous +habits of self-abuse. In consequence of overexcitement the organs +become relaxed.</p> + +<p><a name="chapi94"><b>Atrophy of Mammæ.</b></a>—Closely connected with other local results is the +deficient development of the breasts when the vice is begun before or +at puberty, and atrophy if it is begun or continued after development +has occurred. As previously remarked, this is not the sole cause of +small mammæ, but it is one of the great causes.</p> + +<p><a name="chapi95"><b>Pruritis.</b></a>—This is an affection not infrequent in these subjects. +Continued congestion produces a terrible itching of the genitals, which +increases until the individual is in a state of actual frenzy, and <a name="p375"></a>the +disposition to manipulate the genitals becomes irresistible, and is +indulged even in the presence of friends or strangers, and though the +patient be at other times a young woman of unexceptionable modesty. +In cases of this kind, great hypertrophy of the organ of greatest +sensibility has been observed, and in some cases amputation of the part +has been found the only cure.</p> + +<p><a name="chapi96"><b>General Effects.</b></a>—The general effects in the female are much the same +as those in the male. Although women suffer no seminal loss, they suffer +the debilitating effects of leucorrhoea, which is in some degree +injurious in the same manner as seminal losses in the male. But in +females the greatest injury results from the nervous exhaustion which +follows the unnatural excitement. Nervous diseases of every variety +are developed. Emaciation and debility become more marked even than +in the male, and the worst results are produced sooner, being hastened +by the sedentary habits of these females, generally. Insanity is more +frequently developed than in males. Spinal irritation is so frequent +a result that a recent surgical author has said that "spinal irritation +in girls and women is, in a majority of cases, due to self-abuse."<small>[52]</small></p> + +<blockquote><small>52 Davis.</small></blockquote> + +<p><a name="chapi97"><b>A Common Cause of Hysteria.</b></a>—This, too, is one of the most frequent +causes of hysteria, chorea, and epilepsy among young women, though not +often recognized.</p> +<a name="p376"></a> +<p>A writer, quoted several times before in this work, remarks as +follows:—</p> + +<p>"This is not a matter within the scope of general investigation; truth +is not to be expected from its <i>habitués</i>; parents are deceived +respecting it, believing rather what they wish than what they fear. +Even the physician can but suspect, till time develops more fully by +hysterias, epilepsies, spinal irritations, and a train of symptoms +unmistakable even if the finally extorted confession of the poor victim +did not render the matter clear. Marriage does, indeed, often arrest +this final catastrophe, and thus apparently shifts the responsibility +upon other shoulders, and to the 'injurious effects of early +marriages,' to the 'ills of maternity,' are ascribed the results of +previous personal abuse.</p> + +<p>"For statistics and further information on this all-important subject, +we must refer the reader to the opinions of physicians who have the +charge of our retreats for the insane, lunatic asylums, and the like; +to the discriminating physicians of the families of the upper +classes—stimulated alike by food, drinks, scenes where ease is +predominant, where indolence is the habit and novel-reading is the +occupation—for further particulars on a subject here but barely +alluded to."<small>[53]</small></p> + +<blockquote><small>53 Gardner.</small></blockquote> +<br> +<center><a name="chapi98">EFFECTS UPON OFFSPRING.</a></center> +<br> +<p>If sterility does not result, children are liable to be "delicate, puny, +decrepit, or subject to various <a name="p377"></a>congenital maladies, especially of the +nervous system, to idiocy from deficient development of the brain, to +hydrocephalus, to epilepsy, convulsions, palsy. The scrofulous +diathesis, tubercular and glandular maladies, diseases of the +vertebræ and of the joints, softening of the central portions of the +brain, and tuberculous formations in the membranes, palsy and +convulsions, chorea, inflammations of the membranes or substance of +the brain or spinal cord, and numerous other affections to which infants +and children are liable, very commonly result from the practice of +self-pollution by either of the parents previous to marriage. But the +evil does not always stop at this epoch of existence, it often extends +throughout the life of the offspring, or it appears only with puberty +and mature age."</p> + +<p>Too frequently, the victim of self-abuse, when he finds himself +suffering from the first results of his sin, neglects to adopt any +measures for the cure of the disease. Not understanding its inveterate +character, he labors under the delusion that it will cure itself in +time. This is a fatal mistake. The diseased conditions induced by this +vice never improve themselves. Their constant tendency is to increase +in virulence and inveteracy. The necessity of taking prompt measures +for relief is too apparent to need especial emphasis.</p> +<br><a name="p378"></a> +<div><h3><a name="chapi99">T<small>REATMENT OF</small> S<small>ELF</small>-A<small>BUSE AND ITS</small> E<small>FFECTS</small>.</a></h3></div> + +<p>After having duly considered the causes and effects of this terrible +evil, the question next in order for consideration is, How shall it +be cured? When a person has, through ignorance or weakness, brought +upon himself the terrible effects described, how shall he find relief +from his ills, if restoration is possible? To the answer of these +inquiries, most of the remaining pages of this work will be devoted. +But before entering upon a description of methods of <i>cure</i>, a brief +consideration of the subject of <i>prevention</i> of the habit will be in +order.</p> +<br> +<center><a name="chapi100">PREVENTION OF SECRET VICE.</a></center> +<br> +<p>For the rising generation, those yet innocent of the evil practices +so abundant in this age of sensuality, how the evil habit may be +prevented is the most important of all questions connected with this +subject. This topic should be especially interesting to parents, for +even those who are themselves sensual have seen enough of the evils +of such a life to wish that their children may remain pure. There are, +indeed, rare exceptions to this rule, for we sometimes learn of parents +who have deliberately led their own children into vice, as though they +desired to make them share their shame and damnation.</p> +<a name="p379"></a> +<p><a name="chapi101"><b>Cultivate Chastity.</b></a>—From earliest infancy all of those influences and +agencies which cultivate chastity should be brought into active +exercise. These we need not repeat here, having previously dwelt upon +them so fully. The reader is recommended to re-peruse the portion of +the work devoted to this subject, in connection with the present section. +If parents have themselves indulged in this vice, they should use +special care that all of the generative and gestative influences +brought to bear upon their children are the purest possible, so that +they may not inherit a predisposition to sin in this direction.</p> + +<p>Special care should be exercised to avoid corrupt servants and +associates. Every servant not known to be pure should be suspected until +proof of innocence has been established. They should be especially +instructed of the evil arising from manipulation of the genitals even +in infants, as they may do immense harm through simple ignorance.</p> + +<p><a name="chapi102"><b>Timely Warning.</b></a>—But, in spite of chaste surroundings and all other +favorable circumstances, if the child is left in ignorance of his danger, +he may yet fall a victim to the devices of servants or corrupt playmates, +or may himself make a fatal discovery. Hence arises the duty of warning +children of the evil before the habit has been formed. This is a duty +that parents seldom perform even when they are not unaware of the danger. +They in some way convince themselves that their children are <a name="p380"></a>pure, at +least, even if others are corrupt. It is often the most difficult thing +in the world for parents to comprehend the fact that <i>their</i> children +are not the best children in the world, perfect paragons of purity and +innocence. There is an unaccountable and unreasonable delicacy on the +part of parents about speaking of sexual subjects to their children. +In consequence, their young, inquisitive minds are left wholly in +ignorance unless, perchance, they gain information from some vile +source.</p> + +<p>Objections are raised against talking to children or young persons +about matters in any degree pertaining to the sexual organs or functions. +Some of the more important of them are considered in the introduction +to this work, and we need not repeat here.</p> + +<p>The little one should be taught from earliest infancy to abstain from +handling the genitals, being made to regard it as a very improper act. +When the child becomes old enough to understand and reason, he may be +further informed of the evil consequences; then, as he becomes older, +the functions of the organs may be explained with sufficient fullness +to satisfy his natural craving for knowledge.</p> + +<p>If this course were pursued, how many might be saved from ruin! It is, +of course, necessary that the parents shall themselves be acquainted +with the true functions of the organs before they attempt to teach any +one else, especially children. Many parents might receive benefit from +being <a name="p381"></a>obliged to "study up;" for it is a lamentable fact, the ill effects +of which are every day seen, that a great many people have spent a very +large portion of their lives without ever ascertaining the true +function of the reproductive organs, though living in matrimony for +many years. Some of the consequences of this ignorance have been +portrayed in previous pages.</p> + +<p>"Oh! why did not some kind friend tell me of the harm I was doing myself?" +has been the exclamation of many an unfortunate sufferer from this vice. +A warning voice should be raised to save those who are ignorantly +working their own destruction. Parents, teachers, ministers, all who +have access to the youth, should sound the note of alarm in their ears, +that if possible they may be saved from the terrible thralldom pictured +by a writer in the following lines:—</p> + +<p>"The waters have gone over me. But out of the black depths, could I +be heard, I would cry to all those who have set a foot in the perilous +flood. Could the youth look into my desolation, and be made to +understand what a dreary thing it is when a man shall feel himself going +down a precipice with open eyes and passive will—to see his destruction +and have no power to stop it, and yet to feel it all the way emanating +from himself; to perceive all goodness emptied out of him, and yet not +be able to forget a time when it was otherwise; to bear about with him +the spectacle of his own <a name="p382"></a>self-ruin; could he feel the body of death +out of which I cry hourly with feebler and feebler outcry to be +delivered."</p> +<br> +<center><a name="chapi103">CURATIVE TREATMENT OF THE EFFECTS OF SELF-ABUSE.</a></center> +<br> +<p>When the habit and its effects are of very short duration, a cure is +very readily accomplished, especially in the cases of children and +females, as in them the evils begun are not continued in the form of +involuntary pollutions. In cases of longer standing in males, the task +is more difficult, but still the prospect of recovery is very favorable, +provided the coöperation of the patient can be secured; without this, +little can be done. But in these cases the patient may as well be told +at the outset that the task of undoing the evil work of years of sin +is no easy matter. It can only be accomplished by determined effort, +by steady perseverance in right doing, and in the application of +necessary remedies. Those who have long practiced the vice, or long +suffered severely from its effects, have received an injury which will +inevitably be life-long to a greater or lesser extent in spite of all +that can be done for them. Yet such need not despair, for they may +receive inestimable benefit by the prevention of greater damage, which +they are sure to suffer if the disease is allowed to go unchecked.</p> + +<p><a name="chapi104"><b>Cure of the Habit.</b></a>—The preliminary step in treatment is always to cure +the vice itself if it still <a name="p383"></a>exists. The methods adopted for this purpose +must differ according to the age of the individual patient.</p> + +<p><i>In children</i>, especially those who have recently acquired the habit, +it can be broken up by admonishing them of its sinfulness, and +portraying in vivid colors its terrible results, if the child is old +enough to comprehend such admonitions. In addition to faithful warnings, +the attention of the child should be fully occupied by work, study, +or pleasant recreation. He should not be left alone at any time, lest +he yield to temptation. Work is an excellent remedy; work that will +really make him very tired, so that when he goes to bed he will have +no disposition to defile himself. It is best to place such a child under +the care of a faithful person of older years, whose special duty it +shall be to watch him night and day until the habit is thoroughly +overcome.</p> + +<p>In younger children, with whom moral considerations will have no +particular weight, other devices may be used. Bandaging the parts has +been practiced with success. Tying the hands is also successful in some +cases; but this will not always succeed, for they will often contrive +to continue the habit in other ways, as by working the limbs, or lying +upon the abdomen. Covering the organs with a cage has been practiced +with entire success. A remedy which is almost always successful in small +boys is circumcision, especially when there is any degree of phimosis. +The operation should <a name="p384"></a>be performed by a surgeon without administering +an anæsthetic, as the brief pain attending the operation will have +a salutary effect upon the mind, especially if it be connected with +the idea of punishment, as it may well be in some cases. The soreness +which continues for several weeks interrupts the practice, and if it +had not previously become too firmly fixed, it may be forgotten and +not resumed. If any attempt is made to watch the child, he should be +so carefully surrounded by vigilance that he cannot possibly transgress +without detection. If he is only partially watched, he soon learns to +elude observation, and thus the effect is only to make him cunning in +his vice.</p> + +<p><i>In adults</i>, or youths, a different plan must be pursued. In these cases, +moral considerations, and the inevitable consequences to health of body +and mind, are the chief influences by which a reform is to be effected, +if at all. These considerations may be urged with all possible eloquence +and earnestness, but should not be exaggerated. The truth is terrible +enough. If there are any special influences which may be brought to +bear upon a particular individual,—and there always will be something +of this sort owing to peculiarities of temperament or +circumstances,—these should be promptly employed and applied in such +a manner as to secure for them their full bearing.</p> + +<p>But after all, the most must be done by the individual himself. All +that others can do for <a name="p385"></a>him is to surround him with favoring +circumstances and arouse him to a proper sense of his real condition +and danger. If this can be thoroughly accomplished, there is much reason +to hope; but if the individual has become so lost to all sense of purity, +all aspirations toward good and noble objects, that he cannot be made +to feel the need of reformation, his case is hopeless.</p> + +<p><a name="chapi105"><i>How May a Person Help Himself?</i></a>—The following suggestions will be +found useful in fighting the battle with vice and habit:—</p> + +<p>1. Begin by a resolution to reform, strengthened by the most solemn +vows.</p> + +<p>2. Resolve to reform <i>now</i>; not to-morrow or next week, but this very +minute. Thousands have sunk to perdition while resolving to indulge +"only this once."</p> + +<p>3. Begin the work of reform by purging the mind. If a lewd thought enters +the mind, dispel it at once. Cultivate a loathing for concupiscence. +Never harbor such ideas for an instant, for they will surely lead to +the overt act. If, perchance, the physical sin should not be committed, +the thought itself is sin, and it leaves a physical as well as a moral +scar almost as deep and hideous as that inflicted by the grosser crime.</p> + +<p>4. As a help to purity of mind, whenever impure thoughts enter, +immediately direct the mind upon the purest object with which you are +acquainted. Flee from the special exciting cause, if <a name="p386"></a>there is one, and +engage in some active labor or other exercise that will divert the mind +into another channel.</p> + +<p>5. Avoid solitude, for then it is that temptation comes, and you are +most likely to fail. Avoid equally all other causes which may lead to +the act.</p> + +<p>6. Strictly comply with all the rules laid down for the cultivation +of chastity and the maintenance of continence.</p> + +<p>7. Above all, seek for grace and help from the Source of all spiritual +strength in every time of temptation, relying upon the promise, "Seek, +and ye shall find."</p> + +<p><a name="chapi106"><b>Hopeful Courage.</b></a>—An individual who will earnestly set himself about +the work of purifying his mind and redeeming his body, if he will +conscientiously adopt, and perseveringly apply, the remedies pointed +out, <i>may be sure of success</i>. There can be no possible chance for +failure. Triumph is certain. Patience may be tried and faith tested, +but unwavering trust in God and nature, and an executed determination +to do all on his part, will bring to every such one certain recovery. +There may be some scars left, a few traces of the injury wrought; but +the deliverance will be none the less triumphant. Faith and +perseverance will work wonders.</p> + +<p><a name="chapi107"><b>General Regimen and Treatment.</b></a>—After long abuse of the sexual organs, +and in many cases after a short course of sin, the whole system becomes +deteriorated; digestion is impaired, the muscles are <a name="p387"></a>weakened, the +circulation is unbalanced, the nerves are irritable, the +brain—especially the back and lower portion of it—is congested, the +skin is torpid, the bowels are inactive, the general health is deranged +in almost every particular. All of these morbid conditions serve to +keep up the very difficulty which has produced and is increasing them. +Any curative effort, to be effective, then, must be directed to these +as well as to local conditions; and it is pretty certainly established +that local remedies or applications alone will rarely accomplish any +appreciable good, at least of a permanent character.</p> + +<p>Many of the observations on treatment are equally applicable to both +sexes; but particular directions have been especially adapted to males, +and chiefly with the cure of seminal emissions as the object in view. +This remark will explain any seeming lack of completeness.</p> + +<p><a name="chapi108"><b>Mental and Moral Treatment.</b></a>—The greatest impediment to recovery is +usually found in the mind of the patient. His hopeless despair, +melancholy, sullen apathy in many cases, want of energy, and fickleness +of mind, thwart all attempts that are made for him. In other cases, +the want of willpower, or neglect to exercise the will in controlling +the thoughts, completely counteracts all that can be done for him. He +must be made to understand this well, and then all possible means must +be employed to attract his attention from himself, from brooding over +his ills. Occupy him, interest him, <a name="p388"></a>or teach him to occupy and interest +himself. The enthusiastic study of some one of the natural sciences +is a most excellent auxiliary in effecting this.</p> + +<p>The thing of first importance is that the patient should obtain command +of his thoughts; by this means, he can do more for himself than all +the doctors can do for him. "But I cannot control my thoughts," says +the patient. A young man said to me, "O doctor, you don't know how I +feel. I despise myself; I hate myself; I often feel inclined to kill +myself. My mind is always full of abominable images; my thoughts run +away with me and I cannot help myself." The tears ran down his face +in streams as he told me of his slavery. He solemnly affirmed that he +had never performed the act of self-pollution but once in his life: +and yet for years he had been a constant sufferer from nocturnal +emissions until his manhood was nearly lost, evidently the result of +the mental onanism which he had practiced without imagining the +possibility of harm.</p> + +<p>But it is not true that control of the thoughts is impossible. Thoughts +are the result of the action of the brain; and the action of the brain +may be controlled as well as the movements of a voluntary muscle. It +may be more difficult, especially when the resolution is weakened, as +it is by this vice; but so long as there are left any remnants of will +and reason, control is possible. To strengthen the will must be one +of the objects of mental treatment, <a name="p389"></a>and exercise is the method by which +it may be accomplished. The thing for a sufferer to say, is not, "I +can't," but, "I can and I will control my thoughts." Suggestions which +will aid in accomplishing this have already been given under the heading, +"Cure of the Habit."</p> + +<p>We cannot forbear to add a word further respecting the worth of religion +in aiding these sufferers. If there is any living creature who needs +the help of true religion, of faith in God, in Christ, and in the +efficacy of prayer, it is one of these. If there is any poor mortal +who can not afford to be deprived of the aid of a sympathizing Saviour, +it is one who has enervated his will, degraded his soul, and depraved +his body by the vile habit of self-abuse. A compassionate Redeemer will +succor even these defiled ones, if they truly "hunger and thirst" after +purity, and if they set about the work of reforming themselves in good +earnest, and with right motives.</p> + +<p><a name="chapi109"><b>Exercise.</b></a>—Physical exercise is a most powerful aid to pure thoughts. +When unchaste ideas intrude, engage at once in something which will +demand energetic muscular exercise. Pursue the effort until fatigued, +if necessary, making, all the while, a powerful mental effort to control +the mind. Of course, evil thoughts will not be expelled by thinking +of them, but by displacing them by pure thoughts. Exercise aids this +greatly.</p> + +<p>Exercise is also essential to balance the <a name="p390"></a>circulation, and thus relieve +congestion of internal organs. Sedentary persons especially need +systematic exercise. No single form of exercise is so excellent as +walking. Four or five miles a day are none too many to secure a proper +amount of muscular exercise. Gymnastics, the "health-lift," "Indian +clubs," "dumb-bells," rowing, and other forms of exercise are all good; +but none of them should be carried to excess. Ball-playing is likely +to be made a source of injury by exciting, in vigorous competition, +too violent and spasmodic action.</p> + +<p>Daily exercise should be taken to the extent of fatigue. It is better +that those who are still strong enough should have some regular +employment which will secure exercise. Those who prefer may secure +exercise and recreation in the pursuit of some study that involves +necessary physical exertion; as, botany, geology, or entomology. The +collection of natural-history specimens is one of the most pleasant +diversions, and may be made very useful as well.</p> + +<p>Pleasant companionship is essential to the best progress of these +patients, especially in their walks, as much more exercise may be taken +without an unpleasant sense of fatigue with a cheerful companion than +when alone. Solitude should be avoided at all times as much as possible.</p> + +<p><b>Diet.</b>—So much has already been said upon the relation of diet to +chastity and its influence upon the sexual organs that it is unnecessary +to add many <a name="p391"></a>remarks here. Nothing could be more untrue than the +statement made by some authors that the nature of the diet is of no +consequence.</p> + +<p>The science of physiology teaches that our very thoughts are born of +what we eat. A man that lives on pork, fine-flour bread, rich pies and +cakes, and condiments, drinks tea and coffee and uses tobacco, might +as well try to fly as to be chaste in thought. He will accomplish wonders +if he remains physically chaste; but to be mentally virtuous would be +impossible for him without a miracle of grace.</p> + +<p>One whose thoughts have been so long trained in the filthy ruts of vice +that they run there automatically, and naturally gravitate +downward—such a one must exercise especial care to secure the most +simple, pure, and unstimulating diet.</p> + +<p>The following precautions are necessary to be observed in relation to +diet:—</p> + +<p>1. <a name="chapi110"><i>Never overeat</i></a>. If too much food is taken at one meal, fast the +next meal to give the system a chance to recover itself and to serve +as a barrier against future transgressions of the same kind. Gluttony +is fatal to chastity; and overeating will be certain to cause emissions, +with other evils, in one whose organs are weakened by abuse.</p> + +<p>2. <a name="chapi111"><i>Eat but twice a day</i></a>, or, if supper is eaten, let it be very light, +and of the most simple food, as fruit, or fruit and bread. Nothing should +be eaten within four or five hours of bed-time, and it is <a name="p392"></a>much better +to eat nothing after three o'clock. The ancients ate but two meals a +day; why should moderns eat three or four? If the stomach contains +undigested food, the sleep will be disturbed, dreams will be more +abundant, and emissions will be frequent. A most imperative rule of +life should be, "Never go to bed with a loaded stomach." The violation +of this rule is the great cause of horrid dreams and nightmare.</p> + +<p>3. <a name="chapi112"><i>Discard all stimulating food</i></a>. Under this head must be included, +spices, pepper, ginger, mustard, cinnamon, cloves, essences, all +condiments, salt, pickles, etc., together with animal food of all kinds, +not excepting fish, fowl, oysters, eggs, and milk. It is hardly to be +expected that all who have been accustomed to use these articles all +their lives will discard them wholly at once, nor, perhaps, that many +will ever discard them entirely; but it would be better for them to +do so, nevertheless. The only ones which should be tolerated under any +circumstances should be lean beef or mutton, salt in very moderate +quantities, and a moderate use of milk. Use as little of these as +possible—<i>the less the better</i>.</p> + +<p>4. <a name="chapi113"><i>Stimulating drinks</i></a> should be abstained from with still greater +strictness. Wine, beer, tea, and coffee should be taken under no +circumstances. The influence of coffee in stimulating the genital +organs is notorious. Chocolate should be discarded also. It is +recommended by some who suppose it <a name="p393"></a>to be harmless, being ignorant of +the fact that it contains a poison practically identical with that of +tea and coffee.</p> + +<p>Hot drinks of all kinds should be avoided.</p> + +<p>Tobacco, another stimulant, though not a drink, should be totally +abandoned at once.</p> + +<p>5. In place of such articles as have been condemned, eat fruits, grains, +and vegetables. There is a rich variety of these kinds of food, and +they are wholesome and unstimulating. Graham flour, oatmeal, and ripe +fruit are the indispensables of a dietary for those who are suffering +from sexual excesses.</p> + +<p>Further remarks upon diet, with a few useful recipes for preparing +healthful food, will be found in works devoted to the subject of +diet.<small>[54]</small> The patient must carefully comply with all the rules of a +healthy diet if he would be sure of recovery.</p> + +<blockquote><small>54 See "Healthful Cookery," <i>Good Health</i> Publishing +Company, Battle Creek, Mich.</small></blockquote> + +<p><a name="chapi114"><b>Sleeping.</b></a>—It is from accidents which happen during sleep that the +great majority of sufferers complain; hence there is no little +importance attaching to this subject. The following suggestions +present in a very brief manner some of the more practical ideas +connected with this part of the subject:—</p> + +<p>1. From seven to nine hours' sleep are required by all persons. The +rule should be, Retire early and sleep until rested; Early rising is +not beneficial unless it has been preceded by abundant sleep.</p> +<a name="p394"></a> +<p>2. Arise immediately upon waking in the morning if it is after four +o'clock. A second nap is generally unrefreshing and is dangerous, for +emissions most frequently occur at this time.</p> + +<p>3. If insufficient sleep is taken at night, sleep a few minutes just +before dinner. Half an hour's rest at this time is remarkably +refreshing; and even fifteen minutes spent in sleep will be found very +reviving. Do not sleep after dinner, as a pollution will be very likely +to occur, and, as a rule, after-dinner naps are unrefreshing and +productive of indigestion.</p> + +<p>4. Never go to bed with the bowels or bladder loaded. The bladder should +be emptied just before retiring. It is also a good plan to form the +habit of rising once or twice during the night to urinate.</p> + +<p>5. The position in sleeping is of some importance. Sleeping upon the +back or upon the abdomen favors the occurrence of emissions; hence, +it is preferable to sleep on one side. If supper has been taken, the +right side is preferable, as that position will favor the passage of +food from the stomach into the intestines in undergoing digestion.</p> + +<p>Various devices are employed, sometimes with advantage, to prevent the +patient from turning upon his back while asleep. The most simple is +that recommended by Acton, and consists in tying a knot in the middle +of a towel and then fastening the towel about the body in such a way +that the knot will come upon the small of the back. The <a name="p395"></a>unpleasant +sensations arising from pressure of the knot, if the sleeper turn upon +his back, will often serve as a complete preventive. Others fasten a +piece of wood upon the back for a similar purpose. Still others practice +tying one hand to the bedpost. None of these remedies should be depended +upon, but they may be tried in connection with other means of treatment.</p> + +<p>6. Soft beds and pillows must be carefully avoided. Feather-beds should +not be employed when possible to find a harder bed; the floor, with +a single folded blanket beneath the sleeper, would be preferable. Soft +pillows heat the head, as soft beds produce heat in other parts. A hair +mattress, or a bed of corn husks, oat straw, or excelsior—covered with +two or three blankets or a quilted cotton mattress—makes a very healthy +and comfortable bed.</p> + +<p>7. Too many covers should be avoided with equal care. The thinnest +possible covering in summer, and the lightest consistent with comfort +in winter, should be the rule. Sleeping too warm is a frequent exciting +cause of nocturnal losses.</p> + +<p>8. Thorough ventilation of the sleeping-room, both while occupied and +during the day-time, must not be neglected. It should be located in +a position to admit the sunshine during the morning hours. It is a good +plan to keep in it a number of house plants, as they will help to purify +the air, besides adding to its cheerfulness.</p> +<a name="p396"></a> +<p>9. If wakeful at night, instead of lying in bed trying to go to sleep, +get up at once, open the bed, air the sheets, remove the night clothing +and walk about the room for a few minutes, rubbing the body briskly +with the bare hand at the same time. A tepid sponge bath, followed by +a vigorous rubbing kept up until really tired, will conduce to sleep +in many cases. Sometimes a change of bed, or pulling the bed to pieces +and arranging it again, is just the thing needed to bring sleep.</p> + +<p>10. One of the most effectual panaceas for certain varieties of +sleeplessness is going to bed at peace with all the world, and with +a conscience void of offense toward God as well as man.</p> + +<p><a name="chapi115"><b>Dreams.</b></a>—This is a subject of much interest to those suffering from +nocturnal pollutions, for these occurrences are almost always +connected with dreams of a lascivious nature.</p> + +<p>In perfectly natural sleep, there are no dreams; consciousness is +entirely suspended. In the ordinary stage of dreaming, there is a +peculiar sort of consciousness, many of the faculties of the mind being +more or less active while the power of volition is wholly dormant. +Carpenter describes another stage of consciousness between that of +ordinary dreaming and wakefulness, a condition "in which the dreamer +has a consciousness that he is dreaming, being aware of the +unreliability of the images which present themselves before his mind. +He may even make a voluntary and successful <a name="p397"></a>effort to prolong them if +agreeable, or to dissipate them if unpleasing; thus evincing a certain +degree of that directing power, the entire want of which is +characteristic of the true state of dreams."</p> + +<p><a name="chapi116"><b>Can Dreams Be Controlled?</b></a>—Facts prove that they can be, and to a +remarkable extent. A large share of emissions occur in the state +described by Dr. Carpenter, in which a certain amount of control by +the will is possible. This is the usual condition of the mind during +morning naps; and if a person resolutely determines to combat unchaste +thoughts whenever they come to him, whether asleep or awake, he will +find it possible to control himself not only during this semi-conscious +state, but even during more profound sleep.</p> + +<p>The following case, related by an eminent London surgeon,<small>[55]</small> +illustrates what may be done by strong resolution; the patient was an +Italian gentleman of very great respectability.</p> + +<blockquote><small>55 Acton.</small></blockquote> + +<p>"He had been inconvenienced five years before with frequent emissions, +which totally unnerved him. He determined resolutely that the very +instant the image of a woman or any libidinous idea presented itself +to his imagination, <i>he would wake</i>; and to insure his doing so, dwelt +in his thoughts on his resolution for a long time before going to sleep. +The remedy, applied by a vigorous will, had the most happy results. +The idea, the remembrance of its being a <i>danger</i>, and the determination +to wake, closely united the evening before, <a name="p398"></a>were never dissociated even +in sleep, and he awoke in time; and this reiterated precaution, repeated +during some evenings, absolutely cured the complaint."</p> + +<p>Several other cases of the same kind have been recorded. Doubtless the +plan would be found successful in many cases when coupled with a proper +regimen.</p> + +<p>A still greater control is exerted over the thoughts during sleep by +their character during hours of wakefulness. By controlling the mind +during entire consciousness, it will also be controlled during +unconsciousness or semi-consciousness.</p> + +<p>Dr. Acton makes the following very appropriate remarks on this +subject:—</p> + +<p>"Patients will tell you that they <i>cannot</i> control their dreams. This +is not true. Those who have studied the connection between thoughts +during waking hours and dreams during sleep know that they are closely +connected. The <i>character</i> is the same sleeping or waking. It is not +surprising that, if a man has allowed his thoughts during the day to +rest upon libidinous subjects, he should find his mind at night full +of lascivious dreams—the one is a consequence of the other, and the +nocturnal pollution is a natural consequence, particularly when +diurnal indulgence has produced an irritability of the generative +organs. A will which in our waking hours we have not exercised in +<a name="p399"></a>repressing sexual desires, will not, when we fall asleep, preserve us +from carrying the sleeping echo of our waking thought farther than we +dared to do in the day-time."</p> + +<p><a name="chapi117"><b>Bathing.</b></a>—A daily bath is indispensable to health under almost all +circumstances; for patients of this class, it is especially necessary. +A general bath should be taken every morning immediately upon rising. +General <i>cold bathing</i> is not good for any person, especially in the +morning, though some may tolerate it remarkably well, being of +exceptionally hardy constitutions; but the advice to try "cold bathing" +often given to sufferers from seminal weakness, is very pernicious, +for most of them have been reduced so low in vitality by their disease +that they cannot endure such violent treatment.</p> + +<p>Sun baths, electric baths, spray, plunge, and other forms of bath, are +of greatest value to those suffering from the effects of indiscretions. +These are described, with additional observations concerning +temperature of baths, etc., etc., in works devoted to this subject.</p> + +<p><a name="chapi118"><b>Improvement of General Health.</b></a>—Patients suffering from emissions and +other forms of seminal weakness are almost always dyspeptic, and most +of them present other constitutional affections which require careful +and thorough treatment according to the particular indications of the +case. The wise physician will not neglect these if he <a name="p400"></a>desires to cure +his patient and make his recovery as complete as possible.</p> + +<p><a name="chapi119"><b>Prostitution as a Remedy.</b></a>—Said a leading physician in New York to us +when interrogated as to his special treatment of spermatorrhoea, "When +a young man comes to me suffering from nocturnal emissions, I give him +tonics and <i>send him to a woman</i>." That this is not an unusual method +of treatment, even among regular physicians, is a fact as true as it +is deplorable. There are hundreds of young men whose morals have been +ruined by such advice. Having been educated to virtuous habits, at least +so far as illicit intercourse is concerned, they resist all temptations +in this direction, even though their inclinations are very strong; but +when advised by a physician to commit fornication as a remedial measure, +they yield their virtue, far too readily sometimes, and begin a life +of sin from which they might have been prevented. There are good grounds +for believing that many young men purposely seek advice from physicians +whom they know are in the habit of prescribing this kind of remedy.</p> + +<p>Few know how commonly this course is recommended, and not by quacks, +but by members of the regular profession. A medical friend informed +us that he knew a case in which a country physician advised a young +man of continent habits to go to a neighboring large city and spend +a year or so with prostitutes, which advice he followed. Of his +<a name="p401"></a>subsequent history we know nothing; but it is most probable that, like +most other young men who adopt this remedy, he soon contracted diseases +which rendered his condition ten times worse than at first, without +at all improving his former state. In pursuing this course, one form +of emission is only substituted for another, at the best; but more than +this, an involuntary result of disease is converted into a voluntary +sin of the blackest character, a crime in which two participate, and +which is not only an outrage upon nature, but against morality as well.</p> + +<p>A final argument against this course is that it is not a remedy and +does not effect a cure of the evil, as will be shown by the following +medical testimonies:—</p> + +<p>"The vexed question of connection is one which may be decided out of +hand.... <i>It has no power of curing bad spermatorrhoea</i>; it may cause +a diminution in the number of emissions, but this is only a delusion; +the semen is still thrown off; the frame still continues to be +exhausted; the genital organs and nervous system generally are still +harassed by the incessant tax, and the patient is all the while laying +the foundation of impotence."<small>[56]</small></p> + +<blockquote><small>56 Milton.</small></blockquote> + +<p>"In all solemn earnestness I protest against such false treatment. It +is better for a youth to live a continent life." "There is a terrible +significance in the wise man's words, 'None that go to her return <a name="p402"></a>again, +neither take they hold of the paths of life.'"<small>[57]</small> This hazardous and +immoral mode of treatment is the result of the common opinion that +emissions are necessary and natural, which we have previously shown +to be a falsity.</p> + +<blockquote><small>57 Acton.</small></blockquote> + +<p><a name="chapi120"><b>Marriage.</b></a>—Another class of practitioners, with more apparent regard +for morality, recommend matrimony as the sure panacea for all the ills +of which the sufferers from self-abuse complain, with the possible +exception of actual impotence. Against this course several objections +may be urged; we offer the following:—</p> + +<p>1. It is not a remedy, since, as in the case of illicit intercourse, +"legalized prostitution" is only a substitution of one form of +emissions for another, the ill effects of which do not differ +appreciably.</p> + +<p>2. If it were a remedy, it would not be a justifiable one, for its use +would necessitate an abuse of the marriage relation, as elsewhere +shown.</p> + +<p>3. As another reason why the remedy would not be a <i>proper</i>, even if +a <i>good</i>, one, it may well be asked, What right has a man to treat a +wife as a vial of medicine? Well does Mr. Acton inquire, "What has the +young girl, who is thus sacrificed to an egotistical calculation, done +that she should be condemned to the existence that awaits her? Who has +the right to regard her as a therapeutic agent, and to risk thus lightly +her future prospects, her repose, and the happiness of the remainder +of her life?"</p> +<a name="p403"></a> +<p>In cases in which seminal emissions occur frequently, the most reliable +writers upon this subject, Copland, Acton, Milton, and others, advise, +with reference to marriage, "that the complaint should be removed +before the married life is commenced." Independent of the +considerations already presented, the individual affected in this +manner and contemplating marriage should carefully consider the +possible and probable effects upon offspring, the legitimate result +of marriage; these have been already described, and need not be +recapitulated.</p> + +<p><a name="chapi121"><b>Local Treatment.</b></a>—While it is true that general treatment alone is +occasionally successful in curing the diseases under consideration, +and that local treatment alone is very rarely efficient, it is also +true that in many cases skillful local treatment is required to +supplement the general remedies employed. While there has been a +tendency on the part of the profession generally to depend wholly upon +general treatment, on the part of a less numerous body of specialists +there has been an opposite tendency to depend wholly, or nearly so, +upon local measures. Both extremes are evidently wrong.</p> + +<p>The object of local treatment for the relief of emissions, especially, +is to remove the local cause of irritation, which, as previously shown, +is one of the most active exciting causes of seminal losses. To effect +this, both internal and external applications are useful. We will now +consider some of these agents.</p> +<a name="p404"></a> +<p><a name="chapi122"><i>Cool Sitz Bath</i></a>.—The cool or cold sitz bath is one of the most +efficacious of all remedies. It should be taken daily, and may often +be repeated, with benefit, several times a day. Its effect is to relieve +the local congestion, and thus allay the irritability of the affected +parts. When but one bath is taken daily, it should be just before +retiring at night. Full directions for this and other baths are given +in works devoted to the subject of bathing.</p> + +<p><a name="chapi123"><i>Ascending Douche</i></a>.—This is also a very useful means of allaying +irritation, especially the reflex excitability which is often present +in the muscles in the vicinity of the perineum and prostate gland, and +when there is pain and fullness in these parts.</p> + +<p><a name="chapi124"><i>Abdominal Bandage</i></a>.—This may be worn nights to very great advantage +by most patients. It not only allays the irritability of the nerve +centers which are closely connected with the genital apparatus, but +serves to keep the bowels in a healthy condition. It should not be +applied so continuously as to produce a very profuse eruption on the +skin. If such a symptom should appear, discontinue the bandage for a +time. When worn during the day-time, it should be changed once in three +or four hours. It is generally best to wear it only nights.</p> + +<p><a name="chapi125"><i>Wet Compress</i></a>.—This is an application to be made to the lower part +of the spine for the purpose of allaying the excessive heat and +irritation which often exist there. It may also be worn nights, as <a name="p405"></a>it +in some degree prevents the danger arising from sleeping upon the back.</p> + +<p><a name="chapi126"><i>Hot and Cold Applications to the Spine</i></a>.—These are powerful remedies +under appropriate conditions. Hot applications relieve congestion of +the genital organs and allay irritation. Cold applications are useful +when a condition of debility and relaxation is present. Alternate +applications of heat and cold are very valuable, when skillfully +applied, as a means of allaying reflex excitability and promoting +healthy action. These applications are especially useful in cases in +which there is heat and pain in the lower portion of the back. Their +effects are greatly enhanced by administering a foot or leg bath at +the same time.</p> + +<p><a name="chapi127"><i>Local Fomentations</i></a>.—When great local irritation exists, with +considerable pain and spasmodic muscular action, the application of +hot fomentations to the perineum will be found the most effectual means +of giving relief. The hot douche and hot sitz bath are useful under +the same circumstances.</p> + +<p>In some cases, alternate hot and cold applications are more effectual +in allaying local irritation than hot fomentations alone.</p> + +<p><a name="chapi128"><i>Local Cold Bathing</i></a>.—The genital organs should be daily bathed in +cold water just before retiring. Simply dashing water upon the parts +for two or three minutes is insufficient; more prolonged bathing is +necessary. A short application of cold <a name="p406"></a>occasions a strong and sudden +reaction which increases local congestion; hence, the bath should be +continued until the sedative effect is fully produced, which will +require at least fifteen minutes. The water must be cold; about 60° +is the best temperature. Ice should be used to cool the water +in warm weather. It should be applied thoroughly, being squeezed from +a sponge upon the lower part of the abdomen and allowed to run down.</p> + +<p><a name="chapi129"><i>Enemata</i></a>.—The use of the enema is an important means of aiding +recovery, but it has been much abused, and must be employed with caution. +When the bowels are very costive, relieve them before retiring by a +copious injection of tepid water. The "fountain syringe" is the best +instrument to employ.</p> + +<p>Useful as is the syringe when needed, nothing could be much worse than +becoming dependent upon it. The bowels must be made to act for +themselves without such artificial assistance, by the use of proper +food, especially graham flour and oatmeal, and the avoidance of hot +drinks, milk, sugar, and other clogging and constipating articles; by +wearing the abdominal bandage; by thorough kneading and percussion of +the abdomen several times daily for five minutes at a time; by taking +one or two glasses of cold water half an hour before breakfast every +morning; and by plenty of muscular exercise daily. The enema should +be used occasionally, however, rather than allow the <a name="p407"></a>bowels to continue +costive, and to avoid severe straining at stool.</p> + +<p>A small, cold enema taken just before retiring, and retained, will often +do much to allay local irritation.</p> + +<p><a name="chapi130"><i>Electricity</i></a>.—Probably no single agent will accomplish more than +this remedy when skillfully applied. It needs to be carefully used, +and cannot be trusted in the hands of those not acquainted with the +physical properties of the remedy and scientific methods of applying +it.</p> + +<p><a name="chapi131"><i>Internal Applications</i></a>.—Complete and rapid success greatly depends +upon skillful internal treatment, in a large number of cases. We are +aware that there is considerable prejudice, in certain quarters, +against internal treatment; but having had the opportunity of observing +the effects of careful treatment applied in this way, and having put +to the test of practical experience this method, we feel justified in +recommending that which is approved on both theoretical and practical +grounds; for it is rational to suppose that proper treatment applied +directly to the seat of disease must be at least equally efficacious +with methods less direct.</p> + +<p>As heretofore explained, in the more severe cases the urethra is found +in a very irritable condition. It is hyper-sensitive, especially in +that portion just in front of the bladder, where the ejaculatory ducts +open into it. We have also seen how this condition is one of the chief +exciting <a name="p408"></a>causes of emissions. The remedies described for allaying this +irritation are all excellent and indispensable; but there is another +method of great value. This consists in the passage of a suitable +instrument, a sound or bougie of proper size, two or three times a week. +By the aid of this means, the abnormal irritation will often diminish +with magical rapidity. The passage of the instrument of course needs +to be done with great delicacy, so as to avoid increasing the +irritation; hence it should not be attempted by a novice. Lack of skill +in catheterism is doubtless the reason why some have seemed to produce +injury rather than benefit by this method of treatment, they not +recognizing the fact asserted by Prof. Gross in his treatise on surgery, +that skillful catheterism is one of the most delicate operations in +surgery.</p> + +<p><a name="chapi132"><i>Use of Electricity</i></a>.—The use of electricity in connection with that +of the sound adds greatly to its utility. By means of the metallic +instrument, also, electricity may be applied directly to the point of +greatest irritation; and its soothing effect is sometimes really +wonderful, as the following case will show:—</p> + +<p>The patient, a man of unusual physical development, was suffering from +nocturnal emissions and diminished sexual power, the result of early +indiscretions and marital excesses. One of his most unpleasant symptoms +was severe pain in the portion of the urethra near the openings of the +<a name="p409"></a>ejaculatory ducts. After he had been suffering more than usual for a +few days, we applied the faradaic electric current in the manner +indicated above, for about fifteen minutes. At the end of that time +the pain was entirely removed, though considerable suffering had been +caused by the passage of the instrument, so sensitive was the congested +membrane. The pain did not return again for two or three weeks, though +treatment was necessarily suspended on account of absence.</p> + +<p>In another case, that of a young man, a student, at the beginning of +treatment emissions occurred nightly, and sometimes as many as four +in a single night, according to his statement, which we had no reason +to doubt. Under the influence of these local applications, combined +with other measures of treatment and a measurably correct regimen, the +number of emissions was in a few weeks reduced to one in two or three +weeks.</p> + +<p>Numerous other cases nearly as remarkable might be detailed if it were +necessary to do so. In quite a considerable number of cases in which +we have employed this plan of treatment, the results have been uniformly +excellent. A very slight increase of irritation sometimes occurs at +first, but this quickly subsides.</p> + +<p>The galvanic as well as the faradaic current is to be used under proper +circumstances. The application of electricity to the nerve centers by +means of central galvanization, and also general <a name="p410"></a>and local external +faradization, are necessary methods to be employed in electrical +treatment.</p> + +<p><a name="chapi133"><i>Circumcision</i></a>.—In cases of phimosis, in which irritation is produced +by retained secretions, division of the prepuce, or circumcision, is +the proper remedy. These cases are not infrequent, but the exciting +cause of much of the difficulty is often overlooked. The same remedy +is often useful in cases of long prepuce.</p> + +<p>When the glans penis is unusually tender and sensitive, this condition +will usually be removed by the daily washing with soap and water +necessary for cleanliness. If this does not suffice, or if there are +slight excoriations caused by acrid secretions, apply, in addition, +a weak solution of tannin in glycerine once a day.</p> + +<p><a name="chapi134"><i>Impotence</i></a>.—Loss of sexual power arising from any form of sexual +excess, should be treated on the same general plan laid down for the +treatment of emissions and other weaknesses. Cold to the spine, and +short, but frequent, local cold applications, are among the most useful +remedies; but, probably, electricity, discreetly used, is by far the +most valuable of all remedies. It should be applied both internally +and externally.</p> + +<p>The use of cantharides and other aphrodisiac remedies to stimulate the +sexual organs is a most pernicious practice. The inevitable result is +still greater weakness. They should never be used under any +circumstances whatever. On the <a name="p411"></a>contrary, everything of a stimulating +character must be carefully avoided, even in diet.</p> + +<p><a name="chapi135"><i>Varicocele</i></a>.—Patients suffering from this difficulty should wear a +proper suspensory bag, as the continued pressure of the distended veins +upon the testes, if unsupported, will ultimately cause degenerative +changes and atrophy. A surgical operation, consisting of the removal +of a portion of the skin of the scrotum, is proper if the patient desires +an operation; no other operation is advisable.</p> + +<p>The wearing of a suspensory bag is also advisable for those whose +testicles are unusually pendulous.</p> + +<p><a name="chapi136"><b>Drugs,</b></a> <a name="chapi137"><b>Rings,</b></a> <b>etc.</b>—If drugs, <i>per se</i>, will cure invalids of any +class, they are certainly worthless in this class of patients. The whole +materia medica affords no root, herb, extract, or compound that alone +will cure a person suffering from emissions. Thousands of unfortunates +have been ruined by long-continued drugging. One physician will purge +and salivate the patient. Another will dose him with phosphorus, +quinine, or ergot. Another feeds him with iron. Another plies him with +lupuline, camphor, and digitaline. Still another narcotizes him with +opium, belladonna, and chloral. Purgatives and diuretics are given by +another, and some will be found ready to empty the whole pharmacopoeia +into the poor sufferer's stomach if he can be got to open his mouth +wide enough.</p> +<a name="p412"></a> +<p>The way that some of these poor fellows are blistered, and burned, and +cauterized, and tortured in sundry other ways, is almost too horrible +to think of; yet they endure it, often willingly, thinking it but just +punishment for their sins, and perhaps hoping to expiate them by this +cruel penance. By these procedures, the emissions are sometimes +temporarily checked, but the patient is not cured, nevertheless, and +the malady soon returns.</p> + +<p>The employment of rings, pessaries, and numerous other mechanical +devices for preventing emissions, is entirely futile. No dependence +can be placed upon them. Some of these contrivances are very ingenious, +but they are all worthless, and time and money spent upon them are thrown +away.</p> + +<p><a name="chapi138"><b>Quacks.</b></a>—The victims of self-abuse fall an easy prey to the hordes of +harpies, fiends in human shape, who are ready at every turn to make +capital out of their misfortunes. From no other class of persons do +quacks and charlatans derive so rich a harvest as from these erring +ones. It is not uncommon to find a man suffering from seminal weakness +who has paid to sundry parties hundreds of dollars for "specifics" which +they advertised as "sure cures." We have seen and treated scores of +these patients, but never yet met a single case that had received +benefit from patent medicines.</p> + +<p>The newspapers are full of the advertisements of these heartless +villains. They advertise under <a name="p413"></a>the guise of "clergymen," charitable +institutions, "cured invalids," and similar pretenses. Usually they +offer for sale some pill or mixture which will be a <i>sure cure</i>, in +proof of which they cite the testimonials of numerous individuals who +never lived, or, at least, never saw either them or their filthy +compounds; or, they promise to send free a recipe which will be a certain +cure. Here is a specimen recipe which was sent by a "reverend" gentleman +who claims to be a returned missionary from South America so intent +on doing good that he charges nothing for his invaluable information:—</p> + + <blockquote>Extract of Corrossa apimis,<br> + Extract of Selarmo umbelifera,<br> + Powdered Alkermes latifolia,<br> + Extract of Carsadoc herbalis.</blockquote> + +<p>This remarkable recipe is warranted to cure all the evils arising from +self-abuse, with no attention to diet and no inconvenience of any kind, +to prevent consumption and insanity, and to cure venereal diseases. +It is also declared to be a perfectly "<i>safe</i>" remedy for all female +difficulties, which means that it will aid nefarious purposes.</p> + +<p>Along with the recipe comes the suggestion that the druggist may not +be able to furnish all the ingredients in a perfectly pure state, and +so, for the accommodation of suffering humanity, this noble +philanthropist has taken infinite pains to secure them direct from +South America, and has them put <a name="p414"></a>up in neat little packages which he +will send, post-paid, for the trifle of $3.50, just one cent <i>less</i> +than actual cost. Then he tells what purports to be the history of his +own nastiness, with a generous spicing of pious cant, and closes with +a benediction on all who have fallen into the same slough, and +especially those who will send for his fabulous foreign weeds to help +them out.</p> + +<p>A young man sees the advertisement of a book which will be sent free, +postage paid, if he will only send his address. The title of the book +being of some such character as "Manhood Regained," or "Nervous +Debility," he imagines it may suit his case, and sends his name. Return +mail brings the book, which is a wretched jargon of confused terms and +appalling descriptions of the effects of self-abuse, with the most +shameful exaggerations of the significance of the most trivial symptoms. +The ignorant youth reads what he supposes to be a description of his +own case, and is frightened nearly to death. He is most happily relieved, +however, to find that the generous publishers of the book have a remedy +which is just adapted to his case, but which is so precious that it +cannot be afforded at less than $50.00 for a sufficient quantity to +effect a cure. He willingly parts with his hard-earned dollars, and +gets, in return, some filthy mixture that did not cost a shilling.</p> + +<p>Another trap set is called an "Anatomical Museum." The anatomical part +of the exhibition <a name="p415"></a>consists chiefly of models and figures calculated +to excite the passions to the highest pitch. At stated intervals the +proprietor, who is always a "doctor," and by preference a German, +delivers lectures on the effects of masturbation, in which he resorts +to every device to excite the fears and exaggerate the symptoms of his +hearers, who are mostly young men and boys. Thus he prepares his victim, +and when he once gets him within his clutches, he does not let him go +until he has robbed him of his last dollar.</p> + +<p>We might present almost any number of illustrations of the ways in which +these human sharks pursue their villainy. If there were a dungeon deep, +dark, and dismal enough for the punishment of such rascals, we should +feel strongly inclined to petition to have them incarcerated in it. +They defy all laws, civil as well as moral, but are cunning enough to +keep outside of prison bars; and thus they wax rich by robbery, and +thrive by deceit. A terrible recompense awaits them at the final +settlement, though they escape so easily now.</p> + +<p><a name="chapi139"><b>Closing Advice.</b></a>—We cannot finish this chapter without a few closing +words of advice to those who are suffering in any way from the results +of sexual transgression. We are especially anxious to call attention +to a few points of practical and vital interest to all who are suffering +in the manner indicated.</p> + +<p>1. Give the matter prompt attention. Do not <a name="p416"></a>delay to adopt curative +measures under the delusive idea that the difficulty will disappear +of itself. Thousands have procrastinated in this way until their +constitutions have been so hopelessly undermined as to make treatment +of little value. The intrinsic tendency of this disease is to continue +to increase. It progresses only in one direction. It never "gets well +of itself," as some have imagined that it may do. Something must be +done to effect a cure; and the longer treatment is delayed, the more +difficult the case will become.</p> + +<p>2. Set about the work of getting well with a fixed determination to +persevere, and never to give over the struggle until success is attained, +no matter how difficult may be the obstacles to be surmounted. Such +an effort will rarely be unsuccessful. One of the greatest impediments +to recovery from diseases of this class is the vacillating dispositions +of nearly all patients suffering from disorders of this character. Make +up your mind what course of treatment to pursue, then adhere to it +rigidly until it has received a thorough trial. Do not despair if no +very marked results are seen in a week, a month, or even a longer period. +The best remedies are among those which operate the most slowly.</p> + +<p>3. Avoid watching for symptoms. Ills are greatly exaggerated by +dwelling upon them. One can easily imagine himself getting worse when +he is really getting better. Indeed, one can make <a name="p417"></a>himself sick by +dwelling upon insignificant symptoms. Fix upon a course to pursue for +recovery, firmly resolve to comply with every requirement necessary +to insure success, and then let the mind be entirely at rest respecting +the result.</p> + +<p>4. Never consult a quack. The newspapers abound with lying +advertisements of remedies for diseases of this character. Do not waste +time and money in corresponding with the ignorant, unprincipled +charlatans who make such false pretensions. Do not consult traveling +doctors. Physicians of real merit have plenty of business at home. They +are not obliged to go abroad in order to secure practice. Persons who +resort to this course are, without exception, pretentious quacks. +Consult only some well-known and reliable physician in whom you have +confidence. If your physician treats the matter lightly, and advises +marriage as a means of cure, you will not judge him harshly if you decide +that although he may be thoroughly competent to treat other diseases, +he is ignorant of the nature and proper treatment of this. It is an +unfortunate fact that there are many physicians who are not thoroughly +acquainted with the nature of spermatorrhoea and the proper mode of +treating the disease; hence the importance of making a judicious +selection in choosing a medical adviser. If possible, employ one whom +you know to have treated successfully numerous similar cases, and give +him your entire <a name="p418"></a>confidence. It is far better to consult your family +physician than to trust yourself in the hands of some one whom you do +not know, and especially one who makes great pretensions to knowledge.</p> + +<p>5. Do not despair of ever recovering from the effects of past +transgression, and plunge into greater depths of sin. Persevering, +skillful treatment will cure almost every case. Even the worst cases +can be greatly benefited if the earnest co-operation of the patient +can be secured. This is indispensable, and the patient should be so +instructed at the outset of a course of treatment.</p> + +<p>6. Every sufferer from sexual disease must make up his mind to live, +during the remainder of his life, as closely in accord with the laws +of life and health as circumstances under his control will allow him +to do. One who pursues this course, with a genuine regard for principle +and a love for right, may confidently expect to receive the reward of +obedience for his faithfulness. We would recommend such to obtain and +study the best works upon hygiene, put in practice every new truth as +soon as learned, and become missionaries of the saving truths of hygiene +to others who are suffering from the same cause as themselves, or who +may be in danger of falling into the same evil.</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br><a name="p419"></a> +<div><h2><a name="chapj">A CHAPTER FOR BOYS.</a></h2></div> +<br> +<p>Boys, this chapter is for you. It is written and printed purposely for +you. If you do not read another word in the book, read these few pages +if you are old enough to do so. Read each line carefully and thoughtfully. +You may not find anything to make you laugh—possibly you may: but you +will be certain to find something of almost inestimable value to you +in every line.</p> + +<p><a name="chapj1"><b>Who are Boys?</b></a>—Boys are scarce now-a-days. In the days of Methuselah, +male human beings were still boys when nearly a century old; twenty-five +years ago boys were still such until well out of their "teens"; now +the interval between infancy and the age at which the boy becomes a +young man is so brief that boyhood is almost a thing of the past. The +happy period of care-free, joyous innocence which formerly intervened +between childhood and early manhood is now almost unobservable. Boys +grow old too fast. They learn to imitate the vices and the manners of +their seniors before they reach their teens, and are impatient to be +counted as men, no matter how great may be their deficiencies, their +unfitness for the important duties and responsibilities of life. The +consequence of this inordinate haste and impatience to be old, is +premature decay. <a name="p420"></a>Unfortunately the general tendency of the young +members of the rising generation is to copy the vices of their elders, +rather than the virtues of true manliness. A strong evidence of this +fact, if there were no other, is the unnaturally old-looking faces which +so many of our boys present. At the present time the average boy of +twelve knows more of vice and sin than the youth of twenty of the past +generation.</p> + +<p>It is not so much for these human mushrooms, which may be not inaptly +compared to toadstools which grow up in a single night and almost as +speedily decay, that we write, but for the old-fashioned boys, the few +such there may be, those who have not yet learned to love sin, those +whose minds are still pure and uncontaminated. Those who have already +begun a course of vice and wickedness we have little hope of reforming; +but we are anxious to offer a few words of counsel and warning which +may possibly help to save as brands plucked from a blazing fire, those +whose moral sense is yet alive, who have quick and tender consciences, +who aspire to be truly noble and good.</p> + +<p><a name="chapj2"><b>What are Boys for?</b></a>—This question was answered with exact truthfulness +by a little boy, who, when contemptuously accosted by a man with the +remark, "What are you good for?" replied, "Men are made of such as we." +Boys are the beginnings of men. They sustain the same relation to men +that the buds do to full-blown flowers. They <a name="p421"></a>are still more like the +small green apples which first appear when the blossoms drop from the +branches, compared with the ripe, luscious fruit which in autumn bends +the heavy-laden boughs almost to breaking. Often, like the young apples, +boys are green; but this is only natural, and should be considered no +disgrace to the boys. If they grow up naturally they will ripen with +age, like the fruit, developing at each successive stage of life +additional attractions and excellent qualities.</p> + +<p><a name="chapj3"><b>Boys the Hope of the World.</b></a>—A nation's most valuable property is its +boys. A nation which has poor, weakly, vicious boys will have still +weaker, more vicious and untrustworthy men. A country with noble, +virtuous, vigorous boys, is equally sure of having noble, pious, brave, +and energetic men. Whatever debases, contaminates, or in any way +injures the boys of a country, saps and undermines the very foundation +of the nation's strength and greatness. Save the boys from vice and +crime, give them good training, physically, mentally, and morally, and +the prosperity of the nation is assured.</p> + +<p><a name="chapj4"><b>Man the Masterpiece.</b></a>—When a skillful artist perfects a work of art, +a painting, a drawing, a statue, or some other work requiring great +talent and exceeding all his other efforts, it is called his masterpiece. +So man is the noblest work of God, the masterpiece of the Almighty. +Numerous anecdotes are told of the sagacity of dogs, horses, elephants +and other animals, of their intelligence and <a name="p422"></a>ingenious devices in +overcoming obstacles, avoiding difficulties, etc. Our admiration and +wonder are often excited by the scarcely less than human wisdom shown +by these lowly brothers of the human race. We call them noble animals; +but they are only noble brutes, at best. Compared with man, even in +his most humble form, as seen in the wild savage that hunts and devours +his prey like a wild beast, a lion or a tiger, they are immeasurably +inferior. And in his highest development, man civilized, cultivated, +Christianized, learned, generous, pious, certainly stands at the head +of all created things.</p> + +<p>Boys, do you love what is noble, what is pure, what is grand, what is +good? You may each, if you will, become such yourselves. Let us consider +for a moment</p> + +<p><a name="chapj5"><b>How a Noble Character is Ruined.</b></a>—A noble character is formed by the +development of the good qualities of an individual. A bad character +is formed by the development of bad traits, or evil propensities. In +other words, sin is the cause of the demoralization of character, the +debasing of the mind, the loss of nobility of which we see so much around +us in the world. Sin is the transgression of some law. There are two +kinds of sins: those which are transgressions of the moral law, and +those which are transgressions of physical laws. Both classes of sins +are followed by penalties. If a person violates the laws of health, +he is just as <a name="p423"></a>certain to suffer as though he tells a falsehood, steals, +murders, or commits any other crime. Perfect obedience to all of +nature's laws, including of course all moral laws, is necessary to +perfect health and perfect nobleness of character. The nature of these +laws and the results of transgression will be understood after we have +taken a hasty glance at</p> + +<p><a name="chapj6"><b>The Marvelous Human Machine</b></a> which we call the body. All the inventions +and devices ever constructed by the human hand or conceived by the human +mind, no matter how delicate, how intricate and complicated, are simple, +childish toys compared with that most marvelously wrought mechanism, +the human body. Let us proceed to take this wonderful machine in pieces +and study its various parts and the manner in which they are put +together.</p> + +<p><a name="chapj7"><b>The Two Objects of Human Existence.</b></a>—The objects of this wonderfully +formed mechanism are two: 1. The maintenance of an individual life; +2. The production of similar individuals which shall also have the power +of maintaining individual lives. The same may be said of every plant +that grows, and every animal. Each tree, plant, and shrub has some +useful service to perform while it lives, in addition to the production +of seed from which other plants may grow. For example, the object of +the majestic oak which towers high and broadly spreads its leafy +branches is not to produce acorns merely, but to give place for birds +to build their nests, to <a name="p424"></a>present an inviting shade for cattle, and to +afford protection in a variety of ways to numerous living creatures +which need such aid. The same may be said of all vegetable growths, +each particular plant having its peculiar purposes to fulfill, and all +together acting as purifiers of the air for the benefit of man and lower +animals.</p> + +<p>The principle is equally true as applied to lower animals, as is +evidenced by the numerous ways in which domestic animals are utilized. +Indeed, it seems that the prime purpose of life, not only with all lowly +living creatures, as plants and animals, but with man as well, is to +live and act as individuals. But the important function of reproduction, +or producing other similar individuals, though incidental, is +necessary to the perpetuation of the race or species.</p> + +<p>In order that an individual human being may live and develop, it is +necessary that he should eat, drink, digest, and assimilate, and that +he should be able to move about, to perceive,—that is, to hear, see, +feel, smell, taste, determine weight and distinguish temperature,—to +think, and to express ideas in language. In order to keep his vital +machinery in order, it is necessary that the body should also be able +to repair injuries which may occur in consequence of wear or accident, +and to remove out of the way wornout material which would otherwise +obstruct the working of the delicate machinery of which his body is +constructed. Each of these functions <a name="p425"></a>requires special organs and +apparatuses to carry on the work; and these we will now briefly +consider:—</p> + +<p><a name="chapj8"><b>The Nutritive Apparatus.</b></a>—This consists of organs for the purpose of +taking in food or nourishment, digesting it, and distributing it +throughout the body wherever it is needed. These are chiefly the mouth +and teeth for receiving and chewing the food, the stomach and intestines +for digesting and absorbing it, and the heart and blood-vessels for +distributing it to the body.</p> + +<p><a name="chapj9"><b>The Moving Apparatus.</b></a>—For the purpose of producing motion, we have +the muscles and the bones, by which the food is received, masticated, +and swallowed, the blood circulated, the body moved about from place +to place, and speech, expression, respiration, and many other important +functions performed.</p> + +<p><a name="chapj10"><b>The Thinking and Feeling Apparatus.</b></a>—The brain and nerves afford the +means of thinking and feeling, also giving rise to all the activities +of the body by the production of nerve force. To aid the brain and nerves, +we have special organs provided, termed the organs of special sense; +as the eye for sight, the ear for hearing, the nose for the detection +of odors, the tongue for tasting, the skin and the mucous membrane for +the sense of touch.</p> + +<p><a name="chapj11"><b>The Purifying Apparatus.</b></a>—Waste matter accumulates in the body so +rapidly that it is necessary to have abundant and efficient means to +remove the same, and prevent death by obstruction. <a name="p426"></a>This work is +performed by the lungs, liver, kidneys, skin, and mucous membrane.</p> + +<p>Each organ and tissue possesses the power to repair itself. Animal heat, +which is also necessary to life, is not produced by any special set +of organs, but results incidentally from the various other processes +named.</p> + +<p><a name="chapj12"><b>The Reproductive Apparatus.</b></a>—As there is a stomach to digest, a brain +to think, a pair of lungs to breathe, etc., so there are special organs +for reproducing the species or producing new individuals. These organs +have been carefully described in the preceding portion of this volume, +so that we do not need to repeat the description here. Unlike all the +other organs of the body, they are intended for use only after full +development or manhood has been attained; consequently, they are only +partially developed in childhood, becoming perfected as the person +becomes older, especially after about the age of fourteen to eighteen, +when puberty occurs. The lungs, the stomach, the muscles, and other +organs must be used constantly from the earliest period of infancy, +hence they are developed sufficiently for efficient use at birth. The +fact that the sexual or reproductive organs are only fully developed +later on in life, is sufficient evidence that they are intended for +use only when the body has become fully mature and well developed.</p> + +<p><a name="chapj13"><b>How a Noble Character and a Sound Body Must Be Formed.</b></a>—By obeying all +the laws <a name="p427"></a>which relate to the healthy action of the body and the mind, +a noble character and a healthy body may be formed. Any deviation from +right will be sure to be followed by suffering. A boy who carefully +heeds the advice of good and wise parents, who avoids bad company, who +never indulges in bad habits of any sort, who cultivates purity, honesty, +and manliness, is certain to grow up into a noble, lovely youth, and +to become an intelligent, respected, virtuous man.</p> + +<p><a name="chapj14"><b>The Down-Hill Road.</b></a>—In every large city, and in small ones too, even +in little villages, we can scarcely step upon the street without being +pained at meeting little boys who have perhaps scarcely learned to speak +distinctly, but whose faces show very plainly that they have already +taken several steps down the steep hillside of vice. All degrees of +wickedness are pictured on the faces of a large proportion of the boys +we meet upon the streets, loitering about the corners, loafing in hotels, +groceries, and about bar-room doors. Everywhere we meet small faces +upon which sin and vice are as clearly written as though the words were +actually spelled out. Lying, swearing, smoking, petty stealing, and +brazen impudence are among the vices which contaminate thousands and +thousands of the boys who are by-and-by to become the <i>men</i> of this +country, to constitute its legislators, its educators, its supporters, +and its protectors. Is it possible that such boys can become good, +useful, noble, <a name="p428"></a>trustworthy men? Scarcely. If the seeds of noxious weeds +can be made to produce useful plants or beautiful flowers, or if a barren, +worthless shrub can be made to bear luscious fruit, then may we expect +to see these vicious boys grow up into virtuous, useful men.</p> + +<p>But the vices mentioned are not the worst, the traces of which we see +stamped upon the faces of hundreds of boys, some of whom, too, would +scorn to commit any one of the sins named. There is another vice, still +more terrible, more blighting in its effects, a vice which defiles, +diseases, and destroys the body, enervates, degrades, and finally +dethrones the mind, debases and ruins the soul. It is to this vice that +we wish especially to call attention. It is known as</p> + +<p><a name="chapj15"><b>Self-Abuse.</b></a>—Secret vice, masturbation, and self-pollution are other +names applied to this same awful sin against nature and against God. +We shall not explain here the exact nature of the sin, as very few boys +are so ignorant or so innocent as to be unacquainted with it. To this +sin and its awful consequences we now wish to call the attention of +all who may read these lines.</p> + +<p><a name="chapj16"><b>A Dreadful Sin.</b></a>—The sin of self-pollution is one of the vilest, the +basest, and the most degrading that a human being can commit. It is +worse than beastly. Those who commit it place themselves far below the +meanest brute that breathes. The most loathsome reptile, rolling in +the slush and <a name="p429"></a>slime of its stagnant pool, would not bemean itself thus. +It is true that monkeys sometimes have the habit, but only when they +have been taught it by vile men or boys. A boy who is thus guilty ought +to be ashamed to look into the eyes of an honest dog. Such a boy naturally +shuns the company of those who are pure and innocent. He cannot look +with assurance into his mother's face. It is difficult for any one to +catch his eye, even for a few seconds. He feels his guilt and acts it +out, thus making it known to every one. Let such a boy think how he +must appear in the eyes of the Almighty. Let him only think of the angels, +pure, innocent, and holy, who are eye-witnesses of his shameful +practices. Is not the thought appalling? Would he dare commit such a +sin in the presence of his father, his mother, or his sisters? No, indeed. +How, then, will he dare to defile himself in the presence of Him from +whose all-seeing eye nothing is hid?</p> + +<p>The Bible utters the most solemn warnings against sexual sins. The +inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed by fire and brimstone +for such transgressions. Onan was struck dead in the act of committing +a vileness of this sort. For similar vices the wicked inhabitants of +Palestine were destroyed, and their lands given to the Hebrews. For +a single violation of the seventh commandment, one of the most notable +Bible characters, David, suffered to the day of his death. Those who +<a name="p430"></a>imagine that this sin is not a transgression of the seventh commandment +may be assured that this most heinous, revolting, and unnatural vice +is in every respect more pernicious, more debasing, and more immoral +than what is generally considered as violation of the commandment which +says, "Thou shalt not commit adultery," and is itself a most flagrant +violation of the same commandment.</p> + +<p>Those who imagine that they "have a right to do as they please with +themselves," so long as no one else is immediately affected, must learn +that we are not our own masters; we belong to our Creator, and are +accountable to God not only for the manner in which we treat our +fellow-men, but for how we treat ourselves, for the manner in which +we use the bodies which he has given us. The man who commits suicide, +who takes his own life, is a murderer as much as he who kills a fellow-man. +So, also, he who pollutes himself in the manner we are considering, +violates the seventh commandment, although the crime is in both cases +committed against himself. Think of this, ye youth who defile +yourselves in secret and seek to escape the punishment of sin. In Heaven +a faithful record of your vile commandment-breaking is kept, and you +must meet it by-and-by. You are fixing your fate for eternity; and each +daily act in some degree determines what it shall be. Are you a victim +of this fascinating vice, stop, repent, reform, before you are forever +ruined, a mental, moral, and physical wreck.</p> +<a name="p431"></a> +<p><a name="chapj17"><b>Self-Murderers.</b></a>—Of all the vices to which human beings are addicted, +no other so rapidly undermines the constitution and so certainly makes +a complete wreck of an individual as this, especially when the habit +is begun at an early age. It wastes the most precious part of the blood, +uses up the vital forces, and finally leaves the poor victim a most +utterly ruined and loathsome object. If a boy should be deprived of +both hands and feet and should lose his eyesight, he would still be +infinitely better off than the boy who for years gives himself up to +the gratification of lust in secret vice. For such a boy to become a +strong, vigorous man is just as impossible as it would be to make a +mammoth tree out of a currant bush. Such a man will necessarily be +short-lived. He will always suffer from the effects of his folly, even +though he shall marry. If he has children—he may become +incapable—they will be quite certain to be puny, weak, scrofulous, +consumptive, rickety, nervous, depraved in body and mind, or otherwise +deprived of the happiness which grows out of the possession of "a sound +mind in a sound body."</p> + +<p>Let us notice a little more closely the terrible effects resulting from +this most unnatural and abominable vice.</p> + +<p><a name="chapj18"><b>What Makes Boys Dwarfs.</b></a>—How many times have we seen boys who were born +with good constitutions, with force and stamina sufficient to develop +them into large, vigorous men, become puny <a name="p432"></a>dwarfs. At the time when +they ought to begin to grow and develop more rapidly than ever before, +their growth is checked and they cease to develop. They are, in fact, +stunted, dwarfed, like a plant which has a canker-worm eating away at +its roots. Indeed, there is a veritable canker-worm sapping their +vitality, undermining their constitutions, and destroying their +prospects for time and for eternity. Anxious friends may attribute the +unhappy change to overwork, overstudy, or some similar cause; but from +a somewhat extended observation we are thoroughly convinced that the +very vice which we are considering is the viper which blights the +prospects and poisons the existence of many of these promising boys.</p> + +<p>A boy who gives himself up to the practice of secret vice at an early +age, say as early as seven to ten years of age, is certain to make himself +a wreck. Instead of having a healthy, vigorous body, with strong muscles +and a hardy constitution, he will be weak, scrawny, sickly, always +complaining, never well, and will never know anything about that joyous +exuberance of life and animal spirits which the young antelope feels +as it bounds over the plain, or the vigorous young colt as it frisks +about its pasture, and which every youth ought to feel.</p> + +<p><a name="chapj19"><b>Scrawny, Hollow-Eyed Boys.</b></a>—Boys ought to be fresh and vigorous as +little lambs. They ought to be plump, rosy, bright-eyed, and sprightly. +A boy who is pale, scrawny, hollow-eyed, dull, listless, <a name="p433"></a>has something +the matter with him. Self-abuse makes thousands of just such boys every +year; and it is just such boys that make vicious, shiftless, haggard, +unhappy men. This horrible vice steals away the health and vitality +which are needed to develop the body and the mind; and the lad that +ought to make his mark in the world, that ought to become a distinguished +statesman, orator, clergyman, physician, or author, becomes little +more than a living animal, a mere shadow of what he ought to have been.</p> + +<p><a name="chapj20"><b>Old Boys.</b></a>—Often have we felt sad when we have heard fond mothers +speaking in glowing terms of the old ways of their sons, and rather +glorying that they looked so much older than they were. In nine cases +out of ten these old-looking boys owe their appearance to this vile +habit; for it is exceedingly common, and its dreadful effects in +shriveling and dwarfing and destroying the human form are too plainly +perceptible, when present, to be mistaken. Oh! this dreadful curse! +Why will so many of our bright, innocent boys pollute themselves with +it!</p> + +<p><a name="chapj21"><b>What Makes Idiots.</b></a>—Reader, have you ever seen an idiot? If you have, +the hideous picture will never be dissipated from your memory. The +vacant stare, the drooping, drooling mouth, the unsteady gait, the +sensual look, the emptiness of mind,—all these you will well remember. +Did you ever stop to think how idiots are made? It is by this very vice +<a name="p434"></a>that the ranks of these poor daft mortals are being recruited every +day. Every visitor to an insane asylum sees scores of them; ruined in +mind and body, only the semblance of a human being, bereft of sense, +lower than a beast in many respects, a human being hopelessly lost to +himself and to the world!—oh, most terrible thought!—yet once pure, +intelligent, active, perhaps the hope of a fond mother, the pride of +a doting father, and possibly possessed of natural ability to become +greatly distinguished in some of the many noble and useful walks of +life; now sunk below the brute through the degrading, destroying +influence of a lustful gratification.</p> + +<p>Boys, are you guilty of this terrible sin? have you even once in this +way yielded to the tempter's voice? Stop, consider, think of the awful +results, repent, confess to God, reform. Another step in that direction +and you may be lost, soul and body. You cannot dally with the tempter. +You must escape now or never. Don't delay.</p> + +<p><a name="chapj22"><b>Young Dyspeptics.</b></a>—If we leave out of the consideration the effects +of bad food and worse cookery, there is in our estimation no other cause +so active in occasioning the early breaking down of the digestive organs +of our American boys. A boy of ten or twelve years of age ought to have +a stomach capable of digesting anything not absolutely indigestible; +but there are to-day thousands and thousands of boys of that age whose +stomachs are <a name="p435"></a>so impaired as to be incapable of digesting any but the +most simple food. The digestion being ruined, the teeth soon follow +suit. Hardly one boy in a dozen has perfectly sound teeth. With a bad +stomach and bad teeth, a foundation for disease is laid which is sure +to result in early decay of the whole body.</p> + +<p>In this awful vice do we find a cause, too, for the thousands of cases +of consumption in young men. At the very time when they ought to be +in their prime, they break down in health and become helpless invalids +for life, or speedily sink into an early grave.</p> + +<p>Upon their tombstones might justly be graven, "Here lies a +self-murderer." Providence is not to blame; nor is climate, weather, +overwork, overstudy, or any other even seemingly plausible cause, to +be blamed. Their own sins have sunk them in mental, moral, and physical +perdition. Such a victim literally dies by his own hand, a veritable +suicide. Appalling thought! It is a grand thing to die for one's +principles, a martyr to his love of right and truth. One may die +blameless who is the victim of some dire contagious malady which he +could not avoid; even the poor, downcast misanthrope whose hopes are +blighted and whose sorrows multiplied, may possibly be in some degree +excused for wishing to end his misery with his life; but the wretched +being who sheds his life-blood by the disgusting maneuvers of +self-pollution—what can be said to <a name="p436"></a>extenuate <i>his</i> guilt? His is a +double crime. Let him pass from the memory of his fellow-men. He will +perish, overwhelmed with his own vileness. Let him die, and return to +the dust from which he sprang.</p> + +<p><a name="chapj23"><b>The Race Ruined by Boys.</b></a>—The human race is growing steadily weaker +year by year. The boys of to-day would be no match in physical strength +for the sturdy youths of a century ago who are now their grandparents. +An immense amount of skillful training enables now and then one to +accomplish some wonderful feat of walking, rowing, or swimming, but +we hear very little of remarkable feats of labor accomplished by our +modern boys. Even the country boys of to-day cannot endure the hard +work which their fathers accomplished at the same age; and we doubt +not that this growing physical weakness is one of the reasons why so +large a share of the boys whose fathers are farmers, and who have been +reared on farms, are unwilling to follow the occupation of their fathers +for a livelihood. They are too weakly to do the work required by an +agricultural life, even by the aid of the numerous labor-saving +inventions of the age.</p> + +<p>What is it that is undermining the health of the race and sapping the +constitutions of our American men? No doubt much may be attributed to +the unnatural refinements of civilization in several directions; but +there can be no doubt that <a name="p437"></a>vice is the most active cause of all. Secret +sin and its kindred vices yearly ruin more constitutions than hard work, +severe study, hunger, cold, privation, and disease combined.</p> + +<p>Boys, the destiny of the race is in your hands. You can do more than +all the doctors, all the scientists and most eminent political men in +the world, to secure the prosperity and future greatness of the nation, +by taking care of yourselves, by being pure, noble, true to yourselves +and to the demands of high moral principle.</p> + +<p><a name="chapj24"><b>Cases Illustrating the Effects of Self-Abuse.</b></a>—The land is full of poor +human wrecks who have dashed in pieces their hopes for this world, and +too often for the next also, against this hideous rock which lies hidden +in the pathway of every young man who starts out upon life's stormy +voyage. Gladly would we draw the veil and cover them with all their +dreadful deformities with the mantle of charity from the gaze of their +fellow-beings; but their number is so great that this could scarcely +be done, and the lesson to be learned from their sad fate is such a +grave one, and so needful for the good of the generation of young men +who are just encountering the same dangers, that we cannot resist the +promptings of duty to present a few examples of the effects of vice +in men and boys that have fallen under our own observation. We have +seen hundreds of cases of this sort; have treated many scores of persons +for the effects of the terrible crime which we are <a name="p438"></a>seeking to sound +a warning against, and the number of cases we might describe would fill +a volume; but we will select only a very few.</p> + +<p><a name="chapj25"><b>Two Young Wrecks.</b></a>—Charles and Oscar B—— were the sons of a farmer +in a Western State, aged respectively ten and twelve years. They +possessed well-formed heads, and once had beautiful faces, and were +as bright and sprightly as any little boys of their age to be found +anywhere. Their father was proud of them, and their fond mother took +great pleasure in building bright prospects for her darling sons when +they should attain maturity and become competent to fill useful and +honorable positions in the world. Living in a rapidly-growing Western +community, they had every prospect of growing up to honorable +usefulness, a comfort to their parents, a blessing to the world, and +capable of enjoying life in the highest degree.</p> + +<p>But suddenly certain manifestations appeared which gave rise to grave +apprehensions on the part of the parents. It was observed that the elder +of the little boys no longer played about with that nimbleness which +he had formerly shown, but seemed slow and stiff in his movements. +Sometimes, indeed, he would stagger a little when he walked. Soon, also, +his speech became affected in some degree; he mumbled his words and +could not speak distinctly. In spite of all that could be done, the +disease continued, increasing slowly in all its symptoms from week to +week. Soon the hands, also, <a name="p439"></a>became affected, so that the little boy +could not feed himself. The mind now began to fail. The bright eyes +became vacant and expressionless. Instead of the merry light which used +to shine in them, there was a blank, idiotic stare.</p> + +<p>Imagine the grief and anguish of the poor mother! No one but a mother +who has been called to pass through a similar trial could know how to +sympathize with such a one. Her darling son she saw daily becoming a +prey to a strange, incurable malady, with no power even to stay the +progress of the terrible disease.</p> + +<p>But there was still greater grief in store for her. Within a year or +two the younger son began to show symptoms of the same character, and +in spite of all that was done, rapidly sank into the same helpless state +as his brother. As a last resort, the mother took her boys and came +a long journey to place her sons under our care. At that time they were +both nearly helpless. Neither could walk but a few steps. They reeled +and staggered about like drunken men, falling down upon each other and +going through the most agonizing contortions in their attempts to work +their way from one chair to another and thus about the room. Their heads +were no longer erect, but drooped like wilted flowers. On their faces +was a blank, imbecile expression, with a few traces of former +intelligence still left. The mouth was open, from the drooping of the +lower jaw, and the saliva constantly dribbled upon <a name="p440"></a>the clothing. +Altogether, it was a spectacle which one does not care to meet every +day; the impression made was too harrowing to be pleasant even from +its interest from a scientific point of view.</p> + +<p>We at once set to work to discover the cause of this dreadful condition, +saying to ourselves that such an awful punishment should certainly be +the result of some gross violation of nature's laws somewhere. The most +careful scrutiny of the history of the parents of the unfortunate lads +gave us no clue to anything of an hereditary character, both parents +having come of good families, and having been always of sober, temperate +habits. The father had used neither liquor nor tobacco in any form. +The mother could give no light on the matter, and we were obliged to +rest for the time being upon the conviction which fastened itself upon +us that the cases before us were most marked illustrations of the +results of self-abuse begun at a very early age. The mother thought +it impossible that our suspicions could be correct, saying that she +had watched her sons with jealous care from earliest infancy and had +seen no indications of any error of the sort. But we had not long to +wait for confirmation of our view of the case, as they were soon caught +in the act, to which it was found that they were greatly addicted, and +the mystery was wholly solved.</p> + +<p>Every possible remedy was used to check the terrible disease which was +preying upon the unfortunate boys, but in vain. At times the symptoms +<a name="p441"></a>would be somewhat mitigated, and the most sanguine hopes of the fond, +watching mother would be excited, but in vain. The improvement always +proved to be but temporary, and the poor sufferers would speedily +relapse into the same dreadful condition again, and gradually grew +worse. At last, the poor mother was obliged to give up all hope, in +utter despair watching the daily advances of the awful malady which +inch by inch destroyed the life, the humanity, the very mind and soul +of her once promising sons. Sadly she took them back to her Western +home, there to see them suffer, perhaps for years before death should +kindly release them, the terrible penalty of sin committed almost +before they had arrived at years of responsibility.</p> + +<p>How these mere infants learned the vice we were never able to determine. +We have no doubt that opportunities sufficient were presented them, +as the parents seemed to have very little appreciation of danger from +this source. Had greater vigilance been exercised, we doubt not that +the discovery of the vice at the beginning would have resulted in the +salvation of these two beautiful boys, who were sacrificed upon the +altar of concupiscence. Two or three years after we first saw the cases, +we heard from them, and though still alive, their condition was almost +too horrible for description. Three or four similar cases have come +to our knowledge.</p> + +<p>Boys, are you guilty? Think of the fearful fate of these boys, once +as joyous and healthy as you. <a name="p442"></a>When you are tempted to sin, think of +the fearful picture of the effects of sin which they present. Have you +ever once dared to commit this awful sin? Stop, never dare to do the +thing again. Take a solemn vow before God to be pure. Your fate may +be as sad, your punishment as terrible. No one can tell what the results +may be. Absolute purity is the only safe course.</p> + +<p><a name="chapj26"><b>A Prodigal Youth.</b></a>—A. M., son of a gentleman of wealth in Ohio, early +acquired the evil practice which has ruined so many bright lads. He +was naturally an intelligent and prepossessing lad, and his father gave +him as good an education as he could be induced to acquire, affording +him most excellent opportunities for study and improvement. But the +vile habit which had been acquired at an early age speedily began its +blighting influence. It destroyed his taste for study and culture. His +mind dwelt upon low and vile subjects. He grew restless of home +restraint and surroundings, and finally left the parental roof. +Wandering from city to city he grew rapidly worse, sinking into deeper +depths of vice, until finally he became a base, besotted, wretched +creature. Broken down in health by his sins, he could no longer enjoy +even the worst sensual pleasures, and with no taste for or capability +of appreciating anything higher he was most wretched indeed. The poor +fellow now fell into the hands of quacks. His kind father sent him money +in answer to his pitiful appeals for help, and <a name="p443"></a>he went anxiously from +one to another of the wretched villains who promise relief to such +sufferers but only rob them of their money and leave them worse than +before.</p> + +<p>At last, in total despair of everything else, the poor fellow came to +us. He seemed quite broken-hearted and penitent for his sins, and really +appeared to want to lead a better life if he could only be made well +again. We faithfully pointed out to him the dreadful wickedness of his +course, and the fact that a cure could only be effected by the most +implicit obedience to all of nature's laws during his whole future life. +Indeed, we were obliged to inform him of the sad fact that he could +never be as well as before, that he must always suffer in consequence +of his dreadful course of transgression. We gave him a most earnest +exhortation to begin the work of reform where alone it could be +effectual, by reforming his heart, and the tears which coursed down +his sin-scarred cheeks seemed to indicate true penitence and a real +desire to return to the paths of purity and peace.</p> + +<p>Earnestly we labored for this young man, for months, employing every +means in our power to lift him from the slough of sin and vice upon +the solid pathway of virtue and purity again. Gradually the hard lines +on his face seemed to lessen in intensity. The traces of vice and crime +seemed to be fading out by degrees. We began to entertain hopes of his +ultimate recovery. But alas! in an <a name="p444"></a>evil moment, through the influence +of bad companions, he fell, and for some time we lost sight of him. +A long time afterward we caught a glimpse of his bloated, sin-stained +face, just as he was turning to skulk away to avoid recognition. Where +this poor human wreck is now leading his miserable existence we cannot +say, but have no doubt he is haunting the dens of iniquity and sin in +the cities, seeking to find a little momentary pleasure in the +gratification of his appetites and passions. A hopeless wreck, with +the lines of vice and crime drawn all over his tell-tale countenance, +he dares not go home, for he fears to meet the reproachful glance of +his doting mother, and the scornful looks of his brothers and sisters. +We never saw a more thoroughly unhappy creature. He is fully conscious +of his condition; he sees himself to be a wreck, in mind, in body, and +knows that he is doomed to suffer still more in consequence of his vices. +He has no hope for this world or the next. His mother gave him earnest, +pious instructions, which he has never forgotten, though he has long +tried to smother them. He now looks forward with terror to the fate +which he well knows awaits all evil-doers, and shudders at the thought, +but seems powerless to enter the only avenue which affords a chance +of escape. He is so tormented with the pains and diseased conditions +which he has brought upon himself by vice that he often looks to +self-destruction as a grateful means of escape; but then <a name="p445"></a>comes the awful +foreboding of future punishment, and his hand is stayed. Ashamed to +meet his friends, afraid to meet his Maker, he wanders about, an exile, +an outcast, a hopeless wreck.</p> + +<p>Young man, youth, have you taken the first step on this evil road? If +so, take warning by the fate of this young man. At once "cease to do +evil and learn to do well," before, like him, you lose the power to +do right, before your will is paralyzed by sin so that when you desire +to do right, to reform, your will and power to execute your good +determinations will fail to support your effort.</p> + +<p><a name="chapj27"><b>Barely Escaped.</b></a>—L. R. of H——, a young man of about twenty-five years +of age, presented himself for treatment, a few years ago, for the +consequence of self-abuse. Having been taught the habit by evil +companions when just emerging into manhood, he had indulged his +passions without restraint for several years, not knowing the evil +consequences until he began to suffer the effects of sin. Then, being +warned by his own experience and by the fortunate thoughtfulness of +an intelligent friend who surmised his condition and told him +faithfully of the terrible results of the vile habit, he made a manly +effort to reform and claimed to have wholly broken the habit. To his +great grief he found, however, that the years in which he had devoted +himself to sin had wrought sad havoc in his system. In many ways his +health was greatly deranged and his once powerful constitution was +broken down. <a name="p446"></a>The sexual organs themselves were greatly diseased, so +much so that a serious and painful surgical operation was necessary. +With shame and mortification he looked upon his past life and saw what +a hideous work of evil he had wrought. His vileness stood out before +him in a vivid light, and he felt ashamed to meet the gaze of his fellows.</p> + +<p>After performing the necessary surgical operation upon this poor +unfortunate, we dealt faithfully with him, pointing out to him the way +by which he might with proper effort in some degree redeem himself by +a life-long struggle against every form of impurity. He felt, and +rightly, that the task was a most severe one. He well knew that the +stamp of sin was on his countenance, and in his mind. Thoughts long +allowed to run upon vile subjects, forming filthy pictures in the +imagination, are not easily brought back to the channel of purity and +virtue. The mind that has learned to love to riot in impure dreams, +does not readily acquire a love for the opposite. But he determined +to make a brave and earnest effort, and we have every reason to believe +that he has, in a measure at least, succeeded. But, if so, he has made +a narrow escape. A few more years of sin, and his rescue would have +been impossible; both mind and body would have been sunk so deep in +the mire of concupiscence that none but Almighty power could have saved +him from utter destruction. Thousands of boys and young men are to-day +standing on the slippery <a name="p447"></a>brink of that awful precipice from which but +very few are snatched away. Soon they will plunge headlong over into +the abyss of debasement and corruption from whence they will never +escape. Oh that we had the power to reach each one of these unfortunate +youth before it is too late, and to utter in their ears such warnings, +to portray before them such pictures of the sure results of a course +of sin, that they might be turned back to the paths of chastity and +virtue before they have become such mental, moral, and physical wrecks +as we every day encounter in the walks of life. But not one in a thousand +can be reached when they have gone so far in sin. When they have ventured +once, they can rarely be checked in their downward course until great +harm has been wrought which it will require the work of years to undo. +The young man we have referred to made indeed a narrow escape, but no +one can safely run such a risk. Even he must suffer all his life the +consequences of a few years of sin.</p> + +<p><a name="chapj28"><b>A Lost Soul.</b></a>—M. M., of ——, was the son of a mechanic in humble +circumstances. He was an only child, and his parents spared no pains +to do all in their power to insure his becoming a good and useful man. +Good school advantages were given him, and at a proper age he was put +to learn a trade. He succeeded fairly, and their hopes of his becoming +all that they could desire were great, when he suddenly began to +manifest peculiar <a name="p448"></a>symptoms. He had attended a religious revival and +seemed much affected, professing religion and becoming a member of a +church. To the exercises of his mind on the subject of religion his +friends attributed his peculiar actions, which soon became so strange +as to excite grave fears that his mind was seriously affected. At times +he was wild, showing such unmistakable evidences of insanity that even +his poor mother, who was loth to believe the sad truth, was forced to +admit that he was deranged.</p> + +<p>After a few months a change came over him which encouraged his friends +to think that he was recovering. He became quiet and tractable, never +manifesting the furious symptoms before observed. But the deception +was only temporary, for it was soon evident that the change was simply +the result of the progress of the disease and denoted the failure of +the mental powers and the approach of imbecility. In this condition +was the young man when he came under our care. We felt strongly impressed +from our first examination of the case that it was one of sexual abuse; +but we were assured by his friends in the most emphatic manner that +such was an impossibility. It was claimed that the most scrupulous care +had been bestowed upon him, and that he had been so closely watched +that it was impossible that he should have been guilty of so gross a +vice. His friends were disposed to attribute his sad condition to +excessive exercise of mind upon religious subjects.</p> +<a name="p449"></a> +<p>Not satisfied with this view of the case, we set a close watch upon +him, and within a week his nurse reported that he had detected him in +the act of self-pollution, when he confessed the truth, not yet being +so utterly devoid of sense as to have lost his appreciation of the +sinfulness of the act. When discovered, he exclaimed, "I know I have +made myself a fool," which was the exact truth. At this time the once +bright and intelligent youth had become so obtuse and stupid that he +appeared almost senseless. His face wore an idiotic expression which +was rarely lighted up by a look of intelligence. It was only by the +greatest exertion that he could be made to understand or to respond +when spoken to. In whatever position he was placed, whether lying, +sitting, or standing, no matter how constrained or painful, he would +remain for hours, staring vacantly, and fixed and immovable as a statue. +His countenance was blank and expressionless except at rare intervals. +His lips were always parted, and the saliva ran from the corners of +his mouth down upon his clothing. The calls of nature were responded +to involuntarily, soiling constantly his clothing and bedding in a most +disgusting manner, and requiring the constant attention of a nurse to +keep him in anything like a wholesome condition.</p> + +<p>We did what we could to relieve this poor victim of unhallowed lust, +but soon became convinced that no human arm could save from utter ruin +this <a name="p450"></a>self-destroyed soul. At our suggestion the young man was removed +to be placed in an institution devoted to the care of imbeciles and +lunatics. The last we heard of the poor fellow he was still sinking +into lower depths of physical and mental degradation,—a soul utterly +lost and ruined. How many thousands of young men who might have been +useful members of society, lawyers, clergymen, statesmen, scientists, +have thus sunk into the foul depths of the quagmire of vice, to rise +no more forever! Oh, awful fate! The human eye never rests upon a sadder +sight than a ruined soul, a mind shattered and debased by vice.</p> + +<p><a name="chapj29"><b>The Results of One Transgression.</b></a>—The following case is a good +illustration of the fact that a long course of transgression is not +necessary to occasion the most serious results. A young man from an +Eastern State who visited us for treatment was suffering with the usual +consequences of self-abuse, but he asserted in the most emphatic manner +that he had never committed the act of self-pollution but once in his +life. He had, however, after that one vile act, allowed his mind to +run upon vile thoughts, giving loose rein to his imagination, and in +consequence he found himself as badly off, suffering with the very same +disorders, as those who had practiced the vice for some time.</p> + +<p>Not the slightest dallying with sin is safe. The maintenance of perfect +purity and chastity of body and mind is the only right and safe course. +By a <a name="p451"></a>few months' treatment the young man recovered his health in a great +measure, and, marrying an estimable young lady, settled down happily +in life. Many tears of remorse and repentance did he shed over that +one sinful act, and bitterly did he reproach the evil companion who +taught him to sin; but he was fortunate enough to escape without +suffering the worst effects of sin, and is now living happily.</p> + +<p><a name="chapj30"><b>A Hospital Case.</b></a>—One of the most wretched creatures we ever saw among +the many sufferers from sexual excesses whom we have met, was a man +of about thirty years of age whom we found in the large Charity Hospital +on Blackwell's Island, New York City. In consequence of long indulgence +in the soul-and-body destroying habit, he had brought upon himself not +only the most serious and painful disease of the sexual organs +themselves, but disease of the bladder and other adjacent organs. He +was under severe and painful treatment for a long time without benefit, +and finally a surgical operation was performed, but with the result +of affording only partial relief.</p> + +<p><a name="chapj31"><b>An Old Offender.</b></a>—Never were we more astonished than at the depth of +depravity revealed to us by the confessions of a patient from a distant +country who was upwards of sixty years of age and was yet a victim of +the vile habit to which he had become addicted when a youth. The stamp +of vice was on his face, and was not hidden by the lines made by advancing +age. The sufferings which this <a name="p452"></a>ancient sinner endured daily in +consequence of his long course of sin were sometimes fearful to behold; +and yet he continued the habit in spite of all warnings, advice, and +every influence which could be brought to bear upon him. So long had +he transgressed, he had lost his sense of shame and his appreciation +of the vileness of sin, and it was impossible to reform him by any means +which could be brought to bear upon him. He left us still a sufferer, +though somewhat relieved, and, we have every reason to believe, as vile +a sinner as ever. Undoubtedly, before this time his worthless life is +ended, and he has gone down into a sinner's grave, hoary with vice. +A terrible end.</p> + +<p><a name="chapj32"><b>The Sad End of a Young Victim.</b></a>—C. L., a young man residing in a large +Southern city, was the youngest son of parents who were in moderate +circumstances, but appreciated the value of education, and were anxious +to give their children every advantage possible for them to receive. +With this end in view, the young man was sent to college, where he did +well for a time, being naturally studious and intelligent; but after +a brief period he began to drop behind his classes. He seemed moody +and obtuse. He could not complete his tasks even by the most severe +application. It seemed impossible for him to apply himself. The power +of concentration appeared to be lost. Soon he was seized by fits of +gloominess from which he did not seem to have power to free himself. +His strength began <a name="p453"></a>to fail to such a degree that he could hardly drag +himself to his meals, and at last he was almost confined to his room. +He became greatly emaciated. The failure of his mental powers seemed +to keep pace with the wasting of his body, so that it was soon evident +that he must abandon all hope of pursuing his studies for some time +at least. His case being brought to our notice, we gave him every +attention possible, and spared no effort to rescue him from his +condition. We readily perceived the cause of his troubles, but for a +long time he did not acknowledge the truth. At last he confessed that +he had sinned for years in the manner suspected, and was suffering the +consequences. A knowledge of his guilt weighed upon him and haunted +him day and night. He promised to reform; but if he did, it was too +late, for the wasting disease which was fastened upon him continued. +At his mother's request he returned to his home, and a few weeks later +we received the awful intelligence that he had ended his miserable life +by blowing out his brains with a pistol. Thus tragically ended the +career of this young man, who might, with the advantages afforded him, +have become a useful member of society. In total despair of this life +or the next, he rashly ended his probation, and with his own hand +finished the work of destruction which he had himself begun. No words +can tell the grief of his stricken mother; but, fortunately, she was +spared the knowledge of the whole truth, else would her sorrow have +been too great to bear.</p> +<a name="p454"></a> +<p><a name="chapj33"><b>From Bad to Worse.</b></a>—C. E., a young man from the West, was sent to us +by his father with the request that we would do what we could to save +him. His father's letter intimated that the son had been a source of +grief to him, but he hoped that he had repented of his prodigal course, +and was really determined to reform. Though scarcely more than twenty +years of age, the young man's face wore an aspect of hardness, from +familiarity with vice, that we have rarely seen. He was reduced to a +mere skeleton by the vice which he made no secret of, and was so weak +that he could scarcely walk a rod. It seemed as if every organ in his +body was diseased, and that he had so squandered his vital resources +that he had no power to rally from his wretched condition even should +he carry out the determination to reform which he announced. However, +we gave him the best counsel and advice within our power, and placed +him under treatment. After a few weeks it was evident that nature was +still willing to respond to his endeavors to reform, by vigorous efforts +to restore him to a condition of comparative health. Thus he was +snatched, as it appeared, from the very jaws of death. Under these +circumstances it would seem that the most hardened criminal would +reform, at least for a season, and lead a life of rectitude; but so +utterly depraved was this poor wretch that no sooner did he find that +he was not liable to die immediately than he began at once again his +career of sin. By long indulgence his moral sense had become, apparently, +<a name="p455"></a>obliterated. He seemed to be utterly without the restraint imposed by +conscience. In less than a month he was detected in the crime of theft, +having stolen a watch from a fellow-patient. Upon his arrest, +stimulated by the hope of in some degree mitigating his punishment, +he confessed to have been carrying on a series of petty thieving for +weeks before he was finally detected, having scores of stolen articles +in his possession. The last time we saw the wretched fellow he was being +led away in irons to prison. We have since heard that he continues in +his downward career, having served out his time in prison, and will +undoubtedly end his life in a felon's cell unless he is shrewd enough +to escape his just deserts. Having lost all desire to do right, to be +noble, pure, and good, all efforts to reform and restore him to the +path of rectitude were fruitless. It was only the fear of impending +death that caused him to pause for a few days in his criminal course. +Young man, take warning by this sad case; enter not the pathway of vice. +A course of vice once entered upon is not easily left. A youth who once +gives himself up to sin, rarely escapes from going headlong to +destruction.</p> + +<p><a name="chapj34"><b>An Indignant Father.</b></a>—A case came to our knowledge through a gentleman +who brought his daughter to us for treatment for the effects of +self-abuse, of a father who adopted a summary method of curing his son +of the evil practice. Having discovered that the lad was a victim of +the vile habit, <a name="p456"></a>and having done all in his power by punishment, threats, +and representations of its terrible effects, but without inducing him +to reform, the father, in a fit of desperation, seized the sinful boy +and with his own hand performed upon him the operation of castration +as he would have done upon a colt. The boy recovered from the operation, +and was of course effectually cured of his vile habit. The remedy was +efficient, though scarcely justifiable. Even a father has no right thus +to mutilate his own son, though we must confess that the lad's chances +for becoming a useful man are fully as good as they would have been +had he continued his course of sin.</p> + +<p><a name="chapj35"><b>Disgusted with Life.</b></a>—T. A. was a young man of promise, the son of +ambitious parents, proud-spirited, and without respect for religion. +While still quite young he enlisted in the service of the government, +and after a time rose to the position of an officer in the U. S. army. +Having in boyhood acquired the habit of self-abuse, he had stimulated +his passions without restraint, and was readily led still farther +astray by the evil companions with whom he was surrounded. He indulged +his passions in every way and on every occasion when he found +opportunity, and speedily began to feel the effects of his vices. Before +he was fully aware of his condition, he found himself being literally +devoured by the vilest of all diseases, which only those who transgress +in this manner suffer. The disease made rapid <a name="p457"></a>advances and speedily +reduced him to a condition of almost absolute helplessness. He was +obliged to obtain a furlough; but his vital forces were so nearly +exhausted that he did not rally even under skillful treatment; and when +his furlough expired, he was still in the same pitiable condition. +Getting it extended for a time, he by accident came under our care, +and by the aid of very thorough treatment he was in a measure improved, +though the progress of the disease was simply stayed. When apprized +of his real condition, he exhibited much agitation, walking nervously +about his room, and finally exclaimed that he was utterly disgusted +with life anyway, and after a few weeks or months more of suffering +he should blow his brains out and end his misery. He had no fears of +death, he said, and we presume that he could not imagine it possible +that there was any greater suffering in store for him than he already +endured. We pitied the poor fellow from the bottom of our heart. He +had natural qualities which ought to have made him distinguished. He +might have risen high in the world of usefulness. Now he was compelled +to look back upon a short life of squandered opportunities, a pathway +stained with vice, memories of vile debaucheries which had wasted his +youth and broken his constitution. Wretched was he indeed. +Notwithstanding his vileness he was not lost to shame, for his greatest +fear was that his friends might ascertain the real cause of his +sufferings, to conceal <a name="p458"></a>which he was obliged to resort to all sorts of +subterfuges. As soon as he was able to travel he left us, being obliged +to report to his superior officers, and we have heard nothing of him +since.</p> + +<p>Scores of similar cases we might recount in detail, but we have not +here the space. These will suffice to give to the young reader an idea +of the terrible results of this awful vice which are suffered by its +victims. We have not dared to portray on these pages one-half the misery +and wretchedness which we have seen as the results of self-abuse and +the vices to which it leads. The picture is too terrible for young eyes +to behold. We most sincerely hope that none of our readers will ever +have to suffer as we have seen boys and young men do, languishing in +misery as the result of their own transgressions of the laws of chastity. +We will now devote the remaining pages of this chapter to the +consideration of some of the causes of the vice, the avenues that lead +to the awful sin which we are considering, and the terrible consequences +which attend it.</p> + +<p><a name="chapj36"><b>Bad Company.</b></a>—The influence of evil companionship is one of the most +powerful agents for evil against which those who love purity and are +seeking to elevate and benefit their fellow-men have to contend. A bad +boy can do more harm in a community than can be counteracted by all +the clergymen, Sabbath-school teachers, tract-distributers, and other +Christian workers combined. An evil boy is a pest compared with which +the cholera, small-pox, <a name="p459"></a>and even the plague, are nothing. The damage +which would be done by a terrific hurricane sweeping with destructive +force through a thickly settled district is insignificant compared with +the evil work which may be accomplished by one vicious lad.</p> + +<p>No community is free from these vipers, these agents of the arch-fiend. +Every school, no matter how select it may be, contains a greater or +less number of these young moral lepers. Often they pursue their work +unsuspected by the good and pure, who do not dream of the vileness pent +up in the young brains which have not yet learned the multiplication +table and scarcely learned to read. We have known instances in which +a boy of seven or eight years of age has implanted the venom of vice +in the hearts and minds of half a score of pure-minded lads within a +few days of his first association with them. This vice spreads like +wild-fire. It is more "catching" than the most contagious disease, and +more tenacious, when once implanted, than the leprosy.</p> + +<p>Boys are easily influenced either for right or for wrong, but especially +for the wrong; hence it is the duty of parents to select good companions +for their children, and it is the duty of children to avoid bad company +as they would avoid carrion or the most loathsome object. A boy with +a match box in a powder magazine would be in no greater danger than +in the company of most of the lads who attend our public schools and +play upon the <a name="p460"></a>streets. It is astonishing how early children, especially +boys, will sometimes learn the hideous, shameless tricks of vice which +yearly lead thousands down to everlasting death. Often children begin +their course of sin while yet cradled in their mother's arms, thus early +taught by some vile nurse. Boys that fight and swear, that play upon +the streets and disobey their parents, may be wisely shunned as unfit +for associates. In many instances, too, boys whose conduct is in other +respects wholly faultless sometimes indulge in vice, ignorant of its +real nature and consequences. At the first intimation of evil on the +part of a companion, a boy who is yet pure should flee away as from +a deadly serpent or a voracious beast. Do not let the desire to gratify +a craving curiosity deter you from fleeing at once from the source of +contamination. Under such circumstances do not hesitate a moment to +escape from danger. If an evil word is spoken or an indecent act of +any sort indulged in by a companion, cut the acquaintance of such a +boy at once. Never allow yourself to be alone with him a moment. On +no account be induced to associate with him. He will as surely soil +and besmear with sin your moral garments as would contact with the most +filthy object imaginable your outer garments.</p> + +<p>It were better for a boy never to see or associate with a lad of his +own age than to run any risk of being corrupted before he is old enough +to appreciate the terrible enormity of sin and the awful <a name="p461"></a>consequences +of transgression. It should be recollected also that not only young +boys but vicious youths and young men are frequently the instructors +in vice. It is unsafe to trust any but those who are known to be pure.</p> + +<p><a name="chapj37"><b>Bad Language.</b></a>—We have often been astonished at the facility with which +children acquire the language of vice. Often we have been astounded +to hear little boys scarcely out of their cradles, lisping the most +horrible oaths and the vilest epithets. The streets and alleys in our +large cities, and in smaller ones too in a less degree, are nurseries +of vice, in which are reared the criminals that fill our jails, prisons, +work-houses, school-ships, and houses of correction. Many a lad begins +his criminal education by learning the language of vice and sin. At +first he simply imitates the evil utterances of others; but soon he +learns the full significance of the obscene and filthy language which +he hears and repeats, and then he rapidly progresses in the downward +road.</p> + +<p>A boy that indulges in the use of foul language will not long be chaste +in acts. It is a safe rule to be followed by those who wish to grow +up pure and unsullied by sin, untainted by vice, that those who use +bad language are persons to avoid, to keep away from. Even those who +are well fortified against vice, who have been faithfully warned of +its consequences and fully appreciate its dangers, cannot be safely +trusted to associate with vile <a name="p462"></a>talkers. The use of bad language by old +and young is an evil which is of the very greatest moment. It is too +often ignored; too little is said about it; far too often it is +disregarded as of little consequence, and persons who are really not +bad at heart thoughtlessly encourage the evil by listening to and +laughing at obscene and ribald jokes, and impure language which ought +to make a virtuous man blush with shame to hear.</p> + +<p>Boys, if you want to be pure, if you wish to be loved by a pure mother, +an innocent sister, and when you are grown to manhood to be worthy of +the confidence of a pure, virtuous wife, keep your lips pure; never +let a vile word or an indecent allusion pass them. Never, under any +circumstances, give utterance to language that you would blush to have +your mother overhear. If you find yourself in the company of persons +whose language will not bear this test, escape as soon as possible, +for you are in danger; your sense of what is right and proper in speech +is being vitiated; you are being damaged in a variety of ways.</p> + +<p><a name="chapj38"><b>Bad Books.</b></a>—A bad book is as bad as an evil companion. In some respects +it is even worse than a living teacher of vice, since it may cling to +an individual at all times. It may follow him to the secrecy of his +bed-chamber, and there poison his mind with the venom of evil. The +influence of bad books in making bad boys and men is little appreciated. +Few are aware how much evil seed <a name="p463"></a>is being sown among the young everywhere +through the medium of vile books. It is not only the wretched volumes +of obscenity of which so many thousands have been seized and destroyed +by Mr. Comstock which are included under the head of bad books, and +which corrupt the morals of the young and lead them to enter the road +to infamy, but the evil literature which is sold in "dime and nickel +novels," and which constitutes the principal part of the contents of +such papers as the <i>Police Gazette</i>, the <i>Police News</i>, and a large +proportion of the sensational story books which flood the land, and +too many of which find their way into town and circulating libraries +and even Sunday-school libraries, which are rarely selected with the +care that ought to be exercised in the selection of reading matter for +the young.</p> + +<p>Bad books often find their way even where evil companions would not +intrude; and undoubtedly effect a work of evil almost as great as is +wrought by bad associations.</p> + +<p>Look out, boys, for the tempter in this guise. If a companion offers +you a book the character of which is suspicious, take it home to your +father, your mother, or some reliable older friend, for examination. +If it is handed you with an air of secrecy, or if a promise to keep +it hidden from others is required, have nothing to do with it. You might +better place a coal of fire or a live viper in your bosom than to allow +yourself to read such a <a name="p464"></a>book. The thoughts that are implanted in the +mind in youth will stick there through life, in spite of all efforts +to dislodge them. Hundreds of men who have been thus injured when young, +but have by some providence escaped a life of vice and shame, look back +with most intense regret to the early days of childhood, and earnestly +wish that the pictures then made in the mind by bad books might be +effaced. Evil impressions thus formed often torture minds during a +whole lifetime. In the most inopportune moments they will intrude +themselves. When the individual desires to place his mind undividedly +upon sacred and elevated themes, even at the most solemn moments of +life, these lewd pictures will sometimes intrude themselves in spite +of his efforts to avoid them. It is an awful thing to allow the mind +to be thus contaminated; and many a man would give the world, if he +possessed it, to be free from the horrible incubus of a defiled +imagination.</p> + +<p><a name="chapj39"><b>Vile Pictures.</b></a>—Obscene and lascivious pictures are influences which +lead boys astray too important to be unnoticed. Evil men, agents of +the arch-fiend, have adopted all sorts of devices for putting into the +hands of the boys and youths of the rising generation pictures +calculated to excite the passions, to lead to vice. Thousands of these +vile pictures are in circulation throughout the country in spite of +the worthy efforts of such philanthropists as Mr. Anthony Comstock and +his co-laborers. In almost <a name="p465"></a>every large school there are boys who have +a supply of these infamous designs and act as agents in scattering the +evil contagion among all who come under their influence.</p> + +<p>Under the guise of art, the genius of some of our finest artists is +turned to pandering to this base desire for sensuous gratification. +The pictures which hang in many of our art galleries that are visited +by old and young of both sexes often number in the list views which +to those whose thoughts are not well trained to rigid chastity can be +only means of evil. A plea may be made for these paintings in the name +of art; but we see no necessity for the development of art in this +particular direction, when nature presents so many and such varied +scenes of loveliness in landscapes, flowers, beautiful birds, and +graceful animals, to say nothing of the human form protected by +sufficient covering to satisfy the demands of modesty.</p> + +<p>Many of the papers and magazines sold at our news-stands and eagerly +sought after by young men and boys are better suited for the parlors +of a house of ill-repute than for the eyes of pure-minded youth. A +news-dealer who will distribute such vile sheets ought to be dealt with +as an educator in vice and crime, an agent of evil, and a recruiting +officer for hell and perdition.</p> + +<p><a name="chapj40"><b>Evil Thoughts.</b></a>—No one can succeed long in keeping himself from vicious +acts whose thoughts dwell upon unchaste subjects. Only those who are +<a name="p466"></a>pure in heart will be pure and chaste in action. The mind must be +educated to love and dwell upon pure subjects in early life, as by this +means only can the foundation be laid for that purity of character which +alone will insure purity of life. When the mind once becomes +contaminated with evil thoughts, it requires the work of years of +earnest effort to purge it from uncleanness. Vile thoughts leave scars +which even time will not always efface. They soil and deprave the soul, +as vile acts do the body. God knows them, if no human being does, and +if harbored and cherished they will tell against the character in the +day of Judgment as surely as will evil words and deeds.</p> + +<p><a name="chapj41"><b>Influence of Other Bad Habits.</b></a>—Evil practices of any sort which lower +the moral tone of an individual, which lessen his appreciation of and +love for right and purity and true nobility of soul, encourage the +development of vice. A boy who loves purity, who has a keen sense of +what is true and right, can never become a vicious man. Profanity, +falsehood, and deception of every sort, have a tendency in the direction +of vice.</p> + +<p>The use of highly seasoned food, of rich sauces, spices and condiments, +sweetmeats, and in fact all kinds of stimulating foods, has an undoubted +influence upon the sexual nature of boys, stimulating those organs into +too early activity, and occasioning temptations to sin which otherwise +would not occur. The use of mustard, pepper, pepper-sauce, <a name="p467"></a>spices, rich +gravies, and all similar kinds of food, should be carefully avoided +by young persons. They are not wholesome for either old or young; but +for the young they are absolutely dangerous.</p> + +<p>The use of beer, wine, hard cider, and tobacco, is especially damaging +to boys on this account. These stimulants excite the passions and +produce a clamoring for sensual gratification which few boys or young +men have the will power or moral courage to resist. Tobacco is an +especially detrimental agent. The early age at which boys now begin +the use of tobacco may be one of the reasons why the practice of secret +vice is becoming so terribly common among boys and young men. We never +think a boy or young man who uses tobacco safe from the commission of +some vile act.</p> + +<p>The use of tea and coffee by boys is also a practice which should be +interdicted. All wise physicians forbid the use of these narcotic +drinks, together with that of tobacco, and always with benefit to those +who abstain. In France the government has made a law forbidding the +use of tobacco by students in the public schools. In Germany a still +more stringent law has been made, which forbids the use of tobacco by +boys and young men. These laws have been made on account of the serious +injury which was evidently resulting from the use of the filthy weed +to both the health and the morals of the young men of those countries. +<a name="p468"></a>There is certainly an equal need for such a law in this country.</p> + +<p><a name="chapj42"><b>Closing Advice to Boys and Young Men.</b></a>—One word more and we must close +this chapter, which we hope has been read with care by those for whom +it is especially written. Let every boy who peruses these pages remember +that the facts here stated are true. Every word we have verified, and +we have not written one-half that might be said upon this subject. Let +the boy who is still pure, who has never defiled himself with vice, +firmly resolve that with the help of God he will maintain a pure and +virtuous character. It is much easier to preserve purity than to get +free from the taint of sin after having been once defiled. Let the boy +who has already fallen into evil ways, who has been taught the vile +practice the consequences of which we have endeavored to describe, and +who is already in the downward road,—let him resolve now to break the +chain of sin, to reform at once, and to renounce his evil practice +forever. The least hesitancy, the slightest dalliance with the demon +vice, and the poor victim will be lost. Now, this moment, is the time +to reform. Seek purity of mind and heart. Banish evil thoughts and shun +evil companions; then with earnest prayer to God wage a determined +battle for purity and chastity until the victory is wholly won.</p> + +<p>One of the greatest safeguards for a boy is <a name="p469"></a>implicit trust and +confidence in his parents. Let him go to them with all his queries +instead of to some older boyish friend. If all boys would do this, an +immense amount of evil would be prevented. When tempted to sin, boys, +think first of the vileness and wickedness of the act; think that God +and pure angels behold every act, and even know every thought. Nothing +is hid from their eyes. Think then of the awful results of this terrible +sin, and fly from temptation as from a burning house. Send up a prayer +to God to deliver you from temptation, and you will not fall. Every +battle manfully and successfully fought will add new strength to your +resolution and force to your character. Gaining such victories from +day to day you will grow up to be a pure, noble, useful man, the grandest +work of God, and will live a happy, virtuous life yourself, and add +to the happiness of those around you.</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br><a name="p470"></a> +<div><h2><a name="chapk">A CHAPTER FOR GIRLS.</a></h2></div> +<br> +<p>We have written this chapter especially for girls, and we sincerely +hope that many will read it with an earnest desire to be benefited by +so doing. The subject of which we have to write is a delicate one, and +one which, we regret exceedingly, needs to be written about. But our +experience as a physician has proven to us again and again that it is +of the utmost importance that something be said, that words of warning +should be addressed particularly to the girls and maidens just emerging +into womanhood, on a subject which vitally concerns not only their own +future health and happiness, but the prosperity and destiny of the race. +Probably no one can be better fitted to speak on this subject than the +physician. A physician who has given careful attention to the health +and the causes of ill-health of ladies, and who has had opportunities +for observing the baneful influence exerted upon the bodies and minds +of girls and young women by the evil practices of which it is our purpose +here to speak, can better appreciate than can others the magnitude of +the evil, and is better prepared to speak upon the subject +understandingly and authoritatively. Gladly would we shun the task +which has been pressed upon us, but which we have long <a name="p471"></a>avoided, were +it not for the sense of the urgent need of its performance of which +our professional experience has thoroughly convinced us. We cannot keep +our lips closed when our eyes are witnesses to the fact that thousands +of the fairest and best of our girls and maidens are being beguiled +into everlasting ruin by a soul-destroying vice which works unseen, +and often so insidiously that its results are unperceived until the +work of ruin is complete.</p> + +<p>The nature of our subject necessitates that we should speak plainly, +though delicately, and we shall endeavor to make our language +comprehensible by any one old enough to be benefited by the perusal +of this chapter. We desire that all who read these pages may receive +lasting benefit by so doing. The subject is one upon which every girl +ought to be informed, and to which she should give serious attention, +at least sufficiently long to become intelligent concerning the evils +and dangers to which girls are exposed from this source.</p> + +<p><a name="chapk1"><b>Girlhood.</b></a>—Nothing is so suggestive of innocence and purity as the +simple beauty of girlhood when seen in its natural freshness, though +too seldom, now-a-days, is it possible to find in our young girls the +natural grace and healthy beauty which were common among the little +maidens of a quarter of a century ago. The ruddy cheeks and bright eyes +and red lips which are indicative of a high degree of healthy vigor +are not so often seen to-day among <a name="p472"></a>the small girls in our public schools +and passing to and fro upon the streets. The pale cheeks, languid eyes, +and almost colorless lips which we more often see, indicate weakly +constitutions and delicate health, and prophesy a short and suffering +life to many. Various causes are at work to produce this unfortunate +decline; and while we hope that in the larger share of cases, bad diet, +improper clothing, confinement in poorly ventilated rooms with too +little exercise, and similar causes, are the active agents, we are +obliged to recognize the fact that there is in far too many cases another +cause, the very mention of which makes us blush with shame that its +existence should be possible. But of this we shall speak again +presently.</p> + +<p>Real girls are like the just opening buds of beautiful flowers. The +beauty and fragrance of the full-blossomed rose scarcely exceed the +delicate loveliness of the swelling bud which shows between the +sections of its bursting calyx the crimson petals tightly folded +beneath. So the true girl possesses in her sphere as high a degree of +attractive beauty as she can hope to attain in after-years, though of +a different character. But genuine girls are scarce. Really natural +little girls are almost as scarce as real boys. Too many girls begin +at a very early age to attempt to imitate the pride and vanity manifested +by older girls and young ladies. It is by many supposed that to be +ladylike should be the height of the ambition of girls as soon as they +<a name="p473"></a>are old enough to be taught respecting propriety of behavior, which +is understood to mean that they must appear as unnatural as possible +in attempting to act like grown-up ladies. Many mothers who wish their +daughters to be models of perfection, but whose ideas of perfect +deportment are exceedingly superficial in character, dress up their +little daughters in fine clothing, beautiful to look at, but very far +from what is required for health and comfort, and then continually +admonish the little ones that they must keep very quiet and "act like +little ladies." Such a course is a most pernicious one. It fosters pride +and vanity, and inculcates an entirely wrong idea of what it is to be +ladylike,—to be a true lady, to be true to nature as a girl. Such +artificial training is damaging alike to mind and body; and it induces +a condition of mind and of the physical system which is very conducive +to the encouragement of dangerous tendencies.</p> + +<p><a name="chapk2"><b>How to Develop Beauty and Loveliness.</b></a>—All little girls want to be +beautiful. Girls in general care much more for their appearance than +do boys. They have finer tastes, and greater love for whatever is lovely +and beautiful. It is a natural desire, and should be encouraged. A pure, +innocent, beautiful little girl is the most lovely of all God's +creatures. All are not equally beautiful, however, and cannot be; but +all may be beautiful to a degree that will render them attractive. Let +all little girls who want to be pretty, handsome, or <a name="p474"></a>good-looking, give +attention and we will tell them how. Those who are homely should listen +especially, for all may become good-looking, though all cannot become +remarkably beautiful. First of all, it is necessary that the girl who +wishes to be handsome, to be admired, should be good. She must learn +to love what is right and true. She must be pure in mind and act. She +must be simple in her manners, modest in her deportment, and kind in +her ways.</p> + +<p>Second in importance, though scarcely so, is the necessity of health. +No girl can long be beautiful without health; and no girl who enjoys +perfect health can be really ugly in appearance. A healthy countenance +is always attractive. Disease wastes the rounded features, bleaches +out the roses from the cheeks and the vermilion from the lips. It +destroys the luster of the eye and the elasticity of the step. Health +is essential to beauty. In fact, if we consider goodness as a state +of moral health, then health is the one great requisite of beauty.</p> + +<p>Health is obtained and preserved by the observance of those natural +laws which the Creator has appointed for the government of our bodies. +The structure of these bodies we may do well to study for a few moments.</p> + +<p><a name="chapk3"><b>The Human Form Divine.</b></a>—Go with us to one of the large cities, and we +will show you one of the most marvelous pieces of mechanism ever +invented, a triumph of ingenuity, skill, and patient, persevering labor +for many years. This wonderful <a name="p475"></a>device is a clock which will run more +than one hundred years. It is so constructed that it indicates not only +the time of day, the day of the month and year, itself making all the +necessary changes for leap year, but shows the motions of the earth +around the sun, together with the movements and positions of all the +other planets, and many other marvelous things. When it strikes at the +end of each hour, groups of figures go through a variety of curious +movements most closely resembling the appearance and actions of human +beings.</p> + +<p>The maker of this remarkable clock well deserves the almost endless +praise which he receives for his skill and patience; for his work is +certainly wonderful; but the great clock, with its curious and +complicated mechanism, is a coarse and bungling affair when compared +with the human body. The clock doubtless contains thousands of delicate +wheels and springs, and is constructed with all the skill imaginable; +and yet the structure of the human body is infinitely more delicate. +The clock has no intelligence; but a human being can hear, see, feel, +taste, touch, and think. The clock does only what its maker designed +to have it do, and can do nothing else. The human machine is a living +mechanism; it can control its own movements, can do as it will, within +certain limits. What is very curious indeed, the human machine has the +power to mend itself, so that when it needs repairs it is not necessary +to send it to a shop for the purpose, <a name="p476"></a>but all that is required is to +give nature an opportunity and the system repairs itself.</p> + +<p><a name="chapk4"><b>A Wonderful Process.</b></a>—We have not space to describe all the wonderful +mechanism of this human machine, but must notice particularly one of +its most curious features, a provision by which other human beings, +living machines like itself, are produced. All living creatures possess +this power. A single potato placed in the ground becomes a dozen or +more, by a process of multiplying. A little seed planted in the earth +grows up to be a plant, produces flowers, and from the flowers come +other seeds, not one, but often a great many, sometimes hundreds from +a single seed. Insects, fishes, birds, and all other animals, thus +multiply. So do human beings, and in a similar manner. The organs by +which this most marvelous process is carried on in plants and animals, +including also human beings, are called sexual organs. Flowers are the +sexual organs of plants. And flowers are always the most fragrant and +the most beautiful when they are engaged in this wonderful and curious +work.</p> + +<p><a name="chapk5"><b>Human Buds.</b></a>—A curious animal which lives near the seashore, in shallow +water, attached to a rock like a water plant, puts out little buds which +grow awhile and then drop off, and after a time become large individuals +like the parent, each in turn producing buds like the one from which +it grew. Human beings are formed by a similar process. <a name="p477"></a>Human buds are +formed by an organ for the purpose possessed only by the female sex, +and these, under proper circumstances, develop into infant human beings. +The process, though so simply stated, is a marvelously complicated one, +which cannot be fully explained here; indeed, it is one of the mysteries +which it is beyond the power of human wisdom fully to explain.</p> + +<p>The production of these human buds is one of the most important and +sacred duties of woman. It is through this means that she becomes a +mother, which is one of the grandest and noblest functions of womanhood. +It is the motherly instinct that causes little girls to show such a +fondness for dolls, a perfectly natural feeling which may be encouraged +to a moderate degree without injury.</p> + +<p><a name="chapk6"><b>How Beauty is Marred.</b></a>—As already remarked, mental, moral, and physical +health are the requisites for true beauty, and to secure these, +obedience to all the laws of health is required. The most beautiful +face is soon marred when disease begins its ravages in the body. The +most beautiful character is as speedily spoiled by the touch of moral +disease, or sin. The face is a mirror of the mind, the character; and +a mind full of evil, impure thoughts is certain to show itself in the +face in spite of rosy cheeks and dimples, ruby lips and bewitching +smiles. The character is written on the face as plainly as the face +may be pictured by an artist on canvas.</p> +<a name="p478"></a> +<p>To be more explicit, the girl who disregards the laws of health, who +eats bad food, eats at all hours or at unseasonable hours, sits up late +at night, attends fashionable parties and indulges in the usual means +of dissipation there afforded, dancing, wine, rich suppers, etc., who +carefully follows the fashions in her dress, lacing her waist to attain +the fashionable degree of slenderness, wearing thin, narrow-toed +gaiters with French heels, and insufficiently clothing the limbs in +cold weather, and who in like manner neglects to comply with the +requirements of health in other important particulars, may be certain +that sooner or later, certainly at no distant day, she will become as +unattractive and homely as she can wish not to be. Girls and young ladies +who eat largely of fat meat, rich cakes and pies, confectionery, iced +creams, and other dietetic abominations, cannot avoid becoming sallow +and hollow-eyed. The cheeks may be ever so plump and rosy, they will +certainly lose their freshness and become hollow and thin. Chalk and +rouge will not hide the defect, for everybody will discover the fraud, +and will of course know the reason why it is practiced.</p> + +<p><a name="chapk7"><b>A Beauty-Destroying Vice.</b></a>—But by far the worst enemy of beauty and +health of body, mind, and soul, we have not yet mentioned. It is a sin +concerning which we would gladly keep silence; but we cannot see so +many of our most beautiful and promising girls and young ladies annually +being <a name="p479"></a>ruined, often for this world and the next alike, without uttering +the word of warning needed.</p> + +<p>As before remarked, the function of maternity, which is the object of +the sexual system in woman, when rightly exercised is the most sacred +and elevated office which a woman can perform for the world. The woman +who is a true mother has an opportunity of doing for the race more than +all other human agencies combined. The mother's influence is the +controlling influence in the world. The mother molds the character of +her children. She can make of their plastic minds almost what she will +if she is herself prepared for the work. On the other hand, misuse or +abuse of the sexual organism is visited in girls and women, as in boys +and men, with the most fearful penalties. Nothing will sooner deprive +a girl or young lady of the maidenly grace and freshness with which +nature blesses woman in her early years than secret vice. We have the +greatest difficulty in making ourself believe that it is possible for +beings designed by nature to be pure and innocent, in all respects free +from impurity of any sort, to become so depraved by sin as to be willing +to devote themselves to so vile and filthy a practice. Yet the frequency +with which cases have come under our observation which clearly indicate +the alarming prevalence of the practice, even among girls and young +women who would naturally be least suspected, compels us to recognize +the fact. The testimony of many <a name="p480"></a>eminent physicians whose opportunities +for observation have been very extensive shows that the evil is +enormously greater than people generally are aware. Instructors of the +youth, of large experience, assert the same. Nor is the evil greater +in America than in some other countries. One writer declares that the +vice is almost universal among the girls of Russia, which may be due +to the low condition in which the women of that country are kept.</p> + +<p><a name="chapk8"><b>Terrible Effects of Secret Vice.</b></a>—The awful effects of this sin against +God and nature, this soul-and-body-destroying vice, become speedily +visible in those who are guilty of it. The experienced eye needs no +confession on the part of the victim to read the whole story of sinful +indulgence and consequent disease. The vice stamps its insignia upon +the countenance; it shows itself in the walk, in the changed disposition +and the loss of healthy vigor. It is not only impossible for a victim +of this sinful practice to hide from the all-seeing eye of God the +vileness perpetrated in secret, but it is also useless to attempt to +hide from human eyes the awful truth.</p> + +<p>Headache, side-ache, back-ache, pains in the chest, and wandering pains +in various parts of the body,—these are but a few of the painful +ailments from which girls who are guilty of this sin suffer. Many of +the tender spines which cause great solicitude on the part of parents +and physicians, who fear that disease of the spine is <a name="p481"></a>threatening the +life of a loved daughter, not infrequently originate in this way. Much +of the hysteria which renders wretched the lives of thousands of young +ladies and the fond friends who are obliged to care for and attend them, +arises from sexual transgression of the kind of which we are speaking. +The blanched cheeks, hollow, expressionless eyes, and rough, pimply +skins of many school-girls are due to this cause alone. We do not mean +by this to intimate that every girl who has pimples upon her face is +guilty of secret vice; but this sin is undoubtedly a very frequent cause +of the unpleasant eruption which so often appears upon the foreheads +of both sexes. It would be very unjust, however, to charge a person +with the sin unless some further evidence than that of an eruption on +the face was afforded.</p> + +<p>The inability to study, to apply themselves in any way except when +stimulated by something of a very exciting character, which many girls +exhibit, is in a large proportion of cases due to the practice of which +we are writing. Often enough the effects which are attributed to +overstudy are properly due to this debasing habit. We have little faith +in the great outcry made in certain quarters about the damaging effects +of study upon the health of young ladies. A far less worthy cause is +in many cases the true one, to which is attributable the decline in +health at a critical period when all the vital forces of the system +are necessarily called into action to introduce the activity of a new +function.</p> +<a name="p482"></a> +<p>Hundreds of girls break down in health just as they are entering +womanhood. At from twelve to eighteen years of age the change naturally +occurs which transforms the girl into a woman by the development of +functions previously latent. This critical period is one through which +every girl in health ought to pass with scarcely any noticeable +disturbance; and if during the previous years of life the laws of health +were observed, there would seldom be any unusual degree of suffering +at this time. Those who have before this period been addicted to the +vile habit of which we are writing, will almost invariably show at this +time evidences of the injury which has been wrought. The unnatural +excitement of the organs before the period of puberty, lays the +foundation for life-long disease. When that critical epoch arrives, +the organs are found in a state of congestion often bordering on +inflammation. The increased congestion which naturally occurs at this +time in many cases is sufficient to excite most serious disease. Here +is the beginning of a great many of the special diseases which are the +bane and shame of the sex. Displacements of various sorts, congestions, +neuralgia of the ovaries, leucorrhoea, or whites, and a great variety +of kindred maladies, are certain to make their appearance at this period +or soon after in those who have previously been guilty of self-abuse. +If the evil influences already at work are augmented by tight lacing, +improper dressing of the extremities, <a name="p483"></a>hanging heavy skirts upon the +hips, and fashionable dissipation generally, the worst results are sure +to follow, and the individual is certain to be a subject for the doctors +for a good portion of her life.</p> + +<p>A talented writer some time since contributed to a popular magazine +an article entitled, "The Little Health of Women," which contained many +excellent hints respecting the influences at work to undermine the +health and destroy the constitutions of American women; but he did not +even hint at this potent cause, which, we firmly believe, is responsible +for a far greater share of the local disease and general poor health +of girls, young women, and married ladies, than has been generally +recognized. These are startling facts, but we are prepared to +substantiate them.</p> + +<p><a name="chapk9"><b>Remote Effects.</b></a>—Not all of the effects of the vice appear in girlhood, +nor even during early life. Not infrequently it is not until the girl +has grown up to be a wife and mother that she begins to appreciate fully +the harm that has been wrought. At this time, when new demands are made +upon the sexual organism, when its proper duties are to be performed, +there is a sudden failure; new weaknesses and diseases make their +appearance, new pains and sufferings are felt, which no woman who has +not in some way seriously transgressed the laws of health will suffer. +In not a few instances it is discovered that the individual is wholly +unfitted for the duties of maternity. Often, <a name="p484"></a>indeed, maternity is +impossible, the injury resulting from the sins committed being so great +as to render the diseased organism incapable of the functions required.</p> + +<p>In the great majority of cases these peculiar difficulties, morbid +conditions, and incapacities are attributed to overwork, overstudy, +"taking cold," "getting the feet wet," or some other cause wholly +inadequate to account for the diseased conditions present, although +in many instances it may be true that some such unfortunate circumstance +may be the means of precipitating the effects of previous sin upon +organs already relaxed, debilitated, and thus prepared readily to take +on disease.</p> + +<p><a name="chapk10"><b>Causes which Lead Girls Astray.</b></a>—The predisposing causes of sexual +vices have already been dwelt upon so fully in this volume that we shall +devote little space to the subject here. We may, however, mention a +few of the causes which seem to be most active in leading to the +formation of evil habits among girls.</p> + +<p><a name="chapk11"><b>Vicious Companions.</b></a>—Girls are remarkably susceptible to influence by +those of their own age. A vicious girl who makes herself agreeable to +those with whom she associates can exert more influence over many of +her companions than can any number of older persons. Even a mother +rarely has that influence over her daughter that is maintained by the +girl whom she holds as her bosom friend. The close friendships which +are often formed <a name="p485"></a>between girls of the same age are often highly +detrimental in character. Each makes a confidant of the other, and thus +becomes estranged from the only one competent to give counsel and advice, +and the one who of all others is worthy of a young girl's +confidence,—her mother.</p> + +<p>From these unfortunate alliances often arise most deplorable evils. +Vicious companions not infrequently sow the seeds of evil habits far +and wide, contaminating all who come within their influence.</p> + +<p><a name="chapk12"><b>Whom to Avoid.</b></a>—A girl will always do well to avoid a companion who +is vain, idle, silly, or frivolous. Girls who have these evil +characteristics are very likely to have others also which are worse. +A girl who is rude in her manners, careless in her habits, irreverent +and disobedient to parents and teachers, is always an unsafe companion. +No matter how pretty, witty, stylish, or aristocratic she may be, she +should be shunned. Her influence will be withering, debasing, wherever +felt. A girl may be gay and thoughtless without being vicious; but the +chances are ten to one that she will become sinful unless she changes +her ways.</p> + +<p><a name="chapk13"><b>Sentimental Books.</b></a>—The majority of girls love to read, but, +unfortunately, the kind of literature of which they are chiefly fond +is not of a character which will elevate, refine, or in any way benefit +them. Story books, romances, love tales, and religious novels +constitute the chief part of the <a name="p486"></a>reading matter which American young +ladies greedily devour. We have known young ladies still in their teens +who had read whole libraries of the most exciting novels.</p> + +<p>The taste for novel-reading is like that for liquor or opium. It is +never satiated. It grows with gratification. A confirmed novel-reader +is almost as difficult to reform as a confirmed inebriate or opium-eater. +The influence upon the mind is most damaging and pernicious. It not +only destroys the love for solid, useful reading, but excites the +emotions, and in many cases keeps the passions in a perfect fever of +excitement. The confessions of young women who were to all appearance +the most circumspect in every particular, and whom no one mistrusted +to be capable of vile thoughts, have convinced us that this evil is +more prevalent than many, even of those who are quite well informed, +would be willing to admit.</p> + +<p>By reading of this kind, many are led to resort to self-abuse for the +gratification of passions which over-stimulation has made almost +uncontrollable. Some have thus been induced to sin who had never been +injured by other influences, but discovered the fatal secret themselves. +Mothers cannot be too careful of the character of the books which their +daughters read. Every book, magazine, and paper should be carefully +scrutinized, unless its character is already well known, before it is +allowed to be read. In our opinion, some of the literature which <a name="p487"></a>passes +as standard, which is often found on parlor center-tables and in family +and school libraries, such as Chaucer's poems, and other writings of +a kindred character, is unfit for perusal by inexperienced and +unsophisticated young ladies. Some of this literature is actually too +vile for any one to read, and if written to-day by any poet of note +would cause his works to be committed to the stove and the rag-bag in +spite of his reputation.</p> + +<p><a name="chapk14"><b>Various Causes.</b></a>—Bad diet, the use of stimulating and exciting articles +of food, late suppers, confectionery and dainties,—all these have a +very powerful influence in the wrong direction by exciting functions +which ought to be kept as nearly latent as possible. The use of tea +and coffee by young ladies cannot be too strongly condemned. Improper +dress, by causing local congestion, often predisposes to secret vice +by occasioning local excitement. Probably a greater cause than any of +those last mentioned is too great familiarity with the opposite sex. +The silly letters which girls sometimes allow themselves to receive +from the boys and young men of their acquaintance, and which they +encourage by letters of a similar character, must be condemned in the +most thorough manner. Upon receiving such a letter a pure-minded girl +will consider herself insulted; and has just reason for so doing. The +childish flirtations which girls and boys sometimes indulge in often +lead to evils of a most revolting character.</p> +<a name="p488"></a> +<p><a name="chapk15"><b>Modesty Woman's Safeguard.</b></a>—True modesty and maidenly reserve are the +best guardians of virtue. The girl who is truly modest, who encourages +and allows no improper advances, need have no fear of annoyance from +this source. She is equally safe from temptation to sin which may come +to her in secret, when no human eye can behold. Maidenly modesty is +one of the best qualities which any young lady can possess. A young +woman who lacks modesty, who manifests boldness of manner and +carelessness in deportment, is not only liable to have her virtue +assailed by designing and unscrupulous men, but is herself likely to +fall before the temptation to indulge in secret sin, which is certain +to present itself in some way sooner or later.</p> + +<p>This invaluable protection is speedily lost by the girl who abandons +herself to secret vice. The chances are very great, also, that by +degrees her respect for and love of virtue and chastity will diminish +until she is open to temptations to indulge in less secret sin; and +thus she travels down the road of vice until she finds herself at last +an inmate of a brothel or an outcast wanderer, rejected by friends, +and lost to virtue, purity, and all that a true woman holds most dear.</p> + +<p><a name="chapk16"><b>A Few Sad Cases.</b></a>—Although we do not believe it right to harrow the +feelings of those who have sinned and suffered with a rehearsal of sad +cases when no good can be accomplished by such <a name="p489"></a>accounts, we deem it +but just that those who are not yet entangled in the meshes of vice +should have an opportunity of knowing the actual results of sin, and +profiting by the sad experience of others. It is for this purpose that +we shall mention a few cases which have come under our observation, +taking care to avoid mentioning any facts which might lead to +identification, as the facts we shall use were, many of them, received +in strict confidence from those who were glad to unburden their hearts +to some one, but had never dared to do so, even to their friends.</p> + +<p><a name="chapk17"><b>A Pitiful Case.</b></a>—Several years ago we received a letter from a young +woman in an Eastern State in which she described her case as that of +an individual who had early become addicted to secret vice and had +continued the vile habit until that time, when she was about thirty-two +years of age. In spite of the most solemn vows to reform, she still +continued the habit, and had become reduced to such a miserable +condition that she would almost rather die than live. She sent with +her letter photographs representing herself at twenty and at that time, +so that we might see the contrast. It was indeed appalling to see what +changes sin had wrought. Her face, once fair and comely, had become +actually haggard with vice. Purity, innocence, grace, and modesty were +no longer visible there. The hard lines of sin had obliterated every +trace of beauty, and produced a most repulsive <a name="p490"></a>countenance. Though +greatly depraved and shattered by sin and consequent disease in body +and mind, she still had some desire to be cured, if possible, and made +a most pitiful appeal for help to escape from her loathsome condition. +We gave her the best counsel we could under the circumstances, and did +all in our power to rescue her from her living death; but whether in +any degree successful we cannot tell, as we have never heard from the +poor creature since.</p> + +<p>We have often wished since that we might but show those two pictures +to every girl who has been tempted to sin in this way, to all who have +ever yielded to this awful vice. The terrible contrast would certainly +produce an impression which no words can do. We sent them back to their +wretched original, however, by her request, and so cannot show the +actual pictures; but when any who read these lines are tempted thus +to sin we beg them to think of these two pictures, and by forming a +vivid image of them in the mind drive away the disposition to do wrong.</p> + +<p><a name="chapk18"><b>A Mind Dethroned.</b></a>—A young lady who had received every advantage which +could be given her by indulgent parents, and who naturally possessed +most excellent talents, being a fine musician, and naturally so bright +and witty as to be the life of every company in which she moved, suddenly +began to show strange symptoms of mental unsoundness. She would +sometimes be seized with fits <a name="p491"></a>of violence during which it was with great +difficulty that she could be controlled. Several times she threatened +the lives of her nurses, and even on one occasion attempted to execute +her threat, the person's life being saved by mere accident. Everything +was done for her that could be done, but the mania increased to such +a degree of violence that she was sent to an asylum for the insane. +Here she remained for months before she became sufficiently tractable +to be taken to her home and cared for by friends. Too close application +to study was the cause at first assigned for her mental disorder, but +a careful investigation of the case revealed the fact that the terrible +sin which has ruined the minds of so many promising young men and +brilliant young women was the cause that led to the sad result in this +case also. The punishment of sin, especially of sexual sins, is indeed +terrible; but the sin is a fearful one, and the penalty must be equal +to the enormity of the crime. Not all young women who indulge thus will +become insane, but any one who thus transgresses may be thus punished. +There is no safety but in absolute purity.</p> + +<p><a name="chapk19"><b>A Penitent Victim.</b></a>—A young woman who had been ill for years, and whose +physicians had sought in vain to cure her various ailments, until her +parents almost despaired of her ever being anything but a helpless +invalid, came to us for treatment, resolved upon making a last effort +for health. She <a name="p492"></a>had grown up in utter ignorance of the laws of health +and of the results of the vice of which we are writing; and having been +early taught the sin, she had indulged it for a number of years with +the result of producing a most terribly diseased condition of the sexual +organs, which had baffled the skill of all the physicians who had +attended her, none of whom had ever been made acquainted with the true +cause of the difficulties. When apprized of the real facts in the case, +that she was alone responsible for the sad condition into which she +had fallen, her eyes were opened to see the wickedness and vileness +of her course. She bitterly bemoaned her past life, and heartily +repented of her sins. Of the sincerity of her repentance she gave +evidence in the earnest efforts which she put forth to help herself. +She spared no pains to do well all required on her part, and was soon +rewarded by feeling that her diseases were being removed and health +was returning. Still, she was constantly reminded of her former sins. +When the will was off its guard, during sleep, the mind, long indulged +in sin, would revert to the old channels and riot in vileness. Unchaste +dreams made her often dread to sleep, as she awoke from these +unconscious lapses enervated, weak, and prostrated as though she had +actually transgressed. But though often thus almost disheartened she +continued the struggle, and was finally rewarded by gaining a perfect +victory over her mind, sleeping as well as waking, and <a name="p493"></a>recovering her +health sufficiently to enable her to enjoy life and make herself very +useful.</p> + +<p>Not a few similar cases have come under our observation; and it seems +to us that the pain, anguish, and remorse suffered by these poor victims, +ought to be a warning to those who have never entered the sinful road. +What a terrible thing it is for a pure and lovely being, designed by +God to fulfill a high, holy, and sacred mission in the world, to become +a victim to such a filthy vice! No girl of sense would in her right +mind raise her hand to dash in pieces a beautiful vase, to destroy a +lovely painting, or a beautiful piece of statuary. A girl who would +do such a thing would be considered insane and a fit subject for a +mad-house. Yet is not the human body, a girl's own beautiful, +symmetrical form, infinitely better, more valuable and more sacred, +than any object produced by human art? There can be but one answer. +How, then, is it possible for her thus to defile and destroy herself? +Is it not a fearful thing? a terrible vice?</p> + +<p><a name="chapk20"><b>A Ruined Girl.</b></a>—One of the most remarkable cases of disease resulting +from self-abuse which ever came under our observation was that of a +young lady from a distant Western State whose adopted parents, after +consulting many different physicians for a peculiar disease of the +breast, placed her under our care. We found her a good-looking young +woman about seventeen years of age, rather pale and considerably +emaciated, very nervous and <a name="p494"></a>hysterical, and suffering with severe pain +in the left breast, which was swollen to nearly double the natural size, +hot, tense, pulsating, and extremely tender to the touch. Occasionally +she would experience paroxysms in which she apparently suffered +extremely, being sometimes semi-conscious, and scarcely breathing for +hours. We suspected the cause of these peculiar manifestations at the +outset, but every suggestion of the possibility of the suspected cause +was met with a stout denial and a very deceptive appearance of innocent +ignorance on the subject. All treatment was unavailing to check the +disease. Though sometimes the symptoms seemed to be controlled, a +speedy relapse occurred, so that no progress toward a cure was made. +Finally our conviction that our first impression respecting the case +was correct became so strong that we hesitated no longer to treat it +as such. By most vigilant observation we detected evidences of the +soul-corrupting vice which we considered unmistakable, and then the +young woman who had pretended such profound ignorance of the matter +confessed to an extent of wickedness which was perfectly appalling. +Every paroxysm was traced to an unusual excess of sinful indulgence. +So hardened was she by her evil practices that she seemed to feel no +remorse, and only promised to reform when threatened with exposure to +her parents unless she immediately ceased the vile practice. In less +than ten days the mysterious symptoms which had <a name="p495"></a>puzzled many physicians +disappeared altogether. The swollen, tender breast was no larger than +the other, and was so entirely restored that she was able to strike +it a full blow without pain.</p> + +<p>So great was the depravity of this girl, however, that she had no notion +of making a permanent reform. She even boasted of her wickedness to +a companion, and announced her intention to continue the practice. We +sent her home, and apprized her parents of the full facts in the case, +for which we received their deepest gratitude, though their hearts were +nearly broken with grief at the sad revelation made to them. +Notwithstanding their most earnest efforts in her behalf, the wretched +girl continued her downward career, and a year or two after we learned +that she had sunk to the very lowest depths of shame.</p> + +<p>Once this now wretched, disgraced creature was an attractive, pure, +innocent little girl. Her adopted father lavished upon her numerous +presents, and spent hundreds of dollars to obtain her recovery to health. +Yet through this awful vice she was ruined utterly, and rendered so +wholly perverse and bad that she had no desire to be better, no +disposition to reform. God only knows what will be her sad end. May +none who read these lines ever follow in her footsteps.</p> + +<p><a name="chapk21"><b>The Danger of Boarding-Schools.</b></a>—Some years ago a young lady came under +our medical care who had suffered for some time from a serious nervous +<a name="p496"></a>difficulty which had baffled the skill of all the physicians who had +had charge of her case, and which occasioned her a great amount of +suffering, making it necessary that she should be confined to her bed +most of the time, the disease being aggravated by exercise, and the +patient having been much weakened by its long continuance.</p> + +<p>All the remedies usually successful in such cases were employed with +little or no effect, and we were feeling somewhat perplexed concerning +the case, when the young lady sent for us one day and upon our going +to her room in answer to her call she immediately burst into tears and +acknowledged that she had been addicted to the habit of self-abuse and +that she was still suffering from involuntary excitement during sleep. +Having been placed in a boarding-school when quite young, she had there +learned the vile habit, and had practiced it without knowing anything +of the ill effects or really appreciating its sinfulness. When she +learned, some years after, that the habit was a most pernicious vice +and of a character to bring destruction to both soul and body of one +addicted to it, she endeavored to free herself from its shackles; but +she found herself too securely bound for escape. It seemed, indeed, +an utter impossibility. Her thoughts had long been allowed to run in +sentimental channels, and now they would do so in spite of the most +earnest efforts to the contrary, during her waking hours; and in sleep, +while the will power was not <a name="p497"></a>active, the imagination would run riot +uncontrolled, leaving her, upon awaking, exhausted, enervated, and +almost desperate with chagrin. Knowing that she was daily suffering +for her transgressions, she was filled with remorse and regret, and +would have given all to undo the past; but, alas! she could not, and +could only suffer with patience until relief could be secured. Her love +for sentimental literature occasioned another battle for her to fight; +for she could scarcely resist the temptation daily offered her to while +away some of the weary hours with such stories of love and sentiment +as she had been accustomed to enjoy. But she fought the battle earnestly, +and finally succeeded in conquering the evil tendencies of her mind +both while awake and when asleep; and from that time she began to make +slow progress toward recovery. The last we saw of her she was doing +well, and hoped in time to arrive at a very comfortable state of health.</p> + +<p><a name="chapk22"><b>A Desperate Case.</b></a>—A little girl about ten years of age was brought +to us by her father, who came with his daughter to have her broken of +the vile habit of self-abuse into which she had fallen, having been +taught it by a German servant girl. Having read an early copy of this +work, the father had speedily detected the habit, and had adopted every +measure which he could devise to break his child of the destructive +vice which she had acquired, but in vain. After applying various other +measures without success, it finally became necessary to <a name="p498"></a>resort to a +surgical operation, by which it is hoped that she was permanently cured, +as we have heard nothing to the contrary since, and as the remedy seemed +to be effectual. It was a severe remedy, and may seem a harsh one, but +every other means utterly failed, and the father insisted upon the +performance of the operation as a trial. This little girl, naturally +truthful and honest, had, through the influence of this blighting vice, +been made crafty and deceptive. She would tell the most astonishing +falsehoods to free herself from the charge of guilt or to avoid +punishment. The gentleman, her father, felt so deeply upon the subject +and was so thoroughly awake to the consequences of the sin, that he +declared he would take his daughter away into the wilderness and leave +her to die, if need be, rather than allow her to grow up to womanhood +with this vile blight upon her, and run the risk of her contaminating +with the same vice his other, younger children. He felt so deeply that +the tears coursed down his cheeks as he talked, and we were most happy +to be of service to him in aiding his daughter to overcome the +fascinating vice. She seemed willing to try to help herself, but was +unable to break the bonds of sin without the extraordinary help which +she received.</p> + +<p>We might continue this rehearsal of cases to an almost indefinite length, +but we must soon bring this chapter to a close. Those described are +only a few examples of the many we are constantly meeting. <a name="p499"></a>None have +been overdrawn; much has been omitted for the sake of delicacy which +the exposure of the whole truth would have required us to present. We +sincerely hope that these examples may be a warning to those who have +never marred their purity of character by an unchaste act. To those +who may have already sinned in this manner let the words come with double +force and meaning. Do you value life, health, beauty, honor, virtue, +purity? Then for the sake of all these, abandon the evil practice at +once. Do not hesitate for a moment to decide, and do not turn back after +deciding to reform.</p> + +<p><a name="chapk23"><b>A Last Word.</b></a>—Girls, as one who has only your best interests in view, +and who would do you good, we beg of you to give heed one moment to +the important matter which we have been presenting before you. It is +of no frivolous character. It is one of the most important subjects +to which your attention can be called. Only those who are utterly +ignorant of the dangers which surround them in the world, or who are +already hardened in sin, will treat this matter lightly or scornfully. +If you are still pure and possess a character unsoiled by sin, thank +God that you have been preserved until now, and humbly petition him +to enable you to remain as pure and unsullied as you now are. Cultivate +all of the heavenly graces. Make your dear mother your confidant in +all your perplexities and trials. Go to her for information on all +subjects <a name="p500"></a>upon which you find yourself ignorant. Let no foreign +influence beguile away your confidence from her who is most worthy of +your love and respect, and who is best prepared to instruct you on all +subjects, no matter how delicate. Trust in God for help to resist evil +under every guise. Flee from temptation under whatever form it may +appear. Thus may you escape the suffering, the sorrow, and the remorse, +which is endured sooner or later by all who enter the road of sin, no +matter how short a time they may travel therein.</p> + +<p>To those who have already fallen, who have been led astray either +ignorantly or through weakness in yielding to temptation, we will say, +Turn from your evil way at once. Misery, sorrow, anguish, and +everlasting ruin stare you in the face. Perdition is before you. You +need not think to escape the punishment that others suffer, for there +is no way of escape. The penalty will surely come. Make haste to return +to the paths of purity before it is too late to mend the past. It may +take years of pure and upright living to repair the evil already done; +but do not hesitate to begin at once. With the help of God, resolve +to become pure again. God can cleanse you from all unrighteousness. +He can enable you to chase from your mind and heart every impure thought +and unclean desire. Through his grace you can successfully battle with +temptation and redeem the black record of the past.</p> +<br> +<a name="p501"></a> +<div><h3><a name="chapk24">A F<small>EW</small> W<small>ORDS TO</small> B<small>OYS AND</small> G<small>IRLS</small>.</a></h3></div> + +<p>Of the last two preceding chapters one was devoted exclusively to advice +and instruction to boys, the other being written expressly for girls. +Now we have a few words in conclusion for boys and girls together. It +is of the greatest importance that our boys and girls should be in every +way improved as much as possible. They are to become the men and women +of the next generation, when their fathers and mothers have retired +from active life. Twenty years from to-day the world will be just what +the present boys and girls shall make it. Boys who are chaste, honest, +obedient, and industrious, will become useful and noble men, husbands, +and fathers. Girls who are pure, innocent, and dutiful, will become +honored and lovely women, wives, and mothers.</p> + +<p>Boys and girls are placed in families together, and thus are evidently +designed by nature to associate together, to obtain their education +and preparation for life together. When secluded wholly from each +other's society, both suffer a loss. But while this is true, it is also +true that certain evils may and often do grow out of the association +of the two sexes of young people, so serious in character that many +wise and good men and women have felt that the sexes should be reared +and <a name="p502"></a>educated apart as much as possible. These evils are the result of +too intimate and improper associations of boys and girls. Associations +of this sort must be most sedulously avoided. Boys and girls who are +in school together must be extremely careful to avoid too close +associations. On all occasions a modest reserve should be maintained +in the deportment of the young of both sexes toward each other. Too +early friendships formed often lead to hasty marriages, before either +party is prepared to enter into the married state, and before the +judgment has been sufficiently developed to make either capable of +selecting a suitable partner for life. These facts are usually learned +when it is too late for the information to be of any value.</p> + +<p>Parents and teachers are especially responsible for guarding these +early associations and giving timely warning when needed. The youth +should always be ready to take advice on this subject, for with their +inexperience they cannot know their wants so well as do their elders. +Nothing is more disgusting to persons of sound sense than youthful +flirtations. Those misguided persons who encourage these indiscretions +in young people do an immense amount of injury to those whom they ought +to be prepared to benefit by wise counsel. We have seen promising young +people made wretched for life through the influence of one of these +mischief-makers, being most unhappily mated, and repenting too late +of a hasty marriage for which they were utterly unprepared.</p> +<a name="p503"></a> +<p>Young persons often labor under the erroneous impression that in order +to be agreeable they must talk "small talk;" this literally means, +"silly twaddle," which disgusts everybody, and yet which all seek to +imitate. Whenever the two sexes meet in society or elsewhere, as at +all other times, the conversation should be turned upon subjects of +real interest, which admit of the exercise of sound sense and will be +a means of culture. Such associations do not result in injury to any +one, and may be the means of much profit; but nothing is more execrable +than the frivolous, silly, often absolutely senseless observations +which make up the great bulk of the conversation of young people in +fashionable society.</p> + +<p>The most ready means of disclosing the superficial character of the +minds of a large share of the young persons who move in fashionable +circles is to introduce some topic requiring depth of thought and sound +judgment. Such a subject will usually produce either an instant lull +in the conversation or a display of ignorance which cannot fail to +reveal the shallowness of the speaker's intellect. It is this +superficial class of minds that most easily fall victims to a sickly +sentimentalism, which readily leads to digressions from the pathway +of rigid virtue.</p> + +<p>A boy who has the elements of true manliness in him will carry a +gentlemanly bearing wherever he goes. In all his deportment, and +especially in his <a name="p504"></a>conduct toward the opposite sex, he will act the +gentleman; and the boy whose gentility is genuine will manifest the +same kind deference toward his mother and sisters as toward other ladies +and girls. So also the young lady who is a lady at heart, will never +allow herself to forget the rules of propriety, whether she is in the +company of her father and brothers, or that of other gentlemen.</p> + +<p>All the rules of etiquette are worth little compared with the one simple +rule which is applicable to both sexes and all ages,—"Have the heart +right, and then act natural." One so governed will not go very far astray +under any circumstances; but it is of the greatest importance that the +heart be right. To make it such is, indeed, the great business of life.</p> + +<center>"B<small>LESSED ARE THE</small> P<small>URE IN</small> H<small>EART</small>."</center> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br><a name="p505"></a> +<h2>INDEX.</h2> +<br> +<table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="6" summary="index"> + <tr><td></td><td align="right"><small>PAGE.</small></td></tr> + <tr><td>Abortion,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p271">271</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Abortion, results of,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p280">280</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Accidental pregnancy,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p236">236</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Adaptation to marriage,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p127">127</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Advice to boys,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p468">468</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Advice to girls,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p499">499</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Advice to boys and girls,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p501">501</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Afterbirth,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p68">68</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Amativeness,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p177">177</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Amaurosis,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p369">369</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Amenorrhoea,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p95">95</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Animalcula,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p26">26</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Ante-natal influences,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p105">105</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Antediluvian wickedness,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p286">286</a></td></tr> + <tr><td> </td><td align="right"> </td></tr> + <tr><td>Bad language,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p461">461</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Bad company,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p458">458</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Bad books,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p462">462</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Bad books, influence of,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p463">463</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Bad books, effects of,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p486">486</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Balls, demoralizing effect of,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p204">204</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Beauty, how to develop,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p473">473</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Beer-drinking by nursing mothers,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p71">71</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Beer, evil effects of,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p467">467</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Betrothal of infants,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p138">138</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Birth, changes at,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p69">69</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Bladder, irritation of,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p203">203</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Boarding-schools, danger of,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p495">495</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Books, bad,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p186">186</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Books, obscene,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p187">187</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Brain, male and female,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p42">42</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Breasts,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p70">70</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Breasts, atrophy of the,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p374">374</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Breath, causes of foul,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p89">89</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>"Bundling,"</td><td align="right"><a href="#p140">140</a></td></tr> + <tr><td> </td><td align="right"> </td></tr> + <tr><td>Cancer, cause of,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p253">253</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Cancer, of the womb,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p374">374</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Castration,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p114">114</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Catamenia,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p81">81</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Causes of unchastity,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p181">181</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Cells, development of,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p104">104</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Chastity,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p174">174</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Chlorosis,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p95">95</a>, <a href="#p343">343</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Cider, evil effects of,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p467">467</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Circumcision,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p113">113</a>, <a href="#p410">410</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Civilization, perverting influence of,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p181">181</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Classification of living creatures,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p27">27</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Clitoris,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p57">57</a>, <a href="#p73">73</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Coitus,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p57">57</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Colds, how to prevent,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p84">84</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Colostrum,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p70">70</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Conception, prevention of,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p250">250</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Condiments,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p210">210</a>, <a href="#p292">292</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Conjugal onanism,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p250">250</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Consumption,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p365">365</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Consumption, cause of,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p230">230</a>, <a href="#p435">435</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Continence,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p205">205</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Continence, male,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p256">256</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Continence, not injurious,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p205">205</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Continence, difficulty of,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p208">208</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Continence, helps to,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p209">209</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Conversation, trifling,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p503">503</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Copulation,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p57">57</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Courtship,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p136">136</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Courtship, evils of,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p137">137</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Courtships, long,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p140">140</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Crime, source of,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p107">107</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Crime, cause of,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p454">454</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Criminality hereditary,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p107">107</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Critical period, a,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p482">482</a></td></tr> + <tr><td> </td><td align="right"> </td></tr> + <tr><td>Dancing,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p196">196</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Day-dreams,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p177">177</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Desirable qualities, how to produce,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p113">113</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Development,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p59">59</a>, <a href="#p477">477</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Development, premature,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p78">78</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Development in higher animals,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p61">61</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Diet,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p390">390</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Diet, influence on chastity,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p182">182</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Disease,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p301">301</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Disease, obscure causes of,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p376">376</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Diurnal emissions,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p359">359</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Divorce, loose laws of,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p153">153</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Dozing, danger of,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p212">212</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Dreams,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p396">396</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Dreams, how to control,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p397">397</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Dress and sensuality,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p190">190</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Dressing unhealthfully,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p89">89</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Dress reform,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p193">193</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Drinks, stimulating,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p392">392</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Drugs,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p411">411</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Dwarfs,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p431">431</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Dysmenorrhoea,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p94">94</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Dyspepsia,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p366">366</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Dyspepsia, cause of,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p434">434</a></td></tr> + <tr><td> </td><td align="right"> </td></tr> + <tr><td>Early associations,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p314">314</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Early marriage,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p126">126</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Early training,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p310">310</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Early training, lack of,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p295">295</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Early decline, cause of,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p481">481</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Egypt a hot-bed of vice,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p286">286</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Electricity,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p407">407</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Embryo,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p63">63</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Embryo, simple structure of,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p64">64</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Embryo, stages of growth of,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p65">65</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Emissions, effect of,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p356">356</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Emissions, internal,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p361">361</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Emissions, nocturnal,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p353">353</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Endurance of women,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p43">43</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Epilepsy,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p344">344</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Epilepsy, cause of,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p244">244</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Evil habits,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p427">427</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Excesses, marital,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p216">216</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Excesses, results of,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p225">225</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Excesses, effects of on wives,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p231">231</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Excesses, effects of on husbands,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p226">226</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Extra-uterine pregnancy,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p97">97</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Eyes, weakness of,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p369">369</a></td></tr> + <tr><td> </td><td align="right"> </td></tr> + <tr><td>Fallopian tube,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p74">74</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>False delicacy,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p92">92</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>False training,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p473">473</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Fashion,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p294">294</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Fashion, and vice,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p192">192</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Fashionable dissipation,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p478">478</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Fecundation,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p52">52</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Fecundation, in flowers,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p53">53</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Fecundation, modes of,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p55">55</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Fecundation, in fishes,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p56">56</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Fecundation, in reptiles,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p56">56</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Fecundation, in higher animals,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p56">56</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Fecundation, in hermaphrodites,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p59">59</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Feeling apparatus,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p425">425</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Females, imperfect,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p58">58</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Female organs,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p73">73</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Female organs of flowers,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p48">48</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Fetus, respiration of,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p67">67</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Fetus, influenced through the blood,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p67">67</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Fishes, development in,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p60">60</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Fishes, fecundation in,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p56">56</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Filthy dreams,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p179">179</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Filthy talkers,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p180">180</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Flirtation, evils of,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p143">143</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Flirtation, youthful,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p144">144</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Flirtation, childish,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p487">487</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Flowers, polygamous,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p47">47</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Flowers, female organs of,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p48">48</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Flowers, fecundation in,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p53">53</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Fomentations,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p405">405</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Foods, stimulating,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p392">392</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Force, life,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p29">29</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Functions of life,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p30">30</a></td></tr> + <tr><td> </td><td align="right"> </td></tr> + <tr><td>General debility,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p365">365</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Generation, laws of,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p219">219</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Generation, physiological,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p112">112</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Generation, spontaneous,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p31">31</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Generation, ancient theory of,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p32">32</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Gestation, duration of,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p66">66</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Girlhood,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p471">471</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Girls, a chapter for,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p470">470</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Girls, causes which lead astray,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p484">484</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Girls, how ruined,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p493">493</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Gluttony,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p292">292</a></td></tr> + <tr><td> </td><td align="right"> </td></tr> + <tr><td>Habit, power of,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p496">496</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Health essential to beauty,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p474">474</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Health hints,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p88">88</a>, <a href="#p93">93</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Heart disease,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p367">367</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Heredity,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p102">102</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Heredity, laws of,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p243">243</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Heredity, of disease,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p109">109</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Heredity, of crime,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p107">107</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Hermaphrodism,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p36">36</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Hermaphrodites, fecundation in,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p59">59</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Hip bath,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p93">93</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Human machine, the,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p423">423</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Human wrecks,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p437">437</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Human form,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p474">474</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Human buds,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p476">476</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Husbands, improvident,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p170">170</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Hybrids,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p100">100</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Hymen,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p73">73</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Hysteria,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p95">95</a>, <a href="#p343">343</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Hysteria, causes of,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p96">96</a>, <a href="#p375">375</a></td></tr> + <tr><td> </td><td align="right"> </td></tr> + <tr><td>Idiocy,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p371">371</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Idiocy, cause of,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p433">433</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Idleness,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p189">189</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Ignorance,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p300">300</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Ill-health of girls, causes of,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p472">472</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Illustrative cases,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p437">437</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Imbecility,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p371">371</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Impotence,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p363">363</a>, <a href="#p410">410</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Impotence, not produced by continence,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p207">207</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Infanticide,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p271">271</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Infanticide, among various nations,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p273">273</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Infant intoxication,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p70">70</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Infants, betrothal of,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p138">138</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Insanity,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p370">370</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Insanity, cause of,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p447">447</a>, <a href="#p490">490</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Instinct, lessons from,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p220">220</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Instinct, a safe guide,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p224">224</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Internal emissions,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p361">361</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Intestinal worms,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p202">202</a></td></tr> + <tr><td> </td><td align="right"> </td></tr> + <tr><td>Juke family, the,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p108">108</a></td></tr> + <tr><td> </td><td align="right"> </td></tr> + <tr><td>Labia, the,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p73">73</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Labor,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p68">68</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Lacing,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p90">90</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Law of heredity applied,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p126">126</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Law of sex,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p101">101</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Legalized murder,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p233">233</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Legalized vice,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p309">309</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Leucorrhoea,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p346">346</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Libidinous blood,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p290">290</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Licentious worship,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p287">287</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Licentiousness, results of,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p302">302</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Life,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p25">25</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Life, beginning of,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p52">52</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Life, force,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p29">29</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Life, origin of,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p33">33</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Life, modern modes of,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p203">203</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Life, when it begins,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p262">262</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Life, uterine,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p66">66</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Literature, poisonous,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p189">189</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Living beings,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p25">25</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Love, perverted,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p178">178</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Lust, effect upon child,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p111">111</a></td></tr> + <tr><td> </td><td align="right"> </td></tr> + <tr><td>Male organs,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p71">71</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Male continence,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p256">256</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Mammary glands,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p70">70</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Marriage,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p124">124</a>, <a href="#p402">402</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Marriage, evils of ill-mated,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p131">131</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Marriage, effect of late,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p132">132</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Marriage, experimental,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p141">141</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Marriage, forbidden,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p155">155</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Marriage, of cousins,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p163">163</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Marriage, of criminals,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p164">164</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Marriage, of paupers,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p167">167</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Marriage, but not love,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p235">235</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Marriage, customs of different nations,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p125">125</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Marital excesses,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p216">216</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Marital rights,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p234">234</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Masturbation,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p315">315</a>, <a href="#p428">428</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Masturbation, treatment of,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p378">378</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Masturbation, prevention of,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p378">378</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Masturbation, effects in females,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p373">373</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Masturbation, effects on offspring,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p376">376</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Masturbation, self-helps to cure,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p385">385</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Menopause, the,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p82">82</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Menorrhagia,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p91">91</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Menses,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p81">81</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Menstrual period, duration of,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p82">82</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Menstruation,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p81">81</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Menstruation, nature of,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p83">83</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Mental unchastity,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p174">174</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Mental culture,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p313">313</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Milk, influence of upon children,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p70">70</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Mind, cause of unbalanced,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p129">129</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Mormonism,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p148">148</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Monsters,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p99">99</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Mock piety,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p338">338</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Moderation,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p248">248</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Modesty,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p488">488</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Mothers, a warning to,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p201">201</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Mothers, their work,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p479">479</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Moral contagion,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p459">459</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Moving apparatus,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p425">425</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Multiple births,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p98">98</a></td></tr> + <tr><td> </td><td align="right"> </td></tr> + <tr><td>Navel, the,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p68">68</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Nervous diseases,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p368">368</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Nervous debility, treatment of,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p378">378</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Nocturnal emissions,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p353">353</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Novel-reading,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p486">486</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Nursing,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p70">70</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Nutrition,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p30">30</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Nutritive apparatus,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p425">425</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Nymphæ, the,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p73">73</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Nymphomania,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p301">301</a></td></tr> + <tr><td> </td><td align="right"> </td></tr> + <tr><td>Objects of life,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p423">423</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Obscene books,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p187">187</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Obscenity,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p462">462</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Oneida community, the,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p258">258</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Organized beings,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p28">28</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Organization,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p28">28</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Ovary,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p51">51</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Ovum,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p51">51</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Ovum, discharge of,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p83">83</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Ovum, size of,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p52">52</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Ovum, expulsion of from ovary,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p74">74</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Ovum, union of the, with the zoösperm,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p57">57</a></td></tr> + <tr><td> </td><td align="right"> </td></tr> + <tr><td>Pangenesis, doctrine of,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p103">103</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Paralysis,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p369">369</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Parturition,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p68">68</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Parturition, painless,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p68">68</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Passion, inherited,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p121">121</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Passions, how excited,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p183">183</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Pedestrianism,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p40">40</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Pernicious books, influence of,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p297">297</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Penis, the,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p56">56</a>, <a href="#p71">71</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Physical differences in sex,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p39">39</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Piles,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p350">350</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Pimples,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p342">342</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Placenta,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p67">67</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Plants, sex of,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p37">37</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Pictures, vile,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p464">464</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Poisonous literature,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p189">189</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Polyandry,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p152">152</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Polygamous flowers,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p47">47</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Polygamy,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p145">145</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Polygamy, defense of,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p148">148</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Polygamy, exposed,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p149">149</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Polygamy, of great men,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p152">152</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Precocity,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p77">77</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Precocity, sexual,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p117">117</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Precocity, indications of,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p119">119</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Pregnancy,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p62">62</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Pregnancy, duration of,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p66">66</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Pregnancy, extra-uterine,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p97">97</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Pregnancy, indulgence during,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p241">241</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Premature development,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p78">78</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Premature decay,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p419">419</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Prevention of conception,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p250">250</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Priapism,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p350">350</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Prostate gland,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p72">72</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Prostate gland, enlargement of the,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p349">349</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Prostitution,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p400">400</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Prostitution, in Greece,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p287">287</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Pruritis,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p374">374</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Puberty,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p74">74</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Puberty, premature,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p75">75</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Puberty, influence of diet on,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p76">76</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Puberty, changes at,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p79">79</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Puberty, influence of climate on,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p75">75</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Pudenda, the,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p73">73</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Purifying apparatus,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p425">425</a></td></tr> + <tr><td> </td><td align="right"> </td></tr> + <tr><td>Quacks,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p362">362</a>, <a href="#p412">412</a></td></tr> + <tr><td> </td><td align="right"> </td></tr> + <tr><td>Race degeneration, cause of,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p436">436</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Religion, help of,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p213">213</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Religious novels,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p297">297</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Religious insanity,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p371">371</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Reproduction,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p31">31</a>, <a href="#p424">424</a>, <a href="#p476">476</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Reproduction, elements of,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p45">45</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Reproduction, in polyps,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p58">58</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Reproduction, anatomy of,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p71">71</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Reproduction, curious modes of,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p57">57</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Reproduction, in the honey bee,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p58">58</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Reproduction, in lower animals,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p218">218</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Reproductive organs,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p71">71</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Reproductive functions,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p217">217</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Reproductive apparatus,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p426">426</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Reproductive elements, union of,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p57">57</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Reptiles, fecundation in,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p56">56</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Reptiles, development in,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p60">60</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Respiration in woman,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p44">44</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Respiration of the fetus,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p67">67</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Results of abortion,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p280">280</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Roman emperors, licentiousness of,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p288">288</a></td></tr> + <tr><td> </td><td align="right"> </td></tr> + <tr><td>Satyriasis,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p124">124</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Scrotum, the,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p71">71</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Secret vice,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p428">428</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Secret vice, evidences of,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p481">481</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Secret vice, prevalence of,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p480">480</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Secret vice, terrible effects of,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p480">480</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Self-abuse,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p315">315</a>, <a href="#p428">428</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Self-abuse, causes of,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p321">321</a>, <a href="#p487">487</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Self-abuse, effects of,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p437">437</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Self-abuse, the signs of,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p331">331</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Self-abuse, results of,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p347">347</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Self-abuse, treatment of,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p378">378</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Self-abuse, not a modern vice,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p319">319</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Self-abuse, physical causes of,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p329">329</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Self-abuse, how to cure the habit of,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p382">382</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Self-control,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p311">311</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Self-pollution,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p428">428</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Self-murder,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p431">431</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Seminal fluid, the,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p51">51</a>, <a href="#p72">72</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Senility,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p420">420</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Senile children,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p134">134</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Senile sexuality,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p123">123</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Sentimental books,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p485">485</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Sentimental young women,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p190">190</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Sentimental literature, influence of,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p296">296</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Sex,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p35">35</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Sex, in plants,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p37">37</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Sex, in animals,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p38">38</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Sex, law of,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p101">101</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Sex, of fetus,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p102">102</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Sexual differences,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p38">38</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Sexual organs of plants,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p46">46</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Sexual organs of animals,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p48">48</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Sexual relations, the,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p116">116</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Sexual precocity,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p117">117</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Sexual precocity, causes of,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p122">122</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Sexual activity, the limit of,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p124">124</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Shaker views,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p258">258</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Sitz-baths,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p404">404</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Sleeping,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p393">393</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Social lepers,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p146">146</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Social evil, the,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p284">284</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Social evil, causes of the,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p290">290</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Social evil, cure of the,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p308">308</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Solitary vice,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p315">315</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Solitary vice, alarming prevalence of,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p316">316</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Solitary vice, unsuspected cause of,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p318">318</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Spaying,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p115">115</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Spermatozoa,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p48">48</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Spermatozoa, size of,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p50">50</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Spermatorrhoea,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p353">353</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Spinal irritation,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p369">369</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Sterility,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p374">374</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Stimulants the cause of self-abuse,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p330">330</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Stricture,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p348">348</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Suicide, cause of,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p453">453</a></td></tr> + <tr><td> </td><td align="right"> </td></tr> + <tr><td>"Tarrying,"</td><td align="right"><a href="#p140">140</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Tea and coffee,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p292">292</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Tea and coffee, bad effects of,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p467">467</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Testicles, position of,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p48">48</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Testicles, wasting of,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p352">352</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Temperaments,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p166">166</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Thinking apparatus,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p425">425</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Thoughts, evil,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p465">465</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Throat disease, cause of,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p229">229</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Time to marry,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p125">125</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Tobacco,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p292">292</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Tobacco, evil effects of,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p467">467</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Tobacco, grave charges against,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p185">185</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Twins,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p98">98</a></td></tr> + <tr><td> </td><td align="right"> </td></tr> + <tr><td>Umbilical cord,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p67">67</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Unchaste conversation,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p179">179</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Unchastity, causes of,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p181">181</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Unchastity, of the ancients,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p274">274</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Unchastity, physical causes of,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p201">201</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Unconsidered murders,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p260">260</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Uterus,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p61">61</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Uterine life,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p66">66</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Uterine douche,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p93">93</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Uterine disease,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p233">233</a>, <a href="#p373">373</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Uterine gestation,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p62">62</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Urinary diseases,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p349">349</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Urethra, the,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p72">72</a></td></tr> + <tr><td> </td><td align="right"> </td></tr> + <tr><td>Vagina, the,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p56">56</a>, <a href="#p74">74</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Varicocele,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p352">352</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Vegetable husbands,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p47">47</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Vice legalized,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p309">309</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Vicious companions,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p484">484</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Vital force, definition of,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p29">29</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Vital organs of man and woman,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p43">43</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Vision, dimness of,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p369">369</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Vulva, the,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p73">73</a></td></tr> + <tr><td> </td><td align="right"> </td></tr> + <tr><td>Waltz, the, its sensuality,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p199">199</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Weak backs,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p339">339</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Wine, evil effects of,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p467">467</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Wives, on trial,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p139">139</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Wives, sale of, among the Russians,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p138">138</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Woman, servitude of,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p263">263</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Woman, her responsibility,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p270">270</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Woman's rights,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p264">264</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Women, Indian,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p86">86</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Women, Hebrew,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p87">87</a></td></tr> + <tr><td>Womb, cancer of the,</td><td align="right"><a href="#p374">374</a></td></tr> +</table> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h3>WORKS BY THE SAME AUTHOR.</h3> +<br> + +<p>THE HOME HAND-BOOK OF DOMESTIC HYGIENE AND RATIONAL MEDICINE.—This +work has met with a most cordial reception everywhere, from both +physicians and the common people. Over 6000 copies were sold within +six weeks of the announcement of the work, and 8000 while the first +edition was in press. Nearly 1600 royal octavo pages, over 500 cuts, +22 colored plates. Muslin, $6.50; library, $7.50. Send for circular.</p> + +<p>PLAIN FACTS FOR OLD AND YOUNG.—A book for the times, treating upon +all subjects pertaining to the anatomy and physiology of reproduction. +A special chapter for boys and girls. Thousands who have read the book +pronounce it invaluable. Hundreds of physicians and clergymen have +given it most unqualified commendation. 20,000 sold last year. Octavo, +512 pp. Muslin, $3.25; sheep, $3.75; half morocco, gilt, $4.50. Good +agents wanted.</p> + +<p>DIGESTION AND DYSPEPSIA.—This work embodies the results of the +author's extensive experience in dealing with a large number of +patients suffering from all forms of the disease, in all of its stages, +and is a most thoroughly rational, practical, and practical, and +popular treatise on this prevalent malady. It has an illuminated +frontispiece, in five tints. Muslin, 75 cts.</p> + +<p>THE HOUSEHOLD MANUAL.—A book that everybody wants. It is brim full +of information on a hundred useful topics. Tells how to treat most +common diseases successfully with simple remedies, how to disinfect +and ventilate, what to do in case of accidents, how to resuscitate the +drowned, and gives much other equally important information. 20,000 +have been sold in two years. Bound, 172 pp., 60 cts.</p> + +<p>USES OF WATER IN HEALTH AND DISEASE.—A book for every physician and +every family. Careful explanations and instructions are given +respecting the uses of water as a preventive of disease, and as a +valuable remedy in nearly all classes of maladies. In cloth, 166 pp., +60 cts.</p> + +<p>ALCOHOLIC POISON.—O<small>R, THE</small> P<small>HYSICAL</small>, M<small>ORAL, AND</small> +S<small>OCIAL</small> E<small>FFECTS OF</small> +A<small>LCOHOL AS A</small> B<small>EVERAGE, AND AS A</small> M<small>EDICINE</small>.—This pamphlet is the best +compendium of the temperance question published. The scientific part +of the argument is particularly full. Its statements are brief, concise, +and to the point. Every temperance worker ought to have it. Paper covers, +128 pp., 25 cts.</p> + +<p>DIPHTHERIA.—A concise description of the nature, causes, modes of +prevention, and most successful mode of treatment of this now prevalent +and fatal malady. The most carefully written and reliable popular +treatise on the subject. Every family should have it. Three colored +plates. This book has saved many lives. 64 pp., 25 cts.</p> + +<p>EVILS OF FASHIONABLE DRESS, AND HOW TO DRESS HEALTHFULLY.—This little +work considers the subject of fashionable dress from a medical +standpoint, and thoroughly exposes its evils. It does not stop here, +but points out an easy and acceptable remedy. 40 pp., 10 cts.</p> + +<p>PROPER DIET FOR MAN.—A scientific discussion of the question of +vegetable versus animal food. Ultra notions are avoided, and the +subjects treated are handled with candor. Paper covers, 15 cts.</p> + +<p>A TEXT-BOOK OF ANATOMY, PHYSIOLOGY, AND HYGIENE.—Especially adapted +to families. Untechnical, concise, interesting, and practical. 350 pp., +150 cuts, 15 colored plates, muslin bound, leather back, $1.50.</p> + +<p>WINE AND THE BIBLE.—A demonstration that the Bible in no degree +sustains the habitual use of alcoholic drinks of any sort. Just the +thing for temperance work. (In press).</p> + +<p>ACCIDENTS AND EMERGENCIES.—A complete answer to the question "what +to do in cases of accidents of all sorts." The most complete and +practical popular treatise on the subject. Profusely illustrated. (In +press).</p> + +<p>DISEASES OF WOMEN.—A work which should be in the hands of every woman. +It gives a concise account of the nature, causes, and proper treatment +of all the diseases to which the female sex is subject. Numerous +illustrations. (In press).</p> + +<p>PLAIN FACTS FOR GIRLS.—A work which ought to be in the hands of every +girl and young woman in the land. The information it contains will save +years of suffering. (In press).</p> + +<p>PLAIN FACTS FOR BOYS.—Every boy and young man cannot but be made better +by the perusal of this work. Every parent or teacher having boys under +his charge should put this book into their hands. (In press).</p> + +<p>CONSUMPTION: H<small>OW TO</small> P<small>REVENT AND</small> H<small>OW TO</small> C<small>URE</small>.—The author believes that +consumption is a preventable disease, even when hereditary, and is +curable, even when considerably advanced. He proves his views by +illustrative cases, and points out the road to health. He also believes +that consumption is a contagious malady, and adduces proof of this +startling fact. Illustrated. (In press).</p> + +<p>NASAL CATARRH.—The causes of this common malady are thoroughly +discussed, and successful methods of treatment clearly pointed out. +Illustrated. (In press).</p> + +<p>DYSPEPSIA.—A popular treatise on the symptoms and home treatment of +this disease. Paper covers, 25 cts.</p> +<br> +<br> +<h3>TRACTS.</h3> +<br> + +<p>BIBLE TEMPERANCE.—(In press).</p> + +<p>THE DRUNKARD'S ARGUMENTS ANSWERED.—Leaves no excuse for tipplers, +either moderate drinkers or habitual drunkards. 16 pp., 2 cts.</p> + +<p>ALCOHOLIC MEDICATION.—A protest against the wholesale employment of +alcoholic compounds in the form of bitters, tonics, blood purifiers, +etc. 16 pp., 3 cts.</p> + +<p>PORK.—This tract exposes the filthy scavenger in all his uncleanliness. +It destroys all appetite for ham and sausage. Republished in England. +16 pp., 2 cts.</p> + +<p>MORAL AND SOCIAL EFFECTS OF INTEMPERANCE.—A forcible statement of +facts and statistics. 8 pp., 1 ct.</p> + +<p>CAUSE AND CURE OF INTEMPERANCE.—A very valuable tract. Especially +designed for wide circulation. 8 pp., 1 ct.</p> + +<p>ALCOHOL; WHAT IS IT?—An explanation of the nature of alcohol, and the +mode of its production. 4 pp., ½ ct.</p> + +<p>TRUE TEMPERANCE.—This tract views intemperance as a far-reaching evil +which includes every form of artificial stimulation, as well as +alcoholic intoxication. 4 pp., ½ ct.</p> + +<p>EVIL EFFECTS OF THE USE OF TEA AND COFFEE. 8 pp., 1 ct.</p> + +<p>TEN ARGUMENTS FOR THE USE OF TEA AND COFFEE BRIEFLY ANSWERED. 8 pp., +1 ct.</p> + +<p>TOBACCO-POISONING. 8 pp., 1 ct.</p> + +<p>TOBACCO-USING A CAUSE OF DISEASE. 8 pp., 1 ct.</p> + +<p>TOBACCO-USING A RELIC OF BARBARISM. 4 pp., ½ ct.</p> + +<p>Any of the above publications will be sent free of postage to any +address upon receipt of retail price. A liberal discount to Health and +Temperance Associations, and others who buy in large quantities.</p> + +<p>Send for Agents' Circular.</p> + +<p>Address,<br> +<i><big>GOOD HEALTH</big></i>,<br> +<i>Battle Creek, Michigan</i>.</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h3>GOOD HEALTH,</h3> +<center>J. H. KELLOGG, M.D., Editor.<br> +MONTHLY, 32 PAGES, $1.00 A YEAR.</center> +<h4>THE BEST HEALTH JOURNAL IN THE WORLD.</h4> + +<center>This Journal has long enjoyed the<br> +LARGEST CIRCULATION OF ANY HEALTH JOURNAL</center> + +<p>in this or any other country. This eminent popularity is +doubtless attributable to the fact that this journal, now (1881) just +beginning its sixteenth volume, has always been</p> + +<center>A PRACTICAL JOURNAL FOR THE PEOPLE.</center> + +<p>Each number contains an illustrated article on some practical health +topic, and a practical article on the home treatment of some common +malady. Send stamp for specimen copy.</p> + +<p>Address,<br> +<i><big>GOOD HEALTH</big></i>,<br> +<i>Battle Creek, Michigan</i>.</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h4>HOME HAND-BOOK</h4> +<center><small>OF</small></center> +<h3>Domestic Hygiene and Rational Medicine.</h3> +<center>By J. H. KELLOGG, M.D.</center> + +<p>This new work is the most complete of any popular treatise on the +subjects of ANATOMY and PHYSIOLOGY, HYGIENE, and RATIONAL DOMESTIC +MEDICAL PRACTICE. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Plain Facts for Old and Young + +Author: John Harvey Kellogg + +Release Date: November 27, 2006 [EBook #19924] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PLAIN FACTS FOR OLD AND YOUNG *** + + + + +Produced by Ron Swanson + + + + + +[Illustration: The Sanitarium at Battle Creek, Mich.] + +[Frontispiece: Yours truly, J. H. Kellogg] + + + + +PLAIN FACTS FOR OLD AND YOUNG. + +BY + +J. H. KELLOGG, M.D., + +MEMBER AMERICAN PUBLIC HEALTH ASSOCIATION, AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR THE +ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE, AMERICAN SOCIETY OF MICROSCOPY, MEMBER MICH. +STATE BOARD OF HEALTH, MEDICAL SUPERINTENDENT OF THE BATTLE CREEK +SANITARIUM, AUTHOR OF NUMEROUS WORKS ON HEALTH, ETC. + + + + +PUBLISHED BY +SEGNER & CONDIT, +BURLINGTON, IOWA. +1881. + + + + +Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1879, by +J. H. KELLOGG, M.D., +In the Office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington, D.C. + +ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. + + + + +PREFACE. + + +The publishers of this work offer no apology for presenting it to the +reading public, since the wide prevalence of the evils which it exposes +is sufficient warrant for its publication. The subjects with which it +deals are of vital consequence to the human race; and it is of the utmost +importance that every effort should be made to dispel the gross +ignorance which almost universally prevails, by the wide diffusion, +in a proper manner, of information of the character contained in this +volume. + +This book has been written not for the young only, nor for any single +class of persons, but for all who are old enough to be capable of +understanding and appreciating it. The prime object of its preparation +has been to call attention to the great prevalence of sexual excesses +of all kinds, and the heinous crimes resulting from some forms of sexual +transgression, and to point out the terrible results which inevitably +follow the violation of sexual law. + +In order to make more clear and comprehensible the teachings of nature +respecting the laws regulating the sexual function, and the evils +resulting from their violation, it has seemed necessary to preface the +practical part of the subject by a concise description of the anatomy +of reproduction. In this portion of the work especial pains has been +taken to avoid anything like indelicacy of expression, yet it has not +been deemed advisable to sacrifice perspicuity of ideas to any prudish +notions of modesty. It is hoped that the reader will bear in mind that +the language of science is always chaste in itself, and that it is only +through a corrupt imagination that it becomes invested with impurity. +The author has constantly endeavored to impart information in the most +straightforward, simple, and concise manner. + +The work should be judiciously circulated, and to secure this the +publishers will take care to place it in the hands of agents competent +to introduce it with discretion; yet it may be read without injury by +any one who is sufficiently mature to understand it. Great care has +been taken to exclude from its pages those accounts of the habits of +vicious persons, and descriptions of the mechanical accessories of vice, +with which many works upon sexual subjects abound. + +The first editions of the work were issued with no little anxiety on +the part of both author and publishers as to how it would be received +by the reading public. It was anticipated that no little adverse +criticism, and perhaps severe condemnation, would be pronounced by many +whose education and general mode of thought had been such as to unfit +them to appreciate it; but it was hoped that persons of more thoughtful +and unbiased minds would receive the work kindly, and would readily +co-operate with the publishers in its circulation. This anticipation +has been more than realized. Wherever the book has been introduced, +it has met with a warm reception; and of the several thousand persons +into whose hands the work has been placed, hundreds have gratefully +acknowledged the benefit which they have received from its perusal, +and it is hoped that a large proportion have been greatly benefited. + +The cordial reception which the work has met from the press everywhere +has undoubtedly contributed in great measure to its popularity. The +demand for the work has exhausted several editions in rapid succession, +and has seemed to require its preparation in the greatly enlarged and +in every way improved form in which it now appears. The addition of +two whole chapters for the purpose of bringing the subject directly +before the minds of boys and girls in a proper manner, adds greatly +to the interest and value of the work, as there seemed to be a slight +deficiency in this particular in the former editions. + +J. H. K. +BATTLE CREEK, MICH., +_October, 1879_. + + + + +CONTENTS. + + + PAGE. +INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 + +_SEX IN LIVING FORMS_. + +Living beings--Animals and vegetables--Life force--Reproduction-- +Spontaneous generation--Simplest form of generation--Hermaphrodism-- +Sex in plants--Sex in animals--Other sexual differences--Men and women +differ in form--Modern mania for female pedestrianism--3,000 quarter +miles in 3,000 quarter hours--A female walking-match--The male and +female brain--Vital organs of man and woman--Woman less muscular, +more enduring--A pathological difference--Why a woman does not +breathe like a man--The reproductive elements--Sexual organs of plants-- +Polygamous flowers--The female organ of flowers--Sexual organs of +animals--The spermatozoon--The ovum--Fecundation--Fecundation in +flowers--Union of the ovum and zoosperm--Curious modes of +reproduction--Human beings are developed buds--Fecundation in +hermaphrodites--Development--Unprotected development--Partial +protection of the ovum--Development in the higher animals and in man-- +The uterus--Uterine gestation--The primitive trace--Curious relations to +lower animals--Simplicity of early structures--The stages of growth-- +Duration of gestation--Uterine life--How the unborn infant breathes-- +Parturition--Changes in the child at birth--Nursing--Anatomy of the +reproductive organs--Male organs--The prostate gland--Female organs-- +Puberty--Influence of diet on puberty--Brunettes naturally precocious-- +Remarkable precocity--Premature development occasions early decay-- +Early puberty a cause for anxiety--Changes which occur at puberty-- +Menstruation--Nature of menstruation--A critical period--Important +hints--Menorrhagia--Dysmenorrhoea--Amenorrhoea and chlorosis-- +Hysteria--Prevention better than cure--Extra-uterine pregnancy--Twins-- +Monsters--Hybrids--Law of sex--Heredity--Ante-natal influences--Law +universal--A source of crime--Circumcision--Castration . . . . . . . 25 + +_THE SEXUAL RELATIONS_. + +Sexual precocity--Astonishing ignorance--Inherited passion--Various +causes of sexual precocity--Senile sexuality--Marriage--Time to +marry--Application of the law of heredity--Early marriage--Mutual +adaptation--Disparity of age--Courtship--Long Courtships-- +Flirtation--Youthful flirtations--Polygamy--Polyandry--Divorce-- +Who may not marry--Do not be in a hurry. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116 + +_CHASTITY_. + +Mental unchastity--Amativeness--Unchaste conversation--Causes of +unchastity--Early causes--Diet vs. chastity--Clerical lapses--Tobacco +and vice--Bad books--Idleness--Dress and sensuality--How young women +fall--Fashion and vice--Reform in dress needed--Round dances--Physical +causes of unchastity--Constipation--Intestinal worms--Local +uncleanness--Irritation of the bladder--Modern modes of life . . . . 174 + +_CONTINENCE_. + +Continence not injurious--Does not produce impotence--Difficulty of +continence--Helps to continence--The will--Diet--Exercise--Bathing-- +Religion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205 + +_MARITAL EXCESSES_. + +Object of the reproductive functions--Results of excesses--Effects +upon husbands--Testimony of a French physician--Continence of +trainers--A cause of throat disease--A cause of consumption--Effects +on wives--The greatest cause of uterine disease--Legalized murder-- +Indulgence during menstruation--Effects upon offspring--Indulgence +during pregnancy--Effect upon the character--A selfish objection-- +Brutes and savages more considerate--What may be done--Early +moderation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216 + +_PREVENTION OF CONCEPTION_: ITS EVILS AND DANGERS. + +Conjugal onanism--"Male continence"--Shaker views--Moral bearings of +the question--Unconsidered murders--The charge disputed--Difficulties-- +Woman's rights--What to do--A compromise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 250 + +_INFANTICIDE AND ABORTION_. + +Not a modern crime--Causes of the crime--The nature of the crime-- +Instruments of crime--Results of this unnatural crime--An unwelcome +child--The remedy--Murder by proxy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271 + +_THE SOCIAL EVIL_. + +Unchastity of the ancients--Causes of the "social evil"--Libidinous +blood--Gluttony--Precocious sexuality--Man's lewdness--Fashion--Lack of +early training--Sentimental literature--Poverty--Ignorance--Disease-- +Results of licentiousness--Thousands of victims--Effects of vice +ineradicable--The only hope--Hereditary effects of venereal disease-- +Man the only transgressor--Origin of the foul disease--Cure of the +"social evil"--Prevention the only cure--Early training--Teach +self-control--Mental culture--Early associations . . . . . . . . . . 284 + +_SOLITARY VICE_. + +Alarming prevalence of the vice--Testimony of eminent authors--Not a +modern vice--Victims of all ages--Unsuspected rottenness--Causes of +the habit--Evil associations--Corruption in schools--Wicked nurses--Not +an uncommon case--The instructor in vice--Local disease--An +illustrative case--Other physical causes--Influence of stimulants-- +Signs of self-abuse--Suspicious signs--General debility--Early symptoms +of consumption--Premature and defective development--Sudden change in +disposition--Lassitude--Sleeplessness--Failure of mental capacity-- +Fickleness--Untrustworthiness--Love of solitude--Bashfulness--Unnatural +boldness--Mock piety--Confusion of ideas--Round shoulders--Weak backs-- +Pains in the limbs--Stiffness of the joints--Paralysis--Gait--Bad +positions--Lack of development of the breasts--Capricious appetite-- +Eating clay--The use of tobacco--Unnatural paleness--Acne--Biting the +finger nails--Palpitation of the heart--Hysteria--Chlorosis--Epileptic +fits--Wetting the bed--Unchastity of speech--Positive signs--Results of +secret vice--Effects in males--Local effects--Urethral irritation-- +Stricture--Enlarged prostate--Urinary diseases--Priapism--Piles-- +Prolapsus of rectum--Extension of irritation--Atrophy--Varicocele-- +Nocturnal emissions--Exciting causes--Are occasional emissions +necessary or harmless?--Emissions not necessary to health--Eminent +testimony--Diurnal emissions--Cause of diurnal emissions--Internal +emissions--An important caution--Impotence--General effects--General +debility--Consumption--Dyspepsia--Heart-disease--Throat affections-- +Nervous diseases--Epilepsy--Failure of special senses--Spinal +irritation--Insanity--A victim's mental condition pictured--Effects in +females--Local effects--Leucorrhoea--Uterine disease--Cancer of the +womb--Sterility--Atrophy of mammae--Pruritis--General effects--A +common cause of hysteria--Effects upon offspring--Treatment of +self-abuse and its effects--Prevention of secret vice--Cultivate +chastity--Timely warning--Curative treatment of the effects of +self-abuse--Cure of the habit--How may a person help himself?--Hopeful +courage--General regimen and treatment--Mental and moral treatment-- +Exercise--Never overeat--Eat but twice a day--Discard all stimulating +food--Stimulating drinks--Sleeping--Dreams--Can dreams be controlled?-- +Bathing--Improvement of general health--Prostitution as a remedy-- +Marriage--Local treatment--Cool sitz bath--Ascending douche--Abdominal +bandage--Wet compress--Hot and cold applications to the spine--Local +fomentations--Local cold bathing--Enemata--Electricity--Internal +applications--Use of electricity--Circumcision--Impotence--Varicocele-- +Drugs--Rings--Quacks--Closing advice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 315 + +_A CHAPTER FOR BOYS_. + +Who are boys?--What are boys for?--Boys the hope of the world--Man the +masterpiece--How a noble character is ruined--The marvelous human +machine--The two objects of human existence--The nutritive apparatus-- +The moving apparatus--The thinking and feeling apparatus--The purifying +apparatus--The reproductive apparatus--How a noble character and a sound +body must be formed--The downhill road--Self-abuse--A dreadful sin-- +Self-murderers--What makes boys dwarfs--Scrawny and hollow-eyed boys-- +Old boys--What makes idiots--Young dyspeptics--The race ruined by boys-- +Cases illustrating the effects of self-abuse--Two young wrecks--A +prodigal youth--Barely escaped--A lost soul--The results of one +transgression--A hospital case--An old offender--The sad end of a young +victim--From bad to worse--An indignant father--Disgusted with life--Bad +company--Bad language--Bad books--Vile pictures--Evil thoughts-- +Influence of other bad habits--Closing advice to boys and young men. 419 + +_A CHAPTER FOR GIRLS_. + +Girlhood--How to develop beauty and loveliness--The human form divine--A +wonderful process--Human buds--How beauty is marred--A beauty-destroying +vice--Terrible effects of secret vice--Remote effects--Causes which lead +girls astray--Vicious companions--Whom to avoid--Sentimental books-- +Various causes--Modesty woman's safeguard--A few sad cases--A pitiful +case--A mind dethroned--A penitent victim--A ruined girl--The danger of +boarding-schools--A desperate case--A last word--A few words to boys and +girls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 470 + + + + +INTRODUCTION. + + +Books almost without number have been written upon the subject treated +in this work. Unfortunately, most of these works are utterly unreliable, +being filled with gross misrepresentations and exaggerations, and +being designed as advertising mediums for ignorant and unscrupulous +charlatans, or worse than worthless patent nostrums. To add to their +power for evil, many of them abound with pictorial illustrations which +are in no way conducive to virtue or morality, but rather stimulate +the animal propensities and excite lewd imaginations. Books of this +character are usually widely circulated; and their pernicious +influence is fully as great as that of works of a more grossly obscene +character. In most of the few instances in which the evident motive +of the author is not of an unworthy character, the manner of presenting +the subject is unfortunately such that it more frequently than +otherwise has a strong tendency in a direction exactly the opposite +of that intended and desired. The writer of this work has endeavored +to avoid the latter evil by adopting a style of presentation quite +different from that generally pursued. Instead of restricting the +reader's attention rigidly to the sexual function in man, his mind is +diverted by frequent references to corresponding functions in lower +animals and in the vegetable kingdom. By this means, not only is an +additional fund of information imparted, but the sexual function in +man is divested of its sensuality. It is viewed as a fact of natural +history, and is associated with the innocence of animal life and the +chaste loveliness of flowers. Thus the subject comes to be regarded +from a purely physiological standpoint, and is liberated from the gross +animal instinct which is the active cause of sensuality. + +There are so many well-meaning individuals who object to the agitation +of this subject in any manner whatever, that it may be profitable to +consider in this connection some of the principal objections which are +urged against imparting information on sexual subjects, especially +against giving knowledge to the young. + +I. _Sexual matters improper to be spoken of to the young._ + +This objection is often raised, it being urged that these matters are +_too delicate_ to be even suggested to children; that they ought to +be kept in total ignorance of all sexual matters and relations until +nature indicates that they are fit to receive them. It is doubtless +true that children raised in a perfectly natural way would have no +sexual thoughts until puberty, at least, and it would be better if it +might be so; but from facts pointed out in succeeding portions of this +work, it is certain that at the present time children nearly always +do have some vague ideas of sexual relations long before puberty, and +often at a very early age. It is thus apparent that by speaking to +children of sexual matters in a proper manner, a new subject is not +introduced to them, but it is merely presenting to them in a true light +a subject of which they already have vague ideas; and thus, by +satisfying a natural curiosity, they are saved from supplying by their +imaginations distorted images and exaggerated conceptions, and from +seeking to obtain the desired information from evil sources whence they +would derive untold injury. + +What reason is there that the subject of the sexual functions should +be treated with such maudlin secrecy? Why should the function of +generation be regarded as something low and beastly, unfit to be spoken +of by decent people on decent occasions? We can conceive of no answer +except the worse than beastly use to which the function has been so +generally put by man. There is nothing about the sexual organism which +makes it less pure than the lungs or the stomach. "Unto the pure all +things are pure," may have been written especially for our times, when +there is such a vast amount of mock modesty; when so much pretense of +virtue covers such a world of iniquity and vice. The young lady who +goes into a spasm of virtuous hysterics upon hearing the word "leg," +is perhaps just the one who at home riots her imagination in voluptuous +French novels, if she commits no grosser breach of chastity. The parents +who are the most opposed to imparting information to the young are often +those who have themselves indulged in sexual excesses. In the minds +of such persons the sexual organs and functions, and everything even +remotely connected with them, are associated only with ideas of lust +and gross sensuality. No wonder that they wish to keep such topics in +the dark. With such thoughts they cannot well bear the scrutiny of +virtue. + +Sexual subjects are not, of course, proper subjects for conversation +at all times, or at any time in a spirit of levity and flippancy. + +II. _Knowledge is dangerous._ + +Very true, knowledge is dangerous, but ignorance is more dangerous +still; or, rather, partial knowledge is more dangerous than a more +complete understanding of facts. Children, young people, will not grow +up in innocent ignorance. If, in obedience to custom, they are not +encouraged to inquire of their parents about the mysteries of life, +they will seek to satisfy their curiosity by appealing to older or +better informed companions. They will eagerly read any book which +promises any hint on the mysterious subject, and will embrace every +opportunity, proper or improper--and most likely to be the latter--of +obtaining the coveted information. Knowledge obtained in this +uncertain and irregular way must of necessity be very unreliable. Many +times--generally, in fact--it is of a most corrupting character, and +the clandestine manner in which it is obtained is itself corrupting +and demoralizing. A child ought to be taught to expect all such +information from its parents, and it ought not to be disappointed. + +Again, while it is true that knowledge is dangerous, it is equally true +that this dangerous knowledge will be gained sometime, at any rate; +and as it must come, better let it be imparted by the parent, who can +administer proper warnings and cautions along with it, than by any other +individual. Thus may the child be shielded from injury to which he would +otherwise be certainly exposed. + +III. _Young people should be left to find out these things for +themselves._ + +If human beings received much of their knowledge through instinct, as +animals do, this might be a proper course; but man gets his knowledge +largely by instruction. Young people will get their first knowledge +of sexual matters mostly by instruction from some source. How much +better, then, as we have already shown, to let them obtain this +knowledge from the most natural and most reliable source! + +The following paragraph from Dr. Ware is to the point:-- + +"But putting aside the question whether we ought to hide this subject +wholly from the young if we could, the truth, it is to be feared, is +that we cannot if we would. Admitting it to be desirable, every man +of experience in life will pronounce it to be impracticable. If, then, +we cannot prevent the minds of children from being engaged in some way +on this subject, may it not be better to forestall evil impressions +by implanting good ones, or at least to mingle such good ones with the +evil as the nature of the case admits? Let us be at least as wise as +the crafty enemy of man, and cast in a little wheat with his tares; +and among the most effectual methods of doing this is to impart to the +young just and religious views of the nature and purposes of the +relation which the Creator has established between the two sexes." + +_When Shall Information Be Given?_--It is a matter of some difficulty +to decide the exact age at which information on sexual subjects should +be given to the young. It may be adopted as a safe rule, however, that +a certain amount of knowledge should be imparted as soon as there is +manifested a curiosity in this direction. If there is reason to believe +that the mind of the child is exercised in this direction, even though +he may have made no particular inquiries, information should not be +withheld. + +_How to Impart Proper Knowledge._--No little skill may be displayed +in introducing these subjects to the mind of the young person in such +a way as to avoid arousing his passions and creating sexual excitement. +Perhaps the general plan followed in the first portion of this work +will be found a very pleasant and successful method if studied +thoroughly and well executed. + +All information should not be given at once. First obtain the child's +confidence, and assure him by candor and unreserve that you will give +him all needed information; then, as he encounters difficulties, he +will resort for explanation where he knows he will receive satisfaction. +When the little one questions, answer truthfully and carefully. + +The following paragraph by Dr. Wilkinson is suggestive:-- + +"When we are little boys and girls, our first inquiries about our +_whence_ are answered by the authoritative dogma of the 'silver spade;' +we were dug up with that implement. By degrees the fact comes forth. +The public, however, remains for ages in the silver-spade condition +of mind with regard to the science of the fact; and the doctors foster +it by telling us that the whole subject is a medical property.... There +is nothing wrong in the knowing; and, though the passions might be +stimulated in the first moments by such information, yet in the second +instance they will be calmed by it; and, ceasing to be inflamed by the +additional goad of curiosity and imagination, they will cool down under +the hydropathic influences of science. Well-stated knowledge did never +yet contribute to human inflammation; and we much question whether the +whole theory of the silver spade be not a mistake; and whether children +should not be told the truth from the first; that before desire and +imagination are born, the young mind may receive, in its cool innocency, +a knowledge of the future objects of powers and faculties which are +to be subject afterward to such strong excitements." + +The experience of hundreds in the circulation of this work has proven +beyond all chance for question the truth of the foregoing remarks, and +often in a most striking manner. Scores of persons have written us, +"I would give all I possess in this world could I have had a copy of +'Plain Facts' placed in my hands when I was a lad," or, "Words cannot +express the gratitude I would now feel had some kind friend imparted +to me the invaluable information which this book contains; it would +have saved me a life of wretchedness." + +We have had the satisfaction of knowing in numerous instances that the +virtue and happiness of whole families have been secured by the timely +warnings of danger which parents have obtained from this work. We are +glad to be able to feel that it is now thoroughly demonstrated that +intelligent persons who have given this subject thought universally +approve of the objects of the work and the manner of presenting the +subject adopted in it. Those who at first question the propriety of +discussing the subject so freely and thoroughly as is here done, lose +their prejudice entirely upon giving the work a careful perusal. In +numerous instances it has occurred that those who were most decided +in their denunciations have become the most zealous and efficient +agents in its circulation after becoming more fully acquainted with +it. + + + + +SEX IN LIVING FORMS. + + +Life, in its great diversity of forms, has ever been a subject of the +deepest interest to rational beings. Poets have sung of its joys and +sorrows, its brilliant phantasies and harsh realities. Philosophers +have spent their lives in vain attempts to solve its mysteries; and +some have held and thought that life was nothing more than a stupendous +farce, a delusion of the senses. Moralists have sought to impress +mankind with the truth that "life is real," and teeming with grave +responsibilities. Physiologists have busied themselves in observing +the phenomena of life, and learning, therefrom, its laws. The subject +is certainly an interesting one, and none could be more worthy of the +most careful attention. + +Living Beings.--Man possesses life in common with other beings almost +infinite in number and variety. The hugest beast that roams the forest +or plows the main is no more a living creature than the smallest insect +or microscopic animalculum. The "big tree" of California and the tiny +blade of grass which waves at its foot are alike imbued with life. All +nature teems with life. The practiced eye detects multitudes of living +forms at every glance. + +The universe of life presents the most marvelous manifestations of the +infinite power and wisdom of the Creator to be found in all his works. +The student of biology sees life in myriad forms which are unnoticed +by the casual observer. The microscope reveals whole worlds of life +that were unknown before the discovery of this wonderful aid to human +vision,--whole tribes of living organisms, each of which, though +insignificant in size, possesses organs as perfect and as useful to +it in its sphere as do animals of greater magnitude. Under a powerful +magnifying glass, a drop of water from a stagnant pool is found to be +peopled with curious animated forms; slime from a damp rock, or a speck +of green scum from the surface of a pond, presents a museum of living +wonders. Through this instrument the student of nature learns that life +in its lowest form is represented by a mere atom of living matter, an +insignificant speck of trembling jelly, transparent and structureless, +having no organs of locomotion, yet able to move in any direction; no +nerves or organs of sense, yet possessing a high degree of sensibility; +no mouth, teeth, nor organs of digestion, yet capable of taking food, +growing, developing, producing other individuals like itself, becoming +aged, infirm, and dying,--such is the life history of a living creature +at the lower extreme of the scale of animated being. As we rise higher +in the scale, we find similar little atoms of life associated together +in a single individual, each doing its proper share of the work +necessary to maintain the life of the individual as a whole, yet +retaining at the same time its own individual life. + +As we ascend to still higher forms, we find this association of minute +living creatures resulting in the production of forms of increasing +complicity. As the structure of the individual becomes more complex +and its functions more varied, the greater is the number of separate, +yet associated, organisms to do the work. + +In man, at the very summit of the scale of animate existence, we find +the most delicate and wonderfully intricate living mechanism of all. +In him, as in lower, intermediate forms of life, the life of the +individual is but a summary of the lives of all numberless minute +organisms of which his body is composed. The individual life is but +the aggregate life of all the millions of distinct individuals which +are associated together in the human organism. + +Animals and Vegetables.--The first classification of living creatures +separates them into two great kingdoms, animals and vegetables. +Although it is very easy to define the general characteristics of each +of these classes, it is impossible to fix upon any single peculiarity +which will be applicable in every case. Most vegetable organisms remain +stationary, while some possess organs of locomotion, and swim about +in the water in a manner much resembling the movements of certain +animals. Most vegetables obtain their nutriment from the earth and the +air, while animals subsist on living matter. A few plants seem to take +organic matter for food, some even catching and killing small insects. + +It is found impossible to draw the precise line between animals and +vegetables, for the reason just mentioned. The two kingdoms blend so +intimately that in some cases it is impossible to tell whether a certain +microscopic speck of life is an animal or a vegetable. But since these +doubtful creatures are usually so minute that several millions of them +can exist in a single drop of water, it is usually of no practical +importance whether they are animal or vegetable, or sometimes one and +sometimes the other, as they have been supposed to be by some +biologists. + +All living creatures are _organized_ beings. Most possess a structure +and an organism more or less complicated; but some of the lowest forms +are merely little masses of a transparent, homogeneous jelly, known +as protoplasm. Some of the smallest of these are so minute that one +hundred millions of them could occupy the space of a cube one-thousandth +of an inch on each side; yet each one runs its course of life as regularly +as man himself, performing its proper functions even more perfectly, +perhaps. + +Life Force.--To every thinking mind the question often recurs, What +makes the fragrant flower so different from the dead soil from which +it grows? the trilling bird, so vastly superior to the inert atmosphere +in which it flies? What subtle power paints the rose, and tunes the +merry songster's voice? To explain this mystery, philosophers of olden +time supposed the existence of a certain peculiar force which is called +life, or vital force, or vitality. This supposition does nothing more +than furnish a name for a thing unknown, and the very existence of which +may fairly be doubted. In fact, any attempt to find a place for such +a force, to understand its origin, or harmonize its existence with that +of other well-known forces, is unsuccessful; and the theory of a +peculiar vital force, a presiding entity present in every living thing, +vanishes into thin air to give place to the more rational view of the +most advanced modern scientists, that vital force, so-called, is only +a manifestation of the ordinary forces of nature acting through a +peculiar arrangement of matter. In other words, life depends, not upon +a peculiar force, but upon a peculiar arrangement of matter, or +organization. It is simply a peculiar manifestation of the force +possessed by atoms exhibited through a peculiar arrangement of atoms +and molecules. This arrangement is what is known as organization; and +bodies which possess it are known as organized or living bodies. The +term life may be understood as referring to the phenomena which result +from organization. + +That life results from organization, not organization from life, is +more consonant with the accepted and established facts of science than +the contrary view. We might adduce numerous facts and arguments in +support of this view of the nature of life, but will not do so here, +as we have considered the subject at some length elsewhere.[1] + +[Footnote 1: See "Science and the Bible," pp. 36-46.] + +_Nutrition_ and _reproduction_ are the two great functions of life, +being common not only to all animals, but to both animals and plants, +to all classes of living creatures. The object of the first, is the +development and maintenance of the individual existence; the second +has for its end the production of new individuals, or the preservation +of the race. Nutrition is a purely selfish process; reproduction is +purely unselfish in its object; though the human species--unlike the +lower animals, which, while less intelligent, are far more true to +nature--too often pervert its functions to the most grossly selfish +ends. + +The subject of nutrition is an important one, and well worthy the +attention of every person who values life. The general disregard of +this subject is undoubtedly the cause of a very large share of the ills +to which human flesh is heir; but our limited space forbids its +consideration here, and we shall confine our attention to reproduction. + + +REPRODUCTION. + +As before remarked, reproduction is a function common to all animals +and to all plants. Every organized being has the power to reproduce +itself, or to produce, or aid in producing, other individuals like +itself. It is by means of this function that plants and animals increase +or multiply. + +When we consider the great diversity of characters illustrated in +animal and vegetable life, and the infinite variety of conditions and +circumstances under which organized creatures exist, it is not +surprising that modes of reproduction should also present great +diversity both in general character and in detail. We shall find it +both interesting and instructive to consider some of the many different +modes of reproduction, or generation, observed in different classes +of living beings, previous to entering upon the specific study of +reproduction in man. Before doing thus, however, let us give brief +attention to a theoretical form of generation, which cannot be called +reproduction, known as + +Spontaneous Generation.--By this term is meant the supposed formation +of living creatures directly from dead matter without the intervention +of other living organisms. The theory is, in substance, an old one. +The ancients supposed that the frogs and other small reptiles so +abundant in the vicinity of slimy pools and stagnant marshes, were +generated spontaneously from the mud and slime in which they lived. +This theory was, of course, abandoned when the natural history of +reptiles became known. + +For several thousand years the belief was still held that maggots found +in decaying meat were produced spontaneously; but it was discovered, +centuries ago, that maggots are not formed if the flesh is protected +from flies, since they are the larvae, or young, of a species of this +insect. A relic of the ancient belief in spontaneous generation is still +found in the supposition that horse-hair snakes, so-called, are really +formed from the hairs of horses. This belief is quite common, but +science long ago exposed its falsity. + +When the microscope was discovered it revealed a whole new world of +infinitesimal beings which were at first supposed to be of spontaneous +origin; but careful scientific investigation has shown that even these +mere specks of life are not independent of parentage. M. Pasteur and, +more recently, Prof. Tyndall, with many other distinguished scientists, +have demonstrated this fact beyond all reasonable chance for question. + +It is, then, an established law that _every living organism originates +with some previously existing living being or beings_. + +It may be queried, If it be true that life is but a manifestation of +the ordinary forces of matter,--which are common to both dead and living +matter,--being dependent upon arrangement, then why may it not be that +dead matter may, through the action of molecular laws, and without the +intervention of any living existence, assume those peculiar forms of +arrangement necessary to constitute life, as supposed by the advocates +of the theory in question? It is true that some who recognize the fact +that life is the result of organization maintain the doctrine of +_spontaneous generation_; that is, the production of life without any +agency other than the recognized forces of nature being brought about +simply by a fortuitous combination of atoms. Although this doctrine +cannot be said to be inconsistent with the theory of life presented, +yet it is by no means a legitimate or necessary result of it; and +observation proves its falsity. + +The testimony of all nature, as almost universally admitted by +scientific men, is that life originated through a creative act by the +first Great Cause, who gave to certain bodies the requisite arrangement +or organization to enable them to perform certain functions, and +delegated to them the power to transmit the same to other matter, and +thus to perpetuate life. The Creator alone has the power to originate +life. Man, with all his wisdom and attainments, cannot discover the +secret of organization. He may become familiar with its phenomena, but +he cannot unravel, further, the mystery of life. The power of organizing +is possessed only by the lower class of living or organized bodies, +those known as vegetable organisms or plants. A grain of wheat, a kernel +of corn, a potato, when placed under favorable conditions, takes the +inert, lifeless particles of matter which lie about it in the earth +and air, and organizes them into living substances like itself. + +To man and animals the Creator delegated the power to form their own +peculiar structures from the vitalized tissues of plants. Thus, both +animal and vegetable life is preserved without the necessity of +continued acts of creative power, each plant and each animal possessing +the power not only to preserve its own life, but also to aid, at least, +in the perpetuation of the species. The record of creation in Genesis +harmonizes perfectly with this view, it being represented that God +formed (organized or arranged) man, animals, and vegetable productions +from the earth. + +Simplest Form of Generation.--Deep down beneath the waters of the ocean, +covering its bottom in certain localities, is found a curious slime, +which, under the microscope, is seen to be composed of minute rounded +masses of gelatinous matter, or protoplasm. By watching these little +bodies intently for a few minutes, the observer will discover that each +is a living creature capable of moving, growing, and assuming a variety +of shapes. Continued observation will reveal the fact that these little +creatures multiply; and a more careful scrutiny will enable him to see +_how_ they increase. Each divides into two equal parts so nearly alike +that they cannot be distinguished apart. In this case the process of +generation is simply the production of two similar individuals from +one. + +A small quantity of slime taken from the surface of a stone near the +bottom of an old well, or on the seaside, when placed under the +microscope, will sometimes be found to contain large numbers of small, +round, living bodies. Careful watching will show that they also +multiply by division; but before the division occurs, two cells unite +to form one by a process called _conjugation_. Then, by the division +of this cell, instead of only two cells, a large number of small cells +are formed, each of which may be considered as a bud formed upon the +body of the parent cell and then separated from it to become by growth +an individual like its parent, and, like it, to produce its kind. In +this case, we have new individuals formed by the union of two +individuals which are to all appearance entirely similar in every +particular. + +Sex.--Rising higher in the scale of being, we find that, with rare +exceptions, reproduction is the result of the union of two dissimilar +elements. These elements do not, in higher organisms, as in lower forms +of life, constitute the individuals, but are produced by them; and being +unlike, they are produced by special organs, each adapted to the +formation of one kind of elements. The two classes of organs usually +exist in separate individuals, thus giving rise to distinctions of +_sex_; an individual possessing organs which form one kind of elements +being called a male, and one possessing organs for the formation of +the other kind of elements, a female. The sexual differences between +individuals of the same species are not, however, confined to the sexual +organs. In most classes of plants and animals, other sexual differences +are very great. In some of the lower orders of animals, and in many +species of plants, the male and female individuals are so much unlike +that for a long time after they were well known, no sexual relation +was discovered. + +Hermaphrodism.--An individual possessing both male and female organs +of reproduction is called an _hermaphrodite_. Such a combination is +very rare among higher animals; but it is by no means uncommon among +plants and the lower forms of animal life. The snail, the oyster, the +earth-worm, and the common tape-worm, are examples of true +hermaphrodites. So-called human hermaphrodites are usually +individuals in whom the sexual organs are abnormally developed so that +they resemble those of the opposite sex, though they really have but +one sex, which can usually be determined with certainty. Only a very +few cases have been observed in which both male and female organs were +present. + +There is now living in Germany an individual who bears the name of a +woman; but learned physicians have decided that the person is as much +man as woman, having the organs of both sexes. What is still more curious, +this person has the feelings of both sexes, having loved at first a +man, and afterward a woman. There have been observed, also, a very few +instances of individuals in whom the sexual organs of neither sex were +present. It thus appears that a person may be of both sexes or of no +sex at all. + +Sex in Plants.--To one unacquainted with the mysteries of plant life +and growth, the idea of attaching sexuality to plants seems very +extraordinary; but the botanist recognizes the fact that the +distinctions of sex are as clearly maintained in the vegetable as in +the animal kingdom. The sexual organs of the higher orders of plants +are flowers. That part of the flower which produces seeds answers to +the female; another part, which is incapable of forming seeds, answers +to the male. The fertile and sterile flowers are sometimes produced +on separate plants. Very frequently, they are produced upon separate +parts of the same plant, as in the oak, walnut, and many other forest +trees, and Indian corn. In the latter plant, so familiar to every one, +the "tassel" contains the male flowers, and the part known as the +"silk," with the portion to which it is attached--which becomes the +ear--the female or fertile flowers. In a large number of species, the +male and female organs are combined in a single flower, making a true +hermaphrodite. + +Sex in Animals.--As previously remarked, individuals of opposite sex +usually differ much more than in the character of their sexual organs +only. Among higher animals, the male is usually larger, stronger, and +of coarser structure than the female. The same contrast is observed +in their mental characters. With lower animals, especially insects, +the opposite is often observed. The female spider is many times larger +than the male. The male ant is small in size when compared with the +female. Nevertheless, in all classes of animals the difference in the +structure and the functions of the sexual organs is the chief +distinguishing character. These differences are not so great, however, +as they might at first appear. The male and female organs of +reproduction in man and other animals, which seem so dissimilar, when +studied in the light shed upon this subject by the science of embryology, +are found to be wonderfully alike in structure, differing far more in +appearance than in reality, and being little more than modifications +of one general plan. Every organ to be found in the one sex has an +analogue in the other which is complete in every particular, +corresponding in function, in structure, and usually in position. + +Other Sexual Differences.--In this country there is between five and +six inches difference in height and about twenty pounds difference in +weight between the average man and the average woman, the average man +being about five feet, eight inches in height, and weighing one hundred +and forty-five pounds; while the average woman is five feet, two or +two and one-half inches in height, and weighs one hundred and +twenty-five pounds. The relation of the sexes in height and weight +varies in degree in different countries, but is never changed. The +average height and weight of American men and women is considerably +above that of the average human being. + +Men and Women Differ in Form.--The differences in form are so marked +that it is possible for the skilled anatomist to determine the sex of +a human being who has been dead for ages, by an examination of the +skeleton alone. In man, the shoulders are broad, the hips narrow, and +the limbs nearly straight with the body. In woman, the shoulders are +narrow and usually rounded, and set farther back, the collar-bone being +longer and less curved, giving the chest greater prominence; while the +hips are broad. + +The consequence of these differences is that woman is generally less +graceful and naturally less skillful in the use of the extremities than +man, and hence less fitted for athletic sports and feats requiring great +dexterity. A girl throws a stone awkwardly, less from want of practice +than from a natural peculiarity of physical structure. A woman walks +less gracefully than a man, owing to the greater relative breadth of +her hips, requiring a motion of the body together with that of the limbs. +In consequence of this peculiarity, a woman is less fitted for walking +long distances. + +Modern Mania for Female Pedestrianism.--Nothing could be much more +inhuman than the exhibitions made in satisfying the mania for female +pedestrianism which has recently arisen. Not long since, in walking +down one of the principal streets of Boston, we passed, in going a +distance of thirty rods, three illuminated placards announcing to the +public that in as many different public halls four female pedestrians +were exhibiting their walking talents for the gratification of the +crowds of bawdy loafers and jockeys who congregated to criticize their +several "points," and bet on their walking capacity, as though they +were horses on a race-course or hounds on a fox hunt. + +3,000 Quarter Miles in 3,000 Quarter Hours.--We visited the halls and +ascertained that two of these misguided women were attempting the feat +of walking respectively 2,700 and 3,000 quarter miles in an equal number +of successive quarter hours. This would require almost incessant +exertion for nearly twenty-eight days in one case, and for more than +thirty-one days in the other, without at any time a period of unbroken +rest longer than ten minutes. Such a procedure, in the light of +physiology, is a greater inhumanity than the most merciless Boston +teamster would inflict upon his dumb brutes. Why does not Mr. Bergh +exercise his function in such cases? We did not wonder that the poor +women looked pale and suffering, and trudged along with a limping gait. + +A Female Walking Match.--At another hall we found two women engaged +in a "walking match." The hall was so crowded with spectators--with +very few exceptions of the male sex--that it was with difficulty the +narrow track could be kept clear. + +The sixty hours for which the walk was to be continued had nearly expired, +and the excitement grew more intense each moment. One of the walkers, +who was a few miles in advance, strode on at a pace almost marvelous, +constantly stimulated to greater efforts by the coarse shouts of the +masculine audience, who evidently took the same sort of interest in +the proceeding that they would in a dog race or a cock fight. The other +was pale and spiritless, and it seemed with difficulty that she dragged +herself along to keep upon the track until the last. At times she seemed +to be almost fainting, as the result of the long-continued excitement +and fatigue; but she managed to keep going until nine minutes before +the slow moving clock had measured off the sixty hours, when she became +too ill to be longer able to stand, and was carried off the track. + +The cheers for the winner were as vigorous as though a rebel fort had +been captured, a million people emancipated from slavery, or some great +and noble deed of honor or daring had been done; but no one thought +of the injury which had been done the contestant. We turned away in +disgust. + +The ancient Greeks and Romans amused themselves with witnessing the +gladiatorial contests of their male slaves; but it was left for +civilized America to introduce woman into the "ring" and make her show +her paces on the race-course. An ungraceful figure she cuts, and a +repulsive spectacle she presents; and worst of all is the havoc which +she makes with her health. At the very time that these four female +pedestrians were making their disgraceful exhibit in Boston, in another +part of the same city lay a helpless invalid who was once as noted a +"female walkist" as any of them, made hopelessly ill by the same +disregard of the plainest laws of nature. + +The Male and the Female Brain.--But there are other important physical +differences to which we must call attention. Man possesses a larger +brain than woman, but she makes up the deficiency in size by superior +fineness in quality. The female brain differs from the masculine organ +of mentality in other particulars so marked that one who has given the +subject attention can determine with perfect ease the probable sex of +the owner of almost any skull which might be presented to him. This +difference in the conformation of the skull is undoubtedly due to a +difference in mental character, which, in turn, depends upon a +difference in cerebral development. Faculties which are generally +largely developed in one are usually smaller in the other, and the +reverse. + +Vital Organs of Man and Woman.--The anatomist also observes an +interesting difference in the size of the various vital organs. For +example, while a woman has a heart proportionally smaller than the same +organ in man, she has a larger liver. Thus, while less well fitted for +severe physical exertion by less circulatory power, she has superior +excretory powers. + +Woman Less Muscular, More Enduring.--This peculiarity of structure is +perfectly harmonious with the fact which experience has established +so often as to make the matter no longer a question, that woman is less +fitted for severe muscular exertion than man, but possesses in a +superior degree the quality known as endurance. With a less robust frame, +a more delicately organized constitution, she will endure for months +what would kill a robust man in as many weeks. More perfect elimination +of the wastes of the body secures a higher grade of vitality. On no +other hypothesis could we account for the marvelous endurance of the +feminine part of the civilized portion of the human race, ground down +under the heel of fashion for ages, "stayed," "corseted," "laced," and +thereby distorted and deformed in a manner that would be fatal to almost +any member of the masculine sex. + +A Pathological Difference.--Most physiologists mention another +particular in which woman differs materially from man; viz, in +naturally employing, in respiration, chiefly the upper part of the +lungs, while man breathes chiefly with the lower part of the lungs. +For several years we have carefully studied this question, and we have +been unable to find any physiological or anatomical reason sufficient +to account for this fact, if it be such. + +Why a Woman Does not Breathe Like a Man.--It is undoubtedly true that +most women do breathe almost exclusively with the upper part of the +chest; but whether this is a _natural_ peculiarity, or an acquired, +unnatural, and depraved one, is a question which we are decidedly +inclined to answer in harmony with the latter supposition, basing our +conclusion on the following undeniable facts:-- + +1. In childhood, and until about the age of puberty, respiration in +the boy and the girl is exactly the same. + +2. Although there is a change in the mode of respiration in most females, +usually soon after the period of puberty, marked by increased +intercostal respiration and diminished abdominal or deep respiration, +this change can be accounted for on other than physiological grounds. + +3. We believe the cause of this modification of respiration is the +change in dress which is usually made about that time. The young girl +is now becoming a woman, and must acquire the art of lacing, wearing +a corset, "stays," and sundry other contrivances by means of which to +produce a "fine form" by distorting and destroying all natural grace +and beauty in the "form divine." + +4. We have met a number of ladies whose good fortune and good sense +had delivered them from the distorting influence of corset-wearing and +tight-lacing, and we have invariably observed that they are as capable +of deep respiration as men, and practice it as naturally. + +We are thoroughly convinced that this so-called physiological +difference between man and woman is really a pathological rather than +a natural difference, and is due to the evils of fashionable dress, +which we have exposed at some length in another work exclusively devoted +to that subject.[2] In short, we believe that the only reason why women +do not, under ordinary circumstances, breathe as do men, is simply +_because they can not_ breathe naturally. + +[Footnote 2: "Evils of Fashionable Dress, and How to Dress +Healthfully."] + +The Reproductive Elements.--As has been previously observed, in all +except the very lowest forms of life, two elements are necessary to +the production of a new individual, or a reproduction of the species--a +male element and a female element. The special organs by means of which +these elements are produced, brought together, and developed into the +new individual in a more or less perfect state, are termed _sexual +organs_, as we have already seen. As an introduction to the specific +study of the sexual organs in the human species, let us briefly consider +the + +Sexual Organs of Plants.--As already remarked, flowers are the sexual +organs of plants. Nothing is more interesting in the natural world than +the wonderful beauty, diversity, and perfect adaptability to various +conditions and functions, which we see in the sexual parts of plants. +An exceedingly interesting line of study, which has occupied the +attention of many naturalists, is the wonderful perfection displayed +in the adaptability of the male and female parts of plants to each other. +Without burdening the reader with unnecessary technicalities of detail, +we will briefly notice the principal parts of vegetable sexual organs +as illustrated in flowers. + +Complete flowers are made up of four parts, two of which, the _stamen_ +and _pistil_, are essential, while the other two, the calyx and corolla, +are accessory. + +The _calyx_ is that part which surrounds the flower at its outer and +lower part. It varies greatly in form and color, but is most frequently +of a green or greenish color. + +Just within the calyx is the _corolla_, which usually forms the most +attractive, showy, and beautiful part of the flower. The beautifully +colored petals of the rose, geranium, dahlia, and other similar flowers, +form their corollas. + +Vegetable Husbands.--Within the cup formed by the calyx and corolla +are placed the _stamens_ and _pistils_ of the flower, the first being +the male organs proper, and the second the female organs of the flower. + +The stamen is composed of a stem or filament, at the summit of which +are placed two little sacks called the _anther_, which contain a fine, +microscopic dust, the _pollen_, which contains the male reproductive +element of the flower. This part of the plant corresponds to the male +organ of reproduction in animals. A stamen has been called, not inaptly, +a vegetable husband. Some flowers have many stamens, or vegetable +husbands, which reminds us of the custom in Thibet and some other +Eastern countries which allows a woman to have several husbands. + +Polygamous Flowers.--The great naturalist, Linnaeus, whose name was +immortalized by his careful study and classification of organized life, +made the number of stamens possessed by various flowers the basis of +a systematic classification. + +For example, a flower having but one stamen was classed as _monandria_, +which means, literally, one husband; one having two stamens was +classified as _diandria_; flowers having a large number of male organs +were termed _polyandria_, or many husbands. + +The Female Organ of Flowers.--The _pistil_ occupies the very center +of the flower. It produces and contains in a cell, the female element, +termed the _ovule_. It is surmounted by the _style_ and the _stigma_. + +A series of plants in which the sexual organs are not visible to the +eye are termed _cryptogamia_, which means literally, hidden marriages. + +As we proceed to study the anatomy of the human sexual apparatus we +shall be constantly struck with the remarkable correspondence between +animals and vegetables in the structure and functions of the sexual +apparatus. + +Sexual Organs of Animals.--The male reproductive element is called a +_spermatozoon_ or _zoosperm_. The female element is called an _ovum_, +literally, an egg. + +The Spermatozoon.--The male reproductive element of animals is formed +by an organ called the _testis_, or _testicle_, of which each male +possesses two. They are elastic, glandular bodies, and are formed +within the cavity of the abdomen, near the kidneys, but usually pass +out of the abdominal cavity and descend to their permanent position +before birth. The opening in the abdominal wall is usually completely +closed in a short time; but occasionally it remains open, giving rise +to congenital hernia, an accident in which a loop of intestine follows +the testicle down into the scrotum, either completely or partially. +In a few animals, as in the porcupine, the opening is never fully closed, +and the testis remains in the cavity of the body most of the time, +passing out only at certain periods. We also occasionally meet cases +of human beings in which the testes have never descended from their +place in the abdominal cavity, giving the individuals the appearance +of eunuchs. This condition, however, though an abnormal one, does not +in any way interfere with the function of the organs, as those who happen +to possess it often imagine. We have also met with cases in which the +organs were movable, and could readily be pressed up into the abdominal +cavity, through the unclosed inguinal cavity, which afforded them a +passage downward in the process of development. + +As before remarked, these peculiarities do not affect the functions +of the organs in any appreciable degree, although they not infrequently +give rise to some apprehension on the part of those subject to them. +The left testicle is sometimes a little smaller than the right, another +fact which is seized upon by quacks as a means of exciting the fears +of young men who have been addicted to bad habits, although the +peculiarity is generally without important significance. + +The testicles are connected with the urinary passage by means of two +ducts which terminate near the base of the bladder, at which point they +connect with the urethra. We need not dwell at further length upon the +structure of the testicles, as this subject receives fuller attention +elsewhere. + +Human spermatozoa are about 1/600 of an inch in length. Those of +reptiles are very much larger. One of the remarkable features of these +minute elements is their peculiar movements. While alive, the +filamentous tail is in constant action in a manner strongly resembling +the movements of the caudal appendage of a tadpole. This wonderful +property led the earlier observers to believe that they were true +animalcula. But they are not to be regarded as such, though one can +scarcely make himself believe otherwise while watching their lively +evolutions, and apparent volitionary movement from one point to +another. + +Spermatozoa originate in the testis as cells, which are filled with +granules. After a time, each granule acquires a long appendage, and +then the cell has become converted into a bundle of small zoosperms. +Development still continues, until finally the thin pellicle on the +outside of the bundle is ruptured, thus liberating the young +spermatozoa, which speedily complete their full development. The +spermatozoon is pure protoplasm, which is the basis of all life, and +its power of spontaneous motion is due to this fact. + +In man, the formation of spermatozoa continues with greater or less +rapidity from puberty to old age, though at the two extremes of +existence they are imperfectly developed. When not discharged from the +body, they are said to be absorbed. Some physiologists claim that they +are composed of a substance identical with nerve tissue, and that by +absorption they play a very important part in the development and +maintenance of the nervous system. + +It is asserted by good authorities that the reproductive element in +man is not so well developed as to be really fit for the reproduction +of the species before the age of twenty-four or twenty-five. After the +age of forty-five or fifty, the reproductive elements deteriorate in +quality, and become again unfitted for vigorous procreation. + +The fully developed zoosperms are suspended in a transparent, +gelatinous fluid, which, mingled with the secretion of the prostate +gland and other fluids which it meets during its expulsion from the +body, constitutes the _semen_. + +The Ovum.--The female element of generation, the ovum, is produced by +an organ called the _ovary_, of which there are two in each individual. +In size and form, the ovary closely resembles the testicle. Like the +latter organ, also, it is formed within the body early in the process +of development; but instead of passing outward and downward, as does +the testicle, it remains within the abdominal cavity, suspended in +place by ligaments. It is connected with a duct which receives the ovum +as it is discharged, and conveys it to the uterus. + +The human ovum varies in size from 1/240 to 1/120 of an inch in diameter, +and consists of a single cell. Ova are not formed in such large numbers +as zoosperms. As a general rule, in the human female, a single ovum +is developed and discharged once in about four weeks, during the period +of sexual activity. + +Fecundation.--It is often asked, and the question has elicited some +discussion, Which is the principal reproductive element; the zoosperm, +or the ovum? The ancients supposed the male element to be the essential +element, being simply nourished and developed by the female; but modern +research in biological science does not sustain this view. Probably +neither one enjoys especial preeminence; for neither can undergo +complete development without the other. In very rare cases, the ovum +has been observed to undergo a certain amount of development of itself; +but a perfect individual can be produced only by the union of the two +kinds of elements, which process is known as _fecundation_. The instant +this union occurs, the life of a new individual begins. All the changes +which result between that moment and the birth of the individual are +those of development only. Indeed, the same existence continues from +the instant of the union of the two elements, not only until birth, +but through growth, the attainment of maturity, the decline of life, +and even until death. + +It is interesting to observe the different methods by which fecundation +is effected, both in plants and animals, for this is a process common +to both. + +Fecundation in Flowers.--The great naturalist, Linnaeus, was the first +to explain the reproductive process in plants. He tells us that "the +flower forms the theater of their amours; the calyx is to be considered +as the nuptial bed; the corolla constitutes the curtains; the anthers +are the testes; the pollen, the fecundating fluid; the stigma of the +pistil, the external genital aperture; the style, the vagina, or the +conductor of the prolific seed; the ovary of the plant, the womb; the +reciprocal action of the stamens on the pistil, the accessory process +of fecundation." + +Thus marvelous is the analogy between the reproductive organs and their +functions in plants and animals. Through this one vital process we may +trace a close relation between all the forms of life, from the humblest +plant, or even the mere specks of life which form the green scum upon +a stagnant pool, to man, the masterpiece of creation, the highest of +all animated creatures. In all the realm of Nature there can be found +no more remarkable evidences of the infinite skill and wisdom of the +Creator of all things. + +In many instances the action of plants seems almost to be prompted by +intelligence. At the proper moment, the corolla contracts in such a +way as to bring the stamens nearer to the stigma, or in contact with +it, so as to insure fecundation. In some aquatic plants the flowers +elevate themselves above the surface of water while the process of +fecundation is effected; submerging themselves again immediately +afterward. + +Other very curious changes occur in flowers of different species during +the reproductive act. The stigma is observed to become moistened, and +even to become distinctly odorous. Often, too, it becomes intensely +congested with the juices of the plant, and sometimes even acquires +an uncommon and most remarkable degree of contractility. This is the +case with the stigma of the tulip and one variety of sensitive plant, +and is in these plants observed to occur not only after the application +of the pollen to the stigma, but when excited by any other means of +stimulation. The flowers of some plants, during and after fecundation, +also show an increase of heat, in some cases so marked as to be readily +detected with the thermometer. This is said to be the case with the +_arum_ of Italy. + +In some plants in which the pistil is longer than the stamens, thus +elevating the stigma above the anthers, the female organ is often +observed to bend over and depress itself so as to come within reach +of the anthers. + +In most instances the fecundation of flowers is chiefly effected +through a purely mechanical process, though in these cases also we see +a wonderful adaptation of parts to conditions. + +When the male and female parts of flowers are situated on different +plants, as is the case in the willow, the poplar, the melon vine, and +many other species, the pollen of the male flower is wafted by the wind +or gentle breeze to the stigma of the female flower, which will usually +be found at no very great distance, although fertilization may take +place in this way at very considerable distances. Bees, moths, and many +other species of insects, serve a very important purpose in this work, +transporting the fertilizing dust upon their wings, antennae, +sucking-tubes, and feet. Small birds, and even the humble snail, which +would scarcely be credited with any useful function, are also very +serviceable in the same direction. The part performed by insects in +the reproductive process of many plants is so great that they have been +very poetically termed "the marriage priests of flowers." + +Nature provides for thorough fecundation in these cases by placing the +plants which bear the male and the female flowers near each other. This +fact accounts for the unproductiveness of certain varieties of +strawberries unless mixed with plants of some other variety, it being +well known to nursery-men that some varieties produce only the female +parts of flowers. + +Modes of Fecundation in Animals.--The modes by which fecundation is +effected in animals are still more various and wonderful than in plants. +In some of the lower animals, as in most fish and reptiles, both elements +are discharged from the bodies of the parents before coming in contact, +there being no contact of the two individuals. In this class of animals +the process is almost wholly analogous to fecundation in those plants +in which the male and female flowers are on different plants or +different parts of the same plant. In the female fish, a large number +of ova are developed at a certain season of the year known as the +spawning season. Sometimes the number reaches many thousands. At the +same time, the testicles of the male fish, which are contained within +the abdominal cavity, become distended with developed zoosperms. When +the female seeks a place to deposit her eggs, the male closely follows; +and as she drops them upon the gravelly bottom, he discharges upon them +the zoosperms by which they are fecundated. The process is analogous +to some species of frogs. When the female is about to deposit her eggs, +the male mounts upon her back and rides about until the eggs are all +deposited, discharging upon them the fertilizing spermatozoa as they +are laid by the female. + +In higher orders of animals, fecundation takes place within the +generative organs of the female by contact between the male and the +female organs. To effect this, there are necessitated certain accessory +organs, the _penis_ in the male and the _vagina_ in the female. + +Nothing in all the range of nature is more remarkable than the +adaptation of the two varieties of sexual organs in each species. This +necessary provision is both a powerful means of securing the +perpetuation of the species, and an almost impassable barrier against +amalgamation. + +The act of union, or sexual congress, is called _coitus_ or _copulation_. +It is accompanied by a peculiar nervous spasm due to excitement of +special nerves principally located in the _penis_ in the male, and in +an extremely sensitive organ, the _clitoris_, in the female. The +nervous action referred to is more exhausting to the system than any +other to which it is subject. + +Union of the Ovum and Zoosperm.--The zoosperms not only come in contact +with the ovum, but penetrate the thin membrane which incloses its +contents, and enter its interior, where they disappear, becoming united +with its substance. In the ova of certain fishes, small openings have +been observed through which the spermatozoa find entrance. Whether such +openings exist in human ova is an undecided question; but it is probable +that they do. + +Curious Modes of Reproduction.--A peculiar kind of reproduction is +observed in a variety of polyp, a curious animal which very much +resembles a shrub in appearance. It attaches itself to some solid object, +and then, as it grows, sends out little protuberances resembling buds. +Some of these separate and fall off, swimming about as separate animals. +These never become like the parent polyp; but they lay eggs, which hatch, +and become stationary polyps like their grandparent, and in their turn +throw off buds to form swimming polyps. In this case we have two kinds +of generation combined, alternating with each other. + +Plant-lice afford a curious illustration of a similar generation. Males +and females unite and produce eggs. The creatures produced by the +hatching of eggs are neither males nor perfect females. They are +_imperfect females_. They are all alike, so that no sexual union occurs. +Instead of laying eggs, they produce live young like themselves, which +appear to be developed from internal buds similar to the external buds +of the polyp. After this method of reproduction has continued for eight +or ten generations, a few perfect individuals appear, and the first +process is repeated. + +The common honey-bee affords another illustration like the last. A +virgin queen sometimes lays eggs, which always produce males, or drones. +After union with a male, she lays eggs in the royal cells which become +perfect females like herself. She also seems to have the power to lay, +at will, unfecundated eggs, from which drones are produced. + +Human Beings Are Developed Buds.--It has been very aptly suggested by +an eminent physiologist that the ovum and zoosperm may be correctly +considered as internal buds. Thus it would appear that generation is +universally a process of budding. A child is but a compound bud, an +offshoot from its parents. This idea is not a mere fancy, but has a +scientific basis. As all the exquisite details of the most beautiful +flower are in essence contained within the tiny bud which first makes +its appearance, so is the developed human being, the full-grown man +or woman, virtually contained within the tiny cell called the ovum after +it has been impregnated or fecundated by the zoosperms. In short, men +and women are blossoms in a strictly scientific sense. + +Fecundation in Hermaphrodites.--The process of fecundation in +hermaphrodite animals is very peculiar. In some cases, as in the snail, +the union of two individuals is usually necessary, though each +possesses both kinds of organs. In other cases, as in the tape-worm, +the oyster, and numerous other mollusks, a single individual has the +power to fertilize its own ova, thus being wholly independent. Human +hermaphrodites are usually so deformed that fecundation is not effected, +which is a fortunate safeguard against the multiplication of such +monstrosities. + +Development.--After the union of the two elements, known as fecundation +or _conception_, if the conditions are favorable, development occurs, +and the little germ is in due process of time developed into an +individual which is an exact counterpart of its parents. During this +developmental process, the embryonic being is variously treated by +different classes of animals. + +Unprotected Development.--Most fishes and reptiles discharge their ova +before fecundation, or soon after, and pay no further attention to them. +The fish deposits its eggs in a little hollow scooped out in the gravelly +bed of a stream, or sows them broadcast upon the waters. The turtle +buries its eggs in the sand, and leaves them to be hatched by the sun. +The ostrich disposes of her eggs in the same way. Many other species +of animals pay no regard to the protection of the germs which are +destined, if placed under favorable conditions, to become individuals +like themselves. + +Partial Protection of the Ovum.--There are some exceptions, however, +to this general rule among fishes and reptiles. Even fishes manifest +a degree of parental solicitude in certain cases. The male of a species +of South American fish gathers up the eggs after fecundation has taken +place, and carries them in his mouth until they are hatched. Another +male fish carries the eggs of his mate in a little pouch upon the lower +and posterior part of his body. + +Certain species of frogs carry their eggs wound about their legs; others +suspend them from the abdomen. Another variety carries its young upon +its back. Prof. Wyman describes a "swamp toad" which patiently takes +the eggs of his mate, one by one, and fastens them upon her back, +observing great regularity in arrangement. These several devices are +evidently for the purpose of protecting, in some degree, the young +individual during the helpless stage of its existence. + +Development in the Higher Animals and Man.--Higher animals are less +prolific, and their development is a more complicated process; hence, +their young need greater protection, and, for this reason, the ova, +instead of being discharged from the body of the female after +fecundation, are retained.[3] As we have seen that a suitable +receptacle is sometimes provided outside of the body, so now a +receptacle is needed, and is provided in the interior of the body of +the female. This receptacle is called + +[Footnote 3: Curious examples of internal development sometimes occur +in animals which usually deposit eggs. Snakes have been known to produce +both eggs and living young at the same time. At the annual meeting of +the American Society for the Advancement of Science, at Detroit, Mich., +in August, 1875, we had the pleasure of examining a specimen, exhibited +by Prof. Wilder, of a chick which had undergone a considerable degree +of development within the ovary of the hen. It had a head, a rudimentary +brain, and internal viscera, but no feathers nor limbs. It was, in fact, +an egg hatched before it had been laid. The anomaly excited much +interest at that time and since among biologists.] + +The Uterus.--This is a hollow, pear-shaped organ, located in the median +line, just behind the bladder, between it and the rectum. It is +supported in place by various ligaments and by the juxtaposition of +other organs. Its larger end is directed upward, and communicates upon +each side with a very narrow tube which is prolonged outward on either +side until it nearly touches the ovary of the same side. Its lower and +smaller end fills the internal extremity of the passage previously +described as the vagina. When an ovum is matured, it escapes from the +ovary into the narrow tube referred to, called the _Fallopian tube_, +and passes down into the cavity of the uterus. If fecundation does not +occur, it is expelled or absorbed after six to twelve or fourteen days. +If copulation occurs, however, zoosperms are brought into the cavity +of the uterus, and, coming in contact with the ovum, fecundate it. This +is _conception_. When the natural process is allowed to proceed, +development occurs. + +Uterine Gestation.--This is the term applied to the process last +referred to. We shall not attempt to describe in detail this most +wonderful and intricate of all living processes; but will sketch only +the chief points, leaving the reader who would obtain a more complete +knowledge of the subject to consult any one of the numerous +physiological and obstetrical works which deal with it in a very +exhaustive manner. + +As soon as the ovum is impregnated by the male element, it begins a +process of symmetrical division. The first division produces two cells +out of the single one which first existed. By the next division, four +segments are produced; then eight, sixteen, etc. While this process +is going on, the ovum becomes adherent to the internal wall of the uterus, +and is soon enveloped by its mucous membrane, which grows up about and +incloses it. + +The Primitive Trace.--When the process of segmentation has advanced +to a certain point, the cells are aggregated together in a compact layer +at the surface. Soon a straight line appears upon this layer, which +is called the _primitive trace_. This delicate line becomes the basis +for the spinal column; and upon and about it the whole individual is +developed by an intricate process of folding, dividing, and +reduplication of the layer of cells. One end of the line becomes the +head, and the other becomes the tail. Even man has a caudal appendage +at an early stage of his existence. After a further lapse of time, little +excrescences, buds, or "pads," appear in the proper positions to +represent the arms and legs. After further development the ends split +up into fingers and toes, and by the continued development of the parts, +perfect arms and legs are formed. + +Curious Relation to Lower Animals.--It is a very remarkable fact that +in the lower animals we have numerous examples in which the permanent +condition of the individual is the same as some one of the stages through +which man passes in the process of development. The same author +previously quoted makes the following interesting statements:-- + +"The webbed feet of the seal and ornithorhynchus typify the period when +the hands and feet of the human embryo are as yet only partly subdivided +into fingers and toes. Indeed, it is not uncommon for the 'web' to +persist to some extent between the toes of adults; and occasionally +children are born with two or more fingers or toes united to their tips. + +"With the seal and the walrus, the limbs are protruded but little beyond +the wrist and ankle. With the ordinary quadrupeds, the knee and elbow +are visible. The cats, the lemurs, and the monkeys form a series in +which the limbs are successively freed from the trunk, and in the +highest apes they are capable of nearly the same movements as the human +arm and leg, which, in their development, passed through all these +stages." + +Simplicity of Early Structures.--The first structures formed are +exceedingly simple in form. It is only by slow degrees that the great +complicity which characterizes many organs is finally attained. For +example, the heart is at first only a straight tube. By enlargement +and the formation of longitudinal and transverse partitions, the fully +developed organ is finally produced. The stomach and intestines are +also at first but a simple straight tube. The stomach and large +intestine are formed by dilatation; and by a growth of the tube in length +while the ends are confined, the small intestines are formed. The other +internal organs are successively developed by similar processes. + +The Stages of Growth.--At first insignificant in size--a simple cell, +the embryonic human being steadily increases in size, gradually +approximating more and more closely to the human form, until, at the +end of about nine calendar months or ten lunar months, the new +individual is prepared to enter the world and begin a more independent +course of life. The following condensation of a summary quoted by Dr. +Austin Flint, Jr., will give an idea of the size of the developing being +at different periods, and the rate of progress:-- + +At the end of the third week, the embryon is a little less than +one-fourth of an inch in length. + +At the end of the seventh week, it is three-fourths of an inch long. +The liver, lungs, and other internal organs are partially formed. + +At the eighth week, it is about one inch in length. It begins to look +some like a human being, but it is impossible to determine the sex. + +At the third month, the embryon has attained the length of two to two +and one-half inches. Its weight is about one ounce. + +At the end of the fourth month, the embryon is called a fetus. It is +from four to five inches long, and weighs five ounces. + +At the fifth month, the fetus is nearly a foot long, and weighs about +half a pound. + +At the sixth month, the average length of the fetus is about thirteen +inches, and its weight one and a half to two pounds. If born, life could +continue a few minutes. + +At the seventh month, the fetus is from fourteen to fifteen inches long, +and weighs two to three pounds. It is now viable (may live if born). + +At the eighth month, the length of the fetus is from fifteen to sixteen +inches, and its weight from three to four pounds. + +At the ninth month, the fetus is about seventeen inches long, and weighs +from five to six pounds. + +At birth, the infant weighs a little more than seven pounds, the usual +range being from four to ten pounds, though these limits are sometimes +exceeded. + +Duration of Gestation.--The length of time required for the development +of a human being is usually reckoned as about forty weeks. A more precise +statement places it at about two hundred and seventy-eight days. This +limit is often varied from. Cases have occurred in which a much longer +time has been required, and numberless cases have occurred in which +human beings have been born several weeks before the expiration of the +usual time, as stated. There is some uncertainty respecting the exact +length of the period of gestation, which grows out of the difficulty +of determining, in many cases, the exact time when conception takes +place. + +Uterine Life.--The uterine life of the new individual begins with the +impregnation of the ovum, which occurs the instant it is brought in +contact with the zoosperms of the male. While in the uterus, the young +life is supported wholly by the mother. She is obliged to provide not +only for her own sustenance, but for the maintenance of her child. And +she must not only eat for it, but breathe for it as well, since it +requires a constant and adequate supply of oxygen before birth as much +as afterward. + +How the Unborn Infant Breathes.--Oxygen and nutriment are both supplied +to it through the medium of an organ called the _placenta_, which is +a spongy growth composed almost entirely of blood-vessels, and is +developed upon the inner wall of the uterus, at the point at which the +ovum attaches itself after fecundation. The growing fetus is connected +with this vascular organ by means of a sort of cable, called the +_umbilical cord_. The cord is almost entirely composed of blood-vessels +which convey the blood of the fetus to the placenta and return it again. +The fetal blood does not mix with that of the mother, but receives oxygen +and nourishment from it by absorption through the thin walls which alone +separate it from the mother's blood. + +The umbilical cord contains no nerves, as there is no nervous connection +between the mother and the child. The only way in which the child can +be influenced by the mother is through the medium of the blood, to +changes in which it is very susceptible, as we shall see more clearly +hereafter. + +The cord is attached to the body of the child at the point called the +_navel_, being cut off at birth by the _accoucheur_. With the placenta, +it is expelled soon after the birth of the child, and constitutes the +shapeless mass familiarly known as the _after-birth_, by the retention +of which the most serious trouble is occasionally caused. + +Parturition.--At the end of the period of development, the young being +is forcibly expelled from the laboratory of nature in which it has been +formed. In other words, it is born; and this process is termed +_parturition_. Though, at first thought, such an act would seem an utter +impossibility, yet it is a very admirable illustration of nature's +adaptation of means to ends. During the months of gestation, while the +uterus has been enlarging to accommodate its daily increasing contents, +the generative passages have also been increasing in size and becoming +soft and distensible, so that a seeming impossibility is in due time +accomplished without physical damage, though possibly not without +intense suffering. However, it is a most gratifying fact that modern +medical science may do much to mitigate the pains of childbirth. It +is possible, by a proper course of preparation for the expected event, +to greatly lessen the suffering usually undergone; and some ladies +assert that they have thus avoided real pain altogether. Although the +curse pronounced upon the feminine part of the race, in consequence +of the sin of Eve, implies suffering in the parturient act, yet there +is no doubt that the greater share of the daughters of Eve are, through +the perverting and degenerating influences of wrong habits and +especially of modern civilization, compelled to suffer many times more +than their maternal ancestor. We have sufficient evidence of this in +the fact that among barbarian women, who are generally less perverted +physically than civilized women, childbirth is regarded with very +little apprehension, since it occasions little pain or inconvenience. +The same is true of many women among the lower laboring classes. In +short, while it is true that more or less suffering must always +accompany the parturient act, yet the excessive pain usually attendant +upon the process is the result of causes which can in many cases be +removed by proper management beforehand and at the time of confinement. + +After being relieved of its contents, the uterus and other organs +rapidly return to nearly their original size. + +Changes in the Child at Birth.--In the system of the child a wonderful +change occurs at the moment of its expulsion into the outer world. For +the first time, its lungs are filled with air. For the first time they +receive the full tide of blood. The whole course of the circulation +is changed, and an entirely new process begins. It is surprising in +how short a space of time changes so marvelous can be wrought. + +Nursing.--The process of development is not fully complete at birth. +The young life is not yet prepared to support itself; hence, still +further provision is necessary for it. It requires prepared food suited +to its condition. This is provided by the _mammae_, or breasts, of the +female, which are glands for secreting milk. The fully developed gland +is peculiar to the female; but a few instances have been known in which +it has been sufficiently developed to become functionally active in +men, as well as in young girls, though it is usually inactive even in +women until near the close of gestation. It is a curious fact that the +breasts of a new-born child occasionally contain milk. + +The first product of the mammae is not the proper milk secretion, but +is a yellowish fluid called _colostrum _. The true milk secretion begins +two or three days after delivery. + +The lacteal secretion is influenced in a very remarkable manner by the +mental conditions of the mother. By sudden emotions of grief or anger, +it has been known to undergo such changes as to produce in the child +a fit of indigestion, vomiting, diarrhea, and even convulsions and +death. Any medicine taken by the mother finds its way into the milk, +and often affects the delicate system of the infant more than herself. +This fact should be a warning to those nursing mothers who use +stimulants. Cases are not uncommon in which delicate infants are kept +in a state of intoxication for weeks by the use of alcoholic drinks +by the mother. The popular notion that lager-beer, ale, wine, or alcohol +in any other form, is in any degree necessary or beneficial to a nursing +woman is a great error which cannot be too often noticed and condemned. +Not only is the mother injured, instead of being benefited by such a +practice, but great injury, sometimes life-long in its consequences, +is inflicted upon the babe at her breast who takes the intoxicating +poison at second hand, and is influenced in a fourfold degree from its +feebleness and great susceptibility. + + +ANATOMY OF THE REPRODUCTIVE ORGANS. + +Having now considered the functions and somewhat of the structures of +the principal organs of reproduction, we may obtain a more definite +idea of the relation of the several organs of each class by a connected +review of the anatomy of the parts. + +Male Organs.--As previously stated, the external organs of generation +in the male are the _penis_ and the _testicles_, the latter being +contained in a pouch called the _scrotum_. The penis is the organ of +urination as well as copulation. Its structure is cellular, and it +contains a vast number of minute coils of blood-vessels which become +turgid with blood under the influence of sexual excitement, producing +distention and erection of the organ. A canal passes through its entire +length, called the _urethra_, which conveys both the urine and the +seminal fluid. The organ is protected by a loose covering of integument +which folds over the end. This fold is called the _foreskin_ or +_prepuce_. + +The fluid formed by each testicle is conveyed by the _vas deferens_, +a curved tube about two feet in length, to the base of the bladder. +Here the vas deferens joins with another duct which communicates with +an elongated pouch, the _vesicula seminalis_, which lies close upon +the under side of the bladder. The single tube thus formed, the +_ejaculatory duct_, conveys the seminal fluid to the urethra, from +which it is discharged. + +As the production of seminal fluid is more or less constant in man and +some animals, while its discharge is intermittent, the vesiculae +seminales serve as reservoirs for the fluid, preserving it until +required, or allowing it to undergo absorption. Some claim that the +zoosperms are matured in these organs. They always contain seminal +fluid after the age of puberty. During coition, their contents are +forcibly expelled by a spasmodic contraction of the muscles which +surround them and the ducts leading from them. + +The Prostate Gland.--Surrounding the ejaculatory ducts and their +openings into the urethra at the base of the bladder is the _prostate +gland_, which produces a peculiar secretion which forms a considerable +portion of the seminal fluid, being mingled with the secretion of the +testes during its ejaculation. This gland sometimes becomes the seat +of somewhat serious disease. In old age it usually becomes somewhat +indurated, and often to such an extent as to seriously affect the health +and comfort of the individual by interference with urination and by +occasioning pain. + +Anterior to this organ, in the urethra, is a curious little pouch, the +_utriculus_, which corresponds to the vagina and uterus in the female. +Just in front of the prostate gland are two small bodies known as +Cowper's glands. They secrete a fluid which combines with the seminal +secretion. + +Female Organs.--The _ovaries_, _uterus_, or _womb_, _Fallopian tubes_, +and _vagina_ have already been described in part. The external organs +of the female are included in the term _vulva_ or _pudenda_. The most +superficial parts are the _labia_, two thick folds of integument. Just +within these are two thinner folds, the _labia minora_ or _nymphae_. +These, together with the _clitoris_, situated just above, are extremely +sensitive organs, being the chief seat of sexual sense in the female. +At the lower part is the opening to the vagina, which in the virgin +is usually partially guarded by a thin membrane, the _hymen_. This is +not always a reliable test of virginity, however, as commonly regarded, +since it may be destroyed by disease or accident, and may exist even +after the occurrence of pregnancy. + +The vagina extends from the vulva to the lower end of the uterus, which +it incloses, passing between the bladder and the rectum. The lower +extremity of the uterus presents a small opening which leads into its +interior. Upon either side, at its upper and larger end, is a minute +opening, the mouth of the Fallopian tube. The latter organs extend from +the uterus outward nearly to the ovaries, toward which they present +a number of small filaments, one of which is in contact with each ovary. +These filaments, together with the interior of the tubes, are covered +with a peculiar kind of cells, upon which are minute cilia, or hairs, +in constant motion. Very curiously, they all move in the same direction, +toward the cavity of the uterus. When an ovum escapes from the ovary +in connection with menstruation, it is by these delicate hairs +propelled along a filament of tissue to the Fallopian tube, and thence +by the same means is conveyed to the uterus. It may come in contact +with the zoosperms at any point between the ovary and the lower orifice +of the uterus, and thus undergo fecundation. + +Puberty.--For a certain period after birth, the sexual organs remain +in a partially developed condition. This period varies in duration with +different animals; in some cases being very brief, in others, +comprising several years. Upon the attainment of a certain age, the +individual becomes sexually perfect, and is then capable of the +generative act. This period is called puberty. In man, puberty commonly +occurs between the ages of ten and fifteen years, varying considerably +in different climates. In this country, and in other countries of about +the same latitude, puberty usually occurs at the age of fourteen or +fourteen and one-half years in females, and a few months later in males. +In cooler climates, as in Norway and Siberia, the change is delayed +to the age of eighteen or nineteen years. In tropical climates it is +hastened, occurring as early as nine or ten years. In warm climates +it is no uncommon thing for a girl to be a mother at twelve; and it +is stated that one of the wives of Mahomet was a mother at ten. + +Other causes besides climate tend to hasten the occurrence of this +change, as habits, temperament, constitutional tendency, education, +and idiosyncrasy. + +Habits of vigorous physical exercise tend to delay the access of puberty. +For this reason, together with others, country boys and girls generally +mature later than those living in the city by several months, and even +a year or two. Anything that tends to excite the emotions hastens +puberty. The excitements of city life, parties, balls, theaters, even +the competition of students in school, and the various causes of +excitement to the nervous system which occur in city life, have a +tendency to hasten the occurrence of the change which awakens the sexual +activities of the system into life. Hence, these influences cannot but +be considered prejudicial to the best interests of the individual, +mentally, morally, and physically, since it is in every way desirable +that a change which arouses the passions and gives to them greater +intensity should be delayed rather than hastened. + +Influence of Diet on Puberty.--The dietary has a not unimportant +influence in this respect. Stimulating food, such as pepper, vinegar, +mustard, spices, and condiments generally, together with tea and coffee, +and an excess of animal food, have a clearly appreciable influence in +inducing the premature occurrence of puberty. On this account, if on +no other, should these articles be prohibited to children and youth, +or used very sparingly. Those who advocate the large use of meat by +children and youth have not studied this matter closely in all its +bearings. While it is true that children and growing youth require an +abundance of the nitrogenous elements of food which are found +abundantly in beefsteak, mutton, fish, and other varieties of animal +food, it is also true that in taking those articles of food they take +along with the nutrient elements properties of a stimulating character, +which exert a decidedly detrimental influence upon the susceptible +systems of children and youth. At the same time, it is possible to obtain +the same desirable nitrogenous elements in oatmeal, unbolted wheat +flour, peas, beans, and other vegetable productions, which are wholly +free from injurious properties. We are positive from numerous +observations on this subject, that a cool, unstimulating, vegetable +or farinaceous diet would deter the development of the sexual organism +for several months, and perhaps for a year or two. + +While it might not be in all cases desirable to do this, it would at +least be wise to adopt such measures in cases in which the child is +unavoidably exposed to influences which have a tendency to hasten the +change. + +It is important to add in this connection a word of caution against +the adoption of a dietary too abstemious in character. It is necessary +that an abundance of good, wholesome food, rich in the elements of +nutrition, should be taken regularly. There is no doubt that many young +ladies have induced conditions of serious disease by actual starvation +of the system. A young woman who attempts to live on strong tea or coffee, +fine-flour bread, and sweet cake, is as certainly starving herself as +though she were purposely attempting to commit suicide by means of +starvation, and with as much certainty of the same result. + +Brunettes Naturally Precocious.--It has been observed that in girls +the occurrence of puberty is earlier in brunettes than in blondes; and +in general it makes its appearance earlier in persons of a nervous or +nervo-bilious temperament than in persons of a lymphatic temperament +or phlegmatic nature. + +Certain nationalities and families are marked by the earlier occurrence +of puberty than in others. In Jews, the change is commonly a year or +two in advance of other nationalities in this country. It also occurs +somewhat sooner in negroes and creoles than in white persons, the +African race seeming to retain something of the precocity occasioned +by the tropical influence of its native clime. + +Remarkable Precocity.--Cases occasionally occur in which puberty makes +its appearance at the age of three or four years. Indeed, a case has +been reported in this country in which a female child possessed all +the characteristics which are usually developed at puberty, from birth. +In this case the regular periodical changes began at birth. + +Premature Development Occasions Early Decay.--A fact which is of too +great importance to allow to pass unnoticed, is that whatever occasions +early or premature sexual development, also occasions premature decay. +Females in whom puberty occurs at the age of ten or twelve, by the time +their age is doubled, are shriveled and wrinkled with age. At the time +when they should be in their prime of health and beauty, they are +prematurely old and broken. Those women who mature late retain their +beauty and their strength many years after their precocious sisters +have become old, decrepit, and broken down. Thus, the matrons of thirty +and forty years in colder climates are much more attractive in +appearance than the maidens of sixteen; while quite the reverse is true +in this and other countries where sexual development is unduly +hastened. + +Early Puberty a Cause for Anxiety.--The unnaturally early appearance +of puberty is a just cause for apprehension, since it usually indicates +an inherent weakness of the constitution. When there are reasons for +fearing its occurrence, active measures should be taken to occasion +delay if possible. We call especial attention to this point, since there +are many who erroneously suppose the early occurrence of puberty to +be a sign of superior vigor. + +Changes which Occur at Puberty.--The changes which occur in the two +sexes at this period have been thus described:-- + +"In both sexes, hair grows on the skin covering the _symphysis pubis_, +around the sexual organs, and in the axillae (armpits). In man, the +chest and shoulders broaden, the larynx enlarges, and the voice becomes +lower in pitch from the elongation of the vocal cords; hair grows upon +the chin, upper lip, and cheeks, and often exists upon the general +surface of the body more abundantly than in woman." The sexual organs +undergo enlargement, and are more frequently excited. The testicles +first begin the secretion of the seminal fluid. + +"In woman, the pelvis and abdomen enlarge, but the whole frame remains +more slender, the muscles and joints less prominent, the limbs more +rounded and tapering [than in the male]. Locally, both external and +internal organs undergo a considerable and rapid enlargement. The +mammae enlarge, the ovarian vesicles become dilated, and there is +established a periodical discharge of one or more ova, accompanied, +in most cases, by a sanguineous fluid from the cavity of the uterus." + +These changes, so varied and extraordinary, often occur within a very +short space of time; and as they are liable to serious derangement, +especially in the female, great care should be taken to secure for the +individual the most favorable conditions until they are successfully +effected. It is, however, a fact deserving of mention, that many of +the ills which are developed at this particular period are quite as +much the result of previous indiscretions and mismanagement as of any +immediate cause. A few suggestions with regard to the proper treatment +of individuals at this age may be in place. + +1. Do not allow the boy or girl to be overworked, either mentally or +physically. Great and important changes are occurring within the body, +and nature should not be overtaxed. + +2. Keep the mind occupied. While excessive labor should be avoided, +idleness should be as carefully shunned. Some light, useful employment +or harmless amusement--better some kind of work--should keep the mind +fully occupied with wholesome subjects. + +3. Abundant exercise out-of-doors is essential for both sexes. Sunshine +and fresh air are as necessary to the development of a human being as +for the expanding of a flower bud. + +4. Watch carefully the associations of the youth. This should be done +at all times, but especially just at the critical period in question, +when the general physical disturbances occurring in the system react +upon the mind and make it peculiarly susceptible to influences, +especially those of an evil character. + +5. None too much care can be exercised at this important epoch of human +life, provided it is properly applied; but nothing could be more +disastrous in its consequences than a weak solicitude which panders +to every whim and gratifies every perverted appetite. _Such_ care is +a fatal error. + +Menstruation.--The functional changes which occur in the female are +much more marked than those of the male. As already intimated, the +periodical development and discharge of an ovum by the female, which +occurs after puberty, is accompanied by the discharge of a bloody fluid, +which is known as the _flowers_, _menses_, or _catamenia_. The +accompanying symptoms together are termed the process of +_menstruation_, or _being unwell_. This usually occurs, in the human +female, once in about four weeks. In special cases, the interval may +be a week less or a week longer; or the variation may be even greater. +Dalton describes the process as follows:-- + +"When the expected period is about to come on, the female is affected +by a certain degree of discomfort and lassitude, a sense of weight in +the pelvis, and more or less disinclination to society. These symptoms +are in some cases slightly pronounced, in others more troublesome. An +unusual discharge of vaginal mucus then begins to take place, which +soon becomes yellowish or rusty brown in color, from the admixture of +a certain proportion of blood; and by the second or third day, the +discharge has the appearance of nearly pure blood. The unpleasant +sensations which were at first manifest, then usually subside; and the +discharge, after continuing for a certain period, begins to grow more +scanty. Its color changes from a pure red to a brownish or rusty tinge, +until it finally disappears altogether, and the female returns to her +ordinary condition." + +The menstrual function continues active from puberty to about the +forty-fifth year, or during the period of fertility. When it finally +disappears, the woman is no longer capable of bearing children. The +time of disappearance is termed the "change of life," or _menopause_. +Exceptional cases occur in which this period is greatly hastened, +arriving as early as the thirty-fifth year, or even earlier. Instances +have also been observed in which menstruation continued as late as the +sixtieth year, and even later; but such cases are very rare; and if +procreation occurs, the progeny is feeble and senile. + +With rare exceptions, the function is suspended during pregnancy, and +usually, also, during the period of nursing. + +Nature of Menstruation.--There has been a great amount of speculation +concerning the cause and nature of the menstrual process. No entirely +satisfactory conclusions have been reached, however, except that it +is usually accompanied by the maturation and expulsion from the ovary +of an ovum, which is termed ovulation. But menstruation may occur +without ovulation, and, _vice versa_. + +Menstruation is not peculiar to the human female, being represented +in the higher animals by what is familiarly termed the "rut." This is +not usually a bloody discharge, however, as in the human female, though +such a discharge has been observed in the monkey. + +It has been quite satisfactorily settled that the discharge of the ovum +from the ovary generally takes place about the time of the cessation +of the flow. Immediately after the discharge, the sexual desires of +the female are more intense than at other times. This fact is +particularly manifest in lower animals. The following remark by Prof. +Dalton is especially significant to those who care to appreciate its +bearing:-- + +"It is a remarkable fact, in this connection, that the female of these +[domestic] animals will allow the approaches of the male only during +and immediately after the oestrual period [rut]; that is, just when +the egg is recently discharged, and ready for impregnation. At other +times, when sexual intercourse would be necessarily fruitless, the +instinct of the animal leads her to avoid it; and the concourse of the +sexes is accordingly made to correspond in time with the maturity of +the egg and its aptitude for fecundation." + +The amount of fluid lost during the menstrual flow varies greatly with +different individuals. It is estimated at from three ounces to half +a pint. In cases of deranged function, it may be much greater than this. +It is not all blood, however, a considerable portion being mucus. It +is rather difficult to understand why the discharge of so considerable +a quantity of blood is required. There is no benefit derived from a +very copious discharge, as some suppose. Facts seem to indicate that +in general those enjoy the best health who lose but small quantities +of blood in this manner. + +A Critical Period.--As the first occurrence of menstruation is a very +critical period in the life of a female, and as each recurrence of the +function renders her especially susceptible to morbid influences, and +liable to serious derangements, a few hints respecting the proper care +of an individual at these periods may be acceptable. + +Important Hints.--1. Avoid taking cold. To do this, it is necessary +to avoid exposure; not that a person must be constantly confined in +a warm room, for such a course would be the surest way in which to +increase the susceptibility to cold. Nothing will disturb the menstrual +process more quickly than a sudden chilling of the body when in a state +of perspiration, or after confinement in a warm room, by exposure, +without sufficient protection, to cold air. A daily bath and daily +exercise in the open air are the best known means of preventing colds. + +2. Intense mental excitement, as well as severe physical labor, is to +be sedulously avoided during this period. At the time of its first +occurrence, special care should be observed in this direction. Intense +study, a fit of anger, sudden grief, or even great merriment, will +sometimes arrest the process prematurely. The feeling of _malaise_ +which usually accompanies the discharge is by nature intended as a +warning that rest and quiet are required; and the hint should be +followed. Every endeavor should be made to keep the individual +comfortable, calm, and cheerful. Feelings of apprehension arising from +a continual watching of symptoms are very depressing, and should be +avoided by occupying the mind in some agreeable manner not demanding +severe effort, either mental or physical. + +There is no doubt that many young women have permanently injured their +constitutions while at school by excessive mental taxation during the +catamenial period, to which they were prompted by ambition to excel, +or were compelled by the "cramming" system too generally pursued in +our schools, and particularly in young ladies' seminaries. It is not +to be supposed, however, that the moderate amount of sound study +required by a correct system of teaching would be injurious to a healthy +young woman at any time, and we have no doubt that a very large share +of the injury which has been attributed to over-study during the +catamenia has been induced by other causes, such as improper dress, +exposure to taking cold, keeping late hours, and improper diet. + +If there is any class of persons deserving of pity it is that large +class of girls and young women who are in every large city employed +as clerks, seamstresses, flower makers, and in other taxing and +confining occupations. In order to keep their situations they are +required to be on hand daily, being allowed no opportunity for rest +at the menstrual period. In many cases, too, they are compelled to +remain upon their feet all day behind a counter, or at a work table, +even at periods when a recumbent position is actually demanded by nature. +There should be less delicacy in relation to this subject on the part +of young women, and more consideration on the part of employers. Here +is a field for philanthropic effort which is well worthy of the best +efforts of any person of influence who will engage in it. + +Custom of Indian Women.--The ease with which Indian women perform the +parturient act is proverbial. They suffer scarcely at all from the pains +of childbirth; and without doubt one reason of this is the preservation +of their sexual health by rest during the menstrual period. At those +seasons they invariably absent themselves from the lodge, and enjoy +absolute rest. We may readily suppose, from the nature of some of the +Mosaic laws, that a custom somewhat similar prevailed among the ancient +Hebrew women. If the hardy women of the forest are benefited by rest, +certainly our more delicate females may be thus benefited. All need +a degree of rest; with some it should be absolute. + +The reckless manner in which some young women treat themselves at the +menstrual period, is quite appalling to one who is acquainted with the +painful and inveterate character of the evils which arise from such +abuse. It is no uncommon thing for young ladies to attend balls, visit +skating rinks, and otherwise expose themselves to the influences in +every way the best calculated to do them the most harm at this particular +period, observing not the slightest precaution. Such recklessness is +really criminal; and the sad consequences of physical transgression +are sure to follow. A young lady who allows herself to get wet or chilled, +or gets the feet wet, just prior to or during menstruation, runs the +risk of imposing upon herself life-long injury. Mothers should look +carefully after their daughters at these periods, and impress upon them +the importance of special care. + +3. A third hint, which is applicable to both sexes and at all times, +is the necessity of attending promptly to the demands of nature for +relief of the bowels and bladder. School-girls are often very negligent +in this respect; and we have seen the most distressing cases of disease +which were entirely attributable to this disregard of the promptings +of nature. Obstinate constipation and chronic irritation of the bladder +are common effects. When constipation results, purgatives in the shape +of pills, salts, or "pleasant purgative pellets," are resorted to with +the certain result of producing only temporary relief, and permanent +damage. + +To escape these evil consequences, do this: 1. Establish a regular habit +of relieving the bowels daily at a certain hour; 2. Discard laxative +and cathartic drugs of every kind; 3. To aid in securing a regular +movement of the bowels, make a liberal use of oatmeal, wheat-meal, fruit, +and vegetables, avoiding fine-flour bread, sweetmeats, and condiments; +4. Take daily exercise, as much as possible short of fatigue; if +necessarily confined indoors, counteract the constipating influence +of sedentary habits by kneading and percussing the bowels with the hands +several minutes each day; 5. Never resist the calls of nature a single +moment, if possible to avoid it. In this case, as in numerous others, +"delay is dangerous." Ladies who desire a sweet breath--and what lady +does not--should remember that retained feces are one of the most +frequent causes of foul breath. The foul odors which ought to pass out +through the bowels find their way into the blood and escape at the lungs. +A medical man whose sense of smell is delicate soon learns to know a +constipated person by the breath. As one says, "What is more offensive +than the breath of a costive child?" + +Boerhaave, a famous old Dutch physician, left to his heirs an elegantly +bound volume in which, he claimed, were written all the secrets of the +science of physic. After his death, the wonderful book was opened, when +it was found to contain only the following sentence:-- + +"Keep the head cool, the feet warm, and the bowels open." + +An old Scotch physician once gave the following advice to Sir Astley +Cooper for the preservation of health:-- + +"Keep in the fear of the Lord, and your bowels open." + +4. Perhaps nothing tends more directly to the production of menstrual +derangements--as well as uterine diseases of every sort--than +fashionable modes of dress. We have not space here to give to the subject +the attention it deserves; it will be found treated of in works devoted +to the subject of dress exclusively. Some of the most glaring evils +are,-- + +(1) Unequal distribution of clothing. The trunk, especially the abdomen +and pelvis, is covered with numerous layers of clothing, an extra amount +being caused by the overlapping of the upper and lower garments. Very +frequently, the amount of clothing upon these, the most vital parts, +is excessive. At the same time, the limbs are sometimes almost in a +state of nudity. A single cotton garment, or at most one of thin flannel, +is the only protection afforded to the limbs beneath the skirts, which +often serve no better purpose than to collect cold air and retain it +in contact with the limbs. A thin stocking is the only protection for +the ankles, and a thin shoe is the only additional covering afforded +the feet. Under such circumstances, it is no wonder that a woman catches +cold if she only steps out-of-doors on a chilly or damp day. + +(2) Another glaring fault is in the manner of suspending the skirts. +Instead of being fastened to a waist or suspended so as to give them +support from the shoulders, they are hung upon the hips, being drawn +tight at the waist to secure support. By this means, the organs of the +pelvis are pressed down out of place. The uterus becomes congested, +and painful menstrual derangements ensue. + +(3) Tight lacing, or compressing the waist with a corset, is a barbarous +practice which produces the same results as the one last mentioned. +Reform in all of these particulars is an imperative necessity for every +woman who desires to secure or retain sexual health. + +It is of the greatest importance that careful attention should be given +to the proper establishment of the menstrual function at the outset +of a woman's life of sexual activity. The first two years will be quite +likely to have a deciding influence respecting her health during her +whole future life. If a woman can get through the first two years after +puberty without acquiring any serious uterine or ovarian disease, she +will stand a good chance of enjoying a good degree of sexual health +during the balance of her life. The foundation of a great share of the +many thousands of cases of uterine disease is laid during this period. + +At this early period the daughter is usually too young to appreciate +the importance of observing slight deviations from the standard of +health, even if she were able to recognize them. Hence it is a duty +which no mother should neglect, to inquire into the exact frequency +of the periods, the amount and character of the discharge, and other +points necessary to ascertain whether or not there is any deviation +from the natural condition of health. If there is pain, it is a certain +evidence of something seriously wrong. If there is irregularity in any +particular, it is a matter well deserving of serious attention. + +Menorrhagia.--This condition is that in which there is a too profuse +discharge of blood. The system is weakened by the loss, and, so much +so, in many cases, that the individual does not recover her accustomed +strength before the occurrence of the next period, when she becomes +weakened still more. By a continuance of this periodical loss, the +person may be reduced to a state of almost utter helplessness. A deathly +pallor of the countenance, extreme emaciation, loss of strength, and +general debility mark the effects of the constant drain upon the system. +Thousands of young women continue to suffer in this way year after year, +until their constitutions are almost hopelessly wrecked, being +deterred by false notions of modesty or delicacy from consulting a +proper medical adviser and finding relief. + +The observance of a few simple precautions, and the application of +proper remedies, will check the unnatural loss in most of these cases +very promptly. In the first place, absolute rest, chiefly in a supine +position, must be observed not only during the menstrual period, but +for a few days previous to its commencement. If this does not restrain +the flow, then cool and even cold compresses may be applied to the lower +part of the abdomen and to the small of the back. In severe cases no +harm will come from the use of an ice-compress, made by inclosing +pounded ice between the folds of a towel. Great care must be taken to +make the hands, arms, feet, and limbs thoroughly warm by the application +of warm bottles and woolen blankets. These measures will scarcely fail +to accomplish the desired end, if employed thoroughly and judiciously. +It may be well to add just here that the popular fear of using cold +in such cases is groundless. No harm can come so long as the extremities +are kept warm, and the circulation well balanced. The patient must not +be made chilly, however. It is also of importance that the patient be +kept mentally quiet as well as physically so. + +Much good will result from these simple measures at the time of the +period; but a radical cure can only be effected by removing the cause +of the difficulty. The patient's general health must be improved, and +local congestion must be removed. This will be accomplished by +attention to general hygiene, gentle exercise out-of-doors between the +periods, abundance of good food, tonic baths and other necessary +treatment if there is derangement of the digestive organs, and daily +hip baths with a local douche. The hip bath should be taken in water +of a temperature of 92 degrees at the beginning. After five minutes +the temperature may be lowered 5 degrees. After five minutes more, it +may be lowered a few degrees more. By taking a warm foot bath at 95 +degrees or 100 degrees at the same time, quite a cool bath may be endured +without chilling. The bath should be continued 15 minutes to 30 minutes, +according to the strength of the patient. A shorter bath than this will +do little good, as the sedative effect will not be obtained. + +The douche may be taken at the same time with the bath, or before, as +is most convenient. The fountain or syphon syringe should be employed, +and the water used should range from 95 degrees to 105 degrees, as best +suits the sensations of the patient, being cooled a little toward the +last. In general, the hot douche, of a temperature from 100 degrees +to 115 degrees, or even 120 degrees, is not only more agreeable, but +much more beneficial. + +By these simple remedies alone we have successfully treated scores of +cases of this sort. In some cases other remedies may be required, and +in nearly all, accessory remedies can be employed to advantage; but +the measures described are the main features of the most successful +mode of treatment. + +Dysmenorrhoea.--This condition is that in which there is more or less +pain and difficulty in connection with the menstrual process. The +causes are various, as congestion of the uterus, malformation, and +displacement or distortion of the organ. Some of these conditions +require the attention of a skilled physician to remedy; but all will +be palliated more or less by a course of treatment similar to that +described for the previous condition. A warm sitz or hip bath just at +the beginning of the period will often give almost magical relief. The +application of fomentations over the lower part of the abdomen, and +the corresponding portion of the spine, or of hot bags, bottles, etc., +in the same localities, is a measure of great utility. The patient +should be covered warm in bed, should keep quiet, and great care should +be used to keep the extremities well warmed. The use of electricity +is a very valuable aid in numerous cases, but this requires the services +of a physician, who should always be employed in severe cases when +within reach. + +In many cases of this form of disease the suffering is so great that +the constant dread of its periodical repetition becomes a source of +great unhappiness, and casts a gloom over the life of an individual +who would otherwise be as happy as could be desired. + +Amenorrhoea and Chlorosis.--These are serious disorders which require +prompt and vigorous attention. They depend less frequently on disorder +of the sexual organs themselves than upon some disorder of the general +system. They usually demand the attention of a competent physician, +and require a more accurate description of their nature and of proper +modes of treatment than we have space to give here. + +Hysteria.--From the most remote ages of medical history this disease +has been regarded as intimately connected with morbid states of the +female organs of generation, especially the uterus. That it is not +exclusively produced by causes of this kind is evidenced by the fact +that men also sometimes suffer from this curious malady. The phases +which it assumes are so numerous that we shall not attempt an accurate +description of it; neither is this required, as there are few who are +not familiar with its peculiar manifestations. It simulates almost +every disease. Even consumption and other formidable maladies have been +so completely simulated by this disorder as to deceive physicians of +long experience. We have met cases in which young ladies were supposed +to be in the last stages of pulmonary disease, were apparently gasping +almost their last breath, panting, coughing, and experiencing the usual +symptoms which accompany tuberculous disease of the lungs, when, upon +making a thorough physical examination of the chest, we could find no +evidence of pulmonary disease. In one case we incurred the everlasting +displeasure of a young lady by disclosing the real state of affairs; +but we were repaid in seeing an immediate disappearance of the symptoms, +and complete recovery within six weeks, although the young woman had +been considered hopelessly ill by her friends and physicians for six +months, and was tenderly watched over, petted, and mourned by friends +as one who must soon fall a victim to fell disease. + +The foundation of this disease is almost always laid in some +indiscretion by means of which disease of the uterus is induced, and +the most careful attention to this part of the organism is required. +It should not be treated as a trivial matter which is wholly the result +of a diseased imagination, and requires only mental treatment, since +it is a real malady, dependent upon morbid states of the system. It +requires substantial and thorough treatment as much as rheumatism, +dyspepsia, or any other of the numerous diseases to which humanity is +subject. + +Prevention Better than Cure.--We might mention numerous other diseased +conditions which grow out of inattention to the laws of health relating +to the sexual organism; but to dwell longer upon this part of the subject +would be to depart from the plan of this work, and we must forbear. +This whole class of maladies is noted for obstinacy in great numbers +of cases when the morbid conditions have existed for a long time. In +addition it should be remarked that some of the most inveterate +disorders of the nervous system originate in this same manner. The +thousands of ladies who are suffering with spinal irritation, organic +disease of the spine and other nervous disorders, are witnesses to this +fact. It is apparent, then, that prevention of these serious maladies +by attention to sexual hygiene, especially to the hygiene of +menstruation at the first establishment of that function, is a matter +of gravest importance. In fact, attention to hygiene is about all that +is required. With this, drugs will be rarely required; without, they +will be utterly useless. + +Extra-Uterine Pregnancy.--Sometimes the ovum becomes fecundated +before reaching the uterus, and, instead of passing onward into that +organ as usual, remains in its position in the Fallopian tube or even +on the surface of the ovary. Occasionally an ovum falls into the cavity +of the abdomen instead of passing into the tube. Even in this situation +it may be fecundated. Impregnated ova thus left in abnormal positions, +undergo a greater or lesser degree of development. They commonly result +in the death of the mother. + +Twins.--The human female usually matures but one ovum at each menstrual +period, the two ovaries acting alternately. Occasionally two ova are +matured at once. If fecundation occurs, the result will be a development +of two embryos at the same time. In rare cases, three or even four ova +are matured at once, and by fecundation produce a corresponding number +of embryos. As many as five children have been born alive at one birth, +but have not lived more than a few minutes. + +The occurrence of multiple pregnancies may be explained by the +supposition that ova matured subsequent to the first fecundation are +also fecundated. + +In lower animals, the uterus is often divided into two long segments +which afford room for the development of a number of young at once. +Some ancient writers make most absurd statements with regard to the +fecundity of females. One declares that the simultaneous birth of seven +or eight infants by the same mother was an ordinary occurrence with +Egyptian women! Other statements still more extravagant are made by +writers. For example: A traveler in the seventeenth century wrote that +he saw, in the year 1630, in a church near the Hague, a tablet on which +was an inscription stating that a certain noted countess gave birth +at once, in the year 1276, to 365 infants, who were all baptized and +christened, the males being all called John, and the females, Elizabeth. +They all died on the day of their birth, with their mother, according +to the account, and were buried in the church, where a tablet was erected +to their memory. + +Monsters.--Defects and abnormalities in the development of the embryon +produce all degrees of deviation from the typical human form. Excessive +development may result in an extra finger or toe, or in the production +of some peculiar excrescence. Deficiency of development may produce +all degrees of abnormality from the simple harelip to the most frightful +deficiency, as the absence of a limb, or even of a head. It is in this +manner that those unfortunate individuals known as hermaphrodites are +formed. An excessive development of some parts of the female generative +organs gives them a great degree of similarity to the external organs +of the male. A deficient development of the male organs renders them +very similar in form to those of the female. Redundant development of +the sexual organism sometimes results in the development of both kinds +of organs in the same individual in a state more or less complete. Cases +have occurred in which it has become necessary, for legal purposes, +to decide respecting the sex of an individual suffering from defective +development, and it has sometimes been exceedingly difficult to decide +in a given case whether the individual was male or female. + +Such curious cases as the Carolina twins and Chang and Eng were formerly +supposed to be the result of the union of two separate individuals. +It is now believed that they are developed from a single ovum. It has +been observed that the primitive trace--described in a previous +section--sometimes undergoes partial division longitudinally. If it +splits a little at the anterior end, the individual will have a single +body with two heads. If a partial division occurs at each end, the +resulting being will possess two heads and two pairs of legs joined +to a single body. More complete division produces a single trunk with +two heads, two pairs of arms, and two pairs of legs, as in the case +of the Carolina twins. Still more complete division may result in the +formation of two perfect individuals almost entirely independent of +each other, physiologically, but united by a narrow band, as in the +remarkable Siamese twins, Chang and Eng. + +In a curious case reported not a great while ago, a partially developed +infant was amputated from the cheek of a child some time after birth. + +The precise cause of these strange modifications of development is as +yet, in great degree, a mystery. + +Hybrids.--It is a well-known law of biology that no progeny result from +union of animals of different species. Different varieties of the same +species may in some cases form a fertile union, the result of which +is a cross between its two parents, possessing some of the qualities +of each. The mule is the product of such a union between the horse and +the ass. A curious fact is that the offspring of such unions are +themselves sterile almost without exception. The reason of this is that +they do not produce mature elements of generation. In the mule, the +zoosperms are either entirely absent or else very imperfectly +developed; hence the fact that a colt having a mule for its sire is +one of the rarest of curiosities, though a few instances have been +reported. This is a wise law of nature to preserve the purity of species. + +Law of Sex.--If there is a law by which the sex of the developing embryon +is determined, it probably has not yet been discovered. The influence +of the will, the predominant vitality of one or the other of the parents, +and the period at which conception occurs, have all been supposed to +be the determining cause. A German physician some time since advanced +the theory that the two testicles and ovaries produce elements of +different sexual character, the right testicle forming zoosperms +capable of producing only males, and the right ovary producing ova with +the same peculiarity. The left testis and the left ovary he supposed +to form the female elements. He claimed to have proved his theory by +experiments upon animals. Even if true, this theory will not be made +of practical importance. It is, in fact, nothing more than a revival +of an old theory held by physicians who flourished more than two +thousand years ago. + +More recently another German physician has advanced the theory that +the sex may be controlled at will by observing the time of fecundation. +He asserts that when fecundation occurs shortly after menstruation, +the result will be a female; but if impregnation occurs later in the +month, and prior to the three or four days preceding the next menstrual +period, a male will almost certainly be produced. This theory was +proposed by Prof. Thury of the academy of Geneva, who claims to have +thoroughly tested it in a great variety of ways, and always with an +affirmative result. Dr. Heitzman, of New York, an instructor in +pathological histology, and an eminent physiologist, informs us that +he has thoroughly tested this theory, and finds it to be entirely +reliable. There are numerous facts which seem to corroborate the truth +of this theory, and future investigations may give to it the dignity +of an established physiological fact. + +Heredity.--The phenomena of heredity are among the most interesting +of biological studies. It is a matter of common observation that a child +looks like its parents. It even happens that a child resembles an uncle +or a grandparent more nearly than either parent. The same peculiarities +are often seen in animals. + +The cause of this resemblance of offspring to parents and ancestors +has been made a subject of careful study by scientific men. We shall +present the most recent theory adopted, which, although it be but a +theory, presents such an array of facts in its support, and explains +the phenomena in question so admirably, that it must be regarded as +something more than a plausible hypothesis. It is the conception of +one of the most distinguished scientists of the age. The theory is known +as the doctrine of _pangenesis_, and is essentially as follows:-- + +It is a fact well known to physiologists that every part of the living +body is made up of cellular elements which have the power to reproduce +themselves in the individual, thus repairing the damage resulting from +waste and injury. Each cell produces cells like itself. It is further +known that there are found in the body numerous central points of growth. +In every group of cells is found a central cell from which the others +originated, and which determines the form of their growth. Every minute +structure possesses such a center. A simple proof of this fact is found +in the experiment in which the spur of a cock was grafted upon the ear +of an ox. It lived in this novel situation eight years, attaining the +length of nine inches, and nearly a pound in weight. A tooth has been +made to grow upon the comb of a cock in a similar manner. The tail of +a pig survived the operation of transplanting from its proper position +to the back of the animal, and retained its sensibility. Numerous other +similar illustrations might be given. + +The doctrine of pangenesis supposes that these centers of nutrition +form and throw off not only cells like themselves, but very minute +granules, called gemmules, each of which is capable, under suitable +circumstances, of developing into a cell like its parent. + +These minute granules are scattered through the system in great numbers. +The essential organs of generation, the testicles in the male and the +ovaries in the female, perform the task of collecting these gemmules +and forming them into sets, each of which constitutes a reproductive +element, and contains, in rudimentary form, a representative of every +part of the individual, including the most minute peculiarities. Even +more than this: It is supposed that each ovum and each zoosperm contains +not only the gemmules necessary to reproduce the individuals who +produced them, but also a number of gemmules which have been transmitted +from the individuals' ancestors. + +If this theory be true,--and we can see no sound objection to it,--it +is easy to understand all the problems of heredity. The gemmules must +be very small indeed, but it may be suggested that the molecules of +matter are smaller still, so this fact is no objection to the theory. + +It will be seen, then, that each spermatozoon, or zoosperm, actually +contains, in an embryonic condition, every organ and tissue of the +individual producing it. The same is true of the ovum. In other words, +the reproductive elements are complete representatives, in miniature, +of the parents, and contain all the elements for producing an offspring +possessing the same peculiarities as the parents. Various modifying +circumstances sufficiently explain the dissimilarities between +parents and children. + +This theory is strikingly confirmed by the fact, previously mentioned, +that in certain cases the ovum alone, a single reproductive element, +may undergo a degree of development approaching very near to completion. +It is supposed that fecundation is chiefly necessary to give to the +gemmules the requisite amount of nourishment to insure development. + +As we shall see hereafter, this matter has a very important bearing +upon several practical questions. + +Ante-Natal Influences.--There can be no manner of doubt that many +circumstances which it is entirely within the power of the parents to +supply, exert a powerful influence in molding both the mental and the +physical characteristics of offspring. By carefully availing himself +of the controlling power given him by a knowledge of this fact, the +stock-raiser is enabled to produce almost any required quality in his +young animals. Pigeon fanciers show wonderful skill in thus producing +most curious modifications in birds. The laws of heredity and +development are carefully studied and applied in the production of +superior horses, cows, dogs, and pigeons; but an application of the +same principles to the improvement of the human race is rarely thought +of. Human beings are generated in as haphazard and reckless a manner +as weeds are sown by the wind. No account is taken of the possible +influence which may be exerted upon the future destiny of the new being +by the physical or mental condition of parents at the moment when the +germ of life is planted, or by the mental and physical conditions and +surroundings of the mother while the young life is developing. Indeed, +the assertion of a modern writer that the poor of our great cities +virtually "spawn children," with as little thought of influences and +consequences as the fish that sow their eggs broadcast upon the waters, +is not so great an exaggeration as it might at first sight appear to +be. + +Law Universal.--Men and women are constantly prone to forget that the +domain of law is universal. Nothing comes by chance. The revolutions +of the planets, studied by the aid of the telescope, and the gyrations +of the atoms, seen only by the eye of science, are alike examples of +the controlling influence of law. Notwithstanding this sad ignorance +and disregard of this vitally important subject, the effects of law +are only too clearly manifested in the crowds of wretched human beings +with which the world is thronged. An old writer sagely remarks, "It +is the greatest part of our felicity to be well born;" nevertheless, +it is the sad misfortune of by far the greater portion of humanity to +be deprived of this inestimable "felicity." + +A Source of Crime.--Who can tell how many of the liars, thieves, +drunkards, murderers, and prostitutes of our day are less responsible +for their crimes against themselves, against society, and against +Heaven, than those who were instrumental in bringing them into the +world? Almost every village has its boy "who was born drunk," a +staggering, simpering, idiotic representative of a drunken father, +beastly intoxicated at the very moment when he should have been most +sober. + +An interesting study of this question has recently been made by Mr. +Dugdale, a member of the Prison Association of the State of New York. +When visiting the various jails of the State, he found in one six persons +detained for crimes of various character, between all of whom there +was a family relation. Upon further inquiry, he found that of the same +family there were twenty-nine relatives in the vicinity, seventeen of +whom were criminals. Still further investigation developed the +following facts:-- + +Within seventy-five years, a family of 1200 persons have sprung from +five sisters, several of whom were illegitimate, and three of whom were +known to be unchaste, and who married men whose father was an idle, +thriftless hunter, a hard drinker, and licentious. + +Of this family, the history of but 709 was traced. Of these, the facts +set forth in the following incomplete summary were found to be true:-- + + Paupers, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 280 + Years of pauperism, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 798 + Criminals, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140 + Years of infamy, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 750 + Thieves, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 + Murderers, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 + Prostitutes and adulteresses, . . . . . . . . . . . 165 + Illegitimate children, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91 + No. of persons contaminated by syphilitic disease, . 480 + Cost to the State in various ways, . . . . . $1,308,000 + +Without doubt a complete summary would make this showing still more +appalling, since of the 709 whose histories were traced, it was in many +instances impossible to determine whether the individuals were guilty +of crime or unchastity or not, even where there were grounds for +suspicion. Such cases were not included in the summary. + +No amount of argument on this question could be so conclusive as are +these simple facts concerning the "Juke" family. It is certainly high +time that our legislators began to awaken to this subject, and consider +whether it would be an unprofitable experiment to make some attempt +to prevent the multiplication of criminals in this manner. We are not +prepared to offer a plan for securing such an end; but it is very clearly +important that something should be done in this direction. + +It is an established physiological fact that the character of offspring +is influenced by the mental as well as the physical conditions of the +parents at the moment of the performance of the generative act. In view +of this fact, how many parents can regard the precocious--or even +mature--manifestations of sexual depravity in their children without +painful smitings of conscience at seeing the legitimate results of +their own sensuality? By debasing the reproductive function to an act +of selfish animal indulgence, they imprinted upon their children an +almost irresistible tendency to vice. Viewing the matter from this +stand-point, what wonder that licentiousness is rife! that true +chastity is among the rarest of virtues! + +Prof. O. W. Holmes remarks on this subject: "There are people who think +that everything may be done if the doctor, be he educator or physician, +be only called in season. No doubt; but _in season_ would often be a +hundred or two years before the child was born, and people never send +so early as that." "Each of us is only the footing up of a double column +of figures that goes back to the first pair. Every unit tells, and some +of them are _plus_ and some _minus_. If the columns don't add up right, +it is commonly because we can't make out all of the figures." + +It cannot be doubted that the throngs of deaf, blind, crippled, idiotic +unfortunates who were "born so," together with a still larger class +of dwarfed, diseased, and constitutionally weak individuals, are the +lamentable results of the violation of some sexual law on the part of +their progenitors. + +If parents would stop a moment to consider the momentous +responsibilities involved in the act of bringing into existence a human +being; if they would reflect that the qualities imparted to the new +being will affect its character to all eternity; if they would recall +the fact that they are about to produce a mirror in which will be +reflected their own characters divested of all the flimsy fabrics which +deceive their fellow-men, revealing even the secret imaginings of their +hearts,--there would surely be far less of sin, disease, and misery +born into the world than at the preset day; but we dare not hope for +such a reform. To effect it, would require such a revolution in the +customs of society, such a radical reform in the habits and characters +of individuals, as nothing short of a temporal millennium would be able +to effect. + +It is quite probable that some writers have greatly exaggerated the +possible results which may be attained by proper attention to the laws +under consideration. All cannot be equally beautiful; every child +cannot be a genius; the influence of six thousand years of transgression +cannot be effaced in a single generation; but persevering, +conscientious efforts to comply with every requirement of health, +purity, morality, and the laws of nature, will accomplish wonders in +securing healthy children with good dispositions, brilliant intellects, +and beautiful bodies. + +This is not the proper place to describe in detail a plan to be pursued; +but the few hints given, if rightly appreciated, may enable those +interested in the subject to plan for themselves a proper course. In +concluding the subject, we may summarize its chief points as follows, +for the purpose of impressing them more fully upon the mind:-- + +1. If a child is begotten in lust, its lower passions will as certainly +be abnormally developed as peas will produce peas, or potatoes produce +potatoes. If the child does not become a rake or a prostitute, it will +be because of uncommonly fortunate surroundings, or a miracle of divine +grace. But even then, what terrible struggles with sin and vice, with +foul thoughts and lewd imaginations--the product of a naturally +abnormal mind--must such an individual suffer! If he is unsuccessful +in the conflict, is he alone to blame? Society, his fellow-men, will +censure him alone; but He who knoweth all the secrets of human life +will pass a more lenient judgment on the erring one, and mete out +punishment where it most belongs. + +2. The same remarks apply with equal force to the transmission of other +qualities. If the interest of the parents is only for self, with no +thought for the well-being of the one whose destiny is in their hands, +they can expect naught but a selfish character, a sordid, greedy +disposition, in the child. + +3. The influence of the father is, at the outset, as great as that of +the mother. The unhappy or immoral thoughts of one alone at the critical +moment when life is imparted, may fix for eternity a foul blot upon +a character yet unformed. + +4. If during gestation the mother is fretful, complaining, and +exacting; if she requires to be petted and waited upon; if she gratifies +every idle whim and indulges every depraved desire and perverted +appetite--as thousands of mothers do--the result will surely be a +peevish, fretful child, that will develop into a morose and irritable +man or woman, imperious, unthankful, disobedient, willful, gluttonous, +and vicious. + +If such undesirable results would be avoided, the following suggestions +should be regarded:-- + +1. For the beginning of a new life, select the most favorable time, +which will be when the bodily health is at its height; when the mind +is free from care and anxiety; when the heart is joyous, cheerful, and +filled with hope, love, high aspirations, pure and beautiful thoughts. +If, as one writer says, it is the duty of every human pair engaging +in the reproductive act to bring into existence the most perfect +specimen of the race of which they are capable, then it becomes a +monstrous crime to enter into relations which may produce a contrary +result. This may be a truth hard to accept, but who is prepared to +dispute it on logical or moral grounds? + +2. If a child has been properly conceived, the duty then devolves upon +the mother to secure its proper development. Is beauty desired, let +the mother be surrounded with beautiful objects; and let her mind dwell +upon such objects. If an active mind and brilliant intellect are +required, the mother should devote considerable time to study and +mental labor of a pleasant nature. The moral nature should be carefully +cultivated, to insure a lovely disposition. No angry words or unhappy +feelings should be tolerated. Purity of heart and life should be +maintained. The husband should do his part by supplying favorable +surroundings, suggesting cheerful thoughts, and aiding mental culture. + +3. After birth, the mother still possesses a molding influence upon +the development of her child through the lacteal secretion. Every +mother knows how speedily the child will suffer if nursed when she is +exhausted by physical labor or when suffering from nervous excitement, +as anger or grief. These facts show the influence which the mental +states of the mother exert upon the child even when the act of nursing +is the only physical bond between them. + +It would be a happy day for the race which should witness the recognition +of the fact that infants, even human beings in embryo, possess rights +which are as sacred as those of adult human beings. + +Circumcision.--The fold of integument called the prepuce, which has +been previously described, has upon its inner surface a large number +of glands which produce a peculiar secretion. Under certain +circumstances, and from inattention to personal cleanliness, this +secretion may accumulate, and then often becomes the cause of +irritation and serious disease. To prevent such disorders, and to +insure cleanliness, the Jewish law required the removal of the prepuce, +which constituted the rite of circumcision. The same practice is +followed by several modern nations dwelling in tropical climates; and +it can scarcely be doubted that it is a very salutary one, and has +contributed very materially to the maintenance of that proverbial +national health for which the Jews are celebrated. Eminent physicians +have expressed the opinion that the practice would be a salutary one +for all men. The maintenance of scrupulous cleanliness, by daily +cleansing, is at least an imperative duty. + +In some countries, females are also circumcised by removal of the +nymphae. The object is the same as that of circumcision in the male. +The same evils result from inattention to local cleanliness, and the +same measure of prevention, daily cleansing, is necessitated by a +similar secretion. Local cleanliness is greatly neglected by both sexes. +Daily washing should begin with infancy and continue through life, and +will prevent much disease. + +Castration.--This operation consists in the removal of the testes of +the male. It does not at once obliterate the sexual sense, especially +if performed after puberty, but of course renders the individual +impotent, or incapable of reproduction. Persons upon whom it has been +performed are called eunuchs. It was a very common custom in ancient +times, being usually prompted by the jealousy of rulers, who allowed +no males but eunuchs to associate with their wives and concubines. The +effect upon the male is to render him effeminate in appearance and weak +in mind. If performed before puberty, the growth of the beard is scanty, +and the voice never acquires that deepness of tone natural to the +masculine voice. + +An analogous operation, termed _spaying_, is performed upon females, +consisting in the removal of the ovaries; effects similar to those in +the male, _sterility_ without entire immediate loss of sexual sense, +being the usual result. Spaying is much more rarely performed than +castration. Both operations are now quite rare, seldom being resorted +to except in surgical cases. Castration is still practiced in some +Eastern countries. + + + + +THE SEXUAL RELATIONS. + + +Just in proportion as the perpetuation of the race is more important +than the existence of any single individual, the organs of reproduction +may in a certain sense be said to rank higher than any other organs +of the human frame, since to them is intrusted the important duty of +performing that most marvelous of all vital processes, the production +of human beings. That this high rank in the vital economy is recognized +by nature, is shown by the fact that she has attached to the abuse of +the generative function the most terrible penalties which can be +inflicted upon a living being. The power of abuse seems to be almost +exclusively confined to man; hence, we find him the only one of all +living creatures subject to the awful penalties of sexual +transgression. + +The _use_ of the reproductive function is perhaps the highest physical +act of which man is capable; its _abuse_ is certainly one of the most +grievous outrages against nature which it is possible for him to +perpetrate. No observing person can doubt that the sexual relations +of men and women determine in a great degree their happiness or misery +in life. This subject, then, deserves due attention and careful +consideration. It is of no use to scout it; for it will inevitably +obtrude itself upon us, no matter now sedulously we attempt to avoid +it. It can be rightly considered only with the most perfect candor, +with the mind unbiased by passion, and prayerfully anxious to know and +_do_ what is right. + +In the following paragraphs of this section are considered some of the +evils out of which grows much of the sexual suffering of men and women:-- + +Sexual Precocity.--There are two periods in human life when the sexual +instincts should be totally dormant; and they are so when nature is +not perverted. The first is the period reaching from infancy to puberty. +The second is the period reached in advanced age. + +If raised strictly in accordance with natural law, children would have +no sexual notions or feelings before the occurrence of puberty. No +prurient speculation about sexual matters would enter their heads. +Until that period, the reproductive system should lie dormant in its +undeveloped state. No other feeling should be exhibited between the +sexes than that brotherly and sisterly affection which is so admirable +and becoming. + +Fortunate, indeed, would it be for humanity if this natural state always +existed; but it is a lamentable fact that it is rarely seen in modern +homes. Not infrequently, evidences of sexual passion are manifested +before the child has hardly learned to walk. It has been suggested that +this precocity is nothing remarkable or unnatural, since it is often +seen in little lambs and other young animals. To this it is only +necessary to reply that the development of the sexual instincts +perfectly corresponds with the longevity of the animal; if short-lived, +like the sheep, only a short period intervenes between birth and the +attainment of the sexual appetite and virility. If the animal is +intended for long life, as is the case with man, these manifestations +are delayed until a much later period, or should be. Certain insects +perform the sexual act as soon as they acquire their perfect form; but +they perish as soon as the act is completed. + +Astonishing Ignorance.--It is astonishing how ignorant and indifferent +the majority of people are upon this subject. A friend related to us +an incident which fairly illustrates the terrible apathy which prevails +among parents. While teaching a country school, he learned that a large +number of children, boys and girls, of ages varying from eight to twelve +and fourteen years, were in the habit of collecting together in barns +and other secluded places, and in a state of nudity imitating the "Black +Crook" with all possible additional nastiness. Horrified at such a +monstrous evil, he hastened to inform the parents of the corruption +in their midst. Imagine his astonishment when he was met with an +indifferent laugh and the response, "Pooh! it's only natural; perfectly +harmless; _just like little pigs!_" As though pigs were models for human +beings! + +It is not pleasant to consider what must have been the moral status +of parents who could hold such views; and it is no wonder that they +should produce such children. Doubtless they learned, too late, that +those "natural" manifestations were the outgrowth of incipient vices, +planted and fostered by themselves, which in later years destroyed +shame and gave loose rein to lust. + +Often the manifestation of sexual precocity is less gross, but almost +equally fraught with danger, nevertheless. Dr. Acton, a distinguished +English surgeon whom we shall frequently quote, makes the following +excellent remarks upon this subject:-- + +"Slight signs are sufficient to indicate when a boy has this unfortunate +tendency. He shows marked preferences. You will see him single out one +girl, and evidently derive an unusual pleasure (for a boy) in her +society. His _penchant_ does not take the ordinary form of a boy's good +nature, but little attentions that are generally reserved for a later +period prove that his feeling is different, and sadly premature. He +may be apparently healthy, and fond of playing with other boys; still +there are slight, but ominous, indications of propensities fraught with +danger to himself. His play with the girl is different from his play +with his brothers. His kindness to her is a little too ardent. He follows +her, he does not know why. He fondles her with a tenderness painfully +suggestive of a vague dawning of passion. No one can find fault with +him. He does nothing wrong. Parents and friends are delighted at his +gentleness and politeness, and not a little amused at the early +flirtation. If they were wise, they would rather feel profound anxiety; +and he would be an unfaithful or unwise medical friend who did not, +if an opportunity occurred, warn them that such a boy, unsuspicious +and innocent as he is, ought to be carefully watched and removed from +every influence calculated to foster his abnormal propensities. + +"The premature development of the sexual inclination is not alone +repugnant to all we associate with the term childhood, but is also +fraught with danger to dawning manhood. On the judicious treatment of +a case such as has been sketched, it probably depends whether the +dangerous propensity shall be so kept in check as to preserve the boy's +health and innocence, or whether one more shattered constitution and +wounded conscience shall be added to the victims of sexual precocity +and careless training. It ought not to be forgotten that in such cases +a quasi-sexual power often accompanies these premature sexual +inclinations. Few, perhaps, except medical men, know how early in life +a mere infant may experience erections. Frequently it may be noticed +that a little child, on being taken out of bed in the morning, cannot +make water at once. It would be well if it were recognized by parents +and nurses that this often depends upon a more or less complete +erection." + +We have been not more disgusted than shocked to see parents, whose +intelligence ought to teach them better, not only winking at, but +actually encouraging, these premature manifestations of passion in +their children. They may yet learn, by bitter experience, the folly +of their course, unless they make the discovery in time to avert the +calamitous results which threaten the future of their children, by +careful reformatory training. + +Inherited Passion.--It is important to inquire the cause of this +precocity. Said a father of our acquaintance, when remonstrated with +for encouraging his infant son in a ridiculous flirtation, "I did just +so when I was of his age." In this case the cause was evident. The child +was only acting out the disposition bequeathed him by his parent. How +often do the secret follies of parents stand out in bold relief in their +children. Such a legacy is nothing to be proud of. + +We again quote from Dr. Acton some observations on the causes of this +disorder,--for a grave disorder it is,--as follows:-- + +"I should specify _hereditary_ predisposition as by no means the least +common.... I believe that, as in body and mind, so also in the passions, +the sins of the father are frequently visited on the children. No man +or woman, I am sure, can have habitually indulged the sexual passions ... +without, at least, running the risk of finding that a disposition to +follow a similar career has been inherited by the offspring. It is in +this way only that we can explain the early and apparently almost +irresistible propensity in generation after generation indulging +similar habits and feelings." + +Various Causes of Sexual Precocity.--Another very powerful +predisposing cause of sexual precocity will be alluded to under the +head of "Marital Excesses." The irritation caused by worms in the rectum, +by local irritation or uncleanliness, or by irritation of the bladder, +are exciting causes which are not infrequent. The latter cause is +indicated by another symptom, the frequent wetting of the bed at night. +Such a symptom doubly demands immediate attention. + +The juvenile parties so common now-a-days, at which little ones of both +sexes, of ages varying from four or five years to ten or twelve, with +wonderful precocity and truthfulness imitate the conduct of their +elders at fashionable dinners, cannot be too much deprecated. Such +associations of the sexes have a strong tendency to develop prematurely +the distinctive peculiarities of the sexes. This is well evidenced by +the fact that on such occasions one of the most common and popular +entertainments is sham marriages. Parents greatly err in encouraging +or allowing their children to engage in amusements of so dangerous a +character. They are productive of no good, and are almost without +exception productive of positive and serious injury. + +Modern modes of life, improper clothing, the forcing system of cramming +in schools, the immodest example of older persons, and especially the +irritating, stimulating articles of diet which are daily set before +children, as well as older people, undoubtedly have a powerful +influence in stimulating the development of the sexual passions. This +subject is again referred to under the heading, "Chastity." + +Obscene books and papers, lewd pictures, and evil communications are +telling causes which will be further noticed elsewhere. + +Senile Sexuality.--As with childhood, old age is a period in which the +reproductive functions are quiescent unless unnaturally stimulated. +Sexual life begins with puberty, and, in the female, ends at about the +age of forty-five years, the period known as the _menopause_, or _turn +of life_. At this period, according to the plainest indications of +nature, all functional activity should cease. If this law is +disregarded, disease, premature decay, possibly local degenerations, +will be sure to result. Nature cannot be abused with impunity. + +The generative power of the male is retained somewhat longer than that +of the female, and by stimulation may be indulged at quite an advanced +age, but only at the expense of shortening life, and running the risk +of sudden death. Says Parise, "One of the most important pieces of +information which a man in years can attain is 'to learn to become old +betimes,' if he wishes to attain old age. Cicero, we are told, was asked +if he still indulged in the pleasures of love. 'Heaven forbid,' replied +he, 'I have forsworn it as I would a savage and a furious master.'" + +Some learned physicians place the proper limit of man's functional +activity at fifty years, if he would not render himself guilty of +shortening his days by sensuality. Other reasons for this course will +appear hereafter. + +When the passions have been indulged, and their diminishing vigor +stimulated, a horrid disease, _satyriasis_, not infrequently seizes +upon the imprudent individual, and drives him to the perpetration of +the most loathsome crimes and excesses. Passions cultivated and +encouraged by gratification through life will thus sometimes assert +a total supremacy in old age. + +Marriage.--The scope and plan of this work will allow of but the +briefest possible consideration of this subject upon which volumes have +been written, much to no purpose other than the multiplication of books. +We shall devote no space to consideration of the origin of the +institution, its expediency, or varied relations, as these topics are +foreign to the character of this work. + +The primary object of marriage was, undoubtedly, the preservation of +the race, though there are other objects which, under special +circumstances, may become paramount even to this. These latter we +cannot consider, as only the relations of the reproductive functions +in marriage come properly within our province. + +The first physiological question to be considered is concerning the +proper age for marriage. + +Time to Marry.--Physiology fixes with accuracy the earliest period at +which marriage is admissible. This period is that at which the body +attains complete development, which is not before twenty in the female, +and twenty-four in the male. Even though the growth may be completed +before these ages, ossification of the bones is not fully effected, +so that development is incomplete. + +Among most modern nations, the civil laws fixing the earliest date of +marriage seem to have been made without any reference to physiology, +or with the mistaken notion that puberty and nubility are identical. +It is interesting to note the different ages established by different +nations for the entrance of the married state. The degenerating Romans +fixed the ages of legal marriage at thirteen for females, and fifteen +for males. The Grecian legislator, Lycurgus, placed the ages at +seventeen for the female, and thirty-seven for the male. Plato fixed +the ages at twenty and thirty years. In Prussia, the respective ages +are fifteen and nineteen; in Austria, sixteen and twenty; in France, +sixteen and eighteen, respectively. + +Says Mayer, "In general, it may be established that the normal epoch +for marriage is the twentieth year for women, and the twenty-fourth +for men." + +Application of the Law of Heredity.--A moment's consideration of the +physiology of heredity will disclose a sufficient reason why marriage +should be deferred until the development of the body is wholly complete. +The matrimonial relation implies reproduction. Reproduction is +effected through the union of the ovum with the zoosperm. These elements, +as we have already seen, are complete representatives of the +individuals producing them, being composed--as supposed--of minute +gemmules which are destined to be developed into cells and organs in +the new being, each preserving its resemblance to the cell within the +parent which produced it. The perfection of the new being, then, must +be largely dependent on the integrity and perfection of the sexual +elements. If the body is still incomplete, the reproductive elements +must also be incomplete; and, in consequence, the progeny must be +equally immature. + +Early Marriage.--The preceding paragraph contains a sufficient reason +for condemning early marriage; that is, marriage before the ages +mentioned. It is probable that even the ages of twenty and twenty-four +are too early for those persons whose development is uncommonly slow. +But there are other cogent reasons for discountenancing early marriages, +also drawn from the physiology of reproduction, to say nothing of the +many reasons which might be urged on other grounds. + +1. During the development of the body, all its energies are required +in perfecting the various tissues and organs. There is no material to +be spared for any foreign purpose. + +2. The reproductive act is the most exhaustive of all vital acts. Its +effect upon an undeveloped person is to retard growth, weaken the +constitution, and dwarf the intellect. + +3. The effects upon the female are even worse than those upon the male; +for, in addition to the exhaustion of nervous energy, she is compelled +to endure the burdens and pains of child-bearing when utterly +unprepared for such a task, to say nothing of her unfitness for the +other duties of a mother. With so many girl-mothers in the land, is +it any wonder that there are so many thousands of unfortunate +individuals who never seem to get beyond childhood in their +development? Many a man at forty years is as childish in mind, and as +immature in judgment, as a well-developed lad of eighteen would be. +They are like withered fruit plucked before it was ripe; they can never +become like the mellow and luscious fruit allowed to mature properly. +They are unalterably molded; and the saddest fact of all is that they +will give to their children the same imperfections; and the children +will transmit them to another generation, and so the evil will go on +increasing, unless checked by extinction. + +Mutual Adaptation.--Another question of very great importance is that +of the mutual adaptation of the individuals. To this question we can +devote but a very brief consideration, and that will be more of the +nature of criticism than of a set of formal rules for governing +matrimonial alliances. + +A writer of some note, whose work on this and kindred subjects has had +quite an extensive circulation, advocates with great emphasis the +theory that parties contemplating marriage should in all cases select +for partners individuals as nearly like themselves as possible. Exact +duplicates would, in his opinion, make the most perfect union +attainable. To make his theory practicable, he is obliged to fall back +upon phrenology; and directs that a man seeking a wife, or a woman +seeking a husband, should obtain a phrenological chart of his head and +then send it around until a counterpart is found. If the circle of one's +acquaintance is so fortunate as to contain no one cursed with the same +propensities or idiosyncrasies as himself, the newspapers are to be +brought into requisition as a medium of advertising. + +If so strange a doctrine as this were advocated by an obscure individual +in some secluded hamlet, or found only in the musty volumes of some +forgotten author, it surely would be unworthy of notice; but coming +as it does from a quite popular writer, and being coupled with a great +amount of really valuable truth, it is sufficiently important to +deserve refutation. A brief glance at the practical working of the +theory will be a sufficient exposure of its falsity. + +According to this rule, a man or woman of large combativeness should +select a partner equally inclined to antagonism; then we should +have--what? the elements of a happy, contented, harmonious life? No; +instead, either a speedy lawsuit for divorce, or a continual domestic +broil, the nearest approach to a mundane purgatory possible. The +selfish, close-fisted, miserly money-catcher must marry a woman +equally sordid and stingy. Then together they could hoard up, for moths +and rust to destroy, or for interested relatives to quarrel over, the +pictorial greenback and the glittering dollar, each scrimping the other +down to the finest point above starvation and freezing, and finally +dying, to be forgotten as soon as dead by their fellow-men, and sent +among the goats at the great assizes. A shiftless spendthrift must +choose for a helpmeet (?) an equally slovenly, thriftless wife. A man +with a crotchet should select a partner with the same morbid fancy. +A man whose whole mental composition gravitates behind his ears, must +find a mate with the same animal disposition. An individual whose mental +organization is sadly unbalanced, is advised to seek for a wife a woman +with the same deficiencies and abnormalities. + +Any one can see at a glance the domestic disasters which such a plan +of proceeding would entail. Men and women of unbalanced temperaments +would become more unbalanced. An individual of erroneous tendencies, +instead of having the constant check of the example and admonitions +of a mate of opposite tendencies, would be, by constant example, +hastened onward in his sinful ways. Thus, to all but a very small +proportion of humanity, the married state would be one of infelicity +and degeneration. + +And what would be the progeny of such unions? The peculiarities and +propensities of the parents, instead of being modified and perhaps +obliterated in the children by corresponding differences in character, +would be doubly exaggerated. The children of selfish parents would be +thieves; those of spendthrifts, beggars; those of crotchety parents, +monomaniacs; those born of sensual parents, beastly debauchees. A few +generations of such a degenerating process would either exterminate +the race or drive it back to Darwin's ancestral ape. + +It must not be inferred, from our strictures upon the theory mentioned, +that we would advocate the opposite course, that is, the contraction +of marriage by individuals of wholly dissimilar tastes, aims, and +temperaments. Such alliances would doubtless be quite as wretched in +their results as those of an opposite character. It is with this as +with nearly all other subjects; the true course lies between the two +extremes. Parties who are negotiating a life partnership should be +careful to assure themselves that there exists a sufficient degree of +congeniality of temperament to make such close and continued +association agreeable. + +Disparity of Age.--Both nature and custom seem to indicate that the +husband should be a little older than the wife. Several reasons might +be given for this; but we need not mention them. When, however, the +difference of ages reaches such an extreme as thirty, forty, even fifty +or more years, nature is abused, good taste is offended, and even +morality is shocked. Such ill-sorted alliances are disastrous to both +parties, and scarcely more to one than the other. An old man who forms +a union with a young girl scarce out of her teens--or even younger--can +scarcely have any very elevated motive for his action, and he certainly +exposes himself to the greatest risk of sudden death, while insuring +his premature decay. A king once characterized such a course as "the +pleasantest form of suicide." It is doubtless suicidal, but we suspect +there are some phases of such an unnatural union which are not very +enjoyable. + +One reason of the great danger of such marriages to the old is the +exhaustive effects of the sexual act. As previously noted, in some +animals it causes immediate death. Dr. Acton makes the following +pertinent remarks:-- + +"So serious, indeed, is the paroxysm of the nervous system produced +by the sexual spasm, that its immediate effect is not always unattended +with danger, and men with weak hearts have died in the act. Every now +and then we learn that men are found dead on the night of their wedding." + +"However exceptional these cases are, they are warnings, and should +serve to show that an act which _may_ destroy the weak should not be +tampered with, even by the strong." + +"There are old men who marry young wives, and who pay the penalty by +becoming martyrs to paralysis, softening of the brain, and driveling +idiocy." + +Dr. Gardner quotes the Abbe Maury, as follows: "I hold as certain that +after fifty years of age a man of sense ought to renounce the pleasures +of love. Each time that he allows himself this gratification is _a +pellet of earth thrown upon his coffin_." + +Dr. Gardner further says: "Alliances of this sort have taken place in +every epoch of humanity, from the time of the patriarchs to the present +day,--alliances repugnant to nature,--between men bordering on +decrepitude and poor young girls, who are sacrificed by their parents +for position, or who sell themselves for gold. There is in these +monstrous alliances something which we know not how to brand +sufficiently energetically, in considering the reciprocal relations +of the pair thus wrongfully united, and the lot of the children which +may result from them. Let us admit, for an instant, that the marriage +has been concluded with the full consent of the young girl, and that +no external pressure has been exerted upon her will--as is generally +the rule--it will none the less happen that reflection and experience +will tardily bring regrets, and the sharper as the evil will be without +remedy; but if compulsion, or what is often the same thing, _persuasion_, +had been employed to obtain the consent which the law demands, the +result would have been more prompt and vehement. From this moment the +common life becomes odious to the unhappy victim, and _culpable hopes_ +will arise in her desolate heart, so heavy is the chain she carries. +In fact, the love of the old man becomes ridiculous and horrid to her, +and we cannot sufficiently sympathize with the unfortunate person whose +duty [?] it is to submit to it. If we think of it an instant, we shall +perceive a repulsion, such as is only inspired by the idea of incest.... +So what do we oftenest observe? Either the woman violently breaks the +cursed bands, or she resigns herself to them; and then she seeks to +fill up the void in her soul by adulterous amours. Such is the somber +perspective of the sacrilegious unions which set at defiance the most +respectable instincts, the most noble desires, and the most legitimate +hopes. Such, too, are the terrible chastisements reserved for the +thoughtlessness or foolish pride of these dissolute gray-beards, who +prodigalize the last breath of their life in search of depraved +voluptuousness." + +The parents, the perpetrators of such an outrage against nature, are +not the only sufferers. Look at the children which they bring into the +world! Let Dr. Gardner speak again:-- + +"Children, the issue of old men, are habitually marked by a serious +and sad air spread over their countenances, which is manifestly very +opposite to the infantile expression which so delights one in the little +children of the same age engendered under other conditions. As they +grow up, their features take on more and more the senile character; +so much so that every one remarks it, and the world regards it as a +natural thing. The old mothers pretend that it is an old head on young +shoulders. They predict an early death to these children, and the event +frequently justifies the horoscope. Our attention has for many years +been fixed upon this point, and we can affirm that the greater part +of the offspring of these connections are weak, torpid, lymphatic, if +not scrofulous, and do not promise a long career." + +In old age the seminal fluid becomes greatly deteriorated. Even at the +best, its component elements could only represent decrepitude and +infirmity, degeneration and senility. In view of such facts, says Dr. +Acton,-- + +"We are, therefore, forced to the conclusion that the children of old +men have an inferior chance of life; and facts daily observed confirm +our deductions. Look but at the progeny of such marriages; what is its +value? As far as I have seen, it is the worst kind--spoilt childhood, +feeble and precocious youth, extravagant manhood, early and premature +death." + +Unions of an opposite character to those just considered, wherein a +young man marries a woman much older than himself, are more rare than +those of the other class. They are, perhaps, less deplorable in their +physical effects, but still highly reprehensible. They are seldom +prompted by pure motives, and can be productive of no good. Children +resulting from such unions are notably weak, unbalanced, and sorry +specimens of humanity. + +We have scarcely referred to the domestic misery which may result from +these disgraceful unions. If a young girl is brought home by a widower +to preside over his grown-up daughters, perhaps old enough to be her +mother, all the elements are provided for such a domestic hell as could +only be equaled by circumstances precisely similar. If children are +born, neither father nor mother is fit to act the part of a parent to +them. The father, by reason of his age, is fitful, uncertain, and +childish; to-day too lenient, to-morrow too exacting. The mother is +pettish, childish, indulgent, impatient, and as unskilled in +government as unfit for motherhood. In the midst of all this misrule, +the child grows up undisciplined, uncultivated, unsubdued; a misery +to his parents, a disgrace to his friends, a dishonor to himself. + +"What shall I do with him? and what will he do with me?" was the question +asked by a girl of eighteen whose parents were urging her to marry an +old man; and every young woman would do well to propound it under similar +circumstances. + +Were we disposed to define more specifically the conditions necessary +to secure the most harmonious matrimonial unions, it would be useless +to do so; for unions of this sort never have been, and never will +be--with rare exceptions--formed in accordance with a prescribed +method independent of any emotional bias. Nor is it probable that such +a plan would result in remedying, in any appreciable degree, existing +evils. It is a fact too patent to be ignored that a very large share +of the unhappiness in the world arises from ill-mated marriages; but +it is also true that nearly the whole of this unhappiness might be +averted if the parties themselves would endeavor to lessen the +differences between them by mutual approximation. + +Courtship.--We cannot well avoid devoting a few paragraphs to a part +of the subject so important as this, especially as it affords an +opportunity for pointing out some evils too patent and too perilous +to be ignored. + +Courting, in the sense in which we use the word, is distinctly an +American custom. The social laws of other civilized countries are such +as to preclude the possibility of the almost unrestrained association +of the sexes in youth which we see in this country. We do not offer +this fact as an argument in favor of foreign social customs, by any +means, although in this one particular they often present great +advantages, since in the majority of instances other evils as great +or even greater are encouraged. We mention the fact simply for the +purpose of bringing into bold relief the evils of the characteristic +American looseness in this particular. + +A French matron would be horrified at the idea of a young man asking +her daughter to accompany him alone on an evening ride, to a lecture, +concert, or other place of amusement, and much more should he ask the +privilege of sitting up all night in the parlor with the light turned +down, after the rest of the family had retired. Among respectable people +in France such liberties are not tolerated; and a young man who should +propose such things would be dismissed from the house instantly, and +would be regarded as unfit for association with virtuous people. If +a young man calls upon a young lady for the purpose of making her +acquaintance, he sees both her and her mother, or an aunt or older sister. +He never sees her alone. If he invites her to ride, or to accompany +him to an entertainment of any sort, he must always invite her lady +friend also; she goes along at any rate. There is afforded no chance +for solitary moonlight strolls or rides, nor any other of the similar +opportunities made so common by American courting customs. We are no +advocates of the formal modes of contracting matrimonial alliances +common among many nations, and illustrations of which we find at all +ages of the world. For example, among the ancient Assyrians it was a +custom to sell wives to the highest bidder, at auction, the sums +received for the handsomer one being given to the less favored ones +as a dowry, to secure a husband for every woman. The same custom +prevailed in Babylon in ancient times, and has been practiced in modern +times in Russia. At St. Petersburg, not many years ago, an annual sale +of wives was held on Whit Sunday, after the same plan followed by the +Assyrians. + +Among the early Jews it seems to have been the custom for parents to +select wives for their sons. In the case of Isaac, this important matter +was intrusted to an old and experienced servant, who was undoubtedly +considered much more competent to select a wife for the young man than +he was himself. The same custom has been handed down even to the present +time among some oriental nations. In many cases the parties are not +allowed to see each other until after the wedding ceremony is completed. +The Hungarians often betroth their children while they are yet in their +cradles, as did the Mexicans and Brazilians of the last century. In +some countries it has even been customary to betroth girls +conditionally before they were born. The primitive Moravians seem to +have adhered to the ancient Jewish custom in some degree, though making +the selection of a wife a matter of chance. The old people did all the +courting there was done, which was not much. When a young man desired +a wife, a helpmeet was selected for him by casting lots among the +marriageable young ladies of the community, and the young man was +obliged to abide by the decision, it being supposed that Providence +controlled the selection. We are not prepared to say that the young +man ran any greater risk of getting an uncongenial or undesirable life +companion by this mode of selection than by the more modern modes in +vogue among us. + +As before remarked, we do not present these customs as illustrations +of what might be considered a proper mode of conducting the preliminary +steps of matrimonial alliances. On the contrary, we unhesitatingly +pronounce them decidedly objectionable on moral grounds if not on +others, and we can readily see that such unions must have been in many +cases exceedingly unsatisfactory. + +In various other countries, marriage customs quite the opposite from +those described have been in vogue. In Irving's "Knickerbocker's +History of New York," a somewhat humorous account is given of a custom +which has prevailed in some parts of this country as well as others, +even within the memory of persons living at the present day, and is, +indeed, said to be not yet altogether obsolete in Finland. The author, +in dwelling upon the social customs of the early Dutch settlers of New +York, describes "a singular custom prevalent among them, commonly known +by the name of _bundling_,--a superstitious rite observed by the young +people of both sexes, with which they usually terminated their +festivities, and which was kept up with religious strictness by the +more bigoted part of the community. This ceremony was likewise, in those +primitive times, considered as an indispensable preliminary to +matrimony, their courtships commencing where ours usually finish,--by +which means they acquired that intimate acquaintance with each other's +good qualities before marriage, which has been pronounced by +philosophers the sure basis of a happy union. Thus early did this +cunning and ingenious people display a shrewdness of making a bargain, +which has ever since distinguished them." + +"To this sagacious custom, therefore, do I chiefly attribute the +unparalleled increase of the Yanokie or Yankee race; for it is a certain +fact, well authenticated by court records and parish registers, that, +wherever the practice of bundling prevailed, there was an amazing +number of sturdy brats annually born into the State, without the license +of the law, or the benefit of clergy." + +Long Courtships.--Chiefly for the reasons presented in the preceding +paragraphs, we are opposed to long courtships and long engagements. +They are productive of no good, and are not infrequently the occasion +of much evil. There may be circumstances which render a prolonged +engagement necessary and advisable; but, in general, they are to be +avoided. + +On the other hand, hasty marriages are still more to be deprecated, +especially when, as is too commonly the case, the probability is so +great that passion is the actuating motive far more than true love. +Marriage is a matter of most serious consequences, and deserving of +the most careful deliberation. Too often matrimony is entered upon +without any more substantial assurance of happiness as the result than +the individual has of securing a valuable prize who buys a ticket in +a lottery scheme. In the majority of cases, young people learn more +of each other's real character within six weeks after marriage than +they discovered during as many months of courting. To every young man +and woman we say, Look well before you leap; consider well, carefully, +and prayerfully. A leap in the dark is a fearful risk, and will be far +more likely to land you in a domestic purgatory than anywhere else. +Do not be dazzled by a handsome face, an agreeable address, a brilliant +or piquant manner. Choose, rather, modesty, simplicity, sincerity, +morality, qualities of heart and mind, rather than exterior +embellishments. + +"It is folly," suggests a friend, "to give advice on these subjects, +for no one will follow advice on this point, no matter how sensible +and reasonable he may be on all other subjects. The emotions carry the +individual away, and the reason loses control." This is all too true, +in nearly all cases. We believe in affection. The emotions have their +part to act. We have no sympathy with the theories of those who will +have all marriages made by rule. But reason must be allowed a voice +in the matter; and although there may be a time when the overwhelming +force of the emotions may force the reason and judgment into the +background, there has been a time previous when the judgment might have +held control. Let every young man and woman be most scrupulously careful +how he allows emotional excitement to gain the ascendency. When once +reason is stifled, the individual is in a most precarious situation. +It is far better and easier to prevent the danger than to escape from +it. + +Flirtation.--We cannot find language sufficiently emphatic to express +proper condemnation of one of the most popular forms of amusement +indulged in at the present day in this country, under the guise of +innocent association of the sexes. By the majority of people, +flirtation is looked upon as harmless, if not useful, as some even +consider, claiming that the experience gained by such associations is +valuable to young persons, by making them familiar with the customs +of society and the ways of the world. We have not the slightest +hesitation in pronouncing flirtation as pernicious in the extreme. It +exerts a malign influence alike upon the mental, the moral, and the +physical constitution of those who indulge it. The young lady who has +become infatuated with a passion for flirting, courting the society +of young men simply for the pleasure derived from their attentions, +is educating herself in a school which will totally unfit her for the +enjoyment of domestic peace and happiness should she have all the +conditions necessary for such enjoyment other than those which she +herself must furnish. More than this, she is very likely laying the +foundation for lifelong disease by the dissipation, late hours, late +suppers, evening exposures, fashionable dressing, etc., the almost +certain accompaniments of the vice we are considering. She is surely +sacrificing a life of real true happiness for the transient +fascinations of unreal enjoyment, pernicious excitement. + +It may be true, and undoubtedly is the case, that the greater share +of the guilt of flirtation lies at the door of the female sex; but there +do exist such detestable creatures as male flirts. In general, the male +flirt is a much less worthy character than the young lady who makes +a pastime of flirtation. He is something more than a flirt. In nine +cases out of ten, he is a rake as well. His object in flirting is to +gratify a mean propensity at the expense of those who are pure and +unsophisticated. He is skilled in the arts of fascination and intrigue. +Slowly he winds his coils about his victim, and before she is aware +of his real character, she has lost her own. + +Such wretches ought to be punished in a purgatory by themselves, made +seven times hotter than for ordinary criminals. Society is full of these +lecherous villains. They insinuate themselves into the drawing-rooms +of the most respectable families; they are always on hand at social +gatherings of every sort. They haunt the ball-room, the theater, and +the church, when they can forward their infamous plans by seeming to +be pious. Not infrequently they are well supplied with a stock of pious +cant, which they employ on occasion to make an impression. They are +the sharks of society, and often seize in their voracious maws the +fairest and brightest ornaments of a community. The male flirt is a +monster. Every man ought to despise him; and every woman ought to spurn +him as a loathsome social leper. + +Youthful Flirtations.--Flirting is not confined to young men and women. +The contagion extends to little boys and girls, whose heads ought to +be as empty of all thoughts of sexual relations as the vacuum of an +air-pump of air. The intimate association of young boys and girls in +our common schools, and, indeed, in the majority of educational +institutions, gives abundant opportunity for the fostering of this kind +of a spirit, so prejudicial to healthful mental and moral development. +Every educator who is alive to the objects and interests of his +profession knows too well the baneful influence of these premature and +pernicious tendencies. Many times has the teacher watched with a sad +heart the withering of all his hopes for the intellectual progress of +a naturally gifted scholar by this blighting influence. The most +dangerous period for boys and girls exposed to temptations of this sort +is that just following puberty, or between the ages of twelve and +eighteen or twenty. This period, a prominent educator in one of our +Western States once denominated, not inappropriately, "the agonizing +period of human puppyhood." If this critical period is once safely +passed, the individual is comparatively safe; but how many fail to pass +through the ordeal unseared! + +The most painful phase of this subject is the tacit--even, in many cases, +active--encouragement which too many parents give their children in +this very direction, seemingly in utter ignorance of the enormity of +the evil which they are winking at or fostering. Parents need +enlightenment on this subject, and need to be aroused to the fact that +it is one of the most momentous questions that can arise in the rearing +and training of children. + +Polygamy.--One hundred years ago the discussion of the public propriety +or impropriety of a plurality of wives would have been impossible. +Polygamy had not obtained a foothold as an institution in any civilized +land. Being well known as not uncommon among certain heathenish and +barbarous tribes, it was looked upon as a heathenish and debasing +institution, the outgrowth of ignorance and gross sensuality, and a +relic of a sensual age. Now, this is no longer true. Even in this, the +most enlightened of all lands, where there are most ample facilities +for culture, for moral and mental development, polygamy holds up its +hideous head in defiance of all the laws of God and man. It is true +that the perpetrators of this foul crime against humanity and Heaven +have been driven by the indignation of outraged decency to seek a +lurking place in the far-off wilderness of the Western territories; +yet the foul odors from this festering sore are daily becoming more +and more putrescent, and in spite of the distance, are contaminating +the already not overstrict morals of the nation. + +No better evidence of the blighting, searing effect of this gross social +crime could be found than the fact that not only is polygamy coming +to be winked at as something not so very bad after all, but men from +whom we have a right to expect something better are coming forward in +its defense. + +We have just been perusing a work written for the express purpose of +justifying and advocating polygamy, which was written by an evangelical +clergyman. He was evidently not willing to own his work, however, since +his name is carefully excluded from the title-page, and his publisher +put under an oath of secrecy. The arguments which he makes in favor +of polygamy are chiefly the following:-- + +1. That it is approved by the Bible. + +2. That a robust man requires more than one woman to satisfy his sexual +demands. + +3. That there are more women than men; and since every woman has a right +to have a husband, the only way all can be supplied is to allow several +women, two or more, according to the capacity of the man, or as they +can agree, to form a marriage partnership with one man. + +4. That the great men of all ages have been polygamists in fact, if +not by open profession. + +5. That monogamy is a relic of the paganism of the ancient Greeks and +Romans, with whom it originated. + +6. That it is the only proper and effective cure for the "social evil," +and all its attendant vices and dire diseases. + +As this work has had quite a circulation, bearing the imprint of a +well-known Boston publisher, and has not received any answer that we +are aware of, we deem it worth while to give these arguments, which +are very strongly presented, at least a brief passing notice. We will +consider them in the order in which we have stated them. + +1. We deny most emphatically the assertion that polygamy is either +taught or approved by the Bible. It was tolerated in a people who had +long been in the darkness of Egyptian bondage, but never approved. +Indeed, the inspired writers have evidently taken pains to give +numerous examples of the evils growing out of that violation of the +law of God and Nature. + +2. The second argument is based upon the asserted fact that man +naturally possesses stronger sexual demands than woman; that these +demands are imperative; and that it is not only impossible, but in the +highest degree injurious, to restrain them. + +While it is true as a fact affirmed by constant observation that men +have stronger passions than women, in general, and that many men demand +of their wives a degree of sexual indulgence which is the cause of +serious injury to them, and even impossible for them to grant without +doing themselves the greatest wrong, it is by no means proven either +that these demands are imperative, that they are natural, or that they +are not injurious to the man as well as the woman, much less beneficial +to either. On the contrary, there is as great a weight of evidence as +could be required that restraint, self-control, and moderation in the +exercise of the sexual instinct is in the highest degree beneficial +to man, as well as to woman, and necessary for his highest development. + +3. While it is true that there are a few more adult women than men, +the difference is not sufficiently great to require the introduction +of polygamy as a remedy for enforced celibacy. At any rate this would +be unnecessary until all bachelors had been provided with wives, when +there would be found no necessity for further provision, since there +are large numbers of women who are utterly unfit to marry, who would +be injured by so doing, and would only serve to degenerate the race, +besides making themselves more wretched than they already are. + +Again, it is a well-known fact that more males than females are born, +the preponderance of adult females being caused by a greater mortality +among male children, together with the losses from accidents and war. +By a correct observance of the laws of health, together with the +abolition of wars, the disparity in relative numbers of the sexes would +disappear. Indeed, it might happen that men would be in the +preponderance. + +Still again, it is only in a few very populous and long-settled +communities that there are more women than men, as in the States of +Massachusetts, Connecticut, and a few others of the Eastern States, +and a few countries of Europe. In all newly settled countries the +reverse is true. The inquiry naturally arises, What shall be done under +these circumstances? Shall a woman be allowed more than one husband, +as is actually the case in some countries? "Oh! no;" our polygamist +replies, "A woman is not capable of loving more than one man, and is +not even able to satisfy the sexual demands of a single husband; so, +of course, a plurality of husbands is out of the question. A man is +capable of loving any number of women, being differently constituted +from a woman; and so the same rule does not apply." + +The writer evidently confounds love with lust. He will grant unstinted +reign to the lusts of man, but requires woman to be restrained, offering +as an apology for such a manifest unfair and unphilosophical +discrimination that "man is differently constituted from a woman, +sexually, requiring more active exercise of the sexual functions," a +conclusion which could be warranted only by the selection, as a typical +specimen of the male part of humanity, of a man with an abnormal +development of the animal propensities. + +A correct understanding and application of the laws of sexual hygiene +would effectually sweep away every vestige of argument based on this +foundation. + +4. In proof of the propriety of polygamy, as well as of its necessity, +the author referred to cites the well-known fact that Plato, Aristotle, +Bacon, Alexander, Caesar, Napoleon, Burns, Byron, Augustus, Webster, +and numerous others of the noted men of all ages have been incontinent +men. The fact that these men were guilty of crime does not in the least +degree detract from the enormity of the sin. It is equally true that +many great men have been addicted to intemperance and other crimes. +Alexander was a Sodomite as well as a lecherous rake. Does this fact +afford any proof that those crimes are virtues instead of vices? Such +argument is hardly worthy of serious refutal, since it stultifies +itself. + +5. The fact that monogamy was practiced among the ancient Greeks and +Romans is in no way derogatory of it as an institution. Even if it could +be shown that it originated with those nations, still this would in +no way detract from its value or respectability. Do not we owe much +to those grand old pagans who laid the foundation for nearly all the +modern sciences, and established better systems of political economy, +and better schools for uniform culture of the whole individual, than +any the world has seen since? But monogamy did not originate with the +Greeks, neither was it invented by the Romans, nor by any other nation. +It originated with the great Originator of the human race. It is an +institution which has come down to us, not from Greece or Rome, but +from Paradise. + +If it was so important that man should have more than one woman to supply +his sexual demands, why was the Creator so short-sighted as to make +but one Eve? It would have been as easy to remove two or three or half +a dozen ribs from Adam's side as one; and as the whole world had yet +to be populated, a plurality of wives would certainly have accelerated +the process. Surely, if polygamy was ever required or excusable, it +ought to have been allowed at the start. + +Again, when Noah went into the ark, taking with him an assortment of +all species of animals, he took some kinds by pairs and some by sevens, +from which we might suspect, at least, that he observed the laws of +nature respecting polygamous and monogamous animals. But he took only +one wife for himself, and only one for each of his sons. Why not two +or half a dozen instead? Polygamy would certainly have accelerated the +repopulation of the earth most wonderfully; but Noah was monogamous. +To say, in view of such facts, that monogamy originated with the +paganism of ancient Greece and Rome, is blasphemy. + +6. The argument that polygamy will cure the "social evil" is exactly +equivalent to the argument that the removal of all restraint from the +sale and manufacture of intoxicating drinks, thus making them cheap +and common, is the best remedy for intemperance. An equally good +argument might be made for the cure of theft, murder, and every other +vice and crime, by a similar plan. Such reasoning is the veriest +sophistry. None but a biased mind could produce such flimsy arguments. + +But we forbear. We have already given this subject more attention than +it is worthy of, though we have failed to characterize the vice of +polygamy as it deserves. We leave this for the reader. + +Polyandry.--Perhaps we should add a word or two respecting this custom, +which seems to be a still greater outrage against nature than that of +polygamy, being the possession of a plurality of husbands by one woman. +This practice is in vogue in several countries at the present time, +being very common in Thibet, where it is not an unusual thing for a +woman in marrying the eldest of a family of brothers to include in the +contract all of the other brothers as well. Polyandry was also common +among the ancient Medes. Indeed, the Medes practiced both polygamy and +polyandry. A man was not considered respectable unless he had at least +seven wives; neither were women considered worthy of general esteem +unless they had as many as five husbands. In that country, the fact +that a woman was already married was in no degree a barrier to subsequent +marriages, even while the husband was living, and without the trouble +of a divorce. Those who maintain the propriety of polygamy would do +well to consider the historic facts respecting the opposite practice. +There appear to be as good grounds for believing one to have a basis +in the human constitution as the other. + +Divorce.--Another of the crying evils of the day, and one which menaces +in a most alarming manner the most sacred interests of society, is the +facility with which divorces may be obtained. In some States the laws +regulating divorce are so notoriously loose that scores and even +hundreds of people visit the States referred to every year with no other +object than to obtain a dissolution of the bonds of matrimony. The +effect of this looseness in the laws is to encourage hasty, +inconsiderate marriages, and to make escape from an uncongenial partner +so easy that the obligation to cultivate forbearance and to acquire +mutual adaptation which may not at first exist, is wholly overlooked. + +The Bible rule for divorce, laid down by the Great Teacher, is little +regarded in these degenerate days. He made adultery the only legitimate +cause for divorce; yet we now see married people breaking asunder their +solemn marriage ties on the occurrence of the most trivial difficulties. +If a couple become tired of each other and desire a change, all they +have to do is to forward the fee to a New York or Chicago lawyer, and +they will receive back in a short time the legal papers duly signed, +granting them the desired annulment of their vows. + +Although countenanced by human laws, there can be no doubt that this +shameless trifling with a divine institution is regarded by High Heaven +as the vilest abomination. In no direction is there greater need of +reformatory legislation than in this. The marriage contract should be +recognized in our laws as one which cannot be made and broken so lightly +as it now is. It should be annulled only for the most serious offenses. +The contrary course now pursued so frequently is most detrimental to +morals. Our divorce laws virtually offer a premium for unchastity. + +Not infrequently we see among the advertisements in the newspapers +notices like the following: "The undersigned is prepared to furnish +divorces to parties desiring the same at moderate rates, in short time, +and without publicity. ---- ----." + +The animus of these advertisements is fraud. The parties so engaged +are the vilest scoundrels; and that they are allowed to continue to +ply their nefarious vocation is a foul blot upon the enlightened +civilization of a so-called Christian country. A publisher who will +insert such a notice in his journal, would advertise a brothel if he +dared. While there is so much interest in the suppression of obscene +literature, we would suggest that the proper authorities should direct +their attention to the suppression of unlawful divorces, and the proper +punishment of the villains engaged in forwarding this nefarious +business. + +Who May not Marry.--Many writers devote much space in laying down rules +which are to be implicitly followed by those seeking life partners. +We have attempted nothing of the sort, both from its impracticability, +and from the fact that such rules are never followed; and if the attempt +should be made to follow the prescribed rules, we are not sure that +more good than harm would be the result. Hence, we shall content +ourselves with calling attention to a few facts of great importance +respecting the conditions which imperatively forbid marriage, and +which cannot be violated without the certain entailment of great +suffering. + +_1. Persons suffering with serious disease of a character communicable +to others by contagion or by hereditary transmission._ + +Many people wonder why it is that diseases are so much more numerous +and varied in modern times than in the earlier ages of the race. There +has been an evident increase within a few centuries. While there are, +undoubtedly, numerous influencing causes, one which cannot be +overlooked is the hereditary transmission of disease, which preserves +those disorders which already exist, and adds new ones which originate +from new exciting causes. By this means, the human race is undoubtedly +being weakened, human life shortened, and diseases multiplied. Compare +the average age of human beings of the present day, less than forty +years, with the longevity of the early members of the race, who lived +more than as many score of years. Some mighty deteriorating influence +has been at work; and we hazard nothing in the assertion that the +marriage of diseased persons and kindred violations of the laws of human +hygiene have been not unimportant factors in producing this most +appalling diminution in the length of human life. + +Among the diseases which are most certain to be transmitted are +pulmonary tuberculosis, or consumption, syphilis, cancer, leprosy, +epilepsy, and some other nervous disorders, some forms of skin disease, +and insanity. The list might be extended; but these are the more common. +Persons suffering with these disorders have no right to marry, for at +least four reasons:-- + +(1) It is a sin against the offspring of such unions, who have a right +to be born well, but are forced to come into the world with weakly +constitutions, diseased frames, and the certainty of premature death. +The children of consumptive and syphilitic parents rarely survive +infancy. If they do, it is only to suffer later on, as they surely will, +and, perhaps, to communicate the same destructive diseases to other +human beings; but these diseases rarely extend beyond the third +generation, the line becoming extinct. The most heart-rending +spectacles we have ever met have been the children of parents suffering +with the diseases mentioned. Their appearance is characteristic; no +physician of experience can fail to detect the sins of a profligate +parent in a syphilitic child. Every feature indicates the presence of +a blighting curse. + +There are those who assert that a man who has suffered with disease +of the character last mentioned may marry after the lapse of two or +three years from the disappearance of the active symptoms of the malady. +Such assertions we consider as most dangerous and pernicious. The +individuals who make them are well acquainted with the fact that of +all diseases this is the most difficult to eradicate when once the +system has become thoroughly infected by it. Not only three years but +thirty years may elapse after active symptoms disappear, yet the +disease may break out again in a new and still more serious and +complicated form. It may even lie entirely dormant or latent in the +system of the parent during his lifetime, but break out in all its +terrible destructiveness in his children. A man or woman who has once +suffered with this fell disease is contaminated for life; and it is +a crime for such an one to entail upon innocent, unoffending human +beings such a terrible legacy. Such a person has no right to marry; +or if married, has no right to perpetuate the results of his sins in +offspring. It is _never safe_ to say to a man who has once been infected +that he is cured. If a cure ever takes place, it is exceedingly rare. + +(2) It is a crime against the race. One of the primary objects of +marriage is reproduction. As members of the human race, it is the duty +of parents to produce a high type of human beings, at least to do all +in their power to produce healthy offspring. If they cannot do this, +and are aware of the fact, they are guilty of abuse of the reproductive +function in bringing sickly offspring into the world to suffer. + +(3) It is injurious to the contracting parties themselves. If a person +has a communicable disease, as syphilis, leprosy, and some bad forms +of skin disease, the disease will certainly be communicated to the wife +or husband, and so a double amount of suffering will be entailed. The +dread disease, consumption, rightly called the scourge of civilization, +is now well known to be communicable. A few years ago we were consulted +by an old gentleman, a native of Canada, who was suffering with +pulmonary disease. We inquired respecting the history of the malady. +Said he, "Doctor, it may seem strange, but I believe I _inherited_ +consumption from my wife, who died of consumption a few years ago." +Excepting the wrong use of the term inherit, we were not prepared to +dispute the old gentleman's ideas respecting the origin of his disease. +Living in close association for years with his wife, who was slowly +dying with disease of the lungs, it was quite possible for him to have +received the disease from her. So many cases of this kind have been +reported that it is now generally believed by medical men that +consumption is communicable from one person to another by the reception +into the system of the well person of the exhalations from the lungs +of the person affected. + +Another point worthy of mention here is the well-known fact that the +intimate association of married people modifies even the physical form +of both. Almost every one has noticed how much alike in appearance +married people who have lived many years together come to be. This +physical change undoubtedly extends further than to the features only. +The whole constitution is modified. + +A remarkable illustration of this fact is found in the frequent +observation that the children of a woman by a second husband often +resemble in appearance the first husband much more than their own father. +It has been observed that the children of negro women, even by husbands +of pure negro blood, are much lighter in color than usual if she has +had a child by a white man previously. + +The same fact is observed in lower animals. In England, some years ago, +a cross was effected between a male zebra and several young mares. Not +only the hybrid colts resulting from this union, but all the colts +afterward foaled by the same mares, from other horses, were striped +like the zebra. + +In view of these facts, it is evident that the system of the woman, +at least, may be profoundly affected in a similar manner by +constitutional weaknesses, as well as by other individual +peculiarities possessed by her husband. + +No person suffering with a contagious or infectious disease has any +right to communicate the same to another. Indeed, it is the moral duty +of every person so affected to do all in his power for the protection +of others from the same cause of suffering. + +_2. Persons having a marked hereditary tendency to disease must not +marry those having a similar tendency._ + +Every physician knows only too well the powerful influence of +hereditary causes in determining the length of human life. Persons, +one or both of whose parents have died of consumption, are very likely +to die of the same disease, and frequently at about the same age. The +children of such parents are commonly feeble and puny, and die early +if they survive infancy. When both parents possess the consumptive +tendency, the chance for life in the offspring is very poor indeed. +The same may be said of those suffering with cancer, epilepsy, insanity, +etc. Persons with a strong tendency to any one of the diseases mentioned +should in no case marry. If there is but a slight morbid tendency, +marriage may be admissible, but only with a partner possessing robust +health. + +_3. Should cousins marry?_ + +Writers have devoted a good deal of attention to this subject, and we +have been shown statistics, reports of imbecile asylums, etc., for the +purpose of proving that the marriage of cousins results in the +production of idiots, and other defectives; but the results of more +careful examinations of the subject invalidate the views heretofore +held, and it must be acknowledged that when both parties are healthy +there is no more liability of mental incompetency in the children of +cousins, than in the offspring of persons more remotely related. It +must be added, however, that there are other reasons why the marriage +of cousins is not to be generally recommended. Besides the fact that +the feeling existing between cousins is often only that which is felt +by brothers and sisters for each other, there is the still more +important fact that on account of the blood relation, unions of this +kind are more apt than others to bring together persons having similar +morbid tendencies. + +_4. Persons having serious congenital deformities should not marry._ + +The reason for this rule is obvious. Persons suffering with serious +congenital defects, as natural blindness, deafness, deformity of the +limbs, or defective development of any part, will be more or less likely +to transmit the same deformities or deficiencies to their children. +There are, of course, cases of natural blindness, as well as of +disability in other respects, to which this rule does not apply, the +natural process of development not being seriously defective. It has +even been observed that there is a slight tendency to the reproduction +in the offspring, of deformity which has been artificially produced +in the parents, and has existed for a long time. + +Many ancient nations observed this rule. Infants born cripples were +strangled at birth or left to die. A Spartan king was once required +by his people to pay a heavy fine for taking a wife who was inferior +in size. + +_5. Criminals should not marry._ + +It has been satisfactorily shown by thorough and scientific +investigation that criminals often receive their evil proclivities +from their parents. What are known as the criminal classes, which are +responsible for the greater part of the crime committed, are constantly +and greatly on the increase. There is no doubt but that inheritance +is largely responsible for the continued increase of crime and +criminals. A drunkard begets in his child a thirst for liquor, which +is augmented by the mother's use of ale or lager during gestation and +nursing, and the child enters the world with a natural taste for +intoxicants. A thief transmits to his offspring a secretive, dishonest, +sneaking disposition; and the child comes into the world ticketed for +the State prison by the nearest route. So with other evil tendencies. +By legislation or by some other means, measures should be speedily +adopted for the prevention of this rapid increase of criminals, if there +is any feasible plan which can be adopted. We offer no suggestion on +this point, but it is one well worthy of the consideration of +philanthropic statesmen. + +_6. Persons who are greatly disproportionate in size should not marry._ + +While good taste would suggest the propriety of this rule, there are +important physiological reasons for its observance. While the lack of +physical adaptitude may be the occasion of much suffering and +unhappiness in such unions, especially on the part of the wife, being +even productive of most serious local disease, and sometimes of +sterility, it is in childbirth that the greatest risk and suffering +is incurred. More might be said on this point, but this is sufficient +for those who are willing to profit by a useful hint. + +_7. Persons between whom there is great disparity of age should not +marry._ + +The reasons for this have already been given at length, and we will +not repeat. In general, the husband should be older than the wife, from +two to five years. The husband may often be ten or twelve years the +senior of the wife; but when more than that, the union is not likely +to be a profitable or happy one, if it is not absolutely productive +of suffering and unhappiness. The ancient Greeks required that the +husband should be twenty years older than the wife; but this custom +was no more reasonable than that of another nation which required that +only old and young should marry, so that the sobriety of the old might +restrain the frivolity of the young. + +_8. Persons who are extremely unlike in temperament should not marry._ + +Persons who are so unlike in temperament and tastes as to have no mutual +enjoyments, no congeniality of feeling, will be incompatible as husband +and wife, and the union of such persons will be anything but felicitous. +No definite rule can be laid down; but those seeking a companion for +life would do well to bear this caution in mind, at the same time +remembering that too great similarity of character, especially when +there are prominent defects, is equally undesirable. + +_9. Marriage between widely different races is unadvisable._ + +While there is no moral precept directly involved in marriage between +widely different nations, as between whites and blacks or Indians, +experience shows that such marriages are not only not conducive to +happiness, but are detrimental to the offspring. It has been proven +beyond room for question that mulattoes are not so long-lived as either +blacks or whites. + +_10. Persons who are unable to sustain themselves or a family should +not marry._ + +Both moral and social obligations--if the two obligations may exist +independently--forbid marriage to a young man who is scarcely able to +provide for himself, much less to support a wife and a family. The theory +advocated by some that two can live almost as cheaply as one, so that +a saving will be made by a union of two in marriage, is a most fallacious +one. There may be occasional exceptions, but in general, young people +who marry with this idea in their heads find that they have reasoned +not wisely. It will not be disputed that a married couple may live upon +what is often spent foolishly by a young man; but a young man can be +economical if he will; and if he does not learn economy before marriage, +it is likely that he never will learn it. + +The marriage of paupers, to beget pauper children and foist them upon +the community for support, is an outrage against society. We believe +it is not improper to speak out plainly upon this subject, and in no +uncertain tone, notwithstanding the popular prejudice which cries, +"Hush, be quiet; don't interfere with individual rights, don't disturb +the peace of society," whenever anything is said which has a bearing +on a regard for propriety in matters relating to one of the most ancient, +the most sacred, and the most abused of all divinely appointed human +institutions. We have never been able to account for this strange +averseness to the consideration of this phase of the matrimonial +question, and the determined effort often made to ignore it whenever +it is broached. We purpose to speak out, notwithstanding the feeling +referred to, since we believe this to be a crying evil; and we have +no fears but that we shall have the hearty indorsement of every +individual who can so far lay aside his prejudices as to allow his native +common sense a fair chance to influence his judgment. + +In the country of Iceland, a land which is scarcely more than +semi-civilized, if a young man wishes to marry, the first thing to be +considered is his pecuniary situation. Before he can take to himself +a wife, he must appear before the proper authority and present evidence +that he is able to support a wife and family in addition to providing +for himself. Even the barbarous natives of Patagonia show an equal +degree of good sense, the chief of each tribe requiring that every young +man who wishes to marry shall first prove himself competent to provide +for a family, having attained the requisite degree of proficiency in +hunting and fishing, and having possessed himself of at least two horses +and the necessary equipments. + +In this country,--a civilized, so-called Christian country, blessed +with all the enlightenment of the nineteenth century, what do we see? +Instead of any regulation of the sort, the utmost indifference to such +clearly important considerations. If young people profess to love each +other and wish to marry, no one of their friends thinks of asking, "How +are they going to live after they are married? Has the young man a trade? +Has the young lady been so educated as to be self-sustaining if +necessary? Has the young man a home or the wherewithal to obtain one? +Has he a good situation, with prospects of being able to support his +wife comfortably and provide for a family?" These, or similar questions +are sometimes asked, but little respect is paid to them by any one, +least of all by the young people themselves, who ought to be most +interested. The minister never inquires respecting the propriety of +the wedding at which he is to officiate, and invokes the blessings of +Heaven upon a union which, for aught he knows, may be the grossest +violation of immutable laws, Heaven-implanted in the constitution of +the human race. The friends tender their congratulations and wishes +of "much joy," when in three cases out of four the conditions are such +that a preponderance of grief is an inevitable certainty, and "much +joy" an utter impossibility. + +There are exceptions to all general rules; but it is a fact of which +almost any one may convince himself that a man or a woman seldom rises +much higher than the level reached at marriage. If a young man has no +trade then, it is more than probable that he will never be master of +one. If he has not fitted himself for a profession, he will most likely +never attain to such a rank in society. He will, in all probability, +be a common laborer, living "from hand to mouth," with nothing laid +by for a rainy day. + +A wag says that a young couple just married, and for the first time +awakened to the full consciousness of the fact that they must provide +for themselves or starve, held the following dialogue: Husband. "Well, +wife, what are we going to do? How shall we live?" Wife. "Oh, my dear, +we shall get along very well, I am sure; you love me, don't you?" H. +"Certainly, dear, but we cannot live on love." W. "We can live on bread +and water; so long as we have each other, it doesn't matter much what +we have to eat." "That's so, my dear; well, you furnish the bread, and +I will skirmish around after the water." This exact dialogue may never +have taken place; but the circumstances which might have called it out +have occurred thousands of times. How many times has a dependent woman +who had hastily married an improvident husband awakened at the end of +a short honeymoon to find that she had only a limber stick or a broken +reed to lean upon, instead of a self-reliant, independent, +self-sustaining man, able to provide for her the comforts of a home +and to protect her from the rudeness and suffering of privation and +want. + +In our estimation it is as much a sin for a man to assume the obligation +of caring for a wife and family when he has no reasonable grounds for +believing himself able to do so, as for a man to go in debt a few hundreds +or thousands of dollars, and agree to pay the same when required, though +perfectly well aware that he will probably be unable to do so. Hence +we say again, with emphasis, the improvident should not marry; and we +shall insist upon urging this truth, notwithstanding the fact that the +very class of persons referred to are usually of all classes the most +anxious to enter the matrimonial state at the earliest possible moment, +and the most certain to bring into the world large families of children +still more improvident than themselves. + +_11. Do not marry a person whose moral character will not bear the +closest scrutiny._ + +By this we do not mean that absolute perfection should be required, +as this would interdict marriage altogether; but we wish to warn every +young man against marrying a young woman who treats lightly or +contemptuously matters which should be treated with profound respect; +who uses the name of Deity flippantly or rudely; who treats her parents +disrespectfully; who never cares to talk of subjects of a spiritual +nature; who is giddy, gay, dressy, thoughtless, fickle. Such a young +woman will never make a loving, patient, faithful, helpful wife. + +We wish also to warn every young woman against choosing for a husband +a man who has a strong leaning toward infidelity; who does not believe +in human responsibility; who makes a mock of religion; who is addicted +to profanity; who is either grossly intemperate or given to moderate +tippling, be it ever so little, so long as he does not believe in and +practice total abstinence; who uses tobacco; who is a jockey, a fop, +a loafer, a scheming dreamer, or a speculator; who is known to be +unchaste, or who has led a licentious life. + +The man who has no love for his Maker will be likely to have little +for his wife and children. He who does not acknowledge his +responsibility to a higher power will soon forget his obligations to +the wife he has promised to love and cherish. The man who is not willing +to sacrifice the gratification afforded by such pernicious habits as +dram-drinking and tobacco-using to insure the comfort and happiness +of his wife and children, is too selfish to make any woman a kind +husband. + +There is no greater error abroad than that held by not a few that "a +reformed rake makes the best husband." The man whose affections have +been consumed in the fires of unhallowed lust is incapable of giving +to a pure-minded woman the love that she expects and deserves. A person +cannot pass through the fire unscathed. The scars burned into the +character by the flames of concupiscence are as deep and lasting as +those inflicted upon the body, and even more so. Only "in the +regeneration" will the marks and scars of the reformed reprobate be +wholly effaced. + +We willingly grant that there have been numerous instances in which +noble women have by years of patient effort reformed their erring +husbands, restoring them to the paths of virtue and sobriety from which +they had wandered. We do not deny that it can be done again; but we +do not hesitate to say that the experiment is a most perilous one for +any woman to undertake, and one which not more than one woman in a +hundred can bring to a successful termination. The hazard is terrible. +Perhaps it is on this very account that many young women run the risk; +but they rarely understand what they are doing. The woman who marries +a drunkard will, ten chances to one, die a heart-broken drunkard's wife, +or follow her husband to a drunkard's grave. It is never safe for a +woman to marry a man who has been for years an habitual drunkard, since +he may relapse at any time; and the man who has only indulged moderately +should be thoroughly reformed and tested before the chances are taken +"for better or worse." Let him prove himself well first. A proposition +to reform on condition of marriage should be dismissed with disdain. +If a young man will not determine to do right because it is right, his +motives are sordid; and the probability is very great that so soon as +some stronger incentive appeals to his selfishness, he will forget his +vows and promises and relapse into his former vices. + +Do Not Be in a Hurry.--In conclusion, perhaps we could give no more +important advice than this: _Do not be in a hurry to marry._ There is +little danger that this advice will do harm, for ten illustrations of +the evil results of hasty marriage are seen to one in which the opposite +mistake is made. It rarely happens that a marriage made without +consideration and due deliberation on the part of both parties is a +happy one in its results. There are exceptional cases in which this +kind of matrimonial alliances result very satisfactorily; but these +cases are quite exceptional. The business of selecting a partner for +life, one who is expected to sustain the closest relation possible +between human beings, who must be prepared to share in another's sorrows +as well as joys, to sympathize with another's aspirations and +appreciate another's motives and sentiments,--such a task is certainly +one of the most serious of an individual's life and ought to be entered +upon with calmness, deliberation, and unbiased judgment and entire +self-control. When making a decision which must affect seriously an +individual's whole life-time, passion, caprice, and all motives +calculated to bias the judgment, should be laid aside. The happiness +and usefulness of a whole life-time may be marred by a word. There is +too much pending to be in a hurry. + +A certain philosopher once "compared a man about to marry to one who +was about to put his hand into a sack in which were ninety-nine serpents +and one eel; the moral of which is that there are ninety-nine chances +to one against a fortunate selection." If this is true of a man about +to marry, it is probably equally true that a woman under the same +circumstances has nine hundred and ninety-nine chances against, for +one in favor of, a fortunate selection. + + + + +CHASTITY. + + +"Thou shalt not commit adultery." "Whosoever looketh on a woman to lust +after her, hath committed adultery with her already in his heart." + +In these two scriptures we have a complete definition of unchastity. +The seventh commandment, with the Saviour's commentary upon it, places +clearly before us the fact that chastity requires purity of thought +as well as of outward acts. Impure thoughts and unchaste acts are alike +violations of the seventh commandment. As we shall see, also, +unchastity of the mind is a violation of natural law as well as of moral +law, and is visited with physical punishment commensurate to the +transgression. + +Mental Unchastity.--It is vain for a man to suppose himself chaste who +allows his imagination to run riot amid scenes of amorous associations. +The man whose lips delight in tales of licentiousness, whose eyes feast +upon obscene pictures, who is ever ready to pervert the meaning of a +harmless word or act into uncleanness, who finds delight in reading +vivid portrayals of acts of lewdness,--such a one is not a virtuous +man. Though he may never have committed an overt act of unchastity, +if he cannot pass a handsome female in the street without, in +imagination, approaching the secrets of her person, he is but one grade +above the open libertine, and is as truly unchaste as the veriest +debauchee. + +Man may not see these mental adulteries, he may not perceive these +filthy imaginings; but One sees and notes them. They leave their hideous +scars upon the soul. They soil and mar the mind; and as the record of +each day of life is photographed upon the books in Heaven, they each +appear in bold relief, in all their innate hideousness. + +O purity! how rare a virtue! How rare to find a face which shows no +trace of sensuality! One turns with sadness from the thought that human +"forms divine" have sunk so low. The standard of virtue is trailing +in the dust. Men laugh at vice, and sneer at purity. The bawdy laugh, +the ribald jest, the sensual glance, the obscene song, the filthy tale, +salute the eyes and ears at every street corner, in the horse-car, on +the railroad train, in the bar-room, the lecture hall, the workshop. +In short, the works and signs of vice are omnipresent. + +Foul thoughts, once allowed to enter the mind, stick like the leprosy. +They corrode, contaminate, and infect like the pestilence; naught but +Almighty power can deliver from the bondage of concupiscence a soul +once infected by this foul blight, this moral contagium. + +Mental Uncleanness.--It is a wide-spread and deadly error, that only +outward acts are harmful; that only physical transgression of the laws +of chastity will produce disease. We have seen all the effects of +beastly abuse result from mental sin alone. + +"I have traced serious affections and very great suffering to this cause. +The cases may occur at any period of life. We meet with them frequently +among such as are usually called, or think themselves, continent young +men. There are large classes of persons who seem to think that they +may, without moral guilt, excite their own feelings or those of others +by loose or libidinous conversation in society, provided such impure +thoughts or acts are not followed by masturbation or fornication. I +have almost daily to tell such persons that physically, and in a +sanitary point of view, they are ruining their constitutions. There +are young men who almost pass their lives in making carnal acquaintances +in the street, but just stop short of seducing girls; there are others +who haunt the lower classes of places of public amusement for the +purpose of sexual excitement, and live, in fact, a thoroughly immoral +life in all respects except actually going home with prostitutes. When +these men come to me, laboring under the various forms of impotence, +they are surprised at my suggesting to them the possibility of the +impairment of their powers being dependent upon these previous vicious +habits."[4] + +[Footnote 4: Acton.] + +"Those lascivious _day-dreams_ and amorous reveries, in which young +people--and especially the idle and the voluptuous, and the sedentary +and the nervous--are exceedingly apt to indulge, are often the sources +of general debility, effeminacy, disordered functions, premature +disease, and even premature death, without the actual exercise of the +genital organs! Indeed, this unchastity of thought--this adultery of +the mind--is the beginning of immeasurable evil to the human +family."[5] + +[Footnote 5: Graham.] + +Amativeness.--Certain phrenologists contend that the controlling +center of the sexual passion is the cerebellum, or little brain, which +is situated at the lower and back part of the head. They apparently +love to dwell upon the theme, and ride their hobby upon all possible +occasions, often in the most disgusting manner, and always leaving the +impression that they must be themselves suffering from perversion of +the very function of which they speak. + +There may be some doubt whether the function called amativeness is +located in the cerebellum at all; at least, it is perfectly certain +that amativeness is not the exclusive function of the cerebellum. Says +Carpenter, the learned physiologist, "The seat of the sexual sensation +is no longer supposed to be in the cerebellum generally; but probably +in its central portion, or some part of the medulla oblongata." + +The cerebellum is intimately connected with the principal vital organs; +hence, if it is largely developed, the individual will possess a +well-developed physical organism and a good degree of constitutional +vigor. He will have vigorous health, and probably strong sexual powers; +not, however, as a special function, but for the same reason that he +will have a good digestion. + +To the majority of mankind, apparently, amativeness, or sexual love, +means lust. The faculty has been lowered and debased until it might +almost be considered practically synonymous with sensuality. The first +step toward reform must be a recognition of a higher and purer relation +than that which centers every thought upon the gratification of the +animal in human nature. If one may judge from the facts which now and +then come to the surface in society, it would appear that the +opportunity for sensual gratification had come to be, in the world at +large, the chief attraction between the sexes. If to these observations +we add the filthy disclosures constantly made in police courts and +scandal suits, we have a powerful confirmation of the opinion. Even +ministers, who ought to be "ensamples to the flock," are rather "blind +leaders of the blind," and fall into the same ditch with the rest. + +This perversion of a natural instinct, and these sudden lapses from +virtue which startle a small portion of community and afford a filthy +kind of pleasure to the other part, are but the outgrowths of mental +unchastity. "Filthy dreamers," before they are aware, become filthy +in action. The thoughts mold the brain, as certainly as the brain molds +the thoughts. Rapidly down the current of sensuality is swept the +individual who yields his imagination to the contemplation of +lascivious themes. Before he knows his danger, he finds himself deep +in the mire of concupiscence. He may preserve a fair exterior; but +deception cannot cleanse the slime from his putrid soul. How many a +church-member carries under a garb of piety a soul filled with +abominations, no human scrutiny can tell. How many pulpits are filled +by "whited sepulchers," only the Judgment will disclose. + +Unchaste Conversation.--"Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth +speaketh." "Every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give +account thereof in the day of Judgment." "By thy words thou shalt be +condemned." Matt. 12: 34, 36, 37. In these three brief sentences, Christ +presents the whole moral aspect of the subject of this paragraph. To +any one who will ponder well his weighty words, no further remark is +necessary. Let filthy talkers but consider for a moment what a multitude +of "idle," unclean words are waiting for account in the final day; and +then let them consider what a load of condemnation must roll upon their +guilty souls when strict justice is meted out to every one before the +bar of Omnipotence, and in the face of all the world--of all the +universe. + +The almost universal habit among boys and young men of relating filthy +stories, indulging in foul jokes, making indecent allusions, and +subjecting to lewd criticism every passing female, is a most abominable +sin. Such habits crush out pure thoughts; they annihilate respect for +virtue; they make the mind a quagmire of obscenity; they lead to overt +acts of lewdness. + +But boys and youths are not alone in this. More often than otherwise, +they gain from older ones the phraseology of vice. And if the sin is +loathsome in such youthful transgressors, what detestable enormity +must characterize it in the old. + +And women, too, are not without their share in this accursed thing, +this ghost of vice, which haunts the sewing-circle and the parlor as +well as the club-room. They do not, of course, often descend to those +black depths of vulgarity to which the coarser sex will go, but couch +in finer terms the same foul thoughts, and hide in loose insinuations +more smut than words could well express. Women who think themselves +rare paragons of virtue can find no greater pleasure than in the +discussion of the latest scandal, speculations about the chastity of +Mrs. A. or Mr. B., and gossip about the "fall" of this man's daughter +or the amorous adventures of that woman's son. + +Masculine purity loves to regard woman as chaste in mind as well as +in body, to surround her with conceptions of purity and impregnable +virtue; but the conclusion is irresistible that those who can gloat +over others' lapses from virtue, and find delight in such questionable +entertainments as the most recent case of seduction, or the newest +scandal, have need to purify their hearts and re-enforce their waning +chastity. Nevertheless, a writer says, and perhaps truly, that "the +women comprise about all the real virtue there is in the world." +Certainly if they were one-half as bad as the masculine portion of +humanity, the world would be vastly worse than it is. + +Causes of Unchastity.--Travelers among the North American Indians have +been struck with the almost entire absence of that abandonment to vice +which might be expected in a race uninfluenced by the moral restraints +of Christianity. When first discovered in their native wilds, they were +free from both the vices and the consequent diseases of civilization. +This fact points unmistakably to the conclusion that there must be +something in the refinements and perversions of civilized life which +is unfavorable to chastity, notwithstanding all the restraints which +religion and the conventionalisms of society impose. Can we find such +influences? Yes; they abound on every hand and leave their blight in +most unwelcome places, oft unsuspected, even, till the work of ruin +is complete. + +Early Causes.--The earliest of all causes is hereditary predisposition. +As we have shown, a child conceived in lust can no more be chaste by +nature than a negro can be a Caucasian. But back of this there is a +deeper cause, as we shall see, one that affects parents as well as +offspring. Between infancy and puberty, are in operation, all those +influences mentioned under "Sexual Precocity." + +The frequent custom of allowing children of the opposite sex to sleep +together, even until eight or ten years of age, or longer, is a dangerous +one. We have known of instances in which little boys of seven or eight +have been allowed to sleep with girls of fourteen or sixteen, in some +of which most shameful lessons were taught, and by persons who would +not be suspected of such an impropriety. In one instance a little boy +of eight, occupying the same bed with three girls several years older, +was used for illustration by the older girl in instructing the younger +ones in the _modus operandi_ of reproduction. The sexes should be +carefully separated from each other at least as early as four or five +years of age, under all circumstances which could afford opportunity +for observing the physical differences of the sexes, or in any way serve +to excite those passions which at this tender age should be wholly +dormant. + +Diet vs. Chastity.--From earliest infancy to impotent old age, under +the perverting influence of civilization, there is a constant +antagonism between diet and purity. Sometimes--rarely we hope--the +helpless infant imbibes the essence of libidinous desires with its +mother's milk, and thence receives upon its forming brain the stamp +of vice. When old enough to take food in the ordinary way, the infant's +tender organs of digestion are plied with highly seasoned viands, +stimulating sauces, animal food, sweetmeats, and dainty tidbits in +endless variety. Soon, tea and coffee are added to the list. Salt, +pepper, ginger, mustard, condiments of every sort, deteriorate his +daily food. If, perchance, he does not die at once of indigestion, or +with his weakened forces fall a speedy victim to the diseases incident +to infancy, he has his digestive organs impaired for life at the very +outset of his existence. + +Exciting stimulants and condiments weaken and irritate his nerves and +derange the circulation. Thus, indirectly, they affect the sexual +system, which suffers through sympathy with the other organs. But a +more direct injury is done. Flesh, condiments, eggs, tea, coffee, +chocolate, and all stimulants, have a powerful influence directly upon +the reproductive organs. They increase the local supply of blood; and +through nervous sympathy with the brain, the passions are aroused. + +Overeating, eating between meals, hasty eating, eating indigestible +articles of food, late suppers, react upon the sexual organs with the +utmost certainty. Any disturbance of the digestive function +deteriorates the quality of the blood. Poor blood, filled with crude, +poorly digested food, is irritating to the nervous system, and +especially to those extremely delicate nerves which govern the +reproductive function. Irritation provokes congestion; congestion +excites sexual desires; excited passions increase the local +disturbance; and thus each reacts upon the other, ever increasing the +injury and the liability to future damage. + +Thus, these exciting causes continue their insidious work through youth +and more mature years. Right under the eyes of fathers and mothers they +work the ruin of their children, exciting such storms of passion as +are absolutely uncontrollable. + +Clerical Lapses.--Our most profound disgust is justly excited when we +hear of laxity of morals in a clergyman. We naturally feel that one +whose calling is to teach his fellow-men the way of truth, and right, +and purity, should himself be free from taint of immorality. But when +we consider how these ministers are fed, we cannot suppress a momentary +disposition to excuse, in some degree, their fault. When the minister +goes out to tea, he is served with the richest cake, the choicest jellies, +the most pungent sauces, and the finest of fine-flour bread-stuffs. +Little does the indulgent hostess dream that she is ministering to the +inflammation of passions which may imperil the virtue of her daughter, +or even her own. Salacity once aroused, even in a minister, allows no +room for reason or for conscience. If women wish to preserve the virtue +of their ministers, let them feed them more in accordance with the laws +of health. Ministers are not immaculate. + +The remedy for the dangers to chastity arising from this source, is +pointed out in the article on "Continence." + +Tobacco and Vice.--Few are aware of the influence upon morals exerted +by that filthy habit, tobacco-using. When acquired early, it excites +the undeveloped organs, arouses the passions, and in a few years +converts the once chaste and pure youth into a veritable volcano of +lust, belching out from its inner fires of passion torrents of obscenity +and the sulphurous fumes of lasciviousness. If long-continued, the +final effect of tobacco is emasculation; but this is only the necessary +consequence of previous super-excitation. The lecherous day-dreams in +which many smokers indulge, are a species of fornication for which even +a brute ought to blush, if such a crime were possible for a brute. The +mental libertine does not confine himself to bagnios and women of the +town. In the foulness of his imagination, he invades the sanctity of +virtue wherever his erotic fancy leads him. + +We are aware that we have made a grave charge against tobacco, and we +have not hesitated to state the naked truth; yet we do not think we +have exaggerated, in the least, the pernicious influence of this foul +drug. As much, or nearly as much, might be said against the use of liquor, +on the same grounds. + +Bad Books.--Another potent enemy of virtue is the obscene literature +which has flooded the land for many years. Circulated by secret agencies, +these books have found their way into the most secluded districts. +Nearly every large school contains one of these emissaries of evil men +and their Satanic master. Some idea of the enormity and extent of this +evil may be gained from the following quotations from a published letter +of Mr. Anthony Comstock, who has been for some time employed by the +Young Men's Christian Association in suppressing the traffic by +arresting the publishers and destroying their goods:-- + +"I have succeeded in unearthing this hydra-headed monster in part, as +you will see by the following statement, which, in many respects, might +be truthfully increased in quantity. These I have seized and +destroyed:-- + +"Obscene photographs, stereoscopic and other pictures, more than one +hundred and eighty-two thousand; obscene books and pamphlets, more than +five tons; obscene letter-press in sheets, more than two tons; sheets +of impure songs, catalogues, handbills, etc., more than twenty-one +thousand; obscene microscopic watch and knife charms, and finger-rings, +more than five thousand; obscene negative plates for printing +photographs and stereoscopic views, about six hundred and twenty-five; +obscene engraved steel and copper plates, three hundred and fifty; +obscene lithographic stones destroyed, twenty; obscene wood-cut +engravings, more than five hundred; stereotype plates for printing +obscene books, more than five tons; obscene transparent playing-cards, +nearly six thousand; obscene and immoral rubber articles, over thirty +thousand; lead molds for manufacturing rubber goods, twelve sets, or +more than seven hundred pounds; newspapers seized, about four thousand +six hundred; letters from all parts of the country ordering these goods, +about fifteen thousand; names of dealers in account-books seized, about +six thousand; lists of names in the hands of dealers, that are sold +as merchandise to forward circulars or catalogues to, independent of +letters and account-books seized, more than seven thousand; arrest of +dealers since Oct. 9, 1871, more than fifty." + +"These abominations are disseminated by these men first obtaining the +names and addresses of scholars and students in our schools and colleges, +and then forwarding circulars. They secure thousands of names in this +way, either by sending for a catalogue of schools, seminaries, and +colleges, under a pretense of sending a child to attend these places, +or else by sending out a circular purporting to be getting up a directory +of all the scholars and students in schools and colleges in the United +States, or of taking the census of all the unmarried people, and +offering to pay five cents per name for lists so sent. I need not say +that the money is seldom or never sent, but I do say that these names, +together with those that come in reply to advertisements, are sold to +other parties; so that when a man desires to engage in this nefarious +business, he has only to purchase a list of these names, and then your +child, be it son or daughter, is liable to have thrust into its hands, +all unknown to you, one of these devilish catalogues." + +"Since the destruction of the stereotype plates of old books, secret +circulars have been discovered of a notice to dealers that twelve new +books are in course of preparation, and will soon be ready for +delivery." + +Says Hon. C. L. Merriam, as quoted by Dr. Lewis: "We find that the +dealers in obscene literature have organized circulating libraries, +which are under the charge of the most vicious boys in the schools, +boys chosen and paid by the venders, and who circulate among the +students, at ten cents a volume, any of the one hundred and forty-four +obscene books heretofore published in New York City." + +Largely through the influence of Mr. Comstock, laws have been enacted +which promise to do much toward checking this extensive evil, or at +least causing it to make itself less prominent. Our newspapers still +abound with advertisements of various so-called medical works, +"Marriage Guides," etc., which are fruits of the same "upas-tree" that +Mr. Comstock has labored so faithfully to uproot. + +It is a painful fact, however, that the total annihilation of every +foul book which the law can reach will not effect the cure of this evil, +for our modern literature is full of the same virus. It is necessarily +presented in less grossly revolting forms, half concealed by beautiful +imagery, or embellished by wit; but yet, there it is, and no law can +reach it. The works of our standard authors in literature abound in +lubricity. Popular novels have doubtless done more to arouse a prurient +curiosity in the young, and to excite and foster passion and immorality, +than even the obscene literature for the suppression of which such +active measures have recently been taken. The more exquisitely painted +the scenes of vice, the more dangerously enticing. Novel-reading has +led thousands to lives of dissoluteness. + +Idleness.--This evil is usually combined with the preceding. To +maintain purity, the mind must be occupied. If left without occupation, +the vacuity is quickly filled with unchaste thoughts. Nothing can be +worse for a child than to be reared in idleness. His morals will be +certain to suffer. Incessant mental occupation is the only safeguard +against unchastity. Those worthless fops who spend their lives in +"killing time" by lounging about bar-rooms, loafing on street corners, +or strutting up and down the boulevard, are anything but chaste. Those +equally worthless young women who waste their lives on sofas or in +easy-chairs, occupied only with some silly novel, or idling away life's +precious hours in reverie--such creatures are seldom the models of +purity one would wish to think them. If born with a natural propensity +toward sin, such a life would soon engender a diseased, impure +imagination, if nothing worse. + +Dress and Sensuality.--There are two ways in which fashionable dress +leads to unchastity; viz., 1. By its extravagance; 2. By its abuse of +the body. + +How does extravagance lead to unchastity? By creating the temptation +to sin. It affects not those gorgeously attired ladies who ride in fine +carriages, and live in brown-stone fronts, who are surrounded with all +the luxuries that wealth can purchase--fine apparel is no temptation +to such. But to less favored--though not less worthy--ones, these +magnificent displays of millinery goods and fine trappings are most +powerful temptations. The poor seamstress, who can earn by diligent +toil hardly enough to pay her board bill, has no legitimate way by which +to deck herself with the finery she admires. Plainly dressed as she +must be if she remains honest and retains her virtue, she is scornfully +ignored by her proud sisters. Everywhere she finds it a generally +recognized fact that "dress makes the lady." On the street, no one steps +aside to let her pass, no one stoops to regain for her the package that +slips from her weary hands. Does she enter a crowded car, no one offers +her a seat, though she is trembling with fatigue, while the showily +dressed woman who follows her is accommodated at once. She marks the +difference; she does not pause to count the cost, but barters away her +self-respect, to gain the respect, or deference, of strangers. + +How Young Women Fall.--It has been authoritatively stated that there +are, in our large cities, hundreds of young women who, being able to +earn barely enough to buy food and fuel and pay the rent of a dismal +attic, take the advice offered by their employers, "Get some gentleman +friend to dress you for your company." Others spend all their small +earnings to keep themselves "respectably" dressed, and share the board +and lodgings of some young _roue_ as heartless as incontinent. Persons +unaccustomed to city life, and thousands of people in the very heart +of our great metropolis, have no conception of the frightful prevalence +of this kind of prostitution. Young women go to our large cities as +pure as snow. They find no lucrative employment. Daily contact with +vice obtunds their first abhorrence of it. Gradually it becomes +familiar. A fancied life of ease presents allurements to a hard-worked +sewing-girl. Fine clothes and comfortable lodgings increase the +temptation. She yields, and barters her body for a home without the +trouble of a marriage ceremony. + +Wealthy women could do more to cure the "social evil" by adopting plain +attire than all the civil authorities by passing license laws or +regulating ordinances. Have not Christian women a duty here? A few years +ago, some Nashville ladies made a slight move in the right direction, +as indicated in the following paragraph; but we have not heard that +their example has been followed:-- + +"The lady members of the first Baptist Church, of Nashville, Tenn., +have agreed that they will dispense with all finery on Sunday, wearing +no jewels but consistency, and hereafter appear at church in plain +calico dresses." + +A more radical reform would have been an extension of the salutary +measure to all other days of the week as well as Sunday; though we see +no reason for restricting the material of clothing to calico, which +might, indeed, be rather insufficient for some seasons of the year. + +Fashion and Vice.--Let us glance at the second manner in which dress +lends its influence to vice, by obstructing the normal functions of +the body. 1. Fashion requires a woman to compress her waist with bands +or corsets. In consequence, the circulation of the blood toward the +heart is obstructed. The venous blood is crowded back into the delicate +organs of generation. Congestion ensues, and with it, through reflex +action, the unnatural excitement of the animal propensities. 2. The +manner of wearing the clothing, suspending several heavy garments from +the hips, increases the same difficulty by bringing too large a share +of clothing where it is least needed, thus generating unnatural local +heat. 3. The custom of clothing the feet and limbs so thinly that they +are exposed to constant chilling, by still further unbalancing the +circulation, adds another element to increase the local mischief. + +All of these causes combined, operating almost constantly,--with +others that might be mentioned,--produce permanent local congestions, +with ovarian and uterine derangements. The latter affections have long +been recognized as the chief pathological condition in hysteria, and +especially in that peculiar form of disease known as _nymphomania_, +under the excitement of which a young woman, naturally chaste and modest, +may be impelled to the commission of the most wanton acts. The +pernicious influence of fashionable dress in occasioning this disorder +cannot be doubted. + +Reform in Dress Needed.--The remedy for these evils, the only way to +escape them, is reformation. The dress must be so adjusted to the body +that every organ will be allowed free movement. No corset, band, belt, +or other means of constriction, should impede the circulation. Garments +should be suspended from the shoulders by means of a waist, or proper +suspenders. The limbs should be as warmly clad as any other portion +of the body. How best to secure these requirements of health may be +learned from several excellent works on dress reform, any of which can +be readily obtained of the publishers of this work or their agents. + +Fashionable Dissipation.--The influence of so important an agent for +evil in this direction as fashionable dissipation, cannot be ignored. +By fashionable dissipation we mean that class of excesses in the +indulgence in which certain classes, usually the more wealthy or +aristocratic, pride themselves. Among this class of persons a man who +is known to be a common drunkard would not be recognized; such a person +would be carefully shunned; yet a total abstainer would be avoided with +almost equal care, and would be regarded as a fanatic or an extremist +at least. With persons of this class, wine-drinking is considered +necessary as a matter of propriety. Along with wine are taken the great +variety of highly seasoned foods, spices, and condiments in profusion, +with rich meats and all sorts of delicacies, rich desserts, etc., which +can hardly be considered much less harmful than stimulants of a more +generally recognized character. + +These indulgences excite that part of the system which generally needs +restraint rather than stimulation. A participant, an ex-governor, +recently described to us a grand political dinner given in honor of +a noted American citizen, which began at 5 P.M., and continued until +nearly midnight, continuous courses of foods, wines, etc., being served +for nearly six hours. Similar scenes have been enacted in a score of +our large cities for the same ostensible purpose. Knowing that public +men are addicted to such gormandizing on numerous occasions, we do not +wonder that so many of them are men of loose morals. + +The tendency of luxury is toward demoralization. Rome never became +dissipated and corrupt until her citizens became wealthy, and adopted +luxurious modes of living. Nothing is much more conducive to sound +morals than full occupation of the mind with useful labor. Fashionable +idleness is a foe to virtue. The young man or the young woman who wastes +the precious hours of life in listless dreaming, or in that sort of +senseless twaddle which forms the bulk of the conversation in some +circles, is in very great danger of demoralization. Many of the usages +and customs of fashionable society seem to open the door to vice, and +to insidiously, and at first unconsciously, lead the young and +inexperienced away from the paths of purity and virtue. There is good +evidence that the amount of immorality among what are known as the +higher classes is every year increasing. Every now and then a scandal +in high life comes to the surface; but the great mass of corruption +is effectually hidden from the general public. Open profligacy is of +course frowned upon in all respectable circles; and yet wealth and +accomplishments will cover a multitude of sins. + +This freedom allowed to the vile and vicious is one of the worst features +of fashionable society. Such persons carry about them a moral +atmosphere more deadly than the dreaded upas-tree. + +Round Dances.--Whatever apologies may be offered for other forms of +the dance as means of exercise under certain restrictions, employed +as a form of calisthenics, no such excuse can be framed in defense of +"round dances," especially of the waltz. In addition to the associated +dissipation, late hours, fashionable dressing, midnight feasting, +exposures through excessive exertions and improper dress, etc., it can +be shown most clearly that dancing has a direct influence in stimulating +the passions and provoking unchaste desires, which too often lead to +unchaste acts, and are in themselves violations of the requirements +of strict morality, and productive of injury to both mind and body. + +Said the renowned Petrarch, "The dance is the spur of lust--a circle +of which the devil himself is the center. Many women that use it have +come dishonest home, most indifferent, none better." + +We cannot do better than to quote on this subject from a little work +entitled, "The Dance of Death," the author of which has given a great +amount of attention to this subject, and presents its evils in a very +forcible light, as follows:-- + +"A score of forms whirl swiftly before us under the softened gaslight. +I say a score of _forms_--but each is double--they would have made two +score before the dancing began. Twenty floating visions--each male and +female. Twenty women, knit and growing to as many men, undulate, sway, +and swirl giddily before us, keeping time with the delirious melody +of piano, harp, and violin. + +"But draw nearer--let us see how this miracle is accomplished. Do you +mark yonder couple who seem to excel the rest in grace and ardor. Let +us take this couple for a sample. He is stalwart, agile, mighty; she +is tall, supple, lithe, and how beautiful in form and feature! Her head +rests upon his shoulder, her face is upturned to his; her naked arm +is almost around his neck; her swelling breast heaves tumultuously +against his; face to face they whirl, his limbs interwoven with her +limbs; with strong right arm about her yielding waist, he presses her +to him till every curve in the contour of her lovely body thrills with +the amorous contact. Her eyes look into his, but she sees nothing; the +soft music fills the room, but she hears nothing; swiftly he whirls +her from the floor or bends her frail body to and fro in his embrace. + +"With a last, low wail the music ceases. Her swooning senses come back +to life. Ah, must it be! Yes; her companion releases her from his embrace. +Leaning wearily upon his arm, the rapture faded from her eye, the flush +dying from her cheek--enervated, limp, listless, worn out--she is led +to a seat, there to recover from her delirium and gather her energies +as best she may in the space of five minutes, after which she must yield +her body to a new embrace." + +"And now tell me, friend of mine, did you not recognize an old +acquaintance in the lady we have been watching so closely? No! Then +believe me; she is no other than the 'pure and lovely girl' you so much +admired earlier in the evening, the so desirable wife, the angel who +was to 'haunt your dreams.'" + +The author just quoted publishes in his little work a letter from a +woman of great ability and strength of mind, of unblemished character +and national reputation, written in response to his request for her +opinion of the dance. The statements made in this remarkable letter +are so clear and convincing that every parent ought to read it. We quote +the chief portions as follows:-- + +"'I will venture to lay bare a young girl's heart and mind by giving +you my own experience in the days when I waltzed. + +"'In those times I cared little for Polka or Varsovienne, and still +less for the old-fashioned "Money Musk" or "Virginia Reel," and +wondered what people could find to admire in those "slow dances." But +in the soft floating of the waltz I found a strange pleasure, rather +difficult to intelligibly describe. The mere anticipation fluttered +my pulse, and when my partner approached to claim my promised hand for +the dance, I felt my cheeks glow a little sometimes, and I could not +look him in the eyes with the same frank gayety as heretofore. + +"'But the climax of my confusion was reached when, folded in his warm +embrace, and giddy with the whirl, a strange, sweet thrill would shake +me from head to foot, leaving me weak and almost powerless, and really +almost obliged to depend for support upon the arm which encircled me. +If my partner failed from ignorance, lack of skill, or innocence, to +arouse these, to me, most pleasurable sensations, I did not dance with +him the second time. + +"'I am speaking openly and frankly, and when I say that I did not +understand what I felt, or what were the real and greatest pleasures +I derived from this so-called dancing, I expect to be believed. But +if my cheeks grew red with uncomprehended pleasure then, they grow pale +with shame to-day when I think of it all. It was the physical emotions +engendered by the contact of strong men that I was enamored of--not +of the dance, nor even of the men themselves. + +"'Thus I became abnormally developed in my lowest nature. I grew bolder, +and from being able to return shy glances at first, was soon able to +meet more daring ones, until the waltz became to me and whomsoever +danced with me, one lingering, sweet, and purely sensual pleasure, +where heart beat against heart, hand was held in hand, and eyes looked +burning words which lips dared not speak. + +"'All this while no one said to me, You do wrong; so I dreamed of sweet +words whispered during the dance, and often felt while alone a thrill +of joy indescribable yet overpowering when my mind would turn from my +studies to remember a piece of temerity of unusual grandeur on the part +of one or another of my cavaliers. + +"'Girls talk to each other. I was still a school girl, although mixing +so much with the world. We talked together. We read romances that fed +our romantic passions on seasoned food, and none but ourselves knew +what subjects we discussed. Had our parents heard us, they would have +considered us on the high road to ruin. + +"'Yet we had been taught that it was right to dance; our parents did +it, our friends did, and we were permitted. I will say also that all +the girls with whom I associated, with the exception of one, had much +the same experience in dancing; felt the same strangely sweet emotions, +and felt that almost imperative necessity for a closer communion than +that which even the freedom of a waltz permits, without knowing exactly +why, or even comprehending what. + +"'Married now, with home and children around me, I can at least thank +God for the experience which will assuredly be the means of preventing +my little daughters from indulging in any such dangerous pleasure. But, +if a young girl, pure and innocent in the beginning, can be brought +to feel what I have confessed to have felt, what must be the experience +of a married woman? _She_ knows what every glance of the eye, every +bend of the head, every close clasp means, and knowing that, +reciprocates it, and is led by swifter steps and a surer path down the +dangerous, dishonorable road. + +"'I doubt if my experience will be of much service, but it is the candid +truth, from a woman who, in the cause of all the young girls who may +be contaminated, desires to show just to what extent a young mind may +be defiled by the injurious effects of round dances. I have not +hesitated to lay bare what are a young girl's most secret thoughts, +in the hope that people will stop and consider, at least, before handing +their lilies of purity over to the arms of any one who may choose to +blow the frosty breath of dishonor on their petals.'" + +Much more might be added on this important subject, would the limits +of this work allow; but this must suffice. We beg the reader to consider +carefully and prayerfully the facts presented before deciding that +dancing is so harmless as many persons suppose. + +Physical Causes of Unchastity.--Some of the physical causes of impurity +in women have been previously referred to, since it is through physical +injuries that unhealthful clothing exerts its influence. Too little +is generally known of the intimate connection between physical and +mental conditions. Doubtless, many vices originate in physical +imperfections. Indeed, when the full bearing of physical influences +upon the mind is allowed, it is difficult to avoid pleading extenuating +circumstances in the cases of the greatest share of transgressors of +both moral and civil laws. This principle is especially applicable to +sexual relations. + +In males, one of the most general physical causes of sexual excitement +is _constipation_. The vesicula seminalis, in which the seminal fluid +is stored, is situated, as will be remembered, at the base of the bladder. +It thus has the bladder in front, and the rectum behind. In constipation, +the rectum becomes distended with feces, effete matter which should +have been promptly evacuated instead of being allowed to accumulate. +This hardened mass presses upon the parts most intimately concerned +in the sexual act, causing excessive local excitement. When this +condition is chronic, as in habitual constipation, the unnatural +excitement often leads to most serious results. One of these is the +production of a horrible disease, _satyriasis_, the nature of which +has been previously indicated. + +_Constipation_ in females has the same tendency, though the dangers +are not quite so great. The irritation is sufficient, however, to lead +to excitement of the passions. + +_Intestinal worms_ often produce the same result in children. + +_Local uncleanliness_ is another very frequent cause which is often +overlooked. The natural local secretions quickly become a source of +great irritation if not removed by daily washing. Certain anatomical +peculiarities sometimes exist in the male which greatly aggravate this +difficulty, and for which circumcision, or an equivalent operation, +is the remedy. + +_Irritation of the bladder_, producing incontinence of urine, is +another enemy to chastity. It should receive prompt attention and +treatment. In children, this irritability is indicated by wetting of +the bed at night. In cases of this kind, allow the child little drink +in the latter portion of the day. See that the bladder is emptied just +before he goes to bed. Wake him once or twice during the night, and +have him urinate. Use all possible means to remove the cause of +irritation by giving him plenty of out-of-door exercise and a very +simple, though nutritious, diet. Avoid meat, eggs, and condiments. + +Modern Modes of Life.--Aside from all of the causes already enumerated, +there are many other conditions and circumstances, the result of modern +habits of living, that tend directly toward the excitement of +sensuality. Superheated rooms, sedentary employments, the development +of the mental and nervous organizations at the expense of the muscular, +the cramming system in schools, too long confinement of school-children +in a sitting position, the allowance of too great freedom between the +sexes in the young, the demoralizing influence of most varieties of +public amusement, balls, church fairs, and other like influences too +numerous to mention, all tend in the one direction, that of abnormal +excitation and precocious development of the sexual functions. + +It is not an exaggeration to say that for one conforming to modern modes +of living, eating, sleeping, and drinking, absolute chastity is next +to an absolute impossibility. This would certainly be true without a +special interposition of Providence; but Providence never works +miracles to obviate the results of voluntary sin. + + + + +CONTINENCE. + + +Continence differs from chastity in being entire restraint from sexual +indulgence under all circumstances, while chastity is only restraint +from unlawful indulgence. As we have both physical and mental chastity, +so continence should be both mental and physical. Many of the +observations on the subject of "Chastity" apply with equal force to +continence. The causes of incontinence are the same as those of +unchastity. The same relation also exists between mental and physical +continence as between mental and physical chastity. + +The subject of continence evidently has a somewhat wider scope than +that of chastity, as generally understood; but as we have considered +the latter subject so fully, we shall devote less space to this, leaving +the reader to make the application of such preceding remarks as reason +may suggest to him are equally appropriate here. + +Without stopping to consider the various circumstances under which +absolute continence is expedient, or desirable, or morally required, +we will proceed at once to examine the question, Is continence harmful? + +Continence not Injurious.--It has been claimed by many, even by +physicians,--and with considerable show of reason,--that absolute +continence, after full development of the organs of reproduction, could +not be maintained without great detriment to health. It is needless +to enumerate all the different arguments employed to support this +position, since they are, with a few exceptions, too frivolous to +deserve attention. We shall content ourselves chiefly with quotations +from acknowledged authorities, by which we shall show that the popular +notions upon this subject are wholly erroneous. Their general +acceptance has been due, without doubt, to the strong natural bias in +their favor. It is an easy matter to believe what agrees well with one's +predilections. A bare surmise, on the side of prejudice, is more telling +than the most powerful logic on the other side. + +"We know that this opinion is held by men of the world, and that many +physicians share it. This belief appears to us to be erroneous, without +foundation, and easily refuted."[6] + +[Footnote 6: Mayer.] + +The same writer claims "that no peculiar disease nor any abridgment +of the duration of life can be ascribed to such continence." He proves +his position by appealing to statistics, and shows the fallacy of +arguments in support of the contrary view. He further says:-- + +"It is determined, in our opinion, that the commerce of the sexes has +no necessities that cannot be restrained without peril." + +"A part has been assigned to _spermatic plethora_ in the etiology of +various mental affections. Among others, priapism has been attributed +to it. In our opinion, this malady originates in a disturbance of the +cerebral nerve power; but it is due much less to the retention of sperm +than to its exaggerated loss; much less to virtuous abstinence than +to moral depravity." + +There has evidently been a wide-spread deception upon this subject. +"Health does not absolutely require that there should ever be an +emission of semen, from puberty to death, though the individual live +a hundred years; and the frequency of involuntary nocturnal emissions +is an indubitable proof that the parts, at least, are suffering under +a debility and morbid irritability utterly incompatible with the +general welfare of the system." + +Does not Produce Impotence.--It has been declared that strict +continence would result in impotency. The falsity of this argument is +clearly shown by the following observations:-- + +"There exists no _greater error_ than this, nor one more opposed to +physiological truth. In the first place, I may state that I have, after +many years' experience, never seen a single instance of atrophy of the +generative organs from this cause. I have, it is true, met the complaint, +but in what class of cases does it occur? It arises, in all instances, +from the exactly opposite cause, abuse; the organs become worn out, +and hence arises atrophy. Physiologically considered, it is not a fact +that the power of secreting semen is annihilated in well-formed adults +leading a healthy life and yet remaining continent. No continent man +need be deterred by this apocryphal fear of atrophy of the testes, from +living a chaste life. It is a device of the unchaste--a lame excuse +for their own incontinence, unfounded on any physiological law."[7] + +[Footnote 7: Acton.] + +The truth of this statement has been amply confirmed by experiments +upon animals. + +The complaint is made by those whose lives have been far otherwise than +continent, that abstinence occasions suffering, from which indulgence +gives relief. The same writer further says that when such a patient +consults a medical man, "he should be told--and the result would soon +prove the correctness of the advice--that attention to diet, gymnastic +exercise, and self-control, will, most effectually relieve the +symptoms." + +Difficulty of Continence.--Some there are who urge that self-denial +is difficult; that the natural promptings are imperious. From this they +argue that it cannot but be right to gratify so strong a passion. "The +admitted fact that continence, even at the very beginning of manhood, +is frequently productive of distress, is often a struggle hard to be +borne--still harder to be completely victorious in--is not to be at +all regarded as an argument that it is an _evil_."[8] + +[Footnote 8: Ibid.] + +But if rigid continence is maintained from the first, the struggle with +the passions will not be nearly so severe as after they have once been +allowed to gain the ascendency. On this point, the following remarks +are very just:-- + +"At the outset, the sexual necessities are not so uncontrollable as +is generally supposed, and they can be put down by the exercise of a +little energetic will. There is, therefore, as it appears to us, as +much injustice in accusing nature of disorders which are dependent upon +the genital senses, badly directed, as there would be in attributing +to it a sprain or a fracture accidentally produced."[9] + +[Footnote 9: Mayer.] + +Helps to Continence.--As already indicated, and as every individual +with strong passions knows, the warfare with passion is a serious one +if one determines to lead a continent life. He needs the help of every +aid that he can gain. Some of these may be named as follows:-- + +_The Will_.--A firm determination must be formed to lead a life of +purity; to quickly quench the first suggestions of impurity; to harbor +no unchaste desire; to purge the mind of carnal thoughts; in short, +to cleave fast to mental continence. Each triumph over vicious thoughts +will strengthen virtue; each victory won will make the next the easier. +So strong a habit of continence may be formed that this alone will be +a bulwark against vice. + +_Diet_.--He who would keep in subjection his animal nature must +carefully guard the portal to his stomach. The blood is made of what +is eaten. Irritating food will produce irritating blood. Stimulating +foods or drinks will surely produce a corresponding quality of blood. +Irritating, stimulating blood will irritate and stimulate the nervous +system, and especially the delicate nerves of the reproductive system, +as previously explained. Only the most simple and wholesome food should +be eaten, and that only in such moderate quantities as are required +to replenish the tissues. The custom of making the food pungent and +stimulating with condiments is the great, almost the sole, cause of +gluttony. It is one of the greatest hindrances to virtue. Indeed, it +may with truth be said that the devices of modern cookery are most +powerful allies of unchastity and licentiousness. This subject is +particularly deserving of careful, candid, and studious attention, and +only needs such investigation to demonstrate its soundness. + +_Exercise_.--Next to diet as an aid to continence, perhaps of equal +importance with it, is exercise, both physical and mental. It is a trite +proverb, the truth of which every one acknowledges, that "Satan finds +some mischief still for idle hands to do," and it is equally true that +he always has an evil thought in readiness--speaking figuratively--to +instill into an unoccupied mind. A person who desires to be pure and +continent in body and mind must flee idleness as he would the devil +himself; for the latter is always ready to improve upon the advantages +afforded by an idle moment, an hour given to reverie. + +We have the strongest testimony from the most eminent physicians in +regard to the efficacy of exercise in overcoming abnormal sexual +desires. Mr. Acton relates the following statement made to him by a +gentleman who has become distinguished in his profession:-- + +"'You may be surprised, Mr. Acton,' said he, 'by the statement I am +about to make to you, that before my marriage I lived a perfectly +continent life. During my university career, my passions were very +strong, sometimes almost uncontrollable, but I have the satisfaction +to think that I mastered them; it was, however, by great efforts. I +obliged myself to take violent physical exertion; I was the best oar +of my year, and when I felt particularly strong sexual desire, I sallied +out to take my exercise. I was victorious always, and I never committed +fornication. You see in what vigorous health I am; it was exercise alone +that saved me.'" + +Says Carpenter, on the same subject, in a textbook for medical students, +"'Try the effect of close mental application to some of those ennobling +pursuits to which your profession introduces you, in combination with +vigorous bodily exercise, before you assert that the appetite is +unrestrainable, and act upon that assertion.'" + +Walking, riding, rowing, and gymnastics are among the best modes of +physical exercise for sedentary persons; but there is no better form +of exercise than working in the garden. The cultivation of small fruits, +flowers, and other occupations of like character, really excel all +other modes of physical exercise for one who can engage in them with +real pleasure. Even though distasteful at first, they may become very +attractive and interesting if there is an honest, persevering desire +to make them so. The advantages of exercises of this kind are evident. +1. They are useful as well as healthful. While they call into action +a very large number of muscles by the varied movements required, the +expenditure of vital force is remunerated by the actual value of the +products of the labor; so that no force is wasted. 2. The tillage of +the soil and the dressing of vines and plants bring one in constant +contact with nature in a manner that is elevating and refining, or at +least affords the most favorable opportunities for the cultivation of +nobility and purity of mind, and elevated principles. + +Exercise carried to such excess as to produce exhaustion is always +injurious. The same is true of mental labor as of physical exercise. +Plenty of sleep, and regular habits of retiring and rising, are +important. Dozing is bad at any time; for it is a condition in which +the will is nearly dormant, though consciousness still lingers, and +the imagination is allowed to run wild, and often enough it will run +where it ought not. Late study, or late hours spent in any manner, is +a sure means of producing general nervous irritability and sexual +excitement through reflex influence. + +_Bathing_.--A daily bath with cool or tepid water, followed by vigorous +rubbing of the skin with a coarse towel and then with the dry hand, +is a most valuable aid. The hour of first rising is generally the most +convenient time. How to take different kinds of baths is explained in +other works devoted to the subject.[10] General and local cleanliness +are indispensable to general and local health. + +[Footnote 10: See "Uses of Water" and "The Household Manual."] + +_Religion_.--After availing himself of all other aids to continence, +if he wishes to maintain purity of mind as well as physical +chastity--and one cannot exist long without the other--the individual +must seek that most powerful and helpful of all aids, divine grace. +If, in the conflict with his animal nature, man had only to contend +with the degrading influences of his own propensities, the battle would +be a serious one, and it is doubtful whether human nature alone--at +least in any but rare cases,--would be able to gain the victory; but, +in addition to his own inherent tendencies to evil, man is assailed +at every point by unseen agencies that seek to drag him down and spoil +his soul with lust. These fiendish influences are only felt, not seen, +from which some argue that they do not exist. Such casuists must find +enormous depths for human depravity. But who has not felt the cruel +power of these unseen foes? Against them, there is but one safe, +successful weapon, "the blood of Christ which cleanseth from all sin." + +The struggling soul, beset with evil thoughts, will find in prayer a +salvation which all his force of will, and dieting, and exercising, +will not, alone, insure him. Yet prayer alone will not avail. Faith +and works must always be associated. All that one can do to work out +his own salvation, he must do; then he can safely trust in God to do +the rest, even though the struggle seems almost a useless one; for when +the soul has been long in bondage to concupiscence, the mind a hold +of foul and lustful thoughts, a panorama of unchaste imagery, these +hateful phantoms will even intrude themselves upon the sanctity of +prayer and make their victim mentally unchaste upon his knees. But +Christ can pity even such; and even these degraded minds may yet be +pure if with the psalmist they continue to cry, with a true purpose +and unwavering trust, "Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew +a right spirit within me." "Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; +wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow." + +At the first suggestion of an evil thought, send up a mental prayer +to Him whose ear is always open. Prayer and impurity are as incompatible +as oil and water. The pure thoughts that sincere prayer will bring, +displace the evil promptings of excited passion. But the desire for +aid must be sincere. Prayer will be of no avail while the mind is half +consenting to the evil thought. The evil must be loathed, spurned, +detested. + +It would seem almost unnecessary to suggest the impropriety of +resorting to prayer alone when sexual excitability has arisen from a +culpable neglect to remove the physical conditions of local excitement +by the means already mentioned. Such physical causes must be well looked +after, or every attempt to reform will be fruitless. God requires of +every individual to do for himself all that he is capable of doing; +to employ every available means for alleviating his sufferings. + + + + +MARITAL EXCESSES. + + +It seems to be a generally prevalent opinion that the marriage ceremony +removes all restraint from the exercise of the sexual functions. Few +seem to even suspect that the seventh commandment has any bearing upon +sexual conduct within the pale of matrimony. Yet if we may believe the +confessions and statements of men and women, legalized prostitution +is a more common crime than illicit commerce of the sexes. So common +is the popular error upon this subject, and so strongly fortified by +prejudice is it, that it is absolutely dangerous for a writer or speaker +to express the truth, if he knows it and has a disposition to do so. +Any attempt to call attention to true principles is mocked at, decried, +stigmatized, and, if possible, extinguished. The author is vilified, +and his work is denounced, and relegated to the ragman. Extremist, +fanatic, ascetic, are the mildest terms employed concerning him, and +he escapes with rare good fortune if his chastity or virility is not +assailed. + +We are not going to run any such risks, and so shall not attempt to +enunciate or maintain any theory. We shall content ourselves with +plainly stating established physiological facts by quotations from +standard medical authors, leaving each reader to draw conclusions and +construct a practical formula for himself. + +Object of the Reproductive Functions.--Man, in whatever condition we +find him, is more or less depraved. This is true as well of the most +cultivated and refined ladies and gentlemen of the great centers of +civilization, as of the misshapen denizens of African jungles, or the +scarcely human natives of Australia and Terra del Fuego. His appetites, +his tastes, his habits, even his bodily functions are perverted. Of +course, there are degrees of depravity, and varieties of perversion. +In some respects, savages approach more nearly to the natural state +than civilized man, and in other particulars, the latter more nearly +represents man's natural condition; but in neither barbarism nor +civilization do we find man in his primitive state. + +In consequence of this universal departure from his original normal +condition,--the causes of which we need not here trace, since they are +immaterial in the consideration of this question,--when we wish to +ascertain with certainty the functions of certain organs of the human +body, we are obliged to compare them with the corresponding organs of +lower animals, and study the functions of the latter. It is by this +method of investigation that most of the important truths of physiology +have been developed; and the plan is universally acknowledged to be +a proper and logical one. + +Then if we wish to ascertain, with certainty, the true function of the +reproductive organs in man, we must pursue the course above indicated; +in other words, study the function of reproduction in lower animals. +We say _lower animals_, because man is really an animal, a member of +the great animal kingdom, though not a beast--at least he should not +be a beast, though some animals in human form approach very closely +to the line that separates humanity from brutes. We are brought, then, +for a solution of this problem, to a consideration of the question, +What is the object of the reproductive act in those members of the animal +kingdom just below man in the scale of being? Let science tell us, for +zoologists have made a careful study of this subject for centuries. + +We quote the following paragraphs from one of the most distinguished +and reliable of modern physiologists;[11] the facts which he states +being confirmed by all other physiologists:-- + +"Every living being has a definite term of life, through which it passes +by the operation of an invariable law, and which, at some regularly +appointed time, comes to an end.... But while individual organisms are +thus constantly perishing and disappearing from the stage, the +particular kind, or species, remains in existence.... This process, +by which new organisms make their appearance, to take the place of those +which are destroyed, is known as the process of _reproduction_ or +_generation_. + +"The ovaries, as well as the eggs which they contain, undergo, at +particular seasons, a periodical development, or increase in growth.... +At the approach of the generative season, in all the lower animals, +a certain number of the eggs, which were previously in an imperfect +and inactive condition, begin to increase in size and become somewhat +altered in structure." + +"In most fish and reptiles as well as in birds, this regular process +of maturation and discharge of eggs takes place but once in a year. +In different species of quadrupeds it may take place annually, +semi-annually, bi-monthly, or even monthly; but in every instance it +recurs at regular intervals, and exhibits accordingly, in a marked +degree, the periodic character which we have seen to belong to most +of the other vital phenomena." + +"In most of the lower orders of animals there is a periodical +development of the testicles in the male, corresponding in time with +that of the ovaries in the female. As the ovaries enlarge and the eggs +ripen in the one sex, so in the other the testicles increase in size, +as the season of reproduction approaches, and become turgid with +spermatozoa. The accessory organs of generation, at the same time, +share the unusual activity of the testicles, and become increased in +vascularity and ready to perform their part in the reproductive +function." + +"Each of the two sexes is then at the same time under the influence +of a corresponding excitement. The unusual development of the genital +organs reacts upon the entire system, and produces a state of peculiar +activity and excitability, known as the condition of 'erethism.'" + +"It is a remarkable fact, in this connection, that the female of these +animals will allow the approaches of the male only during and +immediately after the oestral period; that is, just when the egg is +recently discharged, and ready for impregnation. At other times, when +sexual intercourse would be necessarily fruitless, the instinct of the +animal leads her to avoid it; and the concourse of the sexes is +accordingly made to correspond in time with the maturity of the egg +and its aptitude for fecundation." + +"The egg, immediately upon its discharge from the ovary, is ready for +impregnation. If sexual intercourse happens to take place about that +time, the egg and the spermatic fluid meet in some part of the female +generative passages, and fecundation is accomplished.... If, on the +other hand, coitus do not take place, the egg passes down to the uterus +unimpregnated, loses its vitality after a short time, and is finally +carried away with the uterine secretions." + +"It is easily understood, therefore, why sexual intercourse should be +more liable to be followed by pregnancy when it occurs about the +menstrual epoch than at other times.... Before its discharge, the egg +is immature, and unprepared for impregnation; and after the menstrual +period has passed, it gradually loses its freshness and vitality." + +[Footnote 11: Dalton.] + +The law of periodicity, as it affects the sexual activity of males of +the human species, is indicated in the following remarks by the same +author:-- + +"The same correspondence between the periods of sexual excitement in +the male and female, is visible in many of the animals [higher mammals], +as well as in fish and reptiles. This is the case in most species which +produce young but once a year, and at a fixed period, as the deer and +the wild hog. In other species, on the contrary, such as the dog, the +rabbit, the guinea-pig, etc., where several broods of young are +produced during the year, or where, as in the human subject, the +generative epochs of the female recur at short intervals, so that the +particular period of impregnation is comparatively indefinite, the +generative apparatus of the male is almost always in a state of full +development; and is excited to action at particular periods, apparently +by some influence derived from the condition of the female." + +The facts presented in the foregoing quotations from Dr. Dalton may +be summarized as follows:-- + +1. The sexual function is for the purpose of producing new individuals +to take the place of those who die, and thus preserve the species from +becoming extinct. + +2. In the animal kingdom generally, the reproductive function is +_necessarily_ a periodical act, dependent upon the development of the +reproductive organs of both the male and the female at stated periods. + +3. In those exceptional cases in which the organs of the male are in +a state of constant development, sexual congress occurs, in lower +animals, only at those periods when the periodical development occurs +in the female. + +4. Fecundation of the female element can only take place about the time +of periodical development in the female. + +5. The desire for sexual congress naturally exists in the female only +at or immediately after the time of periodical development. + +6. The constant development of the sexual organs in human males is a +condition common to all animals in which development occurs in the +female at short intervals, and is a provision of nature to secure a +fruitful union when the female is in readiness, but not an indication +for constant or frequent use. + +7. The time of sexual congress is always determined by the condition +and desires of the female. + +An additional fact, as stated by physiologists, is that, under normal +conditions, the human female experiences sexual desire immediately +after menstruation more than at any other time. It has, indeed, been +claimed that at this period only does she experience the true sexual +instinct unless it is abnormally excited by disease or otherwise. + +From these facts the following conclusions must evidently be drawn:-- + +1. The fact that in all animals but the human species the act can be +performed only when reproduction is possible, proves that in the animal +kingdom in general the sole object of the function is reproduction. +Whether man is an exception, must be determined from other +considerations. + +2. The fact that the males of other animals besides man in which the +sexual organs are in a state of constant development do not exercise +those organs except for the purpose of reproduction, is proof of the +position that the constant development in man is not a warrant for their +constant use. + +3. The general law that the reproductive act is performed only when +desired by the female, is sufficient ground for supposing that such +should be the case with the human species also. + +The opinions of writers of note are given in the following quotations:-- + +"The approach of the sexes is, in its purest condition, the result of +a natural instinct, the end of which is the reproduction of the species. +Still, however, we are far from saying that this ultimate result is, +in any proportion of cases, the actual thought in the minds of the +parties engaged." + +"The very lively solicitations which spring from the genital sense, +have no other end than to insure the perpetuity of the race."[12] + +[Footnote 12: Dr. Gardner.] + +"Observation fully confirms the views of inductive philosophy; for it +proves to us that coitus, exercised otherwise than under the +inspirations of honest instinct, is a cause of disease in both sexes, +and of danger to the social order."[13] + +[Footnote 13: Mayer.] + +"It is incredible that the act of bringing men into life, that act of +humanity, without contradiction of the most importance, should be the +one of which there should have been the least supposed necessity for +regulation, or which has been regulated the least beneficially."[14] + +[Footnote 14: Dunoyer.] + +"But it may be said that the demands of nature are, in the married state, +not only legal, but should be physically right. So they are, when our +physical life is right; but it must not be forgotten that few live in +a truly physical rectitude."[15] + +[Footnote 15: Gardner.] + +"Among cattle, the sexes meet by common instinct and common will; it +is reserved for the human animal to treat the female as a mere victim +to his lust."[16] + +[Footnote 16: Quarterly Review.] + +"He is an ill husband that _uses his wife as a man treats a harlot_, +having no other end but pleasure. Concerning which our best rule is, +that although in this, as in eating and drinking, there is an appetite +to be satisfied, which cannot be done without pleasing that desire, +yet since that desire and satisfaction were intended by nature for other +ends, they should never be separated from those ends." + +"It is a sad truth that many married persons, thinking that the +flood-gates of liberty are set wide open, without measures or +restraints (so they sail in the channel), have felt the final rewards +of intemperance and lust by their unlawful using of lawful permissions. +Only let each of them be temperate, and both of them modest."[17] + +[Footnote 17: Jeremy Taylor.] + +Says another writer very emphatically, "It is a common belief that a +man and woman, because they are legally united in marriage, are +privileged to the unbridled exercises of amativeness. This is wrong. +Nature, in the exercise of her laws, recognizes no human enactments, +and is as prompt to punish any infringement of her laws in those who +are legally married, as in those out of the bonds. Excessive indulgence +between the married produces as great and lasting evil effects as in +the single man or woman, and is nothing more or less than legalized +prostitution." + +Results of Excesses.--The sad results of excessive indulgences are seen +on every hand. Numerous ailments attributed to overwork, +constitutional disease, or hereditary predisposition, know no other +cause and need no other explanation. + +_Effects upon Husbands_.--No doubt the principal blame in this matter +properly falls upon the husband; but it cannot be said that he is the +greatest sufferer; however, his punishment is severe enough to clearly +indicate the enormity of the transgression, and to warn him to a +reformation of his habits. The following is a quotation from an eminent +medical authority:-- + +"But any warning against sexual dangers would be very incomplete if +it did not extend to the excesses so often committed by married persons +in ignorance of their ill effects. Too frequent emissions of the +life-giving fluid, and too frequent excitement of the nervous system +are, as we have seen, in themselves most destructive. The result is +the same within the marriage bond as without it. The married man who +thinks that because he is a married man he can commit no excess, however +often the act of sexual congress is repeated, will suffer as certainly +and as seriously as the unmarried debauchee who acts on the same +principle in his indulgences--perhaps more certainly from his very +ignorance, and from his not taking those precautions and following +those rules which a career of vice is apt to teach the sensualist. Many +a man has, until his marriage, lived a most continent life; so has his +wife. As soon as they are wedded, intercourse is indulged in night after +night, neither party having any idea that these repeated sexual acts +are excesses which the system of neither can bear, and which to the +man, at least, are absolute ruin. The practice is continued till health +is impaired, sometimes permanently, and when a patient is at last +obliged to seek medical advice, he is thunderstruck at learning that +his sufferings arise from excesses unwittingly committed. Married +people often appear to think that connection may be repeated as +regularly and almost as often as their meals. Till they are told of +the danger, the idea never enters their heads that they are guilty of +great and almost criminal excess; nor is this to be wondered at, since +the possibility of such a cause of disease is seldom hinted at by the +medical man they consult." + +"Some go so far as to believe that indulgence may increase these powers, +just as gymnastic exercises augment the force of the muscles. This is +a popular error; and requires correction. Such patients should be told +that the shock on the system each time connection is indulged in, is +very powerful, and that the expenditure of seminal fluid must be +particularly injurious to organs previously debilitated. It is by this +and similar excesses that premature old age and complaints of the +generative organs are brought on." + +"The length to which married people carry excesses is perfectly +astonishing." + +"Since my attention has been particularly called to this class of +ailments, I feel confident that many of the forms of indigestion, +general ill health, hypochondriasis, etc., so often met with in adults, +depend upon sexual excesses.... That this cause of illness is not more +generally acknowledged and acted on, arises from the natural delicacy +which medical men must feel in putting such questions to their patients +as are necessary to elicit the facts." + +"It is not the body alone which suffers from excesses committed in +married life. Experience every day convinces me that much of the languor +of mind, confusion of ideas, and inability to control the thoughts, +of which some married men complain, arise from this cause."[18] + +[Footnote 18: Acton.] + +The debilitating effects of excessive sexual indulgence arise from two +causes; viz., the loss of the seminal fluid, and the nervous excitement. +With reference to the value of the spermatic fluid, Dr. Gardner +remarks:-- + +"The sperm is the purest extract of the blood.... Nature, in creating +it, has intended it not only to communicate life, but also to nourish +the individual life. In fact, the re-absorption of the fecundating +liquid impresses upon the entire economy new energy, and a virility +which contributes to the prolongation of life." + +Testimony of a French Physician.--A French author of considerable +note,[19] remarks on the same subject:-- + +"Nothing costs the economy so much as the production of semen and its +forced ejaculation. It has been calculated that an ounce of semen was +equivalent to forty ounces of blood.... Semen is the essence of the +whole individual. Hence, Fernel has said, 'Totus homo semen est.' It +is the balm of life.... That which gives life is intended for its +preservation." + +[Footnote 19: Parise.] + +It may be questioned, perhaps, whether physiology will sustain to the +fullest extent all the statements made in the last quotation; but +perhaps physiology does not appreciate so fully as does pathology the +worth of the most vital of all fluids, and the fearful results which +follow its useless expenditure. + +Continence of Trainers.--"The moderns who are training are well aware +that sexual indulgence wholly unfits them for great feats of strength, +and the captain of a boat strictly forbids his crew anything of the +sort just previous to a match. Some trainers have gone so far as to +assure me that they can discover by a man's style of pulling whether +he has committed such a breach of discipline over night, and have not +scrupled to attribute the occasional loss of matches to this +cause."[20] + +[Footnote 20: Acton.] + +A Cause of Throat Disease.--The disease known as "_clergyman's sore +throat_" is believed by many eminent physicians to have its chief origin +in excessive venery. It is well known that sexual abuse is a very potent +cause of throat diseases. This view is supported by the following from +the pen of the learned Dr. X. Bourgeois:-- + +"We ought not, then, to be surprised that the physiological act, +requiring so great an expenditure of vitality, must be injurious in +the highest degree, when it is reiterated abusively. To engender is +to give a portion of one's life. Does not he who is prodigal of himself +precipitate his own ruin? A peculiar character of the diseases which +have their origin in venereal excesses and masturbation is chronicity." + +"Individual predispositions, acquired or hereditary, engender for each +a series of peculiar ills. In some, the debility bears upon the +pulmonary organs. Hence results the dry cough, prolonged hoarseness, +stitch in the side, spitting of blood, and finally phthisis. How many +examples are there of young debauchees who have been devoured by this +cruel disease!... It is, of all the grave maladies, the one which +venereal abuses provoke the most frequently. Portal, Bayle, Louis, say +this distinctly." + +A Cause of Consumption.--This fatal disease finds a large share of its +victims among those addicted to sexual excesses, either of an illicit +nature or within the marriage pale, for the physical effects are +essentially identical. This cause is especially active and fatal with +sedentary persons, but is sufficiently powerful to undermine the +constitution under the most favorable circumstances, as the following +case illustrates:-- + +The patient was a young man of twenty-two, large, muscular, and well +developed, having uncommonly broad shoulders and a full chest. His +occupation had been healthful, that of a laborer. Had had cough for +several months, and was spitting blood. Examination of lungs showed +that they were hopelessly diseased. There was no trace of consumption +in the family, and the only cause to which the disease could be +attributed was excessive sexual indulgence, which he confessed to have +practiced for several years. + +Effects on Wives.--If husbands are great sufferers, as we have seen, +wives suffer still more terribly, being of feebler constitution, and +hence less able to bear the frequent shock which is suffered by the +nervous system. Dr. Gardner places this evil prominent among the causes +"the result of which we see deplored in the public press of the day, +which warns us that the American race is fast dying out, and that its +place is being filled by emigrants of different lineage, religion, +political ideas, and education." + +The same author remarks further on the results of this with other causes +which largely grow out of it:-- + +"It has been a matter of common observation that the physical status +of the women of Christendom has been gradually deteriorating; that +their mental energies were uncertain and spasmodic; that they were +prematurely care-worn, wrinkled, and enervated; that they became +subject to a host of diseases scarcely ever known to the professional +men of past times, but now familiar to, and the common talk of, the +matrons, and often, indeed, of the youngest females in the community." + +So prevalent are these maladies that Michelet says with truth that the +present is the "age of womb diseases." + +Every physician of observation and experience has met many cases +illustrative of the serious effects of the evil named. Some years ago, +when acting as assistant physician in a large dispensary in an Eastern +city, a young woman applied for examination and treatment. She +presented a great variety of nervous symptoms, prominent among which +were those of mild hysteria and nervous exhaustion, together with +impaired digestion and violent palpitation of the heart. In our +inquiries respecting the cause of these difficulties, we learned that +she had been married but about six months. A little careful questioning +elicited the fact that sexual indulgence was invariably practiced every +night, and often two or three times, occasionally as many as four times +a night. We had the key to her troubles at once, and ordered entire +continence for a month. From her subsequent reports I learned that her +husband would not allow her to comply with the request, but that +indulgence was much less frequent than before. The result was not all +that could be desired, but there was marked improvement. If the husband +had been willing to "do right," entire recovery would have taken place +with rapidity. + +Another case came under our observation in which the patient, a man, +confessed to having indulged every night for twenty years. We did not +wonder that at forty he was a complete physical wreck. + +The Greatest Cause of Uterine Disease.--Dr. J. R. Black remarks as +follows on this subject:-- + +"Medical writers agree that one of the most common causes of the many +forms of derangement to which woman is subject consists in excessive +cohabitation. The diseases known as menorrhagia, dysmenorrhoea, +leucorrhoea, amenorrhoea, abortions, prolapsus, chronic inflammations +and ulcerations of the womb, with a yet greater variety of sympathetic +nervous disorders, are some of the distressing forms of these +derangements. The popular way of accounting for many of these ills is +that they come from colds or from straining lifts. But if colds and +great strain upon the parts in question develop such diseases, why are +they not seen among the inferior animals? The climatic alternations +they endure, the severe labor some of them are obliged to perform, ought +to cause their ruin; or else in popular phrase, 'make them catch their +deaths from cold.'" + +Legalized Murder.--A medical writer of considerable ability presents +the following picture, the counterpart of which almost any one can +recall as having occurred within the circle of his acquaintance; +perhaps numerous cases will be recalled by one who has been especially +observing:-- + +"A man of great vital force is united to a woman of evenly-balanced +organization. The husband, in the exercise of what he is pleased to +term his 'marital rights,' places his wife, in a short time, on the +nervous, delicate, sickly list. In the blindness and ignorance of his +animal nature, he requires prompt obedience to his desires; and, +ignorant of the law of right in this direction, thinking that it is +her duty to accede to his wishes, though fulfilling them with a sore +and troubled heart, she allows him passively, never lovingly, to +exercise daily and weekly, month in and month out, the low and beastly +of his nature, and eventually, slowly but surely, to kill her. And this +man, who has as surely committed murder as has the convicted assassin, +lures to his net and takes unto him another wife, to repeat the same +programme of legalized prostitution on his part, and sickness and +premature death on her part." + +Prof. Gerrish, in a little work from which we take the liberty to quote, +speaks as follows on this subject:-- + +"One man reckless of his duty to the community, marries young, with +means and prospects inadequate to support the family which is so sure +to come ere long. His ostensible excuse is love; his real reason the +gratification of his carnal instincts. Another man, in exactly similar +circumstances, but too conscientious to assume responsibilities which +he cannot carry, and in which failure must compromise the comfort and +tax the purses of people from whom he has no right to extort luxuries, +forbears to marry; but, feeling the passions of his sex, and being +imbued with the prevalent errors on such matters, resorts for relief +to unlawful coition. At the wedding of the former, pious friends +assemble with their presents and congratulations, and bid the legalized +prostitution Godspeed. Love shields the crime, all the more easily +because so many of the rejoicing guests have sinned in precisely the +same way. The other man has no festival gathering.... Society applauds +the first and frowns on the second; but, to my mind, the difference +between them is not markedly in favor of the former." + +"We hear a good deal said about certain crimes against nature, such +as pederasty and sodomy, and they meet with the indignant condemnation +of all right-minded persons. The statutes are especially severe on +offenders of this class, the penalty being imprisonment between one +and ten years, whereas fornication is punished by imprisonment for not +more than sixty days and a fine of less than one hundred dollars. But +the query very pertinently arises just here as to whether the use of +the condom and defertilizing injections is not equally a crime against +nature, and quite as worthy of our detestation and contempt. And, +further, when we consider the brute creation, and see that they, guided +by instinct, copulate only when the female is in proper physiological +condition and yields a willing consent, it may be suggested that +congress between men and women may, in certain circumstances, be a crime +against nature, and one far worse in its results than any other. Is +it probable that a child born of a connection to which the woman objects +will possess that felicitous organization which every parent should +earnestly desire and endeavor to bestow on his offspring? Can the +unwelcome fruit of a rape be considered, what every child has a right +to be, a pledge of affection? Poor little Pip, in 'Great Expectations,' +spoke as the representative of a numerous class when he said, 'I was +always treated as if I had insisted on being born, in opposition to +the dictates of reason, religion and morality, and against the +dissuading arguments of my best friends.' We enjoin the young to honor +father and mother, never thinking how undeserving of respect are those +whose children suffer from inherited ills, the result of the +selfishness and carelessness of their parents in begetting them. + +"These accidental pregnancies are the great immediate cause of the +enormously common crime of abortion, concerning which the morals of +the people are amazingly blunted. The extent of the practice may be +roughly estimated by the number of standing advertisements in the +family newspapers, in which feticide is warranted safe and secret. It +is not the poor only who take advantage of such nefarious opportunities; +but the rich shamelessly patronize these professional and cowardly +murderers of defenseless infancy. Madame Restell, who recently died +by her own hand in New York, left a fortune of a million dollars, which +she had accumulated by producing abortions." + +A husband who has not sunk in his carnality too far below the brute +creation will certainly pause a moment, in the face of such terrible +facts, before he continues his sensual, selfish, murderous course. + +Indulgence during Menstruation.--The following remarks which our own +professional experience has several times confirmed, reveal a still +more heinous violation of nature's laws:-- + +"To many it may seem that it is unnecessary to caution against +contracting relationships at the period of the monthly flow, thinking +that the instinctive laws of cleanliness and delicacy were sufficient +to refrain the indulgence of the appetites; but they are little +cognizant of the true condition of things in this world. Often have +I had husbands inform me that they had not missed having sexual +relations with their wives once or more times a day for several years; +and scores of women with delicate frames and broken-down health have +revealed to me similar facts, and I have been compelled to make personal +appeals to the husbands."[21] + +[Footnote 21: Gardner.] + +The following is an important testimony by an eminent physician[22] +upon the same point:-- + +"Females whose health is in a weak state ... become liable, in +transgressing this law, to an infectious disorder, which, it is +commonly supposed, can only originate or prevail among disreputable +characters; but Dr. Bumstead and a number of other eminent authorities +believe and teach that gonorrhoea may originate among women entirely +virtuous in the ordinary sense of the term. That excessive venery is +the chief cause that originates this peculiar form of inflammation, +has long been the settled opinion of medical men." + +[Footnote 22: Dr. J. R. Black.] + +It seems scarcely possible that such enormity could be committed by +any human being, at least by civilized men, and in the face of the +injunctions of Moses to the Jews, to say nothing of the evident +indecency of the act. The Jews still maintain their integrity to the +observance of this command of their ancient lawgiver. + +"Reason and experience both show that sexual relations at the menstrual +period are very dangerous to both man and woman, and perhaps also for +the offspring, should there chance to be conception."[23] + +[Footnote 23: Mayer.] + +The woman suffers from the congestion and nervous excitement which +occur at the most inopportune moment possible. Man may suffer physical +injury, though there are no grounds for the assertions of Pliny that +the menstrual blood is so potent for evil that it will, by a mere touch, +rust iron, render a tree sterile, make dogs mad, etc., or that of +Paracelsus that "of it the devil makes spiders, fleas, caterpillars, +and all the other insects that people the air." + +Effects upon Offspring.--That those guilty of the transgression should +suffer, seems only just; but that an innocent being who had no part +in the sin--no voice in the time or manner of its advent into the +world--that such a one should suffer equally, if not more bitterly, +with the transgressors themselves, seems anything but just. But such +is nature's inexorable law, that the iniquities of the parents shall +be visited upon the children; and this fact should be a most powerful +influence to prevent parental transgression, especially in this +direction, in which the dire consequences fall so heavily and so +immediately upon an innocent being. + +Says Acton, "The ill effects of marital excesses are not confined to +offending parties. No doubt can exist that many of the obscure cases +of sickly children, born of apparently healthy parents, arise from this +cause; and this is borne out by investigations amongst animals." + +Breeders of stock who wish to secure sound progeny will not allow the +most robust stallion to associate with mares as many times during the +whole season as some of these salacious human males perform a similar +act within a month. One reason why the offspring suffer is that the +seminal fluid deteriorates very rapidly by repeated indulgence. The +spermatozoa do not have time to become maturely developed. Progeny +resulting from such immature elements will possess the same deficiency. +Hence the hosts of deformed, scrofulous, weazen, and idiotic children +which curse the race, and testify to the sensuality of their progenitors. +Another reason is the physical and nervous exhaustion which the parents +bring upon themselves, and which totally unfits them to beget sound, +healthy offspring. + +The effects of this evil may often be traced in a large family of +children, nearly all of whom show traces of the excesses of their +parents. It commonly happens, too, that such large families are on the +hands of poor men who cannot earn enough to give them sufficient food +and comfortable clothing, with nothing whatever to provide for their +education. The overburdened mother has her strength totally exhausted +by the excessive demands upon her system incident to child-bearing, +so that she is unable to give her children that culture and training +which all children need. More than as likely as not she feels that they +were forced upon her, and hence she cannot hold for them all that tender +sympathy and affection a mother should feel. The little ones grow up +ignorant and often vicious; for want of home care drives them to the +street. Thus does one evil create another. + +It is certainly a question which deserves some attention, whether it +is not a sin for parents to bring into the world more children than +they can properly care for. If they can rear and educate three children +properly, the same work would be only half done for six; and there are +already in the world a sufficiency of half-raised people. From this +class of society the ranks of thieves, drunkards, beggars, vagabonds, +and prostitutes, are recruited. Why should it be considered an improper +or immoral thing to limit the number of children according to the +circumstances of the parents? Ought it not to be considered a crime +against childhood and against the race to do otherwise? It is seriously +maintained by a number of distinguished persons that man "is in duty +bound to limit the number of his children as well as the sheep on his +farm; the number of each to be according to the adequacy of his means +for their support." + +Indulgence during Pregnancy.--Transgressions of this sort are followed +by the worst results of any form of marital excess. The mother suffers +doubly, because laden with the burden of supporting two lives instead +of one. But the results upon the child are especially disastrous. During +the time when it is receiving its stock of vitality, while its plastic +form is being molded, and its various organs acquiring that integrity +of structure which makes up what is called constitutional +vigor,--during this most critical of all periods in the life of the +new being, its resources are exhausted and its structure depraved--and +thus constitutional tendencies to disease produced--by the unnatural +demands made upon the mother. + +Effect upon the Character.--Still another terrible consequence results +from this practice so contrary to nature. The delicate brain, which +is being molded, with the other organs of the body, receives its cast +largely from those mental and nervous sensations and actions of the +mother which are the most intense. One of the most certain effects of +sexual indulgence at this time is to develop abnormally the sexual +instinct in the child. Here is the key to the origin of much of the +sexual precocity and depravity which curse humanity. Sensuality is born +in the souls of a large share of the rising generation. What wonder +that prostitution flourishes in spite of Christianity and civil law? + +It is scarcely necessary to say that all medical testimony concurs in +forbidding indulgence during gestation. The same reasons require its +interdiction during the nursing period. The fact that fecundation would +be impossible during pregnancy, and that during this period the female, +normally, has no sexual desire, are other powerful arguments in favor +of perfect continence at this time. + +We quote the following from a work on health by Dr. J. R. Black:-- + +"Coition during pregnancy is one of the ways in which the predisposition +is laid for that terrible disease in children, epilepsy. The unnatural +excitement of the nervous system in the mother by such a cause cannot +operate otherwise than by inflicting injury upon the tender germ in +her womb. This germ, it must be remembered, derives every quality it +possesses from the parents, as well as every particle of matter of which +it is composed. The old notion of anything like spontaneity in the +development of the qualities of a new being is at variance with all +the latest facts and inductions concerning reproduction. And so is that +of a creative fiat. The smallest organic cell, as well as the most +complicated organism, in form and quality, is wholly dependent upon +the laws of derivation. + +"These laws are competent to explain, however subtle the ultimate +process may be, the great diversities of human organization and +character. Impressions from without, the emotions, conduct, and play +of the organic processes within, are never alike from day to day, or +from hour to hour; and it is from the aggregate of these in the parents, +but especially of those in the mother immediately before and after +conception, that the quality of the offspring is determined. Suppose, +then, that there is every now and then an unnatural, excited, and +exhausted state of the nervous system produced in the mother by +excessive cohabitation, is it any wonder that the child's nervous +system, which derives its qualities from those of its parents, should +take its peculiar stamp from that of the parent in whom it lives, moves, +and has its being? + +"In the adult, epilepsy is frequently developed by excessive venery; +and the child born with such a predisposition will be exceedingly liable +to the disease during its early years when the nervous system is +notoriously prone to deranged action from very slight disturbing +causes. + +"The infringement of this law regulating intercourse during pregnancy +also reacts injuriously upon the mental capacity of the child, tending +to give it a stupid, animalized look; and, there is also good reason +to believe, aids in developing the idiotic condition." + +A Selfish Objection.--The married man will raise the plea that +indulgence is to him a necessity. He has only to practice the principles +laid down for the maintenance of continence to entirely remove any such +necessity should there be the slightest semblance of a real demand. +Again, what many mistake for an indication of the necessity for +indulgence, to relieve an accumulation of semen, is in fact, to state +the exact truth, but a call of nature for a movement of the bowels. +How this may occur, has already been explained, as being due to the +pressure of the distended rectum upon the internal organs of generation +situated at the base of the bladder. It is for this reason, chiefly, +that a good share of sexual excesses occur in the morning. + +But, aside from all other considerations, is it not the most supreme +selfishness for a man to consider only himself in his sexual relations, +making his wife wholly subservient to his own desires? As a learned +professor remarks, in speaking of woman, "Who has a right to regard +her as a therapeutic agent?" + +Brutes and Savages More Considerate.--It is only the civilized, +Christianized (?) male human being who complains of the restraint +imposed upon him by the laws of nature. The untutored barbarian, even +some of the lowest of those who wear the human form, together with nearly +all of the various classes of lower animals, abstain from sexual +indulgence during pregnancy. The natives of the Gold Coast and many +other African tribes regard it as a shameful offense to cohabit during +gestation. In the case of lower animals, even when the male desires +indulgence, the female resents any attempt of the sort by the most +vigorous resistance. + +Are not these wholesome lessons for that portion of the human race which +professes to represent the accumulated wisdom, intelligence, and +refinement of the world? Those who need reproof on this point may +reflect that by a continuance of the evil practice they are placing +themselves on a plane even below the uncouth negro who haunts the +jungles of Southern Africa. + +We quote the following from the pen of a talented professor in a +well-known medical college:-- + +"I believe we cannot too strenuously insist upon this point--that +sexual intercourse should never be undertaken with any other object +than procreation, and never then unless the conditions are favorable +to the production of a new being who will be likely to have cause to +thankfully bless his parents for the gift of life. If this rule were +generally observed, we should have no broken-nosed Tristram Shandys +complaining of the carelessness of their fathers in begetting +them."[24] + +[Footnote 24: Dr. Gerrish.] + +What May Be Done?--But what is the practical conclusion to be drawn +from all the foregoing? What _should_ people do? what _may_ they do? +Dr. Gardner offers the following remarks, which partially answer the +questions:-- + +"We have shown that we can 'DO RIGHT' without prejudice to health by +the exercise of continence. Self-restraint, the ruling of the passions, +is a virtue, and is within the power of all well-regulated minds. Nor +is this necessarily perpetual or absolute. The passions may be +restrained within proper limitations. He who indulges in lascivious +thoughts may stimulate himself to frenzy; but if his mind were under +proper control, he would find other employment for it, and his body, +obedient to its potent sway, would not become the master of the man." + +What are the "proper limitations," every person must decide for himself +in view of the facts which have been presented. If he find that the +animal in his nature is too strong to allow him to comply with what +seems to be the requirements of natural law, let him approximate as +nearly to the truth as possible. "Let every man be fully persuaded in +his own mind," and act accordingly, not forgetting that this is a matter +with serious moral bearings, and, hence, one in which conscience should +be on the alert. It is of no use to reject truth because it is +unpalatable. There can be nothing worse for a man than to "know the +truth and do it not." + +It is but fair to say that there is a wide diversity of opinion among +medical men on this subject. A very few hold that the sexual act should +never be indulged except for the purpose of reproduction, and then only +at periods when reproduction will be possible. Others, while equally +opposed to the excesses, the effects of which have been described, limit +indulgence to the number of months in the year. + +Read, reflect, weigh well the matter, then fix upon a plan of action, +and, if it be in accordance with the dictates of better judgment, do +not swerve from it. + +If the suggestion made near the outset of these remarks, in comparing +the reproductive function in man and animals--viz., that the seasons +of sexual approach should be governed by the inclination of the +female--were conscientiously followed, it would undoubtedly do away +with at least three-fourths of the excesses which have been under +consideration. Before rejecting the hint so plainly offered by nature, +let every man consider for a moment whether he has any other than purely +selfish arguments to produce against it. + +Early Moderation.--The time of all others when moderation is most +imperatively demanded, yet least likely to be practiced, is at the +beginning of matrimonial life. Many a woman dates the beginning of a +life of suffering from the first night after marriage; and the mental +suffering from the disgusting and even horrible recollections of that +night, the events of which were scarred upon her mind as well as upon +her body, have made her equally as wretched mentally as bodily. + +A learned French writer, in referring to this subject, says, "The +husband who begins with his wife by a rape is a lost man. He will never +be loved." + +We quote the following very sensible words from Dr. Napheys:-- + +"It sometimes happens that marriage is consummated with difficulty. +To overcome this, care, management, and forbearance should always be +employed, and anything like precipitation and violence avoided." + +Cases have come under our care of young wives who have required months +of careful treatment to repair the damage inflicted on their wedding +night. A medical writer has reported a case in which he was called upon +to testify in a suit for divorce, which is an illustration of so gross +a degree of sensuality that the perpetrator certainly deserved most +severe punishment. The victim, a beautiful and accomplished young lady, +to please her parents, was married to a man much older than herself, +riches being the chief attraction. She at once began to pine, and in +a very few months was a complete wreck. Emaciated, spiritless, haggard, +she was scarcely a shadow of her former self. The physician who was +called in, upon making a local examination, found those delicate organs +in a state of most terrible laceration and inflammation. The bladder, +rectum, and other adjacent organs, were highly inflamed, and sensitive +in the highest degree. Upon inquiring respecting the cause, he found +that from the initial night she had been subjected to the most excessive +demands by her husband, "day and night." The tortures she had undergone +had been terrific; and her mind trembled upon the verge of insanity. +She entered suit for divorce on the charge of cruelty, but was defeated, +the judge ruling that the law has no jurisdiction in matters of that +sort. + +In another somewhat similar case which came to our knowledge, a young +wife was delivered from the lecherous assaults of her husband--for they +were no better--by the common sense of her neighbor friends, who +gathered in force and insisted upon their discontinuance. It is only +now and then that cases of this sort come to the surface. The majority +of them are hidden deep down in the heart of the poor, heart-broken +wife, and too often they are hidden along with the victim in an early +grave. + + + + +PREVENTION OF CONCEPTION: +ITS EVILS AND DANGERS. + + +The evil considered in the preceding section is by far the greatest +cause of those which will be dwelt upon in this. Excesses are habitually +practiced through ignorance or carelessness of their direct results, +and then to prevent the legitimate result of the reproductive act, +innumerable devices are employed to render it fruitless. To even +mention all of these would be too great a breach of propriety, even +in this plain-spoken work; but accurate description is unnecessary, +since those who need this warning are perfectly familiar with all the +foul accessories of evil thus employed. We cannot do better than to +quote from the writings of several of the most eminent authors upon +this subject. The following paragraphs are from the distinguished Mayer, +who has already been frequently quoted:-- + +"The numerous stratagems invented by debauch to annihilate the natural +consequences of coition, have all the same end in view." + +Conjugal Onanism.--"The soiling of the conjugal bed by the shameful +maneuvers to which we have made allusion, is mentioned for the first +time in Gen. 38:6, and following verses: 'And it came to pass, when +he [Onan] went in unto his brother's wife, that he spilled it on the +ground, lest that he should give seed to his brother. And the thing +which he did displeased the Lord; wherefore he slew him.' + +"Hence the name of _conjugal onanism_. + +"One cannot tell to what great extent this vice is practiced, except +by observing its consequences, even among people who fear to commit +the slightest sin, to such a degree is the public conscience perverted +upon this point. Still, many husbands know that nature often succeeds +in rendering nugatory the most subtle calculations, and reconquers the +rights which they have striven to frustrate. No matter; they persevere, +none the less, and by the force of habit they poison the most blissful +moments of life, with no surety of averting the result that they fear. +So, who knows if the infants, too often feeble and weazen, are not the +fruit of these in themselves incomplete _procreations_, and disturbed +by preoccupations foreign to the generic act? Is it not reasonable to +suppose that the creative power, not meeting in its disturbed functions +the conditions necessary for the elaboration of a normal product, the +conception might be from its origin imperfect, and the being which +proceeded therefrom, one of those monsters which are described in +treatises on teratology?" + +"Let us see, now, what are the consequences to those given to this +practice of conjugal onanism. + +"We have at our disposition numerous facts which rigorously prove the +disastrous influence of abnormal coitus to the woman, but we think it +useless to publish them. All practitioners have more or less observed +them, and it will only be necessary for them to call upon their memories +to supply what our silence leaves. 'However, it is not difficult to +conceive,' says Dr. Francis Devay, 'the degree of perturbation that +a like practice should exert upon the genital system of woman by +provoking desires which are not gratified. A profound stimulation is +felt through the entire apparatus; the uterus, fallopian tubes, and +ovaries enter into a state of orgasm, a storm which is not appeased +by the natural crisis; a nervous super-excitation persists. There +occurs, then, what would take place if, presenting food to a famished +man, one should snatch it from his mouth after having thus violently +excited his appetite. The sensibilities of the womb and the entire +reproductive system are teased for no purpose. It is to this cause, +too often repeated, that we should attribute the multiple neuroses, +those strange affections which originate in the genital system of woman. +Our conviction respecting them is based upon a great number of +observations. Furthermore, the normal relations existing between the +married couple undergo unfortunate changes; this affection, founded +upon reciprocal esteem, is little by little effaced by the repetition +of an act which pollutes the marriage bed; from thence proceed certain +hard feelings, certain deep impressions which, gradually growing, +eventuate in the scandalous ruptures of which the community rarely know +the real motive.' + +"If the good harmony of families and their reciprocal relations are +seriously menaced by the invasion of these detestable practices, the +health of women, as we have already intimated, is fearfully injured. +A great number of neuralgias appear to us to have no other cause. Many +women that we have interrogated on this matter have fortified this +opinion. But that which to us has passed to the condition of +incontestable proof, is the prevalence of uterine troubles, of +enervation among the married, hysterical symptoms which are met with +in the conjugal relation as often as among young virgins, arising from +the vicious habits of the husbands in their conjugal intercourse.... +Still more, there is a graver affection, which is daily increasing, +and which, if nothing arrests its invasion, will soon have attained +the proportions of a scourge; we speak of the degeneration of the womb. +We do not hesitate to place in the foremost rank, among the causes of +this redoubtable disease, the refinements of civilization, and +especially the artifices introduced in our day in the generic act. When +there is no procreation, although the procreative faculties are excited, +we see these pseudo-morphoses arise. Thus it is noticed that polypi +and schirrus [cancer] of the womb are common among prostitutes. And +it is easy to account for the manner of action of this pathogenetic +cause, if we consider how probable it is that the ejaculation and +contact of the sperm with the uterine neck, constitutes, for the woman, +the crisis of the genital function, by appeasing the venereal orgasm +and calming the voluptuous emotions under the action of which the entire +economy is convulsed." + +"We may, we trust, be pardoned for remarking upon the artifices imagined +to prevent fecundation that there is in them an immense danger, of +incalculable limits. We do not fear to be contradicted or taxed with +exaggeration in elevating them into the proportions of a true +calamity." + +The following is from an eminent physician[25] who for many years +devoted his whole attention to the diseases of women and lectured upon +the subject in a prominent medical college:-- + +"It is undeniable that all the methods employed to prevent pregnancy +are physically injurious. Some of these have been characterized with +sufficient explicitness, and the injury resulting from incomplete +coitus to both parties has been made evident to all who are willing +to be convinced. It should require but a moment's consideration to +convince any one of the harmfulness of the common use of cold ablutions +and astringent infusions and various medicated washes. Simple and often +wonderfully salutary as is cold water to a diseased limb, festering +with inflammation, yet few are rash enough to cover a gouty toe, +rheumatic knee, or erysipelatous head with cold water.... Yet, when +in the general state of nervous and physical excitement attendant upon +coitus, when the organs principally engaged in this act are congested +and turgid with blood, do you think you can with impunity throw a flood +of cold or even lukewarm water far into the vitals in a continual stream? +Often, too, women add strong medicinal agents, intended to destroy by +dissolution the spermatic germs, ere they have time to fulfill their +natural destiny. These powerful astringents suddenly corrugate and +close the glandular structure of the parts, and this is followed, +necessarily, by a corresponding reaction, and the final result is +debility and exhaustion, signalized by leucorrhoea, prolapsus, and +other diseases. + +"Finally, of the use of intermediate tegumentary coverings, made of +thin rubber or gold-beater's skin, and so often relied upon as absolute +preventives, Madame de Stael is reputed to have said, 'They are cobwebs +for protection, and bulwarks against love.' Their employment certainly +must produce a feeling of shame and disgust utterly destructive of the +true delight of pure hearts and refined sensibilities. They are +suggestive of licentiousness and the brothel, and their employment +degrades to bestiality the true feelings of manhood and the holy state +of matrimony. Neither do they give, except in a very limited degree, +the protection desired. Furthermore, they produce (as alleged by the +best modern French writers, who are more familiar with the effect of +their use than we are in the United States) certain physical lesions +from their irritating presence as foreign bodies, and also, from the +chemicals employed in their fabrication, and other effects inseparable +from their employment, ofttimes of a really serious nature. + +"I will not further enlarge upon these instrumentalities. Sufficient +has been said to convince any one that to trifle with the grand functions +of our organism, to attempt to deceive and thwart nature in her highly +ordained prerogatives--no matter how simple seem to be the means +employed--is to incur a heavy responsibility and run a fearful risk. +It matters little whether a railroad train is thrown from the track +by a frozen drop of rain or a huge bowlder lying in the way, the result +is the same, the injuries as great. Moral degradation, physical +disability, premature exhaustion and decrepitude are the result of +these physical frauds, and force upon our conviction the adage, which +the history of every day confirms, that 'honesty is the best policy.'" + +[Footnote 25: Dr. Gardner.] + +Within the last ten years we have had under treatment many hundred cases +of ladies suffering from ailments of a character peculiar to the sex; +and in becoming acquainted with the history of individual cases we have, +in many instances, found that the real cause of the disease which had +sapped the vitality and undermined the constitution slowly but surely +until cheerful health and freshness had given place to suffering, +debility, and, in many cases, most deplorable melancholy, was the very +crime against nature mentioned in the preceding paragraphs. The effects +of these sins against nature are frequently not felt for years after +the cause has been at work, and even then are seldom attributed to the +true cause. In some instances we have known persons to suffer on for +many years without having once suspected that the cause of their +sufferings was a palpable violation of nature's laws. Uterine diseases +thus induced are among the most obstinate of diseases of this class, +being often of long standing, and hence of a very serious character. +Dr. Wm. Goodell of Philadelphia has recently called attention to the +fact that the prevention of conception is one of the most common causes +of prolapsus of the ovaries, a very common and painful disease. Not +infrequently, too, other organs, particularly the bladder, become +affected, either through sympathy or in consequence of the congested +condition of the contiguous parts. + +A difficulty which we have often met with has been the inability to +convince those who have been guilty of the practices referred to, of +the enormity of the sin against both soul and body. In spite of all +warnings, perhaps supplemented by sufferings, the practice will often +be continued, producing in the end the most lamentable results. Too +often it is the case that this reluctance to obey the dictates of +Nature's laws is the result of the unfeeling and unreasonable demands +of a selfish husband. + +Shaker Views.--The Shakers do not, as many suppose, believe wholly in +celibacy. They believe in marriage and reproduction regulated by the +natural law. They, also, would limit population, but not by interfering +with nature; rather, by following nature's indications to the very +letter. They believe "that no animals should use their reproductive +powers and organs for any other than the simple purpose of procreation." +Recognizing the fact that this is the law among lower animals, they +insist upon applying it to man. Thus they find no necessity for the +employment of those abominable contrivances so common among those who +disregard the laws of nature. Who will not respect the purity which +must characterize sexual relations so governed? Such a method for +regulating the number of offspring is in immense contrast with that +of the Oneida Community, which opens the door to the unstinted +gratification of lust, separates the reproductive act entirely from +its original purpose, and makes it the means of mere selfish, sensual, +beastly--worse than brutish--gratification. + +Those who are acquainted with the history of the founder of this +community are obliged to look upon him as a scheming sensualist who +well knows the truth, but deliberately chooses a course of evil, and +beguiles into his snares others as sensual as himself. The abominations +practiced among the members of the community which he has founded are +represented by those who have had an inside view of its workings as +too foul to mention. It seems almost wonderful that Providence does +not lay upon this gigantic brothel his hand of vengeance as in ancient +times he did upon Sodom, which could hardly have been more sunken in +infamy than is this den of licentiousness. It is, indeed, astonishing +that it should be tolerated in the midst of a country which professes +to regard virtue and respect the marriage institution. We are glad to +note that popular opinion is calling loudly for the eradication of this +foul ulcer. Only a short time ago a convention of more than fifty +ministers met at Syracuse, N. Y., for the express purpose of considering +ways and means for the removal of this blot "by legal measures or +otherwise." We sincerely wish them success; and it appears to us that +the people in that vicinity would be justified should they rise _en +masse_ and purge their community of an evil so heinous, in case no civil +authority can be induced to do the work of expurgation.[26] + +[Footnote 26: Just as this edition is going to press we receive the +gratifying information that the younger members of the Community have +become disgusted with their sensual life and announced that their +former vile practices will be discontinued. Mr. Noyes with a few +followers has sought refuge in Canada.--J. H. K.] + +Moral Bearings of the Question.--Most of the considerations presented +thus far have been of a physical character, though occasional +references to the moral aspect of the question have been made. In a +certain sense--and a true one--the question is wholly a moral one; for +what moral right have men or women to do that which will injure the +integrity of the physical organism given them, and for which they are +accountable to their Creator? Surely none; for the man who destroys +himself by degrees, is no less a murderer than he who cuts his throat +or puts a bullet through his brain. The crime is the same--being the +shortening of human life--whether the injury is done to one's self or +to another. In this matter, there are at least three sufferers; the +husband, the wife, and the offspring, though in most cases, doubtless, +the husband is the one to whom the sin almost exclusively belongs. + +Unconsidered Murders.--But there is a more startling phase of this +moral question. It is not impossible to show that actual violence is +done to a human life. + +It has been previously shown that in the two elements, the ovum of the +female, and the spermatozoon of the male, are, in rudimentary form, +all the elements which go to make up the "human form divine." Alone, +neither of these elements can become anything more than it already is; +but the instant that the two elements come in contact, fecundation takes +place, and the individual life begins. From that moment until maturity +is reached, years subsequently, the whole process is only one of +development. Nothing absolutely new is added at any subsequent moment. +In view of these facts, it is evident that at the very instant of +conception the embryonic human being possesses all the right to life +it ever can possess. It is just as much an individual, a distinct human +being, possessed of soul and body, as it ever is, though in a very +immature form. That conception may take place during the reproductive +act cannot be denied. If, then, means are employed with a view to prevent +conception immediately after the accomplishment of the act, or at any +subsequent time, if successful, it would be by destroying the delicate +product of the conception which had already occurred, and which, as +before observed, is as truly a distinct individual as it can ever +become--certainly as independent as at any time previous to birth. + +Is it immoral to take human life? Is it a sin to kill a child? Is it +a crime to strangle an infant at birth? Is it a murderous act to destroy +a half-formed human being in its mother's womb? Who will dare to answer +"No," to one of these questions? Then, who can refuse assent to the +plain truth that it is equally a murder to deprive of life the most +recent product of the generative act? + +Who can number the myriads of murders that have been perpetrated at +this early period of existence? Who can estimate the load of guilt that +weighs upon some human souls? and who knows how many brilliant lights +have been thus early extinguished? how many promising human plantlets +thus ruthlessly destroyed in the very act of germinating? It is to be +hoped that in the final account the extenuating influence of ignorance +may weigh heavily in the scale of justice against the damning testimony +of these "unconsidered murders." + +The Charge Disputed.--It will be urged that these early destructions +are not murders. Murder is an awful word. The act itself is a terrible +crime. No wonder that its personal application should be studiously +avoided; the human being who would not shrink from such a charge would +be unworthy of the name of human--a very brute. Nevertheless, it is +necessary to look the plain facts squarely in the face, and shrink not +from the decision of an enlightened conscience. We quote the following +portions of an extract which we give in full elsewhere; it is from the +same distinguished authority[27] whom we have frequently quoted:-- + +"There is, in fact, no moment after conception when it can be said that +the child has not life, and the crime of destroying human life is as +heinous and as sure before the period of 'quickening' has been attained, +as afterward. But you still defend your horrible deed by saying: 'Well, +if there be, as you say, this mere animal life, equivalent at the most +to simple vitality, there is no mind, no soul destroyed, and, therefore, +there is no crime committed.' Just so surely as one would destroy and +root out of existence all the fowls in the world by destroying all the +eggs in existence, so certain is it that you do by your act destroy +the animal man in the egg and the soul which animates it.... Murder +is always sinful, and murder is the willful destruction of a human being +at any period of its existence, from its earliest germinal embryo to +its final, simple, animal existence in aged decrepitude and complete +mental imbecility." + +[Footnote 27: Gardner.] + +Difficulties.--Married people will exclaim, "What shall we do?" +Delicate mothers who have already more children on their hands than +they can care for, whose health is insufficient to longer endure the +pains and burdens of pregnancy, but whose sensual husbands continue +to demand indulgence, will echo in despairing tones, while +acknowledging the truth, "What shall _we_ do?" We will answer the +question for the latter first. + +Mr. Mill, the distinguished English logician, in his work on "The +Subjection of Woman," thus represents the erroneous view which is +popularly held of the sexual relations of the wife to the husband: "The +wife, however brutal a tyrant she may be chained to--though she may +know that he hates her, though it may be his daily pleasure to torture +her, and though she may feel it impossible not to loathe him--he can +claim from her and enforce the lowest degradation of a human being, +that of being made the instrument of an animal function contrary to +her inclinations." + +Woman's Rights.--A woman does not, upon the performance of the marriage +ceremony, surrender all her personal rights. The law recognizes this +fact if her husband beats her, or in any way injures her by physical +force, or even by neglect. Why may she not claim protection from other +maltreatment as well? or, at least, why may she not refuse to lend +herself to beastly lust? She remains the proprietor of her own body, +though married; and who is so lost to all sense of justice, equity, +and even morality, as to claim that she is under any moral obligation +to allow her body to be abused? + +Since the first edition of this work was published, we have many times +been appealed to by suffering wives in the most pathetic terms. In many +instances the poor wife was suffering with local disease of a serious +character, making sexual approaches in the highest degree painful as +well as repugnant; yet notwithstanding this, the demands of the husband +for the gratification of his bestial passions were, in many instances, +in no degree lessened by a knowledge of the facts in the case. + +In cases like these it is often a very delicate and exceedingly +difficult task to point out the duty of the suffering wife and mother. +The duty of the husband is very plain, and to him the wise physician +will appeal in a manner which cannot fail to arouse him to a sense of +his duty if there is yet left unconsumed by the fires of lust even a +vestige of genuine manhood. + +What to Do.--Now to the question as asked by the first parties--married +people who together seek for a solution of the difficulties arising +from an abandonment of all protectives against fecundation. The true +remedy, and the natural one, is doubtless to be found in the suggestion +made under the heads of "Continence" and "Marital Excesses." By a course +of life in accordance with the principles there indicated, all of these +evils and a thousand more would be avoided. There would be less sensual +enjoyment, but more elevated joy. There would be less animal love, but +more spiritual communion; less grossness, more purity; less +development of the animal, and a more fruitful soil for the culture +of virtue, holiness, and all the Christian graces. + +"But such a life would be impossible this side of Heaven." A few who +claim to have tried the experiment think not. The Shakers claim to +practice, as well as teach, such principles; and with the potent aids +to continence previously specified, it might be found less difficult +in realization than in thought. + +A Compromise.--There will be many, the vast majority, perhaps, who will +not bring their minds to accept the truth which nature seems to teach, +which would confine sexual acts to reproduction wholly. Others, +acknowledging the truth, declare "the spirit willing" though "the flesh +is weak." Such will inquire, "Is there not some compromise by means +of which we may escape the greater evils of our present mode of life?" +Such may find in the following facts suggestions for a "better way," +if not the _best_ way, though it cannot be recommended as wholly free +from dangers, and though it cannot be said of it that it is not an +_unnatural_ way:-- + +"Menstruation in woman indicates an aptitude for impregnation, and this +condition remains for a period of six or eight days after the entire +completion of the flow. During this time only can most women conceive. +Allow twelve days for the onset of the menses to pass by, and the +probabilities of impregnation are very slight. This act of continence +is healthful, moral, and irreproachable."[28] + +[Footnote 28: Gardner.] + +It should be added to the above that the plan suggested is not absolutely +certain to secure immunity from conception. The period of abstinence +should certainly extend from the beginning of menstruation to the +fourteenth day. To secure even reasonable safety, it is necessary to +practice further abstinence for three or four days previous to the +beginning of the flow. + +Many writers make another suggestion which would certainly be +beneficial to individual health; viz., that the husband and wife should +habitually occupy separate beds. Such a practice would undoubtedly +serve to keep the sexual instincts in abeyance. Separate apartments, +or at least the separation of the beds by a curtain, are recommended +by some estimable physicians, who suggest that such a plan would enable +both parties to conduct their morning ablutions with proper +thoroughness and without sacrificing that natural modesty which +operates so powerfully as a check upon the excessive indulgence of the +passions. Many will think the suggestion a good one and will make a +practical application of it. Sleeping in single beds is reputed to be +a European custom of long standing among the higher classes. + +This subject cannot be concluded better than by the following +quotations from an excellent and able work entitled, "The Ten Laws of +Health"[29]:-- + +"The obvious design of the sexual desire is the reproduction of the +species.... The gratification of this passion, or indeed of any other, +beyond its legitimate end, is an undoubted violation of natural law, +as may be determined by the light of nature, and by the resulting moral +and physical evils." + +"Those creatures not gifted with erring reason, but with unerring +instinct, and that have not the liberty of choice between good and evil, +cohabit only at stated periods, when pleasure and reproduction are +alike possible. It is so ordered among them that the means and the end +are never separated; and as it was the all-wise Being who endowed them +with this instinct, without the responsibility resulting from the power +to act otherwise, it follows that it is HIS LAW, and must, therefore, +be the true copy for all beings to follow having the same functions +to perform, and for the same end. The mere fact that men and women have +the power and liberty of conforming or not conforming to this copy does +not set them free from obedience to a right course, nor from the +consequences of disobedience." + +"The end of sexual pleasure being to reproduce the species, it follows, +from the considerations just advanced, that when the sexual function +is diverted from its end, reproduction, or if the means be used when +the end is impossible, harm or injury should ensue." + +"Perhaps the number is not small of those who think there is nothing +wrong in an unlimited indulgence of the sexual propensity during +married life. The marriage vow seems to be taken as equivalent to the +freest license, about which there need be no restraint. Yet, if there +is any truth in the law in reference to the enjoyment of the means only +when the end is possible, the necessity of the limitation of this +indulgence during married life is clearly as great as for that of any +other sensual pleasure. + +"A great majority of those constituting the most highly civilized +communities, act upon the belief that anything not forbidden by sacred +or civil law is neither sinful nor wrong. They have not found +cohabitation during pregnancy forbidden; nor have they ever had their +attention drawn to the injury to health and organic development, which +such a practice inflicts. Hence, a habitual yielding to inclination +in this matter has determined their life-long behavior. + +"The infringement of this law in the married state does not produce +in the husband any very serious disorder. Debility, aches, cramps, and +a tendency to epileptic seizures, are sometimes seen as the effects +of great excess. An evil of no small account is the steady growth of +the sexual passion by habitual unrestraint. It is in this way that what +is known as libidinous blood is nursed as well among those who are +strictly virtuous, in the ordinary meaning of the term, as among those +who are promiscuous in their intercourse. + +"The wife and the offspring are the chief sufferers by the violation +of this law among the married. Why this is so, may in part be accounted +for by the following consideration: Among the animal kind it is the +female which decides when the approaches of the male are allowable. +When these are untimely, her instinctive prompting leads her to resist +and protect herself with ferocious zeal. No one at all acquainted with +the remarkable wisdom nature invariably displays in all her operations, +will doubt that the prohibition of all sexual intercourse among animals +during the period of pregnancy must be for a wise and good purpose. +And, if it serves a wise and good purpose with them, why should an +opposite course not serve an unwise and bad purpose with us? Our bodies +are very much like theirs in structure and in function; and in the mode +and laws that govern reproduction there is absolutely no difference. +The mere fact that we possess the power to act otherwise than they do +during that period, does not make it right. + +"Human beings having no instinctive prompting as to what is right and +what is wrong, cohabitation, like many other points of the behavior, +is left for reason or the will to determine; or, rather, as things now +are to unreason; for reason is neither consulted nor enlightened as +to what is proper and allowable in the matter. Nature's rule, by +instinct, makes it devolve upon the female to determine when the +approaches of the male are allowable. + +"But some may say that she is helpless in the matter. No one dare to +approach her without consent before marriage; and why should man not +be educated up to the point of doing the same after marriage? She is +neither his slave, nor his property; nor does the tie of marriage bind +her to carry out any unnatural requirement." + +[Footnote 29: J. R. Black, M.D.] + + + + +INFANTICIDE AND ABORTION. + + +Few but medical men are aware of the enormous proportions which have +been assumed by these terrible crimes during the present century. That +they are increasing with fearful rapidity and have really reached such +a magnitude as to seriously affect the growth of civilized nations, +and to threaten their very existence, has become a patent fact to +observing physicians. The crime itself differs little, in reality, from +that considered in the last section, the prevention of conception. It +is, in fact, the same crime postponed till a later period. + +We quote the following eloquent words on this subject:-- + +"Of all the sins, physical and moral against man and God, I know of +none so utterly to be condemned as the very common one of the destruction +of the child while yet in the womb of the mother. So utterly repugnant +is it that I can scarcely express the loathing with which I approach +the subject. Murder!--murder in cold blood, without cause, of an +unknown child; one's nearest relative; in fact, part of one's very +being; actually having, not only one's own blood in its being, but that +blood momentarily interchanging! Good God! Does it seem possible that +such depravity can exist in a parent's breast--in a mother's heart! + +"'Tis for no wrong that it has committed that its sweet life is so +cruelly taken away. Its coming is no disgrace; its creation was not +in sin, but--its mother 'don't want to be bothered with any more brats; +can hardly take care of what she has got; is going to Europe in the +spring.' + +"We can forgive the poor deluded girl--seduced, betrayed, +abandoned--who, in her wild frenzy, destroys the mute evidence of her +guilt. We have only sympathy and sorrow for her. But for the married +shirk who disregards her divinely-ordained duty, we have nothing but +contempt, even if she be the lordly woman of fashion, clothed in purple +and fine linen. If glittering gems adorn her person, within there is +foulness and squalor."[30] + +[Footnote 30: Gardner.] + +Not a Modern Crime.--Although this crime has attained remarkable +proportions in modern times, it is not a new one by any means, as the +following paragraph will suffice to show:-- + +"Infanticide and exposure were also the custom among the Romans, Medes, +Canaanites, Babylonians, and other Eastern nations, with the exception +of the Israelites and Egyptians. The Scandinavians killed their +offspring from pure fantasy. The Norwegians, after having carefully +swaddled their children, put some food into their mouths, placed them +under the roots of trees or under the rocks to preserve them from +ferocious beasts. Infanticide was also permitted among the Chinese, +and we saw, during the last century, vehicles going round the streets +of Pekin daily to collect the bodies of the dead infants. To-day there +exist foundling hospitals to receive children abandoned by their +parents. The same custom is also observed in Japan, in the isles of +the Southern Ocean, at Otaheite, and among several savage nations of +North America. It is related of the Jaggers of Guinea, that they devour +their own children."[31] + +[Footnote 31: Burdach.] + +The Greeks practiced infanticide systematically, their laws at one time +requiring the destruction of crippled or weakly children. Among all +the various nations, the general object of the crime seems to have been +to avoid the trouble of rearing the children, or to avoid a surplus, +objects not far different from those had in view by those who practice +the same crimes at the present time. + +The destruction of the child after the mother has felt its movements +is termed infanticide; before that time it is commonly known as abortion. +It is a modern notion that the child possesses no soul or individual +life until the period of quickening, an error which we have already +sufficiently exposed. The ancients, with just as much reason, contended +that no distinct life was present until after birth. Hence it was that +they could practice without scruple the crime of infanticide to prevent +too great increase of population. "Plato and Aristotle were advocates +of this practice, and these Stoics justified this monstrous practice +by alleging that the child only acquired a soul at the moment when it +ceased to have uterine life and commenced to respire. From hence it +resulted that, the child not being animated, its destruction was no +murder." + +The prevalence of this crime will be indicated by the following +observations from the most reliable sources:-- + +"We know that in certain countries abortion is practiced in a manner +almost public, without speaking of the East, where it has, so to speak, +entered into the manners of the country. We see it in America, in a +great city like New York, constituting a regular business and not +prevented, where it has enriched more than one midwife." + +"England does not yield to Germany or France in the frequency of the +crime of infanticide."[32] + +[Footnote 32: Jardien.] + +"Any statistics attainable are very incomplete. False certificates are +daily given by attending physicians. Men, if they are only rich enough, +die of 'congestion of the brain,' not 'delirium tremens;' and women, +similarly situated, do not die from the effects of abortion, but of +'inflammation of the bowels,' etc." + +"Infanticide, as it is generally considered (destroying a child after +quickening), is of very rare occurrence in New York, whereas abortions +(destroying the embryo before quickening) are of daily habit in the +families of the best informed and most religious; among those abounding +in wealth, as well as among the poor and needy."[33] + +[Footnote 33: Gardner.] + +"Perhaps only medical men will credit the assertion that the frequency +of this form of destroying human life exceeds all others by at least +fifty per cent, and that not more than one in a thousand of the guilty +parties receive any punishment by the hand of civil law. But there is +a surer mode of punishment for the guilty mother in the self-executing +laws of nature."[34] + +[Footnote 34: Black.] + +"From a very large verbal and written correspondence in this and other +States, I am satisfied that we have become _a nation of murderers_."[35] + +[Footnote 35: Reamy.] + +Said a distinguished clergyman of Brooklyn in a sermon, "Why send +missionaries to India when child-murder is here of daily, almost hourly, +occurrence; aye, when the hand that puts money into the +contribution-box to-day, yesterday or a month ago, or to-morrow, will +murder her own unborn offspring? + +"The Hindoo mother, when she abandons her babe upon the sacred Ganges, +is, contrary to her heart, obeying a supposed religious law, and you +desire to convert her to your own worship of the Moloch of Fashion and +Laziness and love of Greed. Out upon such hypocrisy!" + +Writers tell us that it has even become the boast of many women that +they "know too much to have babies." + +Says the learned Dr. Storer, "Will the time come, think ye, when +husbands can no longer, as they now frequently do, commit the crime +of rape upon their unwilling wives, and persuade them or compel them +to allow a still more dreadful violence to be wreaked upon the children +nestling within them--children fully alive from the very moment of +conception, that have already been fully detached from all organic +connection with their parent, and only re-attached to her for the +purposes of nutriment and growth, and to destroy whom 'is a crime of +the same nature, both against our Maker and society, as to destroy an +infant, a child, or a man?'"[36] + +[Footnote 36: "Is It I?"] + +Says another well-known author, "Ladies boast to each other of the +impunity with which they have aborted, as they do of their expenditures, +of their dress, of their success in society. There is a fashion in this, +as in all other female customs, good and bad. The wretch whose account +with the Almighty is heaviest with guilt too often becomes a +heroine."[37] + +[Footnote 37: A Woman's Thoughts about Women.] + +Causes of the Crime.--Many influences may combine to cause the mother +ruthlessly to destroy her helpless child: as, to conceal the results +of sin; to avoid the burdens of maternity; to secure ease and freedom +to travel, etc., or even from a false idea that maternity is vulgar; +but it is true, beyond all question, that the primary cause of the sin +is far back of all these influences. The most unstinted and scathing +invectives are used in characterizing the criminality of a mother who +takes the life of her unborn babe; but a word is seldom said of the +one who forced upon her the circumstances which gave the unfortunate +one existence. Though doctors, ministers, and moralists have said much +on this subject, and written more, it is reasonable to suppose that +they will never accomplish much of anything in the direction of reform +until they recognize the part the man acts in all of these sad cases, +and begin to demand reform where it is most needed, and where its +achievement will effect the most good. As was observed in the remarks +upon the subject of "Prevention of Conception," this evil has its origin +in "marital excesses," and in a disregard of the natural law which makes +the female the sole proprietor of her own body, and gives to her the +right to refuse the approaches of the male when unprepared to receive +them without doing violence to the laws of her being. + +The Nature of the Crime.--"The married and well-to-do, who by means +of medicines and operations produce abortions at early periods of +pregnancy, have no excuse except the pretense that they do not consider +it murder until the child quickens. + +"No, not murder, you say, for 'there has not been any life in the child.' +Do not attempt to evade, even to man, a crime which cannot be hidden +from the All-seeing. The poor mother has not herself felt the life of +the child perhaps, but that is a quibble only of the laws of man, founded +indeed upon the view, now universally recognized as incorrect, that +the child's life began when its movements were first strong enough to +be perceptible. There is, in fact, no moment after conception when it +can be said that the child has not life, and the crime of destroying +human life is as heinous and as sure before the period of 'quickening' +has been attained as afterward. But you still defend your horrible deed +by saying, 'Well, if there be, as you say, this mere animal life, +equivalent at the most to simple vitality, there is no mind, no soul +destroyed, and therefore, there is no crime committed.' Just so surely +as one would destroy and root out of existence all the fowl in the world +by destroying all the eggs in existence, so certain is it that you do +by your act destroy the animal man in the egg, and the soul which +animates it. When is the period that intelligence comes to the infant? +Are its feeble first strugglings any evidence of its presence? Has it +any appreciable quantity at birth? Has it any valuable, useful quantity +even when a year old? When, then, is it, that destruction is harmless +or comparatively sinless? While awaiting your metaphysical answer, I +will tell you when it is sinful. Murder is always sinful, and murder +is the willful destruction of a human being at any period of its +existence, from its earliest germinal embryo to its final, simple, +animal existence in aged decrepitude and complete mental +imbecility."[38] + +[Footnote 38: Gardner.] + +"There are those who would fain make light of this crime by attempting +to convince themselves and others that a child, while in embryo, has +only a sort of vegetative life, not yet endowed with thought, and the +ability to maintain an independent existence. If such a monstrous +philosophy as this presents any justification for such an act, then +the killing of a newly-born infant, or of an idiot, may be likewise +justified. The destruction of the life of an unborn human being, for +the reason that it is small, feeble, and innocently helpless, rather +aggravates than palliates the crime. Every act of this kind, with its +justification, is obviously akin to that savage philosophy which +accounts it a matter of no moment, or rather a duty, to destroy feeble +infants, or old, helpless fathers and mothers."[39] + +[Footnote 39: Black.] + +Instruments of Crime.--"The means through which abortions are effected +are various. Sometimes it is through potent drugs, extensively +advertised in newspapers claiming to be moral!--the advertisements so +adroitly worded as to convey under a caution the precise information +required of the liability of the drug to produce miscarriages. +Sometimes the information is conveyed through secret circulars; but +more commonly the deed is consummated by professed abortionists, who +advertise themselves as such through innuendo, or through gaining this +kind of repute by the frequent commission of the act. Not a few women, +deterred by lingering modesty or some sense of shame, attempt and +execute it upon themselves, and then volunteer to instruct and +encourage others to go and do likewise."[40] + +[Footnote 40: Black.] + +Results of this Unnatural Crime.--It is the universal testimony of +physicians that the effects of abortion are almost as deadly upon the +mother as upon the child. The amount of suffering is vastly greater; +for that of the child, if it suffer at all, is only momentary, in general, +while the mother is doomed to a life of suffering, of misery, if she +survives the shock of the terrible outrage against her nature. It has +been proved by statistics that the danger of immediate death is _fifteen +times as great as in natural childbirth_. A medical author of note +asserts that a woman suffers more injury from one abortion than she +would from twenty normal births. Says Dr. Gardner on this point:-- + +"We know that the popular idea is that women are worn out by the toil +and wear connected with the raising of large families, and we can +willingly concede something to this statement; but it is certainly far +more observable that the efforts at the present day, made to avoid +propagation, are ten thousand-fold more disastrous to the health and +constitution, to say nothing of the demoralization of mind and heart, +which cannot be estimated by red cheeks or physical vigor." + +An Unwelcome Child.--But suppose the mother does not succeed in her +attempts against the life of her child, as she may not; what fearful +results may follow! Who can doubt that the murderous intent of the +mother will be stamped indelibly upon the character of the unwelcome +child, giving it a natural propensity for the commission of murderous +deeds? + +Then again--sickening thought--suppose the attempts to destroy the +child are unsuccessful, resulting only in horrid mutilation of its +tender form; when such a child is born, what terrible evidences may +it bear in its crippled and misshapen body of the cruel outrage +perpetrated upon it! That such cases do occur is certain from the +following narrative, which we might confirm by others similar in +character:-- + +"A lady, determined not to have any more children, went to a professed +abortionist, and he attempted to effect the desired end by violence. +With a pointed instrument the attempt was again and again made, but +without the looked-for result. So vigorously was the effort made, that, +astonished at no result being obtained, the individual stated that +there must be some mistake, that the lady could not be pregnant, and +refused to perform any further operations. Partially from doubt and +partially from fear, nothing further was attempted; and in due process +of time the woman was delivered of an infant, shockingly mutilated, +with one eye entirely put out, and the brain so injured that this +otherwise robust child was entirely wanting in ordinary sense. This +poor mother, it would seem, needs no future punishment for her sin. +Ten years face to face with this poor idiot, whose imbecility was her +direct work--has it not punished her sufficiently?" + +The Remedy.--Whether this gigantic evil can ever be eradicated, is +exceedingly doubtful. To effect its cure would be to make refined +Christians out of brutal sensualists; to emancipate woman from the +enticing, alluring slavery of fashion; to uproot false ideas of life +and its duties,--in short, to revolutionize society. The crime is +perpetrated in secret. Many times no one but the criminal herself is +cognizant of the evil deed. Only occasionally do cases come near enough +to the surface to be dimly discernible; hence the evident inefficiency +of any civil legislation. But the evil is a desperate one, and is +increasing; shall no attempt be made to check the tide of crime and +save the sufferers from both physical and spiritual perdition? An +effort should be made, at least. Let every Christian raise the note +of warning. From every Christian pulpit let the truth be spoken in terms +too plain for misapprehension. Let those who are known to be guilty +of this most revolting crime be looked upon as murderers, as they are; +and let their real moral status be distinctly shown. + +All of these means will do something to effect a reform; but the radical +cure of the evil will only be found in the principles suggested in the +section devoted to the consideration of "Marital Excesses." The +adoption of those principles and strict adherence to them would +effectually prevent the occurrence of circumstances which are the +occasion of abortions and infanticides. + +Murder by Proxy.--"There is, at the present time, a kind of infanticide, +which, although it is not so well known, is even more dangerous, because +done with impunity. There are parents who recoil with horror at the +idea of destroying their offspring, although they would greatly desire +to be disembarrassed of them, who yet place them without remorse with +nurses who enjoy the sinister reputation of never returning the +children to those who have intrusted them to their care. These +unfortunate little beings are condemned to perish from inanition and +bad treatment. + +"The number of these innocent victims is greater than would be imagined, +and very certainly exceeds that of the marked infanticides sent by the +public prosecutor to the Court of the Assizes." + + + + +THE SOCIAL EVIL. + + +Illicit intercourse has been a foul blot upon humanity from the earliest +periods of history. At the present moment, it is a loathsome ulcer +eating at the heart of civilization, a malignant leprosy which shows +its hideous deformities among the fairest results of modern culture. +Our large cities abound with dens of vice whose _habitues_ shamelessly +promenade the most public streets and flaunt their infamy in the face +of every passer-by. In many large cities, especially in those of +Continental Europe, these holds of vice are placed under the +supervision of the law by the requirement that every keeper of a house +of prostitution must pay for a license; in other words, must buy the +right to lead his fellow-men "down to the depths of hell." + +In smaller cities, as well as in large ones, in fact, from the great +metropolis down to the country village, the haunts of vice are found. +Every army is flanked by bands of courtesans. Wherever men go, loose +women follow, penetrating even to the wildness of the miner's camp, +far beyond the verge of civilization. + +But brothels and traveling strumpets do not fully represent the vast +extent of this monster evil. There is a class of immoral women--probably +exceeding in numbers the grosser class just referred to--who consider +themselves respectable; indeed, who are considered very respectable. +Few are acquainted with their character. They live in elegant style +and mingle in genteel society. Privately, they prosecute the most +unbounded licentiousness, for the purpose of gain, or merely to gratify +their lewdness. "Kept mistresses" are much more numerous than common +prostitutes. + +The numerous scandal and divorce suits which expose the infidelity of +husbands and wives, are sufficient evidence that illicit commerce is +not confined to the unmarried; but so many are the facilities for +covering and preventing the results of sins of this description it is +impossible to form any just estimate of their frequency. The +incontinence of husbands and the unchastity of wives will only appear +in their enormity at that awful day when every one shall "stand before +the judgment-seat" and hear the penalty of his guilty deeds. + +Unchastity of the Ancients.--We are prone to believe that the present +is the most licentious age the world has ever known; that in the +nineteenth century the climax of evil has been reached; that the +libidinous blood of all the ages has culminated to produce a race of +men more carnal than all predecessors. It is a sickening thought that +any previous epoch could have been more vile than this; but history +presents facts which disclose in ancient times periods when lust was +even more uncontrolled than now; when vice was universal; and when +virtue was a thing unknown. A few references to historical facts will +establish this point. We do not make these allusions in any way to +justify the present immorality, but to show the part which vice has +acted in the overthrow of nations. + +From the sacred record we may judge that before the flood a state of +corruption prevailed which was even greater and more general than any +that has ever since been reached; only eight persons were fit to survive +the calamity which swept into eternity that lustful generation with +their filthy deeds. + +But men soon fell into vice again, for we find among the early Assyrians +a total disregard of chastity. Her kings reveled in the grossest +sensuality. + +No excess of vice could surpass the licentiousness of the Ptolemies, +who made of Alexandria a bagnio, and all Egypt a hot-bed of vice. +Herodotus relates that "the pyramid of Cheops was built by the lovers +of the daughter of this king; and that she never would have raised this +monument to such a height except by multiplying her prostitutions." +History also relates the adventures of that queenly courtesan, +Cleopatra, who captivated and seduced by her charms two masters of the +world, and whose lewdness surpassed even her beauty. + +Tyre and Sidon, Media, Phoenicia, Syria, and all the Orient, were sunk +in sensuality. Fornication was made a part of their worship. Women +carried through the streets of the cities the most obscene and revolting +representations. Among all these nations a virtuous woman was not to +be found; for, according to Herodotus, the young women were by the laws +of the land "obliged, once in their lives, to give themselves up to +the desires of strangers in the temple of Venus, and were not permitted +to refuse anyone."[41] + +[Footnote 41: Bourgeois.] + +St. Augustine speaks of these religious debaucheries as still practiced +in his day in Phoenicia. They were even continued until Constantine +destroyed the temples in which they were prosecuted, in the fourth +century. + +Among the Greeks the same corruptions prevailed in the worship of +Bacchus and Phallus, which was celebrated by processions of half-nude +girls "performing lascivious dances with men disguised as satyrs." In +fact, as X. Bourgeois says, "Prostitution was in repute in Greece." +The most distinguished women were courtesans, and the wise Socrates +would be justly called, in modern times, a libertine. + +The abandonment to lust was, if possible, still more complete in the +times of the Roman emperors. Rome astonished the universe "by the +boldness of its turpitudes, after having astonished it by the splendor +of its triumphs." + +The great Caesar was such a rake that he has been said to have "merited +to be surnamed every woman's husband." Antony and Augustus were equally +notorious. The same sensuality pervaded the masses as reigned in the +courts, and was stimulated by the erotic poems of Ovid, Catullus, and +other poets of the time. + +Tiberius displayed such ingenuity in inventing refinements in +impudicity that it was necessary to coin new words to designate them. +Caligula committed the horrid crime of incest with all his sisters, +even in public. His palace was a brothel. The Roman empress, Messalina, +disguised herself as a prostitute and excelled the most degraded +courtesans in her monstrous debaucheries. The Roman emperor Vitellius +was accustomed to take an emetic after having eaten to repletion, to +enable him to renew his gluttony. With still grosser sensuality he +stimulated his satiated passions with philters and various aphrodisiac +mixtures. + +Nero, the most infamous of the emperors, committed rapes on the stage +of the public theaters of Rome, disguised as a wild beast. + +If this degraded voluptuousness had been confined to royalty, some +respect might yet be entertained for the virtue of the ancients; but +the foul infection was not restrained within such narrow bounds. It +invaded whole empires until they fell in pieces from very rottenness. +What must have been the condition of a nation that could tolerate such +a spectacle as its monarch riding through the streets of its metropolis +in a state of nudity, drawn by women in the same condition? Such a deed +did Heliogabalus in Rome. + +In the thirteenth century, virtue was almost as scarce in France as +in ancient Greece. Nobles held as mistresses all the young girls of +their domains. About every fifth person was a bastard. Just before the +Revolution, chastity was such a rarity that a woman was actually obliged +to apologize for being virtuous! + +In these disgusting facts we find one of the most potent agents in +effecting the downfall of the nations. Licentiousness sapped their +vitality and weakened their prowess. The men who conquered the world +were led captive by their own beastly passions. Thus the Assyrians, +the Medes, the Grecians, the Romans, successively fell victims to their +lusts, and gave way to more virtuous successors. Even the Jews, the +most enlightened people of their age, fell more than once through this +same sin, which was coupled with idolatry, of which their seduction +by the Midianites is an example. + +Surely, modern times present no worse spectacles of carnality than +these; and will it be claimed that anything so vile is seen among +civilized nations at the present day? But though there may be less +grossness in the sensuality of to-day, the moral turpitude of men may +be even greater than that of ancient times. Enlightened Christianity +has raised the standard of morality. Christ's commentary upon the +seventh commandment requires a more rigorous chastity than ancient +standards demanded, even among the Jews; for had not David, Solomon, +and even the pious Jacob more wives than one? Consequently, a slight +breach of chastity now requires as great a fall from virtue as a greater +lapse in ages past, and must be attended with as severe a moral penalty. + +We have seen how universal is the "social evil," that it is a vice almost +as old as man himself, which shows how deeply rooted in his perverted +nature it has become. The inquiry arises, What are the causes of so +monstrous a vice? so gross an outrage upon nature's laws? so withering +a blight upon the race? + +Causes of the "Social Evil."--A vice that has become so great an evil, +even in these enlightened times, as to defy the most skillful +legislation, which openly displays its gaudy filthiness and mocks at +virtue with a lecherous stare, must have its origin in causes too +powerful to be ignored. + +Libidinous Blood.--In no other direction are the effects of heredity +to be more distinctly traced than in the transmission of sensual +propensities. The children of libertines are almost certain to be rakes +and prostitutes. History affords numerous examples in illustration of +this fact. The daughter of Augustus was as unchaste as her father, and +her daughter was as immoral as herself. The sons of David showed evident +traces of their father's failing. Witness the incest of Amnon, and the +voluptuousness of Solomon, who had seven hundred wives and three +hundred concubines. Solomon's son was, likewise, a noted polygamist, +of whom the record says, "He desired many wives." His son's son +manifested the same propensity in taking as many wives as the +debilitated state of his kingdom enabled him to support. But perhaps +we may be allowed to trace the origin of this libidinous propensity +still further back. A glance at the genealogy of David will show that +he was descended from Judah through Pharez, who was the result of an +incestuous union between Judah and his daughter-in-law. + +Is it unreasonable to suppose that the abnormal passion which led David +to commit the most heinous sin of his life in his adultery with +Bath-sheba and subsequently procuring the death of her husband, was +really an hereditary propensity which had come down to him through his +ancestors, and which, under more favorable circumstances, was more +fully developed in his sons? The trait may have been kept dormant by +the active and simple habits of his early years, but asserted itself +in full force under the fostering influence of royal idleness and luxury. +In accordance with the known laws of heredity, such a tendency would +be the legitimate result of such a combination of circumstances. + +The influence of marital excesses, and especially sexual indulgence +during pregnancy, in producing vicious tendencies in offspring, has +been fully dwelt upon elsewhere in this work, and will not be +reconsidered here, it being only necessary to call attention to the +subject. Physiology shows conclusively that thousands of parents whose +sons have become libertines and their daughters courtesans, have +themselves implanted in their characters the propensity which led to +their unchastity. + +Gluttony.--As a predisposing cause, the influence of dietetic habits +should rank next to heredity. It is an observed fact that "all +libertines are great eaters or famous gastronomists." The exciting +influence upon the genital organs of such articles as pepper, mustard, +ginger, spices, truffles, wine, and all alcoholic drinks, is well known. +Tea and coffee directly excite the animal passions through their +influence upon the nerve centers controlling the sexual organs. When +children are raised upon such articles, or upon food with which they +are thoroughly mingled, what wonder that they occasionally "turn out +bad"? How many mothers, while teaching their children the principles +of virtue in the nursery, unwittingly stimulate their passions at the +dinner table until vice becomes almost a physical necessity! + +Nothing tends so powerfully to keep the passions in abeyance as a simple +diet, free from condiments, especially when coupled with a generous +amount of exercise. + +The influence of tobacco in leading to unchastity has been referred +to in another connection. This is assuredly a not uncommon cause. When +a boy places the first cigar or quid of tobacco to his lips, he takes--if +he has not previously done so--the first step in the road to infamy; +and if he adds wine or beer, he takes a short cut to the degradation +of his manhood by the loss of virtue. + +Precocious Sexuality.--The causes of a too early development of sexual +peculiarities, as manifested in infantile flirtations and early signs +of sexual passion, were dwelt upon quite fully in a previous connection, +and we need not repeat them here. Certain it is that few things can +be more dangerous to virtue than the premature development of those +sentiments which belong only to puberty and later years. It is a most +unnatural, but not uncommon, sight to see a girl of tender age evincing +all those characters which mark the wanton of older years. + +Man's Lewdness.--It cannot be denied that men are in the greatest degree +responsible for the "social evil." The general principle holds true +here as elsewhere that the supply is regulated by the demand. If the +patrons of prostitution should withdraw their support by a sudden +acquisition of virtue, how soon would this vilest of traffics cease! +The inmates of brothels would themselves become continent, if not +virtuous, as the result of such a spasm of chastity in men. + +Again, the ranks of fallen women, which are rapidly thinned by loathsome +diseases and horrid deaths, are largely recruited from that class of +unfortunates for whose fall faithless lovers or cunning, heartless +libertines are chiefly responsible. The weak girl who, through too much +trust, has been deceived and robbed of her dearest treasure, is disowned +by relatives, shunned by her acquaintances, and turned out upon a cold +world without money, without friends, without a character. What can +she do? Respectable employment she cannot find, for rumor follows her. +There seems to be but one door open, the one which she herself so +unintentionally opened. In despair, she enters the "open road to hell," +and to her first sad error adds a life of shame. Meanwhile, the villain +who betrayed her still maintains his standing in society, and plies +his arts to win another victim. Is there not an unfair discrimination +here? Should not the seducer be blackened with an infamy at least as +deep as that which society casts on the one betrayed? + +Fashion.--The temptation of dress, fine clothing, costly jewelry, and +all the extravagances with which rich ladies array themselves, is in +many cases too powerful for the weakened virtue of poor seamstresses, +operatives, and servant girls, who have seen so much of vice as to have +lost that instinctive loathing for it which they may have once +experienced. Thinking to gain a life of ease, with means to gratify +their love of show, they barter away their peace of mind for this world, +all hope for the next, and only gain a little worthless tinsel, the +scorn of their fellow-creatures, and a host of loathsome diseases. + +Lack of Early Training.--It is needless to demonstrate a fact so well +established as that the future character of an individual depends very +largely upon his early training. If purity and modesty are taught from +earliest infancy, the mind is fortified against the assaults of vice. +If, instead, the child is allowed to grow up untrained, if the seeds +of vice which are sure to fall sooner or later in the most carefully +kept ground are allowed to germinate, if the first buds of evil are +allowed to grow and unfold instead of being promptly nipped, it must +not be considered remarkable that in later years rank weeds of sin +should flourish in the soul and bear their hideous fruit in shameless +lives. + +Neglect to guard the avenues by which evil may approach the young mind, +and to erect barriers against vice by careful instruction and a chaste +example, leaves many innocent souls open to the assaults of evil, and +an easy prey to lust. If children are allowed to get their training +in the street, at the corner grocery, or hovering around saloons, they +will be sure to develop a vigorous growth of the animal passions. The +following extract is from the writings of one whose pen has been an +inestimable blessing to American youth:-- + +"Among the first lessons which boys learn of their fellows are +impurities of language; and these are soon followed by impurities of +thought.... When this is the training of boyhood, it is not strange +that the predominating ideas among young men, in relation to the other +sex, are too often those of impurity and sensuality.... We cannot be +surprised, then, that the history of most young men is, that they yield +to temptation in a greater or less degree and in different ways. With +many, no doubt, the indulgence is transient, accidental, and does not +become habitual. It does not get to be regarded as venial. It is never +yielded to without remorse. The wish and the purpose are to resist; +but the animal nature bears down the moral. Still, transgression is +always followed by grief and penitence. + +"With too many, however, it is to be feared, it is not so. The mind +has become debauched by dwelling on licentious images, and by +indulgence in licentious conversation. There is no wish to resist. They +are not overtaken by temptation, for they seek it. With them the +transgression becomes habitual, and the stain on the character is deep +and lasting."[42] + +[Footnote 42: Ware.] + +Sentimental Literature.--In another connection, we have referred +particularly to the bawdy, obscene books and pictures which are +secretly circulated among the youth of both sexes, and to their +corrupting influence. The hope is not entirely a vain one that this +evil may be controlled; but there seems no possible practicable remedy +for another evil which ultimately leads to the same result, though by +less gross and obscene methods. We refer to the sentimental literature +which floods the land. City and school libraries, circulating libraries, +and even Sunday-school libraries, are full of books which, though they +may contain good moral teaching, contain, as well, an element as +incompatible with purity of morals as is light with midnight darkness. +Writers for children and youth seem to think a tale of "courtship, love, +and matrimony" entirely indispensable as a medium for conveying their +moral instruction. Some of these "religious novels" are actually more +pernicious than the fictions of well-known novelists who make no +pretense to having religious instruction a particular object in view. +Sunday-school libraries are not often wholly composed of this class +of works, but any one who takes the trouble to examine the books of +such a library will be able to select the most pernicious ones by the +external appearance. The covers will be well worn and the edges begrimed +with dirt from much handling. Children soon tire of the shallow sameness +which characterizes the "moral" parts of most of these books, and skim +lightly over them, selecting and devouring with eagerness those +portions which relate the silly narrative of some love adventure. This +kind of literature arouses in children premature fancies and queries, +and fosters a sentimentalism which too often occasions most unhappy +results. Through their influence, young girls are often led to begin +a life of shame long before their parents are aware that a thought of +evil has ever entered their minds. + +The following words from the pen of a forcible writer[43] present this +matter in none too strong a light:-- + +"You may tear your coat or break a vase, and repair them again; but +the point where the rip or fracture took place will always be evident. +It takes less than an hour to do your heart a damage which no time can +entirely repair. Look carefully over your child's library; see what +book it is that he reads after he has gone to bed, with the gas turned +upon the pillow. Do not always take it for granted that a book is good +because it is a Sunday-school book. As far as possible, know _who_ wrote +it, who illustrated it, who published it, who sold it. + +"It seems that in the literature of the day the ten plagues of Egypt +have returned, and the frogs and lice have hopped and skipped over our +parlor tables. + +"Parents are delighted to have their children read, but they should +be sure as to what they read. You do not have to walk a day or two in +an infested district to get the cholera or typhoid fever; and one wave +of moral unhealth will fever and blast the soul forever. Perhaps, +knowing not what you did, you read a bad book. Do you not remember it +altogether? Yes! and perhaps you will never get over it. However strong +and exalted your character, never read a bad book. By the time you get +through the first chapter you will see the drift. If you find the marks +of the hoofs of the devil in the pictures, or in the style, or in the +plot, away with it. + +"But there is more danger, I think, from many of the family papers, +published once a week, in those stories of vice and shame, full of +infamous suggestions, going as far as they can without exposing +themselves to the clutch of the law. I name none of them; but say that +on some fashionable tables there lie 'family newspapers' that are the +very vomit of the pit. + +"The way to ruin is cheap. It costs three dollars to go to Philadelphia; +six dollars to Boston; thirty-three dollars to Savannah; but, by the +purchase of a bad paper for ten cents you may get a through ticket to +hell, by express, with few stopping places, and the final halting like +the tumbling of the lightning train down the draw-bridge at +Norwalk--sudden, terrific, deathful, never to rise." + +[Footnote 43: T. De Witt Talmage.] + +Poverty.--The pressing influence of poverty has been urged as one cause +of prostitution. It cannot be denied that in many cases, in large cities, +this may be the immediate occasion of the entrance of a young girl upon +a life of shame; but it may still be insisted that there must have been, +in such cases, a deficiency in previous training; for a young woman, +educated with a proper regard for purity, would sooner sacrifice life +itself than virtue. Again, poverty can be no excuse, for in every city +there are made provisions for the relief of the needy poor, and none +who are really worthy need suffer. + +Ignorance.--Perhaps nothing fosters vice more than ignorance. +Prostitutes come almost entirely from the more ignorant classes, though +there are, of course, many exceptions. Among the lowest classes, vice +is seen in its grossest forms, and is carried to the greatest lengths. +Intellectual culture is antagonistic to sensuality. As a general rule, +in proportion as the intellect is developed, the animal passions are +brought into subjection. It is true that very intellectual men have +been great libertines, and that the licentious Borgias and Medicis of +Italy encouraged art and literature; but these are only apparent +exceptions, for who knows to what greater depths of vice these +individuals might have sunk had it not been for the restraining +influence of mental culture? + +Says Deslandes, "In proportion as the intellect becomes enfeebled, the +generative sensibility is augmented." The animal passions seem to +survive when all higher intelligence is lost. We once saw an +illustration of this fact in an idiot who was brought before a medical +class in a clinic at Bellevue Hospital, New York. The patient had been +an idiot from birth, and presented the most revolting appearance, +seemingly possessing scarcely the intelligence of the average dog; but +his animal propensities were so great as to be almost uncontrollable. +Indeed, he showed evidences of having been a gross debauchee, having +contracted venereal disease of the worst form. The general prevalence +of extravagant sexual excitement among the insane is a well-known fact. + +Disease.--Various diseases which cause local irritation and congestion +of the reproductive organs are the causes of unchastity in both sexes, +as previously explained. It not unfrequently happens that by constantly +dwelling upon unchaste subjects until a condition of habitual +congestion of the sexual organs is produced, young women become seized +with a furor for libidinous commerce which nothing but the desired +object will appease, unless active remedial measures are adopted under +the direction of a skillful physician. This disease, known as +_nymphomania_, has been the occasion of the fall of many young women +of the better classes who have been bred in luxury and idleness, but +were never taught even the first lessons of purity or self-control. +Constipation, piles, worms, pruritis of the genitals, and some other +less common diseases of the urinary and genital systems, have been +causes of sexual excitement which has resulted in moral degradation. + +Results of Licentiousness.--Apparently as a safeguard to virtue, +nature has appended to the sin of illicit sexual indulgence, as +penalties, the most loathsome, deadly, and incurable diseases known +to man. Some of these, as _gonorrhea_ and _chancroid_, are purely local +diseases; and though they occasion the transgressor a vast amount of +suffering, they may be cured and leave no trace of their presence except +in the conscience of the individual. Such a result, however, is by no +means the usual one. Most frequently, the injury done is more or less +permanent; sometimes it amounts to loss of life or serious mutilation, +as in cases we have seen. And one attack secures no immunity from +subsequent ones, as a new disease may be contracted upon every exposure. + +By far the worst form of venereal disease is _syphilis_, a malady which +was formerly confounded with the two forms of disease mentioned, but +from which it is essentially different. At first, a very slight local +lesion, of no more consequence--except from its significance--than a +small boil, it rapidly infects the general system, poisoning the whole +body, and liable forever after to develop itself in any one or more +of its protean forms. The most loathsome sight upon which a human eye +can rest is a victim of this disease who presents it well developed +in its later stages. In the large Charity Hospital upon Blackwell's +Island, near New York City, we have seen scores of these unfortunates +of both sexes, exhibiting the horrid disease in all its phases. To +describe them would be to place before our readers a picture too +revolting for these pages. No pen can portray the woebegone faces, the +hopeless air, of these degraded sufferers whose repentance has come, +alas! too late. No words can convey an adequate idea of their sufferings. +What remorse and useless regrets add to the misery of their wretched +existence as they daily watch the progress of a malignant ulceration +which is destroying their organs of speech, or burrowing deep into the +recesses of the skull, penetrating even to the brain itself! Even the +bones become rottenness; foul running sores appear on different +portions of the body, and may even cover it entirely. Perhaps the nose, +or the tongue, or the lips, or an eye, or some other prominent organ, +is lost. Still the miserable sufferer lingers on, life serving only +to prolong the torture. To many of them, death would be a grateful +release, even with the fires of retributive justice before their eyes; +for hell itself could scarcely be more awful punishment than that which +they daily endure. + +Thousands of Victims.--The venturesome youth need not attempt to calm +his fears by thinking that these are only exceptional cases, for this +is not the truth. In any city, one who has an experienced eye can +scarcely walk a dozen blocks on busy streets without encountering the +woeful effects of sexual transgression. Neither do these results come +only from long-continued violations of the laws of chastity. The very +first departure from virtue may occasion all the worst effects +possible. + +Effects of Vice Ineradicable.--Another fearful feature of this +terrible disease is that when once it invades the system its eradication +is impossible. No drug, no chemical, can antidote its virulent poison +or drive it from the system. Various means may smother it, possibly +for a life-time; but yet it is not cured, and the patient is never safe +from a new outbreak. Prof. Bumstead, an acknowledged authority on this +subject, after observing the disease for many years, says that "he never +after treatment, however prolonged, promises immunity for the +future."[44] Dr. Van Buren, professor of surgery at Bellevue Hospital +Medical College, New York, bears the same testimony. + +[Footnote 44: Venereal Disease.] + +Prof. Van Buren also says that he has often seen the disease occur upon +the lips of young ladies who were entirely virtuous, but who were +engaged to men who had contracted the disease and had communicated it +to them by the act of kissing. Virtuous wives have not infrequently +had their constitutions hopelessly ruined by contracting the disease +from husbands who had themselves been inoculated either before or after +marriage, by illicit intercourse. Several such unfortunate cases have +fallen under our observation, and there is reason to believe that they +are not infrequent. + +The Only Hope.--The only hope for one who has contracted this disease +is to lead a life of perfect continence ever after, and by a most careful +life, by conforming strictly to the laws of health, by bathing and +dieting, he may possibly avoid the horrid consequences of the later +stages of the malady. Mercury will not cure, nor will any other poison, +as before remarked. + +The following strong testimony on this subject we quote from an +admirable pamphlet by Prof. Fred. H. Gerrish, M.D.:-- + +"The diseases dependent upon prostitution are appallingly frequent, +a distinguished surgeon recently declaring that one person in twenty +in the United States has syphilis, a malady so ineradicable that a +profound observer has remarked that 'a man who is once thus poisoned +will die a syphilitic, and, in the day of Judgment, he will be a +syphilitic ghost.' Prof. Gross says: 'What is called scrofula, struma, +or tuberculosis, is, I have long been satisfied from careful +observation of the sick and a profound study of the literature of the +subject, in a great majority of cases, if not invariably, merely +syphilis in its more remote stages.' Though there are doubtless many +of us who believe that a not inconsiderable proportion of scrofulous +and phthisical cases are clearly due to other causes than syphilis, +we must admit that this statement contains a very large element of +truth." + +Hereditary Effects of Venereal Disease.--The transgressor is not the +only sufferer. If he marries, his children, if they survive infancy, +will in later years show the effects of their father's sin, exhibiting +the forms of the disease seen in its later stages. Scrofula, consumption, +cancer, rickets, diseases of the brain and nerves, decay of the bones +by caries or necrosis, and other diseases, arise in this way. + +But it generally happens that the child dies before birth, or lingers +out a miserable existence of a few days or weeks thereafter. A most +pitiable sight these little ones are. Their faces look as old as +children of ten or twelve. Often their bodies become reduced before +death to the most wretched skeletons. Their hollow, feeble cry sends +a shudder of horror through the listener, and impresses indelibly the +terrible consequences of sexual sin. Plenty of these scrawny infants +may be seen in the lying-in hospitals. + +No one can estimate how much of the excessive mortality of infants is +owing to this cause. + +In children who survive infancy, its blighting influence may be seen +in the notched, deformed teeth, and other defects; and very often it +will be found, upon looking into the mouth of the child, that the soft +palate, and perhaps the hard palate as well, is in a state of ulceration. +There is more than a suspicion that this disease may be transmitted +for several generations, perhaps remaining latent during the life-time +of one, and appearing in all its virulence in the next. + +Man the Only Transgressor.--Man is the only animal that abuses his +sexual organization by making it subservient to other ends than +reproduction; hence he is the only sufferer from this foul disease, +which is one of the penalties of such abuse. Attempts have been made +to communicate the disease to lower animals, but without success, even +though inoculation was practiced. + +Origin of the Foul Disease.--Where or when the disease originated, is +a mystery. It is said to have been introduced into France from Naples +by French soldiers. That it originated spontaneously at some time can +scarcely be doubted, and that it might originate under circumstances +of excessive violation of the laws of chastity is rendered probable +by the fact that gonorrhea, or an infectious disease exactly resembling +it, is often caused by excessive indulgence, from which cause it not +infrequently occurs in the newly married, giving rise to unjust +suspicion of infidelity on both sides. + +Read the following from a noted French physician:-- + +"The father, as well as the mother, communicates the syphilitic virus +to the children. These poor little beings are attacked sometimes at +their birth; more often it is at the end of a month or two, before these +morbid symptoms appear. + +"I recall the heart-rending anguish of a mother whom I assisted at her +fifth confinement. She related to me her misfortune: 'I have already +brought into the world four children. Alas! they all died during the +first months of their existence. A frightful eruption wasted them away +and killed them. Save me the one that is about to be born!' cried she, +in tears. The child that I delivered was sickly and puny. A few days +after its birth, it had purulent ophthalmia; then, crusted and +ulcerated pustules, a few at first, numerous afterward, covered the +entire surface of the skin. Soon this miserable little being became +as meager as a skeleton, hideous to the sight, and died. Having +questioned the husband, he acknowledged to me that he had had +syphilis."[45] + +[Footnote 45: Bourgeois.] + +Cure of the "Social Evil."--With rare exceptions, the efforts of civil +legislation have been directed toward controlling or modifying this +vice, rather than extirpating it. + +Among other devices adopted with a view to effect this, and to mitigate +in some degree the resulting evils, the issuing of licenses for brothels +has been practiced in several large cities. One of the conditions of +the license makes it obligatory upon the keepers of houses of ill-repute +and their inmates to submit to medical examination at stated intervals. +By this means, it is expected to detect the cases of foul disease at +the outset, and thus to protect others by placing the infected +individuals under restraint and treatment. It will be seen that for +many reasons such examinations could not be effective; but, even if +they were, the propriety of this plan of dealing with the vice is +exceedingly questionable, as will appear from the following +considerations:-- + +1. The moment that prostitution is placed under the protection of law +by means of a license, it at once loses half its disrepute, and becomes +respectable, as do gambling and liquor-selling under the same +circumstances. + +2. Why should so vile a crime as fornication be taken under legal +protection more than stealing or the lowest forms of gambling? Is it +not a lesser crime against human nature to rob a man of his money by +theft or by deceit and trickery than to snatch from him at one fell +swoop his health, his virtue, and his peace of mind? Why not as well +have laws to regulate burglary and assassination, allowing the +perpetrators of those crimes to ply their chosen avocations with +impunity under certain prescribed restrictions; if robbery, for +instance, requiring the thief to leave his victim money enough to make +his escape to another country; or, if murder, directing the assassin +to allow his intended victim time to repeat a sufficient number of _Ave +Marias_ to insure his safe transit through purgatory or to pay a priest +for doing the same? Such a course would not be inconsistent with the +policy which legalizes that infamous traffic in human souls, +prostitution. + +3. By the use of certain precautionary measures the fears of many will +be allayed, so that thousands whose fear of the consequences of sin +would otherwise have kept them physically virtuous, at least, +erroneously supposing that the cause for fear has been removed, will +rush madly into a career of vice, and will learn only too late the folly +of their course. + +Prevention the Only Cure.--Those who have once entered upon a career +of sensuality are generally so completely lost to all sense of purity +and right that there is little chance for reforming them. They have +no principle to which to appeal. The gratification of lust so degrades +the soul and benumbs the higher sensibilities that a votary of +voluptuousness is a most unpromising subject for reformatory efforts. +The old adage that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure is +strikingly exemplified in this case. The remedy must be applied before +the depths have been reached. It was well said by a celebrated physician +to a young man beginning a life of vice, "You are entering upon a career +from which you will never turn back." + +Early Training.--The remedy, to be effective, must be applied early, +the earlier the better. Lessons on chastity may be given in early +infancy. The remedy may be applied even further back than this; children +must be virtuously generated. The bearing of this point will be fully +appreciated in connection with the principles established in the +preceding pages of this work, and which have already been sufficiently +elucidated. + +Children should be early taught to reverence virtue, to abhor lust; +and boys should be so trained that they will associate with the name +of woman only pure, chaste, and noble thoughts. Few things are more +deeply injurious to the character of woman, and more conducive to the +production of foul imaginations in children, than the free discussion +of such subjects as the "Beecher scandal" and like topics. The +inquisitive minds and lively imaginations of childhood penetrate the +rotten mysteries of such foul subjects at a much earlier age than many +persons imagine. The inquiring minds of children will be occupied in +some way, and it is of the utmost importance that they should be early +filled with thoughts that will lead them to noble and pure actions. + +Teach Self-Control.--One important part of early training is the +cultivation of self-control, and a habit of self-denial, whenever right +demands it. Another most essential part of a child's moral training +is the cultivation of right motives. To present a child no higher +motives for doing right than the hope of securing some pleasant reward, +or the fear of suffering some terrible punishment, is the surest way +to make of him a supremely selfish man, with no higher aim than to secure +good to himself, no matter what may become of other people. And if he +can convince himself that the pleasure he will secure by the commission +of a certain act will more than counterbalance the probable risk of +suffering, he will not hesitate to commit it, leaving wholly out of +the consideration the question, Is it right? or noble? or pure? A love +of right for its own sake is the only solid basis upon which to build +a moral character. Children should not be taught to do right in order +to avoid a whipping, or imprisonment in a dark closet,--a horrid kind +of punishment sometimes resorted to,--or even to escape "the lake of +fire and brimstone." Neither should they be constantly coaxed to +right-doing by promised rewards,--a new toy, a book, an excursion, nor +even the pleasures of Heaven. All of these incentives are selfish, and +invariably narrow the character and belittle life when made the _chief_ +motives of action. But rather begin at the earliest possible moment +to instill into the mind a love for right, and truth, and purity, and +virtue, and an abhorrence for their contraries; then will he have a +worthy principle by which to square his life; then will he be safe from +the assaults of passion, of vice, of lust. A mind so trained stands +upon an eminence from which all evil men and devils combined cannot +displace it so long as it adheres to its noble principles. + +Mental Culture.--The cultivation of the physical organization must not +be neglected. Healthful mental discipline should receive equal +attention. By healthful mental discipline is not meant that kind of +superficial "cramming" and memorizing which constitute the training +of the average school, but sound culture; a directing of the mind from +facts to underlying principles; a development of the reasoning powers +so as to bring the emotions and passions into subjection; the +acquirement of the power to concentrate the mind, one of the best +methods of cultivating self-control,--these are some of the objects +and results of sound culture of the mind. + +To supply the mind with food for pure thoughts, the child should be +early inspired with a love for nature. The perceptives should be trained, +the child taught to observe closely and accurately. The study of the +natural sciences is a most valuable means of elevating the mind above +grossness and sensuality. To be successful in this direction, parents +must cultivate a love for the same objects themselves. Take the little +ones into the country, if they are not so fortunate as to live there, +and in the midst of nature's glories, point their impressible minds +upward to the Author of all the surrounding loveliness. Gather flowers +and leaves and call attention to the peculiarities and special beauties +of each, and thus arouse curiosity and cultivate habits of close +observation and attention. + +Early Associations.--As children grow older, watch their associations. +Warn them of evil influences and evil practices. Make home so attractive +that they will enjoy it better than any other place. Cultivate music; +its mellowing, harmonizing, refining influence is too great to be +prudently withheld. Children naturally love music; and if they cannot +hear it at home, they will go where they can hear it. Supply attractive +books of natural history, travels, interesting and instructive +biographies, and almost any other books but love-sick novels, and +sentimental religious story-books. Guard against bad books and bad +associates as carefully as though they were deadly serpents, for they +are, indeed, the artful emissaries of the "old serpent" himself. A taste +once formed for reading light literature destroys the relish for solid +reading; and usually the taste, once lost, is never regained. The +fascination of bad companionship once formed around a person is broken +with the greatest difficulty. Hence the necessity for watching for the +very beginnings of evil and promptly checking them. + +The mind should be thus fortified against the trifles and follies of +fashionable life. It should be elevated into a sphere far above that +occupied by those who pass their time in fashionable drawing-rooms in +silly twaddle, with thrumming a piano, with listless day-dreaming, or +in the gratification of perverted tastes and depraved instincts in any +other of the ways common to fashionable life. + + + + +SOLITARY VICE. + + +If illicit commerce of the sexes is a heinous sin, self-pollution, or +masturbation, is a crime doubly abominable. As a sin against nature, +it has no parallel except in sodomy (see Gen. 19:5, Judges 19:22). It +is the most dangerous of all sexual abuses, because the most extensively +practiced. The vice consists in any excitement of the genital organs +produced otherwise than in the natural way. It is known by the terms, +self-pollution, self-abuse, masturbation, onanism, manustupration, +voluntary pollution, solitary or secret vice, and other names +sufficiently explanatory. The vice is the more extensive because there +are no bounds to its indulgence. Its frequent repetition fastens it +upon the victim with a fascination almost irresistible. It may be begun +in earliest infancy, and may continue through life. + +Even though no warning may have been given, the transgressor seems to +know, instinctively, that he is committing a great wrong, for he +carefully hides his practice from observation. In solitude he pollutes +himself, and with his own hand blights all his prospects for both this +world and the next. Even after being solemnly warned, he will often +continue this worse than beastly practice, deliberately forfeiting his +right to health and happiness for a moment's mad sensuality. + +Alarming Prevalence of the Vice.--The habit is by no means confined +to boys; girls also indulge in it, though, it is to be hoped, to a less +fearful extent than boys, at least in this country. A Russian physician, +quoted by an eminent medical professor in New York, states that the +habit is universal among girls in Russia. It seems impossible that such +a statement should be credible; and yet we have not seen it contradicted. +It is more than probable that the practice is far more nearly universal +everywhere than even medical men are willing to admit. Many young men +who have been addicted to the vice, have, in their confessions, declared +that they found it universal in the schools in which they learned the +practice. + +Dr. Gardner speaks of it as "the secret cause of much that is perverting +the energies and demoralizing the minds of many of our fairest and +best." He further says:-- + +"Much of the worthlessness, lassitude, and physical and mental +feebleness attributable to the modern woman are to be ascribed to these +habits as their initial cause." "Foreigners are especially struck with +this fact as the cause of much of the physical disease of our young +women. They recognize it in the physique, in the sodden, colorless +countenance, the lack-luster eye, in the dreamy indolence, the general +carriage, the constant demeanor indicative of distrust, mingled +boldness and timidity, and a series of anomalous combinations which +mark this genus of physical and moral decay." + +The extent to which the vice is practiced by an individual is in some +cases appalling. Three or four repetitions of the act daily are not +uncommon; and the following from Dr. Copland is evidence of much deeper +depravity:-- + +"There can be no doubt that the individual who has once devoted himself +to this moloch of the species becomes but too frequently its slave to +an almost incredible degree. A patient who was sent to London for my +advice confessed that he had practiced this vice seven or eight times +daily from the age of thirteen until twenty-four; and he was then +reduced to the lowest state of mental weakness, associated with various +bodily infirmities; indeed, both mental power and physical existence +were nearly extinguished." + +Testimony of Eminent Authors.--Says a medical writer, "In my opinion, +neither the plague, nor war, nor small-pox, nor similar diseases, have +produced results so disastrous to humanity as the pernicious habit of +onanism; it is the destroying element of civilized societies, which +is constantly in action, and gradually undermines the health of +a nation." + +"The sin of self-pollution, which is generally considered to be that +of Onan, is one of the most destructive evils ever practiced by fallen +man. In many respects it is several degrees worse than common whoredom, +and has in its train more awful consequences, though practiced by +numbers who would shudder at the thought of criminal connection with +a prostitute."[46] + +[Footnote 46: Dr. Adam Clarke.] + +"However revolting to the feelings it may be to enter upon such a subject, +it cannot be passed over in silence without a great violation of duty. +Unhappily, it has not been hitherto exhibited in the awful light in +which it deserves to be shown. _The worst of it is that it is seldom +suspected._ There are many pale faces and languid and nervous feelings +attributed to other causes, when all the mischief lies here."[47] + +[Footnote 47: Sir W. C. Ellis.] + +We scarcely need add further evidence of the fearful extent of this +evil, but will conclude with the following:-- + +"The pernicious and debasing practice of masturbation is a more common +and extensive evil with youth of both sexes than is usually supposed." +"A great number of the evils which come upon the youth at and after +the age of puberty, arise from masturbation, persisted in, so as to +waste the vital energies and enervate the physical and mental powers +of man." "Many of the weaknesses commonly attributed to growth and the +changes in the habit by the important transformation from adolescence +to manhood, are justly referable to this practice."[48] + +[Footnote 48: Boston Medical and Surgical Journal.] + +Not a Modern Vice.--That this vice is not entirely a modern one is proved +by the fact that in many ancient writings directions are given for +treating its effects. Even Moses seems to have recognized disorders +of this class. Hippocrates and others devoted considerable attention +to them. + +Victims of all Ages.--The ages at which the habit may be practiced +include almost the whole extent of human life. We have seen it in infants +of only three or four years, and in old men scarcely less than sixty, +in both extremes marked by the most unmistakable and lamentable +consequences. Cases have been noted in which the practice was begun +as early as two years of age. It is common among African boys at nine +and ten years of age, according to Dr. Copland. + +Unsuspected Rottenness.--Parents who have no suspicion of the evil, +who think their children the embodiment of purity, will find by careful +observation and inquiry,--though personal testimony cannot be relied +upon,--that in numerous instances their supposed virtuous children are +old in corruption. Such a revelation has brought dismay into many a +family, only too late in some cases. + +Not long since a case came under our care which well illustrates the +apathy and blindness of parents with respect to this subject. The +parents of a young man whose mind seemed to be somewhat disordered, +sent word to us through a friend respecting his condition, asking advice. +We suspected from the symptoms described the real cause of the disease, +and urged prompt attention to the case. In a short time the young man +was placed under our immediate care without encouragement of a cure, +and we gave the case still closer study. The characteristic symptoms +of disease from self-abuse were marked, but the father was positive +that no influence of that kind could have been at work. He had watched +his son narrowly from infancy, and did not believe it possible for him +to have been guilty. In addition, the young man had long been remarkable +for his piety, and he did not believe there could be any possibility +of his being guilty of so gross a crime. + +A short time sufficed, however, to secure the indisputable evidence +of the fact by his being caught in the act by his nurse. + +This young man was a sad example of what havoc is made with the "human +form divine" by this debasing vice. Once a bright boy, kind, +affectionate, active, intelligent, the pride of a loving mother and +the hope of a doting father, his mind had sunken to driveling idiocy. +His vacant stare and expressionless countenance betokened almost +complete imbecility. If allowed to do so, he would remain for hours +in whatever position his last movement left him. If his hand was raised, +it remained extended until placed in a position of rest by his attendant. +Only with the utmost difficulty could he be made to rise in the morning, +to eat, drink, or walk. Only by great efforts could he be aroused from +his lethargy sufficiently to answer the most simple question. The +instinctive demands of decency in regarding the calls of nature were +not respected. In short, the distinguishing characteristics of a human +being were almost wholly obliterated, leaving but a physical semblance +of humanity; a mind completely wrecked, a body undergoing dissolution +while yet alive, a blasted life, no hope for this world, no prospect +for the next. In the insane asylums of the country may be seen hundreds +of these poor victims in all stages of physical and mental +demoralization. + +Causes of the Habit.--It is needless to recapitulate all the causes +of unchastity which have previously been quite fully dwelt upon, nearly +all of which are predisposing or exciting causes of solitary as well +as of social vice. Sexual precocity, idleness, pernicious literature, +abnormal sexual passions, exciting and irritating food, gluttony, +sedentary employment, libidinous pictures, and many abnormal +conditions of life, are potent causes in exciting the vile practice; +but by far the most frequent causes are evil associations, wicked or +ignorant nurses, and local disease, or abnormality. These latter we +will consider more particularly, as they have not been so fully dwelt +upon elsewhere. + +Evil Associations.--A child may have been reared with the greatest care. +From infancy he may have been carefully shielded from all pernicious +influences, so that at the age of ten or twelve, when he is for the +first time sent away to school, he may be free from vice; but when he +associates with his fellow-students, he soon finds them practicing a +habit new to him, and being unwarned, he speedily follows their filthy +example and quickly becomes fascinated with the vice. Thousands have +taken their first lessons in this debasing habit at school. Teachers +and scholars testify that it is often practiced even in school hours, +almost under the teacher's eyes; but where the infection most quickly +spreads is in the sleeping apartments, where more than one occupy the +same bed, or where several sleep in the same room. + +Nothing is more indispensable to purity of body and of morals than a +private sleeping room and single bed for each student. Such an +arrangement would protect the youth from the reception of much evil, +and would allow an opportunity for privacy which every young man or +youth needs for his spiritual as well as physical benefit. Not the least +benefit of the latter class is the opportunity for a thorough cleansing +of the whole body every morning, which is almost as indispensable to +purity of morals as cleanliness of body. The same suggestion is fully +as applicable to the sleeping arrangements of girls. The exceptional +cases in which this plan would not be the best are very few indeed. + +Corruption in Schools.--Says Dr. Acton, "I cannot venture to print the +accounts patients have given me of what they have seen or even been +drawn into at schools. I would fain hope that such abominations are +things of the past." The entrance of a single corrupt boy into a school +which may have been previously pure--though such schools must be +extremely rare--will speedily corrupt almost the entire membership. +The evil infection spreads more rapidly than the contagion of small-pox +or yellow fever, and it is scarcely less fatal. + +This danger exists not in public or city schools alone, but in the most +select and private schools. A father who had kept his two sons under +the care of a private governess for several years, and then placed them +in a small school taught by a lady, and composed of a few small children +from the most select families, was greatly astonished when informed +by a physician that his sons showed symptoms of the effects of +self-abuse. He was totally incredulous; but an investigation showed +that they had already practiced the vile habit for several years, having +learned it of an infantile school-mate. + +We were acquainted with one instance in which a primary school in a +secluded and select community was nearly broken up by the introduction +of this vile habit through a corrupt student. Many a watchful teacher +has seen the light of growing intelligence suddenly dim and wane in +the eye of his favorite student just when he was giving the most promise +of developing unusual talents in literature, mathematics, or some one +of the natural or physical sciences, and has been compelled to watch +the devastating influence of this deadly upas tree that often claims +the best and fairest human flowers as its victims. + +Wicked Nurses.--In those cases in which the habit is acquired at a very +early age, the work of evil is usually wrought by the nurse, perhaps +through ignorance of the effects of the habit. Incredible as it seems, +it is proved by numerous instances that it is not an uncommon habit +for nurses to quiet small children by handling or titillating their +genital organs. They find this a speedy means of quieting them, and +resort to it regardless or ignorant of the consequences. + +Not an Uncommon Case.--Prof. Lusk, of Bellevue Hospital College, New +York, related to his medical class in our hearing a case which came +under his observation in which all of the children in a large family +had been taught the habit by a wicked nurse for the purpose of keeping +them quiet after they were put to bed. The vileness that would lead +a person to thus rob childhood of its innocence, and blast its prospects +for this life and the next, is base enough for the commission of almost +any crime. Indeed, the crime could hardly have been a worse one had +the nurse referred to in the above case in cold blood cut the throats +of those innocent children; perhaps it might have been better for the +children. + +A gentleman once declared that if he should detect a person teaching +this crime to his child he would shoot him on the spot; and if homicide +is allowable under any circumstances, it seems to us it would be +extenuated by such an aggravation. If occasional bad associations will +work an immense damage to the youthful character, what terrible injury +may be wrought by an agent of sin, an instructor in vice, who is within +the household, who presides in the nursery, and exerts a constant +influence! No one can estimate it. + +Acton remarks on this point, "I need hardly point out how very dangerous +this is. There seems hardly any limit to the age at which a young child +can be initiated into these abominations, or to the depth of degradation +to which it may fall under such hideous teaching. Books treating of +this subject are unfortunately too full of accounts of the habits of +such children." + +In not a few instances the "hired man" has been the means of +communicating to innocent little boys the infamous knowledge which, +fortunately, they had not acquired in babyhood. With no knowledge of +the evil they are committing, they begin the work of physical damnation +which makes a hell of life and leads to endless death. + +The "hired girl" is often an equally efficient agent for evil in the +instruction of little girls in this debasing vice. Some time ago, the +very intelligent parents of a bright family of children were awakened +to the importance of this subject from the perusal of the first edition +of this work, and upon investigation were horrified to find that their +oldest child a promising daughter of ten, was already a victim to the +vile practice, having been initiated by a "hired girl." After using +in vain every means he could bring to bear upon the case, the father +brought her to us, and with tears in his eyes gave his story. After +telling of his unsuccessful attempts to effect a reform, he declared +that he would far prefer to place his daughter in the grave than to +see her grow up a wretched victim of this vice. We were most happy to +be able, after a few weeks' treatment, to restore her to her parents, +as we hope, permanently reformed. Not a few such cases are constantly +coming to the attention of the medical profession. + +The Instructor in Vice.--Are these lines perused by any one who has +ever taught another this vice so vile, and so certainly followed by +penalties so terrible--penalties not upon the instigator but upon the +hapless victim? let such a person clothe himself in sackcloth and ashes, +and do penance for the remainder of his life. The only way in which +he can hope to atone even in some small degree for such a heinous crime, +is by doing all in his power to warn those in danger against this sin. +When all men receive their just deserts, what will be the punishment +of such a one who has not, by thorough repentance and a life spent in +trying to undo the work of ruin so foully wrought, in some measure +disburdened himself of the consequences of his act! + +Sending children very early to bed before they are weary, "to get them +out of the way," or for punishment, is a grave error, as this may give +rise to the vice. Confining children alone in a room by themselves is +an equally reprehensible practice, as it favors the commission of the +act, at least, and may afford a favorable opportunity for its discovery. +Allowing children to form a habit of seeking solitude is an evil of +the same nature. + +Local Disease.--In the male, a tight or long foreskin is a frequent +cause of the habit. The constant contact of the prepuce with the most +sensitive part of the organ increases its sensibility. The secretion +is retained, and accumulates, often becoming hardened. In this manner +irritation is set up, which occasions uncomfortable feelings, and +attracts the hands to the part. Owing to the great degree of excitement +due to irritation, but a slight provocation is necessary to arouse +voluptuous sensations, and then the terrible secret is revealed. The +child readily discovers how to reproduce the same, and is not slow to +commit a frequent repetition of the act; and thus the habit is formed. + +An Illustrative Case.--A case in which the vice originated in this +manner was recently under our observation. The patient was a man of +considerable intellectual power and some culture, but showed +unmistakable signs of his early indiscretion. He stated that although +he mingled quite freely with other boys of his age, he obtained no +knowledge of the habit from others. He often heard allusions which he +did not understand, and of which he did not, fortunately, discover the +meaning. But he was afflicted with congenital _phimosis_, the prepuce +being so tight that retraction was impossible. This, together with +urinal irritation,--which occasioned nocturnal incontinence of +urine,--constipation, and highly seasoned food, produced so much local +irritation as to occasion frequent erections, and an increased +secretion. He soon noticed that there was an accumulation of hardened +secretion beneath the foreskin, and in attempting to remove this, he +accidentally provoked voluptuous sensations. He speedily abandoned +himself to the habit, often repeating it several times a day. Beginning +at the age of twelve years, he continued it for three or four years. + +Soon after acquiring the habit, he became aware of its tendencies, +through reading books upon the subject, but he found himself so +completely enslaved that abstinence seemed impossible. One resolution +to reform after another was formed, only to be speedily broken. His +unwholesome diet, habitual constipation, and especially the +unfortunate organic difficulty in his genital organs, produced an +almost constant priapism, which was only relieved, and then but +temporarily, by the act of pollution. His sedentary habits increased +the difficulty to an extreme degree. + +In the meantime, his constitution, naturally weak, was being gradually +undermined. He suffered from constant headache, heart-burn, pains in +the back and limbs, weakness, and lassitude. Yet he attributed none +of these ailments to the true cause. After the lapse of three or four +years thus spent, and after repeated ineffectual attempts, by a +powerful effort of the will, by the aid of prayer, and by adopting a +more wholesome diet, he succeeded in getting the mastery of his vice. +But the local difficulties still continued in a great degree, and under +particularly aggravating circumstances occasioned a relapse at long +intervals. After a time, the local difficulties grew less and less, +and enabled him to gain a complete victory over the habit, though the +results of previous sin still remained, for which he desired treatment. + +This case will serve as a fair illustration of many of similar character, +in which the child accidentally makes the discovery which leads him +to work his own ruin. + +Other Physical Causes.--Constipation, piles, irritable bladder, +fissure of the anus, local uncleanliness, and pruritis of the genital +organs, will produce the habit in both males and females in the manner +described. Sleeping on feather beds increases the local congestion, +and thus favors the exciting influences of any of the above-named causes. +It may, perhaps, itself be the exciting cause. + +We once treated a patient who was affected with stone in the bladder, +and who asserted that the constant irritation which he suffered in the +end of the penis was only relieved by friction. This might readily be +the cause of masturbation, though in this case the vice had been +acquired many years before, and was still continued in spite of all +efforts to reform. + +Lying upon the back or upon the abdomen frequently leads to self-abuse +by provoking sexual excitement. Certain kinds of exercises, as climbing, +in particular, have been attended by the same results. It is said that +children sometimes experience genital excitement amounting to pleasure +as the result of whipping. + +Influence of Stimulants.--The use of stimulants of any kind is a +fruitful cause of the vice. Tea and coffee have led thousands to +perdition in this way. The influence of tobacco is so strongly shown +in this direction that it is doubtful if there can be found a boy who +has attained the age of puberty and has acquired the habit of using +tobacco, who is not also addicted to this vile practice. Candies, spices, +cinnamon, cloves, peppermint, and all strong essences, powerfully +excite the genital organs and lead to the same result. + +It should be further added that there is evidence that a powerful +predisposition to this vice is transmitted to the children of those +who have themselves been guilty of it. + +Signs of Self-Abuse.--The net which this vice weaves around its victims +is so strong, and its meshes are so elaborately interwoven with all +his thoughts, his habits, and his very being, when it has been long +indulged, that it is important to be able to detect it when first +acquired, as it may then be much more easily overcome than at any +subsequent period. It is often no easy matter to do this, as the victim +will resort to all manner of cunning devices to hide his vice, and will +not scruple to falsify concerning it, when questioned. To be able to +accomplish this successfully, requires a careful study, first, of the +signs by which those who indulge in the practice may be known, and, +secondly, of the habits of the individuals. + +In considering the subject it will be found that there are two classes +of signs, as follows:-- + +1. Those which may arouse suspicion, but any one of which, taken singly, +would not be an evidence of the practice. + +2. Those which may be regarded as positive. Several suspicious signs +together may constitute a positive sign. Under these two heads, we will +consider the signs of this vile habit. + +It is well to bear in mind the fact that one or two suspicious signs +are not evidence of the disease. It is likewise well to remember that +the habit may be found where least looked for, and where one would have +a right to expect perfect purity. Prejudice must be allowed no voice +upon either side. A writer has said that every young person under +puberty ought to be suspected of the disease. We can hardly indorse +this remark, in full, but it would be at least wise for every guardian +of children to criticize most carefully their habits and to quickly +detect the first indications of sinful practices. Parents must not +think that _their_ children, at least, are too good to engage in such +sinful abuses. It is most probable that their children are very like +those of their neighbors; and any amount of natural goodness is not +a protection against this insidious vice when it presents itself as +a harmless pleasure to the unwarned and ignorant child. + +Suspicious Signs.--The following symptoms, occurring in the mental and +physical character and habits of a child or young person, may well give +rise to grave suspicions of evil, and should cause parents or guardians +to be on the alert to root it out if possible:-- + +1. _General debility_, coming upon a previously healthy child, marked +by emaciation, weakness, an unnatural paleness, colorless lips and gums, +and the general symptoms of exhaustion, when it cannot be traced to +any other legitimate cause, as internal disease, worms, grief, overwork, +poor air or poor food, and when it is not speedily removed by change +of air or appropriate remedial measures, may safely be attributed to +solitary vice, no matter how far above natural suspicion the individual +may be. Mistakes will be rare indeed when such a judgment is pronounced +under the circumstances named. + +2. _Early symptoms of consumption_--or what are supposed to be such--as +cough, and decrease in flesh, with short breathing and soreness of the +lungs--or muscles of the chest--are not infrequently, solely the result +of this vice. That such is the case may be considered pretty surely +determined if physical examination of the lungs reveals no organic +disease of those organs. But it should be remembered that solitary vice +is one of the most frequent causes of early consumption. Several cases +which strikingly prove this have fallen under our own observation. + +3. _Premature and defective development_ is a symptom closely allied +to the two preceding. When it cannot be traced to such natural causes +as overstudy, overwork, lack of exercise, and other influences of a +similar nature, it should be charged to self-abuse. The early exercise +of the genital organs hastens the attainment of puberty, in many cases, +especially when the habit is acquired early, but at the same time saps +the vital energies so that the system is unable to manifest that +increased energy in growth and development which usually occurs at this +period. In consequence, the body remains small, or does not attain that +development which it otherwise would. The mind is dwarfed as well as +the body. Sometimes the mind suffers more than the body in lack of +development, and sometimes the reverse is true. This defective +development is shown, in the physical organization of males, in the +failure of the voice to increase in volume and depth of tone as it +should; in deficient growth of the beard; in failure of the chest to +become full and the shoulders broad. The mind and character show the +dwarfing influence by failure to develop those qualities which +especially distinguish a noble manhood. In the female, defective +development is shown by menstrual derangements, by defective growth +either in stature, or as shown in unnatural slimness, and in a failure +to develop the graces and pleasing character which should distinguish +early womanhood. Such signs deserve careful investigation, for they +can only result from some powerfully blighting influence. + +4. _Sudden change in disposition_ is a sign which may well arouse +suspicion. If a boy who has previously been cheerful, pleasant, dutiful, +and gentle, suddenly becomes morose, cross, peevish, irritable, and +disobedient, be sure that some foul influence is at work with him. When +a girl, naturally joyous, happy, confiding, and amiable, becomes +unaccountably gloomy, sad, fretful, dissatisfied, and unconfiding, be +certain that a blight of no insignificant character is resting upon +her. Make a careful study of the habits of such children; and if there +is no sudden illness to account for the change in their character, it +need not require long deliberation to arrive at the true cause, for +it will rarely be found to be anything other than solitary indulgence. + +5. _Lassitude_ is as unnatural for a child as for a young kitten. A +healthy child will be active, playful, full of life and animal spirits. +If a young child manifests indisposition to activity, a dislike for +play, lifelessness and languor, suspect his habits, if there is no other +reasonable cause to which to attribute his unnatural want of childish +sprightliness. + +6. In connection with the preceding symptom will generally be found, +instead of that natural brilliance of expression in the eyes and +countenance, an unnatural dullness and vacantness altogether foreign +to childhood. This is a just ground for suspicion. + +7. _Sleeplessness_ is another symptom of significance. Sound sleep is +natural for childhood; and if sleeplessness be not occasioned by +dietetic errors, as eating indigestible food, eating between meals, +or eating late suppers, it may justly be a cause for suspicion of evil +habits. + +8. _Failure of mental capacity_ without apparent cause should occasion +suspicion of evil practices. When a child who has previously learned +readily, mastered his lessons easily, and possessed a retentive memory, +shows a manifest decline in these directions, fails to get his lessons, +becomes stupid, forgetful, and inattentive, he has probably become the +victim of a terrible vice, and is on the road to speedy mental as well +as physical ruin. Watch him. + +9. _Fickleness_ is another evidence of the working of some +deteriorating influence, for only a weak mind is fickle. + +10. _Untrustworthiness_ appearing in a child should attract attention +to his habits. If he has suddenly become heedless, listless, and +forgetful, so that he cannot be depended upon, though previously not +so, lay the blame upon solitary indulgence. This vice has a wonderful +influence in developing untruthfulness. A child previously honest, +under its baneful influence will soon become an inveterate liar. + +11. _Love of solitude_ is a very suspicious sign. Children are naturally +sociable, almost without exception. They have a natural dread of being +alone. When a child habitually seeks seclusion without a sufficient +cause, there are good grounds for suspecting him of sinful habits. The +barn, the garret, the water-closet, and sometimes secluded places in +the woods, are the favorite resorts of masturbators. They should be +carefully followed and watched, unobserved. + +12. _Bashfulness_ is not infrequently dependent upon this cause. It +would be far from right to say that every person who is excessively +modest or timid is a masturbator; but there is a certain timorousness +which seems to arise from a sense of shame or fear of discovery that +many victims of this vice exhibit, and which may be distinguished from +natural modesty by a little experience. One very common mode of +manifestation of this timidity is the inability to look a superior, +or any person who is esteemed pure, in the eye. If spoken to, instead +of looking directly at the person to whom he addresses an answer, the +masturbator looks to one side, or lets his eyes fall upon the ground, +seemingly conscious that the eye is a wonderful tell-tale of the secrets +of the mind. + +13. _Unnatural boldness_, in marked contrast with the preceding sign, +is manifested by a certain class of victims. It can be as easily +distinguished, however, as unnatural timidity. The individual seems +to have not the slightest appreciation of propriety. He commits openly +the most uncouth acts, if he does not manifest the most indecent +unchastity of manner. When spoken to, he stares rudely at the person +addressing him, often with a very unpleasant leer upon his countenance. +In some few cases there seems to be a curious combination of conditions. +While mentally fearful, timid, and hesitating, the individual finds +himself, upon addressing a person, staring at him in the most ungainly +manner. He is conscious of his ill manners, but is powerless to control +himself. This sign is one which could hardly be of use to any except +a very close observer, however, as few can read upon the countenance +the operations of the mind. + +14. _Mock piety_--or perhaps we should more properly designate it as +mistaken piety--is another peculiar manifestation of the effects of +this vicious practice. The victim is observed to become transformed, +by degrees, from a romping, laughing child, full of hilarity and frolic, +to a sober and very sedate little--Christian, the friends think, and +they are highly gratified with the piety of the child. Little do they +suspect the real cause of the solemn face; not the slightest suspicion +have they of the foul orgies practiced by the little sinner. By the +aid of friends he may soon add hypocrisy to his other crimes, and find +in assumed devotion a ready pretense for seeking solitude. Parents will +do well to investigate the origin of this kind of religion in their +children. + +15. _Easily frightened_ children are abundant among young masturbators, +though all easily frightened persons are not vicious. It is certain, +however, that the vice greatly exaggerates natural fear, and creates +an unnatural apprehensiveness. The victim's mind is constantly filled +with vague forebodings of evil. He often looks behind him, looks into +all the closets, peeps under the bed, and is constantly expressing fears +of impending evil. Such movements are the result of a diseased +imagination, and they may justly give rise to suspicion. + +16. _Confusion of ideas_ is another characteristic of the devotee of +this artful vice. If he attempts to argue, his points are not clearly +made. He may be superficially quick and cute, but is incapable of deep +thought, or abstruse reasoning; is often very dull of apprehension. +Ideas are not presented in logical order, but seem to fall out +promiscuously, and fairly represent the condition of a disordered brain. +Attempts at joking are generally failures, as the jest is sure to be +inappropriate or vulgar, and no one but himself sees any occasion for +laughter except at his stupidity. Such individuals are not scarce. + +17. Boys in whom the habit has become well developed sometimes manifest +a decided aversion to the society of girls; but this is not nearly so +often the case as some authors seem to indicate. It would rather appear +that the opposite is more often true. Girls usually show an increasing +fondness for the society of boys, and are very prone to exhibit marked +evidences of real wantonness. + +18. _Round shoulders_ and a stooping posture in sitting are +characteristics of young masturbators of both sexes. Whenever a child +seats himself, the head and shoulders droop forward, giving to the spine +a curved appearance. + +19. _Weak backs, pains in the limbs, and stiffness of the joints_, in +children, are familiar signs of the habit. To the first of these +conditions is due the habitual stooping posture assumed by these +children. The habit referred to is not the only cause of these +conditions, but its causative occurrence is sufficiently frequent to +give it no small importance as a suspicious indication. + +20. _Paralysis_ of the lower extremities, coming on without apparent +cause, is not infrequently the result of solitary indulgence, even in +very small children. We have seen several cases in which this condition +was traced to the habit of masturbation, in children under six years +of age. + +21. The _gait_ of a person addicted to this vice will usually betray +him to one who has learned to distinguish the peculiarities which almost +always mark the walk of such persons. In a child, a dragging, shuffling +walk is to be suspected. Boys, in walking rapidly, show none of that +elasticity which characterizes a natural gait, but walk as if they had +been stiffened in the hips, and as though their legs were pegs attached +to the body by hinges. The girl wriggles along in a style quite as +characteristic, though more difficult to detect with certainty, as +females are often so "affected" in their walk. Unsteadiness of gait +is an evidence seen in both sexes, especially in advanced cases. + +22. _Bad positions_ in bed are evidences which should be noticed. If +a child lies constantly upon its abdomen, or is often found with its +hands about the genitals, it may be at least considered in a fair way +to acquire the habit if it has not already done so. + +23. _Lack of development of the breasts_ in females, after puberty, +is a common result of self-pollution. Still it would be entirely unsafe +to say that every female with small mammary glands had been addicted +to this vice, especially at the present time when a fair natural +development is often destroyed by the constant pressure and heat of +"pads." But this sign may well be given a due bearing. + +24. _Capricious appetite_ particularly characterizes children +addicted to secret vice. At the commencement of the practice, they +almost invariably manifest great voracity for food, gorging themselves +in the most gluttonous manner. As the habit becomes fixed, digestion +becomes impaired, and the appetite is sometimes almost wanting, and +at other times almost unappeasable. + +25. One very constant peculiarity of such children is their extreme +fondness for unnatural, hurtful, and irritating articles. Nearly all +are greatly attached to salt, pepper, spices, cinnamon, cloves, vinegar, +mustard, horse-radish, and similar articles, and use them in most +inordinate quantities. A boy or girl who is constantly eating cloves +or cinnamon, or who will eat salt in quantities without other food, +gives good occasion for suspicion. + +26. _Eating clay, slate-pencils, plaster, chalk,_ and other +indigestible articles is a practice to which girls who abuse themselves +are especially addicted. The habit sometimes becomes developed to such +a wonderful extent that the victims almost rival the clay-eaters of +the Amazon in gratifying their propensity. + +27. Disgust for simple food is one of the traits which a victim of this +vice is sure to possess. He seems to loathe any food which is not +rendered hot and stimulating with spices and other condiments, and +cannot be induced to eat it. + +28. _The use of tobacco_ is good presumptive evidence that a boy is +also addicted to a practice still more filthy. Exceptions to this rule +are very rare indeed, if they exist, which we somewhat doubt. The same +influences which would lead a boy to the use of tobacco would also lead +him to solitary vice, and each sin would serve to exaggerate the other. + +29. _Unnatural paleness_ and colorless lips, unless they can be +otherwise accounted for, may be attributed to secret sin. The face is +a great tell-tale against this class of sinners. Justice demands, +however, that an individual should be given the benefit of a doubt so +long as there is a chance for the production of these symptoms by any +other known cause, as overwork, mental anxiety, or dyspepsia. + +30. _Acne_, or _pimples_, on the face are also among the suspicious +signs, especially when they appear upon the forehead as well as upon +other portions of the face. Occasional pimples upon the chin are very +common in both sexes at puberty and for a few years afterward, but are +without significance, except that the blood may be somewhat gross from +unwholesome diet or lack of exercise. + +31. _Biting the finger nails_ is a practice very common in girls +addicted to this vice. In such persons there will also be found, not +infrequently, slight soreness or ulceration at the roots of the nails, +and warts, one or more, upon one or both the first two fingers of the +hand--usually the right. + +32. The eyes often betray much. If, in addition to want of luster and +natural brilliancy, they are sunken, present red edges, are somewhat +sore, perhaps, and are surrounded by a dark ring, the patient, +especially if a child, should be suspected and carefully watched. It +should be observed, however, that dyspepsia, debility from any cause, +and especially loss of sleep, will produce some or all of these signs, +and no one should be accused of the vice upon the evidence of these +indications alone, neither could he be justly suspected so long as his +symptoms could be accounted for by legitimate causes. + +33. An habitually moist, cold hand, is a suspicious circumstance in +a young person who is not known to be suffering from some constitutional +disease. + +34. _Palpitation of the heart_, frequently occurring, denotes a +condition of nervous disturbance which has some powerful cause, and +which may often be found to be the vice in question. + +35. _Hysteria_ in females may be regarded as a suspicious circumstance +when frequently occurring on very slight occasions, and especially if +there is no hereditary tendency to the disease. + +36. _Chlorosis_, or _green sickness_, is very often caused by the unholy +practice under consideration. It is very commonly attributed, when +occurring in young women, to menstrual derangements; but it is only +necessary to remember that these menstrual irregularities are in many +cases the result of the same habit, as has been already pointed out. + +37. _Epileptic fits_ in children are not infrequently the result of +vicious habits. + +38. _Wetting the bed_ is an evidence of irritation which may be +connected with the practice; it should be looked after. + +39. _Unchastity of speech_ and fondness for obscene stories betray a +condition of mind which does not exist in youth who are not addicted +to this vice. + +As previously remarked, no single one of the above signs should be +considered as conclusive evidence of the habit in any individual; but +any one of them may, and should, arouse suspicion and watchfulness. +If the habit really exists, but a short time will elapse before other +signs will be noticed, and when several point in the same direction, +the evidence may be considered nearly, if not quite, conclusive. But +persistent watching will enable the positive signs to be detected +sooner or later, and then there can no longer be doubt. It is, of course, +necessary to give the individual no suspicion that he is being watched, +as that would put him so effectually on his guard as, possibly, to defy +detection. + +Positive Signs.--The absolutely positive signs of solitary vice are +very few. Of course the most certainly positive of all is detection +in the act. Sometimes this is difficult, with such consummate cunning +do the devotees of this Moloch pursue their debasing practice. If a +child is noticed to seek a certain secluded spot with considerable +regularity, he should be carefully followed and secretly watched, for +several days in succession if need be. Many children pursue the practice +at night after retiring. If the suspected one is observed to become +very quickly quiet after retiring, and when looked at appears to be +asleep, the bedclothes should be quickly thrown off under some pretense. +If, in the case of a boy, the penis is found in a state of erection, +with the hands near the genitals, he may certainly be treated as a +masturbator without any error. If he is found in a state of excitement, +in connection with the other evidences, with a quickened circulation +as indicated by the pulse, or in a state of perspiration, his guilt +is certain, even though he may pretend to be asleep; no doubt he has +been addicted to the vice for a considerable time to have acquired so +much cunning. If the same course is pursued with girls, under the same +circumstances, the clitoris will be found congested, with the other +genital organs, which will also be moist from increased secretion. +Other conditions will be as nearly as possible the same as those in +the boy. + +Stains upon the night shirt or sheets, occurring before puberty, are +certain evidences of the vice in boys, as they are subject, before that +time, to no discharge which will leave a stain resembling that from +the seminal fluid, except the rare one from piles. In the very young, +these stains do not occur; but when the habit is acquired before puberty, +a discharge resembling semen takes place before the ordinary period. +Of course, the stains from urine will be easily distinguished from +others. The frequent occurrence of such stains after puberty is a +suspicious circumstance. A discharge in some respects similar may occur +in girls. + +Before puberty, the effect of the vice upon the genital organs is to +cause an unnatural development, in both sexes, of the sensitive +portions. When this is marked, it is pretty conclusive evidence of the +vice. In girls, the vagina often becomes unnaturally enlarged, and +leucorrhoea is often present. After puberty, the organs usually +diminish in size, and become unnaturally lax and shrunken. + +All of these signs should be thoroughly mastered by those who have +children under their care, and if not continually watching for them, +which would be an unpleasant task, such should be on the alert to detect +the signs at once when they appear, and then carefully seek for others +until there is no longer any doubt about the case. + + +RESULTS OF SECRET VICE. + +The physician rarely meets more forlorn objects than the victims of +prolonged self-abuse. These unfortunate beings he meets every day of +his life, and listens so often to the same story of shameful abuse and +retributive suffering that he dreads to hear it repeated. In these cases, +there is usually a horrid sameness--the same cause, the same inevitable +results. In most cases, the patient need not utter a word, for the +physician can read in his countenance his whole history, as can most +other people at all conversant with the subject. + +In order to secure the greatest completeness consistent with necessary +brevity, we will describe the effects observed in males and those in +females under separate heads, noticing the symptoms of each morbid +condition in connection with its description. + + +EFFECTS IN MALES. + +We shall describe, first, the local effects, then the general effects, +physical and mental. + +Local Effects.--Excitement of the genital organs produces the most +intense congestion. No other organs in the body are capable of such +rapid and enormous engorgement. When the act is frequently repeated, +this condition becomes permanent in some of the tissues, particularly +in the mucous membrane lining the urethra. This same membrane continues +into and lines throughout the bladder, kidneys, and all the urinary +organs, together with the vesiculae seminales, the ejaculatory ducts, +the vasa deferentia, and the testes. In consequence of this continuity +of tissue, any irritation affecting one part is liable to extend to +another, or to all the rest. We mention this anatomical fact here as +a help to the understanding of the different morbid conditions which +will be noticed. + +_Urethral Irritation_.--The chronic congestion of the urethra after +a time becomes chronic irritability. The tissue is unusually sensitive, +this condition being often indicated by a slight smarting in urination. +It often extends throughout the whole length of the urethra, and becomes +so intense that the passage of a sound, which would occasion little +if any sensation in a healthy organ, produces the most acute pain, as +we have observed in numerous instances, even when the greatest care +was used in the introduction of the instrument. + +Shooting pains are often felt in the organ, due to this irritation. +Pain is in some cases most felt at the root, in others, at the head. +It often darts from one point to another. Just before and just after +urination the pain is most severe. + +_Stricture_.--Long-continued irritation of the mucous membrane of the +urethra produces, ultimately, inflammation and swelling of the same +in some portion of its extent. This condition may become permanent, +and then constitutes real stricture, a most serious disease. More often +the swelling is but transient, being due to some unusual excess, and +will subside. Sometimes, also, a temporary stricture is produced by +spasmodic contraction of the muscular fibers surrounding the urethra, +which is excited by the local irritation. This kind of stricture is +often met in the treatment of spermatorrhoea. + +Enlarged Prostate.--This painful affection is a frequent result of the +chronic irritation in the urethra, which the gland surrounds, the +morbid action being communicated to it by its proximity. A diseased +action is set up which results in enlargement and hardening. It is felt +as a hard body just anterior to the anus, and becomes by pressure the +source of much additional mischief. Sometimes the disease progresses +to dangerous ulceration. It is attended by heat, pressure, and pain +between the anus and the root of the penis. + +Urinary Diseases.--The same congestion and irritability extend to the +bladder and thence to the kidneys, producing irritation and +inflammation of those organs. Mucus is often formed in large +quantities; sometimes much is retained in the bladder. Earthy matter +is deposited, which becomes entangled in the mucus, and thus a +concretion or stone is produced, occasioning much suffering, and +perhaps death. + +We saw, not long since, a case of this kind. The patient was nearly +sixty years of age, and had practiced masturbation from childhood. In +consequence of his vice, a chronic irritation of the urethra had been +produced, which was followed by enlargement of the prostate, then by +chronic irritation of the bladder and the formation of stone. His +sufferings were most excruciating whenever he attempted to urinate, +which was only accomplished with the greatest difficulty and suffering. + +One of the unpleasant results of irritation of the lining membrane of +the bladder is inability to retain the urine long, which requires +frequent urination and often causes incontinence of urine. + +_Priapism_.--This same morbid sensitiveness may produce priapism, or +continuous and painful erection, one of the most "terrible and +humiliating conditions," as Dr. Acton says, to which the human body +is subject. The horrid desperation of patients suffering under this +condition is almost inconceivable. It is, fortunately, rare, in its +most severe forms; but hundreds suffer from it to a most painful degree +as one of the punishments of transgression of nature's laws; and a most +terrible punishment it is. + +_Piles, Prolapsus of Rectum, etc._--As the result of the straining +caused by stricture, piles, prolapsus of the rectum, and fissure of +the anus are not infrequently induced, as the following case observed +at Charity Hospital, New York, illustrates:-- + +The patient had a peculiar deformity of the genital organs, +_hypospadias_, which prevented sexual intercourse, in consequence of +which he gave himself up to the practice of self-abuse. He had become +reduced to the most deplorable condition of both mind and body, and +presented a most woebegone countenance. In addition to his general +ailments, he suffered from extreme prolapsus of the rectum and a most +painful anal fissure. His condition was somewhat bettered by skillful +surgical treatment. + +_Extension of Irritation_.--Serious and painful as are the affections +already noticed, those which arise from the extension of the congestion +and irritation of the urethra to those other organs most intimately +connected with the function of generation are still more dreadful in +themselves, and far more serious in their consequences. The irritation +extends into the ejaculatory ducts, thence backward into the seminal +vesicles, and downward through the vasa deferentia to the testes. These +organs become unnaturally excited, and their activity is increased. +The testicles form an abnormal amount of spermatozoa; the seminal +vesicles secrete their peculiar fluid too freely. From these two +sources combined, the vesicles become loaded with seminal fluid, and +this condition gives rise to a great increase of sexual excitement. + +In cases of long standing, the irritation of the urethra at the openings +of the ejaculatory ducts, a point just in front of the bladder, advances +to inflammation and ulceration. Here is now established a permanent +source of irritation, by which the morbid activity of the testes and +seminal vesicles is kept up and continually increased. This condition +is indicated by frequent twitchings of the ejaculatory and compressor +muscles in the perineum. It is also indicated by a burning sensation +at the root of the penis after urination, which, in severe cases, +amounts to very serious pain. + +_Atrophy, or Wasting of the Testes_.--The first result of the +irritation communicated to the testes, is, as already remarked, +increased activity; but this is attended by swelling in some cases, +more or less pain, tenderness, and, after a time, diminution in size. + +This degenerative process likewise affects the seminal fluid, which +becomes more or less deteriorated and incapable of producing healthy +offspring, even while it retains the power of fecundating the ovum, +which it also ultimately loses if the disease is not checked by proper +treatment, when the individual becomes hopelessly impotent, a happy +result for the race, for it prevents the possibility of his imparting +to another being his debilitated constitution. + +_Varicocele_.--This morbid condition consists in a varicose state of +the spermatic veins. It is almost always found upon the left side, owing +to an anatomical peculiarity of the spermatic vein of that side. It +has been supposed to be a result of masturbation and its effects, but +is certainly caused otherwise in many cases. It is not infrequently +found in these patients; but Prof. Bartholow contends that even in such +cases we should "consider its presence, in general, as accidental." +Atrophy of the left testicle is often produced by the pressure of the +distended veins; but this does not produce impotence. It occasionally +occurs simultaneously on both sides, and greatly aggravates the effects +of self-abuse, if it is not itself an effect of the vice. + +Nocturnal Emissions.--Seminal emissions during sleep, usually +accompanied by erotic dreams, are known as nocturnal pollutions or +emissions, and are often called _spermatorrhoea_, though there is some +disagreement respecting the use of the latter term. Its most proper +use is when applied to the entire group of symptoms which accompany +involuntary seminal losses. + +The masturbator knows nothing of this disease so long as he continues +his vile practice; but when he resolves to reform, and ceases to defile +himself voluntarily, he is astonished and disgusted to find that the +same filthy pollutions occur during his sleep without his voluntary +participation. He now begins to see something of the ruin he has wrought. +The same nightly loss continues, sometimes being repeated several times +in a single night, to his infinite mortification and chagrin. He hopes +the difficulty will subside of itself, but his hope is vain; unless +properly treated, it will probably continue until the ruin which he +voluntarily began is completed. + +This disease is the result of sexual excesses of any kind; it is common +in married men who have abused the marriage relation, when they are +forced to temporary continence from any cause. It also occurs in those +addicted to mental unchastity, though they may be physically continent. +It is not probable that it would ever occur in a person who had been +strictly continent and had not allowed his mind to dwell upon libidinous +imaginations. + +Exciting Causes.--The exciting causes which serve to perpetuate this +difficulty are chiefly two; viz., local irritation and lewd thoughts. + +The first cause is usually chiefly located in the urethra, and +especially at the mouths of the ejaculatory ducts. Distention of the +seminal vesicles with a superabundance of seminal fluid also acts as +a source of irritation. Constipation, worms, and piles have an +irritative influence which is often very seriously felt. + +Unchaste thoughts act detrimentally in a two-fold way. They first +stimulate the activity of the testes, thus increasing the overloading +of the seminal vesicles. Lascivious thoughts during wakefulness are +the chief cause of lascivious dreams. + +Emissions do not usually occur during the soundest sleep, but during +that condition which may be characterized as dozing, which is most often +indulged in early in the morning after the soundest sleep is passed. +This fact has an important bearing upon treatment, as will be seen +hereafter. + +At first, the emissions are always accompanied by dreams, the patient +usually awaking immediately afterward; but after a time they take place +without dreams and without awaking him, and are unaccompanied by +sensation. This denotes a greatly increased gravity of the complaint. + +Certain circumstances greatly increase the frequency of the emissions, +and thus hasten the injury which they are certain to accomplish if not +checked; as, neglect to relieve the bladder and bowels at night, late +suppers, stimulating foods and drinks, and anything that will excite +the genital organs. Of all causes, amorous or erotic thoughts are the +most powerful. Tea and coffee, spices and other condiments, and animal +food have a special tendency in this direction. Certain positions in +bed also serve as exciting or predisposing causes; as sleeping upon +the back or abdomen. Feather beds and pillows and too warm covering +in bed are also injurious for the same reason. + +In frequency, emissions will vary in different persons from an +occasional one at long and irregular intervals to two or three a week, +or several--as many as four in one case we have met--in a single night. + +The immediate effect of an emission will depend somewhat upon the +frequency of occurrence and the condition of the individual. If very +infrequent, and occurring in a comparatively robust person, after the +seminal vesicles have become distended with seminal fluid, the +immediate effect of an emission may be a sensation of temporary relief. +This circumstance has led certain persons to suppose that emissions +are natural and beneficial. This point will receive attention shortly. + +If the emissions are more frequent, or if they occur in a person of +a naturally feeble constitution, the immediate effect is lassitude, +languor, indisposition and often inability to perform severe mental +or physical labor, melancholy, amounting often to despair and even +leading to suicide, and an exaggeration of local irritation, and of +all the morbid conditions to be noticed under the head of "General +Effects." Headache, indigestion, weakness of the back and knees, +disturbed circulation, dimness of vision, and loss of appetite, are +only a few of these. + +Are Occasional Emissions Necessary or Harmless?--That an individual +may suffer for years an involuntary seminal loss as frequently as once +a month without apparently suffering very great injury, seems to be +a settled fact with physicians of extensive experience, and is well +confirmed by observation; yet there are those who suffer severely from +losses no more frequent than this. But when seminal losses occur more +frequently than once a month, they will certainly ultimate in great +injury, even though immediate ill effects are not noticed, as in +exceptional cases they may not be. If argument is necessary to sustain +this position, as it hardly seems to be, we would refer to the fact +that seminal losses do not occur in those who are, and always have been, +continent both mentally and physically, when such rare individuals can +be found. They occur the most rarely in those who the most nearly +approach the standard of perfect chastity; so that whenever they occur, +they may be taken as evidence of some form of sexual excess. This fact +clearly shows that losses of this kind are not natural. + +Emission not Necessary to Health.--If it be argued that an occasional +emission is necessary to relieve the overloaded seminal vesicles, we +reply, the same argument has been used as an apology for unchastity; +but it is equally worthless in both instances. It might be as well argued +that vomiting is a necessary physiological and healthful act, and +should occur with regularity, because a person may so overload his +stomach as to make the act necessary as a remedial measure. Vomiting +is a diseased action, a pathological process, and is occasioned by the +voluntary transgression of the individual. Hence, it is as unnecessary +as gluttony, and must be wasteful of vitality, even though rendered +necessary under some circumstances. So with emissions. If a person +allows his mind to dwell upon unchaste subjects, indulges in erotic +dreams, and riots in mental lasciviousness, he may render an emission +almost necessary as a remedial effort. Nevertheless, he will suffer +from the loss of the vital fluid just the same as though he had not, +by his own concupiscence, rendered it in some degree necessary. And +as it would have been infinitely better for him to have retained and +digested food in his stomach instead of ejecting it--provided it were +wholesome food--so it would have been better for him to have retained +in his system the seminal fluid, which would have been disposed of by +the system and probably utilized to very great advantage in the repair +of certain of the tissues. + +Eminent Testimony.--An eminent English physician, Dr. Milton, who has +treated many thousands of cases of this disease, remarks in a work upon +the subject as follows:-- + +"Anything beyond one emission a month requires attention. I know this +statement has been impugned, but I am quite prepared to abide by it. +I did not put it forward till I considered I had quite sufficient +evidence in my hands to justify me in doing so." + +"An opinion prevails, as most of my readers are aware, among medical +men, that a few emissions in youth do good instead of harm. It is +difficult to understand how an unnatural evacuation can do good, except +in the case of unnatural congestion. I have, however, convinced myself +that the principle is wrong. Lads never really feel better for +emissions; they very often feel decidedly worse. Occasionally they may +fancy there is a sense of relief, but it is very much the same sort +of relief that a drunkard feels from a dram. In early life the stomach +may be repeatedly overloaded with impunity, but I suppose few would +contend that overloading was therefore good. The fact is that emissions +are invariably more or less injurious; not always visibly so in youth, +nor susceptible of being assessed as to the damage inflicted by any +given number of them, but still contributing, each in its turn, a mite +toward the exhaustion and debility which the patient will one day +complain of." + +Diurnal Emissions.--As the disease progresses, the irritation and +weakness of the organs become so great that an erection and emission +occur upon the slightest sexual excitement. Mere proximity to a female, +or the thought of one, will be sufficient to produce a pollution, +attended by voluptuous sensations. But after a time the organs become +so diseased and irritable that the slightest mechanical irritation, +as friction of the clothing, the sitting posture, or riding horseback, +will produce a discharge which may or may not be attended by sensation +of any kind. Frequently a burning or more or less painful sensation +occurs; erection does not take place. Even straining at stool will +produce the discharge, or violent efforts to retain the feces when there +is unnatural looseness. + +The amount of the discharge may vary from a few drops to one or two +drams, or even more. The character of the discharge is of considerable +importance. When it occurs under the circumstances last described, viz., +without erection or voluptuous sensations, it may be of a true seminal +character, or it may contain no spermatozoa. This point can be +determined by the microscope alone. The discharge is the result of +sexual excitement or irritation, nevertheless, and indicates a most +deplorable condition of the genital organs. The patient is sometimes +unnecessarily frightened by it, and often exaggerates the amount of +the losses, and the symptoms arising from them. However, when a single +nocturnal emission occasions such detrimental results, what must be +the effect of repeated discharges occurring several times a day, or +every time an individual relieves his bowels, urinates, or entertains +an unvirtuous thought! If the losses were always seminal, the work of +ruin would soon be complete; fortunately, those discharges which are +the most frequent are only occasionally of a true seminal character. +It is not true, however, as has been claimed by some writers, one at +least, that they are never seminal, as we have proved by repeated +microscopic examinations. + +Cause of Diurnal Emissions.--The causes of these discharges are +spasmodic action of the muscles involved in ejaculation, which is +occasioned by local irritation, and pressure upon the seminal vesicles +by the distended rectum or bladder. They denote a condition of debility +and irritation which may well occasion grave alarm. + +In occasional instances, the internal irritation reaches such a height +that blood is discharged with the seminal fluid. + +Internal Emissions.--As the disease progresses, external discharges +finally cease, in some cases, or partially so, and the individual is +encouraged by that circumstance to think that he is recovering. He soon +discovers his error, however, for he continues to droop even though +the discharges apparently cease altogether. This seems a mystery until +some medical friend or a medical work calls his attention to the fact +that the discharges now occur internally instead of externally, the +seminal fluid passing back into the bladder and being voided with the +urine. An examination of the urine reveals the presence of cloudy matter +appearing much like mucus, or a whitish sediment. A microscopic +examination shows this matter to be composed largely of zoosperms, +which decides its origin. + +An Important Caution.--It is necessary, however, to caution the reader +not to pronounce every whitish sediment or flocculent matter found in +the urine to be a seminal discharge, for the great majority are of a +different character. They are, most frequently, simply mucus or +phosphates from the bladder. Seminal fluid cannot be distinguished from +mucus by any other than a careful microscopic examination. A microscope +of good quality and capable of magnifying at least one hundred and fifty +diameters is required, together with considerable skill in the operator. +Quacks have done an immense amount of harm by frightening patients into +the belief that they were suffering from discharges of this kind when +there was, in fact, nothing more than a copious deposit of phosphates, +which is not at all infrequent in nervous people, especially after +eating. + +When the condition described does really exist, however, the patient +cannot make too much haste to put himself under the care of a competent +physician for treatment. If there is even a reasonable suspicion that +it may exist, he should have his urine carefully examined by one +competent to criticize it intelligently. + +By many authors, the term spermatorrhoea is confined entirely to this +stage of the disease. + +It is said that the forcible interruption of ejaculation has been the +cause of this unfortunate condition in many cases. Such a proceeding +is certainly very hazardous. + +One more caution should be offered; viz., that the occasional presence +of spermatozoa in the urine is not a proof of the existence of internal +emissions, as a few zoosperms may be left in the urethra after a +voluntary or nocturnal emission, and thus find their way into the urine +as it is discharged from the bladder. + +Impotence.--In the progress of the disease a point is finally reached +when the victim not only loses all desire for the natural exercise of +the sexual function, but when such an act becomes impossible. This +condition may have been reached even before all of the preceding +symptoms have been developed. Ultimately it becomes impossible to +longer practice the abominable vice itself, on account of the great +degeneration and relaxation of the organs. The approach of this +condition is indicated by increasing loss of erectile power, which is +at first only temporary, but afterward becomes permanent. Still the +involuntary discharges continue, and the victim sees himself gradually +sinking lower and lower into the pit which his own hands have dug. The +misery of his condition is unimaginable; manhood lost, body a wreck, +and death staring him in the face. + +This is a brief sketch of the local effects of the horrid vice of +self-abuse. The description has not been at all overdrawn. We have yet +to consider the general effects, some of which have already been +incidentally touched upon in describing nocturnal emissions, with +their immediate results. + +General Effects.--The many serious effects which follow the habit of +self-abuse, in addition to those terrible local maladies already +described, are the direct results of two causes in the male; viz., + +1. Nervous exhaustion; + +2. Loss of the seminal fluid. + +There has been much discussion as to which one of these was the cause +of the effects observed in these cases. Some have attributed all the +evil to one cause, and some to the other. That the loss of semen is +not the only cause, nor, perhaps, the chief source of injury, is proved +by the fact that most deplorable effects of the vice are seen in children +before puberty, and also in females, in whom no seminal discharge nor +anything analogous to it occurs. In these cases, it is the nervous shock +alone which works the evil. + +Again, that the seminal fluid is the most highly vitalized of all the +fluids of the body, and that its rapid production is at the expense +of a most exhaustive effort on the part of the vital forces, is well +attested by all physiologists. It is further believed by some eminent +physicians that the seminal fluid is of great use in the body for +building up and replenishing certain tissues, especially those of the +nerves and brain, being absorbed after secretion. Though this view is +not coincided in by all physiologists, it seems to be supported by the +following facts:-- + +1. The composition of the nerves and that of spermatozoa is nearly +identical. + +2. Men from whom the testes have been removed before puberty, as in +the case of eunuchs, are never fully developed as they would otherwise +have been. + +The nervous shock accompanying the exercise of the sexual +organs--either natural or unnatural--is the most profound to which the +system is subject. The whole nervous system is called into activity; +and the effects are occasionally so strongly felt upon a weakened +organism that death results in the very act. The subsequent exhaustion +is necessarily proportionate to the excitement. + +It need not be surprising, then, that the effects of the frequent +operation of two such powerful influences combined should be so +terrible as they are found to be. + +_General Debility_.--Nervous exhaustion and the loss of the vivifying +influence of the seminal fluid produce extreme mental and physical +debility, which increases as the habit is practiced, and is continued +by involuntary emissions after the habit ceases. If the patient's +habits are sedentary, and if he had a delicate constitution at the start, +his progress toward the grave will be fearfully rapid, especially if +the habit were acquired young, as it most frequently is by such boys, +they being generally precocious. Extreme emaciation, sallow or +blotched skin, sunken eyes, surrounded by a dark or blue color, general +weakness, dullness, weak back, stupidity, laziness, or indisposition +to activity of any kind, wandering and illy defined pains, obscure and +often terrible sensations, pain in back and limbs, sleeplessness, and +a train of morbid symptoms too long to mention in detail, attend these +sufferers. + +_Consumption_.--It is well recognized by the medical profession that +this vice is one of the most frequent causes of consumption. At least +such would seem to be the declaration of experience, and the following +statistical fact adds weight to the conclusion:-- + +"Dr. Smith read a paper before a learned medical association a few years +since in which he pointed out the startling fact that in one thousand +cases of consumption five hundred and eighteen had suffered from some +form of sexual abuse, and more than four hundred had been addicted to +masturbation or suffered from nocturnal emissions."[49] + +[Footnote 49: Acton.] + +"Most of those who early become addicted to self-pollution are soon +afterward the subjects, not merely of one or more of the ailments +already noticed, but also of enlargements of the lymphatic and other +glands, ultimately of _tubercular deposits in the lungs_ and other +viscera, or of scrofulous disease of the vertebrae or bones, or of other +structures, more especially of the joints."[50] + +[Footnote 50: Copland.] + +Many young men waste away and die of symptoms resembling consumption +which are solely the result of the loathsome practice of self-abuse. +The real number of consumptives whose disease originates in this manner +can never be known. + +_Dyspepsia_.--Indigestion is frequently one of the first results. +Nervous exhaustion is always felt by the stomach very promptly. When +dyspepsia is once really established, it reacts upon the genital organs, +increasing their irritability as well as that of all the rest of the +nervous system. Now there is no end to the ills which may be suffered; +for an impaired digestion lays the system open to the inroads of almost +any and every malady. + +_Heart Disease_.--Functional disease of the heart, indicated by +excessive palpitation on the slightest exertion, is a very frequent +symptom. Though it unfits the individual for labor, and causes him much +suffering, he would be fortunate if he escaped with no disease of a +more dangerous character. + +_Throat Affections_.--There is no doubt that many of the affections +of the throat in young men and older ones which pass under the name +of "clergyman's sore throat" are the direct results of masturbation +and emissions. + +Dr. Acton cites several cases in proof of this, and quotes the following +letter from a young clergyman:-- + +"When I began the practice of masturbation, at the age of sixteen, I +was in the habit of exercising my voice regularly. The first part in +which I felt the bad effects of that habit was in the organs of +articulation. After the act, the voice wanted tone, and there was a +disagreeable feeling about the throat which made speaking a source of +no pleasure to me as it had been. By-and-by, it became painful to speak +after the act. This arose from a feeling as if a morbid matter was being +secreted in the throat, so acrid that it sent tears to the eyes when +speaking, and would have taken away the breath if not swallowed. This, +however, passed away in a day or two after the act. In the course of +years, when involuntary emissions began to impair the constitution, +this condition became permanent. The throat always feels very delicate, +and there is often such irritability in it, along with this feeling +of the secretion of morbid matter, as to make it impossible to speak +without swallowing at every second or third word. This is felt even +in conversation, and there is a great disinclination to attempt to speak +at all. In many instances in which the throat has been supposed to give +way from other causes, I have known this to be the real one. May it +not be that the general irritation always produced by the habit referred +to, shows itself also in this organ, and more fully in those who are +required habitually to exercise it?" + +_Nervous Diseases_.--There is no end to the nervous affections to which +the sufferer from this vice is subject. Headaches, neuralgias, symptoms +resembling hysteria, sudden alternations of heat and cold, irregular +flushing of the face, and many other affections, some of the more +important of which we will mention in detail, are his constant +companions. + +_Epilepsy_.--This disease has been traced to the vile habit under +consideration in so many cases that it is now very certain that in many +instances this is its origin. It is of frequent occurrence in those +who have indulged in solitary vice or any other form of sexual excess. +We have seen several cases of this kind. + +Failure of Special Senses.--Dimness of vision, amaurosis, spots before +the eyes, with other forms of ocular weakness, are common results of +this vice. The same degeneration and premature failure occur in the +organs of hearing. In fact, sensibility of all the senses becomes in +some measure diminished in old cases. + +Spinal Irritation.--Irritation of the spinal cord, with its resultant +evils, is one of the most common of the nervous affections originating +in this cause. Tenderness of the spine, numerous pains in the limbs, +and spasmodic twitching of the muscles, are some of its results. +Paralysis, partial or complete, of the lower limbs, and even of the +whole body, is not a rare occurrence. We have seen two cases in which +this was well marked. Both patients were small boys and began to excite +the genital organs at a very early age. In one, the paralytic condition +was complete when he was held erect. The head fell forward, the arms +and limbs hung down helpless, the eyes rolled upward, and the saliva +dribbled from his mouth. When lying flat upon his back, he had +considerable control of his limbs. In this case, a condition of priapism +seems to have existed almost from birth, owing to congenital phimosis. +His condition was somewhat improved by circumcision. In the other case, +in which phimosis also existed, there was paralysis of a few of the +muscles of the leg, which produced club-foot. Circumcision was also +performed in this case and the child returned in a few weeks completely +cured, without any other application, though it had previously been +treated in a great variety of ways without success, all the usual +remedies for club-foot proving ineffectual. Both of these cases +appeared in the clinic of Dr. Sayre at Bellevue Hospital, and were +operated upon by him. + +We have recently observed several cases of spinal disease which could +be traced to no origin but masturbation. Two patients were small boys, +naturally quite intelligent. They manifested all the peculiarities of +loco-motor ataxia in older persons, walking with the characteristic +gait. The disease was steadily progressing in spite of all attempts +to stay it. An older brother had died of the same malady, paralysis +extending over the whole body, and finally preventing deglutition, so +that he really starved to death. + +Insanity.--That solitary vice is one of the most common causes of +insanity, is a fact too well established to need demonstration here. +Every lunatic asylum furnishes numerous illustrations of the fact. +"Authors are universally agreed, from Galen down to the present day, +about the pernicious influence of this enervating indulgence, and its +strong propensity to generate the very worst and most formidable kinds +of insanity. It has frequently been known to occasion speedy, and even +instant, insanity."[51] + +[Footnote 51: Arnold.] + +"Religious insanity," so-called, may justly be attributed to this cause +in a great proportion of cases. The individual is conscience-smitten +in view of his horrid sins, and a view of his terrible condition--ruined +for both worlds, he fears--goads him to despair, and his weakened +intellect fails; reason is dethroned, and he becomes a hopeless lunatic. +His friends, knowing nothing of the real cause of his mysterious +confessions of terrible sin, think him over-conscientious, and lay the +blame of his insanity upon religion, when it is solely the result of +his vicious habits, of which they are ignorant. + +In other cases, the victim falls into a profound melancholy from which +nothing can divert him. He never laughs, does not even smile. He becomes +more and more reserved and taciturn, and perhaps ends the scene by +committing suicide. This crime is not at all uncommon with those who +have gone the whole length of the road of evil. They find their manhood +gone, the vice in which they have so long delighted is no longer possible, +and, in desperation, they put an end to the miserable life which nature +might lengthen out a few months if not thus violently superseded. + +If the practice is continued uninterruptedly from boyhood to manhood, +imbecility and idiocy are the results. Demented individuals are met +in no small numbers inside of hospitals and asylums, and outside as +well, who owe to this vice their awful condition. Plenty of half-witted +men whom one meets in the every-day walks of life have destroyed the +better half of their understanding by this wretched practice. + +A Victim's Mental Condition Pictured.--The mental condition of a victim +of this vice cannot be better described than is done in the following +paragraphs by one himself a victim, though few of these unfortunate +individuals would be able to produce so accurate and critical a portrait +of themselves as is here drawn by M. Rousseau, as quoted by Mr. Acton:-- + +"One might say that my heart and my mind do not belong to the same person. +My feelings, quicker than lightning, fill my soul; but instead of +illuminating, they burn and dazzle me. I feel everything. I see nothing. +I am excited, but stupid; I cannot think except in cold blood. The +wonderful thing is that I have sound enough tact, penetration, even +_finesse_, if people will wait for me. I make excellent impromptus at +leisure; but at the moment I have nothing ready to say or do. I should +converse brilliantly by post, as they say the Spaniards play at chess. +When I read of a Duke of Savoy who turned back after starting on his +journey to say, 'In your teeth! you Paris shop-keeper!' I said, 'That +is like me!'" + +"But not only is it a labor to me to express, but also to receive, ideas. +I have studied men, and I think I am a tolerably good observer; yet +I can see nothing of what I do see. I can hardly say that I see anything +except what I recall; I have no power of mind but in my recollection. +Of all that is said, of all that is done, of all that passes in my +presence, I feel nothing, I appreciate nothing. The external sign is +all that strikes me. But after a while it all comes back to me." + + +EFFECTS IN FEMALES. + +Local Effects.--The local diseases produced by the vice in females are, +of course, of a different nature from those seen in males, on account +of the difference in organization. They arise, however, in the same +way, congestions at first temporary ultimately becoming permanent and +resulting in irritation and various disorders. + +Leucorrhoea.--The results of congestion first appear in the mucous +membrane lining the vagina, which is also injured by mechanical +irritation, and consists of a catarrhal discharge which enervates the +system. By degrees the discharge increases in quantity and virulence, +extending backward until it reaches the sensitive womb. + +Contact with the acrid, irritating secretions of the vagina produces +soreness of the fingers at the roots of the nails, and also frequently +causes warts upon the fingers. Hence the value of these signs, as +previously mentioned. + +Uterine Disease.--Congestion of the womb is also produced by the act +of abuse; and as the habit is continued, it also becomes permanent. +This congestion, together with the contact of the acrid vaginal +discharge, finally produces ulceration upon the neck, together with +other diseases. + +Another result of congestion is all kinds of menstrual derangements +after puberty, the occurrence of which epoch is hastened by the habit. +Prolapsus and various displacements are produced in addition to +menstrual irregularities. + +Cancer of the Womb.--Degeneration of this delicate organ also occurs +as the result of the constant irritation and congestion, and is often +of a malignant nature, occasioning a most painful death. + +Sterility.--Sterility, dependent on a total loss of sexual desire and +inability to participate in the sexual act, is another condition which +is declared by medical authors to be most commonly due to previous +habits of self-abuse. In consequence of overexcitement the organs +become relaxed. + +Atrophy of Mammae.--Closely connected with other local results is the +deficient development of the breasts when the vice is begun before or +at puberty, and atrophy if it is begun or continued after development +has occurred. As previously remarked, this is not the sole cause of +small mammae, but it is one of the great causes. + +Pruritis.--This is an affection not infrequent in these subjects. +Continued congestion produces a terrible itching of the genitals, which +increases until the individual is in a state of actual frenzy, and the +disposition to manipulate the genitals becomes irresistible, and is +indulged even in the presence of friends or strangers, and though the +patient be at other times a young woman of unexceptionable modesty. +In cases of this kind, great hypertrophy of the organ of greatest +sensibility has been observed, and in some cases amputation of the part +has been found the only cure. + +General Effects.--The general effects in the female are much the same +as those in the male. Although women suffer no seminal loss, they suffer +the debilitating effects of leucorrhoea, which is in some degree +injurious in the same manner as seminal losses in the male. But in +females the greatest injury results from the nervous exhaustion which +follows the unnatural excitement. Nervous diseases of every variety +are developed. Emaciation and debility become more marked even than +in the male, and the worst results are produced sooner, being hastened +by the sedentary habits of these females, generally. Insanity is more +frequently developed than in males. Spinal irritation is so frequent +a result that a recent surgical author has said that "spinal irritation +in girls and women is, in a majority of cases, due to self-abuse."[52] + +[Footnote 52: Davis.] + +A Common Cause of Hysteria.--This, too, is one of the most frequent +causes of hysteria, chorea, and epilepsy among young women, though not +often recognized. + +A writer, quoted several times before in this work, remarks as +follows:-- + +"This is not a matter within the scope of general investigation; truth +is not to be expected from its _habitues_; parents are deceived +respecting it, believing rather what they wish than what they fear. +Even the physician can but suspect, till time develops more fully by +hysterias, epilepsies, spinal irritations, and a train of symptoms +unmistakable even if the finally extorted confession of the poor victim +did not render the matter clear. Marriage does, indeed, often arrest +this final catastrophe, and thus apparently shifts the responsibility +upon other shoulders, and to the 'injurious effects of early +marriages,' to the 'ills of maternity,' are ascribed the results of +previous personal abuse. + +"For statistics and further information on this all-important subject, +we must refer the reader to the opinions of physicians who have the +charge of our retreats for the insane, lunatic asylums, and the like; +to the discriminating physicians of the families of the upper +classes--stimulated alike by food, drinks, scenes where ease is +predominant, where indolence is the habit and novel-reading is the +occupation--for further particulars on a subject here but barely +alluded to."[53] + +[Footnote 53: Gardner.] + + +EFFECTS UPON OFFSPRING. + +If sterility does not result, children are liable to be "delicate, puny, +decrepit, or subject to various congenital maladies, especially of the +nervous system, to idiocy from deficient development of the brain, to +hydrocephalus, to epilepsy, convulsions, palsy. The scrofulous +diathesis, tubercular and glandular maladies, diseases of the +vertebrae and of the joints, softening of the central portions of the +brain, and tuberculous formations in the membranes, palsy and +convulsions, chorea, inflammations of the membranes or substance of +the brain or spinal cord, and numerous other affections to which infants +and children are liable, very commonly result from the practice of +self-pollution by either of the parents previous to marriage. But the +evil does not always stop at this epoch of existence, it often extends +throughout the life of the offspring, or it appears only with puberty +and mature age." + +Too frequently, the victim of self-abuse, when he finds himself +suffering from the first results of his sin, neglects to adopt any +measures for the cure of the disease. Not understanding its inveterate +character, he labors under the delusion that it will cure itself in +time. This is a fatal mistake. The diseased conditions induced by this +vice never improve themselves. Their constant tendency is to increase +in virulence and inveteracy. The necessity of taking prompt measures +for relief is too apparent to need especial emphasis. + + +TREATMENT OF SELF-ABUSE AND ITS EFFECTS. + +After having duly considered the causes and effects of this terrible +evil, the question next in order for consideration is, How shall it +be cured? When a person has, through ignorance or weakness, brought +upon himself the terrible effects described, how shall he find relief +from his ills, if restoration is possible? To the answer of these +inquiries, most of the remaining pages of this work will be devoted. +But before entering upon a description of methods of _cure_, a brief +consideration of the subject of _prevention_ of the habit will be in +order. + + +PREVENTION OF SECRET VICE. + +For the rising generation, those yet innocent of the evil practices +so abundant in this age of sensuality, how the evil habit may be +prevented is the most important of all questions connected with this +subject. This topic should be especially interesting to parents, for +even those who are themselves sensual have seen enough of the evils +of such a life to wish that their children may remain pure. There are, +indeed, rare exceptions to this rule, for we sometimes learn of parents +who have deliberately led their own children into vice, as though they +desired to make them share their shame and damnation. + +Cultivate Chastity.--From earliest infancy all of those influences and +agencies which cultivate chastity should be brought into active +exercise. These we need not repeat here, having previously dwelt upon +them so fully. The reader is recommended to re-peruse the portion of +the work devoted to this subject, in connection with the present section. +If parents have themselves indulged in this vice, they should use +special care that all of the generative and gestative influences +brought to bear upon their children are the purest possible, so that +they may not inherit a predisposition to sin in this direction. + +Special care should be exercised to avoid corrupt servants and +associates. Every servant not known to be pure should be suspected until +proof of innocence has been established. They should be especially +instructed of the evil arising from manipulation of the genitals even +in infants, as they may do immense harm through simple ignorance. + +Timely Warning.--But, in spite of chaste surroundings and all other +favorable circumstances, if the child is left in ignorance of his danger, +he may yet fall a victim to the devices of servants or corrupt playmates, +or may himself make a fatal discovery. Hence arises the duty of warning +children of the evil before the habit has been formed. This is a duty +that parents seldom perform even when they are not unaware of the danger. +They in some way convince themselves that their children are pure, at +least, even if others are corrupt. It is often the most difficult thing +in the world for parents to comprehend the fact that _their_ children +are not the best children in the world, perfect paragons of purity and +innocence. There is an unaccountable and unreasonable delicacy on the +part of parents about speaking of sexual subjects to their children. +In consequence, their young, inquisitive minds are left wholly in +ignorance unless, perchance, they gain information from some vile +source. + +Objections are raised against talking to children or young persons +about matters in any degree pertaining to the sexual organs or functions. +Some of the more important of them are considered in the introduction +to this work, and we need not repeat here. + +The little one should be taught from earliest infancy to abstain from +handling the genitals, being made to regard it as a very improper act. +When the child becomes old enough to understand and reason, he may be +further informed of the evil consequences; then, as he becomes older, +the functions of the organs may be explained with sufficient fullness +to satisfy his natural craving for knowledge. + +If this course were pursued, how many might be saved from ruin! It is, +of course, necessary that the parents shall themselves be acquainted +with the true functions of the organs before they attempt to teach any +one else, especially children. Many parents might receive benefit from +being obliged to "study up;" for it is a lamentable fact, the ill effects +of which are every day seen, that a great many people have spent a very +large portion of their lives without ever ascertaining the true +function of the reproductive organs, though living in matrimony for +many years. Some of the consequences of this ignorance have been +portrayed in previous pages. + +"Oh! why did not some kind friend tell me of the harm I was doing myself?" +has been the exclamation of many an unfortunate sufferer from this vice. +A warning voice should be raised to save those who are ignorantly +working their own destruction. Parents, teachers, ministers, all who +have access to the youth, should sound the note of alarm in their ears, +that if possible they may be saved from the terrible thralldom pictured +by a writer in the following lines:-- + +"The waters have gone over me. But out of the black depths, could I +be heard, I would cry to all those who have set a foot in the perilous +flood. Could the youth look into my desolation, and be made to +understand what a dreary thing it is when a man shall feel himself going +down a precipice with open eyes and passive will--to see his destruction +and have no power to stop it, and yet to feel it all the way emanating +from himself; to perceive all goodness emptied out of him, and yet not +be able to forget a time when it was otherwise; to bear about with him +the spectacle of his own self-ruin; could he feel the body of death +out of which I cry hourly with feebler and feebler outcry to be +delivered." + + +CURATIVE TREATMENT OF THE EFFECTS OF SELF-ABUSE. + +When the habit and its effects are of very short duration, a cure is +very readily accomplished, especially in the cases of children and +females, as in them the evils begun are not continued in the form of +involuntary pollutions. In cases of longer standing in males, the task +is more difficult, but still the prospect of recovery is very favorable, +provided the cooperation of the patient can be secured; without this, +little can be done. But in these cases the patient may as well be told +at the outset that the task of undoing the evil work of years of sin +is no easy matter. It can only be accomplished by determined effort, +by steady perseverance in right doing, and in the application of +necessary remedies. Those who have long practiced the vice, or long +suffered severely from its effects, have received an injury which will +inevitably be life-long to a greater or lesser extent in spite of all +that can be done for them. Yet such need not despair, for they may +receive inestimable benefit by the prevention of greater damage, which +they are sure to suffer if the disease is allowed to go unchecked. + +Cure of the Habit.--The preliminary step in treatment is always to cure +the vice itself if it still exists. The methods adopted for this purpose +must differ according to the age of the individual patient. + +_In children_, especially those who have recently acquired the habit, +it can be broken up by admonishing them of its sinfulness, and +portraying in vivid colors its terrible results, if the child is old +enough to comprehend such admonitions. In addition to faithful warnings, +the attention of the child should be fully occupied by work, study, +or pleasant recreation. He should not be left alone at any time, lest +he yield to temptation. Work is an excellent remedy; work that will +really make him very tired, so that when he goes to bed he will have +no disposition to defile himself. It is best to place such a child under +the care of a faithful person of older years, whose special duty it +shall be to watch him night and day until the habit is thoroughly +overcome. + +In younger children, with whom moral considerations will have no +particular weight, other devices may be used. Bandaging the parts has +been practiced with success. Tying the hands is also successful in some +cases; but this will not always succeed, for they will often contrive +to continue the habit in other ways, as by working the limbs, or lying +upon the abdomen. Covering the organs with a cage has been practiced +with entire success. A remedy which is almost always successful in small +boys is circumcision, especially when there is any degree of phimosis. +The operation should be performed by a surgeon without administering +an anaesthetic, as the brief pain attending the operation will have +a salutary effect upon the mind, especially if it be connected with +the idea of punishment, as it may well be in some cases. The soreness +which continues for several weeks interrupts the practice, and if it +had not previously become too firmly fixed, it may be forgotten and +not resumed. If any attempt is made to watch the child, he should be +so carefully surrounded by vigilance that he cannot possibly transgress +without detection. If he is only partially watched, he soon learns to +elude observation, and thus the effect is only to make him cunning in +his vice. + +_In adults_, or youths, a different plan must be pursued. In these cases, +moral considerations, and the inevitable consequences to health of body +and mind, are the chief influences by which a reform is to be effected, +if at all. These considerations may be urged with all possible eloquence +and earnestness, but should not be exaggerated. The truth is terrible +enough. If there are any special influences which may be brought to +bear upon a particular individual,--and there always will be something +of this sort owing to peculiarities of temperament or +circumstances,--these should be promptly employed and applied in such +a manner as to secure for them their full bearing. + +But after all, the most must be done by the individual himself. All +that others can do for him is to surround him with favoring +circumstances and arouse him to a proper sense of his real condition +and danger. If this can be thoroughly accomplished, there is much reason +to hope; but if the individual has become so lost to all sense of purity, +all aspirations toward good and noble objects, that he cannot be made +to feel the need of reformation, his case is hopeless. + +_How May a Person Help Himself?_--The following suggestions will be +found useful in fighting the battle with vice and habit:-- + +1. Begin by a resolution to reform, strengthened by the most solemn +vows. + +2. Resolve to reform _now_; not to-morrow or next week, but this very +minute. Thousands have sunk to perdition while resolving to indulge +"only this once." + +3. Begin the work of reform by purging the mind. If a lewd thought enters +the mind, dispel it at once. Cultivate a loathing for concupiscence. +Never harbor such ideas for an instant, for they will surely lead to +the overt act. If, perchance, the physical sin should not be committed, +the thought itself is sin, and it leaves a physical as well as a moral +scar almost as deep and hideous as that inflicted by the grosser crime. + +4. As a help to purity of mind, whenever impure thoughts enter, +immediately direct the mind upon the purest object with which you are +acquainted. Flee from the special exciting cause, if there is one, and +engage in some active labor or other exercise that will divert the mind +into another channel. + +5. Avoid solitude, for then it is that temptation comes, and you are +most likely to fail. Avoid equally all other causes which may lead to +the act. + +6. Strictly comply with all the rules laid down for the cultivation +of chastity and the maintenance of continence. + +7. Above all, seek for grace and help from the Source of all spiritual +strength in every time of temptation, relying upon the promise, "Seek, +and ye shall find." + +Hopeful Courage.--An individual who will earnestly set himself about +the work of purifying his mind and redeeming his body, if he will +conscientiously adopt, and perseveringly apply, the remedies pointed +out, _may be sure of success_. There can be no possible chance for +failure. Triumph is certain. Patience may be tried and faith tested, +but unwavering trust in God and nature, and an executed determination +to do all on his part, will bring to every such one certain recovery. +There may be some scars left, a few traces of the injury wrought; but +the deliverance will be none the less triumphant. Faith and +perseverance will work wonders. + +General Regimen and Treatment.--After long abuse of the sexual organs, +and in many cases after a short course of sin, the whole system becomes +deteriorated; digestion is impaired, the muscles are weakened, the +circulation is unbalanced, the nerves are irritable, the +brain--especially the back and lower portion of it--is congested, the +skin is torpid, the bowels are inactive, the general health is deranged +in almost every particular. All of these morbid conditions serve to +keep up the very difficulty which has produced and is increasing them. +Any curative effort, to be effective, then, must be directed to these +as well as to local conditions; and it is pretty certainly established +that local remedies or applications alone will rarely accomplish any +appreciable good, at least of a permanent character. + +Many of the observations on treatment are equally applicable to both +sexes; but particular directions have been especially adapted to males, +and chiefly with the cure of seminal emissions as the object in view. +This remark will explain any seeming lack of completeness. + +Mental and Moral Treatment.--The greatest impediment to recovery is +usually found in the mind of the patient. His hopeless despair, +melancholy, sullen apathy in many cases, want of energy, and fickleness +of mind, thwart all attempts that are made for him. In other cases, +the want of willpower, or neglect to exercise the will in controlling +the thoughts, completely counteracts all that can be done for him. He +must be made to understand this well, and then all possible means must +be employed to attract his attention from himself, from brooding over +his ills. Occupy him, interest him, or teach him to occupy and interest +himself. The enthusiastic study of some one of the natural sciences +is a most excellent auxiliary in effecting this. + +The thing of first importance is that the patient should obtain command +of his thoughts; by this means, he can do more for himself than all +the doctors can do for him. "But I cannot control my thoughts," says +the patient. A young man said to me, "O doctor, you don't know how I +feel. I despise myself; I hate myself; I often feel inclined to kill +myself. My mind is always full of abominable images; my thoughts run +away with me and I cannot help myself." The tears ran down his face +in streams as he told me of his slavery. He solemnly affirmed that he +had never performed the act of self-pollution but once in his life: +and yet for years he had been a constant sufferer from nocturnal +emissions until his manhood was nearly lost, evidently the result of +the mental onanism which he had practiced without imagining the +possibility of harm. + +But it is not true that control of the thoughts is impossible. Thoughts +are the result of the action of the brain; and the action of the brain +may be controlled as well as the movements of a voluntary muscle. It +may be more difficult, especially when the resolution is weakened, as +it is by this vice; but so long as there are left any remnants of will +and reason, control is possible. To strengthen the will must be one +of the objects of mental treatment, and exercise is the method by which +it may be accomplished. The thing for a sufferer to say, is not, "I +can't," but, "I can and I will control my thoughts." Suggestions which +will aid in accomplishing this have already been given under the heading, +"Cure of the Habit." + +We cannot forbear to add a word further respecting the worth of religion +in aiding these sufferers. If there is any living creature who needs +the help of true religion, of faith in God, in Christ, and in the +efficacy of prayer, it is one of these. If there is any poor mortal +who can not afford to be deprived of the aid of a sympathizing Saviour, +it is one who has enervated his will, degraded his soul, and depraved +his body by the vile habit of self-abuse. A compassionate Redeemer will +succor even these defiled ones, if they truly "hunger and thirst" after +purity, and if they set about the work of reforming themselves in good +earnest, and with right motives. + +Exercise.--Physical exercise is a most powerful aid to pure thoughts. +When unchaste ideas intrude, engage at once in something which will +demand energetic muscular exercise. Pursue the effort until fatigued, +if necessary, making, all the while, a powerful mental effort to control +the mind. Of course, evil thoughts will not be expelled by thinking +of them, but by displacing them by pure thoughts. Exercise aids this +greatly. + +Exercise is also essential to balance the circulation, and thus relieve +congestion of internal organs. Sedentary persons especially need +systematic exercise. No single form of exercise is so excellent as +walking. Four or five miles a day are none too many to secure a proper +amount of muscular exercise. Gymnastics, the "health-lift," "Indian +clubs," "dumb-bells," rowing, and other forms of exercise are all good; +but none of them should be carried to excess. Ball-playing is likely +to be made a source of injury by exciting, in vigorous competition, +too violent and spasmodic action. + +Daily exercise should be taken to the extent of fatigue. It is better +that those who are still strong enough should have some regular +employment which will secure exercise. Those who prefer may secure +exercise and recreation in the pursuit of some study that involves +necessary physical exertion; as, botany, geology, or entomology. The +collection of natural-history specimens is one of the most pleasant +diversions, and may be made very useful as well. + +Pleasant companionship is essential to the best progress of these +patients, especially in their walks, as much more exercise may be taken +without an unpleasant sense of fatigue with a cheerful companion than +when alone. Solitude should be avoided at all times as much as possible. + +Diet.--So much has already been said upon the relation of diet to +chastity and its influence upon the sexual organs that it is unnecessary +to add many remarks here. Nothing could be more untrue than the +statement made by some authors that the nature of the diet is of no +consequence. + +The science of physiology teaches that our very thoughts are born of +what we eat. A man that lives on pork, fine-flour bread, rich pies and +cakes, and condiments, drinks tea and coffee and uses tobacco, might +as well try to fly as to be chaste in thought. He will accomplish wonders +if he remains physically chaste; but to be mentally virtuous would be +impossible for him without a miracle of grace. + +One whose thoughts have been so long trained in the filthy ruts of vice +that they run there automatically, and naturally gravitate +downward--such a one must exercise especial care to secure the most +simple, pure, and unstimulating diet. + +The following precautions are necessary to be observed in relation to +diet:-- + +1. _Never overeat_. If too much food is taken at one meal, fast the +next meal to give the system a chance to recover itself and to serve +as a barrier against future transgressions of the same kind. Gluttony +is fatal to chastity; and overeating will be certain to cause emissions, +with other evils, in one whose organs are weakened by abuse. + +2. _Eat but twice a day_, or, if supper is eaten, let it be very light, +and of the most simple food, as fruit, or fruit and bread. Nothing should +be eaten within four or five hours of bed-time, and it is much better +to eat nothing after three o'clock. The ancients ate but two meals a +day; why should moderns eat three or four? If the stomach contains +undigested food, the sleep will be disturbed, dreams will be more +abundant, and emissions will be frequent. A most imperative rule of +life should be, "Never go to bed with a loaded stomach." The violation +of this rule is the great cause of horrid dreams and nightmare. + +3. _Discard all stimulating food_. Under this head must be included, +spices, pepper, ginger, mustard, cinnamon, cloves, essences, all +condiments, salt, pickles, etc., together with animal food of all kinds, +not excepting fish, fowl, oysters, eggs, and milk. It is hardly to be +expected that all who have been accustomed to use these articles all +their lives will discard them wholly at once, nor, perhaps, that many +will ever discard them entirely; but it would be better for them to +do so, nevertheless. The only ones which should be tolerated under any +circumstances should be lean beef or mutton, salt in very moderate +quantities, and a moderate use of milk. Use as little of these as +possible--_the less the better_. + +4. _Stimulating drinks_ should be abstained from with still greater +strictness. Wine, beer, tea, and coffee should be taken under no +circumstances. The influence of coffee in stimulating the genital +organs is notorious. Chocolate should be discarded also. It is +recommended by some who suppose it to be harmless, being ignorant of +the fact that it contains a poison practically identical with that of +tea and coffee. + +Hot drinks of all kinds should be avoided. + +Tobacco, another stimulant, though not a drink, should be totally +abandoned at once. + +5. In place of such articles as have been condemned, eat fruits, grains, +and vegetables. There is a rich variety of these kinds of food, and +they are wholesome and unstimulating. Graham flour, oatmeal, and ripe +fruit are the indispensables of a dietary for those who are suffering +from sexual excesses. + +Further remarks upon diet, with a few useful recipes for preparing +healthful food, will be found in works devoted to the subject of +diet.[54] The patient must carefully comply with all the rules of a +healthy diet if he would be sure of recovery. + +[Footnote 54: See "Healthful Cookery," _Good Health_ Publishing +Company, Battle Creek, Mich.] + +Sleeping.--It is from accidents which happen during sleep that the +great majority of sufferers complain; hence there is no little +importance attaching to this subject. The following suggestions +present in a very brief manner some of the more practical ideas +connected with this part of the subject:-- + +1. From seven to nine hours' sleep are required by all persons. The +rule should be, Retire early and sleep until rested; Early rising is +not beneficial unless it has been preceded by abundant sleep. + +2. Arise immediately upon waking in the morning if it is after four +o'clock. A second nap is generally unrefreshing and is dangerous, for +emissions most frequently occur at this time. + +3. If insufficient sleep is taken at night, sleep a few minutes just +before dinner. Half an hour's rest at this time is remarkably +refreshing; and even fifteen minutes spent in sleep will be found very +reviving. Do not sleep after dinner, as a pollution will be very likely +to occur, and, as a rule, after-dinner naps are unrefreshing and +productive of indigestion. + +4. Never go to bed with the bowels or bladder loaded. The bladder should +be emptied just before retiring. It is also a good plan to form the +habit of rising once or twice during the night to urinate. + +5. The position in sleeping is of some importance. Sleeping upon the +back or upon the abdomen favors the occurrence of emissions; hence, +it is preferable to sleep on one side. If supper has been taken, the +right side is preferable, as that position will favor the passage of +food from the stomach into the intestines in undergoing digestion. + +Various devices are employed, sometimes with advantage, to prevent the +patient from turning upon his back while asleep. The most simple is +that recommended by Acton, and consists in tying a knot in the middle +of a towel and then fastening the towel about the body in such a way +that the knot will come upon the small of the back. The unpleasant +sensations arising from pressure of the knot, if the sleeper turn upon +his back, will often serve as a complete preventive. Others fasten a +piece of wood upon the back for a similar purpose. Still others practice +tying one hand to the bedpost. None of these remedies should be depended +upon, but they may be tried in connection with other means of treatment. + +6. Soft beds and pillows must be carefully avoided. Feather-beds should +not be employed when possible to find a harder bed; the floor, with +a single folded blanket beneath the sleeper, would be preferable. Soft +pillows heat the head, as soft beds produce heat in other parts. A hair +mattress, or a bed of corn husks, oat straw, or excelsior--covered with +two or three blankets or a quilted cotton mattress--makes a very healthy +and comfortable bed. + +7. Too many covers should be avoided with equal care. The thinnest +possible covering in summer, and the lightest consistent with comfort +in winter, should be the rule. Sleeping too warm is a frequent exciting +cause of nocturnal losses. + +8. Thorough ventilation of the sleeping-room, both while occupied and +during the day-time, must not be neglected. It should be located in +a position to admit the sunshine during the morning hours. It is a good +plan to keep in it a number of house plants, as they will help to purify +the air, besides adding to its cheerfulness. + +9. If wakeful at night, instead of lying in bed trying to go to sleep, +get up at once, open the bed, air the sheets, remove the night clothing +and walk about the room for a few minutes, rubbing the body briskly +with the bare hand at the same time. A tepid sponge bath, followed by +a vigorous rubbing kept up until really tired, will conduce to sleep +in many cases. Sometimes a change of bed, or pulling the bed to pieces +and arranging it again, is just the thing needed to bring sleep. + +10. One of the most effectual panaceas for certain varieties of +sleeplessness is going to bed at peace with all the world, and with +a conscience void of offense toward God as well as man. + +Dreams.--This is a subject of much interest to those suffering from +nocturnal pollutions, for these occurrences are almost always +connected with dreams of a lascivious nature. + +In perfectly natural sleep, there are no dreams; consciousness is +entirely suspended. In the ordinary stage of dreaming, there is a +peculiar sort of consciousness, many of the faculties of the mind being +more or less active while the power of volition is wholly dormant. +Carpenter describes another stage of consciousness between that of +ordinary dreaming and wakefulness, a condition "in which the dreamer +has a consciousness that he is dreaming, being aware of the +unreliability of the images which present themselves before his mind. +He may even make a voluntary and successful effort to prolong them if +agreeable, or to dissipate them if unpleasing; thus evincing a certain +degree of that directing power, the entire want of which is +characteristic of the true state of dreams." + +Can Dreams Be Controlled?--Facts prove that they can be, and to a +remarkable extent. A large share of emissions occur in the state +described by Dr. Carpenter, in which a certain amount of control by +the will is possible. This is the usual condition of the mind during +morning naps; and if a person resolutely determines to combat unchaste +thoughts whenever they come to him, whether asleep or awake, he will +find it possible to control himself not only during this semi-conscious +state, but even during more profound sleep. + +The following case, related by an eminent London surgeon,[55] +illustrates what may be done by strong resolution; the patient was an +Italian gentleman of very great respectability. + +[Footnote 55: Acton.] + +"He had been inconvenienced five years before with frequent emissions, +which totally unnerved him. He determined resolutely that the very +instant the image of a woman or any libidinous idea presented itself +to his imagination, _he would wake_; and to insure his doing so, dwelt +in his thoughts on his resolution for a long time before going to sleep. +The remedy, applied by a vigorous will, had the most happy results. +The idea, the remembrance of its being a _danger_, and the determination +to wake, closely united the evening before, were never dissociated even +in sleep, and he awoke in time; and this reiterated precaution, repeated +during some evenings, absolutely cured the complaint." + +Several other cases of the same kind have been recorded. Doubtless the +plan would be found successful in many cases when coupled with a proper +regimen. + +A still greater control is exerted over the thoughts during sleep by +their character during hours of wakefulness. By controlling the mind +during entire consciousness, it will also be controlled during +unconsciousness or semi-consciousness. + +Dr. Acton makes the following very appropriate remarks on this +subject:-- + +"Patients will tell you that they _cannot_ control their dreams. This +is not true. Those who have studied the connection between thoughts +during waking hours and dreams during sleep know that they are closely +connected. The _character_ is the same sleeping or waking. It is not +surprising that, if a man has allowed his thoughts during the day to +rest upon libidinous subjects, he should find his mind at night full +of lascivious dreams--the one is a consequence of the other, and the +nocturnal pollution is a natural consequence, particularly when +diurnal indulgence has produced an irritability of the generative +organs. A will which in our waking hours we have not exercised in +repressing sexual desires, will not, when we fall asleep, preserve us +from carrying the sleeping echo of our waking thought farther than we +dared to do in the day-time." + +Bathing.--A daily bath is indispensable to health under almost all +circumstances; for patients of this class, it is especially necessary. +A general bath should be taken every morning immediately upon rising. +General _cold bathing_ is not good for any person, especially in the +morning, though some may tolerate it remarkably well, being of +exceptionally hardy constitutions; but the advice to try "cold bathing" +often given to sufferers from seminal weakness, is very pernicious, +for most of them have been reduced so low in vitality by their disease +that they cannot endure such violent treatment. + +Sun baths, electric baths, spray, plunge, and other forms of bath, are +of greatest value to those suffering from the effects of indiscretions. +These are described, with additional observations concerning +temperature of baths, etc., etc., in works devoted to this subject. + +Improvement of General Health.--Patients suffering from emissions and +other forms of seminal weakness are almost always dyspeptic, and most +of them present other constitutional affections which require careful +and thorough treatment according to the particular indications of the +case. The wise physician will not neglect these if he desires to cure +his patient and make his recovery as complete as possible. + +Prostitution as a Remedy.--Said a leading physician in New York to us +when interrogated as to his special treatment of spermatorrhoea, "When +a young man comes to me suffering from nocturnal emissions, I give him +tonics and _send him to a woman_." That this is not an unusual method +of treatment, even among regular physicians, is a fact as true as it +is deplorable. There are hundreds of young men whose morals have been +ruined by such advice. Having been educated to virtuous habits, at least +so far as illicit intercourse is concerned, they resist all temptations +in this direction, even though their inclinations are very strong; but +when advised by a physician to commit fornication as a remedial measure, +they yield their virtue, far too readily sometimes, and begin a life +of sin from which they might have been prevented. There are good grounds +for believing that many young men purposely seek advice from physicians +whom they know are in the habit of prescribing this kind of remedy. + +Few know how commonly this course is recommended, and not by quacks, +but by members of the regular profession. A medical friend informed +us that he knew a case in which a country physician advised a young +man of continent habits to go to a neighboring large city and spend +a year or so with prostitutes, which advice he followed. Of his +subsequent history we know nothing; but it is most probable that, like +most other young men who adopt this remedy, he soon contracted diseases +which rendered his condition ten times worse than at first, without +at all improving his former state. In pursuing this course, one form +of emission is only substituted for another, at the best; but more than +this, an involuntary result of disease is converted into a voluntary +sin of the blackest character, a crime in which two participate, and +which is not only an outrage upon nature, but against morality as well. + +A final argument against this course is that it is not a remedy and +does not effect a cure of the evil, as will be shown by the following +medical testimonies:-- + +"The vexed question of connection is one which may be decided out of +hand.... _It has no power of curing bad spermatorrhoea_; it may cause +a diminution in the number of emissions, but this is only a delusion; +the semen is still thrown off; the frame still continues to be +exhausted; the genital organs and nervous system generally are still +harassed by the incessant tax, and the patient is all the while laying +the foundation of impotence."[56] + +[Footnote 56: Milton.] + +"In all solemn earnestness I protest against such false treatment. It +is better for a youth to live a continent life." "There is a terrible +significance in the wise man's words, 'None that go to her return again, +neither take they hold of the paths of life.'"[57] This hazardous and +immoral mode of treatment is the result of the common opinion that +emissions are necessary and natural, which we have previously shown +to be a falsity. + +[Footnote 57: Acton.] + +Marriage.--Another class of practitioners, with more apparent regard +for morality, recommend matrimony as the sure panacea for all the ills +of which the sufferers from self-abuse complain, with the possible +exception of actual impotence. Against this course several objections +may be urged; we offer the following:-- + +1. It is not a remedy, since, as in the case of illicit intercourse, +"legalized prostitution" is only a substitution of one form of +emissions for another, the ill effects of which do not differ +appreciably. + +2. If it were a remedy, it would not be a justifiable one, for its use +would necessitate an abuse of the marriage relation, as elsewhere +shown. + +3. As another reason why the remedy would not be a _proper_, even if +a _good_, one, it may well be asked, What right has a man to treat a +wife as a vial of medicine? Well does Mr. Acton inquire, "What has the +young girl, who is thus sacrificed to an egotistical calculation, done +that she should be condemned to the existence that awaits her? Who has +the right to regard her as a therapeutic agent, and to risk thus lightly +her future prospects, her repose, and the happiness of the remainder +of her life?" + +In cases in which seminal emissions occur frequently, the most reliable +writers upon this subject, Copland, Acton, Milton, and others, advise, +with reference to marriage, "that the complaint should be removed +before the married life is commenced." Independent of the +considerations already presented, the individual affected in this +manner and contemplating marriage should carefully consider the +possible and probable effects upon offspring, the legitimate result +of marriage; these have been already described, and need not be +recapitulated. + +Local Treatment.--While it is true that general treatment alone is +occasionally successful in curing the diseases under consideration, +and that local treatment alone is very rarely efficient, it is also +true that in many cases skillful local treatment is required to +supplement the general remedies employed. While there has been a +tendency on the part of the profession generally to depend wholly upon +general treatment, on the part of a less numerous body of specialists +there has been an opposite tendency to depend wholly, or nearly so, +upon local measures. Both extremes are evidently wrong. + +The object of local treatment for the relief of emissions, especially, +is to remove the local cause of irritation, which, as previously shown, +is one of the most active exciting causes of seminal losses. To effect +this, both internal and external applications are useful. We will now +consider some of these agents. + +_Cool Sitz Bath_.--The cool or cold sitz bath is one of the most +efficacious of all remedies. It should be taken daily, and may often +be repeated, with benefit, several times a day. Its effect is to relieve +the local congestion, and thus allay the irritability of the affected +parts. When but one bath is taken daily, it should be just before +retiring at night. Full directions for this and other baths are given +in works devoted to the subject of bathing. + +_Ascending Douche_.--This is also a very useful means of allaying +irritation, especially the reflex excitability which is often present +in the muscles in the vicinity of the perineum and prostate gland, and +when there is pain and fullness in these parts. + +_Abdominal Bandage_.--This may be worn nights to very great advantage +by most patients. It not only allays the irritability of the nerve +centers which are closely connected with the genital apparatus, but +serves to keep the bowels in a healthy condition. It should not be +applied so continuously as to produce a very profuse eruption on the +skin. If such a symptom should appear, discontinue the bandage for a +time. When worn during the day-time, it should be changed once in three +or four hours. It is generally best to wear it only nights. + +_Wet Compress_.--This is an application to be made to the lower part +of the spine for the purpose of allaying the excessive heat and +irritation which often exist there. It may also be worn nights, as it +in some degree prevents the danger arising from sleeping upon the back. + +_Hot and Cold Applications to the Spine_.--These are powerful remedies +under appropriate conditions. Hot applications relieve congestion of +the genital organs and allay irritation. Cold applications are useful +when a condition of debility and relaxation is present. Alternate +applications of heat and cold are very valuable, when skillfully +applied, as a means of allaying reflex excitability and promoting +healthy action. These applications are especially useful in cases in +which there is heat and pain in the lower portion of the back. Their +effects are greatly enhanced by administering a foot or leg bath at +the same time. + +_Local Fomentations_.--When great local irritation exists, with +considerable pain and spasmodic muscular action, the application of +hot fomentations to the perineum will be found the most effectual means +of giving relief. The hot douche and hot sitz bath are useful under +the same circumstances. + +In some cases, alternate hot and cold applications are more effectual +in allaying local irritation than hot fomentations alone. + +_Local Cold Bathing_.--The genital organs should be daily bathed in +cold water just before retiring. Simply dashing water upon the parts +for two or three minutes is insufficient; more prolonged bathing is +necessary. A short application of cold occasions a strong and sudden +reaction which increases local congestion; hence, the bath should be +continued until the sedative effect is fully produced, which will +require at least fifteen minutes. The water must be cold; about 60 +degrees is the best temperature. Ice should be used to cool the water +in warm weather. It should be applied thoroughly, being squeezed from +a sponge upon the lower part of the abdomen and allowed to run down. + +_Enemata_.--The use of the enema is an important means of aiding +recovery, but it has been much abused, and must be employed with caution. +When the bowels are very costive, relieve them before retiring by a +copious injection of tepid water. The "fountain syringe" is the best +instrument to employ. + +Useful as is the syringe when needed, nothing could be much worse than +becoming dependent upon it. The bowels must be made to act for +themselves without such artificial assistance, by the use of proper +food, especially graham flour and oatmeal, and the avoidance of hot +drinks, milk, sugar, and other clogging and constipating articles; by +wearing the abdominal bandage; by thorough kneading and percussion of +the abdomen several times daily for five minutes at a time; by taking +one or two glasses of cold water half an hour before breakfast every +morning; and by plenty of muscular exercise daily. The enema should +be used occasionally, however, rather than allow the bowels to continue +costive, and to avoid severe straining at stool. + +A small, cold enema taken just before retiring, and retained, will often +do much to allay local irritation. + +_Electricity_.--Probably no single agent will accomplish more than +this remedy when skillfully applied. It needs to be carefully used, +and cannot be trusted in the hands of those not acquainted with the +physical properties of the remedy and scientific methods of applying +it. + +_Internal Applications_.--Complete and rapid success greatly depends +upon skillful internal treatment, in a large number of cases. We are +aware that there is considerable prejudice, in certain quarters, +against internal treatment; but having had the opportunity of observing +the effects of careful treatment applied in this way, and having put +to the test of practical experience this method, we feel justified in +recommending that which is approved on both theoretical and practical +grounds; for it is rational to suppose that proper treatment applied +directly to the seat of disease must be at least equally efficacious +with methods less direct. + +As heretofore explained, in the more severe cases the urethra is found +in a very irritable condition. It is hyper-sensitive, especially in +that portion just in front of the bladder, where the ejaculatory ducts +open into it. We have also seen how this condition is one of the chief +exciting causes of emissions. The remedies described for allaying this +irritation are all excellent and indispensable; but there is another +method of great value. This consists in the passage of a suitable +instrument, a sound or bougie of proper size, two or three times a week. +By the aid of this means, the abnormal irritation will often diminish +with magical rapidity. The passage of the instrument of course needs +to be done with great delicacy, so as to avoid increasing the +irritation; hence it should not be attempted by a novice. Lack of skill +in catheterism is doubtless the reason why some have seemed to produce +injury rather than benefit by this method of treatment, they not +recognizing the fact asserted by Prof. Gross in his treatise on surgery, +that skillful catheterism is one of the most delicate operations in +surgery. + +_Use of Electricity_.--The use of electricity in connection with that +of the sound adds greatly to its utility. By means of the metallic +instrument, also, electricity may be applied directly to the point of +greatest irritation; and its soothing effect is sometimes really +wonderful, as the following case will show:-- + +The patient, a man of unusual physical development, was suffering from +nocturnal emissions and diminished sexual power, the result of early +indiscretions and marital excesses. One of his most unpleasant symptoms +was severe pain in the portion of the urethra near the openings of the +ejaculatory ducts. After he had been suffering more than usual for a +few days, we applied the faradaic electric current in the manner +indicated above, for about fifteen minutes. At the end of that time +the pain was entirely removed, though considerable suffering had been +caused by the passage of the instrument, so sensitive was the congested +membrane. The pain did not return again for two or three weeks, though +treatment was necessarily suspended on account of absence. + +In another case, that of a young man, a student, at the beginning of +treatment emissions occurred nightly, and sometimes as many as four +in a single night, according to his statement, which we had no reason +to doubt. Under the influence of these local applications, combined +with other measures of treatment and a measurably correct regimen, the +number of emissions was in a few weeks reduced to one in two or three +weeks. + +Numerous other cases nearly as remarkable might be detailed if it were +necessary to do so. In quite a considerable number of cases in which +we have employed this plan of treatment, the results have been uniformly +excellent. A very slight increase of irritation sometimes occurs at +first, but this quickly subsides. + +The galvanic as well as the faradaic current is to be used under proper +circumstances. The application of electricity to the nerve centers by +means of central galvanization, and also general and local external +faradization, are necessary methods to be employed in electrical +treatment. + +_Circumcision_.--In cases of phimosis, in which irritation is produced +by retained secretions, division of the prepuce, or circumcision, is +the proper remedy. These cases are not infrequent, but the exciting +cause of much of the difficulty is often overlooked. The same remedy +is often useful in cases of long prepuce. + +When the glans penis is unusually tender and sensitive, this condition +will usually be removed by the daily washing with soap and water +necessary for cleanliness. If this does not suffice, or if there are +slight excoriations caused by acrid secretions, apply, in addition, +a weak solution of tannin in glycerine once a day. + +_Impotence_.--Loss of sexual power arising from any form of sexual +excess, should be treated on the same general plan laid down for the +treatment of emissions and other weaknesses. Cold to the spine, and +short, but frequent, local cold applications, are among the most useful +remedies; but, probably, electricity, discreetly used, is by far the +most valuable of all remedies. It should be applied both internally +and externally. + +The use of cantharides and other aphrodisiac remedies to stimulate the +sexual organs is a most pernicious practice. The inevitable result is +still greater weakness. They should never be used under any +circumstances whatever. On the contrary, everything of a stimulating +character must be carefully avoided, even in diet. + +_Varicocele_.--Patients suffering from this difficulty should wear a +proper suspensory bag, as the continued pressure of the distended veins +upon the testes, if unsupported, will ultimately cause degenerative +changes and atrophy. A surgical operation, consisting of the removal +of a portion of the skin of the scrotum, is proper if the patient desires +an operation; no other operation is advisable. + +The wearing of a suspensory bag is also advisable for those whose +testicles are unusually pendulous. + +Drugs, Rings, etc.--If drugs, _per se_, will cure invalids of any class, +they are certainly worthless in this class of patients. The whole +materia medica affords no root, herb, extract, or compound that alone +will cure a person suffering from emissions. Thousands of unfortunates +have been ruined by long-continued drugging. One physician will purge +and salivate the patient. Another will dose him with phosphorus, +quinine, or ergot. Another feeds him with iron. Another plies him with +lupuline, camphor, and digitaline. Still another narcotizes him with +opium, belladonna, and chloral. Purgatives and diuretics are given by +another, and some will be found ready to empty the whole pharmacopoeia +into the poor sufferer's stomach if he can be got to open his mouth +wide enough. + +The way that some of these poor fellows are blistered, and burned, and +cauterized, and tortured in sundry other ways, is almost too horrible +to think of; yet they endure it, often willingly, thinking it but just +punishment for their sins, and perhaps hoping to expiate them by this +cruel penance. By these procedures, the emissions are sometimes +temporarily checked, but the patient is not cured, nevertheless, and +the malady soon returns. + +The employment of rings, pessaries, and numerous other mechanical +devices for preventing emissions, is entirely futile. No dependence +can be placed upon them. Some of these contrivances are very ingenious, +but they are all worthless, and time and money spent upon them are thrown +away. + +Quacks.--The victims of self-abuse fall an easy prey to the hordes of +harpies, fiends in human shape, who are ready at every turn to make +capital out of their misfortunes. From no other class of persons do +quacks and charlatans derive so rich a harvest as from these erring +ones. It is not uncommon to find a man suffering from seminal weakness +who has paid to sundry parties hundreds of dollars for "specifics" which +they advertised as "sure cures." We have seen and treated scores of +these patients, but never yet met a single case that had received +benefit from patent medicines. + +The newspapers are full of the advertisements of these heartless +villains. They advertise under the guise of "clergymen," charitable +institutions, "cured invalids," and similar pretenses. Usually they +offer for sale some pill or mixture which will be a _sure cure_, in +proof of which they cite the testimonials of numerous individuals who +never lived, or, at least, never saw either them or their filthy +compounds; or, they promise to send free a recipe which will be a certain +cure. Here is a specimen recipe which was sent by a "reverend" gentleman +who claims to be a returned missionary from South America so intent +on doing good that he charges nothing for his invaluable information:-- + + Extract of Corrossa apimis, + " " Selarmo umbelifera, + Powdered Alkermes latifolia, + Extract of Carsadoc herbalis. + +This remarkable recipe is warranted to cure all the evils arising from +self-abuse, with no attention to diet and no inconvenience of any kind, +to prevent consumption and insanity, and to cure venereal diseases. +It is also declared to be a perfectly "_safe_" remedy for all female +difficulties, which means that it will aid nefarious purposes. + +Along with the recipe comes the suggestion that the druggist may not +be able to furnish all the ingredients in a perfectly pure state, and +so, for the accommodation of suffering humanity, this noble +philanthropist has taken infinite pains to secure them direct from +South America, and has them put up in neat little packages which he +will send, post-paid, for the trifle of $3.50, just one cent _less_ +than actual cost. Then he tells what purports to be the history of his +own nastiness, with a generous spicing of pious cant, and closes with +a benediction on all who have fallen into the same slough, and +especially those who will send for his fabulous foreign weeds to help +them out. + +A young man sees the advertisement of a book which will be sent free, +postage paid, if he will only send his address. The title of the book +being of some such character as "Manhood Regained," or "Nervous +Debility," he imagines it may suit his case, and sends his name. Return +mail brings the book, which is a wretched jargon of confused terms and +appalling descriptions of the effects of self-abuse, with the most +shameful exaggerations of the significance of the most trivial symptoms. +The ignorant youth reads what he supposes to be a description of his +own case, and is frightened nearly to death. He is most happily relieved, +however, to find that the generous publishers of the book have a remedy +which is just adapted to his case, but which is so precious that it +cannot be afforded at less than $50.00 for a sufficient quantity to +effect a cure. He willingly parts with his hard-earned dollars, and +gets, in return, some filthy mixture that did not cost a shilling. + +Another trap set is called an "Anatomical Museum." The anatomical part +of the exhibition consists chiefly of models and figures calculated +to excite the passions to the highest pitch. At stated intervals the +proprietor, who is always a "doctor," and by preference a German, +delivers lectures on the effects of masturbation, in which he resorts +to every device to excite the fears and exaggerate the symptoms of his +hearers, who are mostly young men and boys. Thus he prepares his victim, +and when he once gets him within his clutches, he does not let him go +until he has robbed him of his last dollar. + +We might present almost any number of illustrations of the ways in which +these human sharks pursue their villainy. If there were a dungeon deep, +dark, and dismal enough for the punishment of such rascals, we should +feel strongly inclined to petition to have them incarcerated in it. +They defy all laws, civil as well as moral, but are cunning enough to +keep outside of prison bars; and thus they wax rich by robbery, and +thrive by deceit. A terrible recompense awaits them at the final +settlement, though they escape so easily now. + +Closing Advice.--We cannot finish this chapter without a few closing +words of advice to those who are suffering in any way from the results +of sexual transgression. We are especially anxious to call attention +to a few points of practical and vital interest to all who are suffering +in the manner indicated. + +1. Give the matter prompt attention. Do not delay to adopt curative +measures under the delusive idea that the difficulty will disappear +of itself. Thousands have procrastinated in this way until their +constitutions have been so hopelessly undermined as to make treatment +of little value. The intrinsic tendency of this disease is to continue +to increase. It progresses only in one direction. It never "gets well +of itself," as some have imagined that it may do. Something must be +done to effect a cure; and the longer treatment is delayed, the more +difficult the case will become. + +2. Set about the work of getting well with a fixed determination to +persevere, and never to give over the struggle until success is attained, +no matter how difficult may be the obstacles to be surmounted. Such +an effort will rarely be unsuccessful. One of the greatest impediments +to recovery from diseases of this class is the vacillating dispositions +of nearly all patients suffering from disorders of this character. Make +up your mind what course of treatment to pursue, then adhere to it +rigidly until it has received a thorough trial. Do not despair if no +very marked results are seen in a week, a month, or even a longer period. +The best remedies are among those which operate the most slowly. + +3. Avoid watching for symptoms. Ills are greatly exaggerated by +dwelling upon them. One can easily imagine himself getting worse when +he is really getting better. Indeed, one can make himself sick by +dwelling upon insignificant symptoms. Fix upon a course to pursue for +recovery, firmly resolve to comply with every requirement necessary +to insure success, and then let the mind be entirely at rest respecting +the result. + +4. Never consult a quack. The newspapers abound with lying +advertisements of remedies for diseases of this character. Do not waste +time and money in corresponding with the ignorant, unprincipled +charlatans who make such false pretensions. Do not consult traveling +doctors. Physicians of real merit have plenty of business at home. They +are not obliged to go abroad in order to secure practice. Persons who +resort to this course are, without exception, pretentious quacks. +Consult only some well-known and reliable physician in whom you have +confidence. If your physician treats the matter lightly, and advises +marriage as a means of cure, you will not judge him harshly if you decide +that although he may be thoroughly competent to treat other diseases, +he is ignorant of the nature and proper treatment of this. It is an +unfortunate fact that there are many physicians who are not thoroughly +acquainted with the nature of spermatorrhoea and the proper mode of +treating the disease; hence the importance of making a judicious +selection in choosing a medical adviser. If possible, employ one whom +you know to have treated successfully numerous similar cases, and give +him your entire confidence. It is far better to consult your family +physician than to trust yourself in the hands of some one whom you do +not know, and especially one who makes great pretensions to knowledge. + +5. Do not despair of ever recovering from the effects of past +transgression, and plunge into greater depths of sin. Persevering, +skillful treatment will cure almost every case. Even the worst cases +can be greatly benefited if the earnest co-operation of the patient +can be secured. This is indispensable, and the patient should be so +instructed at the outset of a course of treatment. + +6. Every sufferer from sexual disease must make up his mind to live, +during the remainder of his life, as closely in accord with the laws +of life and health as circumstances under his control will allow him +to do. One who pursues this course, with a genuine regard for principle +and a love for right, may confidently expect to receive the reward of +obedience for his faithfulness. We would recommend such to obtain and +study the best works upon hygiene, put in practice every new truth as +soon as learned, and become missionaries of the saving truths of hygiene +to others who are suffering from the same cause as themselves, or who +may be in danger of falling into the same evil. + + + + +A CHAPTER FOR BOYS. + + +Boys, this chapter is for you. It is written and printed purposely for +you. If you do not read another word in the book, read these few pages +if you are old enough to do so. Read each line carefully and thoughtfully. +You may not find anything to make you laugh--possibly you may: but you +will be certain to find something of almost inestimable value to you +in every line. + +Who are Boys?--Boys are scarce now-a-days. In the days of Methuselah, +male human beings were still boys when nearly a century old; twenty-five +years ago boys were still such until well out of their "teens"; now +the interval between infancy and the age at which the boy becomes a +young man is so brief that boyhood is almost a thing of the past. The +happy period of care-free, joyous innocence which formerly intervened +between childhood and early manhood is now almost unobservable. Boys +grow old too fast. They learn to imitate the vices and the manners of +their seniors before they reach their teens, and are impatient to be +counted as men, no matter how great may be their deficiencies, their +unfitness for the important duties and responsibilities of life. The +consequence of this inordinate haste and impatience to be old, is +premature decay. Unfortunately the general tendency of the young +members of the rising generation is to copy the vices of their elders, +rather than the virtues of true manliness. A strong evidence of this +fact, if there were no other, is the unnaturally old-looking faces which +so many of our boys present. At the present time the average boy of +twelve knows more of vice and sin than the youth of twenty of the past +generation. + +It is not so much for these human mushrooms, which may be not inaptly +compared to toadstools which grow up in a single night and almost as +speedily decay, that we write, but for the old-fashioned boys, the few +such there may be, those who have not yet learned to love sin, those +whose minds are still pure and uncontaminated. Those who have already +begun a course of vice and wickedness we have little hope of reforming; +but we are anxious to offer a few words of counsel and warning which +may possibly help to save as brands plucked from a blazing fire, those +whose moral sense is yet alive, who have quick and tender consciences, +who aspire to be truly noble and good. + +What are Boys for?--This question was answered with exact truthfulness +by a little boy, who, when contemptuously accosted by a man with the +remark, "What are you good for?" replied, "Men are made of such as we." +Boys are the beginnings of men. They sustain the same relation to men +that the buds do to full-blown flowers. They are still more like the +small green apples which first appear when the blossoms drop from the +branches, compared with the ripe, luscious fruit which in autumn bends +the heavy-laden boughs almost to breaking. Often, like the young apples, +boys are green; but this is only natural, and should be considered no +disgrace to the boys. If they grow up naturally they will ripen with +age, like the fruit, developing at each successive stage of life +additional attractions and excellent qualities. + +Boys the Hope of the World.--A nation's most valuable property is its +boys. A nation which has poor, weakly, vicious boys will have still +weaker, more vicious and untrustworthy men. A country with noble, +virtuous, vigorous boys, is equally sure of having noble, pious, brave, +and energetic men. Whatever debases, contaminates, or in any way +injures the boys of a country, saps and undermines the very foundation +of the nation's strength and greatness. Save the boys from vice and +crime, give them good training, physically, mentally, and morally, and +the prosperity of the nation is assured. + +Man the Masterpiece.--When a skillful artist perfects a work of art, +a painting, a drawing, a statue, or some other work requiring great +talent and exceeding all his other efforts, it is called his masterpiece. +So man is the noblest work of God, the masterpiece of the Almighty. +Numerous anecdotes are told of the sagacity of dogs, horses, elephants +and other animals, of their intelligence and ingenious devices in +overcoming obstacles, avoiding difficulties, etc. Our admiration and +wonder are often excited by the scarcely less than human wisdom shown +by these lowly brothers of the human race. We call them noble animals; +but they are only noble brutes, at best. Compared with man, even in +his most humble form, as seen in the wild savage that hunts and devours +his prey like a wild beast, a lion or a tiger, they are immeasurably +inferior. And in his highest development, man civilized, cultivated, +Christianized, learned, generous, pious, certainly stands at the head +of all created things. + +Boys, do you love what is noble, what is pure, what is grand, what is +good? You may each, if you will, become such yourselves. Let us consider +for a moment + +How a Noble Character is Ruined.--A noble character is formed by the +development of the good qualities of an individual. A bad character +is formed by the development of bad traits, or evil propensities. In +other words, sin is the cause of the demoralization of character, the +debasing of the mind, the loss of nobility of which we see so much around +us in the world. Sin is the transgression of some law. There are two +kinds of sins: those which are transgressions of the moral law, and +those which are transgressions of physical laws. Both classes of sins +are followed by penalties. If a person violates the laws of health, +he is just as certain to suffer as though he tells a falsehood, steals, +murders, or commits any other crime. Perfect obedience to all of +nature's laws, including of course all moral laws, is necessary to +perfect health and perfect nobleness of character. The nature of these +laws and the results of transgression will be understood after we have +taken a hasty glance at + +The Marvelous Human Machine which we call the body. All the inventions +and devices ever constructed by the human hand or conceived by the human +mind, no matter how delicate, how intricate and complicated, are simple, +childish toys compared with that most marvelously wrought mechanism, +the human body. Let us proceed to take this wonderful machine in pieces +and study its various parts and the manner in which they are put +together. + +The Two Objects of Human Existence.--The objects of this wonderfully +formed mechanism are two: 1. The maintenance of an individual life; +2. The production of similar individuals which shall also have the power +of maintaining individual lives. The same may be said of every plant +that grows, and every animal. Each tree, plant, and shrub has some +useful service to perform while it lives, in addition to the production +of seed from which other plants may grow. For example, the object of +the majestic oak which towers high and broadly spreads its leafy +branches is not to produce acorns merely, but to give place for birds +to build their nests, to present an inviting shade for cattle, and to +afford protection in a variety of ways to numerous living creatures +which need such aid. The same may be said of all vegetable growths, +each particular plant having its peculiar purposes to fulfill, and all +together acting as purifiers of the air for the benefit of man and lower +animals. + +The principle is equally true as applied to lower animals, as is +evidenced by the numerous ways in which domestic animals are utilized. +Indeed, it seems that the prime purpose of life, not only with all lowly +living creatures, as plants and animals, but with man as well, is to +live and act as individuals. But the important function of reproduction, +or producing other similar individuals, though incidental, is +necessary to the perpetuation of the race or species. + +In order that an individual human being may live and develop, it is +necessary that he should eat, drink, digest, and assimilate, and that +he should be able to move about, to perceive,--that is, to hear, see, +feel, smell, taste, determine weight and distinguish temperature,--to +think, and to express ideas in language. In order to keep his vital +machinery in order, it is necessary that the body should also be able +to repair injuries which may occur in consequence of wear or accident, +and to remove out of the way wornout material which would otherwise +obstruct the working of the delicate machinery of which his body is +constructed. Each of these functions requires special organs and +apparatuses to carry on the work; and these we will now briefly +consider:-- + +The Nutritive Apparatus.--This consists of organs for the purpose of +taking in food or nourishment, digesting it, and distributing it +throughout the body wherever it is needed. These are chiefly the mouth +and teeth for receiving and chewing the food, the stomach and intestines +for digesting and absorbing it, and the heart and blood-vessels for +distributing it to the body. + +The Moving Apparatus.--For the purpose of producing motion, we have +the muscles and the bones, by which the food is received, masticated, +and swallowed, the blood circulated, the body moved about from place +to place, and speech, expression, respiration, and many other important +functions performed. + +The Thinking and Feeling Apparatus.--The brain and nerves afford the +means of thinking and feeling, also giving rise to all the activities +of the body by the production of nerve force. To aid the brain and nerves, +we have special organs provided, termed the organs of special sense; +as the eye for sight, the ear for hearing, the nose for the detection +of odors, the tongue for tasting, the skin and the mucous membrane for +the sense of touch. + +The Purifying Apparatus.--Waste matter accumulates in the body so +rapidly that it is necessary to have abundant and efficient means to +remove the same, and prevent death by obstruction. This work is +performed by the lungs, liver, kidneys, skin, and mucous membrane. + +Each organ and tissue possesses the power to repair itself. Animal heat, +which is also necessary to life, is not produced by any special set +of organs, but results incidentally from the various other processes +named. + +The Reproductive Apparatus.--As there is a stomach to digest, a brain +to think, a pair of lungs to breathe, etc., so there are special organs +for reproducing the species or producing new individuals. These organs +have been carefully described in the preceding portion of this volume, +so that we do not need to repeat the description here. Unlike all the +other organs of the body, they are intended for use only after full +development or manhood has been attained; consequently, they are only +partially developed in childhood, becoming perfected as the person +becomes older, especially after about the age of fourteen to eighteen, +when puberty occurs. The lungs, the stomach, the muscles, and other +organs must be used constantly from the earliest period of infancy, +hence they are developed sufficiently for efficient use at birth. The +fact that the sexual or reproductive organs are only fully developed +later on in life, is sufficient evidence that they are intended for +use only when the body has become fully mature and well developed. + +How a Noble Character and a Sound Body Must Be Formed.--By obeying all +the laws which relate to the healthy action of the body and the mind, +a noble character and a healthy body may be formed. Any deviation from +right will be sure to be followed by suffering. A boy who carefully +heeds the advice of good and wise parents, who avoids bad company, who +never indulges in bad habits of any sort, who cultivates purity, honesty, +and manliness, is certain to grow up into a noble, lovely youth, and +to become an intelligent, respected, virtuous man. + +The Down-Hill Road.--In every large city, and in small ones too, even +in little villages, we can scarcely step upon the street without being +pained at meeting little boys who have perhaps scarcely learned to speak +distinctly, but whose faces show very plainly that they have already +taken several steps down the steep hillside of vice. All degrees of +wickedness are pictured on the faces of a large proportion of the boys +we meet upon the streets, loitering about the corners, loafing in hotels, +groceries, and about bar-room doors. Everywhere we meet small faces +upon which sin and vice are as clearly written as though the words were +actually spelled out. Lying, swearing, smoking, petty stealing, and +brazen impudence are among the vices which contaminate thousands and +thousands of the boys who are by-and-by to become the _men_ of this +country, to constitute its legislators, its educators, its supporters, +and its protectors. Is it possible that such boys can become good, +useful, noble, trustworthy men? Scarcely. If the seeds of noxious weeds +can be made to produce useful plants or beautiful flowers, or if a barren, +worthless shrub can be made to bear luscious fruit, then may we expect +to see these vicious boys grow up into virtuous, useful men. + +But the vices mentioned are not the worst, the traces of which we see +stamped upon the faces of hundreds of boys, some of whom, too, would +scorn to commit any one of the sins named. There is another vice, still +more terrible, more blighting in its effects, a vice which defiles, +diseases, and destroys the body, enervates, degrades, and finally +dethrones the mind, debases and ruins the soul. It is to this vice that +we wish especially to call attention. It is known as + +Self-Abuse.--Secret vice, masturbation, and self-pollution are other +names applied to this same awful sin against nature and against God. +We shall not explain here the exact nature of the sin, as very few boys +are so ignorant or so innocent as to be unacquainted with it. To this +sin and its awful consequences we now wish to call the attention of +all who may read these lines. + +A Dreadful Sin.--The sin of self-pollution is one of the vilest, the +basest, and the most degrading that a human being can commit. It is +worse than beastly. Those who commit it place themselves far below the +meanest brute that breathes. The most loathsome reptile, rolling in +the slush and slime of its stagnant pool, would not bemean itself thus. +It is true that monkeys sometimes have the habit, but only when they +have been taught it by vile men or boys. A boy who is thus guilty ought +to be ashamed to look into the eyes of an honest dog. Such a boy naturally +shuns the company of those who are pure and innocent. He cannot look +with assurance into his mother's face. It is difficult for any one to +catch his eye, even for a few seconds. He feels his guilt and acts it +out, thus making it known to every one. Let such a boy think how he +must appear in the eyes of the Almighty. Let him only think of the angels, +pure, innocent, and holy, who are eye-witnesses of his shameful +practices. Is not the thought appalling? Would he dare commit such a +sin in the presence of his father, his mother, or his sisters? No, indeed. +How, then, will he dare to defile himself in the presence of Him from +whose all-seeing eye nothing is hid? + +The Bible utters the most solemn warnings against sexual sins. The +inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed by fire and brimstone +for such transgressions. Onan was struck dead in the act of committing +a vileness of this sort. For similar vices the wicked inhabitants of +Palestine were destroyed, and their lands given to the Hebrews. For +a single violation of the seventh commandment, one of the most notable +Bible characters, David, suffered to the day of his death. Those who +imagine that this sin is not a transgression of the seventh commandment +may be assured that this most heinous, revolting, and unnatural vice +is in every respect more pernicious, more debasing, and more immoral +than what is generally considered as violation of the commandment which +says, "Thou shalt not commit adultery," and is itself a most flagrant +violation of the same commandment. + +Those who imagine that they "have a right to do as they please with +themselves," so long as no one else is immediately affected, must learn +that we are not our own masters; we belong to our Creator, and are +accountable to God not only for the manner in which we treat our +fellow-men, but for how we treat ourselves, for the manner in which +we use the bodies which he has given us. The man who commits suicide, +who takes his own life, is a murderer as much as he who kills a +fellow-man. So, also, he who pollutes himself in the manner we are +considering, violates the seventh commandment, although the crime is in +both cases committed against himself. Think of this, ye youth who defile +yourselves in secret and seek to escape the punishment of sin. In Heaven +a faithful record of your vile commandment-breaking is kept, and you +must meet it by-and-by. You are fixing your fate for eternity; and each +daily act in some degree determines what it shall be. Are you a victim +of this fascinating vice, stop, repent, reform, before you are forever +ruined, a mental, moral, and physical wreck. + +Self-Murderers.--Of all the vices to which human beings are addicted, +no other so rapidly undermines the constitution and so certainly makes +a complete wreck of an individual as this, especially when the habit +is begun at an early age. It wastes the most precious part of the blood, +uses up the vital forces, and finally leaves the poor victim a most +utterly ruined and loathsome object. If a boy should be deprived of +both hands and feet and should lose his eyesight, he would still be +infinitely better off than the boy who for years gives himself up to +the gratification of lust in secret vice. For such a boy to become a +strong, vigorous man is just as impossible as it would be to make a +mammoth tree out of a currant bush. Such a man will necessarily be +short-lived. He will always suffer from the effects of his folly, even +though he shall marry. If he has children--he may become +incapable--they will be quite certain to be puny, weak, scrofulous, +consumptive, rickety, nervous, depraved in body and mind, or otherwise +deprived of the happiness which grows out of the possession of "a sound +mind in a sound body." + +Let us notice a little more closely the terrible effects resulting from +this most unnatural and abominable vice. + +What Makes Boys Dwarfs.--How many times have we seen boys who were born +with good constitutions, with force and stamina sufficient to develop +them into large, vigorous men, become puny dwarfs. At the time when +they ought to begin to grow and develop more rapidly than ever before, +their growth is checked and they cease to develop. They are, in fact, +stunted, dwarfed, like a plant which has a canker-worm eating away at +its roots. Indeed, there is a veritable canker-worm sapping their +vitality, undermining their constitutions, and destroying their +prospects for time and for eternity. Anxious friends may attribute the +unhappy change to overwork, overstudy, or some similar cause; but from +a somewhat extended observation we are thoroughly convinced that the +very vice which we are considering is the viper which blights the +prospects and poisons the existence of many of these promising boys. + +A boy who gives himself up to the practice of secret vice at an early +age, say as early as seven to ten years of age, is certain to make himself +a wreck. Instead of having a healthy, vigorous body, with strong muscles +and a hardy constitution, he will be weak, scrawny, sickly, always +complaining, never well, and will never know anything about that joyous +exuberance of life and animal spirits which the young antelope feels +as it bounds over the plain, or the vigorous young colt as it frisks +about its pasture, and which every youth ought to feel. + +Scrawny, Hollow-Eyed Boys.--Boys ought to be fresh and vigorous as +little lambs. They ought to be plump, rosy, bright-eyed, and sprightly. +A boy who is pale, scrawny, hollow-eyed, dull, listless, has something +the matter with him. Self-abuse makes thousands of just such boys every +year; and it is just such boys that make vicious, shiftless, haggard, +unhappy men. This horrible vice steals away the health and vitality +which are needed to develop the body and the mind; and the lad that +ought to make his mark in the world, that ought to become a distinguished +statesman, orator, clergyman, physician, or author, becomes little +more than a living animal, a mere shadow of what he ought to have been. + +Old Boys.--Often have we felt sad when we have heard fond mothers +speaking in glowing terms of the old ways of their sons, and rather +glorying that they looked so much older than they were. In nine cases +out of ten these old-looking boys owe their appearance to this vile +habit; for it is exceedingly common, and its dreadful effects in +shriveling and dwarfing and destroying the human form are too plainly +perceptible, when present, to be mistaken. Oh! this dreadful curse! +Why will so many of our bright, innocent boys pollute themselves with +it! + +What Makes Idiots.--Reader, have you ever seen an idiot? If you have, +the hideous picture will never be dissipated from your memory. The +vacant stare, the drooping, drooling mouth, the unsteady gait, the +sensual look, the emptiness of mind,--all these you will well remember. +Did you ever stop to think how idiots are made? It is by this very vice +that the ranks of these poor daft mortals are being recruited every +day. Every visitor to an insane asylum sees scores of them; ruined in +mind and body, only the semblance of a human being, bereft of sense, +lower than a beast in many respects, a human being hopelessly lost to +himself and to the world!--oh, most terrible thought!--yet once pure, +intelligent, active, perhaps the hope of a fond mother, the pride of +a doting father, and possibly possessed of natural ability to become +greatly distinguished in some of the many noble and useful walks of +life; now sunk below the brute through the degrading, destroying +influence of a lustful gratification. + +Boys, are you guilty of this terrible sin? have you even once in this +way yielded to the tempter's voice? Stop, consider, think of the awful +results, repent, confess to God, reform. Another step in that direction +and you may be lost, soul and body. You cannot dally with the tempter. +You must escape now or never. Don't delay. + +Young Dyspeptics.--If we leave out of the consideration the effects +of bad food and worse cookery, there is in our estimation no other cause +so active in occasioning the early breaking down of the digestive organs +of our American boys. A boy of ten or twelve years of age ought to have +a stomach capable of digesting anything not absolutely indigestible; +but there are to-day thousands and thousands of boys of that age whose +stomachs are so impaired as to be incapable of digesting any but the +most simple food. The digestion being ruined, the teeth soon follow +suit. Hardly one boy in a dozen has perfectly sound teeth. With a bad +stomach and bad teeth, a foundation for disease is laid which is sure +to result in early decay of the whole body. + +In this awful vice do we find a cause, too, for the thousands of cases +of consumption in young men. At the very time when they ought to be +in their prime, they break down in health and become helpless invalids +for life, or speedily sink into an early grave. + +Upon their tombstones might justly be graven, "Here lies a +self-murderer." Providence is not to blame; nor is climate, weather, +overwork, overstudy, or any other even seemingly plausible cause, to +be blamed. Their own sins have sunk them in mental, moral, and physical +perdition. Such a victim literally dies by his own hand, a veritable +suicide. Appalling thought! It is a grand thing to die for one's +principles, a martyr to his love of right and truth. One may die +blameless who is the victim of some dire contagious malady which he +could not avoid; even the poor, downcast misanthrope whose hopes are +blighted and whose sorrows multiplied, may possibly be in some degree +excused for wishing to end his misery with his life; but the wretched +being who sheds his life-blood by the disgusting maneuvers of +self-pollution--what can be said to extenuate _his_ guilt? His is a +double crime. Let him pass from the memory of his fellow-men. He will +perish, overwhelmed with his own vileness. Let him die, and return to +the dust from which he sprang. + +The Race Ruined by Boys.--The human race is growing steadily weaker +year by year. The boys of to-day would be no match in physical strength +for the sturdy youths of a century ago who are now their grandparents. +An immense amount of skillful training enables now and then one to +accomplish some wonderful feat of walking, rowing, or swimming, but +we hear very little of remarkable feats of labor accomplished by our +modern boys. Even the country boys of to-day cannot endure the hard +work which their fathers accomplished at the same age; and we doubt +not that this growing physical weakness is one of the reasons why so +large a share of the boys whose fathers are farmers, and who have been +reared on farms, are unwilling to follow the occupation of their fathers +for a livelihood. They are too weakly to do the work required by an +agricultural life, even by the aid of the numerous labor-saving +inventions of the age. + +What is it that is undermining the health of the race and sapping the +constitutions of our American men? No doubt much may be attributed to +the unnatural refinements of civilization in several directions; but +there can be no doubt that vice is the most active cause of all. Secret +sin and its kindred vices yearly ruin more constitutions than hard work, +severe study, hunger, cold, privation, and disease combined. + +Boys, the destiny of the race is in your hands. You can do more than +all the doctors, all the scientists and most eminent political men in +the world, to secure the prosperity and future greatness of the nation, +by taking care of yourselves, by being pure, noble, true to yourselves +and to the demands of high moral principle. + +Cases Illustrating the Effects of Self-Abuse.--The land is full of poor +human wrecks who have dashed in pieces their hopes for this world, and +too often for the next also, against this hideous rock which lies hidden +in the pathway of every young man who starts out upon life's stormy +voyage. Gladly would we draw the veil and cover them with all their +dreadful deformities with the mantle of charity from the gaze of their +fellow-beings; but their number is so great that this could scarcely +be done, and the lesson to be learned from their sad fate is such a +grave one, and so needful for the good of the generation of young men +who are just encountering the same dangers, that we cannot resist the +promptings of duty to present a few examples of the effects of vice +in men and boys that have fallen under our own observation. We have +seen hundreds of cases of this sort; have treated many scores of persons +for the effects of the terrible crime which we are seeking to sound +a warning against, and the number of cases we might describe would fill +a volume; but we will select only a very few. + +Two Young Wrecks.--Charles and Oscar B---- were the sons of a farmer +in a Western State, aged respectively ten and twelve years. They +possessed well-formed heads, and once had beautiful faces, and were +as bright and sprightly as any little boys of their age to be found +anywhere. Their father was proud of them, and their fond mother took +great pleasure in building bright prospects for her darling sons when +they should attain maturity and become competent to fill useful and +honorable positions in the world. Living in a rapidly-growing Western +community, they had every prospect of growing up to honorable +usefulness, a comfort to their parents, a blessing to the world, and +capable of enjoying life in the highest degree. + +But suddenly certain manifestations appeared which gave rise to grave +apprehensions on the part of the parents. It was observed that the elder +of the little boys no longer played about with that nimbleness which +he had formerly shown, but seemed slow and stiff in his movements. +Sometimes, indeed, he would stagger a little when he walked. Soon, also, +his speech became affected in some degree; he mumbled his words and +could not speak distinctly. In spite of all that could be done, the +disease continued, increasing slowly in all its symptoms from week to +week. Soon the hands, also, became affected, so that the little boy +could not feed himself. The mind now began to fail. The bright eyes +became vacant and expressionless. Instead of the merry light which used +to shine in them, there was a blank, idiotic stare. + +Imagine the grief and anguish of the poor mother! No one but a mother +who has been called to pass through a similar trial could know how to +sympathize with such a one. Her darling son she saw daily becoming a +prey to a strange, incurable malady, with no power even to stay the +progress of the terrible disease. + +But there was still greater grief in store for her. Within a year or +two the younger son began to show symptoms of the same character, and +in spite of all that was done, rapidly sank into the same helpless state +as his brother. As a last resort, the mother took her boys and came +a long journey to place her sons under our care. At that time they were +both nearly helpless. Neither could walk but a few steps. They reeled +and staggered about like drunken men, falling down upon each other and +going through the most agonizing contortions in their attempts to work +their way from one chair to another and thus about the room. Their heads +were no longer erect, but drooped like wilted flowers. On their faces +was a blank, imbecile expression, with a few traces of former +intelligence still left. The mouth was open, from the drooping of the +lower jaw, and the saliva constantly dribbled upon the clothing. +Altogether, it was a spectacle which one does not care to meet every +day; the impression made was too harrowing to be pleasant even from +its interest from a scientific point of view. + +We at once set to work to discover the cause of this dreadful condition, +saying to ourselves that such an awful punishment should certainly be +the result of some gross violation of nature's laws somewhere. The most +careful scrutiny of the history of the parents of the unfortunate lads +gave us no clue to anything of an hereditary character, both parents +having come of good families, and having been always of sober, temperate +habits. The father had used neither liquor nor tobacco in any form. +The mother could give no light on the matter, and we were obliged to +rest for the time being upon the conviction which fastened itself upon +us that the cases before us were most marked illustrations of the +results of self-abuse begun at a very early age. The mother thought +it impossible that our suspicions could be correct, saying that she +had watched her sons with jealous care from earliest infancy and had +seen no indications of any error of the sort. But we had not long to +wait for confirmation of our view of the case, as they were soon caught +in the act, to which it was found that they were greatly addicted, and +the mystery was wholly solved. + +Every possible remedy was used to check the terrible disease which was +preying upon the unfortunate boys, but in vain. At times the symptoms +would be somewhat mitigated, and the most sanguine hopes of the fond, +watching mother would be excited, but in vain. The improvement always +proved to be but temporary, and the poor sufferers would speedily +relapse into the same dreadful condition again, and gradually grew +worse. At last, the poor mother was obliged to give up all hope, in +utter despair watching the daily advances of the awful malady which +inch by inch destroyed the life, the humanity, the very mind and soul +of her once promising sons. Sadly she took them back to her Western +home, there to see them suffer, perhaps for years before death should +kindly release them, the terrible penalty of sin committed almost +before they had arrived at years of responsibility. + +How these mere infants learned the vice we were never able to determine. +We have no doubt that opportunities sufficient were presented them, +as the parents seemed to have very little appreciation of danger from +this source. Had greater vigilance been exercised, we doubt not that +the discovery of the vice at the beginning would have resulted in the +salvation of these two beautiful boys, who were sacrificed upon the +altar of concupiscence. Two or three years after we first saw the cases, +we heard from them, and though still alive, their condition was almost +too horrible for description. Three or four similar cases have come +to our knowledge. + +Boys, are you guilty? Think of the fearful fate of these boys, once +as joyous and healthy as you. When you are tempted to sin, think of +the fearful picture of the effects of sin which they present. Have you +ever once dared to commit this awful sin? Stop, never dare to do the +thing again. Take a solemn vow before God to be pure. Your fate may +be as sad, your punishment as terrible. No one can tell what the results +may be. Absolute purity is the only safe course. + +A Prodigal Youth.--A. M., son of a gentleman of wealth in Ohio, early +acquired the evil practice which has ruined so many bright lads. He +was naturally an intelligent and prepossessing lad, and his father gave +him as good an education as he could be induced to acquire, affording +him most excellent opportunities for study and improvement. But the +vile habit which had been acquired at an early age speedily began its +blighting influence. It destroyed his taste for study and culture. His +mind dwelt upon low and vile subjects. He grew restless of home +restraint and surroundings, and finally left the parental roof. +Wandering from city to city he grew rapidly worse, sinking into deeper +depths of vice, until finally he became a base, besotted, wretched +creature. Broken down in health by his sins, he could no longer enjoy +even the worst sensual pleasures, and with no taste for or capability +of appreciating anything higher he was most wretched indeed. The poor +fellow now fell into the hands of quacks. His kind father sent him money +in answer to his pitiful appeals for help, and he went anxiously from +one to another of the wretched villains who promise relief to such +sufferers but only rob them of their money and leave them worse than +before. + +At last, in total despair of everything else, the poor fellow came to +us. He seemed quite broken-hearted and penitent for his sins, and really +appeared to want to lead a better life if he could only be made well +again. We faithfully pointed out to him the dreadful wickedness of his +course, and the fact that a cure could only be effected by the most +implicit obedience to all of nature's laws during his whole future life. +Indeed, we were obliged to inform him of the sad fact that he could +never be as well as before, that he must always suffer in consequence +of his dreadful course of transgression. We gave him a most earnest +exhortation to begin the work of reform where alone it could be +effectual, by reforming his heart, and the tears which coursed down +his sin-scarred cheeks seemed to indicate true penitence and a real +desire to return to the paths of purity and peace. + +Earnestly we labored for this young man, for months, employing every +means in our power to lift him from the slough of sin and vice upon +the solid pathway of virtue and purity again. Gradually the hard lines +on his face seemed to lessen in intensity. The traces of vice and crime +seemed to be fading out by degrees. We began to entertain hopes of his +ultimate recovery. But alas! in an evil moment, through the influence +of bad companions, he fell, and for some time we lost sight of him. +A long time afterward we caught a glimpse of his bloated, sin-stained +face, just as he was turning to skulk away to avoid recognition. Where +this poor human wreck is now leading his miserable existence we cannot +say, but have no doubt he is haunting the dens of iniquity and sin in +the cities, seeking to find a little momentary pleasure in the +gratification of his appetites and passions. A hopeless wreck, with +the lines of vice and crime drawn all over his tell-tale countenance, +he dares not go home, for he fears to meet the reproachful glance of +his doting mother, and the scornful looks of his brothers and sisters. +We never saw a more thoroughly unhappy creature. He is fully conscious +of his condition; he sees himself to be a wreck, in mind, in body, and +knows that he is doomed to suffer still more in consequence of his vices. +He has no hope for this world or the next. His mother gave him earnest, +pious instructions, which he has never forgotten, though he has long +tried to smother them. He now looks forward with terror to the fate +which he well knows awaits all evil-doers, and shudders at the thought, +but seems powerless to enter the only avenue which affords a chance +of escape. He is so tormented with the pains and diseased conditions +which he has brought upon himself by vice that he often looks to +self-destruction as a grateful means of escape; but then comes the awful +foreboding of future punishment, and his hand is stayed. Ashamed to +meet his friends, afraid to meet his Maker, he wanders about, an exile, +an outcast, a hopeless wreck. + +Young man, youth, have you taken the first step on this evil road? If +so, take warning by the fate of this young man. At once "cease to do +evil and learn to do well," before, like him, you lose the power to +do right, before your will is paralyzed by sin so that when you desire +to do right, to reform, your will and power to execute your good +determinations will fail to support your effort. + +Barely Escaped.--L. R. of H----, a young man of about twenty-five years +of age, presented himself for treatment, a few years ago, for the +consequence of self-abuse. Having been taught the habit by evil +companions when just emerging into manhood, he had indulged his +passions without restraint for several years, not knowing the evil +consequences until he began to suffer the effects of sin. Then, being +warned by his own experience and by the fortunate thoughtfulness of +an intelligent friend who surmised his condition and told him +faithfully of the terrible results of the vile habit, he made a manly +effort to reform and claimed to have wholly broken the habit. To his +great grief he found, however, that the years in which he had devoted +himself to sin had wrought sad havoc in his system. In many ways his +health was greatly deranged and his once powerful constitution was +broken down. The sexual organs themselves were greatly diseased, so +much so that a serious and painful surgical operation was necessary. +With shame and mortification he looked upon his past life and saw what +a hideous work of evil he had wrought. His vileness stood out before +him in a vivid light, and he felt ashamed to meet the gaze of his fellows. + +After performing the necessary surgical operation upon this poor +unfortunate, we dealt faithfully with him, pointing out to him the way +by which he might with proper effort in some degree redeem himself by +a life-long struggle against every form of impurity. He felt, and +rightly, that the task was a most severe one. He well knew that the +stamp of sin was on his countenance, and in his mind. Thoughts long +allowed to run upon vile subjects, forming filthy pictures in the +imagination, are not easily brought back to the channel of purity and +virtue. The mind that has learned to love to riot in impure dreams, +does not readily acquire a love for the opposite. But he determined +to make a brave and earnest effort, and we have every reason to believe +that he has, in a measure at least, succeeded. But, if so, he has made +a narrow escape. A few more years of sin, and his rescue would have +been impossible; both mind and body would have been sunk so deep in +the mire of concupiscence that none but Almighty power could have saved +him from utter destruction. Thousands of boys and young men are to-day +standing on the slippery brink of that awful precipice from which but +very few are snatched away. Soon they will plunge headlong over into +the abyss of debasement and corruption from whence they will never +escape. Oh that we had the power to reach each one of these unfortunate +youth before it is too late, and to utter in their ears such warnings, +to portray before them such pictures of the sure results of a course +of sin, that they might be turned back to the paths of chastity and +virtue before they have become such mental, moral, and physical wrecks +as we every day encounter in the walks of life. But not one in a thousand +can be reached when they have gone so far in sin. When they have ventured +once, they can rarely be checked in their downward course until great +harm has been wrought which it will require the work of years to undo. +The young man we have referred to made indeed a narrow escape, but no +one can safely run such a risk. Even he must suffer all his life the +consequences of a few years of sin. + +A Lost Soul.--M. M., of ----, was the son of a mechanic in humble +circumstances. He was an only child, and his parents spared no pains +to do all in their power to insure his becoming a good and useful man. +Good school advantages were given him, and at a proper age he was put +to learn a trade. He succeeded fairly, and their hopes of his becoming +all that they could desire were great, when he suddenly began to +manifest peculiar symptoms. He had attended a religious revival and +seemed much affected, professing religion and becoming a member of a +church. To the exercises of his mind on the subject of religion his +friends attributed his peculiar actions, which soon became so strange +as to excite grave fears that his mind was seriously affected. At times +he was wild, showing such unmistakable evidences of insanity that even +his poor mother, who was loth to believe the sad truth, was forced to +admit that he was deranged. + +After a few months a change came over him which encouraged his friends +to think that he was recovering. He became quiet and tractable, never +manifesting the furious symptoms before observed. But the deception +was only temporary, for it was soon evident that the change was simply +the result of the progress of the disease and denoted the failure of +the mental powers and the approach of imbecility. In this condition +was the young man when he came under our care. We felt strongly impressed +from our first examination of the case that it was one of sexual abuse; +but we were assured by his friends in the most emphatic manner that +such was an impossibility. It was claimed that the most scrupulous care +had been bestowed upon him, and that he had been so closely watched +that it was impossible that he should have been guilty of so gross a +vice. His friends were disposed to attribute his sad condition to +excessive exercise of mind upon religious subjects. + +Not satisfied with this view of the case, we set a close watch upon +him, and within a week his nurse reported that he had detected him in +the act of self-pollution, when he confessed the truth, not yet being +so utterly devoid of sense as to have lost his appreciation of the +sinfulness of the act. When discovered, he exclaimed, "I know I have +made myself a fool," which was the exact truth. At this time the once +bright and intelligent youth had become so obtuse and stupid that he +appeared almost senseless. His face wore an idiotic expression which +was rarely lighted up by a look of intelligence. It was only by the +greatest exertion that he could be made to understand or to respond +when spoken to. In whatever position he was placed, whether lying, +sitting, or standing, no matter how constrained or painful, he would +remain for hours, staring vacantly, and fixed and immovable as a statue. +His countenance was blank and expressionless except at rare intervals. +His lips were always parted, and the saliva ran from the corners of +his mouth down upon his clothing. The calls of nature were responded +to involuntarily, soiling constantly his clothing and bedding in a most +disgusting manner, and requiring the constant attention of a nurse to +keep him in anything like a wholesome condition. + +We did what we could to relieve this poor victim of unhallowed lust, +but soon became convinced that no human arm could save from utter ruin +this self-destroyed soul. At our suggestion the young man was removed +to be placed in an institution devoted to the care of imbeciles and +lunatics. The last we heard of the poor fellow he was still sinking +into lower depths of physical and mental degradation,--a soul utterly +lost and ruined. How many thousands of young men who might have been +useful members of society, lawyers, clergymen, statesmen, scientists, +have thus sunk into the foul depths of the quagmire of vice, to rise +no more forever! Oh, awful fate! The human eye never rests upon a sadder +sight than a ruined soul, a mind shattered and debased by vice. + +The Results of One Transgression.--The following case is a good +illustration of the fact that a long course of transgression is not +necessary to occasion the most serious results. A young man from an +Eastern State who visited us for treatment was suffering with the usual +consequences of self-abuse, but he asserted in the most emphatic manner +that he had never committed the act of self-pollution but once in his +life. He had, however, after that one vile act, allowed his mind to +run upon vile thoughts, giving loose rein to his imagination, and in +consequence he found himself as badly off, suffering with the very same +disorders, as those who had practiced the vice for some time. + +Not the slightest dallying with sin is safe. The maintenance of perfect +purity and chastity of body and mind is the only right and safe course. +By a few months' treatment the young man recovered his health in a great +measure, and, marrying an estimable young lady, settled down happily +in life. Many tears of remorse and repentance did he shed over that +one sinful act, and bitterly did he reproach the evil companion who +taught him to sin; but he was fortunate enough to escape without +suffering the worst effects of sin, and is now living happily. + +A Hospital Case.--One of the most wretched creatures we ever saw among +the many sufferers from sexual excesses whom we have met, was a man +of about thirty years of age whom we found in the large Charity Hospital +on Blackwell's Island, New York City. In consequence of long indulgence +in the soul-and-body destroying habit, he had brought upon himself not +only the most serious and painful disease of the sexual organs +themselves, but disease of the bladder and other adjacent organs. He +was under severe and painful treatment for a long time without benefit, +and finally a surgical operation was performed, but with the result +of affording only partial relief. + +An Old Offender.--Never were we more astonished than at the depth of +depravity revealed to us by the confessions of a patient from a distant +country who was upwards of sixty years of age and was yet a victim of +the vile habit to which he had become addicted when a youth. The stamp +of vice was on his face, and was not hidden by the lines made by advancing +age. The sufferings which this ancient sinner endured daily in +consequence of his long course of sin were sometimes fearful to behold; +and yet he continued the habit in spite of all warnings, advice, and +every influence which could be brought to bear upon him. So long had +he transgressed, he had lost his sense of shame and his appreciation +of the vileness of sin, and it was impossible to reform him by any means +which could be brought to bear upon him. He left us still a sufferer, +though somewhat relieved, and, we have every reason to believe, as vile +a sinner as ever. Undoubtedly, before this time his worthless life is +ended, and he has gone down into a sinner's grave, hoary with vice. +A terrible end. + +The Sad End of a Young Victim.--C. L., a young man residing in a large +Southern city, was the youngest son of parents who were in moderate +circumstances, but appreciated the value of education, and were anxious +to give their children every advantage possible for them to receive. +With this end in view, the young man was sent to college, where he did +well for a time, being naturally studious and intelligent; but after +a brief period he began to drop behind his classes. He seemed moody +and obtuse. He could not complete his tasks even by the most severe +application. It seemed impossible for him to apply himself. The power +of concentration appeared to be lost. Soon he was seized by fits of +gloominess from which he did not seem to have power to free himself. +His strength began to fail to such a degree that he could hardly drag +himself to his meals, and at last he was almost confined to his room. +He became greatly emaciated. The failure of his mental powers seemed +to keep pace with the wasting of his body, so that it was soon evident +that he must abandon all hope of pursuing his studies for some time +at least. His case being brought to our notice, we gave him every +attention possible, and spared no effort to rescue him from his +condition. We readily perceived the cause of his troubles, but for a +long time he did not acknowledge the truth. At last he confessed that +he had sinned for years in the manner suspected, and was suffering the +consequences. A knowledge of his guilt weighed upon him and haunted +him day and night. He promised to reform; but if he did, it was too +late, for the wasting disease which was fastened upon him continued. +At his mother's request he returned to his home, and a few weeks later +we received the awful intelligence that he had ended his miserable life +by blowing out his brains with a pistol. Thus tragically ended the +career of this young man, who might, with the advantages afforded him, +have become a useful member of society. In total despair of this life +or the next, he rashly ended his probation, and with his own hand +finished the work of destruction which he had himself begun. No words +can tell the grief of his stricken mother; but, fortunately, she was +spared the knowledge of the whole truth, else would her sorrow have +been too great to bear. + +From Bad to Worse.--C. E., a young man from the West, was sent to us +by his father with the request that we would do what we could to save +him. His father's letter intimated that the son had been a source of +grief to him, but he hoped that he had repented of his prodigal course, +and was really determined to reform. Though scarcely more than twenty +years of age, the young man's face wore an aspect of hardness, from +familiarity with vice, that we have rarely seen. He was reduced to a +mere skeleton by the vice which he made no secret of, and was so weak +that he could scarcely walk a rod. It seemed as if every organ in his +body was diseased, and that he had so squandered his vital resources +that he had no power to rally from his wretched condition even should +he carry out the determination to reform which he announced. However, +we gave him the best counsel and advice within our power, and placed +him under treatment. After a few weeks it was evident that nature was +still willing to respond to his endeavors to reform, by vigorous efforts +to restore him to a condition of comparative health. Thus he was +snatched, as it appeared, from the very jaws of death. Under these +circumstances it would seem that the most hardened criminal would +reform, at least for a season, and lead a life of rectitude; but so +utterly depraved was this poor wretch that no sooner did he find that +he was not liable to die immediately than he began at once again his +career of sin. By long indulgence his moral sense had become, apparently, +obliterated. He seemed to be utterly without the restraint imposed by +conscience. In less than a month he was detected in the crime of theft, +having stolen a watch from a fellow-patient. Upon his arrest, +stimulated by the hope of in some degree mitigating his punishment, +he confessed to have been carrying on a series of petty thieving for +weeks before he was finally detected, having scores of stolen articles +in his possession. The last time we saw the wretched fellow he was being +led away in irons to prison. We have since heard that he continues in +his downward career, having served out his time in prison, and will +undoubtedly end his life in a felon's cell unless he is shrewd enough +to escape his just deserts. Having lost all desire to do right, to be +noble, pure, and good, all efforts to reform and restore him to the +path of rectitude were fruitless. It was only the fear of impending +death that caused him to pause for a few days in his criminal course. +Young man, take warning by this sad case; enter not the pathway of vice. +A course of vice once entered upon is not easily left. A youth who once +gives himself up to sin, rarely escapes from going headlong to +destruction. + +An Indignant Father.--A case came to our knowledge through a gentleman +who brought his daughter to us for treatment for the effects of +self-abuse, of a father who adopted a summary method of curing his son +of the evil practice. Having discovered that the lad was a victim of +the vile habit, and having done all in his power by punishment, threats, +and representations of its terrible effects, but without inducing him +to reform, the father, in a fit of desperation, seized the sinful boy +and with his own hand performed upon him the operation of castration +as he would have done upon a colt. The boy recovered from the operation, +and was of course effectually cured of his vile habit. The remedy was +efficient, though scarcely justifiable. Even a father has no right thus +to mutilate his own son, though we must confess that the lad's chances +for becoming a useful man are fully as good as they would have been +had he continued his course of sin. + +Disgusted with Life.--T. A. was a young man of promise, the son of +ambitious parents, proud-spirited, and without respect for religion. +While still quite young he enlisted in the service of the government, +and after a time rose to the position of an officer in the U. S. army. +Having in boyhood acquired the habit of self-abuse, he had stimulated +his passions without restraint, and was readily led still farther +astray by the evil companions with whom he was surrounded. He indulged +his passions in every way and on every occasion when he found +opportunity, and speedily began to feel the effects of his vices. Before +he was fully aware of his condition, he found himself being literally +devoured by the vilest of all diseases, which only those who transgress +in this manner suffer. The disease made rapid advances and speedily +reduced him to a condition of almost absolute helplessness. He was +obliged to obtain a furlough; but his vital forces were so nearly +exhausted that he did not rally even under skillful treatment; and when +his furlough expired, he was still in the same pitiable condition. +Getting it extended for a time, he by accident came under our care, +and by the aid of very thorough treatment he was in a measure improved, +though the progress of the disease was simply stayed. When apprized +of his real condition, he exhibited much agitation, walking nervously +about his room, and finally exclaimed that he was utterly disgusted +with life anyway, and after a few weeks or months more of suffering +he should blow his brains out and end his misery. He had no fears of +death, he said, and we presume that he could not imagine it possible +that there was any greater suffering in store for him than he already +endured. We pitied the poor fellow from the bottom of our heart. He +had natural qualities which ought to have made him distinguished. He +might have risen high in the world of usefulness. Now he was compelled +to look back upon a short life of squandered opportunities, a pathway +stained with vice, memories of vile debaucheries which had wasted his +youth and broken his constitution. Wretched was he indeed. +Notwithstanding his vileness he was not lost to shame, for his greatest +fear was that his friends might ascertain the real cause of his +sufferings, to conceal which he was obliged to resort to all sorts of +subterfuges. As soon as he was able to travel he left us, being obliged +to report to his superior officers, and we have heard nothing of him +since. + +Scores of similar cases we might recount in detail, but we have not +here the space. These will suffice to give to the young reader an idea +of the terrible results of this awful vice which are suffered by its +victims. We have not dared to portray on these pages one-half the misery +and wretchedness which we have seen as the results of self-abuse and +the vices to which it leads. The picture is too terrible for young eyes +to behold. We most sincerely hope that none of our readers will ever +have to suffer as we have seen boys and young men do, languishing in +misery as the result of their own transgressions of the laws of chastity. +We will now devote the remaining pages of this chapter to the +consideration of some of the causes of the vice, the avenues that lead +to the awful sin which we are considering, and the terrible consequences +which attend it. + +Bad Company.--The influence of evil companionship is one of the most +powerful agents for evil against which those who love purity and are +seeking to elevate and benefit their fellow-men have to contend. A bad +boy can do more harm in a community than can be counteracted by all +the clergymen, Sabbath-school teachers, tract-distributers, and other +Christian workers combined. An evil boy is a pest compared with which +the cholera, small-pox, and even the plague, are nothing. The damage +which would be done by a terrific hurricane sweeping with destructive +force through a thickly settled district is insignificant compared with +the evil work which may be accomplished by one vicious lad. + +No community is free from these vipers, these agents of the arch-fiend. +Every school, no matter how select it may be, contains a greater or +less number of these young moral lepers. Often they pursue their work +unsuspected by the good and pure, who do not dream of the vileness pent +up in the young brains which have not yet learned the multiplication +table and scarcely learned to read. We have known instances in which +a boy of seven or eight years of age has implanted the venom of vice +in the hearts and minds of half a score of pure-minded lads within a +few days of his first association with them. This vice spreads like +wild-fire. It is more "catching" than the most contagious disease, and +more tenacious, when once implanted, than the leprosy. + +Boys are easily influenced either for right or for wrong, but especially +for the wrong; hence it is the duty of parents to select good companions +for their children, and it is the duty of children to avoid bad company +as they would avoid carrion or the most loathsome object. A boy with +a match box in a powder magazine would be in no greater danger than +in the company of most of the lads who attend our public schools and +play upon the streets. It is astonishing how early children, especially +boys, will sometimes learn the hideous, shameless tricks of vice which +yearly lead thousands down to everlasting death. Often children begin +their course of sin while yet cradled in their mother's arms, thus early +taught by some vile nurse. Boys that fight and swear, that play upon +the streets and disobey their parents, may be wisely shunned as unfit +for associates. In many instances, too, boys whose conduct is in other +respects wholly faultless sometimes indulge in vice, ignorant of its +real nature and consequences. At the first intimation of evil on the +part of a companion, a boy who is yet pure should flee away as from +a deadly serpent or a voracious beast. Do not let the desire to gratify +a craving curiosity deter you from fleeing at once from the source of +contamination. Under such circumstances do not hesitate a moment to +escape from danger. If an evil word is spoken or an indecent act of +any sort indulged in by a companion, cut the acquaintance of such a +boy at once. Never allow yourself to be alone with him a moment. On +no account be induced to associate with him. He will as surely soil +and besmear with sin your moral garments as would contact with the most +filthy object imaginable your outer garments. + +It were better for a boy never to see or associate with a lad of his +own age than to run any risk of being corrupted before he is old enough +to appreciate the terrible enormity of sin and the awful consequences +of transgression. It should be recollected also that not only young +boys but vicious youths and young men are frequently the instructors +in vice. It is unsafe to trust any but those who are known to be pure. + +Bad Language.--We have often been astonished at the facility with which +children acquire the language of vice. Often we have been astounded +to hear little boys scarcely out of their cradles, lisping the most +horrible oaths and the vilest epithets. The streets and alleys in our +large cities, and in smaller ones too in a less degree, are nurseries +of vice, in which are reared the criminals that fill our jails, prisons, +work-houses, school-ships, and houses of correction. Many a lad begins +his criminal education by learning the language of vice and sin. At +first he simply imitates the evil utterances of others; but soon he +learns the full significance of the obscene and filthy language which +he hears and repeats, and then he rapidly progresses in the downward +road. + +A boy that indulges in the use of foul language will not long be chaste +in acts. It is a safe rule to be followed by those who wish to grow +up pure and unsullied by sin, untainted by vice, that those who use +bad language are persons to avoid, to keep away from. Even those who +are well fortified against vice, who have been faithfully warned of +its consequences and fully appreciate its dangers, cannot be safely +trusted to associate with vile talkers. The use of bad language by old +and young is an evil which is of the very greatest moment. It is too +often ignored; too little is said about it; far too often it is +disregarded as of little consequence, and persons who are really not +bad at heart thoughtlessly encourage the evil by listening to and +laughing at obscene and ribald jokes, and impure language which ought +to make a virtuous man blush with shame to hear. + +Boys, if you want to be pure, if you wish to be loved by a pure mother, +an innocent sister, and when you are grown to manhood to be worthy of +the confidence of a pure, virtuous wife, keep your lips pure; never +let a vile word or an indecent allusion pass them. Never, under any +circumstances, give utterance to language that you would blush to have +your mother overhear. If you find yourself in the company of persons +whose language will not bear this test, escape as soon as possible, +for you are in danger; your sense of what is right and proper in speech +is being vitiated; you are being damaged in a variety of ways. + +Bad Books.--A bad book is as bad as an evil companion. In some respects +it is even worse than a living teacher of vice, since it may cling to +an individual at all times. It may follow him to the secrecy of his +bed-chamber, and there poison his mind with the venom of evil. The +influence of bad books in making bad boys and men is little appreciated. +Few are aware how much evil seed is being sown among the young everywhere +through the medium of vile books. It is not only the wretched volumes +of obscenity of which so many thousands have been seized and destroyed +by Mr. Comstock which are included under the head of bad books, and +which corrupt the morals of the young and lead them to enter the road +to infamy, but the evil literature which is sold in "dime and nickel +novels," and which constitutes the principal part of the contents of +such papers as the _Police Gazette_, the _Police News_, and a large +proportion of the sensational story books which flood the land, and +too many of which find their way into town and circulating libraries +and even Sunday-school libraries, which are rarely selected with the +care that ought to be exercised in the selection of reading matter for +the young. + +Bad books often find their way even where evil companions would not +intrude; and undoubtedly effect a work of evil almost as great as is +wrought by bad associations. + +Look out, boys, for the tempter in this guise. If a companion offers +you a book the character of which is suspicious, take it home to your +father, your mother, or some reliable older friend, for examination. +If it is handed you with an air of secrecy, or if a promise to keep +it hidden from others is required, have nothing to do with it. You might +better place a coal of fire or a live viper in your bosom than to allow +yourself to read such a book. The thoughts that are implanted in the +mind in youth will stick there through life, in spite of all efforts +to dislodge them. Hundreds of men who have been thus injured when young, +but have by some providence escaped a life of vice and shame, look back +with most intense regret to the early days of childhood, and earnestly +wish that the pictures then made in the mind by bad books might be +effaced. Evil impressions thus formed often torture minds during a +whole lifetime. In the most inopportune moments they will intrude +themselves. When the individual desires to place his mind undividedly +upon sacred and elevated themes, even at the most solemn moments of +life, these lewd pictures will sometimes intrude themselves in spite +of his efforts to avoid them. It is an awful thing to allow the mind +to be thus contaminated; and many a man would give the world, if he +possessed it, to be free from the horrible incubus of a defiled +imagination. + +Vile Pictures.--Obscene and lascivious pictures are influences which +lead boys astray too important to be unnoticed. Evil men, agents of +the arch-fiend, have adopted all sorts of devices for putting into the +hands of the boys and youths of the rising generation pictures +calculated to excite the passions, to lead to vice. Thousands of these +vile pictures are in circulation throughout the country in spite of +the worthy efforts of such philanthropists as Mr. Anthony Comstock and +his co-laborers. In almost every large school there are boys who have +a supply of these infamous designs and act as agents in scattering the +evil contagion among all who come under their influence. + +Under the guise of art, the genius of some of our finest artists is +turned to pandering to this base desire for sensuous gratification. +The pictures which hang in many of our art galleries that are visited +by old and young of both sexes often number in the list views which +to those whose thoughts are not well trained to rigid chastity can be +only means of evil. A plea may be made for these paintings in the name +of art; but we see no necessity for the development of art in this +particular direction, when nature presents so many and such varied +scenes of loveliness in landscapes, flowers, beautiful birds, and +graceful animals, to say nothing of the human form protected by +sufficient covering to satisfy the demands of modesty. + +Many of the papers and magazines sold at our news-stands and eagerly +sought after by young men and boys are better suited for the parlors +of a house of ill-repute than for the eyes of pure-minded youth. A +news-dealer who will distribute such vile sheets ought to be dealt with +as an educator in vice and crime, an agent of evil, and a recruiting +officer for hell and perdition. + +Evil Thoughts.--No one can succeed long in keeping himself from vicious +acts whose thoughts dwell upon unchaste subjects. Only those who are +pure in heart will be pure and chaste in action. The mind must be +educated to love and dwell upon pure subjects in early life, as by this +means only can the foundation be laid for that purity of character which +alone will insure purity of life. When the mind once becomes +contaminated with evil thoughts, it requires the work of years of +earnest effort to purge it from uncleanness. Vile thoughts leave scars +which even time will not always efface. They soil and deprave the soul, +as vile acts do the body. God knows them, if no human being does, and +if harbored and cherished they will tell against the character in the +day of Judgment as surely as will evil words and deeds. + +Influence of Other Bad Habits.--Evil practices of any sort which lower +the moral tone of an individual, which lessen his appreciation of and +love for right and purity and true nobility of soul, encourage the +development of vice. A boy who loves purity, who has a keen sense of +what is true and right, can never become a vicious man. Profanity, +falsehood, and deception of every sort, have a tendency in the direction +of vice. + +The use of highly seasoned food, of rich sauces, spices and condiments, +sweetmeats, and in fact all kinds of stimulating foods, has an undoubted +influence upon the sexual nature of boys, stimulating those organs into +too early activity, and occasioning temptations to sin which otherwise +would not occur. The use of mustard, pepper, pepper-sauce, spices, rich +gravies, and all similar kinds of food, should be carefully avoided +by young persons. They are not wholesome for either old or young; but +for the young they are absolutely dangerous. + +The use of beer, wine, hard cider, and tobacco, is especially damaging +to boys on this account. These stimulants excite the passions and +produce a clamoring for sensual gratification which few boys or young +men have the will power or moral courage to resist. Tobacco is an +especially detrimental agent. The early age at which boys now begin +the use of tobacco may be one of the reasons why the practice of secret +vice is becoming so terribly common among boys and young men. We never +think a boy or young man who uses tobacco safe from the commission of +some vile act. + +The use of tea and coffee by boys is also a practice which should be +interdicted. All wise physicians forbid the use of these narcotic +drinks, together with that of tobacco, and always with benefit to those +who abstain. In France the government has made a law forbidding the +use of tobacco by students in the public schools. In Germany a still +more stringent law has been made, which forbids the use of tobacco by +boys and young men. These laws have been made on account of the serious +injury which was evidently resulting from the use of the filthy weed +to both the health and the morals of the young men of those countries. +There is certainly an equal need for such a law in this country. + +Closing Advice to Boys and Young Men.--One word more and we must close +this chapter, which we hope has been read with care by those for whom +it is especially written. Let every boy who peruses these pages remember +that the facts here stated are true. Every word we have verified, and +we have not written one-half that might be said upon this subject. Let +the boy who is still pure, who has never defiled himself with vice, +firmly resolve that with the help of God he will maintain a pure and +virtuous character. It is much easier to preserve purity than to get +free from the taint of sin after having been once defiled. Let the boy +who has already fallen into evil ways, who has been taught the vile +practice the consequences of which we have endeavored to describe, and +who is already in the downward road,--let him resolve now to break the +chain of sin, to reform at once, and to renounce his evil practice +forever. The least hesitancy, the slightest dalliance with the demon +vice, and the poor victim will be lost. Now, this moment, is the time +to reform. Seek purity of mind and heart. Banish evil thoughts and shun +evil companions; then with earnest prayer to God wage a determined +battle for purity and chastity until the victory is wholly won. + +One of the greatest safeguards for a boy is implicit trust and +confidence in his parents. Let him go to them with all his queries +instead of to some older boyish friend. If all boys would do this, an +immense amount of evil would be prevented. When tempted to sin, boys, +think first of the vileness and wickedness of the act; think that God +and pure angels behold every act, and even know every thought. Nothing +is hid from their eyes. Think then of the awful results of this terrible +sin, and fly from temptation as from a burning house. Send up a prayer +to God to deliver you from temptation, and you will not fall. Every +battle manfully and successfully fought will add new strength to your +resolution and force to your character. Gaining such victories from +day to day you will grow up to be a pure, noble, useful man, the grandest +work of God, and will live a happy, virtuous life yourself, and add +to the happiness of those around you. + + + + +A CHAPTER FOR GIRLS. + + +We have written this chapter especially for girls, and we sincerely +hope that many will read it with an earnest desire to be benefited by +so doing. The subject of which we have to write is a delicate one, and +one which, we regret exceedingly, needs to be written about. But our +experience as a physician has proven to us again and again that it is +of the utmost importance that something be said, that words of warning +should be addressed particularly to the girls and maidens just emerging +into womanhood, on a subject which vitally concerns not only their own +future health and happiness, but the prosperity and destiny of the race. +Probably no one can be better fitted to speak on this subject than the +physician. A physician who has given careful attention to the health +and the causes of ill-health of ladies, and who has had opportunities +for observing the baneful influence exerted upon the bodies and minds +of girls and young women by the evil practices of which it is our purpose +here to speak, can better appreciate than can others the magnitude of +the evil, and is better prepared to speak upon the subject +understandingly and authoritatively. Gladly would we shun the task +which has been pressed upon us, but which we have long avoided, were +it not for the sense of the urgent need of its performance of which +our professional experience has thoroughly convinced us. We cannot keep +our lips closed when our eyes are witnesses to the fact that thousands +of the fairest and best of our girls and maidens are being beguiled +into everlasting ruin by a soul-destroying vice which works unseen, +and often so insidiously that its results are unperceived until the +work of ruin is complete. + +The nature of our subject necessitates that we should speak plainly, +though delicately, and we shall endeavor to make our language +comprehensible by any one old enough to be benefited by the perusal +of this chapter. We desire that all who read these pages may receive +lasting benefit by so doing. The subject is one upon which every girl +ought to be informed, and to which she should give serious attention, +at least sufficiently long to become intelligent concerning the evils +and dangers to which girls are exposed from this source. + +Girlhood.--Nothing is so suggestive of innocence and purity as the +simple beauty of girlhood when seen in its natural freshness, though +too seldom, now-a-days, is it possible to find in our young girls the +natural grace and healthy beauty which were common among the little +maidens of a quarter of a century ago. The ruddy cheeks and bright eyes +and red lips which are indicative of a high degree of healthy vigor +are not so often seen to-day among the small girls in our public schools +and passing to and fro upon the streets. The pale cheeks, languid eyes, +and almost colorless lips which we more often see, indicate weakly +constitutions and delicate health, and prophesy a short and suffering +life to many. Various causes are at work to produce this unfortunate +decline; and while we hope that in the larger share of cases, bad diet, +improper clothing, confinement in poorly ventilated rooms with too +little exercise, and similar causes, are the active agents, we are +obliged to recognize the fact that there is in far too many cases another +cause, the very mention of which makes us blush with shame that its +existence should be possible. But of this we shall speak again +presently. + +Real girls are like the just opening buds of beautiful flowers. The +beauty and fragrance of the full-blossomed rose scarcely exceed the +delicate loveliness of the swelling bud which shows between the +sections of its bursting calyx the crimson petals tightly folded +beneath. So the true girl possesses in her sphere as high a degree of +attractive beauty as she can hope to attain in after-years, though of +a different character. But genuine girls are scarce. Really natural +little girls are almost as scarce as real boys. Too many girls begin +at a very early age to attempt to imitate the pride and vanity manifested +by older girls and young ladies. It is by many supposed that to be +ladylike should be the height of the ambition of girls as soon as they +are old enough to be taught respecting propriety of behavior, which +is understood to mean that they must appear as unnatural as possible +in attempting to act like grown-up ladies. Many mothers who wish their +daughters to be models of perfection, but whose ideas of perfect +deportment are exceedingly superficial in character, dress up their +little daughters in fine clothing, beautiful to look at, but very far +from what is required for health and comfort, and then continually +admonish the little ones that they must keep very quiet and "act like +little ladies." Such a course is a most pernicious one. It fosters pride +and vanity, and inculcates an entirely wrong idea of what it is to be +ladylike,--to be a true lady, to be true to nature as a girl. Such +artificial training is damaging alike to mind and body; and it induces +a condition of mind and of the physical system which is very conducive +to the encouragement of dangerous tendencies. + +How to Develop Beauty and Loveliness.--All little girls want to be +beautiful. Girls in general care much more for their appearance than +do boys. They have finer tastes, and greater love for whatever is lovely +and beautiful. It is a natural desire, and should be encouraged. A pure, +innocent, beautiful little girl is the most lovely of all God's +creatures. All are not equally beautiful, however, and cannot be; but +all may be beautiful to a degree that will render them attractive. Let +all little girls who want to be pretty, handsome, or good-looking, give +attention and we will tell them how. Those who are homely should listen +especially, for all may become good-looking, though all cannot become +remarkably beautiful. First of all, it is necessary that the girl who +wishes to be handsome, to be admired, should be good. She must learn +to love what is right and true. She must be pure in mind and act. She +must be simple in her manners, modest in her deportment, and kind in +her ways. + +Second in importance, though scarcely so, is the necessity of health. +No girl can long be beautiful without health; and no girl who enjoys +perfect health can be really ugly in appearance. A healthy countenance +is always attractive. Disease wastes the rounded features, bleaches +out the roses from the cheeks and the vermilion from the lips. It +destroys the luster of the eye and the elasticity of the step. Health +is essential to beauty. In fact, if we consider goodness as a state +of moral health, then health is the one great requisite of beauty. + +Health is obtained and preserved by the observance of those natural +laws which the Creator has appointed for the government of our bodies. +The structure of these bodies we may do well to study for a few moments. + +The Human Form Divine.--Go with us to one of the large cities, and we +will show you one of the most marvelous pieces of mechanism ever +invented, a triumph of ingenuity, skill, and patient, persevering labor +for many years. This wonderful device is a clock which will run more +than one hundred years. It is so constructed that it indicates not only +the time of day, the day of the month and year, itself making all the +necessary changes for leap year, but shows the motions of the earth +around the sun, together with the movements and positions of all the +other planets, and many other marvelous things. When it strikes at the +end of each hour, groups of figures go through a variety of curious +movements most closely resembling the appearance and actions of human +beings. + +The maker of this remarkable clock well deserves the almost endless +praise which he receives for his skill and patience; for his work is +certainly wonderful; but the great clock, with its curious and +complicated mechanism, is a coarse and bungling affair when compared +with the human body. The clock doubtless contains thousands of delicate +wheels and springs, and is constructed with all the skill imaginable; +and yet the structure of the human body is infinitely more delicate. +The clock has no intelligence; but a human being can hear, see, feel, +taste, touch, and think. The clock does only what its maker designed +to have it do, and can do nothing else. The human machine is a living +mechanism; it can control its own movements, can do as it will, within +certain limits. What is very curious indeed, the human machine has the +power to mend itself, so that when it needs repairs it is not necessary +to send it to a shop for the purpose, but all that is required is to +give nature an opportunity and the system repairs itself. + +A Wonderful Process.--We have not space to describe all the wonderful +mechanism of this human machine, but must notice particularly one of +its most curious features, a provision by which other human beings, +living machines like itself, are produced. All living creatures possess +this power. A single potato placed in the ground becomes a dozen or +more, by a process of multiplying. A little seed planted in the earth +grows up to be a plant, produces flowers, and from the flowers come +other seeds, not one, but often a great many, sometimes hundreds from +a single seed. Insects, fishes, birds, and all other animals, thus +multiply. So do human beings, and in a similar manner. The organs by +which this most marvelous process is carried on in plants and animals, +including also human beings, are called sexual organs. Flowers are the +sexual organs of plants. And flowers are always the most fragrant and +the most beautiful when they are engaged in this wonderful and curious +work. + +Human Buds.--A curious animal which lives near the seashore, in shallow +water, attached to a rock like a water plant, puts out little buds which +grow awhile and then drop off, and after a time become large individuals +like the parent, each in turn producing buds like the one from which +it grew. Human beings are formed by a similar process. Human buds are +formed by an organ for the purpose possessed only by the female sex, +and these, under proper circumstances, develop into infant human beings. +The process, though so simply stated, is a marvelously complicated one, +which cannot be fully explained here; indeed, it is one of the mysteries +which it is beyond the power of human wisdom fully to explain. + +The production of these human buds is one of the most important and +sacred duties of woman. It is through this means that she becomes a +mother, which is one of the grandest and noblest functions of womanhood. +It is the motherly instinct that causes little girls to show such a +fondness for dolls, a perfectly natural feeling which may be encouraged +to a moderate degree without injury. + +How Beauty is Marred.--As already remarked, mental, moral, and physical +health are the requisites for true beauty, and to secure these, +obedience to all the laws of health is required. The most beautiful +face is soon marred when disease begins its ravages in the body. The +most beautiful character is as speedily spoiled by the touch of moral +disease, or sin. The face is a mirror of the mind, the character; and +a mind full of evil, impure thoughts is certain to show itself in the +face in spite of rosy cheeks and dimples, ruby lips and bewitching +smiles. The character is written on the face as plainly as the face +may be pictured by an artist on canvas. + +To be more explicit, the girl who disregards the laws of health, who +eats bad food, eats at all hours or at unseasonable hours, sits up late +at night, attends fashionable parties and indulges in the usual means +of dissipation there afforded, dancing, wine, rich suppers, etc., who +carefully follows the fashions in her dress, lacing her waist to attain +the fashionable degree of slenderness, wearing thin, narrow-toed +gaiters with French heels, and insufficiently clothing the limbs in +cold weather, and who in like manner neglects to comply with the +requirements of health in other important particulars, may be certain +that sooner or later, certainly at no distant day, she will become as +unattractive and homely as she can wish not to be. Girls and young ladies +who eat largely of fat meat, rich cakes and pies, confectionery, iced +creams, and other dietetic abominations, cannot avoid becoming sallow +and hollow-eyed. The cheeks may be ever so plump and rosy, they will +certainly lose their freshness and become hollow and thin. Chalk and +rouge will not hide the defect, for everybody will discover the fraud, +and will of course know the reason why it is practiced. + +A Beauty-Destroying Vice.--But by far the worst enemy of beauty and +health of body, mind, and soul, we have not yet mentioned. It is a sin +concerning which we would gladly keep silence; but we cannot see so +many of our most beautiful and promising girls and young ladies annually +being ruined, often for this world and the next alike, without uttering +the word of warning needed. + +As before remarked, the function of maternity, which is the object of +the sexual system in woman, when rightly exercised is the most sacred +and elevated office which a woman can perform for the world. The woman +who is a true mother has an opportunity of doing for the race more than +all other human agencies combined. The mother's influence is the +controlling influence in the world. The mother molds the character of +her children. She can make of their plastic minds almost what she will +if she is herself prepared for the work. On the other hand, misuse or +abuse of the sexual organism is visited in girls and women, as in boys +and men, with the most fearful penalties. Nothing will sooner deprive +a girl or young lady of the maidenly grace and freshness with which +nature blesses woman in her early years than secret vice. We have the +greatest difficulty in making ourself believe that it is possible for +beings designed by nature to be pure and innocent, in all respects free +from impurity of any sort, to become so depraved by sin as to be willing +to devote themselves to so vile and filthy a practice. Yet the frequency +with which cases have come under our observation which clearly indicate +the alarming prevalence of the practice, even among girls and young +women who would naturally be least suspected, compels us to recognize +the fact. The testimony of many eminent physicians whose opportunities +for observation have been very extensive shows that the evil is +enormously greater than people generally are aware. Instructors of the +youth, of large experience, assert the same. Nor is the evil greater +in America than in some other countries. One writer declares that the +vice is almost universal among the girls of Russia, which may be due +to the low condition in which the women of that country are kept. + +Terrible Effects of Secret Vice.--The awful effects of this sin against +God and nature, this soul-and-body-destroying vice, become speedily +visible in those who are guilty of it. The experienced eye needs no +confession on the part of the victim to read the whole story of sinful +indulgence and consequent disease. The vice stamps its insignia upon +the countenance; it shows itself in the walk, in the changed disposition +and the loss of healthy vigor. It is not only impossible for a victim +of this sinful practice to hide from the all-seeing eye of God the +vileness perpetrated in secret, but it is also useless to attempt to +hide from human eyes the awful truth. + +Headache, side-ache, back-ache, pains in the chest, and wandering pains +in various parts of the body,--these are but a few of the painful +ailments from which girls who are guilty of this sin suffer. Many of +the tender spines which cause great solicitude on the part of parents +and physicians, who fear that disease of the spine is threatening the +life of a loved daughter, not infrequently originate in this way. Much +of the hysteria which renders wretched the lives of thousands of young +ladies and the fond friends who are obliged to care for and attend them, +arises from sexual transgression of the kind of which we are speaking. +The blanched cheeks, hollow, expressionless eyes, and rough, pimply +skins of many school-girls are due to this cause alone. We do not mean +by this to intimate that every girl who has pimples upon her face is +guilty of secret vice; but this sin is undoubtedly a very frequent cause +of the unpleasant eruption which so often appears upon the foreheads +of both sexes. It would be very unjust, however, to charge a person +with the sin unless some further evidence than that of an eruption on +the face was afforded. + +The inability to study, to apply themselves in any way except when +stimulated by something of a very exciting character, which many girls +exhibit, is in a large proportion of cases due to the practice of which +we are writing. Often enough the effects which are attributed to +overstudy are properly due to this debasing habit. We have little faith +in the great outcry made in certain quarters about the damaging effects +of study upon the health of young ladies. A far less worthy cause is +in many cases the true one, to which is attributable the decline in +health at a critical period when all the vital forces of the system +are necessarily called into action to introduce the activity of a new +function. + +Hundreds of girls break down in health just as they are entering +womanhood. At from twelve to eighteen years of age the change naturally +occurs which transforms the girl into a woman by the development of +functions previously latent. This critical period is one through which +every girl in health ought to pass with scarcely any noticeable +disturbance; and if during the previous years of life the laws of health +were observed, there would seldom be any unusual degree of suffering +at this time. Those who have before this period been addicted to the +vile habit of which we are writing, will almost invariably show at this +time evidences of the injury which has been wrought. The unnatural +excitement of the organs before the period of puberty, lays the +foundation for life-long disease. When that critical epoch arrives, +the organs are found in a state of congestion often bordering on +inflammation. The increased congestion which naturally occurs at this +time in many cases is sufficient to excite most serious disease. Here +is the beginning of a great many of the special diseases which are the +bane and shame of the sex. Displacements of various sorts, congestions, +neuralgia of the ovaries, leucorrhoea, or whites, and a great variety +of kindred maladies, are certain to make their appearance at this period +or soon after in those who have previously been guilty of self-abuse. +If the evil influences already at work are augmented by tight lacing, +improper dressing of the extremities, hanging heavy skirts upon the +hips, and fashionable dissipation generally, the worst results are sure +to follow, and the individual is certain to be a subject for the doctors +for a good portion of her life. + +A talented writer some time since contributed to a popular magazine +an article entitled, "The Little Health of Women," which contained many +excellent hints respecting the influences at work to undermine the +health and destroy the constitutions of American women; but he did not +even hint at this potent cause, which, we firmly believe, is responsible +for a far greater share of the local disease and general poor health +of girls, young women, and married ladies, than has been generally +recognized. These are startling facts, but we are prepared to +substantiate them. + +Remote Effects.--Not all of the effects of the vice appear in girlhood, +nor even during early life. Not infrequently it is not until the girl +has grown up to be a wife and mother that she begins to appreciate fully +the harm that has been wrought. At this time, when new demands are made +upon the sexual organism, when its proper duties are to be performed, +there is a sudden failure; new weaknesses and diseases make their +appearance, new pains and sufferings are felt, which no woman who has +not in some way seriously transgressed the laws of health will suffer. +In not a few instances it is discovered that the individual is wholly +unfitted for the duties of maternity. Often, indeed, maternity is +impossible, the injury resulting from the sins committed being so great +as to render the diseased organism incapable of the functions required. + +In the great majority of cases these peculiar difficulties, morbid +conditions, and incapacities are attributed to overwork, overstudy, +"taking cold," "getting the feet wet," or some other cause wholly +inadequate to account for the diseased conditions present, although +in many instances it may be true that some such unfortunate circumstance +may be the means of precipitating the effects of previous sin upon +organs already relaxed, debilitated, and thus prepared readily to take +on disease. + +Causes which Lead Girls Astray.--The predisposing causes of sexual +vices have already been dwelt upon so fully in this volume that we shall +devote little space to the subject here. We may, however, mention a +few of the causes which seem to be most active in leading to the +formation of evil habits among girls. + +Vicious Companions.--Girls are remarkably susceptible to influence by +those of their own age. A vicious girl who makes herself agreeable to +those with whom she associates can exert more influence over many of +her companions than can any number of older persons. Even a mother +rarely has that influence over her daughter that is maintained by the +girl whom she holds as her bosom friend. The close friendships which +are often formed between girls of the same age are often highly +detrimental in character. Each makes a confidant of the other, and thus +becomes estranged from the only one competent to give counsel and advice, +and the one who of all others is worthy of a young girl's +confidence,--her mother. + +From these unfortunate alliances often arise most deplorable evils. +Vicious companions not infrequently sow the seeds of evil habits far +and wide, contaminating all who come within their influence. + +Whom to Avoid.--A girl will always do well to avoid a companion who +is vain, idle, silly, or frivolous. Girls who have these evil +characteristics are very likely to have others also which are worse. +A girl who is rude in her manners, careless in her habits, irreverent +and disobedient to parents and teachers, is always an unsafe companion. +No matter how pretty, witty, stylish, or aristocratic she may be, she +should be shunned. Her influence will be withering, debasing, wherever +felt. A girl may be gay and thoughtless without being vicious; but the +chances are ten to one that she will become sinful unless she changes +her ways. + +Sentimental Books.--The majority of girls love to read, but, +unfortunately, the kind of literature of which they are chiefly fond +is not of a character which will elevate, refine, or in any way benefit +them. Story books, romances, love tales, and religious novels +constitute the chief part of the reading matter which American young +ladies greedily devour. We have known young ladies still in their teens +who had read whole libraries of the most exciting novels. + +The taste for novel-reading is like that for liquor or opium. It is +never satiated. It grows with gratification. A confirmed novel-reader +is almost as difficult to reform as a confirmed inebriate or opium-eater. +The influence upon the mind is most damaging and pernicious. It not +only destroys the love for solid, useful reading, but excites the +emotions, and in many cases keeps the passions in a perfect fever of +excitement. The confessions of young women who were to all appearance +the most circumspect in every particular, and whom no one mistrusted +to be capable of vile thoughts, have convinced us that this evil is +more prevalent than many, even of those who are quite well informed, +would be willing to admit. + +By reading of this kind, many are led to resort to self-abuse for the +gratification of passions which over-stimulation has made almost +uncontrollable. Some have thus been induced to sin who had never been +injured by other influences, but discovered the fatal secret themselves. +Mothers cannot be too careful of the character of the books which their +daughters read. Every book, magazine, and paper should be carefully +scrutinized, unless its character is already well known, before it is +allowed to be read. In our opinion, some of the literature which passes +as standard, which is often found on parlor center-tables and in family +and school libraries, such as Chaucer's poems, and other writings of +a kindred character, is unfit for perusal by inexperienced and +unsophisticated young ladies. Some of this literature is actually too +vile for any one to read, and if written to-day by any poet of note +would cause his works to be committed to the stove and the rag-bag in +spite of his reputation. + +Various Causes.--Bad diet, the use of stimulating and exciting articles +of food, late suppers, confectionery and dainties,--all these have a +very powerful influence in the wrong direction by exciting functions +which ought to be kept as nearly latent as possible. The use of tea +and coffee by young ladies cannot be too strongly condemned. Improper +dress, by causing local congestion, often predisposes to secret vice +by occasioning local excitement. Probably a greater cause than any of +those last mentioned is too great familiarity with the opposite sex. +The silly letters which girls sometimes allow themselves to receive +from the boys and young men of their acquaintance, and which they +encourage by letters of a similar character, must be condemned in the +most thorough manner. Upon receiving such a letter a pure-minded girl +will consider herself insulted; and has just reason for so doing. The +childish flirtations which girls and boys sometimes indulge in often +lead to evils of a most revolting character. + +Modesty Woman's Safeguard.--True modesty and maidenly reserve are the +best guardians of virtue. The girl who is truly modest, who encourages +and allows no improper advances, need have no fear of annoyance from +this source. She is equally safe from temptation to sin which may come +to her in secret, when no human eye can behold. Maidenly modesty is +one of the best qualities which any young lady can possess. A young +woman who lacks modesty, who manifests boldness of manner and +carelessness in deportment, is not only liable to have her virtue +assailed by designing and unscrupulous men, but is herself likely to +fall before the temptation to indulge in secret sin, which is certain +to present itself in some way sooner or later. + +This invaluable protection is speedily lost by the girl who abandons +herself to secret vice. The chances are very great, also, that by +degrees her respect for and love of virtue and chastity will diminish +until she is open to temptations to indulge in less secret sin; and +thus she travels down the road of vice until she finds herself at last +an inmate of a brothel or an outcast wanderer, rejected by friends, +and lost to virtue, purity, and all that a true woman holds most dear. + +A Few Sad Cases.--Although we do not believe it right to harrow the +feelings of those who have sinned and suffered with a rehearsal of sad +cases when no good can be accomplished by such accounts, we deem it +but just that those who are not yet entangled in the meshes of vice +should have an opportunity of knowing the actual results of sin, and +profiting by the sad experience of others. It is for this purpose that +we shall mention a few cases which have come under our observation, +taking care to avoid mentioning any facts which might lead to +identification, as the facts we shall use were, many of them, received +in strict confidence from those who were glad to unburden their hearts +to some one, but had never dared to do so, even to their friends. + +A Pitiful Case.--Several years ago we received a letter from a young +woman in an Eastern State in which she described her case as that of +an individual who had early become addicted to secret vice and had +continued the vile habit until that time, when she was about thirty-two +years of age. In spite of the most solemn vows to reform, she still +continued the habit, and had become reduced to such a miserable +condition that she would almost rather die than live. She sent with +her letter photographs representing herself at twenty and at that time, +so that we might see the contrast. It was indeed appalling to see what +changes sin had wrought. Her face, once fair and comely, had become +actually haggard with vice. Purity, innocence, grace, and modesty were +no longer visible there. The hard lines of sin had obliterated every +trace of beauty, and produced a most repulsive countenance. Though +greatly depraved and shattered by sin and consequent disease in body +and mind, she still had some desire to be cured, if possible, and made +a most pitiful appeal for help to escape from her loathsome condition. +We gave her the best counsel we could under the circumstances, and did +all in our power to rescue her from her living death; but whether in +any degree successful we cannot tell, as we have never heard from the +poor creature since. + +We have often wished since that we might but show those two pictures +to every girl who has been tempted to sin in this way, to all who have +ever yielded to this awful vice. The terrible contrast would certainly +produce an impression which no words can do. We sent them back to their +wretched original, however, by her request, and so cannot show the +actual pictures; but when any who read these lines are tempted thus +to sin we beg them to think of these two pictures, and by forming a +vivid image of them in the mind drive away the disposition to do wrong. + +A Mind Dethroned.--A young lady who had received every advantage which +could be given her by indulgent parents, and who naturally possessed +most excellent talents, being a fine musician, and naturally so bright +and witty as to be the life of every company in which she moved, suddenly +began to show strange symptoms of mental unsoundness. She would +sometimes be seized with fits of violence during which it was with great +difficulty that she could be controlled. Several times she threatened +the lives of her nurses, and even on one occasion attempted to execute +her threat, the person's life being saved by mere accident. Everything +was done for her that could be done, but the mania increased to such +a degree of violence that she was sent to an asylum for the insane. +Here she remained for months before she became sufficiently tractable +to be taken to her home and cared for by friends. Too close application +to study was the cause at first assigned for her mental disorder, but +a careful investigation of the case revealed the fact that the terrible +sin which has ruined the minds of so many promising young men and +brilliant young women was the cause that led to the sad result in this +case also. The punishment of sin, especially of sexual sins, is indeed +terrible; but the sin is a fearful one, and the penalty must be equal +to the enormity of the crime. Not all young women who indulge thus will +become insane, but any one who thus transgresses may be thus punished. +There is no safety but in absolute purity. + +A Penitent Victim.--A young woman who had been ill for years, and whose +physicians had sought in vain to cure her various ailments, until her +parents almost despaired of her ever being anything but a helpless +invalid, came to us for treatment, resolved upon making a last effort +for health. She had grown up in utter ignorance of the laws of health +and of the results of the vice of which we are writing; and having been +early taught the sin, she had indulged it for a number of years with +the result of producing a most terribly diseased condition of the sexual +organs, which had baffled the skill of all the physicians who had +attended her, none of whom had ever been made acquainted with the true +cause of the difficulties. When apprized of the real facts in the case, +that she was alone responsible for the sad condition into which she +had fallen, her eyes were opened to see the wickedness and vileness +of her course. She bitterly bemoaned her past life, and heartily +repented of her sins. Of the sincerity of her repentance she gave +evidence in the earnest efforts which she put forth to help herself. +She spared no pains to do well all required on her part, and was soon +rewarded by feeling that her diseases were being removed and health +was returning. Still, she was constantly reminded of her former sins. +When the will was off its guard, during sleep, the mind, long indulged +in sin, would revert to the old channels and riot in vileness. Unchaste +dreams made her often dread to sleep, as she awoke from these +unconscious lapses enervated, weak, and prostrated as though she had +actually transgressed. But though often thus almost disheartened she +continued the struggle, and was finally rewarded by gaining a perfect +victory over her mind, sleeping as well as waking, and recovering her +health sufficiently to enable her to enjoy life and make herself very +useful. + +Not a few similar cases have come under our observation; and it seems +to us that the pain, anguish, and remorse suffered by these poor victims, +ought to be a warning to those who have never entered the sinful road. +What a terrible thing it is for a pure and lovely being, designed by +God to fulfill a high, holy, and sacred mission in the world, to become +a victim to such a filthy vice! No girl of sense would in her right +mind raise her hand to dash in pieces a beautiful vase, to destroy a +lovely painting, or a beautiful piece of statuary. A girl who would +do such a thing would be considered insane and a fit subject for a +mad-house. Yet is not the human body, a girl's own beautiful, +symmetrical form, infinitely better, more valuable and more sacred, +than any object produced by human art? There can be but one answer. +How, then, is it possible for her thus to defile and destroy herself? +Is it not a fearful thing? a terrible vice? + +A Ruined Girl.--One of the most remarkable cases of disease resulting +from self-abuse which ever came under our observation was that of a +young lady from a distant Western State whose adopted parents, after +consulting many different physicians for a peculiar disease of the +breast, placed her under our care. We found her a good-looking young +woman about seventeen years of age, rather pale and considerably +emaciated, very nervous and hysterical, and suffering with severe pain +in the left breast, which was swollen to nearly double the natural size, +hot, tense, pulsating, and extremely tender to the touch. Occasionally +she would experience paroxysms in which she apparently suffered +extremely, being sometimes semi-conscious, and scarcely breathing for +hours. We suspected the cause of these peculiar manifestations at the +outset, but every suggestion of the possibility of the suspected cause +was met with a stout denial and a very deceptive appearance of innocent +ignorance on the subject. All treatment was unavailing to check the +disease. Though sometimes the symptoms seemed to be controlled, a +speedy relapse occurred, so that no progress toward a cure was made. +Finally our conviction that our first impression respecting the case +was correct became so strong that we hesitated no longer to treat it +as such. By most vigilant observation we detected evidences of the +soul-corrupting vice which we considered unmistakable, and then the +young woman who had pretended such profound ignorance of the matter +confessed to an extent of wickedness which was perfectly appalling. +Every paroxysm was traced to an unusual excess of sinful indulgence. +So hardened was she by her evil practices that she seemed to feel no +remorse, and only promised to reform when threatened with exposure to +her parents unless she immediately ceased the vile practice. In less +than ten days the mysterious symptoms which had puzzled many physicians +disappeared altogether. The swollen, tender breast was no larger than +the other, and was so entirely restored that she was able to strike +it a full blow without pain. + +So great was the depravity of this girl, however, that she had no notion +of making a permanent reform. She even boasted of her wickedness to +a companion, and announced her intention to continue the practice. We +sent her home, and apprized her parents of the full facts in the case, +for which we received their deepest gratitude, though their hearts were +nearly broken with grief at the sad revelation made to them. +Notwithstanding their most earnest efforts in her behalf, the wretched +girl continued her downward career, and a year or two after we learned +that she had sunk to the very lowest depths of shame. + +Once this now wretched, disgraced creature was an attractive, pure, +innocent little girl. Her adopted father lavished upon her numerous +presents, and spent hundreds of dollars to obtain her recovery to health. +Yet through this awful vice she was ruined utterly, and rendered so +wholly perverse and bad that she had no desire to be better, no +disposition to reform. God only knows what will be her sad end. May +none who read these lines ever follow in her footsteps. + +The Danger of Boarding-Schools.--Some years ago a young lady came under +our medical care who had suffered for some time from a serious nervous +difficulty which had baffled the skill of all the physicians who had +had charge of her case, and which occasioned her a great amount of +suffering, making it necessary that she should be confined to her bed +most of the time, the disease being aggravated by exercise, and the +patient having been much weakened by its long continuance. + +All the remedies usually successful in such cases were employed with +little or no effect, and we were feeling somewhat perplexed concerning +the case, when the young lady sent for us one day and upon our going +to her room in answer to her call she immediately burst into tears and +acknowledged that she had been addicted to the habit of self-abuse and +that she was still suffering from involuntary excitement during sleep. +Having been placed in a boarding-school when quite young, she had there +learned the vile habit, and had practiced it without knowing anything +of the ill effects or really appreciating its sinfulness. When she +learned, some years after, that the habit was a most pernicious vice +and of a character to bring destruction to both soul and body of one +addicted to it, she endeavored to free herself from its shackles; but +she found herself too securely bound for escape. It seemed, indeed, +an utter impossibility. Her thoughts had long been allowed to run in +sentimental channels, and now they would do so in spite of the most +earnest efforts to the contrary, during her waking hours; and in sleep, +while the will power was not active, the imagination would run riot +uncontrolled, leaving her, upon awaking, exhausted, enervated, and +almost desperate with chagrin. Knowing that she was daily suffering +for her transgressions, she was filled with remorse and regret, and +would have given all to undo the past; but, alas! she could not, and +could only suffer with patience until relief could be secured. Her love +for sentimental literature occasioned another battle for her to fight; +for she could scarcely resist the temptation daily offered her to while +away some of the weary hours with such stories of love and sentiment +as she had been accustomed to enjoy. But she fought the battle earnestly, +and finally succeeded in conquering the evil tendencies of her mind +both while awake and when asleep; and from that time she began to make +slow progress toward recovery. The last we saw of her she was doing +well, and hoped in time to arrive at a very comfortable state of health. + +A Desperate Case.--A little girl about ten years of age was brought +to us by her father, who came with his daughter to have her broken of +the vile habit of self-abuse into which she had fallen, having been +taught it by a German servant girl. Having read an early copy of this +work, the father had speedily detected the habit, and had adopted every +measure which he could devise to break his child of the destructive +vice which she had acquired, but in vain. After applying various other +measures without success, it finally became necessary to resort to a +surgical operation, by which it is hoped that she was permanently cured, +as we have heard nothing to the contrary since, and as the remedy seemed +to be effectual. It was a severe remedy, and may seem a harsh one, but +every other means utterly failed, and the father insisted upon the +performance of the operation as a trial. This little girl, naturally +truthful and honest, had, through the influence of this blighting vice, +been made crafty and deceptive. She would tell the most astonishing +falsehoods to free herself from the charge of guilt or to avoid +punishment. The gentleman, her father, felt so deeply upon the subject +and was so thoroughly awake to the consequences of the sin, that he +declared he would take his daughter away into the wilderness and leave +her to die, if need be, rather than allow her to grow up to womanhood +with this vile blight upon her, and run the risk of her contaminating +with the same vice his other, younger children. He felt so deeply that +the tears coursed down his cheeks as he talked, and we were most happy +to be of service to him in aiding his daughter to overcome the +fascinating vice. She seemed willing to try to help herself, but was +unable to break the bonds of sin without the extraordinary help which +she received. + +We might continue this rehearsal of cases to an almost indefinite length, +but we must soon bring this chapter to a close. Those described are +only a few examples of the many we are constantly meeting. None have +been overdrawn; much has been omitted for the sake of delicacy which +the exposure of the whole truth would have required us to present. We +sincerely hope that these examples may be a warning to those who have +never marred their purity of character by an unchaste act. To those +who may have already sinned in this manner let the words come with double +force and meaning. Do you value life, health, beauty, honor, virtue, +purity? Then for the sake of all these, abandon the evil practice at +once. Do not hesitate for a moment to decide, and do not turn back after +deciding to reform. + +A Last Word.--Girls, as one who has only your best interests in view, +and who would do you good, we beg of you to give heed one moment to +the important matter which we have been presenting before you. It is +of no frivolous character. It is one of the most important subjects +to which your attention can be called. Only those who are utterly +ignorant of the dangers which surround them in the world, or who are +already hardened in sin, will treat this matter lightly or scornfully. +If you are still pure and possess a character unsoiled by sin, thank +God that you have been preserved until now, and humbly petition him +to enable you to remain as pure and unsullied as you now are. Cultivate +all of the heavenly graces. Make your dear mother your confidant in +all your perplexities and trials. Go to her for information on all +subjects upon which you find yourself ignorant. Let no foreign +influence beguile away your confidence from her who is most worthy of +your love and respect, and who is best prepared to instruct you on all +subjects, no matter how delicate. Trust in God for help to resist evil +under every guise. Flee from temptation under whatever form it may +appear. Thus may you escape the suffering, the sorrow, and the remorse, +which is endured sooner or later by all who enter the road of sin, no +matter how short a time they may travel therein. + +To those who have already fallen, who have been led astray either +ignorantly or through weakness in yielding to temptation, we will say, +Turn from your evil way at once. Misery, sorrow, anguish, and +everlasting ruin stare you in the face. Perdition is before you. You +need not think to escape the punishment that others suffer, for there +is no way of escape. The penalty will surely come. Make haste to return +to the paths of purity before it is too late to mend the past. It may +take years of pure and upright living to repair the evil already done; +but do not hesitate to begin at once. With the help of God, resolve +to become pure again. God can cleanse you from all unrighteousness. +He can enable you to chase from your mind and heart every impure thought +and unclean desire. Through his grace you can successfully battle with +temptation and redeem the black record of the past. + + +A FEW WORDS TO BOYS AND GIRLS. + +Of the last two preceding chapters one was devoted exclusively to advice +and instruction to boys, the other being written expressly for girls. +Now we have a few words in conclusion for boys and girls together. It +is of the greatest importance that our boys and girls should be in every +way improved as much as possible. They are to become the men and women +of the next generation, when their fathers and mothers have retired +from active life. Twenty years from to-day the world will be just what +the present boys and girls shall make it. Boys who are chaste, honest, +obedient, and industrious, will become useful and noble men, husbands, +and fathers. Girls who are pure, innocent, and dutiful, will become +honored and lovely women, wives, and mothers. + +Boys and girls are placed in families together, and thus are evidently +designed by nature to associate together, to obtain their education +and preparation for life together. When secluded wholly from each +other's society, both suffer a loss. But while this is true, it is also +true that certain evils may and often do grow out of the association +of the two sexes of young people, so serious in character that many +wise and good men and women have felt that the sexes should be reared +and educated apart as much as possible. These evils are the result of +too intimate and improper associations of boys and girls. Associations +of this sort must be most sedulously avoided. Boys and girls who are +in school together must be extremely careful to avoid too close +associations. On all occasions a modest reserve should be maintained +in the deportment of the young of both sexes toward each other. Too +early friendships formed often lead to hasty marriages, before either +party is prepared to enter into the married state, and before the +judgment has been sufficiently developed to make either capable of +selecting a suitable partner for life. These facts are usually learned +when it is too late for the information to be of any value. + +Parents and teachers are especially responsible for guarding these +early associations and giving timely warning when needed. The youth +should always be ready to take advice on this subject, for with their +inexperience they cannot know their wants so well as do their elders. +Nothing is more disgusting to persons of sound sense than youthful +flirtations. Those misguided persons who encourage these indiscretions +in young people do an immense amount of injury to those whom they ought +to be prepared to benefit by wise counsel. We have seen promising young +people made wretched for life through the influence of one of these +mischief-makers, being most unhappily mated, and repenting too late +of a hasty marriage for which they were utterly unprepared. + +Young persons often labor under the erroneous impression that in order +to be agreeable they must talk "small talk;" this literally means, +"silly twaddle," which disgusts everybody, and yet which all seek to +imitate. Whenever the two sexes meet in society or elsewhere, as at +all other times, the conversation should be turned upon subjects of +real interest, which admit of the exercise of sound sense and will be +a means of culture. Such associations do not result in injury to any +one, and may be the means of much profit; but nothing is more execrable +than the frivolous, silly, often absolutely senseless observations +which make up the great bulk of the conversation of young people in +fashionable society. + +The most ready means of disclosing the superficial character of the +minds of a large share of the young persons who move in fashionable +circles is to introduce some topic requiring depth of thought and sound +judgment. Such a subject will usually produce either an instant lull +in the conversation or a display of ignorance which cannot fail to +reveal the shallowness of the speaker's intellect. It is this +superficial class of minds that most easily fall victims to a sickly +sentimentalism, which readily leads to digressions from the pathway +of rigid virtue. + +A boy who has the elements of true manliness in him will carry a +gentlemanly bearing wherever he goes. In all his deportment, and +especially in his conduct toward the opposite sex, he will act the +gentleman; and the boy whose gentility is genuine will manifest the +same kind deference toward his mother and sisters as toward other ladies +and girls. So also the young lady who is a lady at heart, will never +allow herself to forget the rules of propriety, whether she is in the +company of her father and brothers, or that of other gentlemen. + +All the rules of etiquette are worth little compared with the one simple +rule which is applicable to both sexes and all ages,--"Have the heart +right, and then act natural." One so governed will not go very far astray +under any circumstances; but it is of the greatest importance that the +heart be right. To make it such is, indeed, the great business of life. + +"BLESSED ARE THE PURE IN HEART." + + + + +INDEX. + + + PAGE. + +Abortion, 271 + + " results of, 280 + +Accidental pregnancy, 236 + +Adaptation to marriage, 127 + +Advice to boys, 468 + +Advice to girls, 499 + +Advice to boys and girls, 501 + +Afterbirth, 68 + +Amativeness, 177 + +Amaurosis, 369 + +Amenorrhoea, 95 + +Animalcula, 26 + +Ante-natal influences, 105 + +Antediluvian wickedness, 286 + + +Bad language, 461 + +Bad company, 458 + +Bad books, 462 + + " " influence of, 463 + + " " effects of, 486 + +Balls, demoralizing effect of, 204 + +Beauty, how to develop, 473 + +Beer-drinking by nursing mothers, 71 + +Beer, evil effects of, 467 + +Betrothal of infants, 138 + +Birth, changes at, 69 + +Bladder, irritation of, 203 + +Boarding-schools, danger of, 495 + +Books, bad, 186 + + " obscene, 187 + +Brain, male and female, 42 + +Breasts, 70 + + " atrophy of the, 374 + +Breath, causes of foul, 89 + +"Bundling," 140 + + +Cancer, cause of, 253 + + " of the womb, 374 + +Castration, 114 + +Catamenia, 81 + +Causes of unchastity, 181 + +Cells, development of, 104 + +Chastity, 174 + +Chlorosis, 95, 343 + +Cider, evil effects of, 467 + +Circumcision, 113, 410 + +Civilization, perverting influence of, 181 + +Classification of living creatures, 27 + +Clitoris, 57, 73 + +Coitus, 57 + +Colds, how to prevent, 84 + +Colostrum, 70 + +Conception, prevention of, 250 + +Condiments, 210, 292 + +Conjugal onanism, 250 + +Constipation, 202 + +Consumption, 365 + + " cause of, 230, 435 + +Continence, 205 + + " male, 256 + + " not injurious, 205 + + " difficulty of, 208 + + " helps to, 209 + +Conversation, trifling, 503 + +Copulation, 57 + +Courtship, 136 + + " evils of, 137 + +Courtships, long, 140 + +Crime, source of, 107 + + " cause of, 454 + +Criminality hereditary, 107 + +Critical period, a, 482 + + +Dancing, 196 + +Day-dreams, 177 + +Desirable qualities, how to produce, 113 + +Development, 59, 477 + + " premature, 78 + +Development in higher animals, 61 + +Diet, 390 + + " influence on chastity, 182 + +Disease, 301 + + " obscure causes of, 376 + +Diurnal emissions, 359 + +Divorce, loose laws of, 153 + +Dozing, danger of, 212 + +Dreams, 396 + + " how to control, 397 + +Dress and sensuality, 190 + +Dressing unhealthfully, 89 + +Dress reform, 193 + +Drinks, stimulating, 392 + +Drugs, 411 + +Dwarfs, 431 + +Dysmenorrhoea, 94 + +Dyspepsia, 366 + + " cause of, 434 + + +Early associations, 314 + + " marriage, 126 + + " training, 310 + + " " lack of, 295 + + " decline, cause of, 481 + +Egypt a hot-bed of vice, 286 + +Electricity, 407 + +Embryo, 63 + + " simple structure of, 64 + + " stages of growth of, 65 + +Emissions, effect of, 356 + + " internal, 361 + + " nocturnal, 353 + +Endurance of women, 43 + +Epilepsy, 344 + + " cause of, 244 + +Evil habits, 427 + +Excesses, marital, 216 + + " results of, 225 + + " effects of on wives, 231 + + " effects of on husbands, 226 + +Extra-uterine pregnancy, 97 + +Eyes, weakness of, 369 + + +Fallopian tube, 74 + +False delicacy, 92 + + " training, 473 + +Fashion, 294 + + " and vice, 192 + +Fashionable dissipation, 478 + +Fecundation, 52 + + " in flowers, 53 + + " modes of, 55 + + " in fishes, 56 + + " in reptiles, 56 + + " in higher animals, 56 + + " in hermaphrodites, 59 + +Feeling apparatus, 425 + +Females, imperfect, 58 + +Female organs, 73 + + " organs of flowers, 48 + +Fetus, respiration of, 67 + + " influenced through the blood, 67 + +Fishes, development in, 60 + + " fecundation in, 56 + +Filthy dreams, 179 + + " talkers, 180 + +Flirtation, evils of, 143 + + " youthful, 144 + + " childish, 487 + +Flowers, polygamous, 47 + + " female organs of, 48 + + " fecundation in, 53 + +Fomentations, 405 + +Foods, stimulating, 392 + +Force, life, 29 + +Functions of life, 30 + + +General debility, 365 + +Generation, laws of, 219 + + " physiological, 112 + + " spontaneous, 31 + + " ancient theory of, 32 + +Gestation, duration of, 66 + +Girlhood, 471 + +Girls, a chapter for, 470 + + " causes which lead astray, 484 + + " how ruined, 493 + +Gluttony, 292 + + +Habit, power of, 496 + +Health essential to beauty, 474 + +Health hints, 88, 93 + +Heart disease, 367 + +Heredity, 102 + + " laws of, 243 + + " of disease, 109 + + " of crime, 107 + +Hermaphrodism, 36 + +Hermaphrodites, fecundation in, 59 + +Hip bath, 93 + +Human machine, the, 423 + +Human wrecks, 437 + +Human form, 474 + +Human buds, 476 + +Husbands, improvident, 170 + +Hybrids, 100 + +Hymen, 73 + +Hysteria, 95, 343 + + " causes of, 96, 375 + + +Idiocy, 371 + + " cause of, 433 + +Idleness, 189 + +Ignorance, 300 + +Ill-health of girls, causes of, 472 + +Illustrative cases, 437 + +Imbecility, 371 + +Impotence, 363, 410 + + " not produced by continence, 207 + +Infanticide, 271 + + " among various nations, 273 + +Infant intoxication, 70 + +Infants, betrothal of, 138 + +Insanity, 370 + + " cause of, 447, 490 + +Instinct, lessons from, 220 + + " a safe guide, 224 + +Internal emissions, 361 + +Intestinal worms, 202 + + +Juke family, the, 108 + + +Labia, the, 73 + +Labor, 68 + +Lacing, 90 + +Law of heredity applied, 126 + + " of sex, 101 + +Legalized murder, 233 + + " vice, 309 + +Leucorrhoea, 346 + +Libidinous blood, 290 + +Licentious worship, 287 + +Licentiousness, results of, 302 + +Life, 25 + + " beginning of, 52 + + " force, 29 + + " origin of, 33 + + " modern modes of, 203 + + " when it begins, 262 + + " uterine, 66 + +Literature, poisonous, 189 + +Living beings, 25 + +Love, perverted, 178 + +Lust, effect upon child, 111 + + +Male organs, 71 + + " continence, 256 + +Mammary glands, 70 + +Marriage, 124, 402 + + " evils of ill-mated, 131 + + " effect of late, 132 + + " experimental, 141 + + " forbidden, 155 + + " of cousins, 163 + + " of criminals, 164 + + " of paupers, 167 + + " but not love, 235 + + " customs of different nations, 125 + +Marital excesses, 216 + + " rights, 234 + +Masturbation, 315, 428 + + " treatment of, 378 + + " prevention of, 378 + + " effects in females, 373 + + " effects on offspring, 376 + + " self-helps to cure, 385 + +Menopause, the, 82 + +Menorrhagia, 91 + +Menses, 81 + +Menstrual period, duration of, 82 + +Menstruation, 81 + + " nature of, 83 + +Mental unchastity, 174 + + " culture, 313 + +Milk, influence of upon children, 70 + +Mind, cause of unbalanced, 129 + +Mormonism, 148 + +Monsters, 99 + +Mock piety, 338 + +Moderation, 248 + +Modesty, 488 + +Mothers, a warning to, 201 + + " their work, 479 + +Moral contagion, 459 + +Moving apparatus, 425 + +Multiple births, 98 + + +Navel, the, 68 + +Nervous diseases, 368 + + " debility, treatment of, 378 + +Nocturnal emissions, 353 + +Novel-reading, 486 + +Nursing, 70 + +Nutrition, 30 + +Nutritive apparatus, 425 + +Nymphae, the, 73 + +Nymphomania, 301 + + +Objects of life, 423 + +Obscene books, 187 + +Obscenity, 462 + +Oneida community, the, 258 + +Organized beings, 28 + +Organization, 28 + +Ovary, 51 + +Ovum, 51 + + " discharge of, 83 + + " size of, 52 + + " expulsion of from ovary, 74 + + " union of the, with the zoosperm, 57 + + +Pangenesis, doctrine of, 103 + +Paralysis, 369 + +Parturition, 68 + + " painless, 68 + +Passion, inherited, 121 + +Passions, how excited, 183 + +Pedestrianism, 40 + +Pernicious books, influence of, 297 + +Penis, the, 56, 71 + +Physical differences in sex, 39 + +Piles, 350 + +Pimples, 342 + +Placenta, 67 + +Plants, sex of, 37 + +Pictures, vile, 464 + +Poisonous literature, 189 + +Polyandry, 152 + +Polygamous flowers, 47 + +Polygamy, 145 + + " defense of, 148 + + " exposed, 149 + + " of great men, 152 + +Precocity, 77 + + " sexual, 117 + + " indications of, 119 + +Pregnancy, 62 + + " duration of, 66 + + " extra-uterine, 97 + + " indulgence during, 241 + +Premature development, 78 + + " decay, 419 + +Prevention of conception, 250 + +Priapism, 350 + +Prostate gland, 72 + + " " enlargement of the, 349 + +Prostitution, 400 + + " in Greece, 287 + +Pruritis, 374 + +Puberty, 74 + + " premature, 75 + + " influence of diet on, 76 + + " changes at, 79 + + " influence of climate on, 75 + +Pudenda, the, 73 + +Purifying apparatus, 425 + + +Quacks, 362, 412 + + +Race degeneration, cause of, 436 + +Religion, help of, 213 + +Religious novels, 297 + + " insanity, 371 + +Reproduction, 31, 424, 476 + + " elements of, 45 + + " in polyps, 58 + + " anatomy of, 71 + + " curious modes of, 57 + + " in the honey bee, 58 + + " in lower animals, 218 + +Reproductive organs, 71 + + " functions, 217 + + " apparatus, 426 + + " elements, union of, 57 + +Reptiles, fecundation in, 56 + + " development in, 60 + +Respiration in woman, 44 + + " of the fetus, 67 + +Results of abortion, 280 + +Roman emperors, licentiousness of, 288 + + +Satyriasis, 124 + +Scrotum, the, 71 + +Secret vice, 428 + + " " evidences of, 481 + + " " prevalence of, 480 + + " " terrible effects of, 480 + +Self-abuse, 315, 428 + + " causes of, 321, 487 + + " effects of, 437 + + " the signs of, 331 + + " results of, 347 + + " treatment of, 378 + + " not a modern vice, 319 + + " physical causes of, 329 + + " how to cure the habit of, 382 + +Self-control, 311 + +Self-pollution, 428 + +Self-murder, 431 + +Seminal fluid, the, 51, 72 + +Senility, 420 + +Senile children, 134 + + " sexuality, 123 + +Sentimental books, 485 + + " young women, 190 + + " literature, influence of, 296 + +Sex, 35 + + " in plants, 37 + + " in animals, 38 + + " law of, 101 + + " of fetus, 102 + +Sexual differences, 38 + + " organs of plants, 46 + + " " of animals, 48 + + " relations, the, 116 + + " precocity, 117 + + " " causes of, 122 + + " activity, the limit of, 124 + +Shaker views, 258 + +Sitz-baths, 404 + +Sleeping, 393 + +Social lepers, 146 + + " evil, the, 284 + + " " causes of the, 290 + + " " cure of the, 308 + +Solitary vice, 315 + + " " alarming prevalence of, 316 + + " " unsuspected cause of, 318 + +Spaying, 115 + +Spermatozoa, 48 + + " size of, 50 + +Spermatorrhoea, 353 + +Spinal irritation, 369 + +Sterility, 374 + +Stimulants the cause of self-abuse, 330 + +Stricture, 348 + +Suicide, cause of, 453 + + +"Tarrying," 140 + +Tea and coffee, 292 + + " " " bad effects of, 467 + +Testicles, position of, 48 + + " wasting of, 352 + +Temperaments, 166 + +Thinking apparatus, 425 + +Thoughts, evil, 465 + +Throat disease, cause of, 229 + +Time to marry, 125 + +Tobacco, 292 + + " evil effects of, 467 + + " grave charges against, 185 + +Twins, 98 + + +Umbilical cord, 67 + +Unchaste conversation, 179 + +Unchastity, causes of, 181 + + " of the ancients, 274 + + " physical causes of, 201 + +Unconsidered murders, 260 + +Uterus, 61 + +Uterine life, 66 + + " douche, 93 + + " disease, 233, 373 + + " gestation, 62 + +Urinary diseases, 349 + +Urethra, the, 72 + + +Vagina, the, 56, 74 + +Varicocele, 352 + +Vegetable husbands, 47 + +Vice legalized, 309 + +Vicious companions, 484 + +Vital force, definition of, 29 + + " organs of man and woman, 43 + +Vision, dimness of, 369 + +Vulva, the, 73 + + +Waltz, the, its sensuality, 199 + +Weak backs, 339 + +Wine, evil effects of, 467 + +Wives, on trial, 139 + + " sale of, among the Russians, 138 + +Woman, servitude of, 263 + + " her responsibility, 270 + +Woman's rights, 264 + +Women, Indian, 86 + + " Hebrew, 87 + +Womb, cancer of the, 374 + + + + +WORKS BY THE SAME AUTHOR. + + +THE HOME HAND-BOOK OF DOMESTIC HYGIENE AND RATIONAL MEDICINE.--This +work has met with a most cordial reception everywhere, from both +physicians and the common people. 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