§ 1. SPECIAL SYMPTOMS OF VENEREAL EXCESSES.
Before proceeding to describe these symptoms, we would remark, 1st that the results of venereal excesses are so analogous to those of involuntary pollution, that it is impossible to point out any difference between them: 2d that the general effects of these pollutions, whether voluntary or involuntary, are also extremely analogous to those caused by the slow destruction of an organ; those for instance observed in phthisis pulmonalis, cancer of the uterus, profuse suppurations, chronic diarrhœa, &c. Thus then the results of masturbation and of coition are the same as those of involuntary seminal emissions, which is decidedly a disease of the genital organs, and as those of other severe maladies affecting different parts. Are not these analogies sufficient to prove that we were correct in regarding the state in which the genital organs are momentarily when abused, as a state of disease.
One of the most constant effects of excessive masturbation is the loss of flesh. This symptom shows itself more or less rapidly, and extends to a greater or less degree. We may regard it as one of the circumstances in which onanists most resemble those affected with phthisis, with diarrhœa, and generally, individuals confined with a severe and long continued illness. The loss of flesh arising from onanism has not unfrequently been attributed to a too precocious growth and vice versa. This symptom is much more striking in some onanists, as it is attended with excessive appetite and a healthy state of the digestive organs. How great must be the influence of the genital organs when abused, on the nutritive process, to cause this loss of flesh, even under the conditions most favorable for its gain. It is not uncommon to see onanists affected with a complete state of marasmus: their frame is reduced to a skeleton and presents in anticipation a picture of the state in which death will soon place them. Many parts, as the loins, thighs and lower extremities are often remarkable for their extreme emaciation. Sainte Marie who has observed this fact, attributes it and also the debility of these parts, to a morbid state of the spinal marrow, and not unjustly. The facility with which onanists regain their flesh on leaving off these bad habits, is equally remarkable with their rapid loss of substance. There are individuals however who remain thin and dried up through life, in consequence of abusing themselves while young.
The loss of strength generally follows the loss of flesh and returns also with it. At first debility only follows the act temporarily, but afterward it continues longer: new emissions of semen take place, and even before the subject of them has regained the strength exhausted by a previous indulgence. In the morning he rises from his bed with difficulty: during the day he is idle, stupid, and indolent, and pursues his avocations without any spirit. If he goes up stairs, or ascends a hill, his heart beats forcibly, and he pants very much. This debility, if the cause which produces it does not cease to act, may increase to a frightful degree. We have seen onanists whose bodies were bent down by the weight of the head and chest and curved as in old men: these individuals could not stand erect, their lower extremities could not support their weight, and at the least motion they felt giddy and faint, and finally terminated the remnant of their existence on a sofa or bed which they could not leave. Many authors, Sanctorius and Tissot among others, have asserted that this debility is greater or less according to the position of the body during the act of venery; but we attach but slight importance to this circumstance, although they may have some effect. We think more of Sainte Marie’s opinion, that the lower part of the body is frequently weaker than the upper, because the spinal marrow is affected by seminal emissions. As the flesh returns when the onanist ceases from his bad habits, so too does his strength, and generally rapidly. But there are many, who are affected during their whole lives with great debility, which unfits them for many occupations. It is very common to find individuals who complain of being incapable of any physical effort, and who request their physician to give them strength. On questioning them, almost all admit that in their youth they have been addicted to onanism. Some do not wait to be questioned but refer to their former excesses as the source of their troubles and denounce them as the cause of their actual debility. Most invalids however do not refer so far back to the origin of their illness or even do not dream of it: they remain at peace with themselves and their ignorance might deserve to be respected, if they were not or would not probably be fathers, and if it did not become us to excite their vigilance in regard to their children. Thus then venereal abuses may cause not only a transient debility, but an exhaustion which may be continued, as long as life lasts.
The loss of flesh and strength is not the only symptom of consumption which undermine gradually the onanist: many signs indicate that all the functions are affected as it were with a loss of strength. The countenance instead of the vermilion glow of health, is pale and without freshness, or of a yellowish, earthy, leaden, and livid teint; the lips lose their color, a bluish circle surrounds the eyes, the eyelids are puffed out with œdema: the flesh is soft and flaccid: the pulse is small and feeble: upon the slightest motion or during sleep, the forehead, chest and palms of the hands are bathed with profuse perspiration: in some patients the hands and feet are edematous: in short, the symptoms are those of general atony, which are attended with a slow hectic fever, denoting that the economy does not yield without reaction to the destructive disease.
We ought perhaps to wait before speaking of the disturbance of the digestive organs, which almost constantly attends venereal abuses, until we had finished describing the symptoms of voluntary spermatorrhœa and were stating the diseases resulting from it. In fact the digestion is deranged then only because the digestive organs are diseased, and are affected with dyspepsy, gastritis, erteritis, &c.; but these derangements are so common after the loss of the seminal fluid, that we think ourselves authorized to treat these derangements as symptoms. Venereal excesses may affect the digestive organs in several ways, first by disturbing digestion if they occur while this process is going on: this fact has already been stated. We might add that when food is taken too soon after masturbation or coition digestion is seldom performed well. This fact did not escape the notice of Sanctorius, who remarks, Cibus copiosior solito post immoderatum coition interimeret nisi succederet aliqua ciborum corruptela. Venereal excesses may also affect the digestive apparatus in another manner besides that of directly disturbing its functions. This system is so intimately connected with all parts of the human body that all are influenced by it. If then the digestive functions are disturbed by most morbid states, can they remain uninjured when so many symptoms are presented by the genital apparatus which has become the focus of so many symptoms! Certainly not: these functions also take a part and a large part in the disorders which are the usual consequences of venereal excesses. A moderate exercise of the genital organs may excite the stomach, render the appetite more keen and the digestion more rapid. Hence why young men who begin to masturbate or to indulge with women have frequently an insatiable appetite, which leads them to eat constantly, which is very striking inasmuch as debility and loss of flesh ensue in just the same manner. But such a state of things cannot long continue: thus numerous signs soon show that excesses in venery may act on the digestive tube in another manner than by rendering the appetite more keen and the digestion more easy. In fact the appetite does not long resist excesses of onanism: it first diminishes, then disappears, and is often replaced by a decided disgust for every kind of food; in some patients it becomes irregular, capricious: in others it remains: the latter have most cause of complaint, for it continues longer than digestion is performed. “My appetite remains,” writes an onanist to Tissot, “but it is a misfortune, as eating is followed by pain in the stomach and my food is rejected.” Many onanists feel pains of a similar character after eating. In others there is a sense of oppression, of fulness, in the epigastric region. In some there is a gnawing feeling resembling that produced by a want of food: this symptom is very common in girls, who in consequence of secret practices, have become affected with leucorrhœa. In some the face and cheeks present a redness which contrasts remarkably with their habitual paleness: onanists are frequently affected with headache, vertigo, flushed face, &c. In some the slowness of the digestion is indicated by eructations, which occur long after taking food: or the belly is tense and filled with wind. Food, which was formerly digested with ease, is now oppressive: and the list of articles of diet is shortened every day. Some onanists have been known in these cases to indulge in ardent spirits with the vain hope of exciting their appetite, and regaining their strength. Repeated vomitings, constant pain in the belly and a slow fever are also frequent symptoms of the deep-seated affections of the digestive organs. In many patients the intestinal canal is more liable to be affected by venereal excesses, than the stomach. Obstinate constipation in some, diarrhœa and borborygmi in others are the usual signs of the affection of this canal. Fournier and Begin mention the case of a young man, who almost constantly experienced after excess in coition, severe colics followed by excessive diarrhœa and an insupportable tenesmus. Rest, gummy drinks, the use of farinaceous food and a small quantity of red wine, soon dissipated these symptoms, which sometimes threw him into an alarming state of languor and debility. (Dict. des. Sc. Med., art. Masturbation.) Hoffman relates a similar case. We have more than once met with similar effects. A young man whom we attended in 1832 died, after excesses in onanism, with diarrhœa. This unfortunate individual, although in the last stages of consumption, still indulged as soon as he was left alone, in his deplorable habit. Diarrhœa, or rather intestinal ulcerations, which are then the cause of it, generally appear in onanists as in those affected with consumption, at the last stages of life. Thus a young man, nineteen years old, addicted to masturbation from childhood, died a few years since at Hotel Dieu. The most active watching and the strictest mechanical methods could not arrest his fatal manipulations. Diarrhœa was added to his habitual loss of semen, and he died three months after entering the hospital, in a perfect state of marasmus.
Many authors have repeated after the statements of Hippocrates, that individuals affected with consumption, arising from venereal excesses, have no fever. This is an error: they die as we have already stated, with true hectic fever, which is caused by the state of the different organs, and particularly by that of the genital system. Of this, numerous instances might be cited: the following is related by Dr. Federigo, the Italian translator of Portal’s work on consumption. “I knew,” says he, “a female who was affected for many years with extreme debility and entire loss of appetite. A slow fever every evening had rendered her extremely thin: her eyes were pale and sunken; her skin was very hot, and it was highly painful for her to stand erect: a profuse discharge weakened her still more; and she was in an advanced state of marasmus. All the active remedies, as preparations of iron, decoctions of cinchona and mineral waters were tried without success. She died in a most deplorable state of consumption. I attempted, by questioning her as to her mode of living, to discover the cause of this disease, but unsuccessfully. A month before her death however, she told me with tears in her eyes, that she brought her debility upon herself, by indulging constantly and for many years in a secret and murderous habit.” We will add that Sainte Marie having found that daily involuntary pollution occurred in diseases of languor, as soon as he became acquainted with the dissertation of Wichmann, discovered that many slow nervous fevers were kept up by this affection.
From our remarks on the influence exercised by the genital organs on the nervous system, even when simply in a state of excitement or repose, it will not surprise, if we should state, that in this system are seen the affections resulting most frequently from the abuse of these organs. In fact the diseases of motion, sensation or of intelligence, that is of the faculties which are situated in the nervous system, are in fact the most common consequences of masturbation, and of venereal excesses generally. We have already spoken of the gradual diminution in the locomotive powers of the onanist. That of sensation presents very different phenomena, it is exalted as much as the first is diminished. Farther it is admitted that these two faculties are in an inverse ratio to one another. This increase of the susceptibility may take place at any age in consequence of venereal excesses; but it occurs much more readily in young persons, that is at that period of life when the mode of sensation assumes those characters which at a later period more than all the others constitute the temperament. Thus the excessive susceptibility generally presented by onanists, does not belong to those transient symptoms which disappear when the habit ceases: but, on the contrary, it continues, long after the habit has ceased, and its influence is long felt. How many persons of every age complain of being extremely nervous. Some know that this depends upon their own conduct, which they deeply regret. Interrogate them, and many will admit the excesses of their youth. We have rarely neglected to verify this remark and the responses have generally confirmed my suspicions. These individuals are seldom free from disagreeable feelings, from pain and inconvenience of some kind: their symptoms may vary extremely, and change very suddenly, but they are generally or always indisposed one way or another. This can be readily imagined: every thing affects them: cold, heat, dryness, moisture, rain, snow, food, drink, exercise, rest, in fact all these modifying circumstances find in them an organization ready to be acted on. The act of venery, the first source of their nervous susceptibility, subjects them to constant privations. A young man, twenty-two years old, whom we attended a few months since, told me in a depressed manner the constant inconveniences which he experienced from onanism. The following is his narrative, which we shall give here because it presents a faithful picture of the state in which the nervous system exists in most persons who have indulged in onanism.
“At sixteen years of age,” said he, “I learned to masturbate; this habit, I continued, for several years, with a kind of fury. My health soon became affected, my strength failed and also my digestion. I soon perceived a heat and constant pain in my stomach: my throat was inflamed and my feelings were extremely bad. The advice which I received and the alteration in my health, caused me to renounce this habit. My situation soon improved and I gained daily, but at the same time my desires returned and I shortly relapsed into my former errors. The same cause produced the same effects and I again abandoned onanism, promising never to indulge again. For two years I kept my word: unhappily this time however my health was not restored as at first, and I continually experienced all the sufferings which I have described. Besides I have become so sensitive that every thing incommodes me: the least change in the weather and particularly a storm causes me a great deal of suffering. Farther I cannot say what temperature is best for me, for I do not experience much difference whether it be cold or warm. I have but little desire for females, and although indulging at times after long intervals, yet I have always suffered for several days afterward, in the same manner as after masturbation. I feel constant pains of a lacerating character in the limbs: sometimes also, but more rarely pains in the back; often also, I have pains in the stomach and colic. My digestion although better than before, is far from being good: I can take but a few articles of food, and the smallest portion of wine, spirit, or coffee produces great distress.” This was the young man’s statement: he was deeply affected by the slightest cause: his appearance was sad, he was tired of himself and was constantly tormented by thoughts of his former excesses. I have seen him several times since; and I have reason to believe that his obedience to my advice improved his health.
It may be said that this patient is a hypochondriac. I admit it: but what is hypochondria, save an excessive susceptibility, added to all the inconveniences which result from it, and the derangement of the digestive functions? And hence all authors who have spoken of this disease, and of hysteria, which resembles it in so many respects, have classed venereal excesses among their most common causes. I might cite in proof of this, Tissot, Louyer-Villermey, Fodéré, Foville and many others. Oppenheim, physician to the grand vizier, attributes the frequency of hypochondria and of hysteria among the orientals, to their abuse of the pleasures of love. Pinel gives the history of a hypochondriac who at the age of puberty abandoned himself to masturbation which was followed by frequent involuntary pollutions. In another place he speaks of a similar case: and almost every practitioner can mention several.
The affection of the nervous system in onanists consists not only in an increased susceptibility, but is indicated also, by a number of symptoms, as pains sensations and spasms of every kind. Angelot has related the case of a young man affected with constant discharge of semen, who, among other phenomena, presented so great a degree of nervous irritation that he experienced a vibration over his whole body at the slightest noise. Some patients experience pains in the limbs as if they had been beaten; others are affected with intense headache and pains in the loins which reappear at each pollution: or wandering pains, which however are sometimes fixed, are felt in the course of the nerves and are similar to neuralgia. We shall see hereafter that painful affections of various kinds have been the more or less direct consequence of venereal excesses. Sensations of giddiness, of formication or crawling, &c., may also be perceived: some patients experience cramps which at first are felt only during the act of venery, but which afterwards reappear at other times. Spasms, contractions and generally the convulsive motions so often observed in onanists usually result from severe affections of the nervous centres, affections which we shall speak of directly. A very frequent symptom and one too which has never deceived me as to its nature, says Georget, are palpitations of the heart attended with difficulty in the respiration, slight suffocating feelings, &c. He remarks also that fainting and partial or general trembling appears on the slightest contradiction and often without any known cause in onanists. These remarks are very true: palpitations and stifling sensations continue sometimes for years after onanism has ceased, and fainting fits, trembling sensations, &c. show themselves during or immediately after the act of venery.
The heart and the mind suffer as much as the body from excesses of masturbation. To be assured of this we have only to remember the power exercised by the genital organs in the physiological state, on the ideas and feelings. Generally the necessity which the onanist experiences for dissembling his tastes and for concealing a habit which is both ridiculous and vile, renders him taciturn: his eyes are turned from the gaze of those around: he loves solitude, avoids the world and is embarrassed, and almost as it were ashamed of himself. His manner might sometimes pass for timidity, we might almost say for innocence, but it is entirely changed, when being in company with professed onanists he no longer feels restraint.
It is to this habit of dissimulation, this inquietude with which the onanist is constantly haunted, that Montegre attributes particularly the difference between self-pollution and coition: but this moral torment is far as we shall see from being the only one with which the onanist is affected.
In fact, he constantly experiences a sensation of sadness and ennui, which is impressed on his countenance and which is the natural consequence of restlessness and of the fatigue which he feels constantly. He is sad as one is when suffering, and when debility are felt. This inward feeling of shame which is banished with difficulty when the actions reputed to be bad are often repeated, must also contribute to increase his melancholy and sadness. But perhaps the worst feelings which torment him, are regret and remorse. The exhaustion of his system, his sufferings, the near approach of death often render him desperate. He remembers the time when he did not indulge in onanism: he remembers those who first taught him that vice: his shame, his pains and fears all come up strongly before him. Being the author of his own misfortunes he constantly reproaches himself, and he remembers all that has been said to wean him from the habit. Now picture with these regrets these fears, and the despair we have described, the existence of this fatal habit which cannot be overcome. The onanist knows this danger and yet he cannot break himself of his bad habit.
It can readily be supposed that onanists tortured by the present and by the thoughts of the future which appears to them overshadowed with clouds, have often wished to terminate their sufferings criminally. This has in fact sometimes happened. “I do not believe,” writes an onanist to Tissot, “that any human being has suffered as much as I have. Without the special care of Providence I should find it difficult to support the burden of life.” Some have not the courage to sustain life. Esquirol has often known masturbation to lead to melancholy and suicide. Orfila also mentions among the occasional causes of suicide “the physical and moral disgust, intellectual apathy without any hope of cure which often follows premature indulgences of every kind.” If the resources of nature had been known to those who thus abandon themselves to despair; if they had witnessed, as we have, the rapidity with which the health is restored, when onanism is arrested, if they had believed in the healing power of time, they would have seen that their pains might disappear, their strength might have been restored, and they might have enjoyed a long and happy life. The following case will teach onanists not to despair.
A gentleman, twenty-four years old, says M. Sainte Marie, in order to avoid conscription shut himself up in an isolated chateau under the charge of an old and confidential domestic. There in order to lighten the ennui of his situation he gave himself up to onanism. After three years of this forced seclusion and dangerous excess, he reappeared in the world; he was excessively pale and thin, which was attributed to the extreme loneliness in which he existed. Marriage was urged upon him as a mode of relieving, by an agreeable establishment, this long ennui; his strength however failed him the night of his marriage, and he was unable, as Montaigne says, to consummate the nuptials. He became disgusted with himself, and this feeling soon settled into one of deep and fixed despair. One day he swallowed a large dose of arsenic, but vomited it soon after with the food which he had eaten. He then came to Lyons to seek a death which he considered more worthy of his birth and station. He followed very closely for several days a celebrated fencer, and finding an opportunity to insult him, did so, with no other intent than that of losing, sword in hand, a life which had become hateful to him. The fortune of arms decided otherwise: although feeble and languid, he wounded his adversary, and this slight advantage suddenly changed his resolution. He now saw that life was not a series of defeats and humiliations: he desired to live, and in this frame of mind he came to consult me. His impotence seemed but a slight symptom. I readily saw that it was only the symptom of a well marked dorsal consumption. I prescribed ice to be taken internally, iced water douches to be used along the vertebral column and a milk diet. After continuing this treatment three months, the patient’s health seemed perfectly restored. He left Lyons, and rejoined his family, who were much concerned at his long absence. I learn now that he is very happy, and that his wife has presented him with three living pledges of affection. (Wichmann, p. 91.)
Besides the intellectual and moral effects which we have mentioned, onanism often produces a very marked debility of the mental faculties, and particularly of the memory. Young men, who previously showed considerable vivacity of mind and aptitude for study, become, after being addicted to this habit, stupid, and incapable of applying themselves: it is evident, that this transitory state which immediately succeeds the act of venery, becomes continued when this act is frequently repeated, because time is not allowed for the effects of it to pass off. This debility of the intellectual faculties must not always be considered as irremediable: in fact, these individuals sometimes regain their original acuteness, when the habit which had enfeebled them is discontinued, before the deterioration is of long standing. We might adduce instances of this return. The most remarkable, assuredly, is that of an idiot girl, who was restored to reason by amputation of the clitoris—an operation performed by Dr. Graefe, of Berlin. In a future page, we shall give this interesting case in full. Unfortunately, the simple cessation of onanism is not always sufficient to efface its effects completely; and many individuals preserve, during their whole existence, a certain feebleness of mind, which arises from the excesses of their youth. The debility of the intellectual faculties does not always stop at the point indicated: it may extend almost to idiocy—to the most complete stupidity. Most generally, then, the brain, or its appendages, are deeply injured, which is indicated by different symptoms, as loss of sight, hearing, fits, paralysis, &c. This was the case with an individual, whose case is stated by Serrurier, and who became, through onanism, perfectly imbecile. This is true, too, of an idiot, who was under the charge of Pinel, in the infirmary of Bicêtre. He was a sculptor, who had previously been exhausted by intemperance and venery. He remained almost motionless and quiet, or at intervals indulged in a foolish laugh. His face was destitute of expression, and he had no remembrance of his former state. His appetite was always good; and, even at the sight of food, his jaws began to move. He constantly remained in a recumbent posture; and, finally, became affected with hectic fever, which terminated fatally.
It is worthy of remark, in those onanists who become idiots, that, while the external senses and the intelligence diminish, the genital activity is increased: all these faculties seem to be blended in one, the proportions of which seem much greater, as the others are diminished. This opposite state of things, found in all cases produced by onanism, is particularly remarkable in a case observed at the Hospital St. Louis, by Alibert. The patient was a peasant-girl twenty-two years old, who was constantly employed in tending sheep. The seclusion of this girl’s situation favored the development of onanism. She concealed herself in retired and quiet situations, to indulge this horrid inclination. Two years elapsed, during which her intellectual faculties were progressively enfeebled: she became stupid, while the venereal sense was excited to the highest degree. Things came to such an extent, that she fell, as it were, into a species of nymphomania, for which she was carried to the hospital. The unfortunate girl presented a kind of automatic motion, which she could not repress. Her head, chest, and upper half of her body were excessively thin, while the other half was remarkably plump. The sight, and much more the contact of a male, caused in her a state which was soon terminated by a pollution. By merely touching this girl, her whole person could be agitated and convulsed to a distressing degree, and it was thought expedient to send her home. (Dict. des Sc. Med., Vol. XXXVI., p. 582.)
Are the alternate states of excitement and collapse experienced by the brain, during and after the act of venery, the only cause of weakness in onanists? Does not the constant state of their mind contribute also, as Tissot and many other authors think, to this unfortunate result? Of this, we have no doubt.
The yoke which onanism imposes on those who are completely abandoned to it, is such, that they have constantly before them a certain set of ideas. All their study is confined to avoid the looks of others, and to call to mind all the remembrances, and to create all the illusions, upon which their senses revel: their strength of mind is consecrated to these objects alone. To dissemble, and enjoy themselves, is all they wish. The intellectual faculties, being thus neglected, must remain imperfect; or even, if we may be allowed the expression, must lose their vigour, and waste. We can understand well how the necessity arising from this state of things may aid the development of the most wicked thoughts. Was not this the case with a young girl, whose history, as stated by Parent Duchatelet, is as follows:—
This girl, whose early childhood was spent with her grandmother, a respectable and religious woman, was about seven years old, when she returned home. For the first four months after her return, she was very sad and was not as playful as children are generally, and never caressed her father and mother. She lost flesh rapidly. The cause of this was sought for in vain; when, one day, a few questions having been put to her, she stated, that from the age of four years she had been in the habit of seeing boys from ten to twelve years old; that since she had returned home, she had had no opportunity, and had indulged in self-pollution. In vain did her parents try to wean her from this vice: they reasoned with and caressed her; they gave her presents, and all the clothes she desired; physicians visited her; the powers of religion were tried. But all in vain: the child abused herself, even in her sleep.
But a horrid inclination soon appeared: she now desired to see her parents dead, and even to murder them. This wish she expressed freely, and also her regret at not being able to satisfy her wishes. She promised herself to embrace any opportunity which presented. The only motives which induced her to do this, were to possess her mother’s jewels, and then to go with the men. Things soon came to such an extent, that the parents, for their own safety, were obliged to lock up their daughter every night, as she did not conceal her intention of assassinating them during sleep. The child, being in this manner less exposed to observation, abandoned herself to her habits without constraint, it being the only wish she could gratify. She never laughed, nor cried. She sat the whole day in a very small chair, with her hands crossed, and she abused herself as soon as her mother’s back was turned. Punishments succeeded no better than presents or caresses. One day, her father tied her to the bedstead: she said, “You may kill me; but I will not change.” These facts gave rise to a judicial investigation, from the minutes of which this statement is taken. (Arch. d’hygiene et de med. legale, January, 1832.)
This young girl certainly had inclinations which were the result of her organization. She never became attached even to the grandmother who brought her up; and whom also she would have destroyed for her jewels. She was not animated by the wish to kill, as by that of acquiring a desired object. One day, while a man was talking with her, she looked attentively at his breast-pin: when questioned on the subject, she admitted that she would kill this man for the sake of this jewel. Her passion for venereal pleasures also came from an organic arrangement: she had never been led into these enjoyments by men or women. When four years old, she sought after little boys; and it was not till she was deprived of them, that she resorted to onanism. She admitted that she preferred the boys.
Now, I would ask, if this primitive exaltation of a sense, which masturbation excited still more every day, could govern a disposition which caused her to regard homicide as the best mode of satisfying certain desires? Could that state of fatigue, which is constantly felt in those individuals who are addicted to onanism, excite in this young girl the sympathies which unite each individual to his fellows, and give strength to those bonds which she was always ready to break? Was it possible for her to love her parents, who constantly thwarted her desires? Would not the irritation she constantly felt at not being able to give herself completely up to venereal pleasures, react on her other inclinations? Would not the obstacles she encountered tend to make her think herself surrounded with enemies? Governed by one sense, was she in a state to listen to and understand all that was said to her, to modify her bad inclinations? Did not her state resemble that of animals, who, although mild and amiable, become dangerous and wicked, when the genital sense is excited? Finally, does not this case prove that deviations of character may result from onanism—that good feelings may be changed by this habit—or, at least, that bad ones may be called into action?
Moral depravity of another kind may result from onanism. The mind, accustomed to seek pleasure in a certain circle of ideas, or a peculiar series of sensations, cannot find any in any other manner. The enjoyments of onanism are then the only ones which the onanist can realize. The union of the sexes has no attraction for him: he indulges with repugnance, and thinks the sensations much less agreeable than those arising from self-pollution. The genital sense, the power of proceeding to the act of venery, and of procreating, remain: but depraved tastes have taken the place of the legitimate desires. Tissot regards this perversion as more frequent in females than in males: he remarks upon the case of a female as stated by Bekkers, over whose mind self-pollution had taken such possession, that she detested the legitimate modes of gratification.
We believe, that if there are females who prefer onanism to coition, it is because the sensual results of the latter are generally very uncertain. Besides, Tissot does not exclude the male sex from this kind of depravation: the same author states the history of a man, who, in being taught onanism by his preceptor, experienced, when first married, so great a disgust for the natural relations which result from it, added to the exhaustion caused by his manipulations, that he became melancholy; which state, however, yielded to appropriate remedies.
A fact published by Alibert is very analogous to the preceding. He states, that a young man, brought up in a boarding-house, contracted the habit of onanism in his childhood. Tissot’s book was put into his hands, which frightened, but did not entirely cure him. After reading it, however, he was more moderate, and indulged only at long intervals, and when he was excited by very violent desires. Hence, his temperament did not change; but he continued robust, and his moral faculties preserved their energy: but the frightful habit which he had contracted, prevented the development of any desire for the other sex. Even when thirty years old, he had never been excited by the sight of a female; and his feelings were called into action only by vain images, or by the phantoms of his depraved imagination. He had early studied drawing, which he had always pursued with ardor. The beautiful forms of men, in this beau-ideal of painters, which nature has never realized, affected him, and finally inspired him with an extraordinary emotion—a vague passion, for which he could not account. It is necessary, however, to remark, that this passion had no connexion with the tastes of sodomy, and that it could not be excited by the sight of any man. Such was his strange situation, when he came to ask my advice. He then presented, as I said before, no physical symptom of impotence. He was healthy and well-made, and nature had not been unkind to him; but he had so abused the use of her gifts, that it was difficult to restore to him their proper use. The patient was perfectly acquainted with his situation. “There is no effort,” said he, “that I am not willing to make, to free myself from my ignominious situation—to drive away from my thoughts the infamous images which haunt me. They have deprived me of the legitimate enjoyments procured by the union of the sexes—of the power possessed by the lowest animals of reproducing their species. I am dying of chagrin and shame.”
I considered his disease as a perversion of the venereal appetite. I thought that the most urgent indication was to restore nature to its true type. In fact, the individual was very robust, at the period of consulting me; and farther, as I have said, the beauty of the ideal forms of man excited in him voluptuous sensations, during the continuance of which the genital organs became excited, and there was a discharge of semen: this favored the supposition that he still retained some stamina. Hence, there was neither destruction nor essential alteration in his physical sensibility; but rather a false direction of this faculty of the organism. The following course of treatment was proposed. I have already said, that the patient was very fond of drawing, and that he applied himself to it with that ardor which is the sure guaranty of success. I required him to study carefully the female form, and to make drawings of it—to break through his habits, and to renounce the Belvidere Apollo for the Venus de Medicis. He did so. Nature gradually resumed her rights: he soon preferred a round and delicate arm to that which was strong and masculine; and when he contemplated the elegance and softness of contour in the female form, he began to be cured. After constructing an imaginary model, he sought for it in the physical world. Time was required, and perseverance; but he was perfectly restored.