§ 3. INFLUENCE WHICH THE GENERAL STATE OF THE FUNCTIONS HAS AT DIFFERENT AGES, AND WHICH THE PECULIAR STATE OF SOME OF THEM AT DIFFERENT PERIODS OF LIFE MAY HAVE ON THE CONSEQUENCES OF THE ACT OF VENERY.
Life is composed of three very distinct periods. In the first, the body is developed and formed: it is a period of progress: while it continues, the organs gain in force and substance: it terminates when they have arrived at their greatest degree of perfection: and this generally takes place about the twenty-fifth year. During the second period man uses the organs as they are formed and constituted. The only process which takes place in them is one of reparation, of renewal: this is the period of maturity: it generally terminates about the fiftieth year. The third period is the opposite of the first: it is the period of decline. There is, during this latter period, a progressive deterioration of the strength and of the tissues. It terminates with life. Thus a state of development, that of maturity, and that of decline are the three aspects under which life presents itself. Let us trace the effect of venereal excesses in these different phases of action.
First period. No animal, and particularly no one of the vertebrated animals can procreate on entering the world. The genital organs doubtless exist at that time, but their form is rudimentary, which proves that they are incapable of doing much. These organs do not acquire the power of fulfilling their special functions, until a more advanced period of life, which period varies in different species of animals, but is nearly the same in all individuals of the same species. Until this time there is no secretion of prolific semen in the male, nor creation of ovales in the female: the procreative power does not exist.
Man is no exception to this common rule; his genital organs, although distinct, are scarcely developed at the moment of birth. The penis in males, the nymphæ and clitoris in females appear it is true to have a certain size, but this size does not depend on the development of the true spongy, erectile tissue of these parts. The genital apparatus continues to grow, although slowly during infancy, but it does not become filled for reproduction until after the rapid development seen at puberty. Hence in man, as in all animals, the power of reproduction does not exist until after some portion of life has elapsed. What is this portion? why does not the power come earlier or later? this is of but little importance: existence is necessary a certain time before it appears. But as God has made nothing useless in this world, we may fearlessly assert that those who before the age for procreation, excite in themselves the feelings attending this faculty, do an unnatural act and one which is necessarily pernicious.
Thus à priori, and by the application of general laws all premature indulgences are reproved. This opinion is confirmed by the study of the human body in the first third of its existence. This period of life is marked by two facts of the highest importance. It is then that the organs form, that they become perfect in substance, extent, and texture. It is then also that they acquire in action and in the power of receiving impressions the characters which form their special constitution, that is, the state which considered at the same time in all the organs, composes what is called the temperament. During Infancy and in youth, the formation of the substance of the body and of its constitution, is going on. Let us compare with this process, on the regularity of which the health, and well-being of the individual depends, let us compare, we say venereal indulgences, or rather masturbation, for this alone is then possible; we shall then see why the generative faculty was not born with us, and why the precocious excitement of the genital sense is attended with so much danger.
The first result of this excitement is to hasten the material and sensitive development of the genital organs. The preternatural size which masturbation gives to the penis in children is so remarkable that this alone is often sufficient to reveal this habit. Farther this excitement not only awakens the venereal sense long before the legitimate period of its appearance, but it acquires so much power that the youngest persons brave all connective means to satisfy it. Here then we have a system of organs forcing their development forward at the expense of the other organs. This state undoubtedly causes derangement and if we compare the genital organs with those which have the least sensibility, we may form an opinion of the consequences of it. If we reflect on the symptoms attending dentition which are often severe; or those depending on too rapid growth of the bones, and then measure the great difference between the vitality of the osseous and genital systems, we can form an idea of the injury caused by the premature enlargement of the genital apparatus. Although there may be no real disease, yet the wasting of the body, the enervation which results from excessive growth are often sufficient to give to a young man the appearance of an onanist.
If such feelings arise simply from the osseous system, what must we expect when onanism, with its train of moral and of sensual feelings, forces the genital organs to take part in the efforts of growth. The power which is then impaired is the same which we have seen extend over all parts of the organization, that, whose action when regular, contributes so much to make each tissue perfect, in fact that which when removed gives to man the characters of an eunuch. Now consider onanism as possessing this power and using to do injury all the energy which it possesses to do good; what limits shall be assigned to its injurious effects? and yet some authors question them. Many general phenomena of puberty also appear prematurely, when premature indulgences call them into development. Thus the beard appears on the chin, the pubis is covered with hairs, the voice assumes a deeper tone, and the first indications of virility show themselves much earlier than is proper. These symptoms serve to trace the aberrations which onanism causes in the formation of the organs. This vice too does not surely hasten or retard; it deranges: for the derangement of the functions is not generally manifested by irregularities in formation, aspect, and texture, but by material alterations, by diseases. Hence why inflammations of all kinds, and numerous organic affections result, as observation proves, sooner or later from anticipated pleasures: now as the susceptibility of the organs varies in individuals, and as in one, the heart, in another the lungs, the stomach &c. is most liable to be affected, we see why the list of diseases caused by onanism, comprises most of those which afflict the human body.
Nor is this all; if the excitement of a sense, which affects all the other organs, and to which they respond, occurs at a time when their mode of action and of sensation, or their temperament is not formed, this latter varies from what it would be, if developed calmly and uninfluenced by this excited sense. Hence not only the health but the constitution suffers from the too precocious use of the genital organs. He who might have attained the age of manhood, with a robust temperament by which his body resists numerous bad influences by which it is constantly assailed, will after indulging in onanism, be exposed to all these influences. This vice then compromises both the present and future health of the body; the present by the diseases with which it is accompanied, and the future by those for which it prepares. Hence if the young man escapes with life, he is as it were loaded with a tribute of ills which he must pay before long and perhaps always. Thus the indirect influence of onanism in producing human suffering is enormous. I consider it even as greater in proportion than that of the most immediate consequences of this fatal habit. This is confirmed not only by daily observation, but it cannot be otherwise. How much then do those deceive themselves who seek for the diseases of masturbation without believing in their existence, and who continue to indulge because they do not see its abuses.
If premature indulgence cause so much injury it should be one of the most interesting duties of humanity to prevent children and young persons from abusing themselves, and although the practice of onanism cannot be controlled by laws, legislators might however fix the age under which marriages could not legally take place. We must however admit that circumstances connected with the social state of different people, with the power of procuring the means of subsistence for a family and the necessity of having vigorous children have contributed not a little to fix this age. Thus the laws frequently present differences which can only be explained by taking into view the necessities under which they were passed. Females however are allowed to marry much younger than males: this depends on two facts, first because puberty takes place earlier in females than in males, and secondly because the latter require their organization to be more advanced to resist the fatigue of generation.
The age at which the venereal power enters into full action, and when its exercise is attended with the least detriment has been generally determined on two distinct grounds: first, the physical aptitude for sexual intercourse: second, the general state of the organization. The marriageable age has been fixed at an earlier or later period according as legislators have assumed one or the other of these bases. The first served as foundations for the matrimonial laws of the Romans: and probably the second served as a guide to Lycurgus, who prohibited men from marrying before the age of thirty-seven, and to Plato who recommended that every child born of a female younger than twenty years old or begotten by a man less than thirty years, should be branded with infamy. J. J. Rousseau too reasons in the same manner: “until the age of twenty,” he says, “the body grows and has need of all its substance: continence is natural, and if not observed it is at the expense of the constitution.”
Although the physical aptitude for coition comes at the age of puberty, this fact proves nothing except that the genital organs can then be used. It does not follow that the genital power is fully developed or that the body is in the state most favorable for its use. Who would venture to say; that because masturbation is practicable in early infancy that it is not more injurious than at a later period of life? Hence the cause and degree of the evils attendant on premature indulgence is to be sought for in the degree of perfection of the organism as we have already stated. We therefore think ourselves justified in saying that other things being equal the period of life when the act of venery is attended with the least trouble, is that which begins when the organization is completed, is perfected; and as a reverse of this formula, we may say, that other things being equal, venereal enjoyments anterior to this period, are more detrimental, the less perfect the system is.
The perfect state then is the point to which the system must arrive, before the act of venery is permitted, and before marriage is allowable. There is then no longer any fear of disturbing the formative process. Look at animals, those at least which are not domesticated; they do not indulge in the act of reproduction, until they have attained their full vigor, and how often too do severe battles take place for a female. The domestic animals live in a manner which hastens the development of the venereal sense; and they often indulge in procreating at an early period, but suffer for it, and the genital faculties soon become extinct. It seems also to be proved by the researches of Hofalker of Inspruch and Girou of Buzaringues, that both in man and animals the age of the individuals has an influence on the sex and quality of the offspring. But why look to animals for proofs? Daily observation and the testimony of all authors, put beyond all doubt the danger of precocious indulgence. There are certainly numerous individuals of every age who indulge in venereal excesses; but those cases which come under our notice, or whose histories are related by authors, are generally those of young people. Different causes I know may contribute to this result; one of the principal is, that masturbation is the act of venery most frequently practised before the adult age, and that this is generally more pernicious than coition. We have already stated one reason for this difference; we may add that as onanism does not require the concurrence of the sexes, it is more liable on this account to excess. But do these causes alone explain why the immediate consequences of venereal excesses are not seen with but few exceptions except at an early period of life. The enormous disproportion arises from the precocity of these excesses, and also from the state of the economy before it is perfect.
We have now to determine at what period of life the body arrives at its perfect state and the distance which separates it from this state at the different ages which precede it. This period however is varied by many circumstances, and it is far from being the same in every individual, in the same country or in the same climate. We can then present only mean results, deduced from those collected in France which are the most numerous and authentic.
As we have already said, the organization of the human body is composed of two parts: the development of the tissues and that of the constitution. The economy then cannot be said to be in a perfect state until this double development is finished, and the organs have gained all their power and substance. Unfortunately the labor of the constitution and its progress in activity and in receiving impressions, cannot be estimated by positive rules: but it is connected so intimately with the development of the body, that this can give a sufficiently exact idea of its progress and state. We may then simply by a glance at the development of texture, fix with a certain degree of precision, the value of these words: premature and precocious enjoyments.
It would be out of place to examine the different organs separately and trace their growth, and in the present state of science we cannot give this labor the precision necessary to attain our purpose. But there is one fact which can be measured, viz., the weight of the body. Let us state then the varieties in weight presented at different periods of life, as determined by Quetelet and Villermé.
The mean weight of a male child at birth is three kilogrammes and twenty decimetres. Each year its weight increases in the following proportion:
| At | 1 | year | he weighs | 9 | kil. | 45 | dec. |
| " | 2 | " | " | 11 | " | 34 | " |
| " | 3 | " | " | 12 | " | 47 | " |
| " | 4 | " | " | 14 | " | 23 | " |
| " | 5 | " | " | 15 | " | 77 | " |
| " | 6 | " | " | 17 | " | 74 | " |
| " | 7 | " | " | 19 | " | 10 | " |
| " | 8 | " | " | 20 | " | 76 | " |
| " | 9 | " | " | 22 | " | 64 | " |
| " | 10 | " | " | 24 | " | 52 | " |
| " | 11 | " | " | 27 | " | 10 | " |
| " | 12 | " | " | 29 | " | 82 | " |
| " | 13 | " | " | 34 | " | 38 | " |
| " | 14 | " | " | 38 | " | 76 | " |
| " | 15 | " | " | 43 | " | 62 | " |
| " | 16 | " | " | 49 | " | 67 | " |
| " | 17 | " | " | 52 | " | 85 | " |
| " | 18 | " | " | 57 | " | 85 | " |
| " | 19 | " | " | 60 | " | 06 | " |
| " | 25 | " | " | 62 | " | 93 | " |
| " | 30 | " | " | 63 | " | 95 | " |
| " | 40 | " | " | 63 | " | 67 | " |
| " | 50 | " | " | 64 | " | 46 | " |
| " | 60 | " | " | 61 | " | 94 | " |
| " | 70 | " | " | 59 | " | 52 | " |
| " | 80 | " | " | 57 | " | 83 | " |
| " | 90 | " | " | 57 | " | 83 | " |
This table shows us that man attains the maximum of weight at forty years of age. At this age then we may regard the economy as being perfect. Now when we consider that persons from twelve to eighteen years indulge most frequently in masturbation and that this habit may be formed at a very young age, we may easily conceive of the ills with which it may be attended. This consequence is seen more clearly and exactly by the following table. The mean weight of man when the organization is complete being sixty-three kilogrammes sixty-seven decimetres, at the time of birth he has yet to gain sixty kilogrammes forty-seven decimetres.
| At | 1 | year old | 54 | kils. | 22 | dec. |
| " | 2 | " | 52 | " | 33 | " |
| " | 3 | " | 51 | " | 20 | " |
| " | 4 | " | 49 | " | 44 | " |
| " | 5 | " | 47 | " | 90 | " |
| " | 6 | " | 46 | " | 43 | " |
| " | 7 | " | 44 | " | 57 | " |
| " | 8 | " | 42 | " | 91 | " |
| " | 9 | " | 41 | " | 02 | " |
| " | 10 | " | 39 | " | 15 | " |
| " | 11 | " | 36 | " | 57 | " |
| " | 12 | " | 33 | " | 85 | " |
| " | 13 | " | 29 | " | 29 | " |
| " | 14 | " | 24 | " | 91 | " |
| " | 15 | " | 20 | " | 05 | " |
| " | 16 | " | 14 | " | 00 | " |
| " | 17 | " | 10 | " | 82 | " |
| " | 18 | " | 5 | " | 82 | " |
| " | 20 | " | 3 | " | 61 | " |
| " | 25 | " | 0 | " | 74 | " |
| " | 30 | " | 0 | " | 02 | " |
Hence it will be seen that a man who at the moment of birth only possesses about .05 of the growth he afterwards attains, will have at most only a quarter of his full weight when 5 years old, at which age many children begin to indulge in masturbation. When ten years of age, he has yet to gain nearly .60 and nearly .40 of his weight when he has arrived at his fourteenth year. When sixteen years old, one fifth of his weight is still deficient, and at eighteen years nearly one tenth; his growth although nearly completed at the age of twenty-five, is not entirely attained, since even when thirty years old, the weight of the body is capable of a slight increase.
Of the effect of venereal excesses when the subject of them has attained his growth. The age of maturity is the period when venereal pleasures are attended with the slightest derangements and dangers. At this period these pleasures may not only not be injurious, but may even be necessary. This last circumstance would be sufficient to distinguish this period from those of the growth and decline of the body, when these pleasures are never useful. Let it not be thought, however, that, at the age of maturity, they may be indulged in to excess, or that the pleasures of love are limited only by the power of indulging in them, this is a great mistake; abuses are less frequent, but they do occur, as is seen both by experience and by simple reasoning. Although at the age of maturity the body increases but slightly, yet the process of nutrition is not arrested. It is true that the size and weight of the body no longer increase, but its substance is constantly renewed. The act of venery may then interfere with and derange as before the function of nutrition. The constitution also may be affected, and although the regular course of its formation may not be deranged, yet it may be deteriorated and its influence on the action and sensation of the different organs is so great, that if this deterioration proceed to any extent, these organs will suffer. Thus the health may be injured and the constitution impaired in adults, by venereal excesses; their influence however is resisted longer. The adult age may even present more unfavourable conditions for venereal excess than the period of growth. It may be attended with diseases transmitted from preceding years. In the adult age, the errours of youth are atoned for: wretchedness, debauchery, and excesses of every kind may leave their mark upon the body. Venereal excesses then find the constitution impaired, the health deranged, and they increase the evil already existing. Those particularly who have indulged in masturbation in their youth, perceive on arriving at the adult age, that if they wish to taste the pleasures of love, even to a moderate extent, they are affected with bad feelings which prove that premature indulgences must be paid for with interest.
Different circumstances may render the act of venery injurious at the adult age, but as these do not belong exclusively to this age, we shall speak of them hereafter.
Of the effect of venereal excesses in the period of decline. The faculty of procreating in mankind has its limits: as this power is not attained till at a certain period of life, so too it continues only for a certain period. The spermatic animalculæ, the microscopic sign of the power of generating, are seen only during a portion of human existence: they do not appear till puberty, and disappear in advanced life. This is true also in regard to all animals: the rule is a general one. God has willed that the period of maturity should be the only one devoted to love: is it not a fair conclusion that those who transgress this law expose themselves to its penalties? As the sense of venery precedes, so too it may outlive, the procreative power; it then excites to indulgence at too late a period of life. Examples of this anomaly are very common; hence we need not refer for them to the works of the old writers, we will merely say that a large portion of those committed for attempts at rape are old men. Fortunately the venereal sense is that which suffers the soonest from excesses; and if sometimes the venereal desires are excited, the state of the genital organs prevents their indulgence.
Sometimes, however, the case is otherwise: excited in different ways the genital organs in old men, may for a few moments appear to have regained a faculty which they considered to be lost; these imprudent persons soon pay dearly for their indiscretion. Let us reflect a moment on the state in which venereal pleasures find man in his old age. His substance, instead of increasing or of continuing sound, wastes away. We have seen in a former page, that after the fortieth year the weight of the body begins to diminish; the tissues also vary in every respect from the perfect state as seen at the age of maturity. Farther the sensibility is diminished, the vital activity is enfeebled, the faculties become enervated, in short the economy is impaired. Need we now to make any remarks in regard to the most exhausting of human actions to show its danger? And yet we have only pictured old age as it progresses of its own accord, gently and slowly, without being hurried on by any infirmity; but this rarely happens.
In speaking of the adult age, I have pointed out the affections with which it is attended. But the case is worse in old age. All parts of the body have suffered so many attacks, have been so often affected, that hardly one of them can be called sound. Hence every cause of disease is serious and important, the body being as it were ripe for a diseased affection. What ought then to be the influence of the act of venery? Will it not quicken into life, the seeds of disease which are as it were already sown? In fact it often has a violent effect on the system, and sudden death follows exertions which ought not to be made. How many old men have yielded up their existence in the nuptial bed, when their term of life might have been continued, if they had not exhausted their strength in unnatural exertions.
We have said that the peculiar state of some functions may render the act of venery more injurious at some periods of life than at others. The functions to which we alluded, were digestion, menstruation, pregnancy, and lactation.
Masturbation and coition are often practised after taking food. Sometimes the general excitement attending the labor of digestion extends to the genital organs, and excites to these acts. We cannot say that they are then always injurious: as this would be contradicted by facts; but that they frequently are is supported by the opinions of all authors, who have written on the subject. “Coition after eating,” says Sanctorius, “is injurious,” and he attributes the same effect to thoughts of venery. His commentator Lorry confirms this opinion.
The act of venery during digestion, may injure in two modes. First by deranging the digestive system, and by exposing it to the affections which are the usual consequences of such a derangement. To this must be referred most of the derangements usually presented by the digestive organs of onanists, who merely watch their opportunities for self-pollution, without regarding whether digestion is or is not finished. Happily vomiting then sometimes rids the stomach of food which might be badly digested, and thereby cause more disturbance.
The second mode in which the act of venery acts during digestion, is by causing a general state of excitement, which adds to that caused by the digestive process. All the organs as the heart, lungs, brain, &c., are during digestion in a state of hyperemia, of congestion; they are crowded with blood, as is indicated by a great number of symptoms. It can easily be imagined that venereal excitement under such circumstances, may become the cause of inflammations and organick affections, or may, at least, contribute to their development; by increasing also a congestion caused by an abundant repast, it may immediately excite severe and fatal symptoms. Instances of individuals who have died during the act of coition, after leaving the dinner-table, are by no means rare. Campet states a case where a man on quitting the dinner-table, at which he had drank freely, was accosted by a public woman, went home with her, and died in her arms. A marshal of France a few years since, met his death in a similar manner.
The act of venery, if indulged in during the period of menstruation, may sometimes derange this function.
The injuries resulting from coition during pregnancy have never been doubted; by some, however, too much importance and by others too little has been attached to this state. Levret attributes most cases of abortion, which cannot otherwise be accounted for, to this cause. Zimmerman, Gardien, Murat, Dugès, &c., also regard this act as a frequent cause of miscarriage. Different conclusions have been drawn from these opinions. Some authors assert, that females have a right to deny their husbands during gestation. Montaigne is of this opinion. Some natives as the Mahometans, repudiate all intercourse with pregnant females. In some African tribes, pregnant women are secluded, and no one is allowed to have intercourse with them. Pallas states that the Calmuck Tartars condemn the person, whose incontinence has caused abortion, to pay a fine, the amount of which is directly in proportion to the age of the fetus.
The most general opinion however of physicians on this subject, is that coition to a moderate extent during pregnancy, and where there is no disposition to miscarriage, is not generally detrimental: but that when this act is repeated imprudently, it may cause great excitement in the uterus, and be attended with abortion. Continence is particularly recommended to nervous females, and must be insisted upon when there is reason to fear abortion. We must however observe, that venereal excesses have often been indulged in during pregnancy with evil intents, but without producing the desired result.
Lactation has also been considered by some authors as contra indicating the pleasures of love. Children it is said have been known to become convulsed, when nursing just after their mothers had indulged in sexual intercourse. Lascivious nurses have generally been regarded as bad. Many mothers, however, admit the embraces of their husbands, and their offspring does not suffer. We are far from thinking that the influence supposed to be exercised by the act of venery upon the milk of nurses, is entirely unfounded; hence this act should be used with moderation.
Influence which the act of venery may have, when coincident either with the action of other causes of disease, or with alterations in the constitution and health. When an individual suddenly changes his mode of living, and the influences to which he has been exposed, and becomes a subject to new influences, his health most generally suffers to a certain extent. This is seen in the young man who comes directly from the pure air of the country into the confined atmosphere of the city, and in those who remove from the temperate to the torrid zone. The action of powerful causes of disease, of excessive heat, of deleterious exhalations, often adds to the simple change of habit. Thus all authors who have written on the diseases of warm countries, consider the act of venery, as one of the most active occasional causes of yellow fever, of malignant fevers, of cholera morbus, and generally of the severe diseases contracted by Europeans. A similar disposition may be seen in young men, who pass many hours in the infected atmosphere of hospitals, and particularly in dissecting-rooms, if they indulge with females or in onanism: typhus fevers have been caused by it. The individual who lives in a filthy neighbourhood, who experiences privations, who indulges to excess in wine or spirituous liquors, who labors hard either corporeally or mentally, who is deprived of sleep, who is affected with sadness, &c., bears the act of venery badly; it adds to the enervation already felt, and generally robs the individuals of health. Venereal pleasures should be abstained from, during the prevalence of epidemics: every person is then disposed to the prevailing disease, and a single act of coition may produce it.
The influence of the act of venery is much more injurious, when the causes which we have mentioned, and generally all those which may impair the constitution, have affected it to a greater or less degree. Diseases of long duration, if badly treated, excesses and the causes mentioned above may bring the system to such a state, that enjoyments even if seldom indulged in, may produce great suffering and disease. Venereal excesses may also create predispositions and change them as well as those which have a different origin into other morbid affections.
It is well known that the venereal desires do not generally exist, except the person be in a state of health. The same may be said too of the generative power, if we may judge from Haller’s remark that the spermatic animalculæ disappear during disease. It is ascertained that the number of conceptions is in a direct ratio with the degree of health enjoyed by a people; they increase in a healthy season, and diminish in an unhealthy season. This fact is established by the researches of Villermé in regard to the births and deaths in France, Italy, England and Belgium, and also in regard to the marshy parts of France at different periods of the year, (Ann. d’hyg. publ., January, 1831.) Thus then the genital sense, like that of hunger, and probably the power of procreating, like that of digesting, is most generally suspended during disease. Is not this one of the many warnings of the organization, as to the preservative power?
It is true however that individuals indulge in coition and masturbation although even in an advanced state of disease. This is most frequently seen in onanists. “I have seen,” says Pinel, “a person affected with a dynamic fever who was entirely exhausted, and yet his passion for onanism was so powerful, that on the sixth day of the disease he still attempted to excite his organs, although death was coming upon him.” Similar cases have been witnessed by every practitioner, which we shall mention in the course of this work. Thus then even a severe disease does not entirely prevent the act of venery. Let us now inquire what is the effect when such people indulge. It must be admitted that this indulgence is at least useless, except in very rare cases, where continence is the cause of sickness. Strictly speaking, this may be the case in certain chronic affections and in some few individuals, but it is rare. The power of the act of venery is so great, and the diseased organs are generally so sensitive to the impressions made on the economy, that if there are apparently some diseases which seem unaffected by this act, it is because the modification which they experience escapes observation. We may then state as a general rule that if the act of venery be indulged in by sick people, it is injurious and generally to a great degree. How great is the injury when the disease is caused by venereal indulgences.
It often happens that diseases resist to an unaccountable extent all remedial agents: suspicion is excited and finally we find that the patient, an onanist before he was taken sick, has continued to abuse himself through his sickness: and again, the symptoms of the disease under treatment gradually disappear: but the strength does not return, nor does the patient become convalescent. Debility increases instead of diminishing: the patient becomes thinner and the fever continues: finally the sick person falls into a consumption and the fatal habit is at last discovered. In others the disease seems to be terminated, but is suddenly re-excited, the patient being too hasty to indulge in masturbation or coition. This happened to a man fifty years old, who was gouty, and much addicted to the pleasures of the table, and whose case is related by Hoffman. Having indulged in coition soon after he was convalescent from pleurisy, this man had a relapse which was much more dangerous than the original illness. The same author states a similar case, where the imprudence was followed by death. Scrofula, rickets, gout, and stone are says M. Marc, diseases, which on arriving at a certain point, are aggravated by coition. The same remark applies to all other maladies. M. Falret mentions a female affected with melancholy at the hospital Salpetrière, whose mental affection has several times been re-excited by onanism, after she was thought to be cured. Cutaneous diseases in particular may give an idea of the influence exercised by the act of venery on those maladies which are deeply situated. Alibert mentions the history of an herpetic disease which was always more intense after the patient had indulged in onanism: this unfortunate individual was then tormented by a severe itching.
The irregularity and singularity of the symptoms of those sick people who indulge in onanism, are particularly remarkable. The nervous system evidently feels an influence in addition to that of the disease, or is disposed to be particularly affected by all those which occur. This fact, established by Tissot and Georget, should always be remembered by physicians. We may form an idea of the derangement caused by the act of venery in the progress and appearance of diseases by the severe symptoms which it produces in wounds and particularly those of the head. Tetanus, delirium, and other nervous symptoms have often been caused by it. Fabricius de Hilden states the case of a young man whose hand was amputated, and whose physician forbid having any intercourse with his wife, who was also informed of the danger. But when all the symptoms disappeared, and the cure was progressing rapidly, the patient feeling desires to which his wife could not respond, procured a seminal emission without coition; it was immediately followed by fever, delirium, convulsions and other symptoms, and in four days the patient died.
Death also often follows coition in patients affected with diseases of the heart and large vessels. This was seen in the case of Corroy, a servant at the hospital la Chardité. One evening while intoxicated he met a courtezan with whom he proposed spending the night, but in the midst of his transports he suddenly died. On examining his body it was found that he had an aneurism near the commencement of the arch of the aorta. The rupture of this tumor was evidently the cause of his sudden death. Probably also a similar occurrence happened in the case mentioned by Felix Plater. The patient having married a second time, experienced, while consummating the marriage, such a violent degree of suffocation that he was forced to suspend his efforts: the same symptom re-appeared whenever he again attempted it. Having consulted a charlatan, he was recommended to persevere: he did so, and died. Examples of sudden death during coition are not rare. Death generally arises from aneurism or apoplexy. Pliny the naturalist mentions two cases, and Tabourdot in his Bigarrures, has preserved the epitaphs of several who have perished in this manner.
CHAPTER III.
SYMPTOMS AND DISEASES CAUSED BY VENEREAL EXCESSES.
The genital organs when they are abused are precisely in the same state as if they were diseased. In this case in fact, they are not in their normal state for they are in action when the health demands that they should rest. Hence when we consider them either specially or as to their action on the rest of the body, we see that they resemble organs in a morbid state; they are, as it were affected with an intermittent malady, having distinct periods of access, which are repeated more or less frequently, according to the acts of the onanist. The local condition of these organs is at first that which they present during the act of venery, but at a later period they may present different alterations, which continue after the periods of access, in the same manner as the tissues are modified, if the cause which renders them diseased continues to act on them. The general state of onanists is also perfectly analogous to that observed in diseases. In them, the genital organs are the seat of different symptoms, and the focus of numerous diseases. The symptoms appear first only during the periods of access, or for a few hours afterward: then they continue longer and the intermissions become shorter and afterward are only remissions: finally the disease is perfectly continued. This is the usual course of the symptoms of this affection which may be called the genital disease. Frequently however, one of the derangements of the reproductive system, assumes, on account of its individual peculiarities a more determined character than the others, and becomes as it were independent of them. This disorder is then no longer a symptom but becomes a disease which is in one phthisis, in another myelitis, epilepsy, amaurosis &c. So too with a wound; this which at first caused only fever and other symptoms intimately connected with it, becomes afterward gastroenteritis, tetanus, or some other disease which has its regular place in systems of nosology. Voluntary pollution, when it becomes injurious must then be considered as an affection having its symptoms, and also as a cause of disease. We shall proceed to consider it in these two relations in two different sections. The first will be devoted to the symptoms arising from this pollution, the second, to the diseases caused by it.