[CHAPTER III.]
THE FORMS, SYMPTOMS AND CONSEQUENCES
Of Masturbation, Spermatorrhœa, Nervous Exhaustion and Spinal Irritability.
In no disease known to us are the symptoms precisely the same in every case. They vary with the constitutional peculiarities of the individual. Yet in nearly every case there are certain prominent or leading symptoms (signs) that are rarely absent at some stage of the disease. We give here the more noticeable ones at first laid down by Lallemand, the great French physician, who first gave us the name “Spermatorrhœa,” who first wrote upon this disease, who was the first to discover the connection between the losses of semen and certain symptoms here given, and who, too, was the great originator of that treatment so successfully perfected by his successor, Prof. Civiale, and which is now the standard treatment, recognized and adopted in all the French hospitals.
OBJECTIVE SYMPTOMS DUE TO MASTURBATION.
First, as to the appearance and actions of the Masturbator—he who is constantly and recklessly drawing drafts of exhaustion and decay on the nervous energy and strength of his coming manhood, and which are sure to bankrupt the most robust health.
If there is a man to be pitied on this earth, it is he who is walking about from day to day conscious of being guilty of ever having practiced this vice. Mark the man who is addicted to it in no matter how light a form; his face tells the story of his sin. See his haggard looks, his deep, sunken eyes, which he throws only half-way into the countenance of his friend. Note the blue or black discolorations under the eye; the nervousness to get away from a crowd, and the extreme girlishness or backwardness when introduced into the company of ladies.
The victim of the most dangerous of all vices soon reaches a state which, if not promptly relieved by the proper remedy, will end in life-long misery or an early death.
Objectively considered, the masturbator is recognized by a marked facial expression, by a characteristic mannerism, and by a peculiar mental state.