The great variety of unnatural ways of gratifying the sexual passion is only an evidence of human depravity; and the entailed diseases must be unreservedly studied, that, as much as possible, these abominable conditions may be confined within a certain limit, which should be legally set apart and licensed, that the chaste and elevated portions of society may find protection.
These conditions all exist: there is no remedy to abort or expunge them; and the numerous diseases, growing out of this great depravity and mismanagement of the sexual, must all be duly considered, by the medical man, as predisposing and exciting causes of neurine maladies. To prevent the spread of disease, should be the chief aim of every humane citizen, and more especially the physician. Much is said in regard to means and legislation to prohibit the spread of venereal disease; but the nervous diseases caused by sexual debauch and mismanagement are of equal importance and as devastating to the race.
[If] we can give credence to what Dr. S. W. Gross says, in the May number, 1877, Medical and Surgical Reporter, of Philadelphia, masturbation has, in his cases, caused fifteen out of nineteen cases of urethral stricture, while four were caused by gonorrhœa. I am not aware of any such proportions reported by any other authority, yet I am thoroughly convinced that masturbation has existed in a great majority of cases of urethral stricture, and in many such cases has been a cause, primarily or secondarily. It is not far from true to say, that a large proportion of masturbators, of advanced age, have a general contraction of the entire urethral canal and a diminished dilatability. Purulent discharges and abscesses are not uncommon along the course of the urethra and prostate gland, followed by folicular disintegration and perforation.
[The Effect of Sexual Excesses upon the Neural Axis as a Cause of Organic Disease.]—“Sexual excesses and Onanism are certainly of no slight significance, at least in the development of a predisposition to tabes.” (Erb.) Again, in speaking of causes in general of spinal disease, the same author says: (P. 147, Ziemssen’s Cyclopœdia, vol. XIII.)
“Of these (causes) sexual excesses and irregularities occupy the first place. * * * * I believe we may say that any gratification of the sexual passions, whether natural or unnatural, indulged in to an excess and for a long time, forms for many men—not for all—a circumstance that powerfully depresses the spinal cord and predisposes it to disease.” * * * *
“Excessive natural coitus, in many persons, certainly produces symptoms which point to a weakness and a diminished functional capacity on the part of the spinal cord; weakness of the legs, inability to stand for a long time, trembling when forcible movements are made, pains in the back, shooting pains in the legs, sleeplessness, etc. This may often be noticed in the newly married, or in persons who have indulged in great excess for a short time. If the cause of these symptoms soon disappears, the injury may in most cases be quickly repaired; but if the excesses are continued, further injury, or even positive disease, occurs. Any external injury, exposure to cold, excessive walking, etc., may then bring on the worst results.”