Can the power possessed by man of indulging in the act of venery be abused? or, in other words, can any injury arise to the health or constitution, by indulgence in this act. It is sufficient to observe, that the affirmative has never been doubted by any author, that no medical man has ever been found at any time, or in any country, so deficient in intelligence as to doubt that venereal enjoyments were attended by venereal excess, and no one has ever disputed that masturbation or coition may be injurious.
The act of venery, then, may be followed by bad effects. But is it so, and to what extent? This question is the only one which has been debated, the only one to be debated. Let then those, who think that venereal indulgences are followed only by the remembrance of them, know, that deceived by their desires, and perhaps by their necessities, they are rushing blindly toward a fatal precipice, which is to be sure at a greater or less distance from them, but which however exists, and to which those who do not take warning will arrive more quickly.
It is generally thought that venereal excesses, particularly those of masturbation, contribute in a considerable proportion to the ills of suffering humanity. Some even consider this cause of disease, as one of the most fatal and active. “In my opinion,” says Réveillé-Parise, “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.” (Revue Medicale, April, 1828, p. 93.) No one has disputed the dangers of this kind of excess. Many authors, however, have thought, that writers had exaggerated on this subject. Thus Montègre says that “the bad consequences (although they do exist) attending premature indulgences have sometimes been exaggerated.” (Dict. des sc. med. vol. vi. p. 100.) Georget’s opinion is similar. According to him, (Physiologie du système nerveux vol. i.) most authors and Tissot among others have much exaggerated the effects of masturbation.
It will be seen, with how much reserve these authors speak. The injury arising from this habit, say they, is very great, but it has been overrated. Let us now examine upon what grounds they and others have been led to consider these fears as too great: we shall see by what reasoning they have been governed, and if they are correct.
Montègre was struck by the instances of individuals who were addicted to onanism from early childhood, and who, however, in the prime of vigour and health, had attained an age to which men do not generally arrive, or to whom advanced age comes loaded with troubles. But do we not see old soldiers who have always escaped bullets? Now what do these facts prove except that such individuals exist? It has also been stated, that influenced with what they have read in books, which contain the most formidable cases, as those only are printed, many physicians have attributed too much importance to the diseases caused by onanism. But admitting this, may we not conclude also, that many severe affections which it produces are not referred to it? That in attending cases of dorsal consumption, epilepsy, paralysis, loss of sight, &c., less dangerous diseases are overlooked, and that their origin is not suspected? How often, for instance, are we ignorant of the true cause of these affections whose characters are constantly changing, which are seen every day, which at first produce uneasiness, but with which one soon becomes familiar; which are not the symptoms of a disease having its name and place among other diseases, so much as the indication of constitutional affections, which appear from a variety of influences, and are referred to each one of them. And yet this kind of affection, as we shall state hereafter, is that presented most frequently by individuals addicted but for a short time to onanism, who indulge in it but seldom, or whose constitution resists this kind of excess.
Appeal has been made also to direct observation; the number of those who have fallen victims to onanism has been cited. It has been said, call to mind every thing which has occurred to you in the course of a long practice, you will doubtless find deplorable and even numerous instances of the diseases attending onanism; but does this number approximate that of the individuals who abandon themselves to this vice? There are few persons who are not addicted to masturbation; very well, are there many whose constitutions are impaired and whose health is destroyed? It is admitted that premature and too frequent and too often repeated indulgences may injure and sometimes have caused great detriment, yet those who live through them are very numerous, and the distance between the use and abuse of the act of venery, is greater than is generally admitted.
This manner of counting the dead and wounded has something specious in it, but it is defective in this respect, that it takes no account of what has escaped observation, and cannot be estimated. Every practitioner has undoubtedly seen more cases of masturbation than he has seen victims to this habit. But how many circumstances have prevented him from seeing all the diseases which are caused by this habit, or have prevented him from referring these diseases to their true cause? We have already mentioned the influence which his previous reading and occupation have on this subject; to this cause of errour, we may add others. How numerous are the affections which are borne in silence and which never come under the notice of a physician. How numerous too the practitioners who avoid the trouble of referring to the immediate or remote causes of the diseases which are observed by them, and who confine themselves simply to their treatment, without tracing them to their source. How often too are diseases resulting from onanism attributed to causes with which they have no connexion, to causes which were indicated by persons who knew no better, or even by the patient who believed himself to be interested in giving wrong statements. How frequently also does the practitioner exclude himself from obtaining information, by abstaining from making suggestions to the parents, which all hear with displeasure, and repel with indignation. How often, also, does he refrain from asking necessary questions, for fear of wounding the modesty of the young patient, of teaching him a thing of which perhaps he is ignorant, or at least of exciting in him a dangerous curiosity! Finally how frequently are his doubts removed by the art with which those who indulge in onanism, even when young, know how to conceal a habit at which they blush in secret. Now is it reasonable to expect, that the physician when surrounded by so many causes of errour, should go into statistical details and estimate from them the sum total of the ills produced by onanism and other excesses of a similar character? This method would undoubtedly lead to taking a part for the whole and consequently to forming too narrow an opinion of the evil. Many authors having followed this course, and having considered the evils which are unobserved by them as only imaginary, have not denied the dangers and inconveniences of venereal excesses, but have supposed that they exist less frequently than is really the case.
I do not wish to call in question the utility of observations, or to pretend that they must be neglected. I only wish to say that in attaching to them too much consequence we are led to false conclusions which may inspire a dangerous security. The physician who commits this fault, reasons as does the onanist, who being unable to distinguish, either in his comrades or in himself, the effects of his pernicious habit, concludes that it is an innocent practice and that it may be indulged in unreservedly. The principal utility of observing the diseases caused by masturbation is to determine what are the maladies produced by onanism and what is the relative frequency of each of them. We can also certainly form an opinion, from that which is shown by observation, in regard to that which escapes us. But it is only by induction, that the extent of the evils caused by venereal abuses can be estimated. The bad effects produced by these abuses, can be estimated only by considering what they may produce. It is only after studying the genital system in its relations with other organs, and considering the influence it exercises upon them, that we can pronounce in regard to the maladies and infirmities and dangers of all kinds which attend the abuse of the genital system. We proceed to this subject first. We shall then state what is known from direct observation in regard to the different affections which result from venereal excesses.
CHAPTER I.
OF THE DANGERS WHICH MAY FOLLOW VENEREAL EXCESS.
To abuse oneself by onanism, by coition, is to abuse the organs which serve for the execution of these acts. The genital organs in the female are, the vulva, clitoris, vagina, uterus, fallopian tubes and ovaries. Those in the male are the penis, the seminal passages and the testicles. These organs are then placed in such a state that they become a source of disorder and of disease to the rest of the body. Now, what is their power in this respect? Can they do much injury? This is the question now to be examined.