Of the things which may produce venereal excitement, and of the modes of preservation which are connected with them. These things are all those which are capable of increasing the sensibility in general and particularly that of the organs of venery: the means are, the influences which may be used to act in a contrary direction.
The venereal desire may develope itself at all seasons. The most favorable to its appearance, however, is spring. This fact was well known to the ancients: but it did not rest on a scientific foundation till recently. The confirmation of this fact is owing to the statistical labors of Villermé in France and of Quetelet and Smits in Belgium.
Villermé proposed to establish, from the register of births, the periods of the year when conceptions occur most frequently. He arranged the months in the following order. May, June, April, July, February, March, December, January, August, November, September, October.
Hence the three months when there are the most conceptions are April May and June, and those in which there are the fewest are September, October, and November. Hence it is in spring, at that period of the year when vegetation sprouts forth and when the trees are covered with foliage, when most animals seek their mates, that pregnancy is most common: while in autumn, that season in which vegetable life is as it were extinguished, is also the period when the human race labors least at reproduction. The results obtained by Quetelet and Smits, conform entirely with the above. It now remains to know whether the difference between spring and autumn arises from there being less procreative exertion or whether conception or impregnation at that time are more easy.
To resolve this question Villermé consulted the criminal calendar to ascertain at what period of the year there were the most attempts at rape: and he found that it was the same as that when the most conceptions occur, that is in the spring. The same result was obtained by Quetelet and Smits. May not these crimes be more common in the spring because then men have more opportunity of being guilty, as at that time females may be found alone and loosely clothed, in the woods and distant places? But these same circumstances exist in the months of August and September, and yet the respective number of these crimes diminishes in these two months. Nor can this greater number of pregnancies be attributed to the fact that more marriages are contracted at one period of the year than at another, for the maximum and minimum of births can be referred in every country and at all times, with but few limitations to the same periods, while the maximum and minimum of marriages in different countries present great and numerous differences. We may then consider it as determined that man is subject to a certain extent to a kind of periodical heat, which returns every year in the spring.
It is not the heat of weather which produces this phenomenon, for if this were the case, it would appear in July and August rather than in April and May: but it is the return of early warmth. Perhaps this phenomenon also arises from influences now unknown, which would contribute in early spring to the vernal resurrection of organized beings. The slight variations in the period of heat in men, in different climates, confirms what has been said as to the action of spring. Villermé having compared the different parts of France, of Europe and even of the two hemispheres, found that the maximum of conceptions is, like this season, more precocious in warm than in cold climates. There is then a period of the year when man is more disposed to indulge in these excesses and when his desires should be more carefully controlled. We have already seen that Wichmann regards the spring as a cause why diurnal pollutions are more active and frequent; the same may be said of nymphomania. In a female whose history has already been given and who was affected with this disease, the period of the greatest degree of salacity extended from the beginning to the end of this season.
There is another observation which at first seems only of a moderate degree of importance but which may present practical deductions of great interest. Villermé has found that the maximum and minimum of conceptions are much less marked in the cities than in the country, and still less so in the large cities. This fact confirms our remarks on the influence of seasons, for it shows that this influence is less, the more individuals are exposed to it. It shows too how far the salacity of men may be influenced by his mode of living. This remark has long been made in regard to animals: the period of rutting ceases to be marked periodically when they pass from a savage to a domestic state. We have now to learn in what manner a retired life acts on the venereal sense. Another observation of M. Villermé seems to us to throw light on this topic.
The law of maximum and minimum, which has just been treated of, presents a remarkable exception which is seen in cold countries as Sweden, Finland, St. Petersburgh, &c. In these countries, exceptions occur most frequently in the months of December and January, in short in winter. Different causes have been supposed to account for this exception: there is but one however, which will explain it well—that is the manner in which the inhabitants of these countries are clothed during the cold season. By means of dress and warmth they then create an artificial climate by which they are enabled to resist the rigor of that in which they dwell. The whole body is enveloped in numerous thick and warm garments, which fit accurately, envelope it exactly and preserve for the body its natural temperature: placing these individuals in a position analogous to that of vegetables which are hastened in their growth by manure. Farther they preserve in their dwellings a degree of temperature which would be insupportable in a temperate climate. In fact if the inhabitants of the polar regions should keep civil registers of births, their examination would doubtless demonstrate that in these rude climates, the fine season is not that of amours. It is well known that puberty in these countries is more precocious, as is the case under the tropics. Thus the Samoid women menstruate at the age of 11 years and are often mothers at 12. (Klingstadt, Memoire sur les Samoides, pp. 41. & 43.) This is not to be wondered at when we consider that they live in subterranean caves, where there is a stifling heat produced by throwing water on redhot stones. Dwellings then in cold countries may be considered as hot houses which act on man as they do on vegetables.
These facts established, let us consider their consequences; do they not prove, that an artificial climate may develope the venereal sense prematurely or too vividly? That on the coming of winter a young man ought not to be clothed too warm? That too many quilts should not be put on the bed at night? That the cold should be braved? That we should forbid too long a continuance in warm rooms? These principles are deduced naturally from observations on the seasons. It is unnecessary to say, that these rules, good as they are, are more particularly applicable to those who are suspected or convicted of masturbation. In our preceding remarks we have paid regard only to the temperate zones of the two hemispheres, that is, to those countries where there are four distinct seasons nearly equal in length. But if we approach the equinoctial line, those regions of the globe where the year is divided into a very long summer and a very short winter, the influence of seasons is effaced by that of climate. We shall not repeat in this place all that has been said in regard to the precocity of the inhabitants of warm countries, their ardor in love, the excesses to which they are addicted, the rapidity with which they grow old; all these facts are well known. But we will make a remark which seems to us important: if the habitual and long continued action of solar heat, hastens the appearances of the venereal sense, and gives it so much power, why will not the continued action of any other heat, for instance of clothing, dwellings, baths, &c., produce a similar result? It seems to us that the admission of the first fact necessarily implies the other. Thus whether we regard the influence of seasons exerted around us, or that of climates which are far distant, we always arrive at the conclusion that by a delicate education, and by taking care to preserve children from the slightest cold, we hasten the excitement of their sensual feelings, to which they are more liable to become victims. Hence in prescribing a change of scene for a young man addicted to onanism, we should be careful not to expose him to hot climates.
Are there any emanations which have the power of deadening the venereal sense? From a case already mentioned, and which we owe to M. Villermé, we might suspect that emanations from stagnant waters have this effect: but it is probable that if procreation is less active in marshy countries during the most unhealthy seasons, it is because the number of sick is greater. It is well known that notwithstanding all emanations, the venereal sense may be very precocious, and may lead whole communities to indulge in excesses: we might cite as instances the inhabitants of the marshy parts of the Landes of Bordeaux, and the Solognese.