It is only by exercise that the faculties are cultivated. It would be very wrong, however, to suppose that each one of them has an individual existence, and by use may be developed separately, and independent of the others. The human faculties seem to have a certain extent of power in common, which they divide in such a manner that one cannot increase except at the expense of the others. An individual who possesses excessive sensibility, rarely enjoys a great degree of muscular vigor. Those men who are noted for muscular strength, are seldom distinguished for the brilliancy of their intellect. Education then acts in two ways: directly, by developing the faculties which it exercises, and indirectly, by opposing the progress of those which it neglects. What it gives to one, it takes from another: it is both a positive, and a negative power. As to the modes of directing it, they act by regulating the use of the three faculties during the period of life when they are forming. This is not the place to say how far education should be carried, so that, in a physical, intellectual, and moral point of view, it should be good: we seek only to determine what it ought to be, in order that a too vivid, or too precocious a facility to receive impressions, may not become the causes of venereal excesses.
It is not among the working classes, that those subject to hysteria and hypochondria, are most numerous. The fatigue of body, when constant, dulls the senses. On the other hand, whatever enervates, renders one susceptible to excesses. These facts, which are generally known, and are confirmed by daily observation, ought to show the influence of exercise and rest on the venereal passion. Onanism is arrested in those children, much more readily, who are extremely active and always in exercise, than in those who are sedentary. The period of puberty, this emancipation of the genital organs, is later, by two or three years, in those individuals who take just enough of repose to rest them from fatigue, than in those who take exercise simply because wearied of repose. Other things being equal, the adult who depends upon his daily labor for his bread, thinks less of sexual pleasures than the idler. Helvetius (de l’homme sect. 10, note 4,) attributes the lascivious tastes of the Asiatics to their idleness, and the indifference of the Canadians to the pleasures of love, to the fatigues experienced by hunting and fishing. Villermé has attempted to show by statistics the influence of great labor on conceptions, but has not accomplished it. He, however, is disposed to regard the influence of fatigue on the sexual feelings, as the cause of the enormous difference said to have been observed in the Antilles, between the fecundity of the black slaves, and that of the whites. He remembers to have read, that in 1798, at St. Domingo, three marriages of blacks produced only two children, while each union between whites produced three children.
It may be seen from the preceding remarks to what extent exercise is useful to young children. Unfortunately, the intellectual and moral necessities of our age cause physical education to be sacrificed in many respects. How many desires must necessarily be cherished, by confining the physical activity of young people, chained down as it were, hour after hour. How many men of mind have protested against the brief period of recreation allowed in our schools. Mr. Taillefer has done this in an excellent work published in 1824, on the improvement to be introduced in schools. This is true, also, of Pavet de Courtailles and Simon, (Hygiene des Colleges, and Hygiene de la jeunesse,) and in America by Dr. A. Brigham, of Hartford, whose work entitled, The Influence of Mental Cultivation upon Health, is full of judicious precept and sound logic. Gymnastic exercises, which are now beginning to be generally used in boys’ schools, and to be adopted in some seminaries for young ladies, compensate in some measure for their enervating education. Simon (of Metz) asserts that masturbation, formerly so destructive in the Orphan Asylum at Berne, has been expelled from it by introducing exercises. He adds, too, that this scourge has also disappeared from the schools of Switzerland, since mutual instruction was introduced, which, as is well known, obliges children to change their position frequently.
A very active life may remedy a too great degree of lasciviousness. Hunting, particularly, has been recommended for this purpose. ‘Diana has been regarded as the enemy of Love,’ says Rousseau, “and the allegory is just: the languor of love only comes from sweet repose. Violent exercise extinguishes the tender emotions.” Rullier has known hunting to produce in a man forty years old, who was passionately addicted to it, a true anaphrodisia, which disappeared when the patient adopted, in accordance with the advice of his physician, another mode of life. Some exercises, however, produce a contrary effect, viz.: those which excite the genital organs directly. Riding in a carriage, especially if it jolts much, and still further riding on horseback, may act in this manner. This effect was known to the ancient authors. Aristotle speaks of it. All those accustomed to riding know that the motions of the horse often produce an erection, and sometimes an involuntary emission of semen. A similar occurrence may take place from riding in a carriage. Serrurier has known this to happen in himself.
The sitting posture, when long continued, excites the genital organs. Simon thinks so; because this attitude, by the pain and obstruction which it causes to the circulation, brings the blood to the lower parts of the trunk, and keeps it there: hence, it exposes the young man to excitement of the genital organs, and to engorgements of the spermatic cord: even hemorrhoids appear in those who ride and sit much. This author concludes by condemning the custom, in schools, of keeping the students sitting the greater part of the day. He thinks that the number of hours spent in school should be less, and that the students should study as many of their lessons as possible, in the erect posture. He recommends, also, that the seats should be so constructed as not to generate much heat, as do those which are stuffed.
The action of intellectual labor is extremely analogous to that of muscular exertion. Persons whose minds are much occupied, who are devoted to their studies, are generally but slightly sensual in their feelings. There are some literary men who thus have become prematurely impotent. On the other hand, individuals whose minds are naturally dull and heavy, the imbeciles and idiots, are frequently remarkable for their extreme salacity. The cultivation of the intellect then is not in itself a predisposing cause of venereal abuses, but it may become so indirectly, either by the physical inaction which it demands, or by the nature of the ideas it excites. We have spoken of the former, and will now consider the latter.
The moral influences, that is, those which are impressed on the senses through the medium of the intellect, often predispose young patients to the abuses of which we are treating. The action of these influences is direct: it is by the impressions which they develop, that they may give to the senses the power of holding a language, and of exercising a precocious influence. They are particularly to be dreaded when they address the instinct of propagation, and excite it before the organized system is perfectly developed. The moral education also, that education which consists in keeping from the young certain impressions, does not act until their time has come, and must be considered as one of the most efficacious modes of preventing the premature abuse of venereal pleasures.
Notions of love may, when acquired too soon, excite in the soul a sensation which is first vague, then more precise, and which only requires an opportunity to become a fatal passion. Thus the reading of romances, and books which always interest the soul in love scenes which are painted in bright colors, ought to be strictly forbidden to young people. The same is true of theatrical representations. Here love is in a measure materialized: we see the persons who are animated by this passion: they express themselves in a manner to make one really think they feel it: they attempt by every kind of coquetry to deceive and delude the public, and even to excite desires. Art lends her aid to eloquence and gesture to move the heart, and the fear of failing to enlist the feelings, often induces the actor to overstep the bounds of nature, and then he represents libertinism, not love. Conceive of the effect which this must produce upon one who is uninitiated, who is thus, as it were, introduced into a new world: the venereal sense becomes excited sooner than it ought to be, and desires demand to be satisfied before the body has attained its strength, and consequently before legitimate pleasures are practicable or allowable.
Balls, parties, and assemblies, all opportunities of seeing the world in its gayest and most attractive attire, are dangerous to youth. Generally speaking, the habitual intercourse of the two sexes ought to be avoided as much as possible. In a report made to the Industrial Society of Malhouse, as to the number of hours which children ought to labor daily, the evening labor which brings the different sexes together in the workshops, is mentioned as a great source of trouble. One advantage of schools is, that the different sexes are kept distinct. In families, and we do not except those which are models of morality, the opportunities of intercourse between boys and girls are too frequent. Certain emotions, of an obscure character at first, are felt: curiosity is excited, and soon the secret of solitary indulgence is found. Young persons may also, under their paternal roof, acquire dangerous notions in regard to the material differences between the sexes, and other facts which are the consequence of them. “I do not see,” says Rousseau, “but one mode of preserving in children their innocence; which is, that all those around should respect and love it.” Unfortunately, the smallness of dwelling houses in cities, and other necessities, particularly that of watching their offspring obliges parents to keep their children near them, and their curiosity being always on the alert, often leads them to unfortunate discoveries. Abbe Chappe has stated the manner in which the Samoides live in their huts, as an active cause of libertinism. These individuals do not use beds, but lie, almost naked, on straw and on benches. The children witness much that should be concealed from them; become loose in their morals, and hence they have to be married early to prevent excesses. (Travels in Siberia, Vol. 1.) If accidental observations in the most moral families may be attended with the results just mentioned, what must be the consequence of constant depraved manners; their empire is so great at this age when the mind is unexperienced, and is always ready to adopt the impressions of the moment. In pity then to youth, let every magistrate prevent the publicity of immodesty and vice; do not let prostitution be sanctioned by the law: for when our sons and daughters are liable to find out in an instant what we have so carefully concealed from them, the responsibility should rest not simply on those unfortunate beings who follow such a course of life, but also on the part of those who having the power to prevent it, close their eyes, and permit, or even authorize it.
Rules relating to the direct and special causes of onanism. The habit of onanism may have three origins: it may be, 1st, that the individual discovers it spontaneously; 2d, that the vice may be taught him; 3d, that being unable to satisfy his desires for coition, he seeks a resource in onanism.