Sometimes, however, the case is otherwise: excited in different ways the genital organs in old men, may for a few moments appear to have regained a faculty which they considered to be lost; these imprudent persons soon pay dearly for their indiscretion. Let us reflect a moment on the state in which venereal pleasures find man in his old age. His substance, instead of increasing or of continuing sound, wastes away. We have seen in a former page, that after the fortieth year the weight of the body begins to diminish; the tissues also vary in every respect from the perfect state as seen at the age of maturity. Farther the sensibility is diminished, the vital activity is enfeebled, the faculties become enervated, in short the economy is impaired. Need we now to make any remarks in regard to the most exhausting of human actions to show its danger? And yet we have only pictured old age as it progresses of its own accord, gently and slowly, without being hurried on by any infirmity; but this rarely happens.
In speaking of the adult age, I have pointed out the affections with which it is attended. But the case is worse in old age. All parts of the body have suffered so many attacks, have been so often affected, that hardly one of them can be called sound. Hence every cause of disease is serious and important, the body being as it were ripe for a diseased affection. What ought then to be the influence of the act of venery? Will it not quicken into life, the seeds of disease which are as it were already sown? In fact it often has a violent effect on the system, and sudden death follows exertions which ought not to be made. How many old men have yielded up their existence in the nuptial bed, when their term of life might have been continued, if they had not exhausted their strength in unnatural exertions.
We have said that the peculiar state of some functions may render the act of venery more injurious at some periods of life than at others. The functions to which we alluded, were digestion, menstruation, pregnancy, and lactation.
Masturbation and coition are often practised after taking food. Sometimes the general excitement attending the labor of digestion extends to the genital organs, and excites to these acts. We cannot say that they are then always injurious: as this would be contradicted by facts; but that they frequently are is supported by the opinions of all authors, who have written on the subject. “Coition after eating,” says Sanctorius, “is injurious,” and he attributes the same effect to thoughts of venery. His commentator Lorry confirms this opinion.
The act of venery during digestion, may injure in two modes. First by deranging the digestive system, and by exposing it to the affections which are the usual consequences of such a derangement. To this must be referred most of the derangements usually presented by the digestive organs of onanists, who merely watch their opportunities for self-pollution, without regarding whether digestion is or is not finished. Happily vomiting then sometimes rids the stomach of food which might be badly digested, and thereby cause more disturbance.
The second mode in which the act of venery acts during digestion, is by causing a general state of excitement, which adds to that caused by the digestive process. All the organs as the heart, lungs, brain, &c., are during digestion in a state of hyperemia, of congestion; they are crowded with blood, as is indicated by a great number of symptoms. It can easily be imagined that venereal excitement under such circumstances, may become the cause of inflammations and organick affections, or may, at least, contribute to their development; by increasing also a congestion caused by an abundant repast, it may immediately excite severe and fatal symptoms. Instances of individuals who have died during the act of coition, after leaving the dinner-table, are by no means rare. Campet states a case where a man on quitting the dinner-table, at which he had drank freely, was accosted by a public woman, went home with her, and died in her arms. A marshal of France a few years since, met his death in a similar manner.
The act of venery, if indulged in during the period of menstruation, may sometimes derange this function.
The injuries resulting from coition during pregnancy have never been doubted; by some, however, too much importance and by others too little has been attached to this state. Levret attributes most cases of abortion, which cannot otherwise be accounted for, to this cause. Zimmerman, Gardien, Murat, Dugès, &c., also regard this act as a frequent cause of miscarriage. Different conclusions have been drawn from these opinions. Some authors assert, that females have a right to deny their husbands during gestation. Montaigne is of this opinion. Some natives as the Mahometans, repudiate all intercourse with pregnant females. In some African tribes, pregnant women are secluded, and no one is allowed to have intercourse with them. Pallas states that the Calmuck Tartars condemn the person, whose incontinence has caused abortion, to pay a fine, the amount of which is directly in proportion to the age of the fetus.
The most general opinion however of physicians on this subject, is that coition to a moderate extent during pregnancy, and where there is no disposition to miscarriage, is not generally detrimental: but that when this act is repeated imprudently, it may cause great excitement in the uterus, and be attended with abortion. Continence is particularly recommended to nervous females, and must be insisted upon when there is reason to fear abortion. We must however observe, that venereal excesses have often been indulged in during pregnancy with evil intents, but without producing the desired result.
Lactation has also been considered by some authors as contra indicating the pleasures of love. Children it is said have been known to become convulsed, when nursing just after their mothers had indulged in sexual intercourse. Lascivious nurses have generally been regarded as bad. Many mothers, however, admit the embraces of their husbands, and their offspring does not suffer. We are far from thinking that the influence supposed to be exercised by the act of venery upon the milk of nurses, is entirely unfounded; hence this act should be used with moderation.