[106] I have seen precisely similar conditions resulting from a sphincterismus being relieved by anal dilatation. I had one such case who had fallen into the hands of a quack, who made him believe that he was being affected with incipient softening of the brain; systematic dilatation or a rupture of the sphincter à la Van Buren is the appropriate remedy.
[107] In the first volume of the “American and English Encyclopedia of Law” there is an interesting account of a young child (who had been bound out by the parish officials) who murdered his little bed-fellow and, on trial and conviction, was sentenced to be hanged, but who was reprieved by royal favor on account of his tender years, the sentence being changed to imprisonment for life. The little fellow was only eight years of age. On the trial the boy said he was driven to commit the crime because the other child soiled the bed. The two children being both paupers, it may well be imagined that their bedding was none of the cleanest at the best, or that their bed-room had the best of ventilation. As at the time the murder was committed English paupers were not treated in the most humane manner, it is not surprising that a nervous, sensitive child would, under such a combination of circumstances, be converted into an insane murderer.
[108] The study of prematurely acquired impotence in the male is a most interesting one. I have frequently seen it result from the presence of anal or rectal irritation, from hæmorrhoids. I have seen cases who could not have erections, and in whom all sexual desire was extinct at a very early age, who have informed me that, although unable to have sexual intercourse because of the total absence of sexual desire, the flaccidity of the organ, and the want of sound physiological organic functional activity to suggest the thought, they had, nevertheless, frequently been the victims of nocturnal emissions before the total extinction of the function. As a rule, much of this premature impotence—induced by either irritation of the genital organs or rectal or anal troubles—runs its unfortunate possessor through such a course of physical incidents as described by Hammond, as the wild Indians of the Southwest induce in the mujerado. At first the sound organ responds in a natural manner to any stimulus that may affect it, but soon a local satyriacal condition is set up, which, running a more or less rapid period of intense activity, soon leaves its victim completely, permanently, and hopelessly impotent, even as much so as if eunuchized in the most approved manner. Hammond’s description of the manner in which these unfortunates are manufactured is an interesting addition to the facts contained in the natural history of man, and is as follows: “A mujerado is an essential person in the saturnalia, or orgies, in which these Indians, like the ancient Greeks, Egyptians, and other nations, indulge. He is the chief passive agent in the pederastic ceremonies which form so important a part in the performances. These take place in the spring of every year, and are conducted with the utmost secrecy, as regards the non-Indian part of the population. For the making of a mujerado one of the most virile men is selected, and the act of masturbation is performed upon him many times every day; at the same time he is made to ride almost continuously on horseback. The genital organs are thus brought, at first, into a state of extreme erethism, so that the motion of the horse is sufficient to produce a discharge of seminal fluid, while at the same time the pressure of the body on the animal’s back—for the riding is done without a saddle—interferes with their proper nutrition. It eventually happens that, though an orgasm may be caused, emissions can no longer be effected, even upon the most intense degree of excitation. Finally, the accomplishment of an orgasm becomes impossible; in the meantime the penis and testicles begin to shrink, and in time reach their lowest plane of degradation. But the most decided changes are at the same time going on, little by little, in the instincts and proclivities of the subject. He loses his taste for those sports and occupations in which he formerly indulged, his courage disappears, and he becomes timid to such an extent that, if he is a man occupying a prominent place in the council of the pueblo, he is at once relieved of all power and responsibility, and his influence is at an end. If he is married his wife and children pass from under his control,—whether, however, through his wish or theirs, or by the orders of the council, I could not ascertain. They certainly become no more to him than other women and children of the pueblo.” Hammond examined one of these men, who had, as he himself informed him, formerly possessed a large penis and testicles “grande como huevos,”—as large as eggs. The penis was in its flaccid state and about an inch and a half in length, with the glans about the size of a thimble, which it very much resembled in shape. The glandular structure of the testicles had disappeared; they were atrophied, little besides connective tissue remaining. He examined another mujerado in the pueblo of Acoma, who had been so made when at about the age of twenty-six. The penis was not more than an inch in length and about the diameter of the little finger, and of the testicles there was apparently nothing left but a little connective tissue. Both of these men had high-pitched voices. The last one examined was then thirty-six years of age. (Hammond: “Male Impotence.”) The foregoing detailed description shows an extreme degree of results produced by an equally extreme degree of intense and persistent irritation applied to the genital organs, purposely employed to obtain certain results. In the cases cited the irritation or excitation is directly applied, but it is safe to assume that reflex irritability from the anus or rectum, or from that of a stricture or of a prepuce, will in some cases produce a certain degree of excitation in the testicles that may result in their functional or organic derangement, in a degree proportionate to that of the amount of excitation from which they have suffered. That the testicles are very apt to suffer from the existence of a stricture is a well-known fact. I have myself worried over a case of stricture, in whom the attempted passage of a filiform bougie was always immediately followed by a severe attack of epididymitis, and who had always been afflicted with a tenderness and a tendency to inflammation of the testes. I have also noticed a much greater tendency to orchitis in the wearer of an irritating prepuce than where it was absent; so that the presence of a satyriacal tendency, no matter in what proportion of a degree it may be present, can safely be assumed to result in a corresponding degree of apathy, due to an actual physical degeneration of the parts. That these conditions, when present in any degree of permanency or persistence, will in the end induce early impotence, I have no reason to doubt. In this regard we must not overlook the fact that persons with phimosis, stricture, or other genital irritants and impediments, are more liable to be afflicted with hæmorrhoids, prolapsus ani, or other anal and rectal irritation, which retroactively assist in bringing about the condition under question. How much this may have to do with certain prolific peculiarities among the Jews may well be questioned; it is a well-known fact that in London the Jewish excess of male births has been as high as eighteen per cent., while among the Christian or Gentile population it is only six and one-half per cent.,—a somewhat analogous condition of proportion being also observable in the United States. Here, it is accounted for, in a measure, by Dr. Billings, in the following words: “This comparatively large proportion of males among the Jews is probably due to the fact that the death-rate of their infants is less for males, as compared with females, than it is among the average population.” Children gotten during the prime of life of the parents are naturally more virile and have better stamina than those gotten before full maturity is reached. If the father is on the verge of impotency just about the time he is expected to beget his best offspring, that offspring cannot be expected to present an extra amount of vitality, virility, or physical stamina; hence, the prepuce can be brought in as directly tending—in no matter how small the degree it may be, but nevertheless a factor—to the physical degeneracy of the race, as well as it demonstrates the existence of some law for the production of the sexes which we do not as yet fully comprehend. Aside from the above considerations, there are those of the actual bar to the increase of population which the prepuce induces, either by primarily being the cause of impotence or by direct interference, as already mentioned, and the impotence that naturally results from the causes set forth in this note. The results of a prepuce are certainly such as must act like a moist, warm, and oily poultice to the irritability induced in the most confirmed Malthusian when contemplating the—to him—rapid and unwarranted increase of population.
WORKS AND AUTHORITIES QUOTED.
Thèse pour le doctorat en Médecine, par J. B. B. Edmond Nogues, sur la Anatomie, Physiologie, et Pathologie du Prépuce. Paris, 1850.
Thèse à la faculté de Médecine de Strasbourg. Par J. B. A. Chauvin. Consideration sur le Phimosis et Operation de la Circoncision par un procédé nouveau. Strasbourg, 1851.
De la Circoncision chez les Egyptiens. F. Chabas. Paris, 1861.
Cause Morale de la Circoncision des Israelites. Vanier, du Havre. Paris, 1847.