Connected with each testicle is a duct, called the (11) vas deferens that passes up through the loins and over the bladder and becomes enlarged into a small vessel called the (12) ampulla. The ampullae open into the urethra. Near the ampullae, and behind them, are two larger vessels, called the (13) seminal vessels. These vessels connect with the urethra by a small duct, at the point where the ampullae do. Surrounding the neck of the bladder, the lower portion of the ampullae, the seminal vessels and the deep urethra is a very important gland, called the (14) prostate gland. Connected with the urethra and only a short distance from the prostate, are two small glands, called the (15) Cowper’s glands. These glands and vessels are all very tender. They are protected by being placed on the inside of the body. Because of bad habits connected with the organs on the outside, many men suffer much pain from diseased conditions of the organs on the inside.
Puberty.—When a boy is born, he has all these organs. The testicles and the glands on the inside are inactive until he reaches the age of fourteen and a half. Until this time he has been only a boy. At about this age the glands become active and begin to slowly form from the blood a fluid called semen. This period in a boy’s life is called puberty. It is at this time that he starts toward manhood. We shall find later that he will not be a perfect man until he is twenty-four. During these ten years he will be changing gradually into a man. There is no way by which a boy can come suddenly to manhood.
Some things hasten puberty.—There are some things that will hasten puberty. Several thousand miles South, puberty comes on a boy a few months sooner than it does here. Several thousand miles North, puberty comes later than here. Thus we see that a warm climate tends to hasten the arrival of puberty, and a cold climate will tend to retard it. This is the main reason why puberty, in the colored race, comes a few months sooner than it does in the white race. For centuries the negro lived in the hot climates of Africa. In this country he has lived largely in the South. Vulgar language, impure thoughts and the cigarette habit will tend to hasten puberty. These bad habits arouse passion and lead to the formation of semen before the body is prepared to absorb it. This leads to the habit of wasting this energy from the body. It will be noticed by you that the cigarette smoking and vulgar boys grow up to have a pale or a dark complexion and many are stunted and ugly. Using cigarettes before you are fifteen will do you more harm than to use them after that age.
The nature and value of the creative life.—The wisest doctors tell us that one drop of semen is worth twenty drops of blood; one ounce is worth twenty ounces of the purest blood. If a discharge of this energy were taken from the body of a healthy, strong man, twenty-five years old, and placed in a small glass test-tube and allowed to settle for ten hours, it would divide itself into two unequal parts. The upper and smaller portion would be thin, clear and slightly oily. It would look just like joint water. The lower and larger portion would be thick and milkish in color, with many little (16) sperm cells. These cells can be seen only under the microscope. They are in the shape of a tadpole, except they are longer in proportion. They are very active at first, but when the fluid becomes chilled they soon die. They are formed from the blood and contain life.
The condition of an unwell man.—If a discharge is removed from a man that is in poor health, a man who drinks liquor, uses much tobacco, or wastes this energy from his body, it will be found that the amount, as a rule, is much smaller, the parts reversed, sperm cells fewer in number, smaller in size, slower in movements, than in the discharge taken from a healthy man. This illustration shows how bad habits injure the blood and rob a man of his energy.
How sex helps to change a boy into a man.—We are now able to study how this new life, this vital force, changes a perfect boy into a perfect man. We find that this energy is formed from the blood and contains life. These sperm cells contain physical, mental and soul life. This will be made plain to you, when you learn, that, when one of these sperm cells of a father unites with the cell of a mother, under proper conditions, the result will be a child having physical, mental and soul life. A boy has physical, mental and soul life when he is born, but he has not as much as he will have when he is grown. If he grows up to be a man, he will need more of this energy and life. This is the work of the sexual glands. They form, by the help of the blood, this energy. This energy is absorbed by the body and carried by the blood to every part of his being. It is in this way that this energy helps the body to grow, and the mind and soul to develop.
Two full brother colts.—The use of this fluid can be illustrated in several ways. If two brother colts grow up side by side, they will look much alike when grown. If one of them be castrated when young, he will not develop as well as the other one. The castrated horse is called a gelding. The other one is called a stallion. The stallion has a high arched neck, dilated nostrils, sparkling eyes, a heavy thick mane and tail, broad, deep hip and chest muscles and an elastic bearing. He commands the attention and admiration of all beholders. A boy can’t manage him. It takes a strong man to control him. Turn him out in the field with one hundred geldings and he will rule all of them. The only difference between these horses was that one had had his testicles removed and the other had not. The gelding could not form from his blood any of this valuable energy. This energy was formed by the stallion and absorbed by his body where it gave him perfect development, an elastic bearing, fiery eyes, strong muscles and lots of vitality.
Two full brother chickens.—Take two full brother chickens, put them in the same pen, give them the same food and shelter and when they are grown they will look very much alike. Suppose that when these roosters were small one of them had been caponized, that is, his glands had been removed, what would have been the result? The one not caponized would grow a large red comb, ear lobes and wattles, long glossy neck and tail feathers and long, strong spurs. In the case of the other bird, his comb, ear lobes and wattles, neck and tail feathers and legs would resemble an old hen that had not laid an egg for months. If food is scarce, the first bird will scratch for worms and catch insects for a living; the other one will starve. If food is thrown down for the old hen and her brood of chickens, the first bird will step up and pick up a bit of the food with his beak, drop it, then step back, point his beak at the food, glance up at the old hen, look down at the chickens and cluck to them to come up and eat the food. When they are through, if some food is left, he will eat it. If not, he goes out and finds him a meal. The capon will rush up to the food, with one foot crushing the life out of a chicken and the other crushing the life out of another chicken; he hurriedly eats the food and does not offer any to the old hen and her chickens. If an old hawk or owl comes to catch the chickens, the first bird will fight the enemy until the hen and chickens find shelter. The capon sneaks under the floor.
The first bird retained his glands, formed that vital energy, absorbed it back into his body; this made him industrious, gallant and brave. The capon formed none of this energy, and he could not develop a perfect body, be industrious, gallant and brave.
Eunuchs.—Long years ago, men would select some boys that they wanted to be slaves and remove their sexual glands when they were quite young. Such boys were called eunuchs. When they were twenty-five years old they differed much from other men. They grew only a few scattering short hairs on their faces; their vocal organs never developed so as to produce a deep base voice; their shoulders never became broad and square; being cowardly they were never sent to the battlefield, they did not care to own property and had no desire for an education. Now, compare in your mind, the manly man with the eunuch. This energy gives him his beard, square shoulders, bass voice, brilliant mind, snap and vim, push and enterprise, bravery and attractive manliness.