The Biology, Physiology and Sociology of Reproduction / Also Sexual Hygiene with Special Reference to the Male

by Winfield Scott Hall

Many thought that alcohol would stimulate the action of the brain and have taken it for that purpose; but experiments have shown that while there is temporarily a greater activity of the brain, this activity is less under control of the higher brain centers. The after dinner champagne may loosen the tongue of the post-prandial speaker but he may say many things which the judgment would not commend.

So, in all those applications that men have made of alcohol through the ages, we find on careful examination, that in every case the alcohol actually has an effect opposite to that which has been attributed to it. How true then are the words of the Bible: "Wine is a mocker."

If an alcoholic beverage actually helped the muscles, the brain or the glands, one would find it seriously commended by athletic trainers and coaches for preparation in athletic contests; one would find it commended by the trainers of prize fighters to help them in their preparation and in the final encounter; one would find it recommended by mountain climbers and by Arctic explorers, to stimulate the muscles for the exhausting ordeal of mountain climbing or to protect the system from the penetrating cold of the northern latitudes; alcoholic beverages are, however, not only not advised by these men for these purposes, but on the other hand, all participants in these activities are positively forbidden to use any alcoholic beverages, even in the smallest quantities.

So the young man who would develop a clear thinking brain and a sound body must leave alcoholic beverages alone. Further, the young man who would have absolute control of his sexual desires, must leave alcohol alone, for the first thing that alcohol does is to throw down the lines of control. It is under the influence of alcohol that the young man is almost sure to make his first visit to the house of prostitution. If a girl lose her virtue, it takes place in a majority of cases when she is under the influence of alcohol; but for this influence lessening her control, she could not be seduced. Hence one of the requirements of continence is TOTAL ABSTINENCE.

Under the head of narcotics must be classed also tobacco, though tobacco has several other effects than the narcotic one. It exerts upon the mucous membranes an irritation and that is the reason why the mucous glands of the mouth secrete so freely when one chews or smokes, but the influence upon the nervous system is distinctly of a narcotic character, and while tobacco is a mild narcotic, and while it can be used by the adult moderately without serious results; this is certain, that no man has ever been benefited by the use of tobacco. And while many men have been injured, even by the moderate use, all men are injured by the excessive use. Furthermore, boys and young men who have not attained the full stature of their physical development are very seriously injured and retarded in their development through even the moderate use of tobacco. There is not an educator in America who will not testify to the fact that the use of tobacco in any form by young boys, retards both the physical and mental growth.

So tobacco certainly is another thing that is altogether proper to leave alone, and its use at the very best cannot be defended on any grounds other than that it is a sense gratification. And while it must be admitted that it may serve as a sense gratification in the case of the individual who participates in it, it must also be remembered that tobacco smoke or the smell of tobacco is, in a very high degree distasteful if not actually loathsome, to a large proportion of society, and the young man who gratifies sense at the expense of his neighbors, certainly is on the defensive.

In so far as tobacco is a narcotic, in just so far does it disarm and put to sleep those aesthetic and moral impulses which are so helpful in the maintenance of the continent life.

c. The Dietetic Control of the Bowels.—A most important hygienic rule is to maintain a strict regularity of the bowels. By regularity of the bowels we mean, a free, normal passage of the bowels at least once in twenty-four hours. Two or three passages in twenty-four hours are not too many.

A tendency towards constipation may be hereditary. The writer finds that at least one case in four of persistent chronic constipation among college men seems to be due to a hereditary tendency.

Those individuals who have from early infancy and throughout their whole life suffered from a tendency to constipation and perhaps from actual chronic constipation, find it exceedingly difficult to produce normal regular daily movements of the bowels. Whether constipation is chronic or occasional or whether it is hereditary or acquired, in any case, it should be corrected if possible through modification of the diet, and of daily habits.