On the other hand, a middle-aged man consulted the author regarding the sterility of his wife. After examination, it was found that the husband had practiced masturbation about twice a week from the age of puberty to his twenty-fourth year, when he was married. He assured the author that at the time of his marriage his testicles were, as far as he had known, similar to the testicles of other young men, and that during his married life he had never had intercourse with his wife more frequently than once in a month, but that during that time he had noticed a gradual atrophy of the testes. At the time of the examination only small atrophied remains of these testes could be discovered. The sterility of the wife was due, without any question, to the absolute impotence of the husband, and so far as the history of the case would suggest, there was no other assignable cause of this impotence than the eight years of masturbation.
From these two cases, it must be evident that no rules can be laid down. In one case the subject recovered fully from a case of extreme masturbation; in the other-case, a habit that would not be called extreme resulted in impotence. It must be evident that the practice is a dangerous one after puberty, as no individual can tell to which of the above cases his may be similar.
10. Granting that masturbation is harmful through loss of semen, is there any compensation for this loss of semen in case of intercourse with a woman?
There is no doubt that an emission of semen following sexual excitement is a draught upon the virile powers of the male animal. If this sexual excitement is the artificial one cultivated by the masturbator, the depletion seems to be more marked than is the case with the normal, natural stimulation incident to sexual intercourse. Some have suggested that the reciprocal influence of the woman can in some way compensate for the vital fluid contributed by the male. It is hardly likely that such a reciprocal influence is other than psychical, but that is certainly sufficient to account for any difference in these two forms of sexual gratification.
Nature calls upon the male animal to make a contribution for procreation, which contribution is, always has been, and, in the very nature of the case, always must be a certain tax upon the powers of the male animal. When the intercourse is indulged for procreation only, the male animal can well afford to make the contribution. Even with that, the contribution which the male makes to procreation is incomparably less depleting for him than are the contributions which the female makes for her.
11. Will vital fluid flow with every sexual intercourse?
If vital fluid is present, and if the sexual intercourse is carried to the point of causing an orgasm, there would, in all normal conditions, be an emission of semen or "vital fluid."
12. Is there any way to regulate intercourse so as to control the sex of the offspring?
While there are many theories upon this subject no one of them is generally accepted by medical men.
13. Will an intense and continuous desire on the part of a young man for sexual intercourse cause a loss of seminal fluid?