cough, and decrease in flesh, with short breathing and soreness of the
lungs--or muscles of the chest--are not infrequently, solely the result
of this vice. That such is the case may be considered pretty surely
determined if physical examination of the lungs reveals no organic
disease of those organs. But it should be remembered that solitary vice
is one of the most frequent causes of early consumption. Several cases
which strikingly prove this have fallen under our own observation.
3. _Premature and defective development_ is a symptom closely allied
to the two preceding. When it cannot be traced to such natural causes
as overstudy, overwork, lack of exercise, and other influences of a
similar nature, it should be charged to self-abuse. The early exercise
of the genital organs hastens the attainment of puberty, in many cases,
especially when the habit is acquired early, but at the same time saps
the vital energies so that the system is unable to manifest that
increased energy in growth and development which usually occurs at this
period. In consequence, the body remains small, or does not attain that
development which it otherwise would. The mind is dwarfed as well as
the body. Sometimes the mind suffers more than the body in lack of
development, and sometimes the reverse is true. This defective
development is shown, in the physical organization of males, in the
failure of the voice to increase in volume and depth of tone as it
should; in deficient growth of the beard; in failure of the chest to
become full and the shoulders broad. The mind and character show the
dwarfing influence by failure to develop those qualities which
especially distinguish a noble manhood. In the female, defective
development is shown by menstrual derangements, by defective growth
either in stature, or as shown in unnatural slimness, and in a failure
to develop the graces and pleasing character which should distinguish
early womanhood. Such signs deserve careful investigation, for they
can only result from some powerfully blighting influence.
4. _Sudden change in disposition_ is a sign which may well arouse
suspicion. If a boy who has previously been cheerful, pleasant, dutiful,
and gentle, suddenly becomes morose, cross, peevish, irritable, and
disobedient, be sure that some foul influence is at work with him. When
a girl, naturally joyous, happy, confiding, and amiable, becomes
unaccountably gloomy, sad, fretful, dissatisfied, and unconfiding, be
certain that a blight of no insignificant character is resting upon
her. Make a careful study of the habits of such children; and if there
is no sudden illness to account for the change in their character, it
need not require long deliberation to arrive at the true cause, for
it will rarely be found to be anything other than solitary indulgence.
5. _Lassitude_ is as unnatural for a child as for a young kitten. A
healthy child will be active, playful, full of life and animal spirits.
If a young child manifests indisposition to activity, a dislike for
play, lifelessness and languor, suspect his habits, if there is no other
reasonable cause to which to attribute his unnatural want of childish
sprightliness.
6. In connection with the preceding symptom will generally be found,
instead of that natural brilliance of expression in the eyes and
countenance, an unnatural dullness and vacantness altogether foreign
to childhood. This is a just ground for suspicion.
7. _Sleeplessness_ is another symptom of significance. Sound sleep is
natural for childhood; and if sleeplessness be not occasioned by
dietetic errors, as eating indigestible food, eating between meals,
or eating late suppers, it may justly be a cause for suspicion of evil
habits.
8. _Failure of mental capacity_ without apparent cause should occasion
suspicion of evil practices. When a child who has previously learned
readily, mastered his lessons easily, and possessed a retentive memory,
shows a manifest decline in these directions, fails to get his lessons,
becomes stupid, forgetful, and inattentive, he has probably become the
victim of a terrible vice, and is on the road to speedy mental as well
as physical ruin. Watch him.
9. _Fickleness_ is another evidence of the working of some
deteriorating influence, for only a weak mind is fickle.
10. _Untrustworthiness_ appearing in a child should attract attention
to his habits. If he has suddenly become heedless, listless, and
forgetful, so that he cannot be depended upon, though previously not
so, lay the blame upon solitary indulgence. This vice has a wonderful
influence in developing untruthfulness. A child previously honest,
under its baneful influence will soon become an inveterate liar.
11. _Love of solitude_ is a very suspicious sign. Children are naturally
sociable, almost without exception. They have a natural dread of being
alone. When a child habitually seeks seclusion without a sufficient
cause, there are good grounds for suspecting him of sinful habits. The
barn, the garret, the water-closet, and sometimes secluded places in
the woods, are the favorite resorts of masturbators. They should be
carefully followed and watched, unobserved.
12. _Bashfulness_ is not infrequently dependent upon this cause. It
would be far from right to say that every person who is excessively
modest or timid is a masturbator; but there is a certain timorousness
which seems to arise from a sense of shame or fear of discovery that
many victims of this vice exhibit, and which may be distinguished from
natural modesty by a little experience. One very common mode of
manifestation of this timidity is the inability to look a superior,
or any person who is esteemed pure, in the eye. If spoken to, instead
of looking directly at the person to whom he addresses an answer, the
masturbator looks to one side, or lets his eyes fall upon the ground,
seemingly conscious that the eye is a wonderful tell-tale of the secrets
of the mind.
13. _Unnatural boldness_, in marked contrast with the preceding sign,
is manifested by a certain class of victims. It can be as easily
distinguished, however, as unnatural timidity. The individual seems
to have not the slightest appreciation of propriety. He commits openly
the most uncouth acts, if he does not manifest the most indecent
unchastity of manner. When spoken to, he stares rudely at the person
addressing him, often with a very unpleasant leer upon his countenance.
In some few cases there seems to be a curious combination of conditions.
While mentally fearful, timid, and hesitating, the individual finds
himself, upon addressing a person, staring at him in the most ungainly
manner. He is conscious of his ill manners, but is powerless to control
himself. This sign is one which could hardly be of use to any except
a very close observer, however, as few can read upon the countenance
the operations of the mind.
14. _Mock piety_--or perhaps we should more properly designate it as
mistaken piety--is another peculiar manifestation of the effects of
this vicious practice. The victim is observed to become transformed,
by degrees, from a romping, laughing child, full of hilarity and frolic,
to a sober and very sedate little--Christian, the friends think, and
they are highly gratified with the piety of the child. Little do they
suspect the real cause of the solemn face; not the slightest suspicion
have they of the foul orgies practiced by the little sinner. By the
aid of friends he may soon add hypocrisy to his other crimes, and find
in assumed devotion a ready pretense for seeking solitude. Parents will
do well to investigate the origin of this kind of religion in their
children.
15. _Easily frightened_ children are abundant among young masturbators,
though all easily frightened persons are not vicious. It is certain,
however, that the vice greatly exaggerates natural fear, and creates
an unnatural apprehensiveness. The victim's mind is constantly filled
with vague forebodings of evil. He often looks behind him, looks into
all the closets, peeps under the bed, and is constantly expressing fears
of impending evil. Such movements are the result of a diseased
imagination, and they may justly give rise to suspicion.
16. _Confusion of ideas_ is another characteristic of the devotee of
this artful vice. If he attempts to argue, his points are not clearly
made. He may be superficially quick and cute, but is incapable of deep
thought, or abstruse reasoning; is often very dull of apprehension.
Ideas are not presented in logical order, but seem to fall out
promiscuously, and fairly represent the condition of a disordered brain.
Attempts at joking are generally failures, as the jest is sure to be
inappropriate or vulgar, and no one but himself sees any occasion for
laughter except at his stupidity. Such individuals are not scarce.
17. Boys in whom the habit has become well developed sometimes manifest
a decided aversion to the society of girls; but this is not nearly so
often the case as some authors seem to indicate. It would rather appear
that the opposite is more often true. Girls usually show an increasing
fondness for the society of boys, and are very prone to exhibit marked
evidences of real wantonness.
18. _Round shoulders_ and a stooping posture in sitting are
characteristics of young masturbators of both sexes. Whenever a child
seats himself, the head and shoulders droop forward, giving to the spine
a curved appearance.
19. _Weak backs, pains in the limbs, and stiffness of the joints_, in
children, are familiar signs of the habit. To the first of these
conditions is due the habitual stooping posture assumed by these
children. The habit referred to is not the only cause of these
conditions, but its causative occurrence is sufficiently frequent to
give it no small importance as a suspicious indication.
20. _Paralysis_ of the lower extremities, coming on without apparent
cause, is not infrequently the result of solitary indulgence, even in
very small children. We have seen several cases in which this condition
was traced to the habit of masturbation, in children under six years
of age.
21. The _gait_ of a person addicted to this vice will usually betray
him to one who has learned to distinguish the peculiarities which almost
always mark the walk of such persons. In a child, a dragging, shuffling
walk is to be suspected. Boys, in walking rapidly, show none of that
elasticity which characterizes a natural gait, but walk as if they had
been stiffened in the hips, and as though their legs were pegs attached
to the body by hinges. The girl wriggles along in a style quite as
characteristic, though more difficult to detect with certainty, as
females are often so "affected" in their walk. Unsteadiness of gait
is an evidence seen in both sexes, especially in advanced cases.
22. _Bad positions_ in bed are evidences which should be noticed. If
a child lies constantly upon its abdomen, or is often found with its
hands about the genitals, it may be at least considered in a fair way
to acquire the habit if it has not already done so.
23. _Lack of development of the breasts_ in females, after puberty,
is a common result of self-pollution. Still it would be entirely unsafe
to say that every female with small mammary glands had been addicted
to this vice, especially at the present time when a fair natural
development is often destroyed by the constant pressure and heat of
"pads." But this sign may well be given a due bearing.
24. _Capricious appetite_ particularly characterizes children
addicted to secret vice. At the commencement of the practice, they
almost invariably manifest great voracity for food, gorging themselves
in the most gluttonous manner. As the habit becomes fixed, digestion
becomes impaired, and the appetite is sometimes almost wanting, and
at other times almost unappeasable.
25. One very constant peculiarity of such children is their extreme
fondness for unnatural, hurtful, and irritating articles. Nearly all
are greatly attached to salt, pepper, spices, cinnamon, cloves, vinegar,
mustard, horse-radish, and similar articles, and use them in most
inordinate quantities. A boy or girl who is constantly eating cloves
or cinnamon, or who will eat salt in quantities without other food,
gives good occasion for suspicion.
26. _Eating clay, slate-pencils, plaster, chalk,_ and other
indigestible articles is a practice to which girls who abuse themselves
are especially addicted. The habit sometimes becomes developed to such
a wonderful extent that the victims almost rival the clay-eaters of
the Amazon in gratifying their propensity.
27. Disgust for simple food is one of the traits which a victim of this
vice is sure to possess. He seems to loathe any food which is not
rendered hot and stimulating with spices and other condiments, and
cannot be induced to eat it.
28. _The use of tobacco_ is good presumptive evidence that a boy is
also addicted to a practice still more filthy. Exceptions to this rule
are very rare indeed, if they exist, which we somewhat doubt. The same
influences which would lead a boy to the use of tobacco would also lead
him to solitary vice, and each sin would serve to exaggerate the other.
29. _Unnatural paleness_ and colorless lips, unless they can be
otherwise accounted for, may be attributed to secret sin. The face is
a great tell-tale against this class of sinners. Justice demands,
however, that an individual should be given the benefit of a doubt so
long as there is a chance for the production of these symptoms by any
other known cause, as overwork, mental anxiety, or dyspepsia.
30. _Acne_, or _pimples_, on the face are also among the suspicious
signs, especially when they appear upon the forehead as well as upon
other portions of the face. Occasional pimples upon the chin are very
common in both sexes at puberty and for a few years afterward, but are
without significance, except that the blood may be somewhat gross from
unwholesome diet or lack of exercise.
31. _Biting the finger nails_ is a practice very common in girls
addicted to this vice. In such persons there will also be found, not
infrequently, slight soreness or ulceration at the roots of the nails,
and warts, one or more, upon one or both the first two fingers of the
hand--usually the right.
32. The eyes often betray much. If, in addition to want of luster and
natural brilliancy, they are sunken, present red edges, are somewhat
sore, perhaps, and are surrounded by a dark ring, the patient,
especially if a child, should be suspected and carefully watched. It
should be observed, however, that dyspepsia, debility from any cause,
and especially loss of sleep, will produce some or all of these signs,
and no one should be accused of the vice upon the evidence of these
indications alone, neither could he be justly suspected so long as his
symptoms could be accounted for by legitimate causes.
33. An habitually moist, cold hand, is a suspicious circumstance in
a young person who is not known to be suffering from some constitutional
disease.
34. _Palpitation of the heart_, frequently occurring, denotes a
condition of nervous disturbance which has some powerful cause, and
which may often be found to be the vice in question.
35. _Hysteria_ in females may be regarded as a suspicious circumstance
when frequently occurring on very slight occasions, and especially if
there is no hereditary tendency to the disease.
36. _Chlorosis_, or _green sickness_, is very often caused by the unholy
practice under consideration. It is very commonly attributed, when
occurring in young women, to menstrual derangements; but it is only
necessary to remember that these menstrual irregularities are in many
cases the result of the same habit, as has been already pointed out.
37. _Epileptic fits_ in children are not infrequently the result of
vicious habits.
38. _Wetting the bed_ is an evidence of irritation which may be
connected with the practice; it should be looked after.
39. _Unchastity of speech_ and fondness for obscene stories betray a
condition of mind which does not exist in youth who are not addicted
to this vice.
As previously remarked, no single one of the above signs should be
considered as conclusive evidence of the habit in any individual; but
any one of them may, and should, arouse suspicion and watchfulness.
If the habit really exists, but a short time will elapse before other
signs will be noticed, and when several point in the same direction,
the evidence may be considered nearly, if not quite, conclusive. But
persistent watching will enable the positive signs to be detected
sooner or later, and then there can no longer be doubt. It is, of course,
necessary to give the individual no suspicion that he is being watched,
as that would put him so effectually on his guard as, possibly, to defy
detection.
Positive Signs.--The absolutely positive signs of solitary vice are
very few. Of course the most certainly positive of all is detection
in the act. Sometimes this is difficult, with such consummate cunning
do the devotees of this Moloch pursue their debasing practice. If a
child is noticed to seek a certain secluded spot with considerable
regularity, he should be carefully followed and secretly watched, for
several days in succession if need be. Many children pursue the practice
at night after retiring. If the suspected one is observed to become
very quickly quiet after retiring, and when looked at appears to be
asleep, the bedclothes should be quickly thrown off under some pretense.
If, in the case of a boy, the penis is found in a state of erection,
with the hands near the genitals, he may certainly be treated as a
masturbator without any error. If he is found in a state of excitement,
in connection with the other evidences, with a quickened circulation
as indicated by the pulse, or in a state of perspiration, his guilt
is certain, even though he may pretend to be asleep; no doubt he has
been addicted to the vice for a considerable time to have acquired so
much cunning. If the same course is pursued with girls, under the same
circumstances, the clitoris will be found congested, with the other
genital organs, which will also be moist from increased secretion.
Other conditions will be as nearly as possible the same as those in
the boy.
Stains upon the night shirt or sheets, occurring before puberty, are
certain evidences of the vice in boys, as they are subject, before that
time, to no discharge which will leave a stain resembling that from
the seminal fluid, except the rare one from piles. In the very young,
these stains do not occur; but when the habit is acquired before puberty,
a discharge resembling semen takes place before the ordinary period.
Of course, the stains from urine will be easily distinguished from
others. The frequent occurrence of such stains after puberty is a
suspicious circumstance. A discharge in some respects similar may occur
in girls.
Before puberty, the effect of the vice upon the genital organs is to
cause an unnatural development, in both sexes, of the sensitive
portions. When this is marked, it is pretty conclusive evidence of the
vice. In girls, the vagina often becomes unnaturally enlarged, and
leucorrhoea is often present. After puberty, the organs usually
diminish in size, and become unnaturally lax and shrunken.
All of these signs should be thoroughly mastered by those who have
children under their care, and if not continually watching for them,
which would be an unpleasant task, such should be on the alert to detect
the signs at once when they appear, and then carefully seek for others
until there is no longer any doubt about the case.
RESULTS OF SECRET VICE.
The physician rarely meets more forlorn objects than the victims of
prolonged self-abuse. These unfortunate beings he meets every day of
his life, and listens so often to the same story of shameful abuse and
retributive suffering that he dreads to hear it repeated. In these cases,
there is usually a horrid sameness--the same cause, the same inevitable
results. In most cases, the patient need not utter a word, for the
physician can read in his countenance his whole history, as can most
other people at all conversant with the subject.
In order to secure the greatest completeness consistent with necessary
brevity, we will describe the effects observed in males and those in
females under separate heads, noticing the symptoms of each morbid
condition in connection with its description.
EFFECTS IN MALES.
We shall describe, first, the local effects, then the general effects,
physical and mental.
Local Effects.--Excitement of the genital organs produces the most
intense congestion. No other organs in the body are capable of such
rapid and enormous engorgement. When the act is frequently repeated,
this condition becomes permanent in some of the tissues, particularly
in the mucous membrane lining the urethra. This same membrane continues
into and lines throughout the bladder, kidneys, and all the urinary
organs, together with the vesiculae seminales, the ejaculatory ducts,
the vasa deferentia, and the testes. In consequence of this continuity
of tissue, any irritation affecting one part is liable to extend to
another, or to all the rest. We mention this anatomical fact here as
a help to the understanding of the different morbid conditions which
will be noticed.
_Urethral Irritation_.--The chronic congestion of the urethra after
a time becomes chronic irritability. The tissue is unusually sensitive,
this condition being often indicated by a slight smarting in urination.
It often extends throughout the whole length of the urethra, and becomes
so intense that the passage of a sound, which would occasion little
if any sensation in a healthy organ, produces the most acute pain, as
we have observed in numerous instances, even when the greatest care
was used in the introduction of the instrument.
Shooting pains are often felt in the organ, due to this irritation.
Pain is in some cases most felt at the root, in others, at the head.
It often darts from one point to another. Just before and just after
urination the pain is most severe.
_Stricture_.--Long-continued irritation of the mucous membrane of the
urethra produces, ultimately, inflammation and swelling of the same
in some portion of its extent. This condition may become permanent,
and then constitutes real stricture, a most serious disease. More often
the swelling is but transient, being due to some unusual excess, and
will subside. Sometimes, also, a temporary stricture is produced by
spasmodic contraction of the muscular fibers surrounding the urethra,
which is excited by the local irritation. This kind of stricture is
often met in the treatment of spermatorrhoea.
Enlarged Prostate.--This painful affection is a frequent result of the
chronic irritation in the urethra, which the gland surrounds, the
morbid action being communicated to it by its proximity. A diseased
action is set up which results in enlargement and hardening. It is felt
as a hard body just anterior to the anus, and becomes by pressure the
source of much additional mischief. Sometimes the disease progresses
to dangerous ulceration. It is attended by heat, pressure, and pain
between the anus and the root of the penis.
Urinary Diseases.--The same congestion and irritability extend to the
bladder and thence to the kidneys, producing irritation and
inflammation of those organs. Mucus is often formed in large
quantities; sometimes much is retained in the bladder. Earthy matter
is deposited, which becomes entangled in the mucus, and thus a
concretion or stone is produced, occasioning much suffering, and
perhaps death.
We saw, not long since, a case of this kind. The patient was nearly
sixty years of age, and had practiced masturbation from childhood. In
consequence of his vice, a chronic irritation of the urethra had been
produced, which was followed by enlargement of the prostate, then by
chronic irritation of the bladder and the formation of stone. His
sufferings were most excruciating whenever he attempted to urinate,
which was only accomplished with the greatest difficulty and suffering.