A
TREATISE ON THE DISEASES
PRODUCED BY
ONANISM, MASTURBATION,
SELF-POLLUTION,
AND OTHER EXCESSES.
BY
L. DESLANDES, M. D.,
MEMBER OF THE ROYAL ACADEMY OF MEDICINE AT PARIS,
AND OTHER LEARNED SOCIETIES.
TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH,
WITH MANY ADDITIONS.
Second Edition.
BOSTON:
OTIS, BROADERS, AND COMPANY.
1839.
Entered, according to an Act of Congress, in the year 1838, by
OTIS, BROADERS & COMPANY,
In the Clerk’s Office of the District Court of Massachusetts.
PREFACE.
To those who would complain of the publication of a work upon the
delicate subject to which the following pages refer, we would remark,
that the evil here depicted, is one of great magnitude. This cause
of disease is often entirely overlooked even by medical men, either
from false notions of delicacy, or because their attention has not
been drawn by fearful experience to cases which are ascribable merely
to onanism. The patient is unconscious of his danger, and perseveres
in his vicious habit--the physician treats him symptomatically, and
death soon closes the scene. “Many a young man,” remarked a physician,
who had seen much of disease from this cause, “many a one has come to
me, totally unconscious that his criminal act was sapping to the very
foundation his health and strength.”
To call the attention of medical men to this source of disease, and to
point out to such persons not of the profession as may meet with this
book, and who indulge in this habit, the fatal precipice to which they
wend their way, has been the object of publishing it here. How very
many cases of consumption, that disease which annually destroys its
thousands, could, if the truth were known, be referred to this cause!
How many minds have been ruined by self-indulgence!
If any apology were needed for this publication, it may be found in the
last annual report of the State Lunatic Asylum of Massachusetts, which
states that of the number of insane received at that institution during
the last year, no less than THIRTY-TWO lost their senses from this
cause.
CONTENTS.
PART I.
EFFECTS OF VENEREAL EXCESSES.
CHAPTER 1. DANGER ATTENDING VENEREAL EXCESSES.
§ 1. Power of the genital organs when at rest.
§ 2. Power of the genital organs when excited.
§ 3. Power of the genital organs when in action.
CHAPTER 2. CIRCUMSTANCES WHICH RENDER THE ACT
OF VENERY MORE OR LESS INJURIOUS TO THE CONSTITUTION
AND TO THE HEALTH.
§ 1. Circumstances connected with the act of venery
which render it more or less injurious.
§ 2. Circumstances foreign to the act of venery
which render it more or less injurious.
§ 3. Influence which the general state of the functions
at different AGES and the particular state of
some of them at different periods of life, may have
on the consequences of the act of venery.
CHAPTER 3. SYMPTOMS AND DISEASES RESULTING FROM
VENEREAL EXCESSES.
§ 1. General symptoms of venereal excesses.
§ 2. Diseases resulting from venereal excesses.
PART II.
RULES OF PRESERVATION AND TREATMENT
RELATIVE TO VENEREAL EXCESSES.
CHAPTER 1. MEANS OF PRESERVATION WITH REFERENCE
TO VENEREAL EXCESSES.
§ 1. First indication. To prevent the desire of onanism.
§ 2. Second indication. To resist the desire of onanism.
§ 3. Third indication. To take away from those
who wish to masturbate the power of doing so.
CHAPTER 2. MODE OF REPAIRING THE INJURY ARISING
FROM VENEREAL EXCESSES.
OF
ONANISM
AND
OTHER ABUSES.
PART FIRST.
EFFECTS OF EXCESS IN VENERY.
Can the power possessed by man of indulging in the act of venery be
abused? or, in other words, can any injury arise to the health or
constitution, by indulgence in this act. It is sufficient to observe,
that the affirmative has never been doubted by any author, that no
medical man has ever been found at any time, or in any country,
so deficient in intelligence as to doubt that venereal enjoyments
were attended by venereal excess, and no one has ever disputed that
masturbation or coition may be injurious.
The act of venery, then, may be followed by bad effects. But is it
so, and to what extent? This question is the only one which has been
debated, the only one to be debated. Let then those, who think that
venereal indulgences are followed only by the remembrance of them,
know, that deceived by their desires, and perhaps by their necessities,
they are rushing blindly toward a fatal precipice, which is to be sure
at a greater or less distance from them, but which however exists, and
to which those who do not take warning will arrive more quickly.
It is generally thought that venereal excesses, particularly those of
masturbation, contribute in a considerable proportion to the ills of
suffering humanity. Some even consider this cause of disease, as one
of the most fatal and active. “In my opinion,” says Réveillé-Parise,
“neither the plague, nor war, nor small-pox, nor similar diseases, have
produced results so disastrous to humanity as the pernicious habit of
onanism: it is the destroying element of civilized societies, which
is constantly in action, and gradually undermines the health of a
nation.” (_Revue Medicale, April_, 1828, p. 93.) No one has disputed
the dangers of this kind of excess. Many authors, however, have
thought, that writers had exaggerated on this subject. Thus Montègre
says that “the bad consequences (although they do exist) attending
premature indulgences have _sometimes_ been exaggerated.” (_Dict. des
sc. med._ vol. vi. p. 100.) Georget’s opinion is similar. According to
him, (_Physiologie du système nerveux_ vol. i.) most authors and Tissot
among others have much exaggerated the effects of masturbation.
It will be seen, with how much reserve these authors speak. The injury
arising from this habit, say they, is very great, but it has been
overrated. Let us now examine upon what grounds they and others have
been led to consider these fears as too great: we shall see by what
reasoning they have been governed, and if they are correct.
Montègre was struck by the instances of individuals who were addicted
to onanism from early childhood, and who, however, in the prime of
vigour and health, had attained an age to which men do not generally
arrive, or to whom advanced age comes loaded with troubles. But do
we not see old soldiers who have always escaped bullets? Now what do
these facts prove except that such individuals exist? It has also
been stated, that influenced with what they have read in books, which
contain the most formidable cases, as those only are printed, many
physicians have attributed too much importance to the diseases caused
by onanism. But admitting this, may we not conclude also, that many
severe affections which it produces are not referred to it? That in
attending cases of dorsal consumption, epilepsy, paralysis, loss of
sight, &c., less dangerous diseases are overlooked, and that their
origin is not suspected? How often, for instance, are we ignorant of
the true cause of these affections whose characters are constantly
changing, which are seen every day, which at first produce uneasiness,
but with which one soon becomes familiar; which are not the symptoms
of a disease having its name and place among other diseases, so much
as the indication of constitutional affections, which appear from a
variety of influences, and are referred to each one of them. And yet
this kind of affection, as we shall state hereafter, is that presented
most frequently by individuals addicted but for a short time to
onanism, who indulge in it but seldom, or whose constitution resists
this kind of excess.
Appeal has been made also to direct observation; the number of those
who have fallen victims to onanism has been cited. It has been said,
call to mind every thing which has occurred to you in the course of a
long practice, you will doubtless find deplorable and even numerous
instances of the diseases attending onanism; but does this number
approximate that of the individuals who abandon themselves to this
vice? There are few persons who are not addicted to masturbation; very
well, are there many whose constitutions are impaired and whose health
is destroyed? It is admitted that premature and too frequent and too
often repeated indulgences may injure and sometimes have caused great
detriment, yet those who live through them are very numerous, and the
distance between the use and abuse of the act of venery, is greater
than is generally admitted.
This manner of counting the dead and wounded has something specious
in it, but it is defective in this respect, that it takes no account
of what has escaped observation, and cannot be estimated. Every
practitioner has undoubtedly seen more cases of masturbation than
he has seen victims to this habit. But how many circumstances have
prevented him from seeing all the diseases which are caused by this
habit, or have prevented him from referring these diseases to their
true cause? We have already mentioned the influence which his previous
reading and occupation have on this subject; to this cause of errour,
we may add others. How numerous are the affections which are borne
in silence and which never come under the notice of a physician. How
numerous too the practitioners who avoid the trouble of referring to
the immediate or remote causes of the diseases which are observed by
them, and who confine themselves simply to their treatment, without
tracing them to their source. How often too are diseases resulting
from onanism attributed to causes with which they have no connexion,
to causes which were indicated by persons who knew no better, or even
by the patient who believed himself to be interested in giving wrong
statements. How frequently also does the practitioner exclude himself
from obtaining information, by abstaining from making suggestions
to the parents, which all hear with displeasure, and repel with
indignation. How often, also, does he refrain from asking necessary
questions, for fear of wounding the modesty of the young patient, of
teaching him a thing of which perhaps he is ignorant, or at least of
exciting in him a dangerous curiosity! Finally how frequently are his
doubts removed by the art with which those who indulge in onanism, even
when young, know how to conceal a habit at which they blush in secret.
Now is it reasonable to expect, that the physician when surrounded
by so many causes of errour, should go into statistical details and
estimate from them the sum total of the ills produced by onanism and
other excesses of a similar character? This method would undoubtedly
lead to taking a part for the whole and consequently to forming too
narrow an opinion of the evil. Many authors having followed this
course, and having considered the evils which are unobserved by them
as only imaginary, have not denied the dangers and inconveniences of
venereal excesses, but have supposed that they exist less frequently
than is really the case.
I do not wish to call in question the utility of observations, or
to pretend that they must be neglected. I only wish to say that in
attaching to them too much consequence we are led to false conclusions
which may inspire a dangerous security. The physician who commits this
fault, reasons as does the onanist, who being unable to distinguish,
either in his comrades or in himself, the effects of his pernicious
habit, concludes that it is an innocent practice and that it may be
indulged in unreservedly. The principal utility of observing the
diseases caused by masturbation is to determine _what are the maladies
produced by onanism and what is the relative frequency of each of
them_. We can also certainly form an opinion, from that which is
shown by observation, in regard to that which escapes us. But it is
only by induction, that the extent of the evils caused by venereal
abuses can be estimated. The bad effects produced by these abuses,
can be estimated only by considering what they may produce. It is
only after studying the genital system in its relations with other
organs, and considering the influence it exercises upon them, that we
can pronounce in regard to the maladies and infirmities and dangers
of all kinds which attend the abuse of the genital system. We proceed
to this subject first. We shall then state what is known from direct
observation in regard to the different affections which result from
venereal excesses.
CHAPTER I.
OF THE DANGERS WHICH MAY FOLLOW VENEREAL EXCESS.
To abuse oneself by onanism, by coition, is to abuse the organs which
serve for the execution of these acts. The genital organs in the
female are, the vulva, clitoris, vagina, uterus, fallopian tubes and
ovaries. Those in the male are the penis, the seminal passages and
the testicles. These organs are then placed in such a state that they
become a source of disorder and of disease to the rest of the body.
Now, what is their power in this respect? Can they do much injury?
This is the question now to be examined.
The injury which the genital organs can do to the rest of the body
when they are abused, is the natural consequence of the influence
exercised when they are not abused! This injury is in a direct ratio
with this influence; it is by this then that it must be measured. In
fact, it is clear that if the different organs have in the ordinary
state different degrees of power, they must, when they do injury,
exercise it in different degrees. Let us then attempt to estimate the
influence possessed by the genital organs. If it be demonstrated that
when these organs are in a state of rest, of excitement, or in use,
their influence on the other functions is considerable, some opinion
may be formed as to what may be their influence when abused. It must
be admitted that organs, which have a powerful effect on all parts of
the body, which regulate all the others, which cannot feel, act, and
perform their functions without the others taking part in what takes
place in them, it must be admitted I say, that when such organs are
made instruments of disorder, the bad consequences which follow may be
very great.
The genital organs may be observed in three states; the first state is
that of _rest_. They then merely live, present no special sensation and
do not proceed to the act of venery. In the second state they become
the seat, the focus of more or less vivid sensations, and which have
for a special character to invite and to constrain with more or less
power to the act of venery. In animals, this state is called _rutting_:
in our species, it has no special name, except when existing to a very
great degree, and then it constitutes a disease, termed _Satyriasis_
or _nymphomania_: I shall call it the state of _excitement_. The third
is that of _action_: it is the state in which the genital organs are,
when they perform their special functions, when they accomplish the
act of venery. They then do not simply live as in the first state, or
feel as in the second; but they act, and afterward return to one of
the preceding states, and particularly to the first: they rest. These
are the three aspects under which we shall examine these organs. To
render our remarks more intelligible, we will give a few definitions.
The power of bringing the genital organs into a state of action is
the _venereal_ power: this when put in action is the _act of venery_.
If this act results from the concurrence of the two sexes, it is
_coition_. If it be caused by solitary manipulation, it then receives
divers names; the terms most used are _masturbation_, or _onanism_. The
act of venery, whether it does or does not result from the concurrence
of the two sexes may or may not be injurious. When it is injurious
in any degree there is then _venereal excess, abuse of the genital
organs_. This sense is the only one attached in this book, to this mode
of expression: for if in a moral and religious point of view the simple
fact of coition in some cases and of onanism in every case be a vice,
an excess, an abuse, the physician should apply these terms only to
cases where the health is injured.
§ 1. INFLUENCE OF THE GENITAL ORGANS CONSIDERED IN A STATE OF REST.
It might be thought that when these organs are at rest, when they are
neither used nor abused, when the venereal sense is as it were asleep
in them, and they seem occupied only with their own development, and
nutrition, it might seem I say that these organs take little or no
part in what is going on around them: but this is a mistake. We shall
see that this dull life which then occupies them is sufficient to make
them a powerful focus of action; that all the other organs owe to them
a part of their mode of existence their form and substance. By this
we can judge of what the genital system is capable, when excited, and
when by the hand or otherwise it is brought to the highest degree of
activity.
Consider him who was born an eunuch, the man who has never had genital
organs, whose body, mind, and heart are developed without their
influence: compare him with other men and see in what he is deficient:
for his physical moral and intellectual relations will of course be
deficient in all that depends on the genital organs. This study will
reveal to you their power, and will point out to you the difference
between a man in whose development they have assisted, and one in whose
development, the genital organs have taken no part.
Eunuchs are very seldom tall: they are frequently short and sometimes
very short. A woman fifty-two years old, who had no uterus, and whose
genitals were presented to the academy of medicine by M. Renaulden,
was only three and a half feet high. The limbs of eunuchs when they
are not percolated with white fluids, are generally thin and badly
developed. Their bones have neither their usual size nor form, as has
been remarked by many observers, particularly by M. Mojon of Geneva.
(_Alibert_, _Nouv. El. de therapeutique_, 3d edition, vol. ii., p.
115.) This defect in growth is much more remarkable in the larynx.
This organ which generally acquires two-thirds of its size at puberty,
remains as in infancy, and the voice preserves that shrillness which
it has in young people, but becomes a little stronger because the
chest enlarges. The different tissues are not only less developed,
but some are not developed at all. Thus in eunuchs the beard and the
hairs on the pubis are deficient; their skin remains as free from
hairs as in early youth. The genital organs then have a powerful
effect on nutrition, because when they are deficient, the growth is
defective or ceases entirely. This influence is manifested also by the
characters presented by the different tissues after the action of the
genital parts ceases. To understand these characters, we have only
to compare the flesh of animals who have been castrated with that of
those who are perfect; for example the flesh of the ox with that of
the bull, that of the capon with that of the rooster &c. In the eunuch
these characters are no less marked. His organization is in a measure
stationary. When an adult, he preserves in great part the physical
attributes of youth, and then when these are lost, those of old age,
and not those of manhood, present themselves. It is the genital organs
then which in a perfect man, give colour to the skin, give to the flesh
more consistence and firmness and which gradually take up from the
cellular tissue those white fluids, which prevent us from seeing the
prominences of the bones and muscles. The organization of the eunuch
is then unfinished, imperfect. The organs which should have appeared
at the period of puberty are not seen: others acquire only a part of
their growth: all retain a part of those characters which they ought
properly speaking to lose and do not obtain those which belong to them.
These facts are highly important. The study of them demonstrates the
extent of the derangement caused by venereal excesses: for the organs
abused by the onanist and libertine, are those which take so active and
special a part in the internal economy of all our tissues: which stamp
them with the seal of virility, of which the eunuch always remains
destitute.
Consider the eunuch now in his life of relation: look in him for the
thought, activity, and sensibility of the man. In these respects
also how much he is deficient; he is inactive, indifferent, and
destitute of energy. The lymphatic temperament is marked in him by
his insensibility, his apathy, no less than by the delicacy of his
flesh, and the whiteness of his skin. He has preserved from infancy
the disposition given by feebleness, to be excited by the least
cause: hence he is timid and pusillanimous and cowardly. Devoid of
any internal feeling which renders the soul gay, he is morose and
wearisome. He is destitute of those feelings which attach man to man
and render one capable of attachment, love, and devotion. He lives,
he vegetates only for himself: he is a perfect egotist: if he has any
sentiments they are those of envy or hatred: in fact they are repulsive
sentiments: but most frequently he has none or they are very slight.
The crimes of the eunuch come in fact less from the sentiments he has,
than from those he has not. His mind, like his body and heart, remains
a perfect waste. His intelligence is but moderate and he is never
known to conceive or execute great ideas. This picture is not drawn
from the imagination; it is the result of long continued observations
at all periods, in all places, and upon all kinds of eunuchs. One of
them observed by M. Bedor embodied in himself the principal features of
this picture. He was an eunuch from birth who had become a conscript.
His appearance was humble and languishing; his eyes were downcast and
averted; he was very timid and cowardly, was afraid of dead bodies,
and of darkness. He admitted that he had never been attached even to
any member of his family: but he was also incapable of dislike. He
was not pleased with musick, and had no idea of singing: finally he
was insensible to all enjoyment. He did not however complain of his
situation. His intelligence was very slight, his conversation was
obscure and incorrect, and he was so incapable of being instructed that
although he had lived in the barracks a year he had none of the moral
habits of the soldier. (_Journal de med. chir. et phar._ vol. xxv. p.
75.)
Such is the eunuch. The operator in mutilating him mutilated his heart,
his senses, his mind. The development of the moral and intellectual
faculties then like that of the body is connected with the existence
of the genital organs. Deprive a child of a limb of his four limbs,
that is of the half at least of his frame, and he will continue to be
developed, the same as if no part had been taken from him. But take
away the testicles, and all his tissues, all his faculties will bear
indelible marks of this mutilation. These organs alone then have much
more power than the four extremities. It is with these, with this
power, that the onanist trifles from childhood, without hesitation
and without moderation. Is it necessary now to follow this train of
reasoning to show that his course of conduct is dangerous? It is
also to the influence exercised by the genital organs on other parts
that the sexes owe their peculiar differences. Their organization,
influenced by a different genital apparatus, presents a different
mode of existence, action and sensation. Thus the sexual characters
are slightly marked at birth, become distinct as the genital organs
develope themselves, suddenly enlarge at the period of puberty, exist
in the greatest degree when these parts have come to their perfect
state, and lose their energy in old age. The destruction of the
testicles in the male and of the ovaries in the female prevents the
regular development, or even alters the special distinctions of sex.
We have already seen that this destruction renders man effeminate:
we will add that it renders the female more masculine, and gives her
characters, which in the natural order of things belong exclusively to
the male. This conclusion is drawn from facts which seem authentic,
and it is strengthened too by the fact that when the activity of the
genitals is destroyed by age, the voice becomes rough, resembling
that of the male, the upper lip and chin are covered with hairs, the
moral character acquires more firmness, the taste and habits are much
modified and approximate those of the male. A similar thing occurs in
animals according to Dumeril. (_Dict. des sc. med., art. continence_,
p. 118.)
It is not only by comparing the sexes that we see that different
genital organs have a different action, but it follows also from
observing those doubtful beings termed _hermaphrodites_. In these
individuals the genital organs disturbed in their regular development,
present doubtful appearances and belong at the same time to the two
sexes. In these individuals the organization being influenced in
another manner is developed differently. Faithful to these organs which
generally impress in the body the seal of sex, the general state of the
body becomes equivocal like them and presents a mixture in different
proportions of the male and female attributes. Thus in a girl whose
history is stated by Beclard, and who among other imperfections of the
external genital organs which rendered her sex doubtful, presented a
complete closure of the vulva, and a clitoris so much developed that
it resembled a penis, the larynx and voice were like those of a youth:
the upper lip, the chin and cheeks presented a white beard, long and
coarse hairs covered the lower extremities and surrounded the anus;
finally the proportions of the trunk and limbs and the formation of
the pelvis resembled those of man. (_Bull. de la Faculté de med._ vol.
iv. p. 273.) It would be easy to refer to similar facts which have
been frequently recorded. The general state of the economy, then, is
somewhat connected with that of the genital parts, varies like them and
takes part in the changes which they undergo. Hence it is astonishing
to see libertines and onanists render themselves effeminate, and
demoralize their constitution by using these parts in such a manner as
to fatigue and change them: and to observe women robbing themselves in
the same manner of their beauty, the delicacy of their form and the
charm of their voice.
When man has attained his perfect development, the bonds which unite
the genital organs to the rest of the body become less apparent and
probably less intimate than before: they however are not destroyed.
Castration certainly does not deprive the adult of all the characters,
of all the faculties which had been developed by puberty: but it
modifies them very much. The beard has been known to come out after the
loss of the testes as if its existence were connected with theirs, as
an effect is with its cause. The intellectual faculties particularly
lose much of their energy, when the genital organs are removed. Those
persons who have been mutilated not unfrequently become melancholy and
finally commit suicide. (_Orfila, Leçons de medicine legale_, 1823, p.
126.) A remarkable case of enervation was observed by Richerand, in
some soldiers whose testes had been shot away in action. Among other
cases, he mentions a soldier who had previously been celebrated for
his activity and valor, and who, after his mutilation took an aversion
to any violent exercise, and to gain his livelihood, applied himself
to such labours as are carried on by females, particularly to sewing
gloves. (_Richerand, nosographie chirurgicale_, 2nd edition, vol.
iv. p. 292.) Compare these facts with what takes place when age, that
great operator, extinguishes the principle of virility. When one is
old, is he as affectionate, as sensible, as devoted, as intelligent, as
he was in youth? do not the general characters of an eunuch gradually
come upon him? The genital organs then, even when in repose, regulate
in more than one respect and at every period of life, the rest of the
human body.
But it is particularly before and during puberty that these organs
deserve the most serious attention, for then they possess the most
power. This power commences with them, and like them increases every
day. Thus the tastes, the characters, the inclinations, and generally
all which distinguishes the sexes in a moral and physical point of
view, are marked from infancy. That poverty of body of heart and
of spirit which characterizes eunuchism, is seen in young eunuchs,
in those for instance who are born destitute of genital organs.
The soldier whose case is stated by Bedor, always presented that
indifference and languor common to eunuchs; he always avoided all
trials of skill at wrestling, running, leaping and finally all youthful
exercises, and as we have already remarked, never exhibited attachment
to any one, even to his parents. The influence of the sexual organs
then commences with life. But it does not attain all its intensity
until puberty.
At this period, which in our climate commences from the twelfth to the
sixteenth year, a little sooner in females than in males, the genital
organs have the most vitality. Until that time they are developed
slowly and almost imperceptibly; they suddenly increase with great
activity, and their growth is not arrested till they have arrived at
perfection. This is not the place to enter into details as to the
labour which then takes place in them: we will merely remark that
the change is often so intense as to present all the characters of
inflammation. It is then admissible that in such a state these organs
should exercise on the economy a much more powerful action than
before, when their development was imperceptible, and also than they
do afterward, when they have only to preserve themselves. This in fact
is proved by observation. At no period of life, does the body grow as
rapidly as during puberty. The researches of Quetelet and Villermé on
the weight and height of men at different ages, (_Annales &c._ p. 26)
leave no doubt on this subject. Thus the annual increase in the weight
of the body which until the period of puberty was only from three to
three and a half pounds, suddenly rises to five and six pounds when
this period commences, and gets to be twelve pounds when it is at the
summum of intensity. And it is worthy of remark that in females who
arrive at the age of puberty about two years earlier than males, this
increase of growth also commences two years sooner. A similar fact
is observed in those monsters who present in early infancy traces
of virility: in them the mass of the body is in a direct ratio with
the development of the genital system; hence their height and weight
are enormous. This is proved by a great number of facts related by
authors and particularly by Moreau, Fages, J. G. Smith, Gedike, Meckel,
Dupuytren, &c. Let us now compare these facts with those pointed out
when speaking of eunuchism, and it will be shown that the power of the
genital organs in its nutrition follows in its variations those which
they experience: that the general growth conforms to theirs, that if
one advances the other does, and if one be imperfect, the other is
imperfect.
This increase in the activity of the nutritive powers during puberty,
is not shown simply by the increase of the substance of the body, it
manifests itself by other symptoms. More heat is generated in the
tissues, as is indicated particularly by the facility with which
individuals at the age of puberty resist cold, and by the interesting
remark of Quetelet and Smitz, that the summer of all seasons of the
year is most fatal to them. Ailments of every kind too show in most
subjects, that the influence of the genital organs on all parts of
the body may be so great as even to derange the functions: of this
character are pains, heaviness in the head, vertigos, redness of the
face, numbness in the limbs, dulness and oppression, palpitations
of the heart, bleeding from the nose, painful engorgements of the
lymphatic ganglions, different inflammations, &c. &c. Finally the body
responds like an echo, to all that takes place in the genital system.
Need we say that nothing of the kind takes place in eunuchs.
The active development of the genital parts exercises an equal
influence on the functions of the life of relation, in the faculties
of sensation, action, and thought. These faculties, which are so
feeble in the eunuch are extremely active during puberty. This is the
age of muscular activity and agility. If those who are growing up,
sometimes are reluctant to take exercise, this feeling of reluctance
depends on a hyperemia of the nervous centres, which soon disappears.
Numerous different and generally transient sensations, denote the part
which the nervous system takes in what passes in the genital system;
and this is proved also by the frequency of convulsive and spasmodic
affections at this period of life. The moral susceptibility is then
still more exalted than the physical susceptibility. The mind directed
and controlled by the most vivid, most varied, and most transient
impressions, takes up and lays aside the most opposite opinions, and
adopts the most hazardous enterprises. This disposition has existed
to so great a degree as even to constitute a kind of monomania, so
transient as to be almost imperceptible, and during which crimes,
(particularly that of arson) were committed. This fact rests on the
authority of Osiander, Henke, of the faculty of medicine at Leipsick,
of Marc and of many other authors. (_See Marc’s memoir on incendiary
monomania, Annales d’hyg._ October, 1833.) But the mental state
resulting from the change of puberty is characterized particularly by
the readiness with which one shares the affections of others, partakes
of their sympathies, and sympathizes with them. This is the moment of
generous ideas, or as is remarked by those, whose minds no longer feel
the action of organs which have become mute, the period of illusions.
How much experience ought not the mind to gain when passing through
this moral tempest? Is it astonishing then to find weak minds and cold
hearts among eunuchs? Being deprived of these organs which at the
period of puberty give so marked an impulse to the system, they do not
feel it: the most active of all moral excitants is absent. Judge from
this of its power, and yet it is this stimulant which is so much abused
by the onanist.
Let us resume our remarks. We have seen by comparing the eunuch to the
perfect individual, the male to the female, and the hermaphrodites to
those persons whose genitals are perfect, that the genital organs, from
the simple fact of their existence, exercise a well-marked influence
on the physical intellectual and moral constitution of individuals. We
have also seen by comparing the period of life when the genital organs
are actively developed, with that when they are simply preserved, that
the influence which has been spoken of, is exercised with a variable
degree of intensity, and is in a direct ratio with the vital activity
which exists in these organs. We may then state as a positive truth,
that the genital system modifies extensively the action and sensation
of all our organs, and modifies it in proportion as it is itself
excited. This fact stated, the question whether venereal excesses can
or cannot do much injury is resolved. We may, _à priori_, affirm,
that when the genital organs pass from a state of repose to that of
excitement, and from this to a state of action, their influence on the
other organs is always in an increasing ratio. To prove this requires
no new facts. This action and this progressive increase of power,
result, inevitably from the comparisons we have made. Life is so
mysterious and on the other hand, coition is so transient, that what
takes place in the tissues during its continuance is concealed from
view: but we may be certain that something takes place in them, that
some disturbance there occurs and that the disturbance is greater
during the act of venery than during the preceding states. This act
then exerts more influence than it appears to exert, as it affects
all parts of the organization. If when the genital system appears at
rest, it exercises so much influence on the vitality of the other
organs, what must be its power when the venereal sense is excited in
it, and further when this sense is carried by masturbation or coition
to the greatest degree of excitement. How much then must these secret
functions be modified, whose exercise is so intimately connected with
that of the genital organs! Certainly those who say that the possible
consequences of venereal excesses are exaggerated, have not taken this
view of the subject.
§ 2. POWER OF THE GENITAL ORGANS CONSIDERED IN A STATE OF EXCITEMENT.
When these organs are in a state of _excitement_, they present a
greater degree of excitement than at any of the phases of the state
of repose, not even excepting that of puberty. We may say that they
have passed from the chronic to the acute state. They not only
become the seat of a vivid and special sense, but they also present
a kind of turgescence of erethism, and I will say of very remarkable
inflammation. They swell, become firm and redder, hotter, and moister:
their sensibility becomes extreme. Their power ought certainly to
be increased in proportion to the distance between this state and
the one of repose. This excitement however is so transient, and the
functions on which it reacts are so mysterious, that a great part of
its immediate influence cannot be estimated. For in order to mark the
action of the genital organs on the mode of existence on the action
of the different tissues we must compare individuals to individuals,
that is a whole life with a whole life, or at least we must compare two
long portions of the same life. On this point the study of the state of
repose, of that state which is incomparably the most common, has been
useful to us, for we have arrived at facts, by considering their remote
consequences, which at the moment of their production, constantly
escape. The state of excitement however does not manifest itself solely
by the sensations which attend it. Different signs show that the rest
of the economy feels that the power of the genital organs is increased.
In fact when this state is well marked, the heat of the other parts
of the body is increased. The eyes are more brilliant: the colour of
the complexion is more lively, the pulse is quicker, and the patient
experiences a kind of febrile agitation which in satyriasis and
nymphomania, that is, in the greater degrees of human venery, presents
the characters of a highly marked fever. The secretions also undergo
important modifications, which are but slightly marked in man, but are
easily recognised in a great number of animals, who exhale during the
_period of heat_, a strong and most generally a disagreeable odour. The
function of nutrition also suffers from this state: thus if it appears
too frequently, or is continued too long, the embonpoint disappears,
the flesh becomes dry, and the body exhibits that leanness which is
seen so frequently in those who are extremely salacious. But, I repeat,
a great part of the influence exercised upon the nutritive functions by
the genital organs when in a state of excitement would be overlooked,
if only the phenomena mentioned were taken into account. In fact these
phenomena are only those which fall directly under the notice of the
senses, and we believe that their number and proportions would increase
infinitely, if the observer could directly inspect the tissues closely.
But the most striking fact in the state of excitement is the
development of a special sense, the _venereal_ sense. This fact
characterizes this state and it effaces the others to such an extent
that it seems to form it alone. We shall not attempt to describe the
genital sense: a sense cannot be described. We may however ask what is
required? Even as hunger impels to eat and thirst to drink, this sense
impels to the act of venery. It is the bond which brings the two sexes
toward each other, which unites them and which makes, in the words of
the disciples of a new belief, a perfect individual of the male and
female. This sense may be only feebly excited, and then may have only a
moderate degree of power. But when it is exalted, the chain with which
it binds the free will is of incalculable power. The male dreams of the
female: the latter of the male. One of the opposite sex is continually
present to the mind and eyes and imagination. Individuals and forms
which at other times appear by no means remarkable, now seem perfect
and excite transports of admiration. Riches and honors are no longer
esteemed, and even life itself is considered as not worth possessing.
All necessities have disappeared before one only. Hunger and thirst
are no longer felt. In fact it is a state of delirium. All the senses
are concentrated in one: it commands them and receives from them, like
a blind master, all the illusions which they present to it: and then
fatigued by this violent state and exhausted by its excess, even when
not satisfied, it is as it were extinguished. Such is the power of the
genital organs, those organs which are abused by the onanist. Who then
can question the physical evils with which its abuse may be attended.
§ 3. POWER OF THE GENITAL ORGANS CONSIDERED IN A STATE OF ACTION.
If the individual either by legitimate modes or otherwise, wishes to
satisfy his desires, the state of excitement becomes changed to one of
action, and the genital organs then arrive at their greatest degree
of power. All parts of the genital system are interested, and combine
their actions: the testes prepare the semen: the excretory ducts convey
it: the prostrate gland and the muciparous follicles secrete their
special humours, and the mucous fluids flow to the sexual parts. The
erectile tissue, which forms the whole of the glans, the cavernous
bodies, the clitoris, and most of the external and internal labia, the
vagina &c., solicits to itself and retains the blood, becomes swelled
by as much as it can contain, hardens and enlarges to the utmost of
its capacity. At the same time the genital sense passes rapidly through
all the degrees of excitement: and finally arrives at that point beyond
which it cannot extend: every muscle, every mature fibre in the genital
system is then convulsed: the seminal vesicles, the muscles surrounding
the urethra and those which are attached to the anus contract with
violence, and the semen, the loss of which causes so much exhaustion
even when discharged involuntarily, is convulsively expelled.
The scene now changes: the genital apparatus, lately so full of life
now becomes flaccid: the scrotum becomes loose and pendent, and a
sensation of torpor, of fatigue, of chill follows. The convulsive
motions are succeeded by a kind of paralysis, and all attempts at new
excitement are vain.
During this tumult and after this crisis, the general state of the
patient conforms in every manner to that of the genital system. Thus
the face reddens, the neck swells, the veins become filled; the skin
is now burning and now moistened with sweat, the heart beats with
rapidity; in fact there is a state of fever, which almost justifies
us in placing the act of venery among diseases. At the same time the
nervous centres, the cerebrum, the cerebellum, the spinal marrow,
experience a very powerful impression. As the state progresses,
consciousness is lost, and the subject is as it were in a state of
delirium. The will is suspended, and the muscles are not controlled by
it, but by the nervous centres which are so much irritated. Thus the
trunk and limbs are agitated by involuntary motions and chills. This
disturbance increases until the crisis arrives, when the convulsion
affects the genital system; a fit of epilepsy as it were ensues: the
sight becomes dim, the trunk stiffens and the neck is thrown back: and
finally this state might be regarded as a violent access of disease if
the beginning and end of it were not known.
Now however the individual is changed: his face has lost its color,
his limbs are stiff, without motion and as it were paralyzed: the head
is painful, the mind is slow and the limbs are incapable of the least
effort. The hearing is dull, the sight is deranged, and the external
senses impart to the brain only imperfect impressions. The pulsations
of the heart are feeble, the pulse is small, the veins are collapsed
and the eyelids are livid. The soul is left in a state of languor and
sadness and becomes as it were melancholy.
This picture although giving the principal points is far from being
complete; in order to be perfect it should include that which is not as
well as that which is seen. If the simple labor which takes place in
the genital organs at puberty, is sufficient to modify materially the
functions of nutrition, functions which when deranged give rise to many
diseases, what must be in this respect the influence of the venereal
act, and a fortiori of venereal excesses. This influence, like that
exercised by this act on the nervous system cannot be appreciated at
the moment it is produced, for it is not immediately perceptible. An
idea of this can be gained only in two modes: one consists in measuring
the long intervals which exist between a state of repose and that of
action: we then say that if the first can modify to such an extent the
texture of these organs, their powers of sensation and of action, how
great must be the power of the second. In this manner we reason in this
instance.
In the other mode an opinion may be formed by remarking the physical
alterations and functional disorders which have been the consequence
of them. This kind of proof which we shall soon examine will not fail
us. We shall then see that the diseases affecting the nervous system,
that system which is powerfully disturbed during coition, are not
the only ones resulting from venereal excesses. We shall see that
all alterations of tissue, every physical disorder, may be caused by
them: and thus we shall complete the proof of this fact that the act
of venery not only produces that convulsive state which is so powerful
while it continues but that it also exercises on all parts of the body
an action which is extremely powerful and is also the source of many
evils. When we think of the power of the act of venery, and consider
that it may be indulged in as often as an individual chooses, and that
if the legitimate mode of indulgence, the concurrence of the sexes is
denied, the individual may abuse himself; when we reflect we say on
all this, we may fearlessly assert that most of the inconveniences and
diseases afflicting the human species, arise from venereal excesses.
We have hitherto considered masturbation and coition abstractedly
and as if there were no circumstances to change the influence they
exercise. But is this always the case? Are there not individuals who
are rendered indisposed by a single act of venery? Are there not others
who can repeat this act with impunity at near intervals and for a long
period of time? Farther is its influence always the same? Are there not
circumstances which render it more or less injurious and dangerous at
different periods of life? And now what are the circumstances and the
causes of all the differences we have mentioned? This subject will be
considered in the next chapter.