is shell-fish, or sea fish of any kind, and turtle, as these generally
contain phosphorus. Among vegetables may be mentioned celery, parsnips,
onions, peppers, asparagus, tomatoes, Lima beans, &c. Mushrooms and
truffles are a stimulant, as is also mint, sage, pennyroyal, thyme, and
spices of all kinds, especially pepper and nutmeg. Canvas-back Duck, in
proper season, is of excellent stimulating qualities; and for puddings,
sago, tapioca and arrowroot. For drinks take porter and strong beer,
wines, or coffee. Spirits are too exhilerating, and cause a reaction.
HOW TO AVOID CHILD-GETTING.
The effectual Prevention of Conception is a subject in which everybody is
interested. No class of mankind in civilized life desires an unlimited
number of offspring; yet Nature has made prevention a somewhat difficult
task. Persons of energy and resolution can, however, fully accomplish
their object in this respect if they will but discard the notion that the
delights of sexual intercourse are marred by the withdrawal of the male
organ just before the discharge of Semen takes place. This plan injures
neither party, nor does it really diminish the pleasurable sensations
of the connection. If you once form the _habit_ of withdrawal, you will
find it to be a far more desirable and satisfactory mode than it at first
appears. I know that the plan is discouraged by many physicians, and has
been pronounced a kind of _Onanism_ on the part of the male; but it is
not so. If properly performed, the act of coition is as pleasurable, as
healthy and as complete as it can be when the Semen is fully injected.
The cleanliness of this practice is also a great desideratim, as females
of any degree of refinement can understand. I would then suggest to
married people the following rule: Always carry to bed a clean napkin,
which is to be kept in the hand of the male during the nuptial act. It
will then be a very easy matter to place this napkin in a proper position
to receive the Semen on withdrawal, at the instant it would otherwise be
injected into the body of the female. If you do it at the proper moment,
no pleasure is lost to either party; and habit will soon make you expert
in this respect. This is the most certain mode of preventing conception
that can be adopted, but as it cannot be carried out except by the prompt
action of the husband, other plans are sometimes necessary to give the
wife confidence, and make her feel sure of success. These we will proceed
to explain as minutely as possible.
The judicious use of an ordinary female syringe, with cold water alone,
or a weak solution of white vitriol or other stringent in cold water,
immediately after coition, will in most cases prevent conception. The
syringe must be a large one, if made of metal, and should be filled
several times, and its contents injected as far up as possible. The
India-rubber syringe has of late years nearly superseded metal ones, and
is beautifully adapted to the business of preventing conception. By the
use of this article a female may inject as much fluid as she pleases,
through an elastic tube, quite as far up into her person as is necessary.
The mixture should be prepared beforehand, and, with the syringe, kept
by her bed-side, as success often depends upon promptness in using
it. If used immediately, with a weak solution, as hereinafter stated,
there is very little danger but that a woman may keep herself safe from
child-bearing as long as she pleases. Solutions of Alum, Sulphate of
Zinc, Chloride of Zinc, Sulphate of Iron, &c., will kill the animalculæ
of the Semen, if injected with sufficient force and profuseness. If the
woman rises _instantly_ and performs the duty, she will probably be
successful. If solutions are used in preference to pure cold water, it is
better to use water at last as a rinsing process. The use of the syringe,
so far from injuring the female, keeps the part clean and healthy, and
tends to promote general good health. In commencing this practice, you
should first accustom yourself to the use of cold water by degrees. Use
but little at first, and let it not be too cold. Increase the quantity
and the coldness gradually, until at last the feeling will be refreshing
and agreeable. India-rubber syringes can be purchased at almost any
respectable drug-store in New York, at from two to three dollars. We can
furnish the best article to our customers for three dollars. It is an
instrument that every family should keep in the house to be used in case
of sickness, if for no other purpose.
Either of the following lotions may be used, as we have explained, in
preventing conception. Sulphate of Iron is the favorite article which our
quack doctors recommend. They usually charge five dollars for an ounce
paper of it, including directions for use; whereas the cost in New York,
at a drug-store, is less than fifty cents a pound.
LOTIONS.—1. Dissolve half an ounce, or more, of pulverized Alum in two
quarts of rain-water. If you can get Sulphate of Zinc, put in that with
the Alum, in equal quantities, say a quarter of an ounce each.
2. Two drams (quarter of an ounce) Sulphate of Zinc in two quarts of soft
water. Or, one-third of an ounce will perhaps do better, if used alone.
3. Chloride of Zinc, (liquid,) half a fluid ounce to two quarts of water.
You can buy an ounce phial full, and use half at a time, or a two or four
ounce phial, and use in proportion. If you prefer to make the lotion
stronger, it will do no harm.
4. Take one and a half to two ounces Sulphate of Iron and mix it with two
quarts of soft water. This is a mixture which any New York quack will
charge you from three to five dollars for, and will pretend it is a great
and wonderful secret.
Another plan which the wife may adopt for the prevention of conception is
as follows: Procure a fine sponge at a drug-store, and cut off a piece of
it about the size of a walnut; then make a fine silk string by twisting
together some threads of sewing silk; tie one end of the string to the
piece of sponge; wet the sponge in a weak solution of sulphate of iron,
or of any of the solutions before mentioned as fatal to the animalculæ
of the Semen. Before connection, insert the piece of sponge far up into
your person. You can place it entirely out of the way by the use of a
smooth stick of the proper size and shape. The string will hang out, but
will be no obstacle. After the act is over, you withdraw the sponge,
and if you have a syringe, use that also. This method is pronounced
by some physicians to be a sure one, and the only objection to it is
that it is apt to mar the pleasure experienced by the wife. Some of our
quack doctors charge five dollars for this information. It is true, they
furnish a certain mysterious powder to make a mixture of in which to wet
the sponge used; but the powder is nothing more than sulphate of iron, or
some astringent similar to those named by us.
Coverings for the Penis, which are used in Europe to avoid contracting
sexual diseases from prostitutes, must necessarily prevent conception.
With one of these coverings (which are now made beautifully with a
preparation of India-rubber) a man may be certain that he will never
impregnate his wife. But the enjoyment of the nuptial act is not so
complete as a naked Penis affords, hence the covering, or sheath, is not
very popular. The cost of the best article is about three dollars a dozen.
Some men tie up the scrotum to prevent a discharge of Semen, and thus
hope to avoid impregnating the female; but this method is exceedingly
hurtful, as it forces the discharge into the bladder, from whence it
passes off with the urine. Such a practice will in a short time so
derange the procreative organs as to send all the Semen into the bladder
as fast as it generates, and the effect on health will be a wasting away
of vitality in the same manner as if the patient constantly practiced
self-pollution.
I have thus given the only safe methods of preventing conception that
are known. The first one—the withdrawal—is an art to be acquired by the
husband. It is a plan which every person of good breeding should adopt
for its cleanliness alone, if for no other reason. Once habituated to
this precaution while enjoying the nuptial bed, you will wonder how
rational beings can pursue a different course. It is indeed a refinement
of social intercourse—a triumph of mind which thus controls even the laws
and instincts of our nature!
EFFECTS OF TOO EARLY SEXUAL INTERCOURSE.
One of the greatest evils to mankind is a too free sexual indulgence by
young men and boys. It not only injures their vital powers, but affects
their intellects. Parents should watch their boys to observe whether they
are of amorous temperament. If they are found to be so, a prudent person
can find means to persuade or prevent their indulgence of sexual passion.
If a boy is allowed free and habitual intercourse with females before he
has attained his growth, it will not only prevent the full development
of his body, but also of his intellect. This is a well known fact in
physiology; and by this very means many youths, who would otherwise
become distinguished, have settled down into mediocrity, with scarcely
sufficient energy of character to earn a livelihood. In a certain family
in one of the country towns on the Hudson River, three sons were born.
The two oldest afterwards became distinguished men. It was a family that
inherited naturally the fine talents of their father, combined with the
extraordinary robust and nervous energy of the mother. It was impossible
that such a couple could produce other than intellectual and vigorous
offspring. The third son, up to the age of twelve or thirteen years,
promised to be the flower of the family. His education was progressing
favorably. He was the pride of his parents. Years rolled along, and it
seemed as though the boy stood still at thirteen or fourteen. He was
amiable, and learned his lessons well enough, but all the energy and fire
of youth seemed to have vanished. He did not care to join in the manly
sports of his elder brothers, but in a listless and dreamy mood preferred
to stay at home. His parents began to have fears for his health,
though he did not complain. The father finally took him to New York,
and consulted a physician of eminence. The doctor asked some questions
relative to his habits, but the simple and candid answers of the lad
did not lead to anything explaining the real cause of his malady. At
parting, the physician said to his father, that if the lad lived in New
York, he should pronounce his case one of too early sexual indulgence,
unless he practiced the silent vice of Onanism. “Are there no females in
your neighborhood with whom the lad could by any possibility associate?”
inquired the doctor. “He never goes in company at all,” was the reply.
“What servants have you?” “Two excellent girls who have been years in
the family—the idea of an illicit association there is preposterous.”
“His mother is positive that he does not practice the solitary habit?”
“Yes!” “Well, I can do nothing for him; but yet I would like to see the
boy again. With your permission I will run up to your place in a week or
two.” “We shall be happy to see you.”
The doctor found out the secret of the boy’s malady within twenty-four
hours after his arrival. He had cohabited constantly with one of the
maids from the age of twelve and a half years until he was sixteen!
The lad was saved only because of his youth. He partially outgrew this
severe shock to his nervous system; but yet never fully developed the
intellectual powers with which Nature had endowed him. Young men who
marry too soon are in the same category. There is not one in a dozen who
is fully developed even at twenty-one years of age.
The case of the son of Napoleon I., Emperor of the French, was similar to
that above related. At the age of fifteen or sixteen he began his career
of sexual indulgence, which ended his life at the early age of twenty-one
years. He, too, was an amiable, inoffensive and studious youth—beloved
by his grandfather and by the whole Austrian Court; and though the son
of the most energetic man that modern times has produced, yet, from
his quiet and effeminate life, he scarcely attracted the least public
attention.
The present Sultan of Turkey is a living evidence of the effects of too
early indulgence in sexual intercourse. He is the son of a brave and
vigorous soldier, and with proper culture would doubtless have become
a great and good man. ABDUL MEDJID has been over twenty years on the
Turkish throne, and has hitherto impressed those who came in contact
with him simply as a weak and indolent young man, with good intentions,
but with neither nerve nor energy to carry them out. It was generally
believed, and with good reason, that in his case, as in that of so many
others of his race, the sensual indulgence begun in his boyhood had
destroyed every trace of masculine decision. No one who watched his
dreamy, listless expression, and saw his relaxed muscles, and lolling
attitude as he rode on horseback through the streets, could help feeling
that he reigned rather in virtue of foreign support than of his own
ability to command obedience.
RESULTS OF SEXUAL ABUSES.
It was not our intention in this work to speak of Onanism and
Masturbation. These unnatural practices are so generally known to be
destructive to the sexual powers, and of health, that young people
scarcely need advice on the subject. But it may be interesting to know
the results of such practices, and of the abuse of the sexual organs by
over indulgence. Some constitutions experience a sort of consumption
which arises from the dorsal portion of the spinal marrow. No fever
accompanies it, the appetite continues good, but the patient gradually
wastes away. Women thus affected describe a crawling sensation down the
spine. Men lose their seminal fluid in their urine, having a ringing in
the ears, a weakness of vision, near-sightedness, and their intellectual
capacities are weakened and confused. In short, the whole nervous
system is generally prostrated. Excess of venery is likewise the first
exciting cause of many painful diseases, such as rheumatism, neuralgia,
epilepsy, convulsions, &c. Young married people are apt to indulge too
much in sexual intercourse, and many a man lives a life of misery from
ill health originated in this manner. Women are not affected so much by
over indulgence as by Masturbation. Delicacy not allowing an ardent woman
to tell her husband of her needs, she is apt to relieve herself by this
unnatural practice. There are, however, but few women who crave sexual
intercourse. The excess is generally on the part of the man. Moderation
in sexual pleasures is the key to health in a great many cases where
the patient is hopelessly lamenting his sad fate. Sometimes a man will
indulge to excess without experiencing much inconvenience, when suddenly
a fit of palsy or epilepsy prostrates him, and leaves him a hopeless
invalid for life. I remember an interesting case in point. A man of
robust health and strong sexual powers, married at the age of nineteen.
From that time until the age of forty-five, he lived temperately, was
regular in his habits, and never knew a day of sickness. He had always
the reputation of being fond of a variety of women—indeed, this seemed
to be the one passion of his life, for he dissipated a handsome property
in settling crim. con. suits, and paying for bastard children. As he
advanced in years his passion seemed to increase, and it was said that
he supported five different mistresses at the time of the occurrence of
the event I am now about to relate. One day when he was writing a letter,
he felt a peculiar twitching of the forefinger with which he held his
pen. This twitching sensation increased so much that he called on me for
advice. I replied, “Let the women alone, for that is a symptom of palsy.”
Within two days thereafter he was struck down and lost the use of his
hands, his right arm, and partially of his right side. Ten years have
passed, and this man, who had previously enjoyed excellent health, is
still as helpless as on the first day of his misfortune. He has consulted
distinguished physicians—American, French and German—but there is no help
for him. All agree that relief is impossible, but that he may live for
many years an imbecile, palsied man.
To sum up: If you wish to maintain your intellectual faculties intact—to
enjoy good health—to be cheerful in the decline of life—to keep your
strength, your imagination, your memory, and your eye-sight unimpaired,
refrain from too frequent intercourse with women. Once a week is
quite often enough for this indulgence, and more than twice a week is
positively hurtful. Some men may sneer at this advice, perhaps; but
to such we say, look back upon your life. Are you as perfect, both
physically and intellectually, as you would have been had you curbed your
sexual desires?
POSITION DURING SEXUAL INTERCOURSE.
There is one phase of sexual matters that physiological writers seldom
allude to, but which should be understood by married people, viz.:
the position of their bodies during the nuptial act. Any unnatural
performance of this act is apt to impair the health of the female,
and many women have been seriously injured and rendered miserable for
life by the beastliness of their husbands in this respect. Unnatural
positions will cause derangements and bearing down of the womb, produce
fluor albus, or whites, and sometimes will originate tumors and fungi in
the private parts. A woman of delicate mould and constitution might be
fatally injured in this manner; and no female, however robust, can enjoy
sexual intercourse except in the position intended by Nature. For a full
and perfect enjoyment of sexual pleasures, there must be first a mutual
fondness or sentimental feeling, called love. Where this does not exist,
the married pair should, in their associations, endeavor to be in as good
humor as possible, and to tolerate each other’s caresses with the hope
that love may grow between them. Marriages have occurred where the bride
felt an antipathy almost amounting to disgust towards the embraces of
her husband, but afterwards, on a close intimacy and free acquaintance,
became not only reconciled, but really fond of him. Delicacy and
watchfulness on the part of the husband will often enable him to make
himself agreeable to a woman who at first has no sympathy with him
whatever. From the peculiar organization of females, there are times when
a husband’s caresses may be unpleasant and irksome even to a loving wife:
if he is reasonable and consciencious, he will not fail to observe this,
and will abstain from intruding on her privicy on such occasions.
A man who will force his caresses upon his wife can be ranked only
with “the brutes that perish.” Of this class also are those who “go
in unto their wives” after the manner of brutes. The natural position
to which we have alluded suggests itself to every married pair who
possess the most remote particle of love for each other. But to make it
unmistakable, we would say, that the female should lie upon her back,
with her legs straight down—or if the legs are raised, they should be
but slightly elevated. All other positions are unnatural and unhealthy.
I could illustrate this fact by several cases in point, but the details
are too disgusting. Suffice it then to say, that I have known females
suffering from painful diseases caused by sexual connection in a standing
position—in a position where their partners approached them from behind,
and also in one case where the woman was forced or persuaded to lie on
her back with her knees up against her chest. No female can desire such
intercourse as this, because she cannot enjoy it. It is therefore the
libidinous antics of her companion that compels her to it. Very few men
of decent breeding require the caution I have here given, but if there be
half-a-dozen who profit by it, I shall be compensated for thus alluding
to a delicate subject.
DISPOSITION AND INTELLECT—HOW FORMED.
It is wisely ordered by Nature that genius, and a high order of
intellect, shall not, as a general rule, descend to children. If mankind
could impart to offspring an intellectual superiority, we should
probably have too many geniuses in the world, and too few workers. The
animal propensities, the peculiar disposition, the various passions,
the form, features, &c.—these, and other peculiarities of parents are
always transmitted to their children; but that lofty, soul-inspiring
sentimentality which enlarges the reasoning faculties and bestows mental
distinction upon its recipients, seems to be a peculiar gift from the
Deity itself.
Some physiologists assert that Nature does not endow the children of
distinguished men so bountifully as those of less exalted capacities,
and assign as a reason that great minds have their weaknesses and their
follies, which are apt to show themselves in a marked manner at the
moment they are begetting their children. I do not endorse this doctrine,
but suspect that men are beholden rather to their mothers than to their
paternal parents for whatever intellectual gifts God, in his wisdom, has
bestowed upon them. A healthy, well developed, and naturally intelligent
woman will have smart and intellectual children, even though her husband
may be a ninny. If you want intelligent children, then, look you out a
wife who has a soul above street yarn and love stories. But should you
select the best woman from a thousand, you will scarcely find in her a
wife capable of breeding you a very moderate genius. It is thought by
some people that the state of the intellect at the moment of the nuptial
act marks the mind of the child. I do not believe this; for if a crop of
geniuses could be raised by minds specially tutored for the occasion, who
doubts but that the world would be full of them?
In looking for a mother for his children, a man should seek a woman
of different temperament from himself. If he is lymphatic and good
natured, let him find a wife who is nervous and irritable; and _vice
versa_. If he be of a sandy complexion, or fair-haired, with blue eyes,
let him choose one of those luscious brunettes, with flashing black
eyes, and a resolution as firm as a rock. On the contrary, if he be dark
complexioned, impatient and passionate, let him sacrifice and enslave
a mild and blue-eyed blonde of the cold North. Choose you always a
woman of intellect, and if with that, you have one of a temperament and
complexion opposite to your own, your children will be distinguished for
something—they will not live a life of drudgery and dependence—and they
_may be_ geniuses. The selection of a conjugal partner is one of the most
important events of life, in either man or woman. Too little attention is
generally paid to it.
THE TEMPERAMENTS—HOW DISTINGUISHED.
In the course of this treatise we have alluded to the Temperaments of
different individuals, and it may therefore be interesting to describe
them. A person of a Lymphatic temperament has a languid, good-natured
look, sleepy eyes, and the face is soft, round and full. A Sanguine
temperament is represented by an earnest, anxious countenance,
large intelligent eyes, prominent nose, robust health, and a strong
constitution. The Bilious temperament usually presents a strong marked
countenance, yellow skin, bulging eyes, projecting lips, full muscular
habit, and not very fleshy. Persons of Nervous temperament are usually
(though not always) thin and spare: their features are firm set, lines of
countenance harsh, constitution delicate, and intellectual qualities of
the first order.
Men of genius may be ranked as follows: Sanguine-nervous are usually
great writers, divines, musicians, or artists. Sanguine-bilious,
great generals, politicians, statesmen, inventors, business men, or
distinguished in any calling requiring much energy and industry.
Sanguine-lymphatic are frequently persons of great talent, enterprise,
and distinction, and are generally long lived; but they seldom make any
considerable display of their abilities, or become men of mark.