Chapter 25
Drugs, Rings, etc.--If drugs, _per se_, will cure invalids of any class, they are certainly worthless in this class of patients. The whole materia medica affords no root, herb, extract, or compound that alone will cure a person suffering from emissions. Thousands of unfortunates have been ruined by long-continued drugging. One physician will purge and salivate the patient. Another will dose him with phosphorus, quinine, or ergot. Another feeds him with iron. Another plies him with lupuline, camphor, and digitaline. Still another narcotizes him with opium, belladonna, and chloral. Purgatives and diuretics are given by another, and some will be found ready to empty the whole pharmacopoeia into the poor sufferer's stomach if he can be got to open his mouth wide enough.
The way that some of these poor fellows are blistered, and burned, and cauterized, and tortured in sundry other ways, is almost too horrible to think of; yet they endure it, often willingly, thinking it but just punishment for their sins, and perhaps hoping to expiate them by this cruel penance. By these procedures, the emissions are sometimes temporarily checked, but the patient is not cured, nevertheless, and the malady soon returns.
The employment of rings, pessaries, and numerous other mechanical devices for preventing emissions, is entirely futile. No dependence can be placed upon them. Some of these contrivances are very ingenious, but they are all worthless, and time and money spent upon them are thrown away.
Quacks.--The victims of self-abuse fall an easy prey to the hordes of harpies, fiends in human shape, who are ready at every turn to make capital out of their misfortunes. From no other class of persons do quacks and charlatans derive so rich a harvest as from these erring ones. It is not uncommon to find a man suffering from seminal weakness who has paid to sundry parties hundreds of dollars for "specifics" which they advertised as "sure cures." We have seen and treated scores of these patients, but never yet met a single case that had received benefit from patent medicines.
The newspapers are full of the advertisements of these heartless villains. They advertise under the guise of "clergymen," charitable institutions, "cured invalids," and similar pretenses. Usually they offer for sale some pill or mixture which will be a _sure cure_, in proof of which they cite the testimonials of numerous individuals who never lived, or, at least, never saw either them or their filthy compounds; or, they promise to send free a recipe which will be a certain cure. Here is a specimen recipe which was sent by a "reverend" gentleman who claims to be a returned missionary from South America so intent on doing good that he charges nothing for his invaluable information:--
Extract of Corrossa apimis, " " Selarmo umbelifera, Powdered Alkermes latifolia, Extract of Carsadoc herbalis.
This remarkable recipe is warranted to cure all the evils arising from self-abuse, with no attention to diet and no inconvenience of any kind, to prevent consumption and insanity, and to cure venereal diseases. It is also declared to be a perfectly "_safe_" remedy for all female difficulties, which means that it will aid nefarious purposes.
Along with the recipe comes the suggestion that the druggist may not be able to furnish all the ingredients in a perfectly pure state, and so, for the accommodation of suffering humanity, this noble philanthropist has taken infinite pains to secure them direct from South America, and has them put up in neat little packages which he will send, post-paid, for the trifle of $3.50, just one cent _less_ than actual cost. Then he tells what purports to be the history of his own nastiness, with a generous spicing of pious cant, and closes with a benediction on all who have fallen into the same slough, and especially those who will send for his fabulous foreign weeds to help them out.
A young man sees the advertisement of a book which will be sent free, postage paid, if he will only send his address. The title of the book being of some such character as "Manhood Regained," or "Nervous Debility," he imagines it may suit his case, and sends his name. Return mail brings the book, which is a wretched jargon of confused terms and appalling descriptions of the effects of self-abuse, with the most shameful exaggerations of the significance of the most trivial symptoms. The ignorant youth reads what he supposes to be a description of his own case, and is frightened nearly to death. He is most happily relieved, however, to find that the generous publishers of the book have a remedy which is just adapted to his case, but which is so precious that it cannot be afforded at less than $50.00 for a sufficient quantity to effect a cure. He willingly parts with his hard-earned dollars, and gets, in return, some filthy mixture that did not cost a shilling.
Another trap set is called an "Anatomical Museum." The anatomical part of the exhibition consists chiefly of models and figures calculated to excite the passions to the highest pitch. At stated intervals the proprietor, who is always a "doctor," and by preference a German, delivers lectures on the effects of masturbation, in which he resorts to every device to excite the fears and exaggerate the symptoms of his hearers, who are mostly young men and boys. Thus he prepares his victim, and when he once gets him within his clutches, he does not let him go until he has robbed him of his last dollar.
We might present almost any number of illustrations of the ways in which these human sharks pursue their villainy. If there were a dungeon deep, dark, and dismal enough for the punishment of such rascals, we should feel strongly inclined to petition to have them incarcerated in it. They defy all laws, civil as well as moral, but are cunning enough to keep outside of prison bars; and thus they wax rich by robbery, and thrive by deceit. A terrible recompense awaits them at the final settlement, though they escape so easily now.
Closing Advice.--We cannot finish this chapter without a few closing words of advice to those who are suffering in any way from the results of sexual transgression. We are especially anxious to call attention to a few points of practical and vital interest to all who are suffering in the manner indicated.
1. Give the matter prompt attention. Do not delay to adopt curative measures under the delusive idea that the difficulty will disappear of itself. Thousands have procrastinated in this way until their constitutions have been so hopelessly undermined as to make treatment of little value. The intrinsic tendency of this disease is to continue to increase. It progresses only in one direction. It never "gets well of itself," as some have imagined that it may do. Something must be done to effect a cure; and the longer treatment is delayed, the more difficult the case will become.
2. Set about the work of getting well with a fixed determination to persevere, and never to give over the struggle until success is attained, no matter how difficult may be the obstacles to be surmounted. Such an effort will rarely be unsuccessful. One of the greatest impediments to recovery from diseases of this class is the vacillating dispositions of nearly all patients suffering from disorders of this character. Make up your mind what course of treatment to pursue, then adhere to it rigidly until it has received a thorough trial. Do not despair if no very marked results are seen in a week, a month, or even a longer period. The best remedies are among those which operate the most slowly.
3. Avoid watching for symptoms. Ills are greatly exaggerated by dwelling upon them. One can easily imagine himself getting worse when he is really getting better. Indeed, one can make himself sick by dwelling upon insignificant symptoms. Fix upon a course to pursue for recovery, firmly resolve to comply with every requirement necessary to insure success, and then let the mind be entirely at rest respecting the result.
4. Never consult a quack. The newspapers abound with lying advertisements of remedies for diseases of this character. Do not waste time and money in corresponding with the ignorant, unprincipled charlatans who make such false pretensions. Do not consult traveling doctors. Physicians of real merit have plenty of business at home. They are not obliged to go abroad in order to secure practice. Persons who resort to this course are, without exception, pretentious quacks. Consult only some well-known and reliable physician in whom you have confidence. If your physician treats the matter lightly, and advises marriage as a means of cure, you will not judge him harshly if you decide that although he may be thoroughly competent to treat other diseases, he is ignorant of the nature and proper treatment of this. It is an unfortunate fact that there are many physicians who are not thoroughly acquainted with the nature of spermatorrhoea and the proper mode of treating the disease; hence the importance of making a judicious selection in choosing a medical adviser. If possible, employ one whom you know to have treated successfully numerous similar cases, and give him your entire confidence. It is far better to consult your family physician than to trust yourself in the hands of some one whom you do not know, and especially one who makes great pretensions to knowledge.
5. Do not despair of ever recovering from the effects of past transgression, and plunge into greater depths of sin. Persevering, skillful treatment will cure almost every case. Even the worst cases can be greatly benefited if the earnest co-operation of the patient can be secured. This is indispensable, and the patient should be so instructed at the outset of a course of treatment.
6. Every sufferer from sexual disease must make up his mind to live, during the remainder of his life, as closely in accord with the laws of life and health as circumstances under his control will allow him to do. One who pursues this course, with a genuine regard for principle and a love for right, may confidently expect to receive the reward of obedience for his faithfulness. We would recommend such to obtain and study the best works upon hygiene, put in practice every new truth as soon as learned, and become missionaries of the saving truths of hygiene to others who are suffering from the same cause as themselves, or who may be in danger of falling into the same evil.
A CHAPTER FOR BOYS.
Boys, this chapter is for you. It is written and printed purposely for you. If you do not read another word in the book, read these few pages if you are old enough to do so. Read each line carefully and thoughtfully. You may not find anything to make you laugh--possibly you may: but you will be certain to find something of almost inestimable value to you in every line.
Who are Boys?--Boys are scarce now-a-days. In the days of Methuselah, male human beings were still boys when nearly a century old; twenty-five years ago boys were still such until well out of their "teens"; now the interval between infancy and the age at which the boy becomes a young man is so brief that boyhood is almost a thing of the past. The happy period of care-free, joyous innocence which formerly intervened between childhood and early manhood is now almost unobservable. Boys grow old too fast. They learn to imitate the vices and the manners of their seniors before they reach their teens, and are impatient to be counted as men, no matter how great may be their deficiencies, their unfitness for the important duties and responsibilities of life. The consequence of this inordinate haste and impatience to be old, is premature decay. Unfortunately the general tendency of the young members of the rising generation is to copy the vices of their elders, rather than the virtues of true manliness. A strong evidence of this fact, if there were no other, is the unnaturally old-looking faces which so many of our boys present. At the present time the average boy of twelve knows more of vice and sin than the youth of twenty of the past generation.
It is not so much for these human mushrooms, which may be not inaptly compared to toadstools which grow up in a single night and almost as speedily decay, that we write, but for the old-fashioned boys, the few such there may be, those who have not yet learned to love sin, those whose minds are still pure and uncontaminated. Those who have already begun a course of vice and wickedness we have little hope of reforming; but we are anxious to offer a few words of counsel and warning which may possibly help to save as brands plucked from a blazing fire, those whose moral sense is yet alive, who have quick and tender consciences, who aspire to be truly noble and good.
What are Boys for?--This question was answered with exact truthfulness by a little boy, who, when contemptuously accosted by a man with the remark, "What are you good for?" replied, "Men are made of such as we." Boys are the beginnings of men. They sustain the same relation to men that the buds do to full-blown flowers. They are still more like the small green apples which first appear when the blossoms drop from the branches, compared with the ripe, luscious fruit which in autumn bends the heavy-laden boughs almost to breaking. Often, like the young apples, boys are green; but this is only natural, and should be considered no disgrace to the boys. If they grow up naturally they will ripen with age, like the fruit, developing at each successive stage of life additional attractions and excellent qualities.
Boys the Hope of the World.--A nation's most valuable property is its boys. A nation which has poor, weakly, vicious boys will have still weaker, more vicious and untrustworthy men. A country with noble, virtuous, vigorous boys, is equally sure of having noble, pious, brave, and energetic men. Whatever debases, contaminates, or in any way injures the boys of a country, saps and undermines the very foundation of the nation's strength and greatness. Save the boys from vice and crime, give them good training, physically, mentally, and morally, and the prosperity of the nation is assured.
Man the Masterpiece.--When a skillful artist perfects a work of art, a painting, a drawing, a statue, or some other work requiring great talent and exceeding all his other efforts, it is called his masterpiece. So man is the noblest work of God, the masterpiece of the Almighty. Numerous anecdotes are told of the sagacity of dogs, horses, elephants and other animals, of their intelligence and ingenious devices in overcoming obstacles, avoiding difficulties, etc. Our admiration and wonder are often excited by the scarcely less than human wisdom shown by these lowly brothers of the human race. We call them noble animals; but they are only noble brutes, at best. Compared with man, even in his most humble form, as seen in the wild savage that hunts and devours his prey like a wild beast, a lion or a tiger, they are immeasurably inferior. And in his highest development, man civilized, cultivated, Christianized, learned, generous, pious, certainly stands at the head of all created things.
Boys, do you love what is noble, what is pure, what is grand, what is good? You may each, if you will, become such yourselves. Let us consider for a moment
How a Noble Character is Ruined.--A noble character is formed by the development of the good qualities of an individual. A bad character is formed by the development of bad traits, or evil propensities. In other words, sin is the cause of the demoralization of character, the debasing of the mind, the loss of nobility of which we see so much around us in the world. Sin is the transgression of some law. There are two kinds of sins: those which are transgressions of the moral law, and those which are transgressions of physical laws. Both classes of sins are followed by penalties. If a person violates the laws of health, he is just as certain to suffer as though he tells a falsehood, steals, murders, or commits any other crime. Perfect obedience to all of nature's laws, including of course all moral laws, is necessary to perfect health and perfect nobleness of character. The nature of these laws and the results of transgression will be understood after we have taken a hasty glance at
The Marvelous Human Machine which we call the body. All the inventions and devices ever constructed by the human hand or conceived by the human mind, no matter how delicate, how intricate and complicated, are simple, childish toys compared with that most marvelously wrought mechanism, the human body. Let us proceed to take this wonderful machine in pieces and study its various parts and the manner in which they are put together.
The Two Objects of Human Existence.--The objects of this wonderfully formed mechanism are two: 1. The maintenance of an individual life; 2. The production of similar individuals which shall also have the power of maintaining individual lives. The same may be said of every plant that grows, and every animal. Each tree, plant, and shrub has some useful service to perform while it lives, in addition to the production of seed from which other plants may grow. For example, the object of the majestic oak which towers high and broadly spreads its leafy branches is not to produce acorns merely, but to give place for birds to build their nests, to present an inviting shade for cattle, and to afford protection in a variety of ways to numerous living creatures which need such aid. The same may be said of all vegetable growths, each particular plant having its peculiar purposes to fulfill, and all together acting as purifiers of the air for the benefit of man and lower animals.
The principle is equally true as applied to lower animals, as is evidenced by the numerous ways in which domestic animals are utilized. Indeed, it seems that the prime purpose of life, not only with all lowly living creatures, as plants and animals, but with man as well, is to live and act as individuals. But the important function of reproduction, or producing other similar individuals, though incidental, is necessary to the perpetuation of the race or species.
In order that an individual human being may live and develop, it is necessary that he should eat, drink, digest, and assimilate, and that he should be able to move about, to perceive,--that is, to hear, see, feel, smell, taste, determine weight and distinguish temperature,--to think, and to express ideas in language. In order to keep his vital machinery in order, it is necessary that the body should also be able to repair injuries which may occur in consequence of wear or accident, and to remove out of the way wornout material which would otherwise obstruct the working of the delicate machinery of which his body is constructed. Each of these functions requires special organs and apparatuses to carry on the work; and these we will now briefly consider:--
The Nutritive Apparatus.--This consists of organs for the purpose of taking in food or nourishment, digesting it, and distributing it throughout the body wherever it is needed. These are chiefly the mouth and teeth for receiving and chewing the food, the stomach and intestines for digesting and absorbing it, and the heart and blood-vessels for distributing it to the body.
The Moving Apparatus.--For the purpose of producing motion, we have the muscles and the bones, by which the food is received, masticated, and swallowed, the blood circulated, the body moved about from place to place, and speech, expression, respiration, and many other important functions performed.
The Thinking and Feeling Apparatus.--The brain and nerves afford the means of thinking and feeling, also giving rise to all the activities of the body by the production of nerve force. To aid the brain and nerves, we have special organs provided, termed the organs of special sense; as the eye for sight, the ear for hearing, the nose for the detection of odors, the tongue for tasting, the skin and the mucous membrane for the sense of touch.
The Purifying Apparatus.--Waste matter accumulates in the body so rapidly that it is necessary to have abundant and efficient means to remove the same, and prevent death by obstruction. This work is performed by the lungs, liver, kidneys, skin, and mucous membrane.
Each organ and tissue possesses the power to repair itself. Animal heat, which is also necessary to life, is not produced by any special set of organs, but results incidentally from the various other processes named.
The Reproductive Apparatus.--As there is a stomach to digest, a brain to think, a pair of lungs to breathe, etc., so there are special organs for reproducing the species or producing new individuals. These organs have been carefully described in the preceding portion of this volume, so that we do not need to repeat the description here. Unlike all the other organs of the body, they are intended for use only after full development or manhood has been attained; consequently, they are only partially developed in childhood, becoming perfected as the person becomes older, especially after about the age of fourteen to eighteen, when puberty occurs. The lungs, the stomach, the muscles, and other organs must be used constantly from the earliest period of infancy, hence they are developed sufficiently for efficient use at birth. The fact that the sexual or reproductive organs are only fully developed later on in life, is sufficient evidence that they are intended for use only when the body has become fully mature and well developed.
How a Noble Character and a Sound Body Must Be Formed.--By obeying all the laws which relate to the healthy action of the body and the mind, a noble character and a healthy body may be formed. Any deviation from right will be sure to be followed by suffering. A boy who carefully heeds the advice of good and wise parents, who avoids bad company, who never indulges in bad habits of any sort, who cultivates purity, honesty, and manliness, is certain to grow up into a noble, lovely youth, and to become an intelligent, respected, virtuous man.
The Down-Hill Road.--In every large city, and in small ones too, even in little villages, we can scarcely step upon the street without being pained at meeting little boys who have perhaps scarcely learned to speak distinctly, but whose faces show very plainly that they have already taken several steps down the steep hillside of vice. All degrees of wickedness are pictured on the faces of a large proportion of the boys we meet upon the streets, loitering about the corners, loafing in hotels, groceries, and about bar-room doors. Everywhere we meet small faces upon which sin and vice are as clearly written as though the words were actually spelled out. Lying, swearing, smoking, petty stealing, and brazen impudence are among the vices which contaminate thousands and thousands of the boys who are by-and-by to become the _men_ of this country, to constitute its legislators, its educators, its supporters, and its protectors. Is it possible that such boys can become good, useful, noble, trustworthy men? Scarcely. If the seeds of noxious weeds can be made to produce useful plants or beautiful flowers, or if a barren, worthless shrub can be made to bear luscious fruit, then may we expect to see these vicious boys grow up into virtuous, useful men.
But the vices mentioned are not the worst, the traces of which we see stamped upon the faces of hundreds of boys, some of whom, too, would scorn to commit any one of the sins named. There is another vice, still more terrible, more blighting in its effects, a vice which defiles, diseases, and destroys the body, enervates, degrades, and finally dethrones the mind, debases and ruins the soul. It is to this vice that we wish especially to call attention. It is known as