A treatise on the cause of exhausted vitality

Front matter

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Chapter I. Human Perfection

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Materials entering into Man's Composition — Wisdom and Skill of the Designer — The Perfectness of the Hand, Foot, Eye, and Internal Organs — The Brain the Masterpiece — Harmony of Organic Action necessary to Happiness — Man's Physical Nature made Perfect — Intellectual and Moral nobler still — Unity of Man's Physical and Mental — Means by which Mind is manifested — Dependence of Mental Powers upon Physical Conditions 7

Chapter II. Natural Laws

Every thing in Nature governed by Law — The Human System not an Exception — Each part controlled by Special Laws — Henry Ward Beecher's Opinion of Natural Laws — Happiness Dependent upon Obedience to Law 15

Chapter III. Derangements Observable In Mankind

Universal Prevalence of Disease — Mortality among Mankind — Disobedience to Law the Cause of Physical Derangements — Mental Aberrations the Result of Physical Derangements — Physicians and Drugshops — Adam's Sin no Excuse for Physical or Moral Imperfections 18

Chapter IV. Abuse Of The Sexual Function A Prime Cause Of

DERANGEMENTS.

The Foundation of Life — Loss of Semen — Nervous Exhaustion — Parents Impart to Children a Portion of their own Life-Power — Loss of Vital Force a Cause of Disease — Every part of the System drained of its Vitality by Sexual Abuses — Original Sin considered — How Death resulted 23

Chapter V. The Law Which Governs The Sexual Function

Sexual Indulgence designed for Propagation of Species — Recognition of this Law by Animals — Restraint of Sexual Passion — Opinion of Drs. Dixon and Rosch — The Extent to which Indulgence is sometimes carried no Evidence in its Favor 28

Chapter VI. Self-abuse

Self- Abuse the Worst Form of Sexual Abuse — When and How the Habit is* contracted — Opinions of Different Authors — Who are its Victims — The Horrors of this Vice depicted — Effects upon the Body — Influence upon the Mind. 34

Chapter VII. Effects Of Self-abuse Upon Children

Signs of the Vice — The Boy who practices it contrasted with one who does not — Effects upon Girls and Women — Disease of the Female Organism engendered by Sexual Abuse — Loss of Stamina in the Race resulting from Sexual Abuse 43

VI CONTENTS.

Chapter VIII. Involuntary Seminal Emissions, Or Spermatorrhea

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What Henry Ward Beecher says — Seminal Emissions, how induced — May occur during the Day as well as Night — Conditions resulting from Self- Abuse — Involuntary Action of the Sexual Organs — A Warning to those Beginning the Practice — Every part of the System exhausted by it — Extracts from Letters written by Young Men Guilty of this Vice 47

Chapter IX. Manifestations Of Self-abuse

Genital Form — Digestive Form — Spinal Form — Cerebral Form — Epilepsy, Insanity, Spinal Irritation, and other Diseases, caused by Self- Abuse 62

Chapter X. Predisposing And Exciting Causes Of Self-abuse

Hereditary Taints — False Ideas of Marriage — The Effect of Food and Drink — Care of Young Children — Servants — Playmates — Schools — Sleeping — Lewd Stories — Constipation — Worms — Occupations, etc 68

CHAPTER XL

PROMISCUOUS SEXUAL INDULGENCE.

A Bane to Society — Special Diseases caused by it — Draining of the Life- Powers — What Solomon says — Nature's Laws can not be violated with Impunity 73

Chapter XII. Matrimonial Excesses

Marriage not a License for Sexual Indulgence — Evils arising from Marital Excesses — Wives and Husbands Widowed by Marital Excesses — Effects of Sexual Abuse much the same whether in or out of Wedlock — Children inherit Strong Passions — Frequent Indulgence fatal to Love — Indulgence during Pregnancy robs both Mother and Child of Vitality — Sterility — Impotency — Abortion — Both Parents equally blamable — Effects of Abortion 79

Chapter XIII. Prevention Of Sexual Abuse

Instruction needed — Duty of Parents — Correct Ideas of the Sexual Nature necessary to guard Children and Youth from Error in this Direction — Parents should not hesitate to teach truth for fear of suggesting Evil Thoughts — Proofs that Children are kept from Evil by the Knowledge that it is Evil — Teacher's Duties — Schools the Hot-Bed of Sexual Vice — The Knowledge most needed for Success in Life — Duty of Christian Ministers — Physical Laws not Referred to by them — Efforts to save Souls while the Body is going to Ruin — Sexual Vices not even Hinted at — Sexual Excesses of Church Members — Beecher's Discourse to Medical Students — A similar one needed for Ministers — Christ's Teaching — Obedience to Sexual Law should be required by the Church — Physician's Duties — Instruction to Families under their Charge — Essays — Lectures 8;

Chapter XIV. Treatment

Stop Sinning — Who may hope for Cure without Special Advice — Will-Power — Blood diverted from Sexual Organs — Physical Training — Mental Training — Diet — What Food should be used and what avoided — Bathing — What Baths most Beneficial — Sleeping — What to do on retiring and during the Night — Electricity — In what Cases applicable and how useful — Turkish Baths — Their Effects — Swedish Movements — Benefits derived — Caustics — Instruments — Marriage not a Cure for Seminal Emissions — Religion needed — Christ's Example 108

Abuses of the Sexual Function.

chapter I. HUMAN PERFECTION

AN is the highest, noblest, most perfect work of God. He is an epitome of the whole created universe. The most subtle essences of the animal, vegetable, and mineral domain are used in his formation. The atmospheres and gases are in his substance. The sunshine and the light of stars ; the riches of soil and the varying charms of climate ; heat and cold ; the ocean and the continent ; the mountains, plains, and valleys ; the forest and the prairie, the marsh, the lake, the river ; the clouds, the winds, the storm, the calm ; spring showers and summer dews, autumn rains and winter snows ; the grains, the fruits, the flowers, the birds, the cattle on a thousand hills — all go to make the air he breathes, the food he eats, the water he drinks, and the purity or impurity of the flesh he wears.

The highest wisdom and genius are displayed in the formation of the various organs of his body ; and the greatest mind could never conceive of any thing more perfect, or better adapted to the purposes for which they were designed.

Look at his form as he stands upright before you ; how admirably it is arranged in all its parts ! The body is erect, yet the frame-work is so connected by joints and elastic tissues as to enable him to bend with ease and grace in whatever direction he may choose. His head, placed upon his shoulders as a cupola upon the structure, is so nicely adjusted as to be capable of being turned in almost every conceivable direction. The arms and hands are attached to the body by the best means, and in the best position to serve in ministering to his necessities and his pleasures. The legs and feet are so adroitly arranged as to balance the whole body in the most accurate manner, either in standing or walking, and admit of the greatest ease and freedom of motion, and speed of locomotion. Thus much of man is visible to every eye ; but to those who have made the human form a study this is but the surface, while a glance beneath, even at the hand alone, can not fail to excite the wonder and admiration of all who observe its form, and the arrangement of its integument, muscles, tendons, bones, joints, nerves, arteries, and veins.

Though small in compass and compact in structure, its nerves and blood-vessels form such a complete net- work that the point of the finest cambric needle can not penetrate any part of it without piercing some of them. Yet, minute as they are, each has its peculiar function, and the whole is so admirably arranged that each and every part can do its own especial duty without interference.

And how varied are the uses to which the hand is adapted and applied ! Glowing thoughts are penned by it upon the author's page ; it causes the artist's canvas to assume the delicate tints or brilliant hues which nature in her varied moods is wont so lavishly to wreathe about her form ; by means of its vibrations the musical instrument is made almost a thing of life ; it plays, it works, it acts, it talks ; the farmer's toil, the housewife's task, the mechanic's skill, are all wrought out by the human hand ; except the tongue, it is the orator's chief aid in giving expression to his lofty strains of eloquence, or his pathetic and powerful appeals ; it gives greater pathos to the pleader's prayer, and tells with tenfold force the tale of sorrow, suffering, and woe. We do not realize how many notes in the tune of life the hand is made to play. Its beauties and its uses are almost beyond our thought ; and he who is deprived of it sustains a loss that none can estimate.

We look with admiration, pride, and almost with awe upon what is being done by man in every direction. We see his skill displayed in the various arts, and his reason and intellect in the wonderful works of his hands. We boast of our ships, our steamboats, and our telegraphs ; we are proud, and justly proud, of our bridges, our viaducts, and our Atlantic cable ; but where, in the whole range of arts, mechanics, architecture, or engineering, can we find such a structure as the human foot ? How manifold are the functions it is fitted to perform ! Not only does it sustain weights, but it must carry them. Man, in his labors- and his toils, is obliged to walk, run, jump, leap, climb, etc., and upon the foot must he depend for the performance of these several duties.

And not only this, but the foot must sustain the frame, not as a mere solid mass, but with a fostering though firm elasticity, must adapt itself to the action to be performed, so as to prevent the jarring and concussion that would inevitably destroy the delicate organs of the body, such as the brain and spinal cord.

Look, too, at the human eye, placed as it is in the front and upper portion of the head, so as to command the greatest possible range of vision ; incased in a bony orbit to protect its delicate structure from injury; so suspended that it may be turned upward to the starry heavens, or downward to our mother earth, or from side to side, spanning half the horizon at a single glance. Note the beautiful arrangement of its curtains, humors, lenses, pigments, membranes, nerves, and vessels ; and how accurately it delineates pictures of every object within its range, and conveys them to the brain, the great picture-gallery of the soul.

The eye is also the window through which the mind and heart of man are made visible to his brother man ; grief and anger, joy and sorrow, pain and pleasure, the heart's sunshine and its shadow, are all depicted there ; the passions hold their orgies in this window, and truth and love dance hand in hand before its curtain. Can mortal conceive of any thing more beautiful, more perfect than the human eye !

Let us consider for a moment the wisdom and skill displayed in the formation and arrangement of man's organs of digestion, circulation, respiration, and ex-

HUMAN PERFECTION. II

cretion. Each and all are made of the right material, and of the precise form and size, and placed in the exact position to subserve best the purposes for which they were designed. The digestive apparatus forms a study of vast interest and importance ; the circulatory is no less wonderful, while the respiratory and excretory, which are organs of purification, can not but fill with amazement all who contemplate them closely.

Yet, wonderful and beautiful as are all these varied portions of man's body, the great masterpiece of workmanship is the human brain, with its hundreds of little counterparts in the nervous system.

The brain with its continuation, the spinal cord, is the great centre, while the nerves are but so many minute telegraphic mediums of communication, penetrating the most distant and intricate portions of the whole body. The brain is the manufactory of thought, the home of the mind, and the medium through which we receive impressions of the material world.

Through the brain and nervous system the power, intelligence, will, ingenuity, and, in short, all the attributes of the mind are made manifest ; it presides over, provides for, and regulates all other parts of the body ; even the functions of circulation, respiration, digestion, and assimilation, which seem to be carried on independently of the mind, receive their power from the brain, and are consequently dependent upon it.

Each portion, too, of the brain structure has a function of its own, which is different from that of every other part. It has been clearly demonstrated that in the frontal region lie the reason and intellect ; the summit is occupied by the moral faculties, while the base of the brain is the seat of man's affections, and upon its development depends his social and sexual nature.

The All- Wise Creator has formed every organ of the human system with direct reference to the accomplishment of a certain object. Every bone, muscle, nerve, and tissue has its own peculiar duty to perform, every fibre a purpose to subserve. By means of the brain we think, feel, and act ; the nerves take cognizance of external things, convey an impression of their character and uses to the brain, and carry back the commands of the will to the muscular system, that the behests of the mind may be obeyed ; the heart receives th& impure blood from all parts of the system, sends it to the lungs to be purified, then takes it back, and forces it with tremendous power even to the minutest parts of the body ; the veins and arteries are made for the express purpose of conveying the blood to> and fronty the heart ; the lungs throw off carbon and take up oxygen ; the stomach and small intestines digest the food ; the eye is made to see, the ear to hear ; and thus the various organs have each their own especial use in the animal economy, and their exact function to perform ; and, as a result of the proper performance of all these functions, we have not only harmony, but happiness of mind as well as body.

Thus, we find that man's physical being was made perfect ; but his intellectual, moral, and spiritual were created nobler, grander still ; for it is this portion of his nature that renders him so much superior to all other created beings ; that makes him the ruler of the earth on which he dwells ; that allies him to the angels ; that reflects so perfectly the image of God.

It is mind that makes the man ! The human mind molds and fashions all material substances of which it has a knowledge. Mind has harnessed the wind for a steed to traverse the tempest-tost sea ; has entrapped and tamed the lightning, teaching it to bear tidings from continent to continent, and almost from pole to pole ; it has made of steam a servant to do its bidding both upon the waters and the land ; and yet, with all its achievements, with all its grandeur and its glory, the dependence of mind upon the body is so apparent, and its union with the physical so complete, that although in the past we have been taught to exalt the mind at the expense of the body, yet the day is at hand when neither shall be neglected, but each receive its own proper share of laudation and attention.

Prof. Youmans says ;* " From time immemorial man has been regarded as having a double nature ; mind and body have been cleft asunder and considered as separate and independent existences : the mind has been ranked as the higher or spiritual nature, and the body as the lower or material nature. The mind was said to be pure, aspiring, immaterial ; the body gross, corrupt, and perishable ; all terms of applause have been sought to celebrate the one, while the vocabulary of reproach has been exhausted upon the other."

* See lecture on " The Scientific Study of Human Nature."

"But science now establishes the truth that the notion of man's duality is erroneous, and that the dependence of thought upon organic conditions is so intimate and absolute that they can no longer be considered except as unity ; that the bodily organism which has been so long neglected as of no account is in reality the first and fundamental thing to be considered."

" The mental life and the bodily life are manifestations of the same organism ; growing together, fluctuating together, declining together ; they depend upon common laws which must be investigated by a common method, and science, in unraveling the mysteries of the body, has thrown important light upon the workings of the mind."

Science has demonstrated the fact that mind is manifested by means of the formation and development of cells in the brain ; and upon the condition of the blood depends the character of these cells ; upon the condition of the body depend the mental power and activity, the mental force and stamina ; and he who possesses a sound mind in a sound body may be looked upon as the noblest work of God.

When we contemplate man as coming perfect from the hands of his Maker, his entire organism harmoniously developed, and his whole life a thanksgiving and a joy, we are led to exclaim with the ancient bard:

" What a piece of work is man ! How noble in reason ! how infinite in faculties ! in form, and moving, how express and admirable ! in action, how like an angel ! in apprehension, how like a god!"

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Chapter II. Natural Laws

O one can study the anatomical structure and physiological functions of the human system in all its departments, without being deeply impressed with the order and adaptation that reign throughout the whole ; and no less deep must be the conviction that it is the work of some great, all-wise, and all-powerful Intelligence. Every part bears proof of a Designer, and shows that it was formed for a particular use ; every part gives evidence, too, that there are laws which govern its action, and that to preserve its integrity it must be used according to its design, in consonance with those laws.

Science has demonstrated that the entire universe is regulated and maintained by an established system of laws. There are physical laws, chemical laws, organic laws, and vital laws ; the planetary system has its laws ; the earth, its laws ; the mineral, vegetable, and animal kingdoms have each their controlling laws ; and man, the acme of creation, is generated and developed in accordance with law. Each organ of man's body, too, is subject to a special law. The eye was made with direct reference to the laws of light ; the ear, to laws of sound ; the stomach, to laws of digestion ; and so long as these laws are recognized and obeyed, so long will harmony and happiness prevail ;

1 6 NATURAL LAWS.

but if they are violated, whether willfully or ignorantly, the penalty is sure to follow.

Henry Ward Beecher says :* " He that breaks a valid law of God, whether it be enacted in nature, in the physical globe, in his own body, or in his own spiritual being, sins against his own soul, and the damage is in the man himself, whether he knows it or not."

" Men are subject to the great material laws of the globe on which they dwell, and there is not a material law that a man can break and not sin."

" The thought would be worth every thing to this world, that sin means the infraction of laws which God has made, of every kind!'

" You think it is a sin to steal ; it is a sin ; and to break those laws on which the very potency of your bodily organization is founded, to break those laws on which your mind-powers turn, is no less a sin. All the laws of the globe which report themselves in your strength and in your economy are moral laws, and foi you to break them is to sin."

The laws of nature are immutable, and as eternal as God himself. Man may array himself in opposition to them, but their operations are not suspended on this account. If the eye is exposed to a light too strong, the result is an injury to the sight ; if the ear be subjected to loud and long-continued noise, the hearing is more or less impaired ; if the hand is brought in contact with fire, it is consumed according to the laws of combustion ; and so of each and all the laws of Nature ; they can not be changed, but are forever, and under all circumstances, the same.

* See Herald of Health for February, 1867.

NATURAL LAWS. 1 7

He who violates a civil law may have a hope of immunity from justice. He may plead ignorance of the law, or inability to comprehend it, and thus obtain mercy. But the punishments for violation of natural laws can never be evaded ; no act of faith pr supplication, no amount of entreaty or persuasion, neither tears, nor protestations, nor promises, avail aught to modify or change their prescribed mode of action.

In every human being there is a certain relation to natural laws, and the man who puts himself in wrong relation to those laws must take the penalty. But the penalty may be deferred, for it is even asBeechersays again : " Many a young man goes on sinning and sinning in his own body, and, because sentence is deferred, he thinks he is not sinning ; but, by and by, the penalties begin to execute themselves, and then it is too late for him to avert the evil. Many a man finds out at thirty-five years of age that he is an old man ; that his marrow has been sucked up ; that the generating power of his nervous system has been burned out or rotted out ; and he thinks he will reform, and means to reform, but it is too late."

" The man that violates the laws of nature in the structure of his own body or mind may be perfectly certain that those laws will inflict their penalties on him both here and hereafter ;" while he who obeys them feels a foretaste of the joys of heaven, and blesses God in his body as well as in his spirit, which is his.

Chapter III. Derangements Observable In Mankind

E have seen that man came forth pure and j perfect from the hands of his Creator ; symmetrical in proportions, harmonious in action, his whole being was formed with such perfect adaptation to the accomplishment of the purposes for which it was designed, that all necessary and legitimate action could be productive only of pleasure. We have considered that to govern every department of this beautiful structure, and insure its health and happiness, immutable laws were established, which can not with impunity be ignored.

Let us contrast this beauty, order, and perfection, with the deranged conditions in which we at present find the race. We may range the earth throughout its length and breadth, and where shall we find a people who are living up to that standard of perfection which their organization seems to indicate they were designed to attain and enjoy ? Everywhere we see deformity and disease. In almost every land, " The pestilence walketh in darkness, and destruction wasteth at noonday." Our cities are studded with asylums and infirmaries for the sick, the lame, the halt, and the blind. In every household there are evidences of suffering and sorrow ; we can not walk abroad but the heart is pained at sight of the pale cheek, the sunken eye, the deformed body, the tottering gait, the enfeebled and exhausted men, women, and children of this enlightened age ; yes, enlightened in all things save in regard to the noblest work of God, mankind.

The cities of the dead outnumber far the cities of the living ; emblems of mourning and sadness are met on every hand ; death is constantly claiming its victims amongst the young and the middle-aged as well as the old. Babes die by thousands before they are born, and one fifth of those born alive are lain away in their tiny graves before they reach the age of seven.

The weaknesses, the infirmities, and the diseases of parents are entailed upon their children from generation to generation ; the noble structure, so " fearfully and wonderfully made," has been deranged in all its functions, till every one of the " thousand strings " of this beautiful " harp " is either broken or rendered so discordant that scarce a tone of sweetness can be made to vibrate from it. Not an organ but is abnormal in its condition, but has been perverted in its action, but occasions pain instead of pleasure. Sickness, sorrow, suffering, and death are the rule of the race ; while good, sound health, with its accompaniments, joy and happiness, is the seldom seen exception.

The physical ills which we meet at every turn are enough to make us wonder at the forbearance of the Creator in permitting man to live when he carries about with him such manifold evidence of having violated the laws by which he should be governed. Yet, direful as are all the physical ills under which man labors, could we separate mind from body, we should say they are but slight, compared with the mental aberrations resulting from diseased conditions.

Dr. Bucknill says : " The little cells of which the gray substance of the brain is composed are the agents of all that is called mind ; of all our sensations, thoughts, and desires ; and the growth and renovation of these cells are the most ultimate conditions of mind with which we are acquainted. Not a thrill of sensation can occur, not a flashing thought or a passing feeling can take place, without a change in the living organism. Much less can diseased sensation, thought, or feeling occur without such changes," for " polished steel is not quicker dimmed by the slightest breath than is the brain affected by some abnormal conditions of the blood."

And this being true, what wonder is it that so many phases of mental disease present themselves to our notice ! What wonder that our insane asylums are peopled with sufferers of all ages, and in every stage of insanity ! What wonder that the lustre of the brightest stars is dimmed, and that every now and then the world is awed with the announcement that a bright light has suddenly gone out, dashed into darkness by a sweep of its own hand !

None may tell the terrible sufferings of the poor victim ere this last step was taken ! Violations of the law of digestion by wrong habits of eating and drinking, and of the law of respiration by breathing impure air, or, it may be, violation of the sexual law by indulgence in secret vice or sexual excesses, first led to loss of memory, then false reasoning or reasoning from false premises, till, finally, the world and all things in it were standing in such a delusive light that the poor sufferer could not choose but clear himself from its entanglements, which he did to the amazement of thousands who had scarcely recognized the fact that he was not perfectly sound both in body and in mind.

" Behold what a great fire a little spark kindleth !" The beginning of all these sad, woeful, heart-rending, and life-destroying conditions, is almost imperceptible ; slight deviations from perfect health receive no attention ; slight violations of the laws governing any organ or function are all unheeded ; for the beneficent Creator has so formed mankind that every tendency of the system is toward repair, and, unless marked violations occur, producing palpable results, the deception may go on until the health is fairly undermined.

The fact that there are fifty-three thousand physicians in this country, constantly gaining their livelihood by the ills of the human family, proves too truly that the physical condition of the race is not what it should be. The drug-shops with which our towns and villages abound are patronized to an extent almost incredible. The animal, vegetable, and mineral kingdoms are explored for " remedies " to " cure disease ;" the earth and sea yield their most obnoxious elements for the same great end ; money is scarcely counted when medicine is to be obtained, and the cost of drugs is scarcely less than the cost of bread. And all this as a result of the practice of " regular " physicians, to say nothing of the fortunes made upon elixirs, sarsaparillas, pectorals, and pills.

There is something radically wrong somewhere ; man's organization indicates a different design from this. The exactness, the precision, and the invariableness of scientific truths denote a natural cause for all things ; and a natural cause for disease must therefore exist. One portion of mankind is too apt to think that disease and suffering is the natural and unavoidable condition of life ; and he who argues that disease may be avoided, and that suffering is the result of sin, is looked upon as striving to oppose God's " providences ;" others trace every thing back to the sins of our first parents, and charge them with entailing death upon the race, with all the physical weaknesses which are its precursors, thus making man individually irresponsible for the ills to which he is subjected.