8. _How frequently may sexual intercourse be indulged, in the marriage state?_
If one is to overstep the bounds mentioned above, i.e., to indulge in sexual intercourse once or twice in a month for procreation only and not at all during the period of pregnancy and childbed period, the limit is then set, not by strictly normal and anthropological considerations, but by the health of the individuals. The author has seen young married couples who had carried their sexual intercourse to such extremes as seriously to deplete the physical vigor and menace the health of both parties. Just how frequent indulgence will have this effect in any particular case is impossible to say. In some cases twice a week may have this effect; in other cases once in twenty-four hours might be borne for a considerable time. In any case the condition is an unnatural one and is certain to bring a natural retribution in some form--either broken health, or sterility of the wife, and depleted powers of the husband, or weak and sickly children, separated by long intervals.
9. _How long is it possible for a young man to waste his vital fluid and yet be able to raise healthy children?_
This question cannot be answered in other than most general terms. The author has known one case of a young man who, for several years, practiced masturbation several times a day, so far depleting his powers that he could not walk erect, his muscles were flabby, his testes were very soft and small, his eyes shifty, his hands clammy and his mind incoherent in its working. He seemed to be a candidate for the asylum and would probably have gone there if radical means had not been adopted to break him of the habit. He was broken, however, absolutely, and never performed the act after his nineteenth birthday.
Within three years he had completely recovered his virility. He had nearly doubled in weight and in lung capacity and a large part of his increased weight was in great bulk of muscle of high tonicity--muscle which he had gained by heavy physical work upon a ranch. His sexual organs had completely regained their tonicity and without doubt, their virility. He had so far recovered mentally that he finished a course of professional study and entered with great success upon the practice of his chosen profession.
On the other hand, a middle-aged man consulted the author regarding the sterility of his wife. After examination, it was found that the husband had practiced masturbation about twice a week from the age of puberty to his twenty-fourth year, when he was married. He assured the author that at the time of his marriage his testicles were, as far as he had known, similar to the testicles of other young men, and that during his married life he had never had intercourse with his wife more frequently than once in a month, but that during that time he had noticed a gradual atrophy of the testes. At the time of the examination only small atrophied remains of these testes could be discovered. The sterility of the wife was due, without any question, to the absolute impotence of the husband, and so far as the history of the case would suggest, there was no other assignable cause of this impotence than the eight years of masturbation.
From these two cases, it must be evident that no rules can be laid down. In one case the subject recovered fully from a case of extreme masturbation; in the other-case, a habit that would not be called extreme resulted in impotence. It must be evident that the practice is a dangerous one after puberty, as no individual can tell to which of the above cases his may be similar.
10. _Granting that masturbation is harmful through loss of semen, is there any compensation for this loss of semen in case of intercourse with a woman?_
There is no doubt that an emission of semen following sexual excitement is a draught upon the virile powers of the male animal. If this sexual excitement is the artificial one cultivated by the masturbator, the depletion seems to be more marked than is the case with the normal, natural stimulation incident to sexual intercourse.
Some have suggested that the reciprocal influence of the woman can in some way compensate for the vital fluid contributed by the male. It is hardly likely that such a reciprocal influence is other than psychical, but that is certainly sufficient to account for any difference in these two forms of sexual gratification.
Nature calls upon the male animal to make a contribution for procreation, which contribution is, always has been, and, in the very nature of the case, always must be a certain tax upon the powers of the male animal. When the intercourse is indulged for procreation only, the male animal can well afford to make the contribution. Even with that, the contribution which the male makes to procreation is incomparably less depleting for him than are the contributions which the female makes for her.
11. _Will vital fluid flow with every sexual intercourse?_
If vital fluid is present, and if the sexual intercourse is carried to the point of causing an orgasm, there would, in all normal conditions, be an emission of semen or "vital fluid."
12. _Is there any way to regulate intercourse so as to control the sex of the offspring?_
While there are many theories upon this subject no one of them is generally accepted by medical men.
13. _Will an intense and continuous desire on the part of a young man for sexual intercourse cause a loss of seminal fluid?_
An intense and continuous desire for sexual intercourse will, without question, cause an active secretion on the part of the testes, an increased secretion on the part of the seminal vesicles and an active secretion on the part of the prostate gland and of Cowper's glands.
The secretion from Cowper's glands will make its way along the urethra and appear at the opening of that duct, probably soiling the linen of the subject. The accumulated semen from the other glands will tend rather to aggravate than allay the sexual desires. Such a condition of the sexual apparatus is likely to cause a nocturnal emission, relieving this tension and emptying the gorged gland ducts. If the nocturnal emission does not occur, the sexual desires are certain to return to occupy the waking hours more or less completely. If the nocturnal emission does occur, it will carry away not alone the vesicular secretion, but also more or less of the nascent spermatozoa and other constituents of the vital fluid. Seasons of intense and prolonged sexual excitement are in a high degree inimical to continence, and even though the subject does not fully submit to his inclination, his nocturnal emissions, which are likely to come frequently, carry away the product of the testicular secretion, thereby depleting to a certain extent, his virility. It is hardly necessary to urge the importance of resisting these onslaughts of sexual passion in their very incipiency.
14. _How may the habit of masturbation best be brought under control?_
The first thing to accomplish is the purification of the thoughts. The most effective way to purify the thoughts is to divert them to a pure and strictly non-sexual subject--e.g., _pure mathematics_. The young man who is trying to break this habit will do well to follow very closely the rather strenuous regime outlined under hygiene in the body of the book. If his condition is complicated because of the presence of a very long loose foreskin, he will be wise to have this removed by the simple operation of _circumcision_. If he should awake in the night and feel the temptation to resort to his old habit, he should resist the temptation in its first stage and instantly put his mind on some subject quite foreign to his sexual apparatus. If he does not succeed by force of will in diverting his mind from himself, the best thing to do is to arise, dress and walk. If walking will not do it let him run, and keep moving in the open air, under God's blue sky until he is so tired he can hardly put one foot before the other. Then if he will retire to his room, he will probably have no further difficulty at that time.
15. _What influence has dancing upon the young man's solution of his sexual problems?_
It hardly seems possible that a virile, husky young man, in his early twenties, could be subjected for several hours to the conditions of the modern dance hall, where he is brought into very close physical contact with young women, dressed to expose their secondary sexual features, perfumed to excite in a man his hereditary sexual instincts; held so close to his partner in the round dance that he is conscious of every movement of her limbs, and all of these under the influence of artificial light and music--I say, it is hardly possible for a virile young man to be subjected to all these conditions without experiencing an extreme sexual excitement. That such an experience often repeated not only does not simplify the young man's problem, but seriously complicates it is not a matter of doubt on the part of anyone who has studied these problems. All specialists in this field, without a single exception, concur in the belief that the dance is a device of the devil so far as the young man is concerned. That the young women are, for the most part, quite innocent of the effect of all these conditions upon their young men friends is also believed by those who have studied the problem. If they were conscious of it, a large majority of them would not longer consent to be the party to such unfortunate conditions. The Square Dance, the Virginia Reel and similar dances of the times of our grandparents are not remotely to be compared in this matter with the modern Round Dance.
16. _May lost Virility be regained by use of "Remedies" or medicines of any kind?_
No. Positively and absolutely, _No_. Many such nostrums are advertised in the public prints. Many are sold by charlatans and quacks. No reputable physician would hold out to his patient the hope that any drug could bring back lost manhood.
_Lost manhood or lost virility may be regained by right living only._ The prescription for right living is as follows: _Live a continent life_ and follow _a strenuous and sane regime of personal hygiene_, such as outlined in chapter V above.
17. _Is the production of semen modified by nutrition?_
The production of semen is greatly modified by the state of nutrition.
Remember in this connection that semen is partly from the testes (Spermatozoa) and partly from the vesicles and prostate. The formation and release of spermatozoa is only slightly modified by the condition of nutrition; while the rate of secretion from the vesicles is greatly modified in quantity. This accounts for the fact that well nourished men who eat heavily are very likely to experience frequent nocturnal emissions, when living continently.
LECTURES by the Author of Reproduction and Sexual Hygiene.
THE YOUNG MAN'S PROBLEM.
Heard by 20,000 men last year.
WHAT IS SAID ABOUT IT.
The Young Men's Christian Association of Philadelphia.
Walter M. Wood, General Secretary
October 17, 1908.
To Whom it May Concern:
It is with great pleasure that I pay a tribute of appreciation to the excellent service of Dr. Winfield S. Hall, in his presentation to audiences of young men of the vital problems of sexual hygiene.
With the intelligence of a trained and experienced physician, with the thoroughness and frankness of an expert teacher and with the delicacy and motive of a Christian gentleman, he presents the "Young Man's Problem" in such a way as to make him, in my judgment, one of the most helpful counselors of young men on the American platform today.
Sincerely, W.M. WOOD.
University of Notre Dame.
Winfield Scott Hall, M.D., Northwestern University Medical School.
My Dear Dr. Hall:
In your lecture on "The Young Man's Problem" and in your book on "Sexual Hygiene" you are doing a great service for the rising generation. I am convinced that one great source of vice is ignorance about the matters touched upon in your lecture and book. Priests are constantly giving instruction on these same points, but it is a distinct advantage to have their teaching reinforced by a distinguished physician, expressing himself with the plainness of the laity and speaking always in a most reverential spirit. For students seventeen years of age or more your presentation of this difficult subject will be a God-send, for it abates curiosity, dissipates ignorance, warns of perils and arouses a manly desire for a clean life.
Very sincerely yours, JOHN CAVANAUGH, C.S.C., President.
Central Department, Young Men's Christian Association, Chicago.
October 21, 1908.
Dr. Winfield S. Hall, Northwestern University Medical School.
My Dear Dr. Hall:
Our committee wants to know if we cannot arrange a date with you this year to deliver your lecture on "The Young Man's Problem."
I also want some more of your books on Reproduction and Sexual Hygiene.
I cannot forbear to express my very hearty appreciation of the splendid service you have done and are doing to the young manhood of our country in this lecture and this book. I have never heard a presentation of the subject which takes hold so deeply upon thoughtful men, and your book is by all odds the best thing in print on this subject. Your scientific, yet popular method and the absence of vague moralizing are convincing and inspiring in their effects. I trust we may hear you this year.