A treatise on the diseases produced by onanism / by Tissot ; translated from a new edition of the French, with notes and an appendix by a physician.

  • Tissot, S. A. D. (Samuel Auguste David), 1728-1797.
Date:
1832
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A treatise on the diseases produced by onanism / by Tissot ; translated from a new edition of the French, with notes and an appendix by a physician. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the National Library of Medicine (U.S.), through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the National Library of Medicine (U.S.)

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    it is by its exquisite virtue, and that it thus communicates its influence very promptly to all parts of the body. He then proves, by several instances, that a trivial cause, often produces great effects, and thus concludes, Is it then surprising, that the testicles supply a fluid capable of imparting new strength to the body 1 The cerebrum is truly the cause of sensation, and motion, and the heart of pulsation in the arteries. I shall conclude this section by giving the opinion of one of the greatest men of the age, in respect to the semen. The semen is re- tained in the vesicular seminales until it is used, or expended by nocturnal emissions. During all this time, the quantity ex- isting there excites the sexual desires of the animal; but the greatest part, the most volatile, the most odorous, that which has the most power, is resumed by the blood, and produces on entering it, remarkable changes, the hairs, and the beard; it alters the voice and the manners, for age does not pro- duce these changes in animals ; they are caused by the semen alone, as they never occur in eunuchs. How does the semen produce these effects 1 This is one of the problems, which as yet cannot be solved. Probably, how- ever, this fluid is a stimulus which irritates the parts with which it comes in contact; its strong odor and its evident irritation upon the genital organs leaves no doubt on this point, and it is easily understood, that these acrid particles may become con- stantly absorbed and mixed with the fluids, slightly but unin- terruptedly stimulating the vessels to contract more forcibly ; their action on the fluids is more powerful; the circulation is quickened and nutrition becomes more perfect; when this sup- ply is deficient, several functions are never developed, as is the case in eunuchs. Here a question naturally arises, Why do not eunuchs expe- rience the same bad effects as those who are exhausted by ve- nereal debauchery 1 We shall not answer this question until we come to the end of the next section.