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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    from him only like all other diseases: they all are a conse- quence of the laws of nature which governs every thing. Sanctorius in his remarks mentions a hist cause of this pe- culiar danger; coition, says he in a moderate degree is useful, when it is solicited by nature, but when it is excited by the imagination it enfeebles all the faculties of the mind, and particularly the memory. The reason of this is evident. Na- ture in a state of health excites the desires only when the semi- nal vesicles are filled with the semen, which has become so thick as to render its resolution more difficult, and this indicates that its loss will not sensibly weaken the body. But such is the structure of the genital organs, that their excitation and the desires which follow, are brought into action, not only by the presence of an abundance of seminal fluid, but also by the imagination which has much influence on these parts ; by en- grossing the thoughts, it can excite them, and desire leads to the act which is more pernicious, because more unnecessary. It is with the organs of this system as with those of all the others which are properly brought into action only by nature. Hunger and thirst indicate the necessity for food and drink; if we take more than these sensations demand, the surplus is inju- rious to the body and debilitates it. The necessity of evacua- ting feces and urine is also marked by certain physical conditions; but the constitution of the organs may be so per- verted by bad habit, that it ceases to depend on the quantity of matter to be evacuated. These wants are satisfied when there is no necessity, and this is the case with masturbators. It is the imagination, the habit, and not nature, which requires them. They deprive nature of what is necessary for her healthful operations. Finally, in consequence of this law in the animal economy, that the fluids flow more abu dantly to those parts which become irritated, there is after a cei; in time, a con- tinual rush to them ; and the remark of Hippocrates is verified that, ' when a man has connection, the seminal \ i ns are dila- ted and solicit the semen.' We may remark here that masturbation is partici li My inju- rious to children before the age of puberty ; happi!, we find but few monsters of either sex who indulge in it befoi this pe- riod, still the number is too great. Numerous circ nstances prevent illicit intercourse with females, hut a solit-, debau- chee is confined by no limit and restrained by no obsti e. A second cause is the dominion it obtains over the senses, which has been well described in the English treatise, *nania.