The Biology, Physiology and Sociology of Reproduction - Winfield Scott Hall (ebooks that read to you TXT) 📗

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.