Part 1

SEX PROBLEMS OF MAN IN HEALTH AND DISEASE A Popular Study in Sex Knowledge

_By_ MOSES SCHOLTZ, M. D.,

_Chief of Clinic and Clinical Instructor in Dermatology and Syphilology, Medical Department University of Cincinnati; Fellow of American Medical Association, Ohio State Medical Society, Medical Academy of Cincinnati, Society of Moral and Sanitary Prophylaxis, etc._

[Illustration: [❦]]

CINCINNATI: STEWART & KIDD COMPANY 1916

COPYRIGHT, 1916, BY MOSES SCHOLTZ, M. D.

_All Rights Reserved_

COPYRIGHT IN ENGLAND

PREFACE

The scourge of the social evil and its baneful and disintegrating influences on the moral and physical structure of modern society has come to be recognized more and more by the public opinion as one of the most burning social problems of to-day. A new battle cry of social purity and conservation of manhood and womanhood has resounded on the battlefield of social endeavor, and a new crusade, under the banner of a young but vigorous movement of eugenics, has been started for a morally pure and physically strong young generation.

The most effective method of waging this campaign against evil forces of vice and moral contamination would be to start an aggressive movement in two different directions of social endeavor. One is the campaign of social legislation and reforms for the purpose of eradicating deeply-lying causes of economic, social, or political character, which originate and foster various manifestations and forms of the social evil, to change gradually the underground from which all evil forces are arising, and to raise the moral tone of society as a whole.

The other way is to attack the monster of social evil by reaching the individual offender and by protecting him from the pitfalls and dangers, through moral persuasion and by arming him with the necessary knowledge of sex life in health and disease.

It is agreed on all sides that the keynote of this educational movement should be a campaign of sex education and moral prophylaxis. The young generation, both boys and girls alike, should be taught from an early age the proper biological and social function of sex, and trained in an open and healthy attitude toward sex problems. The prudish and hypocritical attitude of society is universally regarded as the main cause of all-pervading diffusion of the social evil, furthered by a most flagrant ignorance on one hand and a morbid curiosity produced by this attitude on the other.

A discussion as to which weapon at our command in this propaganda should be considered most effective, and which particular of the stock arguments commonly used in the campaign for sexual morality is to be preferred, seems to the writer perfectly irrelevant and non-essential. Whether we appeal to the nobler and higher instincts of manhood, or to the reason and intelligence of the man by enlightening him on the biological function and significance of sex, or try to instill the fear of the evil consequences of sexual transgression, none of these arguments should be emphasized more than another, but all should be presented with equal force and emphasis. The degree of influence which any of these motives, single or combined, may exert on a man varies not only with the different type of man, but even in the same individual the force of these appeals will vary in different moods and under different circumstances.

One essential condition for the success and effectiveness of the propaganda of sexual hygiene and morality is a concrete, practical, and natural presentation of the subject, without abstract theorizing or ill-disguised sermonizing, which bores and rather repels an unsophisticated and untrained in intellectual reasoning average street man or boy—the real would-be beneficiaries of this crusade.

It is the writer’s firm conviction, based on many years of genito-urinary practice and mingling with men and boys of different classes, that each one of them is only too eager for sex knowledge; but this knowledge has to be presented in a concrete, matter-of-fact fashion, comprising and explaining various problems and facts of sexual life in health and disease as they arise daily in the life of the average man or boy. In this way, and in this way only, in the writer’s opinion, a man of the masses can be reached.

MOSES SCHOLTZ, M. D.

_Cincinnati, 1916._

Table of Contents.

INTRODUCTION—IMPORTANCE OF SEX IN THE LIFE OF AN INDIVIDUAL, 11

SEX IN HEALTH. 1. STRUCTURE AND FUNCTION OF THE SEXUAL ORGANS, 19 2. SEXUAL CONTINENCE AND ITS NATURAL SELF-REGULATION, 25 3. CONTROL OF SEXUAL INSTINCT, 27 4. PSYCHOLOGY OF SEX, 29 5. PHYSIOLOGICAL BASES OF SEX, 34 6. INFLUENCE OF MIND ON SEXUAL INSTINCT, 40

SEX IN DISEASE (Sex Pathology). 1. NON-VENEREAL INBORN DISEASES OF SEX ORGANS, 46 2. NON-VENEREAL ACQUIRED DISEASES OF SEX ORGANS, 47 3. MASTURBATION (SELF-ABUSE), 50

VENEREAL DISEASES. _General Part_: 1. DOUBLE STANDARD OF MORALS, 59 2. THE DANGERS OF IGNORANCE, 64 3. SELF-DOCTORING AND MEDICAL QUACKS, 67 4. PROSTITUTION, 71 5. PRACTICAL PREVENTION (PROPHYLAXIS) OF VENEREAL INFECTION, 76

_Special Part_: 1. GONORRHEA, 80 _a._ ITS IMPORTANCE, 81 _b._ DIAGNOSIS-RECOGNITION, 82 _c._ CLINICAL COURSE, 84 _d._ COMPLICATIONS, 86 2. CHRONIC GONORRHEA-GLEET, 90 _a._ GONORRHEA OF THE PROSTATE GLAND, 91 _b._ GONORRHEAL STRICTURES, 94 _c._ GONORRHEAL RHEUMATISM, 96 3. TREATMENT OF GONORRHEA, 97 4. TREATMENT OF GONORRHEAL COMPLICATIONS, 102 5. GONORRHEA AND MARRIAGE, 106 6. TESTS FOR THE FINAL CURE OF GONORRHEA, 108

FUNCTIONAL SEXUAL DISEASES. 1. IMPOTENCE—LOSS OF MANHOOD, 115 _a._ PSYCHIC IMPOTENCE, 115 _b._ IRRITATIVE IMPOTENCE, 117 _c._ PARALYTIC IMPOTENCE, 119 2. STERILITY—INABILITY TO HAVE CHILDREN. ITS RELATIONSHIP TO GONORRHEA AND SYPHILIS, 121 3. SEXUAL NEURASTHENIA—NERVOUS WEAKNESS AND IRRITABILITY, 125

CHANCROID. ITS COURSE AND COMPLICATIONS, 129

SYPHILIS. 1. DIAGNOSIS-RECOGNITION, 134 2. CLINICAL COURSE, 136 3. HEREDITARY SYPHILIS, 144 4. TREATMENT OF SYPHILIS, 146 5. SYPHILIS AND MARRIAGE, 150 6. TESTS OF THE CURE OF SYPHILIS, 152

CONCLUSION, 155

QUESTIONNAIRE, 157

INTRODUCTION

No greater and more sacred ambition can stir the heart of a boy or youth than to grow up into a perfect manhood, to become strong enough physically and mentally to meet any demands on his strength that life may put upon him. Equally so, no more important nor more sacred duty lies on a grown-up, fully developed man than to keep this treasure of physical and mental equipment bestowed upon him by generous Nature intact and unimpaired.

Unfortunately, while most men and boys have good intentions and right ambitions, many of them, by weakness of character, light-mindedness, but mostly thru ignorance, yield to evil temptations, to ugly and morbid habits, to self-destructive practices, only to find themselves, after a few years of “sowing wild oats,” as “damaged goods,” physical and mental wrecks, without strength or ambition to live, worn out and sapped by chronic diseases. It can be truly said that no other scourge blights as many happy homes, destroys as many brilliant careers, undermines as much vitality of body and spirit as does abuse of the sexual system. If it were possible to express in figures and money value the total amount of loss of money, time, physical suffering, mental anguish, blighted happiness, and permanent invalidism; if it were possible to summarize all the misery and suffering, all the decay and waste of human bodies and souls, caused directly or indirectly by diseases of sexual origin, the world would be staggered and shocked by the immense sacrifice it brings to the Moloch of sex ignorance.

What does sex mean to the average man and youth? What idea does he have of the function of sex in the human body and its significance in human life? To a youth, sex means a mysterious force that makes itself felt by vague desires and impulses, by an irresistible attraction toward the opposite sex, by its undefinable impulses in his whole being—his body, his mind, his feelings. But before he has time to clear up the mystery of his body, some companions more experienced in life’s vulgarities initiate him almost by force in the physical mysteries of the sexual relationship, ordinarily under the most vicious and vile surroundings, which initiation leaves in him invariably a lasting and intense aftertaste of shame and disgust. More sensitive and refined natures instinctively recoil after this harrowing experience, and exert their best and sincerest efforts to avoid temptations and keep their bodies and feelings fresh and clean. Others yield again to the stronger will of the older debased companions, and gradually develop a habit of indulgence in brutal and degrading passions, with the subsequent train of venereal diseases, impairment of physical and mental strength, and gradual withering of all moral noble features of manly character. And yet under proper instructions and the right attitude of mind, no man or boy should fail to realize that sex is the most precious treasure he possesses, the squandering and abuse of which is sheer madness and self-destruction.

Think of a boy fourteen to sixteen years old on the threshold of manhood, and watch the changes going on in his whole being at this period of transition. Watch this most wonderful transformation, how a frail, little, helpless skeleton shoots into a large-boned frame with powerful muscles; how his squealing, girlish voice deepens into a low, manly, vibrating tone, and the smooth skin of the face and genital organs begins to show a hairy growth. Equally great changes take place in the boy’s mentality and feelings. A childish helplessness and insecurity gives place to self-assurance and assertiveness, coming from the inner feeling of growing power and ability to protect himself. Childish, care-free, everlasting joy gives way to a new feeling of growing responsibilities and duties, to plans and ambitions to strive for glory and success in life. The feeling of inner force and energy stirs him to ever-new activities, spurs him to ever-new achievements. Nothing is too hard for a youth standing on the threshold of manhood, no job is too big for him, no ambition is too high to realize. This is the time when the character and personality of a boy assume their permanent shape that forecasts the success or failure of his whole future life. And then comes the last and crowning change in growing manhood. He begins to feel an indefinite longing, vague and dreamy romantic impulses, and rapid changes of mood begin to disturb his repose. A new attitude toward the opposite sex gradually makes itself felt, and a woman acquires in his mind and feelings a new meaning and a new light. Womanly beauty and perfection, of which he has been unaware and unconscious, begins to exert on him all-powerful and irresistible attraction, and with further bodily and mental growth, he gradually reaches full maturity and enters the stage of highest consummation of normal manhood—love, marriage, and happy family life.

What magic power has brought about these changes from a helpless child to a strong, able-bodied man, ready for an active and happy life? This wonderful power is sex. Sex is the magic source of life, which not only reproduces life, but also keeps up the divine spark of vitality in the human body and controls and stimulates its growth and healthy development. _Sexual glands that every healthy child gets from its very inception, thru their internal secretions, act as a source of life and energy in the body, stimulating its growth and influencing its general condition._ And just as killing frost or withering heat stunts and dwarfs a young plant, so any abuse or lack of care of the sexual system will dwarf and stunt the growing boy, physically, mentally, and morally.

But even after a man has reached a full state of physical development, his sexual system exerts the same all-powerful influence over his body and mind. His own health and happiness, as well as the happiness of his wife and children, are most intimately and deeply dependent on the healthy and normal condition of his sexual system.

So it can readily be seen that sex is the greatest treasure Nature has bestowed upon men, and that the sexual organs are just as important for health and happiness as are any other organs of the body. For this reason every boy and man should know how to take care of these most vital organs in health and disease. In a word, he should have all necessary knowledge to protect and to keep intact his priceless heritage—healthy and noble manhood.

Anatomy and Physiology (Structure and Function) of the Male Generative Organs

To get a clear idea of the sexual system of a man, it is necessary first to learn the structure and function of sexual organs; that is, to get a brief acquaintance with their anatomy and physiology.

This is just the very purpose of this book, to give to intelligent and self-conscious boys and men this necessary knowledge, to give them guidance and information, which they need on different occasions, to solve and clear up their many doubts and questions that come up in the intimate recesses of their minds and which arise on different experiences of sexual life.

The sexual system of a man consists of the _penis_, two _testicles_ with two _seminal ducts_, two _seminal vesicles_, and one _prostate gland_. The _penis_ is a composite structure, as it has a double function of sexual and urinary organ. It consists of _three cavernous, erectile elastic bodies_ capped in front by a head part—two of them on the sides and one underneath. These bodies contain numerous spaces, collapsible in the time of quiescence, but in time of sexual excitement, in the state of _erection_, those spaces fill up with blood and render the penis turgid and hard. Underneath the side cavernous bodies, piercing thru the lower cavernous body, goes the _urethral canal_, which starts from the bladder and reaches the external opening. The _urethra_ has a double function: it carries urine from the bladder out of the body and it serves as a carrier for natural sexual secretions. The _testicles_ are the most important sexual glands, as they produce human living cells—embryos—so-called _spermatozoa_. The testicles, two in number, are pigeon egg sized bodies, suspended by the spermatic cord in a sac called the scrotum.

The natural seminal secretion, semen, or _sperma_, after its production in the testicle, is carried out thru a _long seminal duct_, which, when unraveled, measures about twenty feet long, but in a natural condition is twisted and folded on itself many hundred times, forming a bundle-like swelling in the back of the testicle—_epididymis_. This detail is good to remember, as epididymis plays a very important part in venereal diseases.

The seminal duct goes thru the spermatic cord a long way and passes thru the _inguinal_ canal, located in the groin and enters the seminal vesicles, which are located in the rear of the base of the urinary bladder. The _seminal vesicles_ are the reservoir tanks for the _seminal fluid_, which resemble small pouch pockets, where it is stored up and accumulated before it is _ejected thru the ejaculatory duct_ into the deep part of the urethral canal and then carried outward, spontaneously in a _wet dream_ or actively in sexual intercourse. The seminal vesicles also produce their own viscid fluid-secretion, which probably preserves the spermatozoa in time of storage.

The _spermatic cord_ serves as a cable connecting the testicles with the rest of the body, and contains the _seminal duct_, nerves, and blood vessels that give vitality and blood supply to the testicles.

Last, but not least in importance among organs of the male sexual system, is the _Prostatic Gland_. The prostatic gland resembles in form a chestnut, and is located deep under the urinary bladder, right between the seminal vesicles. This gland is very rich in muscles, which surround the deep part of the urethral canal, where it starts from the bladder, and takes an active part in closing up and opening the bladder in time of urination. The Prostate Gland is also very rich in nerves, which connect it with almost every part of the body. For this reason, as will be seen in the chapter on sexual diseases, the healthy condition of the Prostate Gland is absolutely necessary for a normal and happy life. The Prostate Gland also produces a very important sexual secretion well familiar to all—a grayish white milky emulsion with characteristic sweetish odor and alkaline reaction. This secretion is very important, as it preserves and stimulates the vitality of the _sperma__tozoa_ before they reach the female embryo _ovum_ for the purpose of _fertilization_.

Thus it can be seen that the _seminal secretion_ a man loses, either during a wet dream or in sexual intercourse, is not a simple, but a composite fluid, consisting of secretions of the testicles, prostatic gland, seminal vesicles, and also numerous mucous glands of the urethral canal.

The most important element of the seminal fluid is the secretion produced by the testicles and containing spermatozoa. _Spermatozoa_, or human embryos, are microscopically small living cells, which resemble very much in appearance tadpoles. They consist of a pear-like head, thread-like tapering neck and tail, and thousands of them can be seen in a drop of sperma under a microscope, as rapidly moving and swarming around little worms.

Let us consider now briefly the function of sexual organs. The structure and mutual adjustment of the parts in time of function clearly indicate that the main purpose and vital function intended by Nature for these organs is procreation and transmission of life. Every single organ of the sexual system is constructed and provided with wonderful creative power and natural appliances, all to one purpose—to preserve and to facilitate the transmission of the living spermatozoa to a meeting place of its mate of fertilization and conception—the female embryo—ovum. This is the reason why sexual organs are also called _generative_ organs. This must also be the reason why Nature has timed the awakening of the sexual impulse with the period of the greatest development of all the faculties of the human body and mind, so as to render a man mature and prepared to shoulder the heavy responsibilities of husband and father. Unfortunately, under modern economic and social conditions the physical and mental maturity does not coincide with the _economic_ and social readiness to take up the obligations of family life, and marriage is often forcibly deferred to many years after the physical age of maturity. This brings under discussion the most important practical question of sex continence.

SEXUAL CONTINENCE.

The question whether sexual relationship is a natural necessity and whether a man can abstain from sexual indulgence and remain in perfect health is commonly debated in bachelors’ quarters, and seems to have been decided by popular opinion in the negative. But a glance at the scientific bases of this problem and every-day experience of every unbiased man is sufficient to show that nothing could be further from the truth.

Sex is a _biological_, not a _physical_ function; that is, the evacuation of the seminal fluid out of the body is intended by Nature for the purpose of fertilization only, and is not necessary for the physical well-being of the individual. The general stimulating and vitalizing effect of the internal secretions of the sexual glands is best obtained and subserved by retaining these fluids in the body; that is, by abstaining from free sexual intercourse. That this is so can be readily substantiated by practical observation; whenever a man undertakes to perform some mental or physical task, he has to lead an abstinent and moderate life to get out the maximum of his efficiency.

POLLUTION (_Night Emission—Wet Dream_).

Nature has wisely provided man with a wonderful self-regulating appliance, which fact explodes the popular belief about danger to health in overaccumulation of the seminal secretions in the body. Whenever such accumulation of the seminal fluid takes place in a healthy man, and he begins to feel a certain nervous tension and blood-flushes, Nature opens her safety valve and the overdistended seminal vesicles by pressure bring in motion the nervous muscular apparatus of the sexual organs, and this accumulated surplus comes out at night in sleep as a “wet dream” night emission, medically called “pollution.” The best proof that this phenomenon is normal, natural, and purposeful can be seen in the fact that the morning after it the man loses all the disturbing sensations of nervous tension and at once regains his freshness and vigor. _A man may have these emissions once or twice a month, even once a week, and he does not have to worry about it in the least_, provided that after each night emission he feels fresher and more vigorous than before it.

CONTROLLING FACTORS OF SEXUAL INSTINCT.

In discussing sexual abstinence and its possible injurious effect on health, some very important facts bearing on the question should be brought out.

First, the popular idea that sex is as much a physical necessity as are other instincts of self-preservation, such as hunger, thirst, or sleep, is fundamentally wrong. Hunger, thirst, etc., are imperative at all ages and under all circumstances. The lack of their satisfaction for a very few days leads to wasting, destruction of the body, and physical suffering. The sexual impulse awakens only at a certain age, lasts a certain period of time, and gradually goes down, leaving the physical welfare of the body undisturbed.

_Individual Variations._—Another extremely important difference is that hunger, thirst, sleep, and other bodily instincts are implanted in every human being, and individual natural differences in regard to these instincts are so insignificant as to be negligible. (We wish to emphasize the word “natural” in its true sense, as in actual life many people develop so many different habits as to the quality and quantity of food and drink and in their ignorance call them their “nature.”) How different it is with the sex function. People are so different as to their sexual capacity and preferences, commonly called “temperament,” that no hard or fast rules can be enjoined on the average man or woman, and not even approximate limits can be given in an individual case. There are many so-called _frigid_ natures, particularly among women, who feel not the slightest attraction for the members of the opposite sex, and are able to go for years and even thruout life without any active desire for sexual relationship. On the other hand, there are some individuals who, either thru heredity or thru personal unbridled indulgence, are so obsessed by sexual passion that their mind remains shut off to every refined and moral influence, and they turn into low, beastly slaves of their brutal passions. What is sexually exciting and attractive to one man, leaves another man perfectly indifferent, and may be disgusting and repulsive to a third. Surely an instinct that is so changeable and so widely differs with different people is not a physical necessity of our body, and can be held in abeyance for a long period of time.

PSYCHOLOGY OF SEX.

It has been pointed out above that besides its primary and main biological function of the transmission of life, sex also has a powerful stimulating and vitalizing influence on the development of the individual, which is particularly conspicuous in time of adolescence and approaching puberty. But the influence of sex is not only limited to the physical sphere; in fact, its influence on the psychology and mentality of the individual is equally powerful, far-reaching, and lasting thru the greater part of life. Sex unquestionably is the greatest emotional power in human life, the greatest and strongest single factor controlling human feelings and emotions. From a mere physical animal instinct of procreation as it is manifested in the animal world, in the man Nature has transformed and has exalted sex into the highest all-pervading function of human life, has spiritualized and beautified this physical impulse into a most ennobling and ecstatic passion of the human soul—the passion of love.