Part 1 (1/2)
Plain Facts for Old and Young.
by John Harvey Kellogg.
PREFACE.
The publishers of this work offer no apology for presenting it to the reading public, since the wide prevalence of the evils which it exposes is sufficient warrant for its publication. The subjects with which it deals are of vital consequence to the human race; and it is of the utmost importance that every effort should be made to dispel the gross ignorance which almost universally prevails, by the wide diffusion, in a proper manner, of information of the character contained in this volume.
This book has been written not for the young only, nor for any single cla.s.s of persons, but for all who are old enough to be capable of understanding and appreciating it. The prime object of its preparation has been to call attention to the great prevalence of s.e.xual excesses of all kinds, and the heinous crimes resulting from some forms of s.e.xual transgression, and to point out the terrible results which inevitably follow the violation of s.e.xual law.
In order to make more clear and comprehensible the teachings of nature respecting the laws regulating the s.e.xual function, and the evils resulting from their violation, it has seemed necessary to preface the practical part of the subject by a concise description of the anatomy of reproduction. In this portion of the work especial pains has been taken to avoid anything like indelicacy of expression, yet it has not been deemed advisable to sacrifice perspicuity of ideas to any prudish notions of modesty. It is hoped that the reader will bear in mind that the language of science is always chaste in itself, and that it is only through a corrupt imagination that it becomes invested with impurity.
The author has constantly endeavored to impart information in the most straightforward, simple, and concise manner.
The work should be judiciously circulated, and to secure this the publishers will take care to place it in the hands of agents competent to introduce it with discretion; yet it may be read without injury by any one who is sufficiently mature to understand it. Great care has been taken to exclude from its pages those accounts of the habits of vicious persons, and descriptions of the mechanical accessories of vice, with which many works upon s.e.xual subjects abound.
The first editions of the work were issued with no little anxiety on the part of both author and publishers as to how it would be received by the reading public. It was antic.i.p.ated that no little adverse criticism, and perhaps severe condemnation, would be p.r.o.nounced by many whose education and general mode of thought had been such as to unfit them to appreciate it; but it was hoped that persons of more thoughtful and unbiased minds would receive the work kindly, and would readily co-operate with the publishers in its circulation. This antic.i.p.ation has been more than realized. Wherever the book has been introduced, it has met with a warm reception; and of the several thousand persons into whose hands the work has been placed, hundreds have gratefully acknowledged the benefit which they have received from its perusal, and it is hoped that a large proportion have been greatly benefited.
The cordial reception which the work has met from the press everywhere has undoubtedly contributed in great measure to its popularity. The demand for the work has exhausted several editions in rapid succession, and has seemed to require its preparation in the greatly enlarged and in every way improved form in which it now appears. The addition of two whole chapters for the purpose of bringing the subject directly before the minds of boys and girls in a proper manner, adds greatly to the interest and value of the work, as there seemed to be a slight deficiency in this particular in the former editions.
J. H. K.
BATTLE CREEK, MICH., _October, 1879_.
INTRODUCTION.
Books almost without number have been written upon the subject treated in this work. Unfortunately, most of these works are utterly unreliable, being filled with gross misrepresentations and exaggerations, and being designed as advertising mediums for ignorant and unscrupulous charlatans, or worse than worthless patent nostrums. To add to their power for evil, many of them abound with pictorial ill.u.s.trations which are in no way conducive to virtue or morality, but rather stimulate the animal propensities and excite lewd imaginations. Books of this character are usually widely circulated; and their pernicious influence is fully as great as that of works of a more grossly obscene character. In most of the few instances in which the evident motive of the author is not of an unworthy character, the manner of presenting the subject is unfortunately such that it more frequently than otherwise has a strong tendency in a direction exactly the opposite of that intended and desired. The writer of this work has endeavored to avoid the latter evil by adopting a style of presentation quite different from that generally pursued. Instead of restricting the reader's attention rigidly to the s.e.xual function in man, his mind is diverted by frequent references to corresponding functions in lower animals and in the vegetable kingdom. By this means, not only is an additional fund of information imparted, but the s.e.xual function in man is divested of its sensuality. It is viewed as a fact of natural history, and is a.s.sociated with the innocence of animal life and the chaste loveliness of flowers. Thus the subject comes to be regarded from a purely physiological standpoint, and is liberated from the gross animal instinct which is the active cause of sensuality.
There are so many well-meaning individuals who object to the agitation of this subject in any manner whatever, that it may be profitable to consider in this connection some of the princ.i.p.al objections which are urged against imparting information on s.e.xual subjects, especially against giving knowledge to the young.
I. _s.e.xual matters improper to be spoken of to the young._
This objection is often raised, it being urged that these matters are _too delicate_ to be even suggested to children; that they ought to be kept in total ignorance of all s.e.xual matters and relations until nature indicates that they are fit to receive them. It is doubtless true that children raised in a perfectly natural way would have no s.e.xual thoughts until p.u.b.erty, at least, and it would be better if it might be so; but from facts pointed out in succeeding portions of this work, it is certain that at the present time children nearly always do have some vague ideas of s.e.xual relations long before p.u.b.erty, and often at a very early age. It is thus apparent that by speaking to children of s.e.xual matters in a proper manner, a new subject is not introduced to them, but it is merely presenting to them in a true light a subject of which they already have vague ideas; and thus, by satisfying a natural curiosity, they are saved from supplying by their imaginations distorted images and exaggerated conceptions, and from seeking to obtain the desired information from evil sources whence they would derive untold injury.
What reason is there that the subject of the s.e.xual functions should be treated with such maudlin secrecy? Why should the function of generation be regarded as something low and beastly, unfit to be spoken of by decent people on decent occasions? We can conceive of no answer except the worse than beastly use to which the function has been so generally put by man. There is nothing about the s.e.xual organism which makes it less pure than the lungs or the stomach. ”Unto the pure all things are pure,” may have been written especially for our times, when there is such a vast amount of mock modesty; when so much pretense of virtue covers such a world of iniquity and vice. The young lady who goes into a spasm of virtuous hysterics upon hearing the word ”leg,”
is perhaps just the one who at home riots her imagination in voluptuous French novels, if she commits no grosser breach of chast.i.ty. The parents who are the most opposed to imparting information to the young are often those who have themselves indulged in s.e.xual excesses. In the minds of such persons the s.e.xual organs and functions, and everything even remotely connected with them, are a.s.sociated only with ideas of l.u.s.t and gross sensuality. No wonder that they wish to keep such topics in the dark. With such thoughts they cannot well bear the scrutiny of virtue.
s.e.xual subjects are not, of course, proper subjects for conversation at all times, or at any time in a spirit of levity and flippancy.
II. _Knowledge is dangerous._
Very true, knowledge is dangerous, but ignorance is more dangerous still; or, rather, partial knowledge is more dangerous than a more complete understanding of facts. Children, young people, will not grow up in innocent ignorance. If, in obedience to custom, they are not encouraged to inquire of their parents about the mysteries of life, they will seek to satisfy their curiosity by appealing to older or better informed companions. They will eagerly read any book which promises any hint on the mysterious subject, and will embrace every opportunity, proper or improper--and most likely to be the latter--of obtaining the coveted information. Knowledge obtained in this uncertain and irregular way must of necessity be very unreliable. Many times--generally, in fact--it is of a most corrupting character, and the clandestine manner in which it is obtained is itself corrupting and demoralizing. A child ought to be taught to expect all such information from its parents, and it ought not to be disappointed.
Again, while it is true that knowledge is dangerous, it is equally true that this dangerous knowledge will be gained sometime, at any rate; and as it must come, better let it be imparted by the parent, who can administer proper warnings and cautions along with it, than by any other individual. Thus may the child be s.h.i.+elded from injury to which he would otherwise be certainly exposed.
III. _Young people should be left to find out these things for themselves._
If human beings received much of their knowledge through instinct, as animals do, this might be a proper course; but man gets his knowledge largely by instruction. Young people will get their first knowledge of s.e.xual matters mostly by instruction from some source. How much better, then, as we have already shown, to let them obtain this knowledge from the most natural and most reliable source!
The following paragraph from Dr. Ware is to the point:--