Part 21 (2/2)

39. _Unchast.i.ty of speech_ and fondness for obscene stories betray a condition of mind which does not exist in youth who are not addicted to this vice.

As previously remarked, no single one of the above signs should be considered as conclusive evidence of the habit in any individual; but any one of them may, and should, arouse suspicion and watchfulness.

If the habit really exists, but a short time will elapse before other signs will be noticed, and when several point in the same direction, the evidence may be considered nearly, if not quite, conclusive. But persistent watching will enable the positive signs to be detected sooner or later, and then there can no longer be doubt. It is, of course, necessary to give the individual no suspicion that he is being watched, as that would put him so effectually on his guard as, possibly, to defy detection.

Positive Signs.--The absolutely positive signs of solitary vice are very few. Of course the most certainly positive of all is detection in the act. Sometimes this is difficult, with such consummate cunning do the devotees of this Moloch pursue their debasing practice. If a child is noticed to seek a certain secluded spot with considerable regularity, he should be carefully followed and secretly watched, for several days in succession if need be. Many children pursue the practice at night after retiring. If the suspected one is observed to become very quickly quiet after retiring, and when looked at appears to be asleep, the bedclothes should be quickly thrown off under some pretense.

If, in the case of a boy, the p.e.n.i.s is found in a state of erection, with the hands near the genitals, he may certainly be treated as a masturbator without any error. If he is found in a state of excitement, in connection with the other evidences, with a quickened circulation as indicated by the pulse, or in a state of perspiration, his guilt is certain, even though he may pretend to be asleep; no doubt he has been addicted to the vice for a considerable time to have acquired so much cunning. If the same course is pursued with girls, under the same circ.u.mstances, the c.l.i.toris will be found congested, with the other genital organs, which will also be moist from increased secretion.

Other conditions will be as nearly as possible the same as those in the boy.

Stains upon the night s.h.i.+rt or sheets, occurring before p.u.b.erty, are certain evidences of the vice in boys, as they are subject, before that time, to no discharge which will leave a stain resembling that from the seminal fluid, except the rare one from piles. In the very young, these stains do not occur; but when the habit is acquired before p.u.b.erty, a discharge resembling s.e.m.e.n takes place before the ordinary period.

Of course, the stains from urine will be easily distinguished from others. The frequent occurrence of such stains after p.u.b.erty is a suspicious circ.u.mstance. A discharge in some respects similar may occur in girls.

Before p.u.b.erty, the effect of the vice upon the genital organs is to cause an unnatural development, in both s.e.xes, of the sensitive portions. When this is marked, it is pretty conclusive evidence of the vice. In girls, the v.a.g.i.n.a often becomes unnaturally enlarged, and leucorrhoea is often present. After p.u.b.erty, the organs usually diminish in size, and become unnaturally lax and shrunken.

All of these signs should be thoroughly mastered by those who have children under their care, and if not continually watching for them, which would be an unpleasant task, such should be on the alert to detect the signs at once when they appear, and then carefully seek for others until there is no longer any doubt about the case.

RESULTS OF SECRET VICE.

The physician rarely meets more forlorn objects than the victims of prolonged self-abuse. These unfortunate beings he meets every day of his life, and listens so often to the same story of shameful abuse and retributive suffering that he dreads to hear it repeated. In these cases, there is usually a horrid sameness--the same cause, the same inevitable results. In most cases, the patient need not utter a word, for the physician can read in his countenance his whole history, as can most other people at all conversant with the subject.

In order to secure the greatest completeness consistent with necessary brevity, we will describe the effects observed in males and those in females under separate heads, noticing the symptoms of each morbid condition in connection with its description.

EFFECTS IN MALES.

We shall describe, first, the local effects, then the general effects, physical and mental.

Local Effects.--Excitement of the genital organs produces the most intense congestion. No other organs in the body are capable of such rapid and enormous engorgement. When the act is frequently repeated, this condition becomes permanent in some of the tissues, particularly in the mucous membrane lining the urethra. This same membrane continues into and lines throughout the bladder, kidneys, and all the urinary organs, together with the vesiculae seminales, the ejaculatory ducts, the vasa deferentia, and the testes. In consequence of this continuity of tissue, any irritation affecting one part is liable to extend to another, or to all the rest. We mention this anatomical fact here as a help to the understanding of the different morbid conditions which will be noticed.

_Urethral Irritation_.--The chronic congestion of the urethra after a time becomes chronic irritability. The tissue is unusually sensitive, this condition being often indicated by a slight smarting in urination.

It often extends throughout the whole length of the urethra, and becomes so intense that the pa.s.sage of a sound, which would occasion little if any sensation in a healthy organ, produces the most acute pain, as we have observed in numerous instances, even when the greatest care was used in the introduction of the instrument.

Shooting pains are often felt in the organ, due to this irritation.

Pain is in some cases most felt at the root, in others, at the head.

It often darts from one point to another. Just before and just after urination the pain is most severe.

_Stricture_.--Long-continued irritation of the mucous membrane of the urethra produces, ultimately, inflammation and swelling of the same in some portion of its extent. This condition may become permanent, and then const.i.tutes real stricture, a most serious disease. More often the swelling is but transient, being due to some unusual excess, and will subside. Sometimes, also, a temporary stricture is produced by spasmodic contraction of the muscular fibers surrounding the urethra, which is excited by the local irritation. This kind of stricture is often met in the treatment of spermatorrhoea.

Enlarged Prostate.--This painful affection is a frequent result of the chronic irritation in the urethra, which the gland surrounds, the morbid action being communicated to it by its proximity. A diseased action is set up which results in enlargement and hardening. It is felt as a hard body just anterior to the a.n.u.s, and becomes by pressure the source of much additional mischief. Sometimes the disease progresses to dangerous ulceration. It is attended by heat, pressure, and pain between the a.n.u.s and the root of the p.e.n.i.s.

Urinary Diseases.--The same congestion and irritability extend to the bladder and thence to the kidneys, producing irritation and inflammation of those organs. Mucus is often formed in large quant.i.ties; sometimes much is retained in the bladder. Earthy matter is deposited, which becomes entangled in the mucus, and thus a concretion or stone is produced, occasioning much suffering, and perhaps death.

We saw, not long since, a case of this kind. The patient was nearly sixty years of age, and had practiced masturbation from childhood. In consequence of his vice, a chronic irritation of the urethra had been produced, which was followed by enlargement of the prostate, then by chronic irritation of the bladder and the formation of stone. His sufferings were most excruciating whenever he attempted to urinate, which was only accomplished with the greatest difficulty and suffering.

One of the unpleasant results of irritation of the lining membrane of the bladder is inability to retain the urine long, which requires frequent urination and often causes incontinence of urine.

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