Part 23 (2/2)

A Victim's Mental Condition Pictured.--The mental condition of a victim of this vice cannot be better described than is done in the following paragraphs by one himself a victim, though few of these unfortunate individuals would be able to produce so accurate and critical a portrait of themselves as is here drawn by M. Rousseau, as quoted by Mr. Acton:--

”One might say that my heart and my mind do not belong to the same person.

My feelings, quicker than lightning, fill my soul; but instead of illuminating, they burn and dazzle me. I feel everything. I see nothing.

I am excited, but stupid; I cannot think except in cold blood. The wonderful thing is that I have sound enough tact, penetration, even _finesse_, if people will wait for me. I make excellent impromptus at leisure; but at the moment I have nothing ready to say or do. I should converse brilliantly by post, as they say the Spaniards play at chess.

When I read of a Duke of Savoy who turned back after starting on his journey to say, 'In your teeth! you Paris shop-keeper!' I said, 'That is like me!'”

”But not only is it a labor to me to express, but also to receive, ideas.

I have studied men, and I think I am a tolerably good observer; yet I can see nothing of what I do see. I can hardly say that I see anything except what I recall; I have no power of mind but in my recollection.

Of all that is said, of all that is done, of all that pa.s.ses in my presence, I feel nothing, I appreciate nothing. The external sign is all that strikes me. But after a while it all comes back to me.”

EFFECTS IN FEMALES.

Local Effects.--The local diseases produced by the vice in females are, of course, of a different nature from those seen in males, on account of the difference in organization. They arise, however, in the same way, congestions at first temporary ultimately becoming permanent and resulting in irritation and various disorders.

Leucorrhoea.--The results of congestion first appear in the mucous membrane lining the v.a.g.i.n.a, which is also injured by mechanical irritation, and consists of a catarrhal discharge which enervates the system. By degrees the discharge increases in quant.i.ty and virulence, extending backward until it reaches the sensitive womb.

Contact with the acrid, irritating secretions of the v.a.g.i.n.a produces soreness of the fingers at the roots of the nails, and also frequently causes warts upon the fingers. Hence the value of these signs, as previously mentioned.

Uterine Disease.--Congestion of the womb is also produced by the act of abuse; and as the habit is continued, it also becomes permanent.

This congestion, together with the contact of the acrid v.a.g.i.n.al discharge, finally produces ulceration upon the neck, together with other diseases.

Another result of congestion is all kinds of menstrual derangements after p.u.b.erty, the occurrence of which epoch is hastened by the habit.

Prolapsus and various displacements are produced in addition to menstrual irregularities.

Cancer of the Womb.--Degeneration of this delicate organ also occurs as the result of the constant irritation and congestion, and is often of a malignant nature, occasioning a most painful death.

Sterility.--Sterility, dependent on a total loss of s.e.xual desire and inability to partic.i.p.ate in the s.e.xual act, is another condition which is declared by medical authors to be most commonly due to previous habits of self-abuse. In consequence of overexcitement the organs become relaxed.

Atrophy of Mammae.--Closely connected with other local results is the deficient development of the b.r.e.a.s.t.s when the vice is begun before or at p.u.b.erty, and atrophy if it is begun or continued after development has occurred. As previously remarked, this is not the sole cause of small mammae, but it is one of the great causes.

Pruritis.--This is an affection not infrequent in these subjects.

Continued congestion produces a terrible itching of the genitals, which increases until the individual is in a state of actual frenzy, and the disposition to manipulate the genitals becomes irresistible, and is indulged even in the presence of friends or strangers, and though the patient be at other times a young woman of unexceptionable modesty.

In cases of this kind, great hypertrophy of the organ of greatest sensibility has been observed, and in some cases amputation of the part has been found the only cure.

General Effects.--The general effects in the female are much the same as those in the male. Although women suffer no seminal loss, they suffer the debilitating effects of leucorrhoea, which is in some degree injurious in the same manner as seminal losses in the male. But in females the greatest injury results from the nervous exhaustion which follows the unnatural excitement. Nervous diseases of every variety are developed. Emaciation and debility become more marked even than in the male, and the worst results are produced sooner, being hastened by the sedentary habits of these females, generally. Insanity is more frequently developed than in males. Spinal irritation is so frequent a result that a recent surgical author has said that ”spinal irritation in girls and women is, in a majority of cases, due to self-abuse.”[52]

[Footnote 52: Davis.]

A Common Cause of Hysteria.--This, too, is one of the most frequent causes of hysteria, ch.o.r.ea, and epilepsy among young women, though not often recognized.

A writer, quoted several times before in this work, remarks as follows:--

”This is not a matter within the scope of general investigation; truth is not to be expected from its _habitues_; parents are deceived respecting it, believing rather what they wish than what they fear.

Even the physician can but suspect, till time develops more fully by hysterias, epilepsies, spinal irritations, and a train of symptoms unmistakable even if the finally extorted confession of the poor victim did not render the matter clear. Marriage does, indeed, often arrest this final catastrophe, and thus apparently s.h.i.+fts the responsibility upon other shoulders, and to the 'injurious effects of early marriages,' to the 'ills of maternity,' are ascribed the results of previous personal abuse.

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