If the imperceptible loss of semen may be followed by all the symptoms which are referred to it, it is evident that those authors who have advanced that the emission of semen should be counted as nothing in the influence of the act of venery, and that the nervous disturbance which attends it is the only cause of its consequences--those authors, we say, who assert this, have advanced too positive an opinion, and are consequently mistaken. The same may be said of those who ascribe the danger of venereal excesses simply to the discharge of urine. It is well ascertained, that those individuals who have carried the act of onanism to such an extent as to procure enjoyment without losing semen, have finally became diseased, and their constitution has been impaired. Instances of this might be cited. Fournier and Begin mention that of a young man, who, at the moment of ejaculation, compressed the remote parts of the urethra, so that not a drop of semen was lost. The fatigue, however, following efforts of this kind was very great, notwithstanding these exertions. Finally, the strength diminished, and the person wasted away as much as if the semen had been discharged. (_Dict. des Sc. Med._, Art. _Masturbation_.) There is frequently some derangement in the functions of the testicles, in those who have lost the genital sense, where the penis is no longer capable of erection, or who are affected by one or other of the pollutions mentioned by us. But these organs may be affected more evidently. In many onanists, these parts are extremely tender, or more or less vivid pains are felt, which extend along the cord. These symptoms sometimes assume an evidently neuralgic character; and it may readily be imagined, that, in individuals affected with wandering pains, excesses in venery may fix them in these parts. This has been remarked in gout. Hallé and M. Guilbert observed, in a middle-aged man addicted to excesses of this character, a severe pain in the left testicle, unattended by swelling, which extended to the whole surface of this organ: this pain followed an attack of articular gout. Irritation of the testicles sometimes constitutes an attack of orchitis--that is, an inflammation, which, among other consequences, may be attended with the loss of these parts. Brodie has published two cases of this character. The first was that of a young man, thirty years old, who entered St. George’s Hospital in 1805, affected with pains in the left testicle. This testicle was soft, flabby, and one third smaller than that of the opposite side. The patient had never received a blow on this part, nor had he been affected with blenorrhœa; but he admitted, that for five years he had been addicted to onanism, and that a day seldom passed without his indulgence. Before wasting away, the testicle had been the seat of a swelling, which had been preceded by severe pains. These pains had continued to be felt, and the disease was attended with such a degree of moral depression,