Besides these circumstances, there are some which are well known and which contribute more or less to render the act of venery more detrimental. These circumstances consist first, in the general state of the functions at different ages and in the peculiar state of some of them at different _periods_ of life; second, in a coincidence of action between the act of venery, and other causes of disease; third, in the alterations which the constitution may have already suffered, and in the disposition existing to contract certain diseases; fourth, finally in the state of the diseases with which the patient is afflicted, when he indulges in the act of venery. § 3. INFLUENCE WHICH THE GENERAL STATE OF THE FUNCTIONS HAS AT DIFFERENT AGES, AND WHICH THE PECULIAR STATE OF SOME OF THEM AT DIFFERENT PERIODS OF LIFE MAY HAVE ON THE CONSEQUENCES OF THE ACT OF VENERY. Life is composed of three very distinct periods. In the first, the body is developed and formed: it is a period of progress: while it continues, the organs gain in force and substance: it terminates when they have arrived at their greatest degree of perfection: and this generally takes place about the twenty-fifth year. During the second period man uses the organs as they are formed and constituted. The only process which takes place in them is one of reparation, of renewal: this is the period of maturity: it generally terminates about the fiftieth year. The third period is the opposite of the first: it is the period of decline. There is, during this latter period, a progressive deterioration of the strength and of the tissues. It terminates with life. Thus a state of development, that of maturity, and that of decline are the three aspects under which life presents itself. Let us trace the effect of venereal excesses in these different phases of action. _First period._ No animal, and particularly no one of the vertebrated animals can procreate on entering the world. The genital organs doubtless exist at that time, but their form is rudimentary, which proves that they are incapable of doing much. These organs do not acquire the power of fulfilling their special functions, until a more advanced period of life, which period varies in different species of animals, but is nearly the same in all individuals of the same species. Until this time there is no secretion of prolific semen in the male, nor creation of ovales in the female: the procreative power does not exist.