It occurred to me that his gallantries, and a too free use of wine, were the first causes of the disease; and that his athletic exercises, in which he had been frequently engaged, were the origin of the particular affection of the muscles. The season was not favorable for the use of remedies; but it was necessary to attempt to arrest the progress of the disease. I advised frictions of the whole body with flannels, and some tonics. I directed the doses to be increased, and to add also the use of the cold bath, at the commencement of summer. In a few weeks, the trembling of the hands seemed to be a little diminished. A consultation was had in the month of April: the disease was attributed to his having written some months, two years since, in a chamber recently plastered. Warm baths--oily frictions, with diaphoretic and anti-spasmodic powders, were employed without benefit. In the month of June, in a second consultation, he was advised to visit the medicinal spring of Leuk, in Valais. On his return, the trembling and stiffness had increased. From this time, (Sept. 1760, to Jan. 1764,) I saw him but three or four times. In 1762, he procured from Frankfort the remedies mentioned in the English treatise, _Onania_, which were of no use. He consulted a foreign physician the last year with as little success. The disease has slowly, but daily progressed; and for several months before death, his legs were too weak to support the weight of his body. He could not move his hands nor arms without help; his speech was so embarrassed, and his voice so feeble, that it was difficult to understand him; the extensor muscles of the head allowed it to fall continually on the chest; he had constant pains in the loins; his sleep and appetite were sensibly diminished. During the last few months of his life, there was much difficulty in swallowing; after Christmas, there came on an irregular fever, and his eyes were singularly dim; when I saw him in the month of January, he passed the whole day and most of the night reclining on a sofa, with his feet in a chair, with a domestic constantly in attendance near him, in order to change his position, raise his head to feed him, and to listen attentively to all he said. As he approached the period of his dissolution, he was obliged to articulate letter by letter, which was written down as it was pronounced. Seeing that I gave him no encouragement, as I only employed some palliatives for his fever and oppression, and actuated by a desire of living, he sent one of his friends to tell me the cause to which he attributed all these symptoms, viz., _masturbation_; that he commenced this infamous practice several years since; had continued it as long as possible; and that he had perceived his difficulties increase, in proportion to his indulgence in it. He confirmed this statement a few days afterward; and it was this which induced him to use the remedies recommended in _Onania_.”