Rachitis, and particularly alterations in the height, have been named by many authors among the ordinary effects of premature indulgences. We have already given, from Portal, the remarkable case of a young girl, who, indulging in excesses of onanism, became humpbacked, and then consumptive. In six months, the curve of the vertebral column progressed rapidly; the chest was depressed at the lower part of the sternum; there was a deep hollow in the epigastric region, while the abdomen was prominent. The same author has observed other similar cases. “I have seen,” says he, “four or five of these unfortunate creatures, from fifteen to eighteen years old, in whom the back was very convex, and the abdomen seemed pressed into the chest; the extremities of the long bones, particularly those which form the elbows and knees, were very much enlarged; the legs were thrown out, and their muscles were scarcely developed; their eyes were sunken; their countenances pale and white; and their voices acute. Any one, to judge of their ages by their looks, would think that they were not more than twelve years old. They were extremely weak, physically and morally, and became imbecile long before they died.” Dr. Richard, cited by Petit, has also seen considerable deformity of the ribs, resulting from onanism. Tissot placed this habit first among the causes of rachitis. M. Lonyer Villermey, also, regards onanism and involuntary pollutions as an active source of deviations in height. On the other hand, Dr. Laguerre, a gentleman who has attended to rachitic persons a good deal, tells us that the habit has been observed by him only once, as a cause of spinal deformity. It has also been advanced, that premature enjoyment may arrest the growth of the body, and consequently prevent it from attaining its normal height. We do not deny the possibility of such a result. We have seen many onanists, however, grow very rapidly, notwithstanding their excesses, and all the symptoms of extensive alteration. It follows, also, from the researches of Villermé and Quetelet, that the mean height of man is generally greater in the city than in the country; and yet, in the former, masturbation is more frequent. We can see, too, by comparing the increase in weight to that in length, during the first twenty years, that the development of the genital organs exercises much more influence on the mass of the body, than on its height: thus, between the ages of four and fifteen years--that is, during the period of puberty--the annual increase of weight is quadruple of what it was in preceding years. Do not these reasons authorize us to think, that if premature excesses have any influence on the height of man, this action is less than is generally imagined?