We know this to be so because we are daily being consulted by men of different ages, who, until our physician, in the course of the examination, showed it to them, _never suspected its existence_. Many of these men had been "doctoring" for years for seminal weakness and the like, with varying success, never being quite cured, or, if cured, soon relapsing--all because a Varicocele of the Cord existed unsuspected and therefore untreated. {Illustration: Fig. 11. COMPLETE INSTRUMENT. Showing mobility at points so that it will fit any individual.} {Illustration: Fig. 12. SIDE VIEW. Showing Bell Spring, Pad and Pubic Shield.} CAUSES.--The causes of this condition of the veins of the bag are very numerous. Some of the most important are Masturbation or excess, causing weakening of all the parts, the veins included; Falls, Blows, Strains, Excessive Horseback and Bicycle Riding, Running, Jumping, Mumps going to the Testicles, Gonorrhoeal Inflammation settling there, Kick in the Groin, Wearing of Improper Trusses, etc., etc. Masturbation is one of the most common of all the causes. In many instances, even if it does not _directly_ cause the complaint, it weakens the parts, so that blows, strains, etc., that in others would not produce any particular trouble, readily cause it in these persons. SYMPTOMS.--The symptoms are not many unless it has caused seminal weakness and lost vitality, in which case all the symptoms of these complaints may really be attributed to the Varicocele. Pains in the Groin, Limbs and Back; a sense of weight or dragging; Neuralgia of the Testicles, Fetid Perspiration; Itching and peculiar sensations in the Skin of the Bag; Chafing in warm weather; easy tiring under rapid walking or running, are not uncommon. In some very bad cases, however, none of these symptoms, or only a few, are present. Why, we cannot say. PROGNOSIS.--In itself this disease is not dangerous. It is from the fact that the veins may go on bulging until an enormous swelling is produced (we have seen cases where the bag hung as low as the knee and was nearly as large around as a man's arm); that the testicles may be entirely wasted away, and that it may cause Spermatorrhoea, Lost Manhood, Total Impotence, &c., &c., constitute its greatest gravity. TREATMENT.--Cutting and tying operations are exceedingly dangerous, having frequently caused death; and even if successful, the testicles, having their blood supply thus entirely cut off, waste away, and Impotence certainly results. Prof. Chevillot, the great French surgeon, was assassinated by a patient, in whose case he tied the veins on both sides for a double Varicocele. Becoming totally impotent, on the very eve of his marriage with a beautiful and accomplished young lady, this man became desperate and attempted the surgeon's life. To effect a cure, the following obstacles must be overcome: _Weakness and bulging of the walls of the veins._