“Just imagine, if you please, man and woman in the act of cohabitation; their brain reeling under the powerful stimulus of that all-pervading passion; the heart’s action increased to a high state of intensity; the whole system, with all the energy it is capable of exciting, getting ready for that great act of reproduction; and just as the act is about to be completed, when the soul of the man can almost feel and grasp that of the woman, the evil genius of lust, being more of a fool than a knave, must dash to the ground the chalice filled with ambrosia of purest bliss, if tasted with a pure lip; must turn into the vilest poison the sweetest and holiest gift of nature to man. “Why, I have wondered, long and often, that man could sink so low, be so foolish. Just conceive of the intensity of such a shock upon the system, and then have this repeated time after time, year after year. Why there are married people who never once, in all their married life, completely and unreservedly finished the act of cohabitation. “No wonder that nervousness, peevishness, and all kinds of distempers show themselves. No wonder we get spermatorrhœa and impotence in the male, and a perfect host of troubles, insanity included, in the woman. No wonder homes are broken up and human lives made desolate.” CHAPTER IV. _Masturbation._――Under this caption will I proceed with the topic of self-abuse; as this term more properly covers the vice of both sexes, as well as of childhood. The small boy, only four years of age, will often titilate his genitals until the prepuce has become inflamed and swollen. In this undeveloped and delicate condition of the genitalia, more harm may be accomplished than could be imagined. Nurse-girls, sometimes, for the purpose of quieting a child, will titilate its genital organs; which is quite sufficient to lead the child to manipulate its own organs as it goes on in age and development. Often a feeble state of health in the child, will cause the mother to consult a physician; and the genitalia will show signs of irritation; and when the true nature of the difficulty is revealed to the mother, it will be much to her surprise, and often, disgust; and she will not be convinced beyond a doubt until by constantly watching, she has observed actions more convincing than the doctor’s hints.