The philosophy of marriage : being four important lectures on the functions and disorders of the nervous system, and reproductive organs, illustrated with cases / by L.J. Jordan.

  • Jordan, Henry J.
Date:
[1865]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The philosophy of marriage : being four important lectures on the functions and disorders of the nervous system, and reproductive organs, illustrated with cases / by L.J. Jordan. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the National Library of Medicine (U.S.), through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the National Library of Medicine (U.S.)

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    twenty-one, (nine months ago). By accident I became acquainted with the terrible effects of this habit, last winter ; but though I tried hard, and prayed earnestly for strength to free myself from its shackles, I was not enabled to do so thoroughly till about the middle of April last, when I discovered the havoc it was committing on my frame. I then appeared like one for the grave. Unfortunately I applied to an adver- tised doctor, who sent me an instrument for compressing the penis,* accompanied with cer- tain prescriptions; but the instrument caused such violent and painful erections that I was compelled to discontinue the use of it. I then thought I could do without medical treatment, if I lived according to a prescribed diet, and took plenty of exercise. Nature, thought I, would repair the loss. Still, I cannot disguise from myself that I am gradually getting thin- ner and weaker. I have not yet lost the power of erecting the penis ; and although, previously to the use of the above-mentioned instrument, I never involuntarily had an erection for days altogether—not even when my imagination was excited by wicked thoughts—it now happens almost every morning, and at times I feel strongly tempted to commence the old habit again; but then a shudder passes over me, and I conquer the inclination. Sometimes my eves appear of a muddy cast, which causes me to feel very uneasy ; but in a day or two they get clearer again, and hope is again in the ascend- ant. I frequently have a dull pain in the region * This is not the only instance in which this clumsy and mis- chievous treatment had been previously adopted by patients who have consulted me. It is about as reasonable as would be an attempt to stop an inclination to vomit by compressing the throat.