Manhood : the causes of its premature decline, with directions for its perfect restoration : addressed to those suffering from the destructive effects of excessive indulgence, solitary habits, &c. &c. &c. / by L. Deslandes ; translated from the French, with many additions, by an American physician.

  • Deslandes, L. (Léopold), 1796-1850.
Date:
1842
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Manhood : the causes of its premature decline, with directions for its perfect restoration : addressed to those suffering from the destructive effects of excessive indulgence, solitary habits, &c. &c. &c. / by L. Deslandes ; translated from the French, with many additions, by an American physician. 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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    the utmost of its capacity. At the same time the geni- tal sense passes rapidly through all the degrees of excite- ment : and finally arrives at that point beyond which it cannot extend: every muscle, every mature fibre in the genital system is then convulsed: the seminal vesicles, the muscles surrounding the urethra and those which are attached to the anus contract with violence, and the semen, the loss of which causes so much exhaustion even when discharged involuntarily, is convulsively expelled. The scene now changes: the genital apparatus, lately so full of life now becomes tiaccid: the scro- tum becomes loose and pendent, and a sensation of torpor, of fatigue, of chill follows. The convulsive motions are succeeded by a kind of paralysis, and all attempts at new excitement are vain. During this tumult and after this crisis, the general state of the patient conforms in every manner to that of the genital system. Thus the face reddens, the neck swells, the veins become filled; the skin is now burning and now moistened with sweat, the heart beats with rapidity; in fact there is a state of fever, which almost justifies us in placing the act of venery among diseases. At the same time the nervous centres, the cerebrum, the cerebellum, the spinal mar- row, experience a very powerful impression. As the state progresses, consciousness is lost, and the subject is as it were in a state of delirium. The will is sus- pended, and the muscles are not controlled by it, but by the nervous centres which are so much irritated. Thus the trunk and limbs are agitated by involuntary mo- tions and chills. This disturbance increases until the crisis arrives, when the convulsion affects the genital system; a fit of epilepsy as it were ensues: the sight becomes dim, the trunk stiffens and the neck is thrown back: and finally this state might be regarded as a violent access of disease if the beginning and end. of it were not known. Now however the individual is changed: his face has lost its color, his limbs are stiff, without motion and as it were paralyzed: the head is painful, the