Winfield Scott Hall

“ To arrive at a goal that is before us and above us requires sacrifice and brings compensation. The sacrifice takes the form of the exertion of the whole will power of the man and the painstaking observance of those rules of hygiene which make continent living more easily attainable. The compensations of continence are those that come from the assurance that the young man has of his virility, of his worthiness to take the hand of a pure wife in wedlock, of the consciousness of his ability to establish and maintain a home, and to protect this home against all dangers. ”

“ The development of the child within the uterus of the mother represents a chapter in the life history of every individual so important in its relations to maternity and paternity that every young man should be acquainted with at least its general features.
As stated in the chapter on Reproduction, every living organism begins life as a single cell, or globule of protoplasm. In the case of the human subject, the cell from which each child begins its development is formed by the fusion of two cells or globules of protoplasm, one furnished by the mother, and called the ovum, or egg ”

“ As these two young amoebae lie side by side under the microscope the thoughtful student will inquire—what has become of the parent organism? Whereas at first there was one mature amoeba, now we have before us two young amoebae of the next succeeding generation. The parent organism has sacrificed its substance and its individuality absolutely and completely for the next generation. ”

“ We must not lose sight of the fact that the male sexual glands are continuously active, and in this continuous activity get their exercise. This activity develops them and keeps them physically perfect after the onset of the period of puberty. Their activity consists very largely in the formation of an internal secretion, the office of which is to develop in the male the highest possible state of virility. Nor must we lose sight of the fact that every procreative act is performed at a sacrifice of some of this vital fluid on the part of the male. ”

“ But for the uncontrolled passions of men, there would be no such women. So while we, individually, as men, may not be responsible for the ruin of any one woman, we must confess that men as a class are responsible for this condition of prostitution and clandestine intercourse. An overwhelming majority of women would, if following their inclinations, seek these relations in wedlock only and for procreation only. ”

“ Sometimes, but rarely, the sexual excitement on the part of the woman may cause an abortion, or a miscarriage. The more usual result makes itself manifest in the drain on the nervous energy of the woman. When we consider that maternity in the human race involves greater sacrifice than in any other animal, it would seem that the addition of this last demand, namely, of satisfying the sexual desires of the husband during [132] the period of pregnancy, might prove "the straw that breaks the camel's back," and result in the more or less complete nervous breakdown of the woman. ”

“ Every child comes into the world with a coat of rudimentary hair which is shed at once. Aside from the growth of hair on the head, including the brows and the lashes, the skin is quite free from any noticeable growth of hair for months or even years. Beginning at the age of [29] puberty, however, the growth of hair is very much accelerated over the whole pilous surface of the body, particularly upon the face, in the axilla and over the pubic region. It is a generally recognized law of biology, that, at the period of sexual development, the hairy mammalian character becomes accentuated. ”

“ To consign a man to the Hades of homelessness and the sorrow of childlessness because through ignorance he lapsed from purity during a few months or years of his life, would be meting out a retribution far in excess of the sin. If nature intended such a retribution to be meted out she would have led the way by causing an atrophy or some other form of disease in the subject who had abused his sexual organs. ”

“ The period of adolescence is ushered in by a series of physical and psychical changes which make a well defined initial period called puberty. The period of puberty is about two years in length, and in the average case among American boys, covers the period between the fifteenth and seventeenth years, and is completed when the youth can produce fertile semen capable of fertilizing the human ovum. It is now universally recognized, however, that when the youth reaches this point in his development, while he may be called a man, he represents manhood in its lowest terms. ”

“ Those who have access to a cold shower may stand for a moment, and for a moment only, under the cold shower, then step at once upon a warm rug and rub the whole surface of the body vigorously with a dry crash towel until the whole surface of the body glows with the warmth of the reaction. ”

“ If infection with a venereal disease meant simply the death of the infected individual, it would really be very much less deleterious to society than is the present condition. When the young man "sows wild oats" and catches incidently gonorrhea, that twenty years ago was considered a sort of a "good joke," he will, in a large proportion of cases, lay the foundation for broken health and will run a serious risk of transmitting the disease to an innocent, pure wife. ”

“ It is probably possessed by all of those animals that are conscious of sacrifices; that is, if an animal is conscious of sacrifice he is capable of being conscious of this compensation which we term, love of offspring. For organisms too low in the scale of life to be conscious of either sacrifice or love of offspring, nature seems to have arranged another scale of sacrifices and compensations—sacrifice taking the form of contention for possession of females and sacrifice in their support and protection, the recompense being the gratification incident to sexual intercourse. ”

“ Thus, athletic sports, while they make draughts upon the nerves, muscles and glands, develop all of these tissues to a high degree of efficiency. The plan of nature in this instinctive indulgence in sports must be evident. Nature is educating and developing the male animal (man) to the highest possible degree of efficiency, so that sports, instead of being non-productive, lead to the development of structures possessing a high degree of value, not only to the individual, but also to society. ”

“ Temperamentally the gelding is a patient, plodding, beast of burden, and though under good grooming he may show considerable life, while under the control of his driver, he seldom shows any interest in other members of the horse family, either male or female, and in the pasture or on the ranch his neutral sex temperament is ever apparent. While he may contend mildly for a place at the feeding trough, he never essays the defense of any weaker members of the herd, and one stallion would put a hundred like him to flight. ”

“ Furthermore, boys and young men who have not attained the full stature of their physical development are very seriously injured and retarded in their development through even the moderate use of tobacco. There is not an educator in America who will not testify to the fact that the use of tobacco in any form by young boys, retards both the physical and mental growth.
So tobacco certainly is another thing that is altogether proper to leave alone, and its use at the very best cannot be defended on any grounds other than that it is a sense gratification. ”

“ So the young man who would develop a clear thinking brain and a sound body must leave alcoholic beverages alone. Further, the young man who would have absolute control of his sexual desires, must leave alcohol alone, for the first thing that alcohol does is to throw down the lines of control. It is under the influence of alcohol that the young man is almost sure to make his first visit to the house of prostitution. If a girl lose her virtue, it takes place in a majority of cases when she is under the influence of alcohol ”

“ It is a well known fact in the medical profession that the ovaries of the female exert upon her development an influence analogous to that which the testes exert on the development of the male. For that reason, a surgeon should, under no condition, remove both ovaries (sexual glands) unless they are diseased in such a way as to necessitate their complete removal in order to save the life of the individual. ”

“ Within the ovum there are taking place some of the most marvelous changes in the whole life history of the individual. The nucleus of the fertilized egg, and the protoplasm which surrounds it, divide into two cells, then into four, eight, sixteen, etc. These divisions follow each other in such rapid succession that there are many hundreds of cells by the end of the first twenty-four hours. These cells soon begin to arrange themselves into layers and groups, which, step by step, develop the different tissues and organs of the body. ”

“ It might at first seem paradoxical that to build up strong muscles we must first fatigue them, but that seems to be Nature's plan. The only way to build up a strong physique is to use that physique and use it to its maximum capacity.
If one exercises thus freely and eats abstemiously he ought not to lay on fat. If he does lay on fat, he may know that he is eating more than he needs and he should make his diet more temperate. ”

“ The young man who can conquer himself and learn to lead a pure life, free from his early habit and above reproach not only in his acts toward womankind but also in all his thoughts of woman deserves his well-earned reward. ”

“ No rational or acceptable system of sexual hygiene for the human male can be worked out without constant reference to the lower ranks of the mammalian class and to primitive social conditions.
In our study of the anatomy and physiology of the sexual apparatus of the human male, it must have become evident that man has many things in common with other mammals, and that no adequate knowledge of man's physical or psychical attributes can be obtained without a study of similar phases of life among related animals. ”

“ Such frequent reference has been made above to continence in antithesis to illicit intercourse and masturbation that little need be said in addition to that which has preceded. The young man who holds before his mental vision an ideal of the home he hopes some day to establish—in which a pure wife reigns as queen, sovereign of his life, and gently hovers over a brood of lusty boys and fair girls—cannot for a moment consider as a sane solution of his sexual problem, periodic visits to the house of ill fame or the periodic lapse into illicit intercourse with clandestines ”

“ During the hot weather when one may bathe daily for cleanliness he should guard against an excessive use of soap, as a daily soap bath may have a tendency to remove the oils from the skin so completely as to make the skin rough. With the daily bath for cleanliness it is possible that warm water and soap need not be used more frequently than once or twice a week and that a laving of the whole surface with cold water followed by a vigorous rub down with a coarse towel may serve the double purpose of insuring absolute cleanliness, and at the same time serving as a skin tonic. ”

“ In many animals the voice seems to have almost no other function than as a sex call, or a communication between mates and between parents and young. The human subject illustrates this general biological principle in the profound changes which the voice undergoes at the time of puberty. These changes in the male subject consist in increasing the depth of the larynx, thereby increasing the length of the vocal cords which in [30] turn modifies the pitch of the voice, usually about an octave, making it not only lower but much more pleasing in quality and greatly increased in volume. ”

“ Now the conditions of college life, the field sports [71] and athletics, together with the social conditions, tend to develop in college circles a body of most virile young men. The problem which now confronts us is: How may these young men live a hygienic life under these unnatural circumstances?
If a man becomes able to procreate his kind at seventeen but is hardly able to marry before he is thirty he must solve the problem as to what his attitude shall be regarding matters of sex. The earlier this problem is solved the better it is for the young man. ”

“ Nature calls upon the male animal to make a contribution for procreation, which contribution is, always has been, and, in the very nature of the case, always must be a certain tax upon the powers of the male animal. When the intercourse is indulged for procreation only, the male animal can well afford to make the contribution. Even with that, the contribution which the male makes to procreation is incomparably less depleting for him than are the contributions which the female makes for her.
11. Will vital fluid flow with every sexual intercourse? ”

“ The brain of an individual adds no nerve cells after a very early age. The brain increases only very slightly in size and weight after the age of puberty, and then only under special conditions and this increase in weight and size is not due to the addition of any new cells, but simply to a slight increase in the bulk of those cells already present. In a similar way the sexual apparatus undergoes, during the period of puberty (fifteen to seventeen) a very rapid growth, reaching by the end of the period of puberty (seventeenth or nineteenth year) their full size. ”

“ Reproduction.—The most fundamental one of the activities for the maintenance of the race is reproduction. Every living organism, whether plant or animal, possesses the power to reproduce its kind. Some plants produce spores and some produce seeds. ”