Vol. 60, 1909 - University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

a unit work to this end and it will be only
a matter of time when the laity will fall in
line and thus assist in taking the matter np
with our law-makers.
To accomplish all this it will be necessary
lo use a large amount of diplomacy, The
best talent, tact, and influence should be
brought to bear upon the laity, the lawmakers,
the public benefactors and the
wealthy consumptives oi this country. This
la'ter class may not be disposed to give up
\fi'\x individual rights and privileges for
;ne mere sake of humanity by condescendng
to live in a public sanatorium, yet if the
oroper influences are brought to bear upon
his class, and with some diplomacy, we
|nay not only conquer them along the line
)f submission to certain rules and regulaionsofthe
openaii sanatorium, but we
nay, by conciliation, induce them to give
)art of their means toward the equipment
ud endowment of these humane iustitupons.
In this connection I would suggest that
special committee of two well known
lembers of this Society be appointd
from each county in the State,
1 act in conjunction with our legislave
committee, in bringing the mat-
;r of establishing county sanatoria before
ach of our county Legislato.s, State Sena-
)rs, tiovernor Swanson and some of our
eathy public benefactors, reporting the
ults of their eflforts at the next meeting
this Society.
Sexual Hygiene.
H. C. Buck, M. I)., Friars Point, Mississippi.
I am not sure I have chosen the proper
:le for this paper, but Webster tells us,
ygiene means 'a system of principles or
les designated for the preservation of
;alth." We might add moral, mental
id physical, accepting this as the strict
fiiiition of the word. I feel that I am not
r wrong in my selection of a title. Man
s ever Ijeen slow to accept or adopt new
)Ctrines or theories; in the dim past men
fused to accept the truth that the earth or
e world as it is called was a globe and reived
on its axis, but finally some sage
d philosopher boldly asserted "the world
move," and from then on mankind acpted
the truth. The world moves and
nkind moves with it; we live in an age
progress; "onward and upward" is a
>gan of the present era. Until within tiie
St few years the question of sex and the
cussion of the sexual natures of men and
men was looked upon as being if not im-
)ral, at least indelicate and immodest;
nee never discussed, but to one that notes
; trend of human affairs and the spirit of
orm and advancement that is gaining
ORIGINAL COMMUXICATIONS. 301
ground each day, it is very gratifying to
note that the education of the boy and girl,
not only morally and mentally, but sexualh'^
is occupying the attention of very many
prominent inembers of the medical profession,
as well as that of moral and christian
men and women in other walks of life.
The question that confronts us today, the
scope and gravity of which can not be estimated,
one that should and must appeal to
us as physicians, is. Shall the boys be
taught the nature and functions of their
sexual organs and the moral restraints necessary
to a pure life by parents or guardians,
or shall they be left as heretofore, to
grow up in ignorance of these matters, or,
if knowledge is obtained, get it from vicious
sources and surroundings that are but too
often the first step in a life of shame and
misery.
A writer of ancient history says, "In
ancient Germany boys and girls bathed together,
naked, even when fifteen years of
age, and were not ashamed." Such a state
of affairs shows a woeful lack of modesty,
and certainly is not desirable, nor indeed
at all advisable for "Young America" as
is evidenced to all who read.
A writer says "innocence and ignorance
in regard to vice is no safeguard to a young
man or woman in this age, when it is so
evident on every hand, and no fond parent
need flatter himself that his pure girl or boy
will not sooner or later become subject to
improper conversation and influences."
In an article by Dr. Win. Lee Howard,
of Baltimore, he says: "As puberty silently
and insidiously arouses the girl to introspection,
as vague and sometimes uncontrollable
sexual desires force her along a
trail of automatic queries, she seeks in vain
for truths which she scarce dares own to
herself that she was conscious of or understood,
innocent of any wrong feeling, her
soft, sweet and womanly emotions are ignored
by her mother, her teacher and her
married sisters, and either through harmful
floundering in her development, or more
often through the harmful tales of a sexual
neurotic, she learns that e\'ery living man
and beast is the product of sexual gratification.
This knowledge coming to her through
muddy and contaminated channels cannot
but defile her thoughts, and she goes out
into the world without realizing the great
truth that sexual gratification is not sensual
gratification."
The question has been asked: "Does not
knowledge of the nature and functions of
the sexual organs tend toward making a
girl less modest, or is not such knowledge
a shock to her modesty?" I contend this
depends wholly upon the source of such
knowledge and the manner in which it is