ONAN ESCHEWED - Rick Grunder

through masturbation. Of course, all who practise self-pollution do not go
insane. If every man who ever abused himself were to go insane, I fear that we
should have to reverse the order of things—build asylums for sane people, and
let the insane have the out-of-doors. Every one who practises self-abuse, though
not insane, is void of mental power just to the extent that he wastes semen.
Think of it: human semen contains forty times more vital force than does an
equal amount of fresh red blood right from the heart. No wonder, then, that its
waste has such a powerful effect on the brain and the nerves. [p. 69]
The usual remedies are offered, including the delights of cold bathing (". . . it is
possible to bathe too often in hot water. Once or twice a week is often enough to
take a hot bath." p. 86). When it comes to diet, the author gives an amusingly
long list of foods to be avoided, including pretty much all meat, eggs, cucumbers,
beans, cabbage, pepper, pies and "Cakes in all forms," rich puddings, nuts, candy
-even catsup (pp. 87-88). What's left are certain fruits and tomatoes, darker
breads, rice, celery, baked apples, a little milk, soups (but "not too rich") and a
little fresh fish (pp. 88-89). Chew this food well, and depend upon the grace of
God for the rest, p. 90.
105 TISSOT, [Samuel Auguste André David]. A TREATISE ON THE CRIME OF
ONAN; Illustrated with A Variety of Cases, Together with The Method of Cure. . . . By
M. Tissot, M.D. Author of Advice to the People in general with regard to their Health.
Translated from The Third Edition of the Original. London: Printed for B. Thomas,
in the Strand, 1766.
20.7 cm. xvi, 232 pp. Rebound years ago in three-quarter blue morocco over
marbled boards. Very good; moderate foxing to title and a few leaves, but a
pleasant copy with generous margins. $750
Pricing note: Purchased 1999. I find only one eighteenth-century version or copy for sale on
the Internet (October 5, 2010). It is a later edition of the version (see below) titled, Onanism, or,
A Treatise . . . (Bath, 1781) offered by a British bookseller in "fair" condition for $391.00.
FIRST YEAR OF PUBLICATION IN ENGLISH: This classic and morbidly influential
work by a prodigious medical author was originally published in Latin as
Tentamen de Morbis ex Manustupratione (Lausanne, 1758; only two copies located,
both in German institutions), and then in French: 1760, 1764; Paris, 1765;
Lausanne, 1766, '68, '69; Paris, 1769, etc.). It first appeared in English in 1766 in
three versions, of which the example offered here has the largest number of
pages (questions of precedence must be answered by someone more specialized
than I):
— Onanism, or, A Treatise Upon the Disorders Produced by Masturbation . . .
translated from the last Paris edition by A. Hume . . . (London: Printed for the
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