ONAN ESCHEWED - Rick Grunder

same time) until their "exquisite torture" left him "a hopeless idiot." "The little
school boy," in other words, "had been shockingly abused, through ignorance,
not malice." (p. 197) . . .
Precisely in this way the masturbator abuses himself in sport, ignorantly, and
without evil intention. The school boy was abused by others; the masturbator
abuses himself. . . .
. . . once begun, the most natural idea in the world is to keep up the excitement
as long as possible, which for a while becomes more and more intense. It is
followed by a nervous spasm of these organs.
And what is a spasm?
The pleasant thrill is first felt in the nerves, but the force of it soon spreads
beyond them, filling the muscular bars and columns of erectile tissue; spreads
into the deep seated nerves of the testes which lie in the tunica vasculosa (plexus)
enveloping the lobules; [p. 198 ends] spreads from there into the tunica
albuginia (fibrous membrane) beyond.
While the excitement is still in the outer nerves of the penis, before it has passed
into the erectile fibers it is voluntary, and under the boy's control; but once
extending to other parts he cannot control it; the actions which then follow are
involuntary.
. . . . .
The parts are now exhausted. The nerves relax, because their force has all been
used up; . . .
Nature now sets to work to repair, if possible, [p. 199 ends]
The Mischief Done
And what mischief was done? Supposing some semen was wasted, what of it?
The consequences if this practice is continued are more serious than if the
testicles had been removed by castration.
Bad as castration is to an undeveloped boy, masturbation is a hundred times
worse. If it were known for a certainty that a given youth could not be induced
to forsake the habit, it would be a merciful kindness to him to remove the glands
entirely. [pp. 198-200]
The text continues in this pretentious medical style, and enumerates further
horrors. If young Sydney (the owner of this book more than a century ago) did
not entirely understand this text, it was probably still sufficient to scare him to
death, and to move him to pass the baneful ignorance on to his fellows or future
offspring.
93 SHEW, Joel. THE HYDROPATHIC FAMILY PHYSICIAN. A Ready Prescriber and
Hygienic Adviser, With Reference to the Nature, Causes, Prevention, and Treatment of
Diseases, Accidents, and Casualties of every kind. By Joel Shew, M.D., Author of
"Water-Cure Manual;" "Children: Their Diseases and Management;" "Consumption:
99