The Eugenic Marriage.

by W. Grant Hague.

VOLUME II

s.e.x HYGIENE FOR THE BOY

CHAPTER XII

"The evil that men do lives after them. The good is often interred with them."

"The pleasure in living is to meet temptation and not yield to it." Elmer Lee, M. D.

BUILDING OUR BOYS

A Word to Parents--Interest in s.e.x Hygiene--The "Social Evil"--Ten Millions Suffering with Venereal Diseases in the United States--Immorality not Confined to Large Cities--Venereal Diseases Common in Country Places--What Are the Consequences of Venereal Disease to the Boy?--Gonorrhea, or Clap--Symptoms of Gonorrhea in the Male--Complications of Gonorrhea--Syphilis, or the "Pox"--How Syphilis is Acquired--Syphilis Attacks Every Organ in the Body--Not Possible to Tell When Cured--The Chancre--Systematic or Const.i.tutional Symptoms--Mucous Patches and Ulcers--Syphilis of the Blood Vessels and Lymphatic Glands--The Interior Organs--Brain and Spinal Cord--The Nose, Eye, Ear, Throat--Hair and Nails--What the Boy with Venereal Disease May Cause in Others--The Infected Wife--A Girl's Fate When She Marries--Young Wife Rendered Sterile--Young Wife Made to Miscarry--Is the Husband to Blame?--Building the Man--Age of p.u.b.erty--"Internal Secretion."

A WORD TO PARENTS.--Within recent times the subject of s.e.x hygiene has been freely discussed by members of the medical profession and through them the general public has been made more or less acquainted with the problem. It has therefore acquired a degree of genuine interest which speaks well for the future of the eugenic ideal. Eugenics is based to a very large extent upon the principles underlying s.e.x hygiene.

As a result of this widespread interest and investigation, we have discovered that the only method that promises actual progress, is to talk plainly and to tell the actual truth. The day of the prude has pa.s.sed. To attempt to achieve results in the education of youth in s.e.x problems, without giving, facts, is wasted effort. To give facts we must explain each problem so that its principles may be clearly understood and its meaning grasped. To point out the duty of youth is not sufficient. They must be shown why it is to their best interest to live the clean life. In every department of education we are beginning to appreciate that to achieve results it must be based upon the individual equation. This is why we have found it necessary to a.s.sert that it is the duty of parents to make s.e.x hygiene a personal matter and to acquaint their children with the facts relating to this problem. It has been discovered, however, that a very large percentage of parents are inadequately informed on these subjects, in fact they know practically nothing about the actual facts which they are supposed to teach. I shall try to tell the story in a way which every parent will understand.

When a boy reaches the age of p.u.b.erty he is susceptible to s.e.xual desire. If he has not been told the story of his growth from boyhood to man's estate he will either begin to abuse himself, or he will be later enticed to commit himself to intercourse with some unclean female and he will acquire a disease as a result.

Inasmuch as it has been a.s.serted that practically every boy has been addicted to self-abuse at some time, and that eighty per cent. of all males, between the ages of sixteen and thirty years, are victims of venereal disease, it would seem justifiable to a.s.sume that the boys who are informed of the facts in time are the boys who const.i.tute the percentage who escape. This, of course, may not be literally true, but it is a reasonable a.s.sumption.

While self-abuse is a pernicious habit and may be attended with serious consequences, it is not a disease and, as will be explained later, it can be cured. It is therefore a menace to the individual, not to the race, and consequently need not concern us at the present time. On the other hand the venereal diseases are not to be considered as individual problems since they affect the welfare of the race. The venereal diseases which we will consider are gonorrhea and syphilis.

THE SOCIAL EVIL.--It has been estimated that there are more than _ten millions_ of people in this country to-day suffering from the effects of venereal diseases. In New York city alone, there are _two million_ victims suffering from the direct or indirect consequences of these diseases. It has been authoritatively a.s.serted that, out of every ten men between the ages of sixteen and thirty, eight have, or have had, one or other of these diseases. When it is remembered that these diseases are not merely temporary incidents, but that they may be regarded as practically incurable in the vast majority, because of antagonistic social conditions and ignorance, and that they are highly infectious, we may begin to realize how important they are from the standpoint of race regeneration.

Statistics of these conditions are never reliable because much of the evil is hidden and lied about. It is quite probable,--if the estimates were based upon absolute knowledge--that the extent of the prevalency of these diseases would be greatly increased rather than reduced. It is however a fact, that the combined ravages of the Great White Plague, leprosy, yellow fever, and small-pox, are merely incidents compared to the effects which the venereal diseases have had upon mankind. It is useless to think that these diseases can be driven out of the land. Any hope of this nature is the impression of the dreamer. By a propaganda of education, by the spread of the eugenic idea and ideal, we may, however, reasonably hope to minimize the evil and, at least, to protect the innocent.

THE SOURCES OF IMMORALITY.--It is a fallacious idea to a.s.sume that the sources of immorality are confined to the large cities. This is far from the truth. In smaller towns and country places the diseases are quite common and conditions there tend to the spread of the contagion in a more intimate and a more harmful way. The individuals who are most likely to become affected are those most liable to succ.u.mb to temptation and whose home ties are of the best. There are many instances on record where one or two loose women spread the infection all over the country communities, infecting boys and men alike. No one can estimate what the final effect of such an epidemic may mean or how many innocent individuals may have their lives wrecked as a direct consequence. It is because these consequences are the product of ignorance in a very large percentage of the cases that there is such urgent need for enlightenment. It is at least our plain duty to tell the boy the actual facts--to post him with reference to consequences. The more thoroughly we instruct him in the elementary facts relative to the venereal diseases, the safer he will be from temptation, and if he possesses this knowledge and acquires disease, he will be more likely to immediately seek competent aid and advice.

WHAT ARE THE CONSEQUENCES OF VENEREAL DISEASE TO THE BOY HIMSELF?

GONORRHEA OR "CLAP."--This is the most frequent of the venereal diseases. It is also the most serious. It is an unfortunate fact, that in the past,--and even to-day--boys have been told that gonorrhea is no worse than "a bad cold." This lie has been responsible for much evil and a great amount of unnecessary suffering and misery.

Gonorrhea is caused by a germ, obtained, as a rule, during intercourse with an infected person. This germ is called gonococcus. It thrives on any mucous membrane; it is not, therefore, limited to the s.e.xual organs.

For this reason it may attack any part of the body where mucous membrane is. It is particularly liable to damage, sometimes seriously and permanently, the eye. It may be spread from one person to another, or from any infected article to a person in numerous ways. The innocent may thus suffer as a result of the carelessness of the vicious.

THE SYMPTOMS OF GONORRHEA IN THE MALE are slight itching and burning of the mouth of the urethra. This is noticeable at any time from the third to the fourteenth day after exposure. These symptoms become more p.r.o.nounced and a slight discharge appears. The patient is compelled to urinate frequently and it is painful and difficult. The discharge increases, it becomes thicker and looks like ordinary yellow pus. If the case is a severe one, the discharge may be blood stained, and if this symptom is present urination is more painful and more frequent.

In about ten days the disease reaches its height; it remains stationary for a number of weeks and then slowly, seemingly, gets better. The discharge grows thinner, less in quant.i.ty and lighter in color. It may refuse, despite the most careful and efficient treatment, to stop altogether; it is then known as "gleet." If the discharge stops completely the patient is apparently cured, as far as any external manifestation of the disease is concerned. _In seventy-five per cent. of the cases, however, this apparent cure is no cure at all, as will be seen later._

Certain complications are likely to arise in the course of gonorrhea.

The infection itself may be of such an acute or virulent type, that it invades the deeper structures of its own accord and despite the most careful, competent treatment; or if the treatment is not adequate or skillful it may be forced backward; or through neglect in not beginning the right kind of treatment in times, a simple infection may grow in degree into a serious disease, and invade the more important structures.

In this way are produced disease of the bladder, prostate gland, seminal vesicles, t.e.s.t.i.c.l.es, and of the kidneys. Gonorrheal rheumatism may follow, and even disease of the lining membrane of the heart, and death.

When disease of the deeper parts occur the patient is frequently incapacitated and compelled to go to bed. He may have chills, fever and sweats, intense pain and the pa.s.sage of b.l.o.o.d.y urine. He may have to be operated upon, and his general health may be permanently wrecked. So long as the germs are present there is danger despite the most scientific treatment. It is not the quality of the treatment that is at fault, it is the presence of the germs; and since it is impossible to pursue any certain method of eradication, we must continue treatment--as long as the germs are present--and hope for favorable results. The infection may last for many years. The germs having found entrance into the small tubes in the interior organs they can only be dislodged with difficulty, if at all. These pockets of germs may be excited to renewed activity by s.e.xual intercourse, or by injury to the parts, and may reinfect the patient at any times. In a very considerable number of these cases where the deeper structures are involved, the patient may recover from the acute or painful period of the disease, only to find that he is sterile. There are many such cases, and the most vindictive individual who may believe that every who sins should be punished will admit that sterility, as the price of a moment's forgetfulness, is a terrible fee to pay.

SYPHILIS, OR THE "POX," is an infectious, germ blood disease. It is most frequently acquired through s.e.xual intercourse.

It may be acquired by direct contact with a diseased person. In order to render such contact effective, it is essential that the skin of the healthy person be abraded, or the contact may be directly on a mucous membrane, as the mouth in the act of kissing.

It may be acquired by using any article which has been used by a syphilitic, as a drinking cup, or towel.

It may be acquired through hereditary transmission.

Surgeons frequently contract syphilis while operating on, or examining patients who have the disease. Dentists may convey it by means of instruments which have not been rendered aseptic, or thoroughly clean.

Using a towel which has been used by a syphilitic has many times conveyed the infection to an innocent party. For this reason the roller towel has been done away with, and some states have legislated against its use in hotels and other public places. To use dishes, spoons, tobacco pipe, beer gla.s.ses, etc., which have been used by one having the disease is an absolutely certain way of being infected. Cigars which may have been made by a syphilitic will infect whoever smokes them with the virus of the disease. Syphilis has been known to have been caught from using the church communion cup. The public drinking-cup has been a prolific source of syphilitic dissemination to innocents. Legislators are just waking up to the danger that lurks in this inst.i.tution and it will no doubt be done away with, not only in public places, but on all railroad and steamboat lines.

An infected mother can transmit syphilis to her child. If the father is affected, but not the wife, the child may escape.

Syphilis attacks every organ in the human body. The actual degree of infection has no relation to the size or character of the external manifestations. The external evidence may be minute and insignificant, while the internal extent and ravages of the disease may be tremendous and of large proportions. Many men when asked regarding incidents of the long ago, may state, "Oh, yes, I had a chancre twenty-five years ago, but it was a very small affair and soon healed up and was cured." Yet that same little chancre, that made only a mild impression on the man's mind, may, and most probably will, be the direct cause of that man's death.

It is not possible to tell with absolute certainty that an individual is suffering with syphilis by any known test. The most recent one--the Wa.s.sermann test--is not absolute by any means.

The first symptoms, or what is known as the initial lesion of syphilis, is the chancre.

THE CHANCRE is a small, hard tumor, or it may be a small ulcer with a hard base, or it may simply appear as a thin small patch on any mucous membrane. It is not painful, it can be moved if taken between the fingers, showing it is not attached to the deep structures, and when it is so moved it is not tender or sore. Any little lump which ulcerates located on the genitals must be regarded with suspicion. Boys and men should not be satisfied with any offhand statement that, "it is nothing." It may be a chancre, and it may be exceedingly serious if not properly diagnosed.

Systemic, or const.i.tutional symptoms, begin to show themselves any time from the sixth to the tenth week after the appearance of the chancre.

ERUPTIONS OF THE SKIN characterize every case of syphilis. They occur in all degrees from the mild rash to the foul ulcer. The ulcerative process is very often extensive and loathsome.

MUCOUS PATCHES AND ULCERS affect the mucous membranes. The mouth and throat are favorite locations for these lesions. They occur in the a.n.u.s and r.e.c.t.u.m, and may be mistaken in that region for other serious conditions. Men who drink and smoke suffer as a rule severely from mucous patches in the mouth and throat.

Syphilis attacks the blood vessels and the lymphatic glands. These cases may have been unrecognized, and may have existed for many years. A man may die from a rupture of a blood vessel in the brain during middle life as a consequence of a forgotten, supposedly cured case of syphilis many years before.

THE INTERIOR ORGANS may be attacked by syphilis. As a result we get disease of the liver, heart, stomach, kidneys, lungs, and other parts.

It has been suggested that many diseases affecting these organs, for which treatment proves unsatisfactory, may have had their origin in a former syphilis.

THE BRAIN AND SPINAL CORD are quite often the seat of syphilitic affections. A tumor, known by the name of "gumma," is the result. The blood vessels of the entire nervous system may be affected and, as a consequence, we often see cases of paralysis, apoplexy, epilepsy, locomotor ataxia and death.

THE NOSE, EYE, EAR, THROAT, are frequently very seriously compromised as a result of the syphilitic poison. Deformity, caused by rotting of the bones of these parts is not infrequent. Loss of voice, or smell, or hearing, or sight, may result.

THE HAIR AND NAILS may fall out. The bones may ulcerate and rot. The organs of procreation usually partic.i.p.ate in the degenerative process.

Virility is destroyed, and impotence is quite common after a severe attack.

WHAT THE BOY WITH VENEREAL DISEASE MAY CAUSE IN OTHERS