very unwillingly, and only after the absolute neglect of
sanitary laws, gives up the power of reproduction.

2. Not only sensual women, but all without exception, feel deeply hurt, and
are repelled by the husband whom they may previously have loved dearly,
when, after entering the married state, they find that he is impotent. The
more inexperienced and innocent they were at the time of marriage, the
longer it often is before they find that something is lacking in the
husband; but, once knowing this, the wife infallibly has a feeling of
contempt and aversion for him; though there are many happy families where
this defect exists. It is often very uncertain who is the weak one, and no
cause for separation should be sought.

3. Unhappy marriages, barrenness, divorces, and perchance an occasional
suicide, may be prevented by the experienced physician, who can generally
give correct information, comfort, and consolation, when consulted on these
delicate matters.

4. When a single man fears that he is unable to fulfill the duties of
marriage, he should not marry until his fear is dispelled. The suspicion of
such a fear strongly tends to bring about the very weakness which he
dreads. Go to a good physician (not to one of those quacks whose {249}
advertisements you see in the papers; they are invariably unreliable), and
state the case fully and freely.

5. Diseases, malformation, etc., may cause impotence. In case of
malformation there is usually no remedy, but in case of disease it is
usually within the reach of a skillful physician.

6. Self-abuse and spermatorrhoea produce usually only temporary impotence
and can generally be relieved by carrying out the instructions given
elsewhere in this book.

7. Excessive indulgences often enfeeble the powers and often result in
impotence. Dissipated single men, professional libertines, and married men
who are immoderate, often pay the penalty of their violations of the laws
of nature, by losing their vital power. In such cases of excess there may
be some temporary relief, but as age advances the effects of such
indiscretion will become more and more manifest.

8. The condition of sterility in man may arise either from a condition of
the secretion which deprives it of its fecundating powers or it may spring
from a malformation which prevents it reaching the point where fecundation
takes place. The former condition is most common in old age, and is a
sequence of venereal disease, o