se. The subsequent events I narrate in his
own words: "The trouble, forethought, etc., rendered necessary by
preventive measures, grew more and more irksome to me as the
years passed by, and finally, I laid the matter before another
physician, and on his assurances, and after mature deliberation
with my wife, was operated on some time since, and rendered
sterile by having the vas deferens on each side exposed through a
slit in the scrotum, then tied in two places with silk and
severed between the ligatures. This was done under cocaine
infiltrative anaesthesia, and was not so extremely painful, though
what pain there was (dragging the cord out through the slit,
etc.) seemed very hard to endure. I was not out of my office a
single day, nor seriously disturbed in any way. In six days all
stitches in the scrotum were removed, and in three weeks I
abandoned the suspensory bandage that had been rendered necessary
by the extreme sensitiveness of the testicles and cord.

"The operation has proved a most complete success in every way.
Sexual functions are _absolutely unaffected in any way
whatsoever_. There is no sense of discomfort or uneasiness in the
sexual tract, and what seems strangest of all to me, is the fact
that the semen, so far as one can judge by ordinary means of
observation, is undiminished in quantity and unchanged in
character. (Of course, the microscope would reveal its fatal
lack.)

"My wife is delighted at having fear banished from our love, and,
taken all in all, it certainly seems as if life would mean more
to us both. Incidentally, the health of both of us seems better
than usual, particularly so in my wife's case, and this she
attributes to a soothing influence that is attained by allowing
the seminal fluid to be deposited in a perfectly normal manner,
and remain in contact with the vaginal secretions until it
naturally passes off.

"This operation being comparatively new, and, as yet, not often
done on others than the insane, criminal, etc., I thought it
might be of interest to you. If I shed even the faintest ray of
light on this greatest of all human problems ... I shall be glad
indeed."

Such a case, with its so far satisfactory issue, certainly
deserves to be placed on record, though it may well be that at
present it will not be widely imita