r organic derangement, in
a degree proportionate to that of the amount of excitation
from which they have suffered. That the testicles are very apt
to suffer from the existence of a stricture is a well-known
fact. I have myself worried over a case of stricture, in whom
the attempted passage of a filiform bougie was always
immediately followed by a severe attack of epididymitis, and
who had always been afflicted with a tenderness and a tendency
to inflammation of the testes. I have also noticed a much
greater tendency to orchitis in the wearer of an irritating
prepuce than where it was absent; so that the presence of a
satyriacal tendency, no matter in what proportion of a degree
it may be present, can safely be assumed to result in a
corresponding degree of apathy, due to an actual physical
degeneration of the parts. That these conditions, when present
in any degree of permanency or persistence, will in the end
induce early impotence, I have no reason to doubt. In this
regard we must not overlook the fact that persons with
phimosis, stricture, or other genital irritants and
impediments, are more liable to be afflicted with haemorrhoids,
prolapsus ani, or other anal and rectal irritation, which
retroactively assist in bringing about the condition under
question. How much this may have to do with certain prolific
peculiarities among the Jews may well be questioned; it is a
well-known fact that in London the Jewish excess of male
births has been as high as eighteen per cent., while among the
Christian or Gentile population it is only six and one-half
per cent.,--a somewhat analogous condition of proportion being
also observable in the United States. Here, it is accounted
for, in a measure, by Dr. Billings, in the following words:
"This comparatively large proportion of males among the Jews
is probably due to the fact that the death-rate of their
infants is less for males, as compared with females, than it
is among the average population." Children gotten during the
prime of life of the parents are naturally more virile and
have better stamina than those gotten before full maturity