tible to sexual
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 asserted 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 assume that the boys who
are informed of the facts in time are the boys who constitute the
percentage who escape. This, of course, may not be literally true, but
it is a reasonable assumption.

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 asserted 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 u