reach many
people, the following points should be emphasized in trying to show
young men practical reasons why they should avoid pre-marital sexual
relations.

[Sidenote: Continence and health.]

(1) Young men ought to know that many eminent physicians and
physiologists agree that it has not been proved that continence injures
the health of men who make an effort to avoid sexual temptations.
Physicians of the highest standing never advise extra-marital or
immoral relations, for they are far more likely to injure health than
to improve it, and they surely injure character and reputation. On
this question of continence young men should read such pamphlets as
"Sexual Necessity" by Howell and Keyes; "The Young Man's Problem" and
"Health and Hygiene of Sex" by Morrow; "The Physician's Answer" and
"The Rational Sex Life for Men" by Exner.[17] Also, see pp. 183-190 in
Geddes and Thomson's "Sex."

Dr. Exner's "Physician's Answer" is based on the following declaration
which was signed by about three hundred of the foremost physicians of
America:

"In view of the individual and social dangers which spring from
the widespread belief that continence may be detrimental to
health, and of the fact that municipal toleration of prostitution
is sometimes defended on the ground that sexual indulgence is
necessary, we, the undersigned, members of the medical profession,
testify to our belief that continence has not been shown to be
detrimental to health or virility; that there is no evidence of
its being inconsistent with the highest physical, mental, and
moral efficiency; and that it offers the only sure reliance for
sexual health outside of marriage."

[Sidenote: Psychical results of incontinence.]

(2) It ought to be significant to young men that many men who are now
in the thirties or forties look back upon their youthful errors with
profound regret. Many such men testify that unforgettable immoral
experiences keep them from reaching the heights of love with their
wives. One of my friends, a well-known physician, recently met in his
office within two or three months seven men of high standing who are
now happily married, but who feel that conjugal life is short of its
full aesthetic possibilities because of the ever-present remembrance of
early sexual mistakes.

[Sidenote: Physical results.]

(3) While the above refers to the psychical effect of youthful errors,
young men should learn