SEXUAL HYGIENE 



JUST in proportion as the perpetuation of the race 

 is more important than the existence of any sin- 

 gle individual, the organs of reproduction may 

 in a certain sense be said to rank higher than any 

 other portions of the human frame, since to them is 

 intrusted the important duty of performing that most 

 marvelous of all vital processes, the production of 

 human beings. That this high rank in the vital econ- 

 omy is recognized by nature, is shown by the fact that 

 she has attached to the abuse of the generative func- 

 tion the most terrible penalties which can be inflicted 

 upon a living being. The power of abuse seems to be 

 almost exclusively confined to man ; hence, we find him 

 about the only one of all living creatures subject to 

 the awful penalties of sexual transgression. 



The use of the rej)roductive function is perhaps the 

 highest purely physical act of which man is capable; 

 its abuse is certainly one of the most grievous out- 

 rages against nature which it is possible for him to 

 perpetrate. No observing person can doubt that the 

 sexual relations of men and women determine in a 

 great degree their happiness or misery in life. This 

 subject, then, deserves due attention and careful con- 

 sideration. It is of no use to scout it; for it will in- 

 evitably obtrude itself upon us, no matter how sedu- 

 lously we attempt to avoid it. It can be rightly con- 

 sidered only with the most perfect candor, with the 



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