SEXUAL HYGIENE 197 



which he lived. Plato, in his ''Laws," makes one of 

 his characters say, '*So then they, to obtain victory in 

 wrestling and running, thus abstained; and shall our 

 children be unable to persevere for a far nobler vic- 

 tory?"— a statement approved by the apostle Paul in 

 1 Cor. 9 : 25-27, when he says, ' ' Now they do it to ob- 

 tain a corruptible crown ; but we an incorruptible. . . . 

 But I keep under my body and bring it into subjection. " 



The compensation sought by the Greek for the re- 

 straint of his animal propensities, was to become a 

 stronger and more vigorous animal; and in this he 

 was not disappointed, for Plato mentions a number of 

 celebrated athletes, among others, Astylos and Diopom- 

 pos, whose bodies were ''much lustier" than others. 

 Having praticed total continence during their training, 

 they had much stronger and more vigorous bodies than 

 others who had not subjected themselves to the same 

 restraints. 



The doctrine that continence is unfavorable to health, 

 if true, supplies a very strong argument for the main- 

 tenance of a harlot class for the benefit of soldiers and 

 sailors, who, for the most part, cannot marry. This 

 doctrine is indeed the stronghold of the apologists for 

 prostitution and of the advocates of laws regulating 

 vice. The considerafions already offered seem amply 

 sufficient to show the fallacy of this doctrine ; neverthe- 

 less, we offer a few additional items of evidence, in- 

 cluding the testimony of a number of eminent physi- 

 cians. 



Dr. James Henderson, a physician in Shanghai, 

 China, writing in refutation of the idea that continence 

 is more difficult or dangerous in troj^ical countries than 

 in temperate climates, on account of peculiar climatic 

 conditions, says, "I have seen many suffer severely, 



