UNCHASTITY 277 



from others. He often heard alhisions which he did 

 not understand, and of which he did not, fortunately, 

 discover the meaning. But he was afflicted with con- 

 genital phimosis, the prepuce being so tight that re- 

 traction was impossible. This, together with a blad- 

 der irritation,— which occasioned nocturnal inconti- 

 nence of urine,— constipation, and highly seasoned 

 food, produced so much local irritation as to occasion 

 frequent erections, and an increased secretion. He 

 soon noticed that there was an accumulation of hard- 

 ened secretion beneath the foreskin, and in attempting 

 to remove this, he accidentally provoked voluptuous 

 sensations. He speedily abandoned himself to the habit, 

 often repeating it several times a day. Beginning at 

 the age of twelve years, he continued it for three or 

 four years. 



Soon after acquiring the habit, he became aware of 

 its tendencies, through reading books upon the subject ; 

 but he found himself so completely enslaved that refor- 

 mation seemed impossible. One resolution to reform 

 after another was formed, only to be speedily broken. 

 His unwholesome diet, habitual constipation, and es- 

 pecially the unfortunate organic difficulty in his genital 

 organs, produced an almost constant priai^ism, which 

 was only relieved, and then but temporarily, by the act 

 of pollution. His sedentary habits increased the diffi- 

 culty to an extreme degree. 



In the meantime, his constitution, naturally weak, 

 was being gradually undermined. He suffered from 

 constant headache, heart-burn, pains in the back and 

 limbs, weakness and lassitude. Yet he attributed none 

 of these ailments to the true cause. After the lapse of 

 three or four years thus spent, and after repeated inef- 

 fectual attempts, by a powerful effort of the will, by 



17 



