DISEASES PECULIAR TO MEN 629 



ness of the skin ; crawling, tingling, and other peculiar 

 sensations of the arms or legs; twitching of the mus- 

 cles ; pressure in the back of the head ; weakness of the 

 eyes ; general stiffness in the muscles, and lack of mus- 

 cular vigor; backache, especially in the lower portion 

 of the back, in the morning, or after muscular effort, 

 great depression of spirits; melancholy; sometimes a 

 disposition to commit suicide; insanity; unsteadiness 

 of gait ; severe pains in various parts of the body ; flush- 

 ing of the face; palpitation; loss of flesh; tenderness 

 of the spine; pain in one side; impotence; numbness, 

 coldness, and other abnormal sensations of the sexual 

 organs, which are likely to be in a relaxed and shrunken 

 condition, and of a bluish color; pain in the spermatic 

 cord, and sometimes in the groin, and also at times a 

 dragging pain in the testicles, which are sometimes 

 tender; smarting or burning sensations when passing 

 urine or afterward; a troublesome dribbling after re- 

 lieving the bladder ; unnatural excitability of the parts ; 

 twitching of the muscles at the fork of the thighs; 

 frequent or involuntary erections ; epilepsy ; paralysis ; 

 sjTnptoms of consumption. Lastly, as a symptom char- 

 acteristic of this disease, we should mention the escape 

 of a whitish fluid in greater or less quantities after 

 passing urine or straining at stool. 



In the majority of these cases there is to be found 

 an exceedingly irritable condition of the prostatic 

 urethra, and, indeed, not infrequently of the whole 

 urethral canal. This may be discovered by passing 

 the finger into the rectum, and pressing against the 

 prostate gland and the tissues just in front of it. In 

 severe cases, a pressure upon the perineum and the 

 under surface of the penis, close to the body, will show 

 exquisite tenderness of these parts. An intense burn- 



