630 PLAIN FACTS FOR OLD AND YOUNG 



ing or smarting on passing urine is frequently present, 

 indicating the same condition. 



It must not be supposed that all the above symp- 

 toms are present in any one case ; but a large majority 

 will be found in well-pronounced cases of this disorder. 

 Sometimes stricture may be present. 



Spermatorrhea sometimes exists, not as a primary 

 disease, but as a symptom of some other disorder. It is 

 frequently present in extreme cases of nervous exhaus- 

 tion, in convalescence from fever, the debility arising 

 from pulmonary consumption, and in some cases of 

 hemorrhoids or other forms of rectal disease. 



It has been suggested that the tendency to this dis- 

 ease may be inherited. It is unquestionably true that 

 some persons are much more liable to the disorder than 

 those who do not possess the peculiar predisposing ex- 

 citability which is so often present in this class of 

 cases. 



False Spermatorrhea. —It must not be supposed 

 that true spermatorrhea exists in every case in which 

 a slight discharge is noticed when straining at stool 

 or after urinating. Probably the majority of cases in 

 which this symptom occurs, though requiring serious 

 attention, do not properly belong in this category. A 

 slight discharge of this kind is a very common result of 

 an incompletely cured gonorrhea or gleet. Not infre- 

 quently, when a discharge of this kind has existed pre- 

 viously, and has been apparently cured, excessive sex- 

 ual indulgence, taking cold, a constipated condition of 

 the bowels, or a concentrated and irritating condition 

 of the urine, may cause it to reappear. The discharge 

 usually indicates a diseased condition of the urethra, 

 any portion of which may be affected, though the pros- 

 tatic portion is by far the most likely to be the part 



