An essay on spermatorrhoea : being a microscopic investigation into its physiological and physical relations ; with observations on the nature, causes, and treatment of the various disorders of the procreative system in men. Illustrated by cases / by R. Dawson.

  • Dawson, Richard, active 1845-1852.
Date:
1846
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: An essay on spermatorrhoea : being a microscopic investigation into its physiological and physical relations ; with observations on the nature, causes, and treatment of the various disorders of the procreative system in men. Illustrated by cases / by R. Dawson. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    But it is not to original defects that I wish so much to direct attention, but rather to causes which are more frequent, and which being more under control, are more properly the ebjects of therapeutical investigation. In this point of view, we may set down, as one of the more important, an excessive indulgence in sexual intercourse. It would be difficult strictly to define excessive indul- gence; thus what would prove the very height of excess to one person, might prove to be but a moderate excite- ment to another. Celsus tells us the sexual appetite ought to be indulged, using only moderation. Moderate, it invigorates the body, but in excess, it relaxes it; his words are :—“Concubitus vero neque nimis concupi- scendus, neque nimis pertimescendus est, rarus corpus excitat ; frequens, solvit.”* But he further tells us, that excess does not depend upon the repetition or frequency, but upon the state of the constitution. “Cum autem, ” he observes, “frequens non numero sit, sed natura, ratione status, et corporis, scire licet, eum non inutilem esse, quem corporis: neque languor, neque dolor sequitur.” f I must confess, however, that I regard excess to consist more in the circumstances of a very promiscuous inter- course, than in what abstractedly might be considered *Cels. De Medicina Lib. 1. Capi. - t Ibid.