ishment, is a grave error, as this may give
rise to the vice. Confining children alone in a room by themselves is
an equally reprehensible practice, as it favors the commission of the
act, at least, and may afford a favorable opportunity for its discovery.
Allowing children to form a habit of seeking solitude is an evil of
the same nature.

Local Disease.--In the male, a tight or long foreskin is a frequent
cause of the habit. The constant contact of the prepuce with the most
sensitive part of the organ increases its sensibility. The secretion
is retained, and accumulates, often becoming hardened. In this manner
irritation is set up, which occasions uncomfortable feelings, and
attracts the hands to the part. Owing to the great degree of excitement
due to irritation, but a slight provocation is necessary to arouse
voluptuous sensations, and then the terrible secret is revealed. The
child readily discovers how to reproduce the same, and is not slow to
commit a frequent repetition of the act; and thus the habit is formed.

An Illustrative Case.--A case in which the vice originated in this
manner was recently under our observation. The patient was a man of
considerable intellectual power and some culture, but showed
unmistakable signs of his early indiscretion. He stated that although
he mingled quite freely with other boys of his age, he obtained no
knowledge of the habit from others. He often heard allusions which he
did not understand, and of which he did not, fortunately, discover the
meaning. But he was afflicted with congenital _phimosis_, the prepuce
being so tight that retraction was impossible. This, together with
urinal irritation,--which occasioned nocturnal incontinence 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 hardened
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 abstinence seemed impossible. One resolution
to reform after another was formed, only to be speedily broken. His