n resembling that from
the seminal fluid, except the rare one from piles. In the very young,
these stains do not occur; but when the habit is acquired before puberty,
a discharge resembling semen takes place before the ordinary period.
Of course, the stains from urine will be easily distinguished from
others. The frequent occurrence of such stains after puberty is a
suspicious circumstance. A discharge in some respects similar may occur
in girls.

Before puberty, the effect of the vice upon the genital organs is to
cause an unnatural development, in both sexes, of the sensitive
portions. When this is marked, it is pretty conclusive evidence of the
vice. In girls, the vagina often becomes unnaturally enlarged, and
leucorrhoea is often present. After puberty, the organs usually
diminish in size, and become unnaturally lax and shrunken.

All of these signs should be thoroughly mastered by those who have
children under their care, and if not continually watching for them,
which would be an unpleasant task, such should be on the alert to detect
the signs at once when they appear, and then carefully seek for others
until there is no longer any doubt about the case.

RESULTS OF SECRET VICE.

The physician rarely meets more forlorn objects than the victims of
prolonged self-abuse. These unfortunate beings he meets every day of
his life, and listens so often to the same story of shameful abuse and
retributive suffering that he dreads to hear it repeated. In these cases,
there is usually a horrid sameness--the same cause, the same inevitable
results. In most cases, the patient need not utter a word, for the
physician can read in his countenance his whole history, as can most
other people at all conversant with the subject.

In order to secure the greatest completeness consistent with necessary
brevity, we will describe the effects observed in males and those in
females under separate heads, noticing the symptoms of each morbid
condition in connection with its description.

EFFECTS IN MALES.

We shall describe, first, the local effects, then the general effects,
physical and mental.

Local Effects.--Excitement of the genital organs produces the most
intense congestion. No other organs in the body are capable of such
rapid and enormous engorgement. When the act is frequently repeated,
this condition becomes permanent in some of the tissues, particularly
in the mucous membrane lining the urethra. This same membrane con