the womb is also produced by the act
of abuse; and as the habit is continued, it also becomes permanent.
This congestion, together with the contact of the acrid vaginal
discharge, finally produces ulceration upon the neck, together with
other diseases.

Another result of congestion is all kinds of menstrual derangements
after puberty, the occurrence of which epoch is hastened by the habit.
Prolapsus and various displacements are produced in addition to
menstrual irregularities.

Cancer of the Womb.--Degeneration of this delicate organ also occurs
as the result of the constant irritation and congestion, and is often
of a malignant nature, occasioning a most painful death.

Sterility.--Sterility, dependent on a total loss of sexual desire and
inability to participate in the sexual act, is another condition which
is declared by medical authors to be most commonly due to previous
habits of self-abuse. In consequence of overexcitement the organs
become relaxed.

Atrophy of Mammae.--Closely connected with other local results is the
deficient development of the breasts when the vice is begun before or
at puberty, and atrophy if it is begun or continued after development
has occurred. As previously remarked, this is not the sole cause of
small mammae, but it is one of the great causes.

Pruritis.--This is an affection not infrequent in these subjects.
Continued congestion produces a terrible itching of the genitals, which
increases until the individual is in a state of actual frenzy, and the
disposition to manipulate the genitals becomes irresistible, and is
indulged even in the presence of friends or strangers, and though the
patient be at other times a young woman of unexceptionable modesty.
In cases of this kind, great hypertrophy of the organ of greatest
sensibility has been observed, and in some cases amputation of the part
has been found the only cure.

General Effects.--The general effects in the female are much the same
as those in the male. Although women suffer no seminal loss, they suffer
the debilitating effects of leucorrhoea, which is in some degree
injurious in the same manner as seminal losses in the male. But in
females the greatest injury results from the nervous exhaustion which
follows the unnatural excitement. Nervous diseases of every variety
are developed. Emaciation and debility become more marked even than
in the male, and the worst results are produced sooner, being hastened
by the sedentary ha