ong time before obvious symptoms appear.
Meanwhile a corruption may have set in which will ultimately ruin the
whole life.

CHAPTER IV.

RESULTS OF YOUTHFUL IMPURITY.

It is difficult to exaggerate the evils which result from the present
system under which boys grow to manhood without any adult guidance in
relation to the laws of sex.

It has already been stated that the immediate physical results of
self-abuse are small evils indeed compared with the corruption of mind
which comes from perverted sex ideas. They are, however, by no means
negligible; and are, in some cases, very serious. The great prevalence
of self-abuse among boys, combined with the inevitable uncertainty as
to the degree of a boy's freedom from, or indulgence in, this vice,
makes it very difficult to institute a reliable comparison between
those who are chaste and those who are unchaste. Greater significance
attaches, I think, to a comparison in individual cases of a boy's
condition during a period of indulgence in masturbation and his
condition after its total, or almost total, relinquishment. I have no
hesitation in saying that the difference in a boy's vitality and
spiritual tone after relinquishing this habit is very marked. The
case _D_ quoted in Chapter I. is, in this respect, typical.

In my pamphlet, _Private Knowledge for Boys_, I have quoted a striking
passage from Acton on the Reproductive Organs, in which he contrasts
the continent and the incontinent boy. But in the case of men like Dr.
Acton--specialists in the diseases of the male reproductive organs--it
must be remembered that it is mostly the abnormal and extreme cases
which come under their notice: a fact which is liable to affect their
whole estimate. The book can be recommended to adults who wish to see
the whole subject of sex diseases dealt with by a specialist who
writes with a high moral purpose.

My own estimate is given in the pamphlet already referred to. After
quoting Dr. Acton's opinion, I add:--

"You will notice that Dr. Acton is here describing an extreme case. I
want to tell you what are the results in a case which is not extreme.
My difficulty is that these results are so various. The injury to the
nerves and brain which is caused by sexual excitement and by the loss
of semen leaves nothing in the body, mind or character uninjured. The
_extent_ of the injury varies greatly with the strength of a boy's
constitution and with the frequency of his sin. Th