be so treated,
until perfectly cured. Removing the worms by irritants or by mechanical
means does not remove the _cause_ of their existence or reproduction in
the body. The dyscrasia that gives rise to these worms, with the
accompanying itching and tickling, is apt to cause a sexual excitement
which may prove more disastrous than the original trouble itself.
Therefore be sure that this affection is treated constitutionally; so
long as the vital forces work in harmonious order, no abnormal
appearances of any kind can come to light, because they do not exist.

From the age of nine to fourteen, boys generally acquire very curious
notions about sexual affairs and are naturally, from what they hear,
desirous of obtaining some idea of sexual congress, a knowledge of
where babies come from, etc. This curiosity, of course, causes the mind
to dwell much upon sexual subjects. I fully believe that good
information will, by satisfying this curiosity, free the mind to a great
extent from sexual thoughts. It is from such very thoughts that boys are
led to play with their sexual organs in secret, and to handle them so as
to excite pleasurable sensations; erections of the penis are thus
produced and finally, by this continual excitation with the hand, the
height of sexual orgasm is reached, ejaculation of semen occurs and
_self-pollution_ is the consequence. This act is called "masturbation"
and becomes a _secret vice of the worst kind_!

Very frequently and to an alarming extent "masturbation" is taught by
older boys, and by young men even, in nearly all our colleges, boarding,
public and private schools, and by companions under the paternal roof.
This act is repeated time after time until the degrading and destructive
(morally and physically so) habit is confirmed. As a result, the boy
grows thin, pale, morose and passionate; then weak, indolent and
indifferent; his digestion becomes impaired, his sleep short, disturbed
and broken; he sometimes becomes epileptic or falls into a state of
marasmus; in any case he is in great danger of being totally ruined
forever.

There is a great difference in boys regarding the formation of these
habits. While some may almost insensibly glide into them, others,
intuitively as it were, turn away from all such temptations and banish
all thoughts of a sexual nature from their minds at once. This is right.
So long as a boy's mind refuses to harbor such baleful approaches, so
long he is safe; but the