According to Morgagni, the too frequent return of venereal ideas will produce varicocele and hydrocele. Some authors, also, place venereal excesses among the causes of the first of these two diseases, and also of circosele. We have seen several cases of varicose dilatation of the spermatic cord and testicle in onanists. This fact is also confirmed by Breschet, in his memoir read at the Academy of Sciences, Jan. 13th, 1834. He thinks that circosele and varicocele are by no means diseases of adult and old age, but that they are seen most frequently in young men. These affections seem to him to be caused most particularly by venereal excesses. He adds, that the varicose tumors of the bursæ, and the organs they contain, are not only very troublesome, causing severe pain in the cord, but that in some patients they cause extreme melancholy.
One consequence of onanism, which has been omitted by Deslandes, may be stated here. We allude to the smallness of the genital organs. In several severe cases of onanism, which have fallen under the notice of Dr. A. Sidney Doane, of New-York, this important feature has been observed. The same fact has been remarked by Professor John W. Francis, of New-York; Professor Otto, of Germany; and by other eminent pathologists.
Excesses in masturbation and coition, _in females_, cause affection of the several organs much more frequently than in males. By too frequent titillation, the clitoris may become enormously large. This cause (says Bouillaud) may determine schirrous engorgement, or even a cancerous degenerescence of this organ. The most frequent alteration, however, of the genital organs of the female, which may be thus produced, is an inflammation of the membrane which lines the vulva and vagina. This inflammation is constantly indicated by a more or less abundant leucorrhœal discharge, and often by swelling, redness, and pain. When this discharge continues, which is often the case, it occasions in young females symptoms analogous to those of diurnal pollution. The complexion loses its color, and becomes yellowish; the eyes are constantly suffused, and the countenance is sad; the patients are feeble and careless; they generally experience gnawing sensations in the epigastric region; and, thinking that these are occasioned by hunger, are constantly eating. Sometimes, the appetite is voracious, and the digestive powers are preserved; but these are commonly soon altered. Severe and constant pains are often felt in the back and epigastrium; the body wastes; and a short, dry, and frequent cough, renders the patient, parents, and sometimes the physician, anxious as to the state of the chest. Add to these symptoms those already described, when speaking of the general effects of masturbation, and you have the state most frequently presented by girls addicted to this habit.