Now, I would ask, if this primitive exaltation of a sense, which masturbation excited still more every day, could govern a disposition which caused her to regard homicide as the best mode of satisfying certain desires? Could that state of fatigue, which is constantly felt in those individuals who are addicted to onanism, excite in this young girl the sympathies which unite each individual to his fellows, and give strength to those bonds which she was always ready to break? Was it possible for her to love her parents, who constantly thwarted her desires? Would not the irritation she constantly felt at not being able to give herself completely up to venereal pleasures, react on her other inclinations? Would not the obstacles she encountered tend to make her think herself surrounded with enemies? Governed by one sense, was she in a state to listen to and understand all that was said to her, to modify her bad inclinations? Did not her state resemble that of animals, who, although mild and amiable, become dangerous and wicked, when the genital sense is excited? Finally, does not this case prove that deviations of character may result from onanism--that good feelings may be changed by this habit--or, at least, that bad ones may be called into action?
Moral depravity of another kind may result from onanism. The mind, accustomed to seek pleasure in a certain circle of ideas, or a peculiar series of sensations, cannot find any in any other manner. The enjoyments of onanism are then the only ones which the onanist can realize. The union of the sexes has no attraction for him: he indulges with repugnance, and thinks the sensations much less agreeable than those arising from self-pollution. The genital sense, the power of proceeding to the act of venery, and of procreating, remain: but depraved tastes have taken the place of the legitimate desires. Tissot regards this perversion as more frequent in females than in males: he remarks upon the case of a female as stated by Bekkers, over whose mind self-pollution had taken such possession, that she detested the legitimate modes of gratification.
We believe, that if there are females who prefer onanism to coition, it is because the sensual results of the latter are generally very uncertain. Besides, Tissot does not exclude the male sex from this kind of depravation: the same author states the history of a man, who, in being taught onanism by his preceptor, experienced, when first married, so great a disgust for the natural relations which result from it, added to the exhaustion caused by his manipulations, that he became melancholy; which state, however, yielded to appropriate remedies.