The long-continued and frequent indulgence of masturbation must be a most frequent cause of impotence. I have only observed a very few whom I knew to have brought upon themselves this condition without the habit of masturbation; and even then I am not positive in knowledge. Yet they were rare debauchés, with money to squander and appetites so salacious that the almost constant contact with women was their custom. On the other hand, it seems that a male human being is constructed for endurance of his sexual organs. A notorious polygamist in practice, once living in the city of Elmira, New York, was known to lavish his smiles on his “kept women,” whom he numbered by scores, and still he was potent till he died in advanced life. We must have a most excellent example in the famous President Young whose wives, we are inclined to believe, must have kept him on the _qui vive_, as his children bear evidence, as well as the fascination and attractiveness of his young wives.
The exciting cause of impotence must combine a constant and long-continued sexual debauch with the depraved chain of thought that must necessarily accompany such degradation; and the practice of self-pollution must be the most fruitful of all causes.
_Treatment._――In the management of impotence, the patient’s persuasive influence must not in any way change the intentions of the physician, or the fast hold of his mind, which is so indispensable to a cure, will be lost. The patient is always in great haste, and constantly urging the physician to make rapid progress. Too great firmness cannot be exercised, and promises of speedy cure will invariably fail. Time is one of the most important of all elements in the treatment, as opportunity is afforded for the recuperative powers of nature or physical forces to become poised.
Perfect confidence in the medical adviser is prerequisite to success, as by this alone can the patient’s mind be manipulated, and his hope constantly stimulated. If he has been much exercised in mind about his case, from reading “self-abuse” literature, moral treatment will be required to dispel from his mind the pictures there wrought. Not always can the virile organ be restored to its normal vigor, but elevating the general health should be first considered, and the patient’s mind kept constantly thinking about his improving physical condition, instead of watching for the first erection as he will most naturally do.