HEREDITY and MORALS AS AFFECTED BY THE USE SEXUAL INSTINCT. ESSENTIALS TO THE WELFARE OF THE INDIVID- BY JAMES FOSTER SCOTT B.A. (Yale University), M.D., C.M. (Edinburgh University) LATE OBSTETRICIAN TO COLUMBIA HOSPITAL FOR WOMEN, AND LYING-IN ASYLUM, NEW YORK E. B. TREAT & COMPANY 241-243 WEST TWENTY-THIRD STREET 1900 tion, vagueness and indefiniteness-to truthfully present physical and ethical facts-not evading unpleasant topics, nor yet transgressing the limits of propriety. Science strips all draperies from the objects it examines, and, in the search after truth, sees no indecorum in any earnest line of study, and recognizes no impropriety in looking at objects under an intense light and in good focus. I have conscientiously avoided making any statement of fact which I believe to be debatable, and have formulated nothing which I fear to present to the tests of time or criticism. The future prospects of humanity, of course, rest in the sexual domain of those who are now living, and none will dispute that the degradation of mankind is due more to sexual irregularity than to any other cause. It is commonly said that it is a hopeless task to turn the stream of the sexual activities into orderly channels. So also is it a hopeless task to do away with murder, theft, drunkenness, lying, and other prevalent misdeeds. Evils, however, can be mitigated, if not cured, if we subject them to a philosophical analysis, which may suggest remedies. Civilization has very slowly come to the race; and the tribes, originally barbarous, have required long periods of development for their higher enlightenment. The operation of Natural Law is leisurely, but unerring in its regular correlation of causes with definite effects; thus if the individual maintain himself as a desirable ancestor, the blessings of his selfrestraint will, by the operation of the law of the "survival of the fittest," accrue to his posterity, who tend to increase in the ratio of a geometrical progression. On the other hand, the progeny of the careless and the faulty will surely be affected, physically or psychically, or both. In fairness to myself it must be stated that my knowledge of these subjects has been acquired through legitimate channels. Upon my very entrance into university life my attention was first directed to the subject by an address from the late President Porter of Yale University; then came the experience as a medical student at Edinburgh, Vienna and London; then a residence of two and a half years in a hospital devoted exclusively to obstetrics and the diseases of women, followed by several years more of hospital and private practice. Thus I have learned to appreciate and respect the rôle of women in nature, and to abhor the ignorance which will permit men to throw aside the elements of their manhood-veracity, cleanliness, health, and fitness for ancestorship. Such men I have seen by hundreds in the venereal wards of hospitals and at large. I have made it a point to discuss the subject-matter of this work with several widely different kinds of advisers-men of science, doctors, ministers, lawyers, and with quite a large number of "men about town. Some of it has also been prudently discussed with women. It is noteworthy that these various classes of counsellors, who surely afford the fairest test, agree with what has been said; and perhaps the most emphatic assent of all comes from men of loose morals-many of whom, I have cause to believe, have, through free discussion upon the various points in this work, been led to abandon illicit indulgence. Painful as it is to treat subjects so repulsive, a man cannot choose his duty, nor can he honestly evade it. Therefore, knowing of no other book of like character, I present this as the best effort of which I am at present capable for the preservation of the individual and the welfare of the race. JAMES FOSTER SCOTT. NOTE.-OWING to Dr. Scott's absence from the country while his work was going through the press, he committed the final revision and proof-reading to a medical friend. A very considerable abridgment has been found necessary to bring the book within the required limit of size and price. If, therefore, a want of continuity or of completeness be found in any portion, the responsibility rests upon the reviser and not upon the author. The few notes added by the reviser are signed "ED." WASHINGTON, D.C. CONTENTS. CHAPTER I.-INTRODUCTORY-THE SEXUAL INSTINCT AND THE IM- PORTANCE OF A JUST APPRECIATION OF ITS INFLUENCE. Self-preservation and the sexual instinct the two chief impulses which govern human action-Importance of rightly compre- hending the sexual side of one's nature-Sin luxuriates in ignorance and secrecy-Enemies of posterity-Fatherhood and justice to offspring-Character chiefly developed during de. velopmental period-Laws of nature and morality coincide- The grave responsibilities incurred in the lustful life-Chil- dren of the vigorous tend to survive, while the progeny of the vicious tend to become eliminated-Nature leisurely in pun- ishing-No pardon granted for sins against the body-The aftermath of lust which physicians see-No animal so bad as some men-Perfect continence compatible with health-Self- control and altruism-Pure glow of the sexual functions is the well-spring of all the majestic qualities of man-Impairment of sexual vigor a terrible calamity-Ethical defect associated with vitiation of it-Danger for every uninstructed man- Conscience, duty and sympathy racial instincts-Heredity, the past at work in the present-Progeny of the impure, sons and daughters alike, tend to have a surcharge of erotic inclina- tion-Man, like the animals, should at the least show an equal- CHAPTER II.-PHYSIOLOGY OF THE SEXUAL LIFE. The stages of human life-Contrasts between the sexes-Woman's PAGE |