The Social Emergency | Page 8

multiply is neither greater nor less than
in the past when marriages generally occurred earlier. Fortunately it is
weaker in the female than in the male. There are those who believe that
the male must exercise it if he would achieve his full strength of mind
and body. Certain political and philosophic sects take cognizance of
this belief and advocate legalized provision for the gratification of the
sex impulse even to the extent of providing for the destruction of the
lives of the unborn.
The most pernicious of the false beliefs regarding physiological
necessity are as follows:--
1. That a life of sexual continence is not consistent with the best
physical health.
2. That the exercise of the sex function is necessary to the full

development and preservation of "manly power,"--the power of
procreation.
3. That the sexual impulse in man is so imperious that it is impossible
to control it and, therefore, a sexually continent life cannot be expected
of man.
4. That, therefore, the moral standard which we apply to woman cannot
be applied to man.
To correct these erroneous beliefs about the sex function, Dr. M.J.
Exner brought together the testimony of the foremost medical
authorities of the United States. He drew up a statement regarding
sexual continence, and submitted it to leading physiologists for
criticism so as to bring its phraseology wholly within the requirements
of scientific precision. It was then submitted for endorsement to leading
medical authorities throughout the country. The ready and hearty
response of 370 of these men in endorsing the declaration leaves no
doubt as to the conviction of the leading men of the medical profession
on this question. The declaration is as follows:--
"In view of the individual and social dangers which spring from the
widespread belief that continence may be detrimental to health, and of
the fact that municipal toleration of prostitution is sometimes defended
on the ground that sexual indulgence is necessary, we, the undersigned,
members of the medical profession, testify to our belief that continence
has not been shown to be detrimental to health or virility; that there is
no evidence of its being inconsistent with the highest physical, mental
and moral efficiency; and that it offers the only sure reliance for sexual
health outside of marriage."[1]
The erroneous beliefs concerning physiological necessity have been
propagated chiefly on the authority of advertising medical fakers,
whose business depends on misrepresentation and deceit, men whose
methods exclude them from the ranks of reputable physicians. They are
also taught by those within the ranks of the profession who are ignorant
or unscrupulous or both, and who for the most part have no higher
incentive in their profession than the pursuit of the dollar. The teaching

of these men is in most cases more an expression of their own vicious
habits than of real conviction. Both wholly misrepresent the teaching
and attitude of the great majority of physicians who constitute the
reputable body of the profession.
Dr. William H. Howell, Professor of Physiology at Johns Hopkins
University, says: "There is no evidence whatsoever that the sexual
appetite or the act of reproduction has any physiological relationship to
the preservation of the integrity of the individual. This appetite has
been created or evolved and made strong in us for an entirely different
purpose. A sexual necessity exists only so far as the integrity of the
race is concerned; so far as the individual is concerned his sexual
functions may be unused or he may be completely unsexed without any
injury to his bodily health."
FOOTNOTES:
[1] The full list of authorities is given in The Physician's Answer, by
M.J. Exner, M.D., Secretary, Student Department, International
Committee, Young Men's Christian Associations, Association Press,
New York, 1913. This is the best treatment of the question of
physiological necessity. It is freely quoted in this chapter. [Editor.]
CHAPTER IV
MEDICAL PHASES
By Andrew C. Smith
Some idea of the prevalence of venereal diseases in the United States
may be obtained from the following statistics of the census for 1910.
The registration area covered a population of 48,877,893 persons. The
figures are here extended to cover a population of 90,000,000 people:
Deaths ascribed to venereal disease, 5275; spinal cord diseases, 2598;
paresis, 4845. Other diseases partly due to syphilis: softening of the
brain, a term indiscriminately used to cover a number of diseases
including brain syphilis and paresis, 2111; paralysis, usually meaning
apoplexy, but always including many cases of brain syphilis, 14,479;

premature birth, by some believed to be the result of syphilis in one
half of all cases, 34,174; congenital debility, deaths due in many cases
to feebleness of the child resulting from syphilis, 25,285; blindness,
one fourth the total number of blind in this country estimated at 15,000
to 20,000. Many estimate that over half of the entire