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stituted that she seemed incapable of permitting full completion of the conjugal act. On inquiry, it appeared that she had acted by the instigations of her own mother, who had instructed her in the execution of a certain maneuver, too indecent to describe, by which she "could avoid the dangers of child-birth/' Yet this monstrous mother is a zealous member of an "orthodox" church, and not only believes in hell-fire, but indicates without scruple the very souls who, in her opinion, will be consigned to it. It is a comfort to add that the machinations of the old she-devil were readily thwarted by proper advice, and the parties now glory in the possession of children and connubial bliss.
We now propose to offer a few physiological reasons why this crime of Onan should never be committed, even if moral considerations were entirely out of the question. The effect of the practice on man is incontestably similar to that of masturbation. All the effects of the solitary vice are not manifested, because certain of the conditions are wanting, but its influence on mind and body is only less in degree. The act being against nature, she revenges herself for her violated laws in diseases of the brain and spinal marrow, functional disorders, organic diseases of the heart, lungs, and kidneys, wasting of the muscles, blindness, and frequently by impotence. The effects, in fact, are slower in development, but the same in kind. The victim finally succumbs to some acute or chronic disorder, and his epitaph may be written, "Therefore the Lord slew him because he did a detestable thing."
The effect upon woman is more obvious, because more immediate and local. The orgasm induced in the female organs by the conjugal act is such that, if left incomplete, the congestion does not immediately relieve itself, and inflammations, ulcerations, and final sterility are the re-
