It has already been stated that the immediate physical results of self-abuse are small evils indeed compared with the corruption of mind which comes from perverted sex ideas.  They are, however, by no means negligible; and are, in some cases, very serious.  The great prevalence of self-abuse among boys, combined with the inevitable uncertainty as to the degree of a boy’s freedom from, or indulgence in, this vice, makes it very difficult to institute a reliable comparison between those who are chaste and those who are unchaste.  Greater significance attaches, I think, to a comparison in individual cases of a boy’s condition during a period of indulgence in masturbation and his condition after its total, or almost total, relinquishment.  I have no hesitation in saying that the difference in a boy’s vitality and spiritual tone after relinquishing this habit is very marked.  The case D quoted in Chapter I. is, in this respect, typical.

In my pamphlet, Private Knowledge for Boys, I have quoted a striking passage from Acton on the Reproductive Organs, in which he contrasts the continent and the incontinent boy.  But in the case of men like Dr. Acton—­specialists in the diseases of the male reproductive organs—­it must be remembered that it is mostly the abnormal and extreme cases which come under their notice:  a fact which is liable to affect their whole estimate.  The book can be recommended to adults who wish to see the whole subject of sex diseases dealt with by a specialist who writes with a high moral purpose.

My own estimate is given in the pamphlet already referred to.  After quoting Dr. Acton’s opinion, I add:—­

“You will notice that Dr. Acton is here describing an extreme case.  I want to tell you what are the results in a case which is not extreme.  My difficulty is that these results are so various.  The injury to the nerves and brain which is caused by sexual excitement and by the loss of semen leaves nothing in the body, mind or character uninjured.  The extent of the injury varies greatly with the strength of a boy’s constitution and with the frequency of his sin.  The character of the injury varies with the boy’s own special weaknesses and tendencies.  If he is naturally shy and timid, it makes him shyer and more timid.  If he is stupid and lazy, it makes him more stupid and lazy.  If he is inclined to consumption or other disease, it destroys his power of resisting such disease.  In extreme cases only does it actually change an able boy into a stupid one, an athletic boy into a weak one, and a happy boy into a discontented one; but in all cases it weakens every power a boy possesses.  Its most prominent results are these:  loss of will-power and self-reliance, shyness, nervousness and irritability, failure of the reasoning powers and memory, laziness of body and mind, a diseased fondness for girls, deceitfulness.  Of these results, the loss of will-power leaves the boy a prey not only to the temptations of impurity, but to every other form of temptation:  the deceitfulness destroys his self-respect and turns his life into a sham.”