Spermatorrhoea: Its Causes, Symptoms, Results, and Treatment.

New York: William Wood & Co., 1870. Third edition, substantially revised. Spine and portions of the boards slightly sunned, some light bumping at the head and foot of the spine; the slightest hint of cracking to the coated paper along the front hinge, but quite sound; in very good condition. 12mo (7.5 x 5 inches), original purple cloth, gilt lettering, 120 pages, title stamped in gilt on the upper board but no notice of the edition. No evidence of a frontispiece. No copyright notice on the verso of the title page. "The vice of masturbation is undoubtedly the chief cause. The growth of the sexual apparatus at the period of puberty is accompanied by abundant secretion of the seminal fluid, which accumulates in the reservoirs. The sexual instinct, then fully developed, exerts a powerful influence over the mind, whilst the reason is not in a sufficiently matured state to correct the mirages of the imagination. An accidental friction of the erect organ in these moments of delirium makes the unfortunate youth acquainted with a new and voluptuous sensation. Ignorant of the dreadful consequences which must ensure from the repeated perpetration of this act, the youth perseveres in his secret pleasures until arrested by realizing some of the sad effects upon the mind and body which follow."

First published in 1866 and here substantially revised (this copy includes a "Preface to the Third Edition," which notes, "the material has been rearranged, and in large part rewritten"), a serious medical work on the psychosomatic perils of seminal loss, on a sound medical basis, from the physician and surgeon known for his pioneering work in cortical stimulation. Bartholow suggests the malady has suffered from polite neglect, pushing sufferers into "the hands of advertising specialists, who excite the worst apprehensions for a mercenary purpose," and further notes in the preface to this edition, "I am, indeed, more than ever confirmed in the view that it is a neurosis, and that the treatment, to be successful, must be founded on this pathological basis." With related case studies on impotence, the risks of insanity, treatments, etc.