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Viewing the world over, this shameful and criminal act is the most frequent, as well as the most fatal, of all vices. In our country, however, it is second in frequency—though not, surely, in importance —only to the crime of libertinism. It is encountered in all ages, from the infant in the cradle to the old man groaning upon his pallet. But it is from the age of fourteen to twenty that its ravages are most frequent and most deplorable. Nothing but a sense of inexorable duty, in the hope of effecting a radical reform by awakening the alarm of parents and teachers to the enormous frequency and horrible consequences of this revolting crime, could induce the author to enter upon the sickening revelation.

Granted that, as already stated, it must, if persevered in, reveal itself, it is only the most aggravated cases that are brought to notice, and these usually are hopeless and incurable. The vast majority escape detection, and the practice in such, though indulged to a comparatively moderate extent, does not the less seriously, but only the less completely, impair the intellect and lay the foundation of physical, mental and moral maladies, the causes of which are usually as unsuspected as they are consequently persistent in their operation.

The frequency of masturbation before the age of puberty is in direct relation to the development of the nervous system, and the opportunity afforded for acquiring a knowledge of the sin from pernicious examples.