TEN SEX TALKS 
TO BOYS 
10 YEARS AND OLDER 
BY 
I D.STEINHARDT,M.D. TEN SEX TALKS 
TO BOYS 
(10 years and older) 
BY 
IRVING DAVID gTEINHARDT, M.D 
AUTHOR OF “ TEN SEX TALKS TO GIRLS ” (14 YEARS AND OLDER) 
INSTRUCTOR IN CLINICAL SURGERY AND ASSISTANT SURGEON, CORNELL UNI 
VERSITY MEDICAL SCHOOL; ASSISTANT PEDIATRIST, MOUNT SINAI HOSPITAL- 
O.P.D., NEW YORK CITY; ORTHOPEDIC SURGEON, NEW YORK HOSPITAL. 
O.P.D., AND BRONX HOSPITAL AND DISPENSARY; FIRST LIEUTEN- 
ANT, MEDICAL RESERVE CORPS, U.S.A.; MEMBER OF AMERICAN 
MEDICAL ASSOCIATION; THE AMERICAN SOCIETY OF MORAL 
AND SANITARY PROPHYLAXIS; AND THE AMERICAN 
ACADEMY OF POLITICAL. AND SOCIAL SCIENCE, ETC. 
WITH TWELVE ILLUSTRATIONS 
PHILADELPHIA & LONDON 
J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY COPYRIGHT, 1914 
BY J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY 
PUBLISHED JUNE, 1914 
Electrotyped and Printed by J. B. Lippincott Company 
The Washington Square Press, Philadelphia, V. S. A. To 
OUR GRANDFATHERS, FATHERS, HUSBANDS, BROTHERS, 
AND SONS IS THIS LITTLE VOLUME DEDICATED BY THE 
AUTHOR IN THE HOPE THAT WITHIN ITS COVERS EACH 
AND EVERY ONE OF THEM WILL FIND PROFITABLE 
KNOWLEDGE AND WILL DISSEMINATE IT IN THE SAME 
EARNEST SPIRIT OF WANTING TO BENEFIT THE HUMAN 
RACE AS POSSESSES THE AUTHOR IN OFFERING IT. PREFACE 
The originals of these lectures, entitled “ Seven 
Sex Talks to Boys,” were published in the medical 
magazine “ Pediatrics ” after the author had deliv- 
ered them before several large audiences at the 
Hebrew Educational Society, of Brooklyn, N. Y., 
before the New Era Club and the Emanu-El Brother- 
hood of New York City, and several other clubs. 
Their cordial reception both surprised and delighted 
the author, and, in response to many requests that he 
do so, he has revised and enlarged these lectures, so 
that with the new material incorporated the series 
now numbers ten talks, which are offered in book 
form for the benefit of those who desire to profit by 
the truths therein contained. As in the author’s 
book “ Ten Sex Talks to Girls,” no attempt is made 
to be scientific, but only to speak plainly so that the 
talks can be understood by all. To others interested 
in this subject, he offers the use of all or any part of 
them for lectures or instruction. To my audiences 
I gave the privilege of asking questions. To my 
readers I extend the same courtesy, but request that 
postage be forwarded for replies. 
I wish to extend my thanks to Mr. Charles S. 
Bernheimer, of the Hebrew Educational Society 
3 4 
PREFACE 
of Brooklyn, N. Y., to Mrs. Sarah L. S. Spector, of 
the Florence Memorial Aid Society of this Society, 
to Mr. and Mrs. Tobias Roth, of the Emanu-El 
Brotherhood of New York City, to Mr. Louis 
Posner, of the New Era Club, and to my numerous 
correspondents who encouraged me in, and were 
kind enough to praise, my little series of talks to 
boys. I also wish to thank those who assisted 
me in the preparation of the manuscript, but who are 
too modest to allow me to mention them by name. 
It is the hope of the author that this little book will 
do something toward saving our boys, little and big, 
from wrong-doing and disgrace, and make of them 
better sons, husbands, and fathers. “ Forewarned 
is forearmed.” 
Irving David Steinhardt, M.D., 
310 West 99th Street, 
New York City. 
April, 1914. HOW MUCH SHALL I 
TELL MY BOY? 
ERNEST THOMPSON SETON 
AN INTRODUCTION 
While yet a child, the normal boy is sure to 
realize very fully the fact and meaning of sex. If 
he lives in the country he learns about the reproduc- 
tion of farm animals while he is but six or seven. 
Indeed, I remember well once hearing a five-year-old 
boy accurately describe to me the origin of a calf. 
Next he puzzles over the arrival of the baby, and, 
usually before he is ten, he draws the very natural 
inference that human beings have similar experi- 
ences and origin; especially if he reads his Bible. 
The average city boy learns later, but almost 
always draws his knowledge from vulgar sources. 
Physicians vary greatly in their estimate of the 
amount of sorrow that results from ignorance or 
improper knowledge, but all testify that a frightful 
amount of human crime and misery is due to im- 
morality born of ignorance. 
All are agreed on the need for keeping boys as 
well as girls sexually clean. It is generally ad- 
mitted to--day that ignorance as a safeguard has 
proved a disastrous failure. If the boy does not 
5 6 
INTRODUCTION 
learn from pure sources, he certainly will from im- 
pure. The only questions with most men are: How 
much shall I tell my boy ? And at what age ? 
On the last point there is the greatest diversity 
of opinion. I know of one father who thought he 
was doing his whole duty by vaguely hinting on the 
subject for the first time when his son was nineteen. 
Whereas fourteen is probably the latest for the most 
backward boy. As a matter of fact, one cannot fix 
an age, because it depends on the boy’s development. 
And how is that to be gauged ? The best rule I can 
offer is—as soon as he can read well. Then if you 
have difficulty in talking freely to him, put in his 
hands some clean, sound book that treats the subj ect 
physiologically, and simply; not with veiled expres- 
sions of disgust, or reference to religious duties. 
I do not know of any book better fitted to serve 
this purpose and aid the anxious but embarrassed 
father to do his duty by his boy than the present 
“ Sex Talks.” As soon as the child can read—and 
with most boys that means about eight—it is well to 
discuss the simple facts of animal reproduction or 
read parts of this book to him. A little later put the 
book in his hands and tell him that it contains things 
he ought to know. He will absorb the information 
exactly in proportion to his needs, and if the father 
has maintained the right friendly relations with his 
son, the child will come and tell him when street 
acquaintances or unscrupulous hired help have given INTRODUCTION 
7 
him ideas that are unclean, or likely to lead in the 
wrong direction. 
I know of one father who bitterly assailed his 
own father for not telling him things that would 
have saved himself from lifelong misery. I said to 
him, “ Are you profiting by the lesson to safeguard 
your son with proper information? ” 
“ There is time enough for him,” was the reply. 
“ He is only fourteen. Besides he isn’t that kind of 
a boy.” 
I was amazed at his attitude, and when I pointed 
out that the boy was so precocious that it was, if any- 
thing, too late, he unwillingly admitted that he ought 
to do something, but didn’t know how. 
I said, “ There are three ways: First by talking 
frankly with him yourself.” 
“ Impossible,” he said, “ I wouldn’t know how.” 
“ Then, have your family physician talk to him.” 
“ I don’t believe in that,” was the answer. “ He 
doesn’t understand my boy at all.” 
“ Then,” I said, “ let him have a safe book.” 
“All right,” he replied, “ where can I get one? ” 
He tried to do so. He got two—one a medical 
anatomy and the other a quack medicine advertising 
book; the only two things then available. And the 
result was not what it should have been. But the 
son was a fine boy of strong character and he won 
out after being badly burnt in the fires. 
I knew an eminent physician who had helped 8 
INTRODUCTION 
the boys and girls of many other families, but who 
had such a singularly prudish attitude toward his 
own daughter, and only child, that under his very 
eyes she adopted habits that doomed her to the in- 
sane asylum and to death, while still in her teens. 
I knew of a boy, who, thanks to an equipment 
of misinformation from the usual unclean sources, 
at the early age of sixteen contracted the worst dis- 
ease known to mankind and, after a few years of 
sorrow for himself and all his friends, was slowly 
eaten by loathsome sores. His death was a relief 
to every one who knew him. 
These are individual cases that represent tens 
of thousands, where the simple truth properly given 
probably would have meant salvation. 
But a few years ago we could not find in print 
the needed information, put simply and unprudishly. 
Now our difficulties are met before they arise, and 
those fathers who know their duty, but not how to 
approach it, will find the way made plainer by the 
present simple readable volume. 
Reader, are you the father of a boy? Are you 
enough concerned about his welfare to give him this 
simple safeguard? TEN SEX TALKS TO 
BOYS 
I 
For some strange and unknown reason, it has 
for many years been considered indelicate, if not 
absolutely improper, to discuss matters pertaining 
to sex and sexual relations, and a criminal silence 
has been maintained which permitted innumerable 
girls to be morally ruined by the male sex. These 
girls, as they became more and more degraded, like- 
wise became diseased, yet were allowed, without 
question or restraint, to ruin the health of their 
male companions who sought to keep them in degra- 
dation. 
In some respects things have changed for the 
better, and the decision has been arrived at that it 
is neither right nor profitable to allow our growing 
boys to acquire only a street knowledge of things 
sexual. Therefore the question arises, how can 
you best be educated? I think the best way is to 
be frank and honest with you, and then to leave it 
to your common-sense to profit by what I am going 
to tell you. I do not believe that you should first 
9 10 
SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
acquire on the street false ideas of things sexual, 
and be told, after it is probably too late, what is 
the correct way in which to regard these things. 
To my idea, at least, “ an ounce of prevention is 
worth a pound of cure ”; and, while it is no doubt 
true that “ a burnt child dreads the fire,” I can see no 
reason why one should first permit a child to be 
injured before telling him that the fire is dangerous. 
Ignorance of things sexual is really dangerous to 
you in the present, and to many besides you in the 
future. I am going to speak to you in a way in 
which you have never before been spoken to. I am 
going to discuss certain things with you in the same 
simple way in which I would discuss baseball or 
any other of your favorite sports, in the discussion 
of which we would omit no phase of the subject 
selected, and so it will be with this subject. What 
we take up we shall talk about in the same explicit 
way in which we speak of other things, and with 
no embarrassment. As with my book “ Ten Sex 
Talks to Girls,” I shall be criticized. The very 
radical will accuse me of being too conservative, 
whereas the conservative and more timid will accuse 
me of being too radical. My aim, however, is to 
please neither the one nor the other, but to serve 
your interests as best I can. When I do this, I serve 
the interests of the other sex also, as well as the 
interests of humanity. SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
11 
The object of this series of talks is to make 
plain to you some things concerning which you 
already have more or less general information. The 
subject of each talk will be dealt with in a plain, 
straightforward manner, and at the end of each talk 
this subject will be open to general discussion by 
my audience (see Preface). Ask questions about 
anything I have spoken of and yet not made as 
plain to you as you would have liked me to make it. 
These talks are for your benefit, physically and 
mentally, and I want every one of you who listens 
to them to go forth richer in the right kind of sexual 
knowledge than you were before hearing me; to 
go from this school of sex education determined, 
in your own heart, that what you have heard shall 
keep you, at least, from being a mere animal and 
degrader of the sex of your mothers and sisters. 
No, I am not going to preach religion to you; 
that is the duty of your clergyman. I am, as I have 
already said, going to lay before you facts which I 
think worth knowing. If you agree with me, you 
will also conclude that morality is worth while. I 
know it is; my practice of medicine has convinced 
me of it beyond the shadow of a doubt; and if I could 
bring home to you in some way what I see daily, it 
would also be proven to you. As this cannot be, 
I must draw word-pictures, as best I can, for your 
benefit, and hope I shall prove a good word-picture 12 
SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
artist, for my message to you of health and happi- 
ness is certainly all-important. 
Do not look upon me as a mere lecturer or 
writer, or yet more distant instructor who comes be- 
fore you to “ air ” his supposed knowledge of this 
most important subject; but as a friend who, seeing 
an opportunity to advance your present and future 
well-being, hastens to your side to be of assistance. 
In fact, the service I hope to render you will not 
only promote your own health and happiness, but 
also the health and happiness of those whom each 
of you, if you are real men, will love and value 
far more than your own life, happiness, and health— 
your future wives and children. 
I want to show you the difference between being 
merely a male, and being a real man; the difference 
between being a so-called “ sport,” who is usually, 
in reality, a dissolute corner rowdy, and being a gen- 
tleman ; the difference between “ sham ” and reality. 
It is my idea that in order properly to under- 
stand sex hygiene you should have a general knowl- 
edge of the anatomy of your sexual organs, and 
of the physiology of these parts,—that is, the genera- 
tive or creative parts in the male. These are usually 
grouped together, and spoken of as the genital or 
reproductive tract. As a matter of fact, aside from 
sex hygiene talks, I believe that every male should 
understand his own special anatomy and physiology. SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
13 
Therefore, for these two reasons, not to mention 
many others, we will spend a little time on anatomy 
and physiology. 
All of you are familiar with the appearance of 
the male external organs of generation. You know 
that they consist of the rod-like part known as the 
penis, and of a bag-like structure apparently hang- 
ing from it which is called the scrotum, and in which 
are two oval-shaped masses known as the testes. 
But these are only a small portion of the male gen- 
erative tract, so, beginning within the body, we shall 
trace the entire tract from within outward. 
The body, as you know, is divided into various 
parts, such as the neck, the arms, and the legs, and 
into cavities or compartments known as the head, 
the thorax or chest, and the abdomen (Fig. i). 
Each part is, of course, important, but we shall 
discuss only that which concerns our talks,—the 
cavity of the abdomen, which we will subdivide 
into an upper part and a lower part. This division 
into an upper and a lower compartment will be some- 
what of our own making, and this lower portion 
will be referred to as the pelvis (Fig. i). 
In your mind’s eye, draw a line across the body 
from the tip of one hip bone to the tip of the other; 
this imaginary line will cross the body about two 
inches below the navel, or “ belly button,” as most 
of you call the little depression on the abdominal 14 
SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
Pelvic cavity 
Fig. i.—The skeleton in relation to the contour of the body. SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
15 
wall, when, for any reason, you refer to it. It is in 
the pelvic portion of the abdomen that most of the 
male creative tract is contained, but the most import- 
ant part of it, for a reason that you will later under- 
stand, is really outside the body limits, and down in 
the scrotum. In fact, the creative tract begins in 
the scrotum with the testes, so we shall start here, 
and begin with the testes, by far the most important 
portion of the whole system. 
These are, as I said a few minutes ago, the two 
oval-shaped masses which can be felt hanging in the 
bag-like structure dependent from the penis, and 
called the scrotum. They are two in number, and 
are absolutely separate from each other (Fig. 3). 
They come under the anatomical heading of glands, 
and it may here be stated that when “ glandular 
tissue ” is mentioned it means a highly specialized 
tissue of the body which secretes or gives out fluid. 
For example, we speak of the salivary glands of the 
mouth as secreting saliva in the mouth. 
The function of the glandular organs known to 
you as the testicles is' to manufacture and give 
“ birth ” to the fluid which is the male’s contribution 
to creation: this fluid, or semen, as it is called, passes 
from the male during and at the height of the sexual 
act (Fig. 4). 
The testicles are not the solid masses of tissue 
that you perhaps thought them (Fig. 2), but are 16 
SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
semi-hollow, and divided into a number of compart- 
ments. The testicles, as I shall call them hereafter, 
are not loose in the scrotum, but hang suspended 
within it, each at the lower end of a rope-shaped 
mass known as a spermatic cord, the right testicle 
Lower end 
of sper- 
matic cord 
Right !| 
testis V 
Right testis 
Serous 
sac 
Fig. 3.—Right testicle enclosed in 
part of its covering ; skin of scrotum 
cut away. 
PiG. 4.—Right testicle exposed to 
view in its sac, part of which is cut 
away. 
being attached to the end of the right spermatic 
cord, and the left testicle to the end of the left sper- 
matic cord, which is a little longer than the right 
one, so that the left testicle hangs somewhat lower 
in the scrotum than does the right. I mention this 
to you now, while I think of it, because I have been 
consulted on this very matter by an over-anxious 
patient who noticed the difference in position, and 
immediately jumped to the conclusion that some- Fig. 2.—Interior of testicle, enlarged. The testicle has been cut in half from 
above downward. SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
17 
thing was wrong with him. He was much relieved 
when I explained that the condition which had 
alarmed him was perfectly normal. 
To revert to the testicles and to continue our 
study of them. They are the most important part 
of the male creative tract, because within them is 
Fig. 5.—Human Spermatozoa. (Retzius.) A, front view of a spermatozoon; 
B, side view; h, head; m, middle piece; t, tail; e, end piece. 
manufactured the contribution of the male to the 
perpetuation of the human race. This contribution 
consists of a number of self-propelling little ani- 
mals (let us call them this, for the present, for want 
of a better name) in a quantity of sticky, albu- 
minous fluid with a most distinctive and strong odor 
which can never be mistaken for anything else, and 
is always recognizable by one who has ever smelled 18 
SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
it. The living part of this contribution is known 
as spermatozoa, the semi-mucilaginous portion as 
the semen (Fig. 5). 
The testicles vary from one and one-half to 
two inches in length, one inch in breadth, and about 
one and a quarter inches in thickness. In weight, 
Fig 6.—Diagrammatic drawing of the inside of a testicle. 
they average from three-quarters of an ounce to 
an ounce. 
I will not go further into the anatomical struc- 
ture of the testicle for fear of confusing you, but I 
would like to add this,—that each of the little com- 
partments of which I have spoken contains a num- 
ber of little tubes, and as the number of the 
compartments is variously estimated as from two 
hundred and fifty fi> four hundred for each testicle, SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
19 
you can imagine how many feet of these little pipes 
each testicle contains (Fig. 6). One very reliable 
anatomist and histologist has calculated that they 
aggregate almost two thousand feet, averaging 
about 1/200 of an inch in diameter; other competent 
observers have calculated that there are five thou- 
sand feet. When you carefully consider this, it is 
certainly a wonderful proof of Nature’s great skill. 
Look at the size of a testicle, and then consider the 
orderly arrangement within it of almost half a mile 
of piping, so placed that it can perform perfectly 
the very difficult work assigned to it. 
You can see how important it is for the testicle 
to perform this work properly, when I tell you that 
it is from the highly specialized cells forming the 
lining of the inner surface of these tubes that the 
semen is secreted; and other still more highly spe- 
cialized cells of this group pass through several 
stages of development, and finally emerge as the 
male contribution to creation—spermatozoa. 
We will diverge a minute from our anatomy les- 
son on these special parts to explain what I mean by 
a cell, .a term used a few minutes ago when speaking 
of the lining of the tubules in the testicles. When 
I speak of body cells, I refer to certain definite 
divisions of the tissues that go to make up the human 
body. These very minute divisions, each one of 
which is a living thing with special functions, can 20 
SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
be seen under the microscope, appearing when very 
highly magnified to be about the size of the head of 
a pin. Some time, when you are unable to sleep, you 
can amuse yourselves by trying to figure out how 
many millions of these tiny little cells go to make up 
a human body. 
Once again, back to the testicles. These tubules 
from the various compartments gradually converge 
into a single large pipe or duct which is known as the 
vas deferens. The vas deferens are two in num- 
ber, one for each testicle. The vas deferens, the 
blood-vessels of each testicle, both arteries and veins, 
the lymph-vessels and the nerves to these parts form 
the rope-like structure attached to each testicle which 
is known as the spermatic cord. Each testicle is 
attached to the spermatic cord of the respective side 
of the body in which it is located; viz., the right sper- 
matic cord, coming down from the right side of the 
body, has the right testicle attached to it, and the 
left testicle is attached to the left spermatic cord. 
The blood supply to each of the testicles is a 
most liberal one, as these parts need plenty of nour- 
ishment to enable them to perform properly the 
important manufacturing work they have assigned 
to them—the perpetuation of the human race. 
The testicles are most delicate organs, each being 
well supplied with nerves of the highest degree of 
sensitiveness. Any of you who have received a blow SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
21 
in this region from any source, accidental or inten- 
tional, know the very painful and sickening sensa- 
tion you experienced at the time. In fact, blows in 
this region have been known to make the recipient 
insane, and have even caused death. 
Every male should at the proper time, and under 
certain proper conditions, perform his part in per- 
petuating the human race. Therefore, if you want 
the children for whom you will be in part respon- 
sible to be of the best type, mentally and physically, 
you can see how important it is that the testicles 
should be in healthy condition for the production of 
spermatozoa from the earliest stage of their develop- 
ment to the end of their activities. 
Disease of the testicles must necessarily affect 
their vitality, therefore the quality of the contribu- 
tion to creation. Any disease which would directly 
affect or destroy the cells lining the little tubules 
would destroy in part, or wholly, the power of that 
male to help in the perpetuation of our race—a 
serious matter for the nation. In my opinion, many 
of the children feeble-minded or actually insane from 
birth from unknown causes are born this way be- 
cause either the male or female contribution to their 
birth was defective or unhealthy. Just try to realize 
how distressing it must be to parents to have such 
children. Picture to yourselves just how you would 
feel to be the father of one or more such children, SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
22 
and my future talks will mean a great deal more 
to you. 
This is about all I have to tell you regarding the 
testicles: much more might be said about them, but 
for our purposes you have been told enough. Books 
on anatomy and physiology will give you more de- 
tails, if you desire them, not only concerning these 
but of other organs, which I shall describe to you 
very briefly. 
Ascending from the testicles, we next meet the 
spermatic cords, but we will not spend much time 
discussing them, as I have already told you of what 
they consist. What concerns us most in our talks 
on sexual matters is the vas deferens of each side, 
and even of these there is little to be said. 
The two vas deferens have for their function the 
carrying of the semen and its contained spermatozoa 
from the sources of supply or manufacture to the 
organs that act as reservoirs for it until it is called 
into use. I may say here that the manufacture of 
semen is governed largely by its use. Excessive de- 
mand, however, will not be met by the testicles. 
Each vas deferens starts from the lower or under 
side of the testicle and, turning upward, passes along 
the inner and rear edge of the testicle until it leaves 
the scrotum and enters the lower part of the body. 
This lower cavity of the body, you will recall, is 
known as the pelvis. Within the pelvis, the vas def- SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
23 
erens travels backward and downward until it lies 
between the base or broad surface of the bladder 
and the rectum. Here it gradually unites with the 
outlet or duct of the vesicula seminalis to form the 
ejaculatory duct on that side (Fig. 7). 
Vas deferens 
Ampulla 
Seminal vesicle 
Ejaculatory 
duct 
Prostate 
Membranous 
urethra 
Cowper’s 
glands 
Fig. 7.—Showing the posterior surface of bladder and the union of the two 
vas deferens and the seminal vesicles. 
Each vas deferens is about twenty-four inches 
in length. Disease which would in any way block 
the lumen or opening of both the right and left vas 
deferens would, of course, prevent the affected male 
from taking any part in the reproduction of the 
human race, because the products of the testicles 
would have no way of passing outward to the proper 24 
SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
reservoirs. Even the blocking of one vas deferens 
would be a serious matter, and very likely would 
lead in time to the cessation of the function of the 
special cells of the testicles. 
The vesiculse seminales next engage our atten- 
tion. They are two in number, being situated one 
on each side of the body (Fig. 8). They lie between 
End of vas deferens 
Seminal vesicle 
iSeminal vesicles 
Ejaculatory ducts 
Fig. 8.—Cast of ampulla; and seminal vesicles, showing windings and sac- 
culation of lumen. (Pallin.) 
the base of the bladder and the rectum, and act as 
reservoirs for the semen, to which they add a secre- 
tion of their own. They are pyramidal in shape, 
coiled upon themselves like a spiral, each one being 
about two and one-half inches in length. As has 
been already stated, at the base of the prostate gland 
they unite with the vas deferens of their respective 
sides to form the ejaculatory duct on that side. 
When the coils are unwound, each vesicula is from 
four to six inches in length. SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
25 
I told you that the ducts of the vas deferens 
and of the vesicula seminalis of each side unite to 
form the ejaculatory ducts of their respective sides, 
so these ducts will next receive brief attention. They 
are two in number, one on each side, and are about 
three-quarters of an inch in length. They com- 
mence at the base of the prostate gland and, running 
through it, enter the prostatic portion of the urethra. 
The name is self-explanatory; their function being 
to eject the male contribution to creation with its 
accompanying semen at the proper time in the course 
of the sexual or marriage relation. 
I have mentioned the prostate gland to you sev- 
eral times, and as our lesson in anatomy has brought 
us to the point of the ejaculatory ducts running 
through it, let us, before proceeding further, discuss 
this gland. The prostate gland is a somewhat chest- 
nut-shaped gland largely composed of muscular tis- 
sue, which is situated just below the neck of the 
gland around the urethra at its beginning at this 
point. Its secretion is conveyed by some dozen 
and a half ducts into the prostatic portion of the 
urethra at the time the ejaculatory ducts discharge 
their contents. This secretion is supposed to be 
indirectly related to the power of the spermatozoa 
to move about. Bear in mind this mere mention of 
this very important structure—the prostate gland— 
and its location, which is, roughly speaking, between 26 
SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
the base of the bladder and the rectum, as it will be 
spoken of again several times. I stated what disease 
could do if the testicles or either of the vas deferens 
were affected, but its effects on these other parts, I 
will leave for later discussion (Fig. 9). 
"Bladder wall, cut 
Ejaculatory duct. 
Prostatic ducts1 
Prostate, cut 
Membranous urethra 
Cowper’s gland 
.Opening of duct of 
Cowper’s gland 
Spongy urethra 
Fig. 9.—Part of penis from above downward, upper half removed. 
Passing to the penis, we will study its various 
parts. In the female, there is a distinct urinary 
tract and a distinct sexual tract. Neither has any 
relation to the other. In the male it is somewhat 
different. The urinary tract and the sexual tract are 
separate up to the point where the ejaculatory ducts SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
27 
and the ducts of the prostatic gland open into the 
urethra, which also conveys the urine outward from 
the bladder; therefore, the penis is at once a part 
of the genital tract and of the urinary tract. It is 
a part of the urinary tract because through it passes 
the tube or pipe, known as the urethra, which starts 
at the bladder and extends to the outer end of the 
penis. It is part of the sexual tract because it is the 
medium through which the male contribution to 
creation is put into touch with the essential female 
contribution to creation. 
You are all familiar with the outward appearance 
of the penis, so I need spend no time in describing 
it. You also know that the penile portion of the male 
genito-urinary tract is capable of changing its size 
—that is, of expanding or contracting—under vari- 
ous circumstances. By this is meant that, in the 
quiescent state, the penis is a soft, flabby organ of 
small size, but under certain conditions it may be- 
come enlarged, firmer in consistency, and stand out 
erect from the body, the latter condition being known 
as the state of erection. 
The divisions we make of this organ are three— 
the root, the body, and the head or glans penis. 
The root is the portion of the organ whereby it is 
connected with the body. The glans penis is that 
portion of the penis from the outer end to the ridge- 
like ring surrounding the organ about an inch from 28 
SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
the extremity. The base of the glans penis repre- 
sented by this ridge is known as the corona. In the 
new-born male child and in all uncircumcised males 
the head of the penis is hidden by the circular skin 
covering it, but in those who have been circumcised 
this surplus skin, called the prepuce, has been cut 
away so that the glans penis is uncovered. Why 
circumcision is considered desirable will be a topic 
for later discussion. 
Between the root of the penis and the glans penis 
is the body of the penis. It is in the body of the 
penis that the changes of expansion or erection, and 
contraction or flaccidity, take place. In the middle 
of the head of the penis is the urinary opening, 
although, as I said before, the semen is also dis- 
charged through this opening, which is really the 
outer end of the long tube, called the urethra, 
which extends outward from the bladder to the 
urinary opening. You will recall that I told you 
a few minutes ago that the ejaculatory ducts dis- 
charge the semen into the prostatic portion of the 
urethra; so, just as soon as we finish studying the 
penis, we shall discuss briefly the urethra. 
The body of the penis is composed of masses of 
erectile tissue enclosed in three cylindrical compart- 
ments, two in the upper portion of the organ, and 
one in the under part. Those above are alike, and 
are called the corpora cavernosa. It is the disten- SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
29 
tion of these under certain conditions with a greater 
amount of blood than is normally present there that 
brings about the expansion or erection of the penis. 
The compartment on the under side of the organ is 
known as the corpus spongiosum, and through it 
runs the urethra. 
Passing now to the urethra, we note that it ex- 
tends from the neck of the bladder for a distance of 
about nine inches to the tip of the penis, the external 
urinary opening. Its shape varies, depending upon 
whether the penis is in a flaccid or erectile state. 
The urethra is usually divided into three portions, 
known as the prostatic, the membranous, and the 
spongy parts (Fig. io). 
The prostatic portion gets its name from the 
fact that it passes through the prostate gland from 
base to apex. It is only about an inch and a 
quarter in length. On its floor is the verumon- 
tanum or caput gallinaginis, the function of this 
latter tissue being to prevent the semen from going 
backward into the bladder. Extending along the 
sides of the verumontanum are the minute openings 
of the ducts of the prostate gland, while in front of 
it are the openings of the ejaculatory ducts. 
At the apex of the prostate gland where the pros- 
tatic portion ends is the commencement of that por- 
tion of the urethra known as the membranous part, 
which is only about three-quarters of an inch in 30 
SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
length. Cowper’s glands are two small glands 
located in this portion of the urethra, which secrete 
a thin, viscid fluid during the sexual relation some 
Prostatic portion of 
urethra 
V erumontanum— 
Prostatic gland 
Cowper's gland 
Membranous urethra 
Corpus Cavernosum 
Corpus Cavernosum 
Spongy portion of urethra 
.Corpus spongiosum (laid 
open) 
Gians penis - 
• Urinary opening 
Pig. io.—The penis cut open to show inside. 
time before the semen is discharged. The remain- 
ing part, about seven inches in length, is known 
as the spongy portion of the urethra, no details of 
which are necessary. SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
31 
This condensed study of the anatomy of these 
particular male organs, together with the accom- 
panying pictures, will, I think, give you some idea 
_,Vas deferens 
vesicle 
duct 
Bladder- 
' Rectum 
Prostatic 
gland 
Urinary 
opening 
. Scrotum 
Fig. ii.—A side view of the lower portion of the human male body, cut in 
half from above downward, showing the various parts in situ. 
of your sexual parts. Compare the pictures with the 
reading matter, and study them in conjunction. Each 
will make the other more clear to you (Fig. n). 
At this point we shall conclude our first talk. 
This gives you an opportunity to “ digest ” properly SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
32 
the limited information regarding yourselves that I 
have offered you. I gave you only a little informa- 
tion because, to go into any greater detail, would con- 
sume more time than we have at our disposal, and a 
little knowledge is all that is necessary for our pur- 
poses. You have all probably heard and seen more 
of yourselves in this first talk (i.e., in the anatomical 
pictures) than you ever have before, and have been 
somewhat surprised at your anatomy and physi- 
ology, as here presented. 
As, we travel on, you will be even more surprised 
at the truths presented to you, and will certainly 
be interested. Remember there will be nothing sen- 
sational, unless plain truths may seem so to you. I 
am desirous! of helping you, in every way I can, to 
grow up into healthy men of the highest type. If 
I succeed in this, my reward will certainly be most 
gratifying, while your recompense will be so great, 
that you will always think your luckiest days were 
those when you heard these little talks and took 
these journeys into that heretofore mysterious land 
of things sexual. 
REVIEW 
I. What is the danger of silence concerning matters of 
sex and sexual relations? 
II. In which division of the body are the male genital 
organs ? 
III. Describe the testicles and state their function. 
IV. Why are they the most important of these parts? SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
33 
V. Describe fully the interior of the testicles. 
VI. What might produce feeble-mindedness or insanity in 
children at birth? 
VII. Trace the course of the vas deferens and state their 
functions. 
VIII. Give location and functions of the vesicula; seminalis 
and of the ejaculatory ducts. 
IX. Locate the prostate gland and tell its purpose. 
X. Locate the urethra and describe briefly its three portions. II 
In the first talk of this series you were introduced 
to yourselves; in other words, we discussed briefly 
the anatomy and physiology of the male creative or 
sexual tract. In this talk we are going to travel a 
little further along the path of matters sexual. 
In many of the lower forms of animal life, the 
power to reproduce a like being is vested in one 
body. In-the higher forms of animal life, including 
the human being, this is not so, but the power and 
responsibility of reproducing like beings is divided 
between two bodies-. We know these bodies as male 
and female. Although each contains an essential 
contribution to the reproduction of the human race, 
either is powerless to produce a living being without 
the co-operation of the other; in fact, neither can 
even attempt reproduction without aid from the 
other. The human seedling is contained within, 
and is the contribution of, the female to the perpetua- 
tion of the human race. The male contribution starts 
this seedling on the physiological cycle which is com- 
pleted with the birth of a baby. Therefore, we may 
truly designate the essential male contribution to 
creation as the fertilizing fluid of the human seedling. 
You have already been told of the formation of 
34 SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
35 
this fertilizing fluid—the spermatozoa and the 
semen. The spermatozoa are the essential contri- 
bution of the male to the creation of another human 
being, the accompanying fluid having no direct rela- 
tion to this. The spermatozoa are microscopic ani- 
mals, by which term I mean that they can be seen 
only by the aid of a microscope. Each consists of 
three parts, a head, a body, and a tail, and with 
the aid of a microscope of high magnifying power 
its movements can be seen and studied. The tail 
seems to be the part that performs the* actual physical 
movements. It has been estimated that as many as 
thirty-two million of these little animals are ejected 
from the male organ at the time of sexual union. 
Healthy spermatozoa fertilizing the female’s healthy 
contribution to creation usually ensures healthy chil- 
dren; and the reverse, unhealthy ones. 
All of you should know, and probably do, that 
children are the result of the proper union of the male 
and female elements of generation. Also, all of you 
should know, and probably do, that these elements 
are brought into contact with each other by a certain 
act or relation which unites the male and the female. 
This relation is designated as sexual intercourse 
or the marriage relation, and should never be in- 
dulged in before marriage. The reasons for this 
advice will be given later. I think you will find 
them sound and truthful, and worthy of your earnest 36 
SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
thought and consideration. If, after giving them 
due thought, you decide to abide by the advice 
offered, many others besides yourselves will have 
their health and happiness promoted. 
When you were born, all of your sexual organs 
were present, but were not sufficiently developed 
to take up their functions of creation. In fact, even 
before you were born they were present in an imma- 
ture state, and they gradually approached a develop- 
ment which was not complete for several years after 
you were born. All the time, however, as you grew, 
they were developing more and more, although you 
were unaware of it. 
In the young boy the sexual organs, as a rule, 
receive no thought at all until some more or less 
vicious companion calls attention to them in a wrong- 
ful way. Otherwise, baseball and like healthy games 
engross his entire attention. It is true that, as you 
approached the age of twelve years or thereabouts, 
you may have noticed certain changes in yourselves, 
but you probably paid little attention to them. 
About this time, however, the wise father, taking 
time by the forelock, would have had a heart-to-heart 
talk with you about yourselves, your functions, and 
your duty as real men toward the sex of your mother 
and sisters. But most fathers, either through abso- 
lute ignorance of the facts and of their duty to their 
sons, or from a foolish sense of false modesty which SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
37 
overshadows their sense of duty, neglect to have 
this heart-to-heart talk, and permit their sons, the 
future fathers of the nation, to grow up in the most 
dense ignorance of sex and things sexual, making 
them a menace to every good girl with whom they 
become acquainted, a menace to their own health and 
welfare, and lessening their value to the nation. 
Left to themselves or to the tender mercies of street 
acquaintances, the sons acquire false and most per- 
verted ideas of sexual matters from dissipated 
associates. 
Is it any wonder that the insane asylums report 
an increasing number of inmates? Is it any wonder 
that these institutions, both public and private, are 
increasing? Is it to be wondered at that schools and 
homes for so-called backward and feeble-minded 
children are also on the increase everywhere? Is it 
any wonder that many men, young in years, who 
were of great promise in early youth, are, through 
this criminal ignorance and its resulting folly, old 
men in everything but years and wisdom? Oh! the 
pain, suffering, and even disgrace that might have 
been spared them had they acquired a proper knowl- 
edge of sex at the right time, and profited by it. 
Many graves would still be unfilled by victims of 
their own folly, and the lives of many parents would 
have been prolonged. 
These may seem to you strong statements, but 38 
SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
they are truthful ones. Every physician sees and 
knows of such cases in his daily practice, and can 
verify these statements in every detail. I am going 
to try to tell you what should have been told you by 
your fathers in one of the above-mentioned heart- 
to-heart talks. I am going to take the place of your 
fathers, and to attempt to save you from the penalties 
of erroneous ideas of things sexual gotten on the 
street. 
As a little boy, your voice was probably soft, 
sweet, and somewhat musical in tone. Everybody 
loved to hear you going about light-heartedly sing- 
ing on your happy way. Then came a time when 
your voice lost its sweetness and softness, and be- 
came harsher and somewhat peculiar in tone. If you 
tried to raise your voice to a loud pitch it seemed to 
“ crack.” You were told that your voice was chang- 
ing and that you would oblige the rest of the family 
and others in hearing by refraining from singing 
until the process of voice-changing was complete. 
This was one of the first signs of approaching gradu- 
ation from the kingdom of little boyhood into the 
earliest stages of manhood, in which you are spoken 
of as a big boy or a youth. 
Accompanying this change in the voice, or very 
shortly afterward, you noticed that your body, 
heretofore perfectly hairless, was now changing in 
this regard, for hair was making its appearance in SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
39 
several places, and under the arms it was of much 
coarser texture than that of the head. This may 
have puzzled you a little, but more puzzling still 
was the fact that, not only was this kind of hair 
coming out around that part of your body that some 
natural instinct told you differed from other parts, 
but was appearing here more rapidly than in other 
places. The front of the chest also began to show 
a hairy growth and, in your mind’s eye, you saw 
yourselves going to the barber for shaves and to 
have your moustaches kept in order. 
You now began to feel and act differently when 
in the company of your girl friends. This differ- 
ence you could not exactly explain had you been 
asked to, but you felt it, and, when in their com- 
pany your hands and feet seemed to become enor- 
mously large and were continually getting in your 
way. You found yourself getting to feel strange and 
awkward in the terrible presence of that mysterious 
being known as a girl, unless it was a sister or, 
perhaps, a cousin. You could hardly believe that, 
only a short time before this present period of dread, 
you had associated most freely with little girls, and 
had felt that you rather conferred a favor*upon them 
in permitting them to share your games and sports. 
And when you recalled the seemingly harmless little 
acts of comradeship and gallantry that had passed 
between you, it was like a dream. A so-called game 40 
SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
of forfeits, which is usually only another name for 
indiscriminate kissing, took on a new significance, 
and the kisses you gave or received from certain of 
the opposite sex seemed different from former ones, 
and no longer to express merely the harmless fun 
and joy of childhood but something else that you 
did not understand. They seemed to arouse in you 
certain peculiar sensations that you had not known 
before; under them you grew alternately hot and 
cold, and were most uncomfortable. 
These things signified the real awakening within 
you of the sexual instinct. Might we not even call 
it the “birth” of sex within you? The fact that 
this instinct was awakened meant that your educa- 
tion in things sexual should now begin, if it had not 
already been started. The hair which came out 
about the penis, or creative organ, is known as the 
pubic hair, and the age at which it usually makes 
its appearance is called the age of puberty. Its pres- 
ence merely indicates that the inner organs of crea- 
tion are approaching maturity, and will soon be able 
to perform their full duty, which function I have 
already mentioned to you. 
Premature use of these organs in an attempt to 
make them perform too early the duties assigned to 
them at maturity means trouble in the end—spelt 
with a big capital T—particularly as regards the ner- 
vous system, besides the harm done to these organs SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
41 
themselves. It is, perhaps, now time to say to you, 
in big capital letters so as to make it most emphatic, 
that The Sexual Relation is Absolutely 
Unnecessary to You or to Any Other Man. 
It is also absolutely unnecessary to any woman. 
It is merely one of the numerous bodily func- 
tions that, under certain conditions, may be 
called into exercise to perform certain duties, 
and that is all. Your health will not suffer in the 
least if you never indulge in it from the time of 
your birth to that of your death, but both your 
health and your life may be ruined if you do indulge 
in it illegitimately, to say nothing of its effect on 
the health of your future wife and children. You 
may think you have a real desire for this sexual 
relation; but, believe me, it is merely a brutal, animal 
impulse that an application of cold water would 
subdue, or which would be forgotten by close appli- 
cation to your work or your studies. In fact, I have 
noticed that young men who are engrossed in health- 
ful athletics are little troubled by sexual aspirations. 
They have neither time nor inclination to allow their 
thoughts to wander along these lines, so they are not 
annoyed by false sexual excitement, otherwise known 
as a debasing animal heat. 
Perhaps what I have later to say to you will 
make more impression upon your minds if I take 
up with you. herej thus early in my course, the vene- 42 
SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
real diseases. By venereal diseases we mean diseases 
which are usually contracted during illegitimate 
sexual intercourse. I say usually contracted in the 
course of illegitimate sexual relation, because this 
is almost always true. Why? Because the decent, 
pure girl whom a man marries is not liable to have 
these vile, loathsome diseases which ruin the body 
and soul of those who contract them. It is the 
degraded women who offer their bodies to men for 
money or other reward, in order that the latter can 
gratify their animal desires, who generally infect 
their customers with the poisons of these destructive 
diseases. 
Venereal diseases are well-nigh incurable, for 
many reasons; sometimes the fault rests with the 
doctor, but usually the patient is to blame. The 
principal venereal diseases which I will talk to you 
about are gonorrhoea, commonly known as “ clap,” 
and syphilis, usually designated as “ blood infec- 
tion.” It is estimated that from 70 to 80 per cent, 
of the men who indulge their animal desires are 
infected with gonorrhoea by the fallen women with 
whom they consort sexually. By the way, if the 
term “ fallen women ” is new to you, I will explain 
it by saying that this is a polite way of designating 
women who are no longer virtuous, but spend their 
lives in impure association with men. 
Perhaps from 25 to 40 per cent, of the men SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
43 
who indulge in illegitimate sexual relations acquire 
syphilis as the penalty for violation of the moral 
law. It is possible to acquire both of these disgust- 
ing diseases at the same time, or separately, on dif- 
ferent occasions. One attack of gonorrhoea does not 
render the diseased person immune from further 
infection; on the contrary, I am inclined to believe 
that it makes him more susceptible to the poison. 
Once acquired, neither of these diseases is easy 
to cure. The question has often been raised in medi- 
cal circles as to whether they are ever absolutely 
cured, and the fact that they are so difficult to cure 
accounts for my statement that from 70 to 80 per 
cent, of every 100 women operated upon for diseases 
affecting their sexual organs have the venereal dis- 
eases, especially gonorrhoea, as the underlying cause 
—a most disgraceful showing for a so-called civil- 
ized world to make, and a most shameful record for 
men who like to boast of their gallantry toward the 
sex of their mothers, wives, sisters, and daughters. 
We are hoping, however, to change these records 
of worse than savagery toward our mothers, wives, 
sisters and daughters, by educating our women 
properly in matters pertaining to sex, and by making 
them less of a mystery to both sexes. We are en- 
deavoring to show the male that the sexual relation 
is a most sacred one, too holy to be indulged in with 
other than the woman to whom he gives his best 44 
SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
and deepest love, who is bound to him by the sacred 
bond of marriage; that it is not a mere pastime, or 
an act to be debased into a mere commercial trans- 
action with some degraded, vicious woman, or to 
be the wind-up of a drunken orgy. We are trying 
to educate the woman to demand of the man the 
same sexual purity that he demands of her both 
before and after marriage. 
Legitimately, there can be no double standard 
of morals, one for the man and another for the wo- 
man. If it is right for a man to be immoral be- 
fore marriage, why should the woman who consorts 
with him be regarded as a social outcast? As it is 
wrong for a woman to indulge in the sexual relation 
before marriage, so is it wrong also for the man or 
men with whom she indulges, and they also should 
be ostracized from decent society. Rightfully, there 
can be but one standard of morals for both sexes, and 
that standard is purity. The sexual relation must 
not be defiled or cheapened, because it is the most 
important given the human race. The proper stand- 
ard of morality for both sexes is total abstinence 
from indulgence in sexual intercourse until bound 
together in the holy bonds of matrimony. 
The real dangers of venereal diseases are of 
comparatively recent discovery; this is particularly 
true of gonorrhoea. Not so very long ago even doc- 
tors were inclined to look upon it as a trivial ail- SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
45 
ment of little consequence, but its complications 
and sequelae had not been studied as they have been 
to-day, and no one realized how hard it was to cure 
it. The danger of its transmissibility to the inno- 
cent wife years later was not known, and the serious 
effects upon her were not appreciated. In fact, from 
being supposed to be a disease with rather mild 
results, it is now known to be of a very serious 
nature both in its immediate and future effects. The 
doctor no longer regards it as a mere incident of im- 
morality. He knows better, and understands that 
when a patient comes to him with this infection, he 
is confronted with something that will require his 
utmost skill to cure. 
Until fairly recent times, I think syphilis was not 
credited with being the really dangerous disease 
that it is. Had it been otherwise, morality would 
be on a higher plane than it is to-day, and the fight 
against the degradation of the sacred sexual relation 
would be further advanced than it now is. 
Gonorrhoea, the first of the two venereal diseases 
that we are going to discuss, is an acute infectious 
disease caused by a germ known as the gonococcus 
of Neisser, from the fact that Dr. Neisser, a famous 
bacteriologist, discovered this coccus which is the 
cause of so much human misery and unhappiness. 
Did you note that I said human misery and un- 
happiness? There is a most striking reason for 46 
SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
the distinction, for this disease attacks only the 
human race, and this fact should be food for thought 
when you are debating whether immorality is right 
or wrong. 
Gonorrhoea is sometimes called urethritis or 
specific urethritis, so when you hear these terms you 
may know that gonorrhoea is probably meant. One 
may acquire this disease in the system, and spread 
the infection for days, before the disease manifests 
itself openly. On an average, from two days to a 
week, and in some cases as much as three weeks, may 
elapse before acute symptoms appear. Do you real- 
ize, from this delay in outward manifestations, how 
an infected person, either man or woman, can spread 
the disease by continued sexual intercourse? 
The earliest symptoms are pricking sensations 
at the urinary opening, with beginning inflammation, 
swelling, and a thin, sticky discharge, which at first 
is grayish-white in color. Pain may be constant, or 
only during urination, or immediately after it. The 
pain during urination is always severe, and some- 
times causes fainting. 
About forty-eight hours after the appearance of 
the early symptoms, the picture changes, all of the 
symptoms having markedly increased in severity. 
The urinary orifice stands open, the tissues in its 
immediate neighborhood are intensely inflamed, the SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
47 
secretion is much increased and resembles thick pus, 
and the pain is more intense. 
This continues for about a week with increasing 
severity. The glands in the groin swell and become 
painful. Involuntary erection of the penis, due to 
the irritation of the inflammation, adds greatly to 
the patient’s suffering. Night is the favorite time 
for this distressing symptom to manifest itself, and 
in consequence much sleep is lost. 
By the end of the second week, the height of the 
acute stage has been reached, and there is a very 
gradual recession of the symptoms; but even this 
decline may suddenly stop, and the acute symptoms 
return with all their attendant suffering and misery. 
Recalling the anatomy of the male genital parts, 
which are, as you already know, very intimately 
connected with the urinary system, you can readily 
see the possibilities and probabilities. And no matter 
what mental pictures you may paint for yourselves, 
you are not likely to exaggerate the conditions. Let 
us follow this infection in its travels, and note the 
damage it does, the pain and destruction it causes 
by being given a foothold in the body, and this 
probably through immorality. 
The gonococcus lodges at first only in the an- 
terior or front part of the urinary tube or urethra; 
but, as it is no easy task to restrain this, invader, it 
soon travels backward into the other portions of the 48 
SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
urethra, and may finally attack the bladder. In 
some cases it does not stop here, but passes upward 
into one or both of the ureters, which are the tubes or 
ducts that convey the urine down from the kidneys 
to the bladder, and may finally even invade the kid- 
neys themselves, in which event abscesses are liable 
to result, and would probably necessitate a most seri- 
ous surgical operation. Abscesses may also form in 
the bladder, when this organ is attacked. 
Again, when we recall the numerous small glands 
that open into the urinary tube or urethra, the chance 
of the spreading infection finding a foothold in them 
is not only very good, but may be regarded as a cer- 
tainty. And if the gonococci once get into these 
glands, they are not easily destroyed or dislodged. 
This infection, as you see, will prove both very pain- 
ful and serious, but there are stilL others of even 
greater consequences. The glands of the groin on 
both sides may become infected, swell up, and at 
times go on to abscess formation. Bear in mind that 
all of these complications are extremely painful, 
and are not at all rare. 
When the infection travels backward along the 
urethra, it is very easy for it to pass through the 
openings of both the ejaculatory ducts and the pros- 
tatic ducts. Invasion of the latter means that the 
prostate gland will be involved, and when this is the 
case, you have a most painful and serious complica- SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
49 
tion which, if not soon checked, necessitates a very- 
serious, and often fatal, surgical operation for the* 
resultant abscess. 
Perhaps you are now beginning to realize that 
an attack of gonorrhoea is not quite the “ laughing 
matter ” that you were told or had supposed it was, 
and I still have more to say regarding it. The infec- 
tion may attack other parts of the genital tract, 
travelling backward through the ejaculatory ducts 
into the vesiculse seminalis, and even into the two 
vas deferens. The testicles may also be the seat of 
this gonorrhoeal inflammation, with very disastrous 
results, especially if abscess formation takes place. 
Besides all the foregoing consequences, there are 
others of a more general nature, the main one being 
a so-called gonorrhoeal rheumatism, or arthritis, 
caused by the gonorrhoeal poison circulating in the 
blood stream, and lodging in one or more of the 
joints. Some one once said to me that if he had 
a much-hated enemy, he could wish him nothing 
worse than to have, at one and the same time, what 
most of you hear called St. Vitus’ dance and acute 
articular rheumatism. Had worse been desired, 
gonorrhoeal arthritis might have been substituted for 
ordinary rheumatism, as it brings with it about the 
most excruciating continuous pain that can be imag- 
ined. To verify what I am saying in regard to it, 
just ask any one who has been so unfortunate as to 50 
SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
have suffered from this unpleasant complication of a 
gonorrhoeal attack, and he will tell you, more vividly 
than I can picture it, the fearful agony he suffered 
both day and night; how the very slightest move- 
ment made him cry out in agony; and how the 
approach of anyone near the bed in which he was 
lying filled him with fear of pain to come if the bed 
were ever so lightly jarred. One can almost say that 
in this complication even thinking causes most ex- 
quisite pain. 
These patients beg to be kept under the influence 
of some opiate that will render them insensible to the 
fearful pain which they know will follow their slight- 
est effort. In the height of an attack, they will 
excite the sympathy of the most hard-hearted of 
persons, for they certainly do suffer most terrible 
tortures, and have brought home to them, in a most 
forcible way, which they are not liable to forget, the 
inexorable law that transgression of Nature’s moral 
code, with resulting gonorrhoeal infection, is decid- 
edly no “ laughing matter,” from any point of view. 
Another distressing feature of this complication 
of gonorrhoea is the fact that any or all of the joints 
attacked are liable to be destroyed. Do I make my 
meaning perfectly clear to you? Joints in which 
this disease has lodged are likely to become so stiff 
that all use of them is lost, so far as motion goes. 
When this destruction is incomplete, the affected SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
51 
joint or joints will probably be left in a partially 
crippled condition. 
I have not finished this subject of gonorrhoeal 
infection, but, to avoid travelling too quickly for 
you, I will defer the completion until my next talk. 
REVIEW 
I. How are the power and responsibility of reproduction 
divided between male and female? 
II. When only should sexual intercourse be indulged in? 
III. State some of the dangerous results which may follow 
the neglect of the father to fulfil his duty toward his 
son. 
IV. Describe fully the approach of the age of puberty. 
V. State results of attempting to use the genital organs 
before maturity. 
VI. How are venereal diseases usually contracted? Why? 
VII. What is gonorrhoea? 
VIII. Describe some of the earlier symptoms. 
IX. Trace the way in which it may spread to other organs. 
X. Describe some of the later and painful results. III 
In this talk we shall continue our investigations 
of this totally unnecessary disease, gonorrhoea. The 
pus of the gonorrhoeal infection, as you learned from 
what I told you of its effects in gonorrhoeal arthritis, 
is a most dangerous one. Should any one of you be 
so foolish as to put yourself in the way of contract- 
ing this disease, and deservedly succeed in doing so, 
I warn you to be extremely careful how you handle 
yourself, both for your own sake, and that of others. 
You should always thoroughly disinfect your 
hands after touching either the penis or the dressings 
from it. If you do not, you will regret the results 
to yourself, or those you indirectly cause in others. 
For instance, gonorrhoeal pus entering the eyes, no 
matter how, spells blindness, with a big capital B, 
unless immediate medical attention is secured. To 
protect yourselves and others, therefore, Burn 
everything that you think may possibly have become 
contaminated; or, if it is something you cannot burn, 
boil it for at least twenty to thirty minutes after 
the water has come to the boiling point. Take no 
chances either with others or yourselves. 
A person with gonorrhoea should refrain from 
using public toilets, and in using any toilet whatso- 
52 SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
53 
ever should be extremely careful to cover the penis 
well with fresh, clean gauze so that no pus can drip 
on the seat; in fact, care should be taken that the 
penis does not even touch the seat at all. 
I take occasion, right here, to warn all of you 
never to use a public toilet if you can avoid it; or, 
if you do use it, clean it off as thoroughly as 
you can with whatever you have at hand. The best 
and safest way is to cover the entire seat, including 
the edge of the hole in the seat, with a piece of paper. 
This precaution will probably prevent you from 
“ catching ” other things besides gonorrhoea. 
Toilet seats are dangerous things when it comes 
to the conveying of many diseases. The newer toilet 
is an innovation which helps to lessen the spread of 
disease. In the usual toilet seat the shape, as a whole, 
is square with an oval-shaped piece cut out of the 
centre. In the new seat, the shape in the main is 
the same, but besides the oval which is removed from 
the centre the front portion of the rim is also cut 
away, so that the genital organs can not come into 
contact with the seat. It is to be hoped that these 
seats will rapidly replace those of old style. 
When speaking of gonorrhoeal arthritis I forgot 
to mention that during the course of such an attack 
the gonorrhoeal poison may affect the heart very 
seriously, and irreparably damage it. 
I will give no more details as to the manner in 54 
SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
which gonorrhoeal infection affects the male who 
contracts it, but will spend a little time in “ summing 
up ” for you its possible effects. 
The testicles, attacked by the gonorrhoeal infec- 
tion, may have their power of producing sperma- 
tozoa and the accompanying semen destroyed or 
interfered with. Total destruction of this power 
means no reproduction, so far as that particular 
man is concerned. Partial destruction may mean 
spermatozoa either imperfect or of such low vitality 
that they will be delivered dead to the female, there- 
fore unable to perform their function in reproduc- 
tion. In an attack on the vas deferens, this infec- 
tion may “ seal up ” the opening, and thereby pre- 
vent the products of the testicles from reaching their 
destination. The results, so far as reproduction is 
concerned, can be imagined. 
Gonorrhoeal infection of the vesiculse seminalis is 
serious from many standpoints, the two most serious 
probably being, first, the contamination of the male 
contribution to creation with the destructive pus of 
this disease; and, secondly, the likelihood of abscess 
formation. We have already sufficiently discussed 
the effects in the prostate gland and the urethra, 
so I will not repeat, except to add that the most 
frequent cause of stricture is gonorrhoea. 
Now, it is bad enough for the man with immoral 
tendencies to contract gonorrhoea, and if he were SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
55 
the only sufferer from his unmanly conduct in debas- 
ing the sex of his mother, sisters, future wife, and 
future daughters, we would not waste much sym- 
pathy on him. He was vile enough to assist in the 
commercializing of the most sacred of human rela- 
tions in order to gratify a depraved sexual desire; 
therefore, if Mother Nature takes him to task and 
punishes him severely for his unnatural action, he 
must be content with his deserts in the way of the 
punishment. 
But the gonorrhoeal infection does not stop with 
the man. Nature is severe, and, if he has the 
smallest spark of manhood in him, makes him suffer 
still further. How, you will learn in a few moments. 
I have already told you that many men who contract 
this disease are never cured; the fault may be either 
theirs or their doctor’s. It varies in different cases, 
but is usually the patients’ fault. They will not come 
for treatment after certain outward signs have disap- 
peared despite the fact that the doctor assures them 
the disease is still active. This means that these un- 
cured men become chronic gonorrhoeal carriers, and 
are likely to give the disease to their wives in the 
course of the marriage relation—and that is exactly 
what they do when they get married. 
The man whose gonorrhoea is uncured marries 
a girl for whom he professes the greatest love and 
devotion, and shows how sincere he is in his protes- 56 
SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
tations by making the girl who is so unfortunate as 
to be the recipient of his affection an invalid for life 
while they are still in their honeymoon. The fact 
that he had no such intention does not restore the 
woman to health and happiness, since without health 
there can be no perfect happiness, nor give her back 
her lost function of motherhood. 
You must know that the gonorrhoeal germ, intro- 
duced into the female genital tract, may run such a 
violent course as to necessitate most severe and radi- 
cal operations on the woman so infected,—opera- 
tions so extensive as to leave the woman practically 
unsexed, by which I mean that her organs of genera- 
tion will have been removed. In other women, who 
are the unfortunate, innocent victims of the insane 
and unjust theory that men must “ sow their wild 
oats ” before marriage,—the disease may be more 
kindly, and run a course only severe enough to 
destroy the power of conception—that is, to destroy 
in the infected woman the inestimable privilege of 
motherhood, the highest achievement of the normal 
woman. 
You will remember that, in telling you how 
gonorrhoeal infection affected reproduction, I ex- 
plained to you how it could destroy or affect the 
male contribution to creation. Well, it can do the 
same thing in a female. If it attacks those particu- 
lar organs in the woman which have as their function SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
57 
the production of the female contribution to crea- 
tion, it may, by abscess or otherwise, destroy the 
power to put forth the little human seedling. Should 
it attack the small ducts that bring these little seed- 
lings to the proper place for fertilization, and block 
them so that the female contribution to creation 
cannot pass through, no reproduction is possible. 
Gonorrhoeal infection of the organ in which, under 
normal conditions, the fertilized human seedlings 
develop into babies means that this organ will not 
properly perform its function, and that, therefore, 
even the fertilized seedling cannot develop. 
You see from this brief description how serious 
to the female a gonorrhoeal infection can be. But 
you have still more to learn. Investigations into the 
causes of blindness show the disgraceful fact that 
about 30 per cent, of every 100 blind persons lost 
their sight at birth because there was gonorrhoeal 
pus in the birth canals of their mothers, and that, in 
the great majority of cases, this pus got into the 
birth canals of the mothers because the fathers of 
these unfortunates had “ to' sow their wild oats ” 
before marriage, had to violate the most sacred of 
all human relations, and contracted this vile disease. 
Thus through the fathers’ actions some of this pus 
got into the eyes of the babies as they were about to 
be bom, and condemned them to sightless lives of 
misery. 58 
SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
Do you wish to be one of those fiends who, by 
ignoring the moral laws and making a plaything of 
the power of reproduction, is responsible for the 
blindness of his child ? “ No,” you answer most em- 
phatically, horror-stricken at the very idea of being 
responsible for the blindness of any person, much less 
a little, helpless, new-born child. You shudder at 
the thought that anybody could so deliberately be 
responsible for such a crime. “ No,” you repeat, 
“ neither I, nor any one else in his senses, would 
want to be, even in the remotest way, responsible for 
this outrage.” Yet, in most cases, as I have already 
said, that sight-destroying, blinding gonorrhoeal pus 
was put into the birth canal of the unfortunate 
mother by the father of her child. The father’s cry 
of grief-stricken remorse, “ I didn’t mean to, I 
thought I was cured,” will not restore the blessing 
of sight to that little innocent baby, doomed to life- 
long darkness because it was so unfortunate as to 
have for its father one who believed he must “ sow 
his wild oats ” before settling down for life. 
The Bible, I believe, states, “ As ye sow, so shall 
ye reap.” Would you want to reap such a harvest? 
Would you want a little baby to be denied the privi- 
lege of knowing what its own parents look like; 
denied, because of your sinful act, the privilege of 
seeing God’s sunlight, and the pretty things He has 
created for His children on the earth? Would you SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
59 
want to see, waking and sleeping, a little baby finger 
pointed at you, and hear a little baby voice saying to 
you accusingly, “ You robbed me of my sight, and 
made me a helpless dependent for life. Are you not 
proud of your work ? ” Do you want such a vision 
to haunt you? It would not be pleasant company, 
and yet it would be yours as long as that child lived. 
And even after its death, your imagination would in- 
scribe on its tombstone, “ Here lies a little blind 
baby, so afflicted from birth, offered up by its father 
as a sacrifice to his pre-marriage sacrilege of the 
sexual relation.” 
Am I exaggerating as to what a father would 
f eel ? I do not think so, and I do not consider myself 
capable of picturing what the mother would feel, 
nor how such a happening might affect her regard 
for her husband. I can neither exaggerate nor 
underestimate what the records show. Just consider 
it well—30 out of every 100 blind persons stricken 
at birth by gonorrhoeal pus—and let this fact sink 
deeply into that part of your anatomy with which 
you are supposed to think—your brain. 
Now, the question in most of your minds by this 
time is, Has not the medical profession discovered 
anything that will save the eyesight of these inno- 
cent little ones? I am happy to be able to answer 
you in the affirmative. The medical profession has 
done so, but finds it very hard to bring this sure 60 
SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
preventive and cure into universal use. Many doc- 
tors feel a delicacy about questioning prospective 
mothers regarding any diseases of the sexual organs 
they may have had, and the fathers usually keep 
away, being ignorant or careless of the fact that 
pre-marriage infections may affect their offspring 
in various and undesirable ways. The result is that, 
in many cases, the precaution at birth is not taken, 
and when some one finally notices that the baby has 
“ sore eyes ” it may be too late. 
Here is advice and information that as future 
fathers I wish to give you, and I want you to spread 
it far and wide, for the further this particular and 
important bit of knowledge is disseminated, the 
fewer blind babies there will be in the future. 
Loss of eyesight at birth from gonorrhoeal pus 
can and should be prevented. Bear in mind for the 
present and future this fact, that two drops of silver 
nitrate solution (2 per cent.), dropped into each eye 
of a new-born baby, will save its eyesight if there was 
any necessity for such preventive measures, and abso- 
lutely no harm will have been done if there was not. 
You will note that I have said nothing at all 
about the curative treatment of this disease, nor have 
I told you how one who has had gonorrhoea may 
know when he is cured. Well, the omission has 
been deliberate. At first, I did not intend to do so, 
but, after consideration, I have decided to speak to SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
61 
you about the stage when you are cured. Regarding 
treatment, though, I shall stick to my original inten- 
tion except to give you only some good general ad- 
vice. It would only harm you were I to recommend 
specific modes of treatment. There are many kinds 
of treatment, and none of them has any place in my 
talks. I hope, for your own sakes, that none of them 
will ever interest you personally because you need 
them. 
Do not believe that gonorrhoeal infection, once 
acquired, is an easy thing to get rid of. If you do 
you are deceiving yourselves, for it certainly is not. 
It will stick to you much closer than your friends 
will,—through “ thick and thin.” It takes time, 
thought, and most skilful treatment on the part of 
the doctor to effect a cure, and a strict and faithful 
adherence to the prescribed treatment on the part of 
the patient to achieve the best results. The clerk at 
the corner drug-store may endeavor to convince the 
young man who is the victim of his own folly that he 
can safely permit him, the drug clerk, to usurp the 
place of an experienced doctor; but if the victim of 
this disease has any sense, he will tell this “ would- 
be ” doctor most emphatically to mind his own busi- 
ness, and to stick to his own line of work. Should he 
do otherwise he is liable R> regret it, and to join the 
ranks of the large army of chronic sufferers from 
gonorrhoea. 62 
SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
One of the later serious consequences of an un- 
cured gonorrhoea may be a stricture, a complete or 
partial blocking of the urinary tube, a very grave 
condition, which necessitates operation for its relief. 
We will return, for a moment, to the effect of 
this vile infection on the child to be born. If this 
child happens to be a girl, it is liable to suffer from 
the effects of gonorrhoeal pus in the birth canal of 
the mother in another way besides in the eyes. The 
build of the female genital organs is such that it is an 
easy matter for some of the gonorrhoeal poison to 
enter them during the period when the child is being 
born, and the father of the child may bear the 
stigma of having infected his daughter at birth with 
gonorrhoea. This, no doubt, will be distressing to 
both the mother and himself; and the daughter, when 
she grows up and discovers it, is liable to have little 
love or respect for her father. 
Should this gonorrhoeal infection of the new- 
born child become immediately active, the poor little 
girl will, early in life, have plenty of cause for suffer- 
ing. She will have to undergo long and unpleasant 
treatment to rid her of this birth present from her 
father. If it lie dormant, it may at any subsequent 
time awaken to virulency, and cause her embarrass- 
ment and misery. Meantime, the child will infect 
others through the media of toilet seats, bath-tubs, 
and like public utilities. And imagine what an un- SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
63 
pleasant surprise it would be to a young girl who has 
grown up modest and pure to be told by her physician 
sometime, when the occasion arises for an examina- 
tion of these parts, that she is a gonorrhoea carrier, 
and has been all her life a menace to her girl friends 
with whom she has been intimate enough to have 
slept with them in the same bed, or may have infected 
them in other girlish acts of friendship. She cer- 
tainly will feel her position keenly, and her opinion 
of her father’s pre-marriage acts will scarcely bear 
expression. She really could not be. blamed for feel- 
ing unkindly toward him; and, personally, no re- 
sentment she might feel would seem to me too bitter 
for the humiliation caused her by her father’s actions 
when he was single. 
Those who know of the terrible state of affairs 
now existing are unanimous in the opinion that there 
should be a law requiring both men and women to 
undergo a physical examination to determine their 
freedom from venereal diseases before they be per- 
mitted to marry. Some would have such a law 
passed to affect the man only. This, however, would 
be unfair, as you may know by what I have just told 
you of the infection of the female infant at birth, or 
of what she may acquire innocently as a girl, by using 
various public utilities. If he has indulged in illicit 
sexual relations before marriage, no man with a 
spark of manhood in him or any real love for the 64 
SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
girl he expects to marry will wait for the passage of 
compulsory sexual examination laws, but will volun- 
tarily have such an examination made, even without 
such laws, before entering into the' marriage state. 
He owes this to any pure girl who* accepts his love, 
and is forgiving enough to overlook his previous 
lapse from morality. 
As to the time when a sufferer from gonorrhoea 
may believe himself cured, this is not a simpre1 propo- 
sition. Unfortunately for themselves, and others 
who may subsequently suffer from their immorality, 
the hardest patients to manage are those afflicted 
with venereal diseases. Most of them have little 
confidence in their doctors, it seems, for, as soon as 
the outward manifestations of the disease disappear, 
they usually discharge themselves from the doctor’s 
supervision in spite of his assertion that the infec- 
tion is still in the system in all its dangerous viru- 
lency. 
The indications of a cure are, at the present time, 
about as follows: (a) the patient must not be passing 
any pus from the urinary opening; (b) the urine 
must be free from any infectious sediment, such as 
shreds, casts, etc.; (c) the patient must submit to 
three consecutive, prostatic massage treatments, 
without any discharge of pus, shreds, or like sub- 
stances in the urine following these massages; (d) 
patients must be free from the so-called “ morning SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
65 
drop,” which is a slight stickiness around the urinary 
opening noticed upon awakening in the morning. 
If, after repeated tests of this order, the patient is 
found free from disease, the physician will prob- 
ably give him “ a clean bill of health ” with certain 
rules for his guidance in the immediate future. 
The appearance of any of the above findings in 
the course of the physician’s examination means that 
the patient is still uncured, therefore unfit for mar- 
riage, and requires further treatment, not only to 
cure the disease, but to prevent some of its serious 
sequelae. Many a man has had to be operated upon 
in later life because of the follies of his youth. The 
nature of these operations makes them serious, and 
some of them do not always give satisfactory results 
and may be fatal,—rather a high price to pay for 
the privilege of violating the health-preserving moral 
law. 
The question naturally arises, how can you guard 
yourselves from gonorrhoeal infection, and the ques- 
tion is about the easiest to answer of any you could 
ask me. First and foremost, lead a strictly pure life, 
by which I mean a life of total abstinence from 
sexual relations before marriage, and strict faithful- 
ness to the woman of your choice after marriage; 
second, refrain from masturbation or any handling 
of these parts by anybody, not even yourselves; third, 
do not use an “ in common for everybody ” towel, 66 
SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
for this is a fine way of getting not only venereal 
diseases, but some unpleasant skin affections also; 
fourth, never sit upon a toilet seat without first 
cleaning it, and avoid absolutely having the genital 
parts touch it, in so far as this is possible. Using 
a paper covering, as I have already explained to you, 
is the safest way. Fifth, sleep alone whenever pos- 
sible, and use only your own night clothing. When 
away from your own home, be particular to insist 
upon fresh laundered bedclothes being put upon 
the bed you are going to occupy. If you do use the 
night shirt of another, be careful that it also is 
freshly laundered. 
Sixth, never wear any but your own clothing; 
this warning applies particularly to underclothes and 
bathing suits; certainly the rented bathing suits at 
most public bathing places are very unsafe. The 
bath-house proprietor does not question his patrons 
as to their health, and many of them take no meas- 
ures to thoroughly clean the suits before re-renting 
them to the next customer. Yes, I know that the 
signs outside of many of these places indicate differ- 
ently, but I have watched several of these places, 
and have come to the conclusion that it is not always 
safe to trust to signs. In many places they may be 
careful when they are not rushed, but on busy days 
they are not declining any money. 
Seventh, I certainly advise you against swimming SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
67 
nude in indoor pools. Even when in bathing suits, 
I am not sure that they are absolutely free from 
danger. In many of these pools the water is changed 
most infrequently, and is, therefore, a menace for 
many reasons. 
Eighth, avoid all foods, alcoholic drinks, actions, 
and printed matter which arouse animal desire, there- 
by tempting you to forget the moral laws. Highly 
spiced foods, a great deal of meat, alcohol, and con- 
diments help to “ heat up the blood,” and arouse 
animal passion. In fact, alcohol is one of the great- 
est incentives to immorality for various reasons, 
not the least important of which is, that the use of 
alcohol clouds the judgment of the foolish user of it, 
and influences his decisions, not only in the matter 
of morals, but everything else. Despite the fact that 
alcohol may be useful in rare instances, I sometimes 
wonder if its possible virtues are not more than 
counterbalanced by the harm it does the human 
race. It certainly kills many, and is indirectly re- 
sponsible for the deaths of others. 
Actions of a sexually exciting nature comprise 
some forms of dancing, embraces, kissing, and things 
of like nature. 
By printed matter, I mean that kind of litera- 
ture, if you will pardon my misuse of the word, 
which deals with sexual things solely for the sake of 
selling the work, stories which are immoral in word 68 
SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
or tone because this will ensure that a certain class 
of the public will buy them. I do not include stories 
which deal with sexual matters with the hope of hon- 
estly working out the social problem. 
Refrain from all sexual familiarities, deliberate 
or accidental, even with your own sex. Do not let 
your minds dwell upon the sexual relation or any- 
thing suggesting it. Concentrate your thoughts upon 
your duties or your work, and your energies upon 
pursuits that will help you to advance as students or 
workers. In a nutshell, Just Be a Real Man 
in all that this term implies. 
REVIEW 
I. Tell how a person infected with gonorrhoea may guard 
against infecting others. 
II. Explain dangers of toilet seat and how they are to be 
avoided. 
III. Discuss the effect of gonorrhoeal infection on the tes- 
ticles, and the vesiculae seminalis. 
IV. How does Nature punish the immoral male other than 
within himself? 
V. Tell what may be the result of his infection on the girl 
he marries. 
VI. How may gonorrhoea affect the new-born babe, and how 
may this result be avoided? 
VII. Why is it wise to take this precaution even though there 
be no venereal infection in either parent? 
VIII. Discuss other results of this infection in the new-born 
girl baby. 
IX. Name four tests by which to ascertain whether or not 
a man is cured of this disease. 
X. Name several ways in which you can protect yourselves 
from gonorrhoeal infection. IV 
If some one told you that something you were 
about to do would probably result in giving you 
tuberculosis of the lungs, you would be almost in- 
clined to drop upon your bended knees and pray 
to be saved from the ravages of the great “ white 
plague.” You would be willing to do almost any- 
thing humanly possible to escape its clutches and 
retain your health. Neither business, pleasure, nor 
anything else would be considered too' much to sacri- 
fice to keep you from getting it. Yet there are 
many things worse than tuberculosis of the. lungs, 
from a medical standpoint, and the second of the 
venereal diseases that we are going to discuss is one 
of them. 
Syphilis is the name of the venereal disease that 
will now engage our attention. I am at a loss for 
words expressive enough to describe, yet so simple 
that you will surely understand, this horrible disease 
which no one with any mercy in his heart would wish 
his worst enemy to have. Yet supposedly sane, sensi- 
ble, and otherwise normal men expose themselves to 
the risk of getting this “ curse of humanity ” for no 
better reason than the fact that, lost to the dictates 
of manliness, they persist in debasing the sex of 
69 70 
SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
their own dearly beloved mothers, wives, sisters, and 
daughters, as well as their own manhood, by indulg- 
ing in the sex relation outside of the bonds of matri- 
mony with paid women, but whose course of life, 
while persisted in, places them beyond the pale of 
real womanhood. 
Well named is this disease as the great “ black 
plague,” and in the suffering and deaths it causes, 
directly and indirectly, it makes tuberculosis, the 
so-called great “ white plague,” seem a compara- 
tively harmless disease, yet I would by no means 
underrate tuberculosis as a grave menace to the 
human race. Syphilis is a most earnest ally of the 
great “ white plague,” for, as though the suffering 
and harm it produces in itself were not sufficient, it 
makes its victims liable to tuberculosis by the state 
of health in which it often leaves them. 
It is probably the most loathsome of all human 
diseases, and it certainly is the one which lends force 
to the Biblical quotation, “ and the sins of the fathers 
shall be visited upon the children even unto the third 
and fourth generation”; for not only does it make 
life miserable for one affected, but his future wife 
and children as well, and it can be transmitted even 
down to the great-grandchildren. Frightful, is this 
not, and makes you hope that none of your forebears 
was the possessor of this disgustingly vile disease? 
Then consider that this most horrible disease has SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
71 
no legitimate existence, that it is absolutely prevent- 
able, and could be stamped off the face of the earth 
by such simple means as men and women living pure 
lives. 
It seems almost inconceivable that, under such 
circumstances, in a supposedly civilized world, this 
disease can exist at all; yet it does to a fearful extent 
and claims a large death roll every year from among 
young and old; and death is not all it claims from 
the human race annually, for it is not always so 
merciful,—it condemns many to a living death, for 
such is hopeless insanity, before the real end comes. 
It does many other unpleasant things also, as you 
will soon hear. 
Am I trying to frighten you? No, I am simply 
adhering to my original policy of telling you plain 
truths, pleasant or unpleasant as they may be, and 
letting you draw your own conclusions. Those of 
you who use the brains that the Almighty endowed 
you with can come only to one conclusion as regards 
the question whether one should live a pure or an 
impure life; whether a man shall respect the sex of 
his mother and other female relatives, or be a coun- 
terfeit copy of a man who defiles the sex of his 
mother and sisters, and makes the sacred sexual 
relation a matter of debasing animal passion. But 
if you were impressed by the punishment Mother 
Nature doles out to these offenders in a gonorrhoeal SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
72 
infection, you will be more shocked by the punish- 
ment she metes out to those who contract this more 
destructive disease. 
Syphilis, like gonorrhoea, is a severe infectious 
disease which is much more easily acquired than 
cured. It is of long duration, having an acute and 
chronic stage. The infection is usually transmitted 
from person to person during sexual intercourse, 
but this is not the only manner in which the disease 
is acquired, and other ways will be mentioned later 
in our talk. 
Like gonorrhoea, it is a germ disease, using this 
term in its broadest sense, and the germ is known as 
the spirochseta pallida Schaudinn. I merely mention 
this name to you in passing, and there is no necessity 
for you to try to remember it, unless from curiosity. 
Should your body ever become the victim of its 
activities, you will remember the activities even 
though the name has slipped your mind, and your 
remembrance will be the very reverse of pleasant. 
The present and future course of this disease will 
prevent any of its victims from forgetting that it 
was once present. It is quite a common thing in 
the practice of medicine to have patients come to 
one for renewed treatment for syphilitic outbreaks, 
who had acquired their infection fifteen, twenty, or 
twenty-five years before, and after a great lapse of 
time had thought themselves cured of the disease SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
73 
only to find out their error many years later. Not a 
pleasant surprise, think you, and you are right. Not 
only is it a most unpleasant surprise, but the re- 
appearance of the disease does not augur well for 
the future health and well-being of the patient, and 
the careful, intelligent doctor sees “ breakers ahead,” 
and tries to prepare his patient without unduly alarm- 
ing him. 
Syphilis, like gonorrhoea, does not produce symp- 
toms immediately after it has been contracted, and 
this adds to its terrors; because the freshly infected 
person may continue his or her immoral ways and 
thereby spread the disease right and left in an ever- 
advancing wave of fresh infection, each wave start- 
ing another set of waves, and so on. It is only 
between the second and third weeks after infection 
that the first symptom, or so-called “ initial lesion,” 
of syphilis makes its appearance. It is just a sore, 
and it appears wherever the poison of syphilis en- 
tered the body. This initial lesion or sore is proof 
positive of the presence of syphilis, and there is no 
short cut to recovery. The initial lesion, too, be- 
cause it always makes its appearance at the point 
where the syphilitic poison first entered the body, is 
something of a telltale as to how the disease was 
acquired. 
The next thing noticed is a swelling of the glands 
nearest the place of infection. Then everything is 74 
SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
quiet for a long while, in some cases for six weeks, 
in others as long as eight weeks. Do you realize the 
false sense of security felt by the unconscious victim, 
and the length of time in which he may continue 
to spread the vile “ black plague ” by persisting in 
his immoral mode of life? Do you realize that even 
without immoral acts on his part, and merely by un- 
intentional carelessness, he becomes a menace to 
those around him, and may make many others vic- 
tims to this detestable and destructive disease? 
It may puzzle you to hear me say that the first 
sign is this sore or ulceration, and yet that, when it 
appears, the victim of the disease does not know that 
he has acquired the to-be-dreaded scourge. The an- 
swer is very simple. Considering that this innocent- 
looking sore unexpectedly appears so long after his 
last indulgence in illicit sexual intercourse,—four- 
teen days to three weeks, perhaps—he does not con- 
nect the two events at all, but imagines that he has 
injured himself in some way which at the moment 
he cannot recall, and proceeds to treat his supposed 
injury. 
On the other hand, he may go to a doctor and 
a wrong diagnosis may be imade. This is not alto- 
gether the fault of the doctor, because the initial sore 
in'a case of syphilis may be any oneiof six different 
kinds; and also because a certain sore or ulceration 
may appear on the penis, which is the usual place SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
75 
for the initial sore of syphilis, and somewhat re- 
semble the distinctive mark of syphilis, yet be of 
entirely different nature. In fact this latter sore, 
if kept clean, is practically harmless. Unfortunately 
one is confounded with the other, to the great detri- 
ment of the victim, as well as those with whom he 
comes into daily contact. 
It is a grave error to brand a person as syphilitic 
if he has not acquired the disease, and to cause him 
mental distress by the thought that he has contracted 
this foul, loathsome malady, to say nothing about the 
two years of medical treatment usually necessary 
to cure it. Yet it is just as grave an error, perhaps 
more so, to turn a syphilitic person away with a 
wrong diagnosis, to transmit his pestilent disease to 
others, and to be himself still further harmed by its 
unchecked ravages before it is properly diagnosed 
and correct treatment instituted. You see, therefore, 
that the physician’s diagnosis must be made with 
care, and is attended with some difficulty. If he 
accuses a patient falsely, he is liable to a damage 
suit with all its accompanying unpleasant notoriety, 
and if he does not recognize the disease, he is also 
liable to have a lawsuit on his hands. 
The initial sore of syphilis is usually described 
as follows (this being a description of the most com- 
mon of the six varieties, taken from a work on this 
disease) : “ It begins as a small spot of excoriation, 76 
SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
dark red in color at first, but finally becoming cop- 
pery red. The surface is smooth and shining, and 
destitute of granulations. The secretion is serous 
and profuse. Usually there is a single erosion. It 
finally develops into a superficial erosion, with pur- 
plish zone, sloping sides, smooth, red shining floor, 
profuse serous secretion, and situated upon and sur- 
rounded by, a circumscribed mass of induration ” 
(Hayden). This variety is known as the chancrous 
erosion. 
As a matter of passing interest to you, and be- 
cause we happen to be discussing this disease, I will 
name the five other kinds of sore. They are known 
as (a) the silvery spot; (b) the dry papule or 
patch; (c) the umbilicated papule; (d) the purple 
necrotic papule; (c) the ecthymatous chancre. 
These terms mean little to you, but may help you 
to appreciate the truth of my assertion that the diag- 
nosis of the initial sore may be difficult because of 
the numerous guises under which it may appear. 
I will give you, from the same work, a descrip- 
tion of the comparatively harmless ulceration or 
erosion which I mentioned as being sometimes con- 
founded with the syphilitic sore; it is known as a 
chancroid. The definition in Hayden’s work is as 
follows: “ The chancroid usually begins as a small 
pustule, the mucous membrane or integument sur- 
rounding which is bright red in color, which is due SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
77 
to the acute and destructive nature of the lesion. 
The pustule soon ruptures, leaving a round or irregu- 
lar ulcer, with sharply cut edges, undermined walls, 
worn, eaten, rough and yellow floor, which gives rise 
to a brownish, purulent, and auto-inoculable dis- 
charge or secretion. There is a varying amount of 
inflammatory oedema or thickening of the tissues 
around and beneath the sore, which shades off gradu- 
ally into the surrounding parts.” 
After the lapse of forty or fifty days, general or 
constitutional symptoms are noted, the first being a 
rash and general glandular swelling, accompanied 
probably by fever and chills. To tell you what fol- 
lows during the acute and chronic stages of this most 
horrible of diseases is to commence with the hair 
on the top of the head, to go' down to the soles of 
the feet, and to include every part of the head, body, 
and extremities lying between; in short, the whole 
body of the victim is liable to' suffer from its ravages. 
It will do no harm lightly to touch upon these sequels, 
so that you may see for yourselves that I am not 
merely making general statements which, if investi- 
gated in detail, would not be quite so bad. 
In syphilis, during the course of the disease, 
the thinning out of the hair is to be expected, or it 
may go on to baldness either limited to spots or 
complete. This, of course, is due to the poison of the 
disease attacking the hair follicles or roots and 78 
SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
destroying part or all of them. This symptom 
usually appears at about the third month, but it may 
be later. Not alone is the hair of the head affected, 
but hair anywhere on the body may come out in 
part or wholly. On the scalp itself may appear 
numerous repulsive looking sores which may go on 
to quite extensive ulceration. 
Again, not only is the scalp attacked in this man- 
ner, but the skin in any part of the body may be like- 
wise affected. As for the skin of the body in general, 
I will not even attempt to describe the numerous 
rashes, sores, or ulcerations which may appear dur- 
ing the course of the disease. It would take up en- 
tirely too much time, and would profit you little. 
Indeed, I doubt if you would be able to follow my 
descriptions, so I will content myself with the state- 
ment that their name is legion. 
Passing down from the scalp to the eyes, the 
disease may attack the bony sockets in which the eyes 
are set, and produce painful inflammation only, or 
go a step further and cause the bones to rot away. 
If the inflammation attacks the eyes proper, serious 
results may follow,—even blindness in one or both 
eyes, unless treatment is prompt and efficient. The 
eyes are one of the organs most frequently attacked 
by this disease, especially in inherited syphilis, of 
which we will speak later, and in attacks of the dis- 
ease which recur late in life. In fact, failing vision SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
79 
is often one of the first signs of beginning locomotor 
ataxia, which is a sequel of this vile infection in 
many instances. 
In the nose, either the fleshy or the bony parts 
may be affected; if the latter, we get the typical 
saddle-back nose, with sunken-in bridge, so called 
from its supposed resemblance to the curves of a 
saddle. This sinking in of the bridge of the nose 
is due to the rotting away of the bony tissues. If 
the fleshy parts are attacked, ulcerations and 
abscesses may be the result. 
In the ears, the syphilitic poison does most de- 
structive work. Deafness, complete or partial, is 
apt to follow a syphilitic invasion, for either by the 
destruction of the ear drums or the little bones of the 
middle ear which transmit sounds, the function of 
the auditory nerve is interfered with. Not one of 
the three divisions of the ear—external, middle, and 
internal ear—is spared. If the centres of balance 
for the body, located in the internal ears, are affected, 
staggering in walking, dizziness, and a sense of con- 
fusion in locomotion are to be expected. 
Syphilitic lesions of the tongue are apt to lead to 
certain changes which produce cancer of that im- 
portant organ—a most terrible affliction which neces- 
sitates a serious and radical operation for the re- 
moval of the tongue and then eternal dumbness. Do 
sexual impurity and its terrible punishments pay? 80 
SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
But I am not through. We will continue our walk 
through the syphilitic “ chamber of horrors.” 
A favorite point for the poison of this loathsome 
disease to attack is the upper jaw, and the usual 
result is necrosis or rotting of these bones. As a 
rule this is the case whenever the disease attacks a 
bone, no matter in what part of the victim’s body. 
The name of the tube that the food passes 
through on its way from the mouth to the stomach is 
the oesophagus. Syphilitic lesions of this are some- 
what rare, but are serious when they do occur for the 
ulcerations while healing may contract the lumen or 
opening of the tube and interfere with the nutrition 
of the patient. In the mouth itself, not only the 
tongue, but the soft palate, the uvula, the tonsils, and 
their pillars are all likely to be the seat of syphilitic 
inflammation with more or less destruction of tissue. 
When syphilitic poisons attack the special nerves 
of the head—the cranial nerves—they cause fearful 
headaches and neuralgia which, so far as pain and 
distress go, make ordinary headaches and neuralgia 
seem mere nothings. These headaches always in- 
crease in severity as night approaches, and make 
sleep a luxury unattainable. 
The heart also has been attacked by the poison 
with quickly fatal results. 
Abscesses, caused by this disease, may form in 
any part of the body, and are fairly common in the SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
81 
lungs. Syphilitic abscesses are called gummata, and, 
depending upon their size and location, are more or 
less dangerous. A favorite location for them, is the 
brain—a most dangerous place, as you can well imag- 
ine without my telling you. The pus or discharge 
from these gummata, or any of the syphilitic sores 
or ulcerations, is very infectious, and an active agent 
in spreading the disease. 
The liver, if not actually the most vital organ 
of the body, is perhaps one of the foremost. Without 
the proper performance of its functions, at least to a 
certain degree, the human being would die. The less 
healthy its condition, the more poorly it performs its 
manifold duties, therefore the poorer the health of 
the person. When I tell you that it is in the liver 
that most of the food of the body is prepared for use 
and stored up until it is needed, you will perhaps 
realize that the liver is of great importance to the 
human being. And of all the organs located in the 
abdomen (it is located in the upper right-hand side 
or corner), the liver is the one most often attacked 
by the syphilitic poison. Should the poison be in- 
tense enough to cause abscesses, the result is serious. 
Destruction of the liver tissue means a lowering of 
the efficiency of the liver for its essential work. 
This needs no further comment. 
As many of you know, the body has two surfaces, 
an outside one covered with what we call the skin, 82 
SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
and an inside one covered or lined with a delicate 
membrane known as the mucous membrane. In 
order to make you fully understand what I mean 
by inside surfaces, I might mention that one is the 
gastro-intestinal tract, which begins immediately 
within the mouth, and comprises the oesophagus, the 
stomach, the small and large intestines, and the rec- 
tum ; another internal, surface is the respiratory tract, 
starting just within the nostrils, and taking in the 
pharynx, trachea, bronchi, and lungs; and the genito- 
urinary tract is another internal surface. 
Now, with this idea of internal surfaces, If you 
will consider for a moment the vast extent of the 
mucous membranes of the body, and that all these 
membranes are liable to be sites of syphilitic ulcera- 
tions, I need hardly picture the consequences. 
I may mention, however, that with these syphi- 
litic ulcerations in the mouth of a victim, kisses from 
that person are likely to be ever remembered on 
account of what they bring to the recipient. Like- 
wise the use of the same cup, glass, or, in fact, any- 
thing that has touched such a mouth, would be an 
almost sure way of getting the disease. And, just 
as in gonorrhoea, the victim of syphilis is often abso- 
lutely indifferent to the rights of others, so far as 
protecting the general public from getting his vile 
disease is concerned. To show you how indifferent SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
83 
some of them are I would relate the following little 
incident, the truth of which I can vouch for. 
A certain patient visited his doctor’s office and 
was told he had syphilis. The doctor explained to 
him what a menace he was to the public in general, 
and took great pains to explain to him how he could 
protect those around him from acquiring his disease. 
The patient seemed much impressed, and promised 
the doctor implicitly to obey his instructions, espe- 
cially those for the protection of the public. Can 
you imagine the amazement and disgust of the doctor 
when, during the same day, on entering a public place 
for a drink, he saw his patient there, drinking from 
a glass which would subsequently be used by the 
next, in this case probably unfortunate, customer? 
Think this over a little. 
When syphilitic ulcerations attack the intestines, 
the part most seriously affected is the rectum, and 
if adhesions form between the surfaces, you have a 
stricture of the rectum, a very serious condition. 
Your mind can picture the procedure necessary to 
relieve this condition, which, of necessity, must be 
relieved, and a bad feature of which is that it may 
recur after being relieved. 
Although I do not mention it always, please bear 
in mind that pain, usually most severe, accompanies 
these various manifestations of the disease. Also 
remember that I am, by no means, going into full 84 
SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
details of this disease, but merely “ dipping ” very 
lightly below the surface. 
The results of syphilis are particularly severe 
when it affects the nervous system, and here it results 
in the worst forms of insanity, in which the victims 
commit the lowest of degraded acts. The large 
majority, if not all, of the cases of locomotor ataxia 
are the result of syphilis. Most cases of abscess of 
the brain and spinal cord, aside from those caused 
by falls, blows, or other violence, are to be credited 
to syphilis. Many cases of blindness in childhood, 
young manhood, and later adult life, are caused by 
syphilis. The underlying cause of apoplexy result- 
ing in death, insanity, or permanent paralysis in 
many cases is this same dangerous poison of syphilis. 
Epilepsy and convulsions may be induced by syphi- 
litic lesions of the brain. In fact, I think that one 
may be quite safe in saying that in adults the great 
majority of diseases of the brain can be traced to 
syphilis. 
The poison of syphilis is, of course, carried 
through the body by the circulating blood, and in 
this way the heart and blood-vessels are affected by 
this intensely toxic substance. One of its effects is 
the “ rotting,” as it were, of the walls of the blood- 
vessels, and when they break down altogether, and 
thereby permit a hemorrhage to take place, the conse- SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
85 
quences are serious. Immediate death, or a linger- 
ing illness as a helpless paralytic, may be expected 
if the brain is the seat of this hemorrhage. If it 
happens to be one of the blood-vessels of the heart, 
or the aorta, the largest artery in the body and the 
one which carries the blood away from the heart, 
death is immediate. 
Now I could go on and tell you still more about 
this destroyer of all that is worth while in life, and, 
though I continued doing it in the same way as be- 
fore, giving you merely outlines, I should have 
enough to say to fill many more pages; but I will not, 
for I believe I have told you enough, perhaps more 
than enough, of this loathsome disease and how 
and what it will do to the man who first contracts it. 
In our next talk, we will discuss the manner in 
which it may be transmitted to a future wife and off- 
spring. When I have finished you will feel, I am 
sure, that any man who marries after having had 
syphilis is no man at all, but a brute of the lowest 
order. You will be inclined to think that even the 
doctor has no right to give this man a clean bill of 
health, for something may have been overlooked, 
and the disease still be active. It is certainly a ter- 
rible disease, and the fact that it is so easily con- 
tracted by illegitimate sexual relations certainly 
makes immorality a puzzle, and stamps many ap- 
parently sensible men as great fools. 86 
SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
REVIEW 
I. What disease is known as the “ black plague,” and how 
is it usually contracted? 
II. In what ways does it resemble gonorrhoea? 
III. Why is it that its contagion can be easily spread even 
by one who is careful? 
IV. Name some of the early symptoms. 
V. Why might an error in diagnosis be easily made? 
VI. Describe how other parts of the body may be affected 
during the progress of the disease. 
VII. How may it affect the eyes? 
VIII. What is its effect on bones which are attacked by it? 
IX. Describe the importance of the liver and its liability 
to attack. 
X. State the consequences of an attack on the brain. V 
In our last talk you were told briefly what the 
horrible disease known as syphilis can do to the one 
who originally contracts it. In this talk, we will 
discuss its power for evil in those to whom it is 
transmitted. We designate the disease as syphilis 
of the innocent when it is transmitted by accidental 
contact with infective material, or by sexual inter- 
course within the holy bonds of matrimony, or when 
it affects the unfortunate offspring of such a mar- 
riage. Unfortunately, softening the name does not 
in any way lessen the violence of the disease. 
In gonorrhoea, I told you we would not, perhaps, 
be so concerned for the welfare of the guilty if it 
were not for the danger to the innocent. If one 
chooses to associate with “ fallen ” women he must 
abide by the consequences, no matter what. It is the 
same in this disease, also, except that, the results 
being so serious, one feels sorry for the sinner, par- 
ticularly if he has been careful not to spread the 
disease and to keep others from suffering for his 
expensive dissipation in his youth. Of course, those 
that interest us most in this talk are the innocent 
future wife and offspring. 
When a man who has had syphilis and not been 
87 88 
SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
entirely cured of it gets married, the chances are that 
his wife will become infected, and be liable to all the 
suffering that I described for the man in our pre- 
vious talk, besides which she is unable to give birth 
to living, healthy children. I emphasize living, 
healthy children, and with reason. The offspring 
of syphilitic parents, if so unfortunate as to be born 
alive, are not usually healthy, but have, as a birth 
present, the vile disease with which the guilty father 
is affected. 
Except under certain circumstances, the woman 
infected by her husband will transmit the disease to 
her yet unborn child, if, indeed, she becomes pregnant 
at all, for by its previous effect upon the father, or 
upon the wife’s contribution to creation, the disease 
often prevents conception. If, by chance, the wife 
becomes pregnant, the syphilitic poison is so intense 
that the product of conception (i.e., the growing, un- 
born child) is usually killed at once, and the mother 
has what is known as a miscarriage. Or the unfor- 
tunate mother has the misfortune to go through all 
the pain and peril of childbirth only to have as a 
reward a dead child on whose tombstone could truth- 
fully be engraved the following: “ I was murdered 
by my father because, before his marriage, he had no 
respect for the holiest of human relations, nor for the 
sex of his mother and sisters.” You see, therefore, 
that the sowing of wild oats in the spring-time of SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
89 
youth can make a man later on the murderer of his 
own child. 
If the child of syphilitic parents is not mercifully 
dead before birth, it will be all that a new-born baby 
should not be; in other words, a sick infant from 
birth, requiring great skill and care to bring him 
through babyhood, and over whose whole life will 
hang the blight of syphilis with the possibility of the 
disease breaking out in active form at almost any 
time. Such knowledge as this does not conduce to 
the parents’ peace of mind, nor the child’s when he 
realizes his condition. It is certainly an awful out- 
look for a child, after having survived the tortures 
of the attacks in his babyhood. 
I wonder if any of you have ever seen a new-born 
baby that had inherited this disease and showed it 
at the time. If you have, I think you will agree 
with me that you have never seen a more miserable 
specimen of humanity than was that baby when the 
disease was at its height. They are certainly the 
most pitiful looking objects that one can possibly 
imagine. They make you feel “ hot ” against the 
person responsible for their condition, and make you 
wish that some very severe punishment could be 
meted out to the offenders against the moral law. 
Your mind-picture of a baby is of a happy, laugh- 
ing, rosy-cheeked, clean-skinned little mite of human- 
ity, squirming here, there, and everywhere, that 90 
SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
everyone wants to love, hug, and kiss. Well, no one 
is attracted to the syphilitic baby; every one wants 
to get as far away from it as he can. Wives, in a 
state of expectant motherhood, shun it as they would 
the vilest contagion, fearing the effect on the coming 
baby of their having seen such a repulsive object. 
No one wants to hug and kiss the little syphilitic 
mite, unless it be its poor unhappy mother, whose 
maternal instincts cannot be overborne even by the 
repulsiveness of her child. Poor little, yellow, wiz- 
ened, old-man-face baby, always whining, not with 
a good lusty baby cry, but a real, nerve racking, 
practically ceaseless whine! A face, body, and limbs 
covered with the sores of syphilis, unhappy itself 
and a terrible menace to others! A maddening, liv- 
ing example of the horrors that may be visited 
upon the innocent through the immorality of others. 
There is no need that any poor baby be made a 
martyr, because The Sexual Relation is Not a 
Necessity to the health or well-being of either sex; 
and, in the second place, illegitimate sexual relations 
are never either necessary or excusable. 
Perhaps you are asking yourselves whether I am 
not exaggerating a little the sufferings and appear- 
ance of this new-born baby. I assure you that I am 
not, and we are going to spend a little time by going 
into details. 
In the first place a baby infected at birth with this PLATE I. 
The face and feet of a baby born with active syphilitic disease. SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
91 
disease may look perfectly healthy, and the guilty 
father live in a “ fool’s paradise ” until the four- 
teenth to the twenty-first day of the child’s life, when 
his joy is rudely shattered by the appearance of the 
disease. In some cases, the first symptoms may be 
delayed even as late as the third month, and in these 
cases the shock on the outbreak of the disease is still 
greater. 
Usually the first thing noticed by the mother is 
that the baby has a slight “ cold in the head,” and 
everybody wonders that this was possible when it 
had such good care. But every cold in the head is 
not the sign of syphilis in an infant, even though it 
makes its appearance at this suspicious time. The 
doctor is not consulted because everybody thinks it 
is going to pass away in a day or so. But these 
“ snuffles ” do not pass away; they persist; and the 
discharge from the nose is, at times, flecked with 
blood, and very irritating. Soon ulcerations form 
within and without the nose, and may do consider- 
able damage. 
After the child has had “ snuffles ” for five or 
six days, although sometimes appearing with them, 
a rash breaks out which seems to favor the hands 
and feet, the backs of the arms, and the fronts of the 
legs. This rash throws off little, fine scales. The 
soles of the feet and the palms of the hands are cov- 
ered with blister-like eruptions. At those places on 92 
SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
the head and body where the outside white skin and 
the inside red skin (the mucous membrane) meet, 
very sore cracks or fissures will be found. These 
often ulcerate deeply. The finger-nails of these chil- 
dren are somewhat typical, for they remind one of 
claws, being long, narrow, and of a bluish tinge, 
with an arch on their external or outer surfaces. 
The ends of the bones may become detached from 
the central parts, and hemorrhages may occur and be 
serious enough to cause death. 
There are many other symptoms which, includ- 
ing those mentioned above, are accompanied by vary- 
ing degrees of pain. I will not mention more of 
them, for I think I have stated enough to prove 
that I have not exaggerated, and also to convince you 
that, even if a man has no regard for his own health, 
he has no right to bring upon an innocent, helpless 
baby the sufferings of which I have just told you. 
In older children, the disease shows itself when 
the second teeth are cut, by a certain peculiar forma- 
tion,—the so-called Hutchinson’s teeth. In older 
children any or all of the following conditions may 
be caused by the disease: Partial or complete blind- 
ness which may be permanent; partial or complete 
deafness which may be permanent; retarded mental 
development which may be permanent or become 
worse; retarded physical development which may 
persist throughout life, or may grow worse; besides SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
93 
these, many of the sequels that I mentioned in the 
last talk may also follow this form of syphilis- 
hereditary syphilis, or the syphilis of the innocent. 
Syphilis may not appear in the infant at all, and 
may first show itself at five or six years of age; or, 
skipping childhood, may not appear until the twelfth 
year, or even in young adult life. Children who in- 
herit this disease usually loathe their inheritance, 
and their feelings toward the parent who is respon- 
sible are not at all kindly. After what you have 
heard, I do not believe you can blame them. 
As in the case of gonorrhoea, the question which 
comes to mind is, What can the medical profession 
do to save innocent wives and children from reaping 
these terrible consequences of men’s folly, to call it 
by a very mild name? Can the medical profession 
protect the innocent against this vile and serious 
menace to their health ? My answer is that the medi- 
cal profession has a preventive, if the doctor is 
warned in time. 
There is no need, say you, if the medical pro- 
fession has a preventive, for a baby to be born syph- 
ilitic, even though the father has infected the expect- 
ant mother. You may even try to excuse the father 
by saying that when he married he probably thought 
he was cured of this vile contamination, and there- 
fore was innocent of any intentional harm to his 
wife and their offspring. But this is a lame argu- 94 
SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
ment, for every man and woman, even child, one 
might almost say, knows that an immoral life is 
wrong even if no disease is contracted through it. 
However, we will admit your excuse for the father, 
so as to be able to comment upon it. 
As I have already said, there is a way in which 
a syphilitic husband can protect his future children. 
He can go to his family physician and acquaint him 
with the fact that he has had this disease, and ask him 
to take precautions for the well-being of his child 
should the wife become pregnant. The doctor will 
understand, and, without betraying the husband to 
the wife, will give the mother such medicines as will 
protect the unborn child and benefit the mother also. 
It is so simple that you would be inclined to 
think that no babies would be born afflicted with this 
disease. The trouble is, however, that the majority 
of those who have had or still have this loathsome 
disease do not confide in their doctors, but trust to 
luck to save them from the results of past immoral- 
ity, and inevitably have bad luck, as they say. You 
know that many persons ascribe to bad luck the mis- 
fortunes they make for themselves, not only in this 
instance, but in other things as well. 
How can the contamination of syphilis be pre- 
vented ? Personal contamination with the poison of 
syphilis can be avoided in many ways: 
(A) By leading a strictly moral life, which, of SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
95 
course, is merely another way of saying, have a 
proper respect for the sex of your mother and 
sisters and the moral law, before marriage, and be 
no different afterward. I do not know who is the 
most contemptible, the unmarried man who debases 
the sex of his mother and sisters and degrades him- 
self also by belittling the sacred sexual relation, or 
the married man and father who not only has no 
respect for the sex of his mother, wife, sisters, and 
daughters, but sets an example which may lead to 
the future ruin of his own daughter; for when he is 
acting immorally with another woman, he' is degrad- 
ing’ some one’s daughter, and setting an example to 
some other man who may choose the teacher’s 
daughter to be his partner in immorality. 
(B) By avoiding the use of a common drinking 
glass, cup, or other utensil; it may not be out of place 
to remark that many diseases besides syphilis can be 
contracted in this way. You know that the medical 
profession has for years been teaching that danger 
lurks in the common drinking cup. 
(C) By avoiding the use of towels common for 
all. Even at home, it is uncleanly, to say the least, 
to use the towel of another. 
(D) Avoid the handling of your own sexual 
parts, or those of others, regardless of sex, and like- 
wise avoid the handling of your parts by others. 
Later, when we speak of masturbation, you will 96 
SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
understand why I have given this caution several 
times. 
(E) Avoid being a friend in need by acting as 
a “ rubber in.” I will explain what I mean by this 
peculiar expression. Patients suffering from this 
disease are very often given a salve to rub in on 
various parts of their bodies. It is not always easy 
for them to reach the designated parts, so they ask 
a friend to rub it in for them. If I were the friend 
I would refuse rather than run the risk of contract- 
ing the disease. I know that many say the danger of 
contamination in this way is very slight, but I would 
refuse to take this slight chance. 
(F) Avoid the use of common shaving brushes 
and mugs, and I think I will include the shaving 
soap which comes in either sticks or cakes. As in 
the case of the towel, these every-day utilities also 
can carry various diseases'. Why take an unneces- 
sary chance? 
(G) Avoid indiscriminate kissing. This is one 
of the most common ways of spreading disease, and 
syphilis, particularly, gets a large number of victims 
in this manner. Kissing on the mouth is always 
dangerous to the kisser and the kissed, and should be 
specially avoided. When indulged in between the 
sexes, it carries a sexual danger as well, owing to its 
liability to arouse passionate sexual thoughts. 
(H) Avoid personal contact of any kind with SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
97 
suspects of either sex, and with non-suspects also. 
There are many obnoxious skin diseases that can be 
transmitted in this way. You don’t want these, 
either. 
(I) Avoid sleeping with others. The reasons 
mentioned above are of much force here. Some dis- 
eases are also carried by the breath. 
(J) Never use a bed which has been slept in by 
others unless the sheets have been changed for 
freshly laundered ones since the last occupant used 
it. Soiled and contaminated bedding is known to be 
a fine carrier of venereal as well as other diseases. 
( K) Avoid the use of a bathtub anywhere, either 
in your own house or outside, without thoroughly 
cleaning it. 
(L) Avoid public toilet seats, the dangers of 
which I have already detailed to you in previous 
talks. 
(M) Avoid wearing other peoples’ clothes, espe- 
cially underwear and bathing suits. You would 
laugh at the idea of putting on some one else’s under- 
wear unless you knew it had been thoroughly washed, 
and yet, strange as it may seem, many of you, with- 
out hesitation, wear unwashed bathing suits hired 
from public places, and which have been worn by 
a great many others whom you have never seen. 
(N) Avoid handling dressings from syphilitic 
cases or, in fact, anything that has been in contact 98 
SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
with them; for no matter whether the pus or other 
discharge they contain has come from the eyes, nose, 
mouth, body abscesses, genitals, or any other part of 
the victim’s body, they are dangerous and a menace 
to you. 
Those who have had syphilis should not dream of 
getting married until they have had at least from 
two to two and a half years of the most thorough 
and conscientious treatment—conscientiously given 
by the doctor, and conscientiously carried out by 
the patient. The degree of success that the treatment 
will attain depends upon both, and irregularity leads 
to failure. It is not the going to the doctor for the 
medication for two years, off and on, that counts, 
but going regularly. 
At the. end of this period, the patient should have 
his blood tested by the famous method of the great 
Professor Wassermann. This test, properly made, 
is a fair index as to the presence or absence of active 
syphilitic poison in the system. Two or three tests 
with negative results, taken at intervals of six or 
eight weeks, might make one feel fairly certain that 
marriage is safe. As part of this test depends upon 
human skill, it is wise to have each test made at a 
different place in order to eliminate as far as pos- 
sible the possibility of the laboratory worker making 
a mistake. It is not likely that the same mistake 
would happen in three different places. Moreover, SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
99 
when so much depends upon the test, it is advisable 
to ascertain who are the best and most reliable men 
to do it, and not which are the cheapest places, where 
they may or may not 'do it properly. 
Of course, if the tests are not all negative, there 
should be no marriage at that time, and it must be 
postponed until they are. Despite the Wassermann 
test and other signs of elimination, if 1 were a 
woman I do not think I would ever be brave enough 
to marry a man who had ever had syphilis, or even 
gonorrhoea; for, even if I were willing to take the 
chances on my own health and happiness, I do not 
believe I would be willing to take the chance of the 
consequences to my children. In fact, the question 
arises whether a woman has any right to take such 
chances on the health and happiness of her future 
offspring. Personally, I am inclined to believe she 
has not, for she has no way of undoing the harm that 
may come to the innocent as a result of her marriage. 
On thinking it over, I do not believe, if I were 
a woman, that I would marry any man who had 
been immoral, even though he were not diseased. 
Why should men demand that women be pure, and 
yet claim the right to ruin, morally and physically, 
as many of the sex of their mothers and sisters as 
they possibly can? It is truly a most disgraceful 
indictment against the decency of men and their 
sense of justice and fair play. It is an indictment 100 
SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
that I trust those of you who have followed my 
course to date will try to entirely wipe out; that 
you are going to be true sons of virtuous mothers, 
who suffered much to bring you into being, but who 
did not make this sacrifice to have you grow up into 
despoilers and degraders of their sex. Every man 
who is impure is lacking in proper love and respect 
for his mother if she is alive, or proper reverence 
for her memory if she is dead. 
All v’enereal diseases like syphilis and gonor- 
rhoea are preventable, therefore, like other prevent- 
able diseases, they should not exist on the face of the 
earth, and venereal diseases are more easily prevent- 
able than other diseases. The rule for eliminating 
them can be stated in one brief sentence : viz., “ Let 
morality prevail.” With this rule in actual practice, 
these diseases would in a very few years become 
extremely rare, despite their prevalence at the present 
time; and although they are a source of large revenue 
to the medical profession you would find no one 
more happy than the doctors that the ravages of 
these destructive diseases had been checked, for doc- 
tors know the fearful amount of misery and suffer- 
ing they cause among human beings. 
Every one of you who leads a pure, moral life 
will help to bring about this marvellous result, and, 
if you think individual effort counts for little, per- 
mit me to remind you that even the mighty ocean is SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
101 
composed of little, individual drops of water. With 
social purity the rule, the advance in human health, 
happiness, and well-being would be so great as abso- 
lutely to defy calculation. The world would be as a 
new world, so much better would it be for- those 
who live in it. Medical and surgical practice would 
fall off tremendously, but the medical profession 
would rejoice to know that many men and women 
were going to escape crippling and destructive dis- 
eases and mutilating operations. Many insane asy- 
lums, sanitariums, hospitals for incurables, and 
schools for imbecile and feeble-minded children 
would be forced out of business, but the world at 
large' would be the gainer, for there would be more 
children of a high grade of mental and moral ability 
to help make our world better; more adults, both 
young and old, would be added to the list of the 
world’s workers, instead of being useless victims 
of preventable diseases. 
The consumption of beer, whiskey, and other 
liquors would markedly decrease, because immoral- 
ity is one of the factors in their extensive sale. They 
help to blunt a man’s better nature, and are there- 
fore a favorite aid to the women who sell their bodies 
for immoral purposes. Moreover, a certain almost 
unmentionable class of men and women who fatten 
on, the earnings of these “ fallen ” women would 
have their business wiped out' of existence—and 102 
SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
nobody would miss them; it is a mystery to me how 
they can be tolerated even now. They are certainly 
about the lowest of the low; even worse than the 
immoral women from whom they take money. 
By making it impossible for persons afflicted with 
venereal diseases to get married anywhere until they 
are entirely cured, the ravages of these diseases 
could be markedly lessened. As I have already stated, 
I believe in such a law as would make it mandatory 
upon both parties to a proposed marriage to furnish 
to the marriage license clerk attested certificates from 
reputable physicians as to their respective freedom 
from venereal diseases before any license to marry 
is issued to them. Such laws have been passed in 
several parts of the United States, and those of us 
who are interested in the conservation of human 
health and happiness hope the areas where such laws 
are in force will increase most rapidly. 
Such laws do not, as some would have us be- 
lieve, encroach upon the personal liberty of individ- 
uals, for no individual can have any real personal 
rights which make him a menace to the rest of the 
community. Such opinions usually emanate from 
those who have “ an axe to grind ” in an opposite 
direction, or from those who have given no deep 
thought to the subject; for whatever conduces to the 
health and happiness of a community is of individual 
benefit to each and every member of that community; SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
103 
therefore, instead of infringing upon any one’s pri- 
vate rights, it enhances the privileges of living in 
that community. 
It is rather interesting to note that, while in the 
case of other germ infections those who come into 
contact with the virus do not always acquire the dis- 
ease, yet in these two venereal diseases, gonorrhoea 
and syphilis, to expose"yourself to the poison is to 
get the disease. Many physicians and nurses have 
innocently contracted syphilis while in the perform- 
ance of their duties from patients suffering from it. 
This constancy of infection is rather significant, is 
it not? It looks as though Mother Nature had some 
decided ideas upon the subject of immorality. 
I have spoken at some length on the subject of 
gonorrhoea and syphilis, yet have told you very little 
about them or of the consequences to the man who 
acquires them, whatever you may have thought to 
the contrary. Much more might be said of both, but 
I do not think it necessary in this course of lectures 
to go any deeper than we have gone. I have given 
you, I think, a fair knowledge of them; certainly 
sufficient for your needs. It seems superfluous to 
say that any one who contracts this disease wants no 
corner drug store treatment, but that of a capable 
physician. The disease is far more dangerous than 
the proverbial “ unloaded pistol ” that usually goes 
off and injures some one. 104 
SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
Yes, inherited syphilis can be cured, but “ an 
ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” Be 
clean and pure, and no child of yours will ever go 
about with those stigmata of syphilis which cry aloud 
to those who understand them, “ I inherited syphilis 
from my father.” 
I. What do we designate as “ syphilis of the innocent ” ? 
II. How may the syphilitic husband affect his wife and 
child? Explain fully. 
III. Compare the happy, healthy baby with the syphilitic 
one. 
IV. Describe the first symptoms of syphilis in the child. 
V. Describe the progress of the disease. 
VI. How does the disease manifest itself in an older child? 
VII. How can syphilis in the baby be prevented? Why is it 
not more often done? 
VIII. Name several ways in which syphilitic contamination 
can be averted. 
IX. For how long should treatment be given for syphilis 
and how is its success determined? 
X. How should the law interfere with the procuring of a 
marriage license by syphilitic parties to the contract ? 
REVIEW VI 
Some of you have heard of a certain practice 
or habit very prevalent among boys, and even among 
young men, which has been called masturbation or 
“ self abuse.” I call your attention particularly to 
this latter and common name, because it signifies that 
masturbation is abuse of the sexual organs and the 
sexual relation by the improper means of producing 
a counterfeit sexual relation; whereas, on this same 
basis of names, illegal sexual intercourse, or im- 
morality, is admitted to be an abuse of the most 
sacred of all human relations; an unlawful act 
opposed to the best interests of the human race in 
general, and the sex of the female members of your 
own immediate family in particular. Unfortunately, 
most of you understand from personal experience 
what masturbation is, and to those of you who do not 
my message is, avoid finding out by actual practice. 
Masturbation is an unnatural way of satisfying 
a real or imaginary sexual craving. You note I say 
a real or imaginary sexual craving; for there is a 
difference, and 1 think it can be truthfully said that 
most illicit sexual acts are to be classed under false 
sexual desires. Real sexual desire is aroused only 
by actual love, not by the wiles of impure women. 
105 106 
SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
Again, no man would actually enter into sex rela- 
tions, outside of the bonds of wedlock, with a woman 
he truly loved because he knows that by so doing he 
would cause her to sully her good name and be 
classed as a “ fallen ” woman. Real love would 
ask for nothing that entailed such a penalty upon the 
woman. 
To return to masturbation. As for those of you 
who have not already been instructed by others in 
this very disgusting practice, I shall not enlighten 
you as to “ how to do it,” and I advise you not to 
let others do so. To those of you who do mastur- 
bate, I say most emphatically, “ Stop it! ” If your 
own will power is insufficient to make you stop a 
habit which is not only unnatural but harmful, ask 
your family physician to help you. But do' not go 
from bad to worse by proceeding from the habit of 
masturbation to the still more disgraceful one of 
illicit sexual intercourse. Masturbation is bad, but 
degrading the sex of your mother and sister is far 
worse. Bear in mind this fact: The Actual 
Sexual Relation is Absolutely Unnecessary 
to Your Health, Your Well-being, or Your 
Happiness. Therefore, if the actual sexual rela- 
tion is unnecessary for you in any way, or for any 
reason, certainly a false and injurious counterfeit 
of it must be still more unnecessary. 
Just learn to regard the sexual relation as the SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
107 
most sacred and intimate relation that can exist be- 
tween man and woman, and that it was so ordained 
by the Almighty. Realize that, in this mutual expres- 
sion of the highest degree of human affection, the 
human race is perpetuated; and because of what this 
relation expresses, when carried out in a proper state 
of mind, the resultant child inherits the best of the 
qualities of its parents. If you will try to realize 
this great truth, the mere thought of illicit sexual 
relations for the gratification of artificially-aroused 
animal desires will become so1 abhorrent to you that 
you will soon become a most earnest worker in the 
cause of saving our girls from degradation and 
disease, and your own sex likewise. You will be- 
come a practical force in the great movement for the 
uplift of the human race, in the present and future. 
Masturbation is an unnatural habit or practice 
because it is a monosexual act which, so far as repro- 
duction is concerned, amounts to nothing. 
In many of the lower types of animal life, the 
same being contains all the essential elements for 
reproduction; or, as we call them, the male and 
female contributions to creation. These parts are 
combined within the original body, therefore outside 
relations with others of the same species are unneces- 
sary. But in the human race the essential elements 
to creation are separate. They are contained in 
two bodies, which we call the male and the female, 108 
SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
and for reproduction to be made possible these male 
and female elements must be brought together. You 
will, therefore, see that any attempt at a sexual act 
by one person, without the active participation in it 
in a normal way of the opposite sex, is an unnatural 
sexual act. 
Why is masturbation unhealthful? 
My answer to such a question is that it is so 
chiefly because of its being practised to excess. The 
drain it makes on the normal vitality is too great 
for the recuperative powers of the body. Excessive 
sexual relations will bring about just as evil results; 
but to have normal sexual intercourse a member of 
the opposite sex must participate in it, and when 
such a desire is experienced the necessary partner 
may not be obtainable, or circumstances may prevent 
such indulgence for various reasons; therefore cases 
of excessive sexual intercourse are not so numerous 
as those of masturbation. 
The masturbator can indulge in his habit at prac- 
tically any time or anywhere. All he needs is a 
place where he can hide himself, or, perhaps, con- 
ceal only the peculiar movements he makes to bring 
about ‘this self gratification. I have seen mastur- 
bation practised in many public places, such as rail- 
road cars, boats, trolley cars, etc. Of course, the 
masturbator did not realize that his acts were noticed 
by those about him, or he might have refrained from SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
109 
thus disgracing himself. But, the act being so easy, 
you can readily understand the tendency to excess, 
therefore to mental and physical harm. 
A peculiar thing about some masturbators is that 
their sexual tastes become perverted and they lose 
their normal desire for real sexual intercourse, hence 
their usefulness as reproducers of our race is at an 
end. 
Another evil of masturbation is its tendency to 
lead to deception and lying on the part of those who 
practise it. When a person lies about one thing, the 
habit is soon formed, and in a short time he loses 
all perception of the truth. The masturbator seeks 
solitude or privacy for the carrying out of this vile 
habit, and will devise all sorts of excuses to be 
alone. Result, deception; another very easy habit 
to fall into when once the seed is planted. You all 
know the old. saying: “ Oh, what a tangled web we 
weave, when first we practise to deceive.” 
Not only must you be on your guard against con- 
tracting this habit of masturbation, but you must 
carefully watch, the boys around you, big and little, 
and tell them how harmful is this habit, and why. 
Many drift into masturbation or “ self abuse” with- 
out really knowing what it is, or what they are doing. 
Some boy tells them that by doing such and such a 
thing they will experience certain pleasing sensations, 
and advises them to try it. They do, and thus estab- 110 
SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
lish a habit easier to contract than to break. School 
is a great breeding place for this habit, as I have 
learned by talks with both teachers and pupils, and 
the boarding school more so than the day school. 
In fact, in any institution where boys are kept con- 
stantly together the utmost care is necessary to 
prevent an epidemic of the habit. 
How can one refrain from masturbation? It is 
not hard to answer this question. First, keep your 
thoughts off things sexual; second, keep your hands 
away from your sexual parts; third, keep your sexual 
parts so clean that dirt in these regions will not set 
up irritation and draw your minds to them; fourth, 
let your reading be such as will not excite sexual 
thoughts; fifth, avoid the company of those whose 
conversation is improper from a sexual standpoint; 
and, sixth, let your minds rule your bodies, and 
do not permit animal desire to make you its slave. 
Notwithstanding the brevity with which I have 
dwelt upon the subject of masturbation, you can see 
that it is a harmful and most unnatural practice, and 
should be avoided. You also see, by my simple rules 
for its avoidance, how easy it is for you to keep out of 
the clutches of this mental and physical health-wreck- 
ing habit if you are sensible enough to follow them. 
Do not be so weak minded and lacking in will 
power that the brute animal desire in you is the 
master, and that when aroused is able to make you SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
111 
its slave to its bidding. Be the real true man in 
every sense of the word and at all times, particularly 
in matters sexual, and refrain from not only injur- 
ing yourself by masturbating but from committing 
a still greater crime against both God and man in 
general and your mother and sisters in particular 
through the participating in illicit sexual relations 
with the unfortunate of the female sex. If you are 
guilty of the moral ruination of a good, pure, and 
innocent girl to satisfy any supposed sexual desire 
on your part, our language does not contain words 
expressive enough to tell you what you really are. 
If you think you are any the less guilty because you 
choose as a partner in your immorality a girl or 
woman who has already been led into wrongdoing 
by some low brute of your sex you are mistaken. 
You have absolutely no right to degrade or help 
keep degraded a member of the female sex. 
I repeat, There is No Necessity for the Real 
or Unreal Sexual Act, at any period of life, and 
those who claim that there is are either insincere or 
incorrectly informed. If those who are about to 
indulge in an illicit sexual act, would only stop and 
think a moment before they do so, a thought some- 
thing like this, I think illicit sexual indulgence 
would decrease markedly: “ This woman, whom, 
for a reward of some kind, I have persuaded to 
gratify my sexual desire and who is about to do so, 112 
SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
is somebody’s mother, wife, sister, or daughter. 
Would I be willing that any other man should do 
this injury to my mother, wife, sister, or daughter, 
even though, for some reason or other, he had suc- 
ceeded in placing her in this situation?” Your 
answer, and the answer of every other man worthy 
of the name, would be a most emphatic “No!” 
Therefore it is your duty to God and to mankind, to 
be considerate of the mother, wife, sister, or 
daughter of some other man, and, instead of trying 
to cast her down into a life of shame and disgrace, 
to endeavor to keep her from falling. If she has 
already made a misstep, instead of trying to sink 
her still lower into an unspeakable life of vice, give 
her a hand and help her back to respectability again. 
“ Cast thy bread upon the waters,” and “ Do unto 
others as you would have others do unto you,” are 
good sayings, and very true. 
Be a real man in action, word, and deed, not the 
imitation, so-called “ sport.” The real man and the 
real sport are alike; they believe in fair play in 
everything, and especially when dealing with women. 
Neither of them would rob a woman of her good 
name, in the first place, nor assist in further degrad- 
ing her after some despicable scamp had already 
ruined her. Their respect for the sex of their 
mothers, sisters, wives, and daughters is too great, 
and their love for their mothers, sisters, wives, and SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
113 
daughters is too sacred, to permit them to do such a 
thing. 
Some of you are going to tell me that doctors 
have advised men to indulge in the sexual relation. 
This seems to me like strange advice from those 
whose duty it is to protect and help the human race. 
It is on a par with the advice that some alleged 
preacher might give you to lie, cheat, and steal so 
long as you were not harmed in the operation. You 
can readily see that such advice would probably put 
you into jail. 
Ask any of these doctors (or any one else who 
gives you such vicious advice) whether he would be 
willing, so long as he believes that some woman 
must be sacrificed upon the altar of animal desire, to 
promote your health and well-being by offering up 
to you his mother, wife, sisters, or daughters for 
your alleged necessity. His answer would probably 
leave no doubt in your mind as to what he thought 
of your proposition. Yet he very ignobly advises 
you to sacrifice and degrade the dear ones of others. 
Let this thought sink deep into your brain, and I 
believe you will realize that immorality is a treacher- 
ous wrong to everybody, male and female. No 
women were created by the Lord to satisfy depraved 
desires, and every woman is good until a man is 
found mean and low enough to corrupt her morals. 
Do not be one of the vile fiends who start a woman 114 
SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
upon the downward path, or who assist in keeping 
her there. 
Many of you are puzzled by the phenomenon of 
the involuntary discharge of semen during sleep. 
You have read in large-typed advertisements, and 
have been told verbally by various people, of the 
dreadful effects to be expected from these uncon- 
scious discharges, such as loss of manhood, imbecil- 
ity, various nervous conditions, etc. You have 
“ swallowed ” these statements at their printed or 
spoken value, whereas there was very little truth in 
any of them. The advertisements are astutely writ- 
ten to fill the pockets of those who were so solicitous 
of your welfare “ for profit only,” and who therefore 
felt that a little of the truth could and should, for 
their purposes, go a long way. Upon investigation, 
the spoken statements also would be found to be 
grossly exaggerated. 
These so-called “ night losses ” we will analyze. 
What is the reason for them? In what degree are 
you actually responsible for them? How frequent 
or infrequent are they? For instance, if you fill 
your minds with trashy literature (?) of a sexually 
exciting nature and let your thoughts dwell upon 
sexual relations at bedtime, you are apt to have 
dreams of like nature accompanied by emissions of 
semen. These are what you have heard spoken of 
as “ wet dreams.” Their frequency will grow SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
115 
with your continuance of this line of reading and 
thought, and the handling of your sexual organs, 
even for other reasons than purposes of masturba- 
tion, will assist in forming this habit of night losses. 
Keep your minds free from these thoughts and 
impressions, and keep your hands away from these 
parts, and your night losses will not be of much ac- 
count or amount. Just bear in mind that they come 
also to those who have a right to the actual sexual re- 
lation, and likewise to the one who masturbates. Let 
nobody fool you or scare you by telling you that if 
you did the one thing or the other the night emissions 
would cease. If there was a cause for them, they 
would continue, or might even grow worse. If, for 
any reason, the nerves controlling the ejection of 
the semen be stimulated to perform their function, 
it matters not to them whether the cause of the 
stimulation is the normal one, or an abnormal some- 
thing, like a chronic inflammation or disease; they 
have received a stimulus to act, and their action is to 
eject the semen, which they immediately proceed 
to do. 
An occasional night emission, or, as it is com- 
monly known in street parlance, “ wet dream,” is 
no more harmful to you than an occasional nose 
bleed, let us say. Any harm in the emissions must 
depend upon their frequency and their cause. In the 
man who is a total abstainer from sexual relations, 116 
SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
an occasional night emission may take place, and 
absolutely without harm to him. One might desig- 
nate it very truthfully as a form of male menstrua- 
tion. Do not believe all the lies circulated for com- 
mercial reasons by various unscrupulous persons, 
especially by patent medicine manufacturers in cir- 
culars, books of different kinds, and advertisements 
in certain papers and magazines whose advertising 
standards are not very high. This includes, I am 
sorry to say, a class of doctors who are a discredit to 
the profession, and who are not recognized by 
respectable practitioners. 
These people “ have an axe to grind,” and that 
axe is to add to their worldly wealth by decreasing 
yours. By their cleverly written advertisements they 
can almost convince a well man that he is at the point 
of death, and that only their particular treatment or 
medicine can save his life. How much easier, there- 
fore, to scare the lives out of you on matters per- 
taining to your sexual parts, the proper understand- 
ing of which has always been withheld from you as 
if it were wrong to know about yourselves. Believe 
me, if many men would devote to their daily occu- 
pations, professions, or studies, the energy and 
thought that they give to matters sexual, most of 
them would advance more quickly, and their lives 
would be of more benefit to mankind. This is a 
solemn truth, and not an exaggeration. SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
117 
Devote yourselves to the development of your 
minds, and allow your sexual parts to take care of 
themselves. Just behave yourselves sexually, and 
Nature will do the rest. Before you knew anything 
of sexual matters, your organs took very good care 
of themselves, and are quite capable of continuing 
to do so, without interference or assistance on your 
part. Devote your brains and energy to movements 
that will help humanity, and not to seeing how you 
can degrade womanhood, make a plaything of a 
most serious and important function, and desecrate 
the most sacred and intimate of all human relations. 
Make of your family physician a friend. Go to him 
for advice and counsel in the problems connected 
with sex, and let him help you, and show you the 
right path to travel in your sexual life. 
The right kind of physician wants you to feel 
this way toward him. He will conserve your health 
and your morals to the best of his knowledge and 
ability. Remember that the aim of the medical pro- 
fession is to prevent sickness by teaching the public 
how to live, not only in matters sexual, but in every 
other phase of life. Contrary to what you may 
think, the physician does not welcome sickness. He 
is prepared to fight it in your interest, at your request, 
because disease has attacked you, but believe me 
when I say that the physician would much rather 
earn his living by keeping you well than by curing 118 
SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
you after you have fallen ill. If the public would 
heed our advice, our incomes would be reduced, but 
this would be a small matter for, while the profes- 
sion must live, still we glory in our time-honored 
traditions that our work is above an ordinary money 
value, and that our best efforts are put forth for the 
public weal. 
You are perfectly safe in confiding any or all of 
your trials and tribulations to your family physi- 
cians, because the law holds that a physician may not 
reveal what is told him by his patients in the course 
of their professional relations. 
In the male sex, masturbation is usually a. soli- 
tary vice. This means that the masturbator seeks 
a place where no one can see him perform this un- 
natural act, or suspect him of indulging in it. At 
times, however, certain males try to carry out this 
practice with one of their own or the opposite sex. 
In either case the practice loses any good points it 
may have—for instance, that the participant does not 
harm another—and becomes disgusting and repre- 
hensible. 
Remember, I said one may have a right to injure 
himself, but not the right to injure or degrade an- 
other. Masturbation, other than solitary, does both. 
Do not allow yourselves to be drawn into such an 
unnatural and vile habit no matter what the induce- SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
119 
ments held out to you; and, if you are wise, do not 
masturbate at all. You have no need to do so, and 
I venture to say that over ninety per cent, of those 
who are foolish enough to indulge in it could easily 
give it up if properly treated for the cause. In many 
cases, knowledge of this little talk would be all that 
was necessary; some cases might require some medi- 
cine, but not very much in most of them. 
Any physician can give the necessary medication 
needed in some of the cases of masturbation, a 
specialist not being necessary. Do not forget to be 
perfectly frank and honest in stating your case. Do 
not leave anything to his imagination or powers of 
guessing. And remember when cured of masturba- 
tion do not indulge in the greater sin of immorality. 
It is most unfortunate that masturbation is such 
a wide-spread habit. You will be conferring a real 
service upon any one you know who indulges in 
it by helping him to break up the habit. But be a mis- 
sionary of the right kind, and lead your convert 
away from temptation, and not into the greater sin 
of immorality. Watch your younger brothers and 
other little fellows, and break up any such practice 
before it becomes a fixed habit. In the immature 
it is always positively injurious, and there is abso- 
lutely no reason or excuse for it. Before the age of 
puberty, the sexual organs are not ready to perform 
their functions, and to endeavor to force them to do SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
120 
so can only do them injury; so, naturally, this habit 
of masturbation would be doubly harmful, for 
through ignorance it might be carried to a great 
excess. I have seen boys as young as twelve years, 
or slightly more, and upwards, in insane asylums 
from excesses of this kind, and the cure of the 
mental condition, in these cases, is almost hope- 
less. Therefore I repeat, be on your guard, and keep 
not only yourselves, but also younger and innocent 
boys from this dangerous habit. 
I do not recall anything else that it is necessary 
to tell you about masturbation. I have told you 
“ why, how, and when ” it is a dangerous habit 
which should be avoided, and also that many of the 
objections raised to it are also true of illicit sexual 
relations. I have tried hard not to exaggerate any- 
thing, and I believe that I have succeeded. 
One thing might be added, however, because it 
will be one of your first questions in the discussion. 
Among other sexual untruths and nonsense, some 
of you have been told that if, when the sexual organs 
in either sex, but especially the male, have reached 
maturity, they are not used to perform their natural 
function, they have a tendency to lose the power 
to perform this function. This is not true, but 
venereal diseases and sexual excesses can bring 
about this condition very readily. You cannot trifle 
with Mother Nature, and not pay for it. You can- SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
121 
not fly in the face of her decrees, and not be pun- 
ished for it. She will punish you every time, and 
severely enough to make you remember it always. 
The forms of insanity most often produced by 
excessive masturbation and excessive sexual indul- 
gence are melancholia and acute mania, excessive 
masturbators being usually afflicted with melan- 
cholia, a most distressing form of insanity. If you 
have ever seen a person so afflicted, you know how 
true is this statement, for melancholia is about as 
near a living death as anything can be. In other 
forms of insanity, there is some evidence of life, 
but in melancholia there is as near a suspended ani- 
mation as one could expect to see in a live human 
being. The only thought that most of them seem to 
have is how to do away with themselves. They are 
about the most miserable sufferers on earth. No 
form of insanity is desirable, but I should call this 
variety the most undesirable of all. As the name 
indicates, it is depressing, but the degree of depres- 
sion that accompanies it beggars description. 
REVIEW 
I. Why is masturbation to be considered an unnatural act ? 
II. Explain the difference, in so far as reproduction of the 
species is concerned, between the human race and 
some of the lower forms of animal life. 
III. Why is masturbation unhealthful? 
IV. Explain how it leads to lying and deception. 122 
SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
V. What can you do toward its suppression, besides re- 
fraining from it yourselves? 
VI. How can it be prevented? 
VII. Give some reasons for the appearance of so-called 
“ night losses.” 
VIII. What might be called the sole redeeming feature of 
masturbation and when is this lost? 
IX. Explain how you can be missionaries in this matter. 
X. Name two forms of insanity "commonly caused by the 
habit of masturbation. VII 
In this talk, let us discuss some things which I 
think will help you to shun the dishonorable distinc- 
tion of helping to degrade the sex of your mothers 
and sisters. You notice that I constantly remind 
you of the fact that those whom you might injure, 
morally and physically, are just the same as your 
mothers and sisters, and I have a reason for this. 
I believe that if this one fact were so impressed 
upon your minds that it would recur to you when- 
ever you think of associating with fallen women, 
you would hesitate and think the matter over; and, 
on thinking it over, you would probably decide not 
to make beasts of yourselves. 
Why should this be so? Because all of you, I 
hope, do respect your mothers and sisters, and would 
not wish to see them led downward into a life of 
immorality. The mere thought of such a thing con- 
cerning your mothers and sisters is probably sicken- 
ing and disgusting to you; the mental picture is most 
revolting. In fact, you cannot imagine such a thing 
possible, where they are concerned. Well, neither 
does any other parent or brother; so, if all of you 
had such thoughts at the proper time, what a 
glorious falling off there would be in immorality, 
123 124 
SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
and what a corresponding increase in human health 
and happiness; by far less broken-hearted parents 
whose daughters have gone astray, and fewer dis- 
rupted homes. And, oh, how little effort on the 
part of each one of you would be required to bring 
about this great improvement. Just the proper re- 
spect for the most sacred of human relations, and a 
more strict adherence to the glorious golden rule, 
“ Do unto others as you would have others do unto 
you! ” 
One factor that promotes morality is cleanliness 
of the sexual parts. If these parts are kept thor- 
oughly clean by a daily wash, all sources of irrita- 
tion are removed, and there is nothing then to call 
the constant attention of the mind to this particular 
region, distracting it from its normal occupation. 
This helps much, for the irritation caused by dirt 
and the residue of dried urine or other substances 
is often misinterpreted by the male as real sexual 
desire—a very serious and costly misunderstanding, 
with the possibility of gonorrhoeal infection, syphilis, 
and insanity as penalties for the error. 
Circumcision promotes cleanliness, a fact that 
was early recognized by the founders of the Jewish 
race, and is now universally conceded by every in- 
telligent race, regardless of creed or color. The 
reason why circumcision promotes cleanliness is 
that the removal of the foreskin covering the head SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
125 
of the penis does away with a place where it is easy 
for the urine to get into and dry. When the urine 
evaporates the solid matter that was dissolved in it 
is left behind. Such solid matter, remaining between 
the head of the penis and the foreskin, would not 
only, by its irritation, cause constant attention to 
these parts, but this resultant irritation causes an 
inflammation to be set up which becomes chronic 
and, in time, is very likely to cause the growth in 
these parts of several small masses not unlike a 
cauliflower in looks, although much smaller. They 
are commonly known as “ venereal warts,” and 
should be promptly removed by operation, for they 
have a tendency to undergo certain changes which 
brings them into the class of deadly tumors. 
To my mind, every male child should be circum- 
cised at birth, and every male of any age who is not 
already circumcised, should be. Lack of circum- 
cision makes even the course of a venereal disease 
worse. So, all in all, circumcision is a good thing, 
in a medical as well as in a moral and preventive 
sense. Of course, non-circumcised males can keep 
themselves clean by drawing back the foreskin every 
day, and washing the parts covered by it when it is 
in position, but this necessitates handling of these 
parts, a thing we always discourage. 
Some of you are asking yourselves, “ What is 
meant by circumcision ? ” I will explain the term 126 
SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
to you. You will recall that, in our anatomy lesson, 
you were told that the head of the penis extends 
forward about an inch from a ridge to the outer end 
where the urinary opening is seen. You were also 
told that in the male at birth, this entire portion is 
covered by a circular fold of skin, and that to see 
this portion it is necessary to draw back the envelop- 
ing curtain of tissue, known as the foreskin. The 
cutting away of this tissue to a point immediately 
back of the above-mentioned ridge is known as cir- 
cumcision. This leaves the head of the penis un- 
covered, and removes a dangerous pocket for the 
retention of various deposits. 
Another factor which makes for morality is the 
company you keep. I am a firm believer in the early 
commingling of the two sexes. I believe that boys 
and girls should play together and be companions 
from a very early age. I think it does them both 
good, teaching the boy to love and respect the weaker 
sex, and making him more manly in his behavior 
toward them, both in boyhood and in the future. 
It likewise benefits the girl, teaching her, as it does, 
the real value in male characteristics, and develop- 
ing in her those essential womanly traits that make 
of her the real wife and mother in later years. When 
boys and girls are companions, each boy will find 
that there is just one of the girls that he likes better 
than the others. He will want that girl to feel the SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
127 
same way toward him, and he will try hard to bring 
it about. Well-bred little girls do not care for rough, 
ill-mannered, foul-mouthed boys, and, knowing this, 
our little boy trains himself to be a little gentleman 
in every way. And, being a gentleman as a little 
boy, good manners are likely to become a fixed habit 
with him, so that as he reaches manhood’s estate he 
becomes a big gentleman. You know it is much 
easier to train young trees to grow straight than it 
is to attempt even to straighten out an old tree. 
It is not very different with human beings. This 
boy’s bringing up will have been such that immoral- 
ity will find no place in his thoughts; but a desire to 
shun evil companions, male or female, who indulge 
in it will be firmly rooted in his mind. He will not 
want to offend or lower the girl of his choice, and he 
justly reasons that if he degrades one of her sex he 
will displease her and show a lack of respect for her 
purity and goodness. 
A woman of the kind we speak of as “ fallen ” 
will have no charms for him, but on the contrary, 
will excite his pity, and make him wonder if she can 
be of the same flesh and blood as “ the girl ” of his 
life, for surely no real woman could sink so low. 
If such a creature tempts him to lower himself by 
helping her to ply her despicable calling, she will 
only arouse his unspeakable disgust, and he will 
thank God that his girl is not in the same category 128 
SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
as this other woman, and that he was early trained 
to know the evils of immorality. 
Cultivate the companionship and friendship of 
respectable, refined, and educated girls, and you will 
have no desire for any other. Being in the company 
of the right kind of girl will improve your mind, 
arouse your ambition, and preserve your health from 
any danger of venereal disease. You can find all 
reasonable pleasure and amusements in the company 
of such a girl as you want your sister to be, and will 
run no risk of spending part of your life in an 
asylum for the insane. 
Never behave toward any girl as you would not 
allow some other man, young or old, to act toward 
a sister of yours. If you think another girl is not 
proof against any temptation you offer her, just 
remember that some other man may be thinking the 
same of your sister, and tempting her, ready to take 
advantage if she is weak enough to yield to his 
blandishments. If it is your supposed privilege to 
try to ruin an innocent girl, you should not complain 
if some other man considers ic his privilege to ruin 
your sister. Think this over deeply, each one of you. 
It may make you better men in a sexual way, and if 
in this way it will benefit you it will also in others, for 
with your minds off things sexual you will concen- 
trate your thoughts on more profitable things. 
Good books, like good girls, are good and profit- SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
129 
able company for you. They are instructive, inter- 
esting, and will broaden your minds. Trashy books, 
written especially with the idea of catering to or 
exciting sexual instincts, are evil company, and the 
time consumed in reading such stuff is wasted. Life 
is too short, and time too valuable, to be wasted in 
this way, and by shunning such books you will be 
doing a double service to humanity. You will de- 
velop your minds along proper lines, and by helping 
to make the printing of such pernicious stuff unprofit- 
able, the cause of morality will be much advanced. 
I am afraid a great many so-called “ sex books ” 
come under this heading. 
Aside from the medical profession and its co- 
workers, I can see no profit to either the young or 
old, male or female, in being fed upon alleged 
“ scientific ” facts regarding various things con- 
nected with sex and sexual relations. I hope this 
criticism cannot be made against either my talks to 
you or those I have written for and delivered to the 
girls. I am adhering to plain facts for your instruc- 
tion and guidance, rather than trying in any way 
to arouse a dangerous sexual excitement. I am not 
giving you any theories as to the “ why ” and “ how ” 
of the sexual relation, or its supposed psychology, 
for I cannot see wherein this concerns or will be 
helpful to you. I may be mistaken, but I do not 
think so. I believe that my talks are in every way 130 
SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
more practical and adapted to your powers of under- 
standing. 
It is a fact that the commercial spirit is strongly 
opposed to the battle against immorality. For the 
sake of gain, many oppose the attempts that have 
been and are being made, to save our boys and girls 
from immoral lives. I trust that these persons who 
are “ lower than brutes ” will reap the reward they 
deserve. Certainly one can think of no fitting punish- 
ment for these despicable vultures who would fatten 
on the human misery and disgrace that they assist 
in causing. No man or woman who knowingly helps 
the cause of immorality can be considered a desir- 
able or even decent member of any community, and 
should be absolutely ostracized both socially and in 
a business way. The fact that you refuse social 
recognition to this class does not affect them,—their 
tender spot is their pocketbook. So long as their 
bank accounts go on increasing, you can snub them 
socially as much as you wish to, and they will not 
resent it; decrease their incomes, and light will 
dawn upon them. 
Another thing that conduces to a moral life, is 
the avoidance of alcoholic drinks, especially outside 
of your homes. Alcohol is both heating and tem- 
porarily stimulating. It befuddles your normal 
judgment, and causes you to do and say things 
that you never would have thought of if you were SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
131 
not excited by it. Do not be one of those men who 
never think for themselves, but allow alcohol to 
shape their thoughts and actions for them. 
The public drinking saloon is a double menace, 
for in it are found several elements that threaten 
both health and morals; moreover, it is often a place 
where the lawless and unruly may meet and formu- 
late plans against the well-being of the community. 
In the first place, many of these saloons are well 
named “ dens of vice,” because their owners permit 
them to be the gathering places of immoral women, 
and actually pay these women a commission on all 
the drinks they can persuade patrons to buy, while 
they are trying to induce a state of mind wherein the 
victim will risk his health and degrade his manhood 
by holding illicit sexual relations with them. Some 
of these proprietors go still further, and rent rooms 
for immoral purposes, and pay these poor, unfor- 
tunate and degraded women for tempting men into 
these rooms for immoral practises with them. Such 
places are unworthy the patronage of any decent 
man, and the proprietors should be made to feel the 
weight of public disapproval. 
Do not listen to, nor repeat, so-called “ funny ” 
stories in which the point of the joke is some refer- 
ence to the sexual relation. It is not humorous to 
joke about sacred things, and certainly the sexual or 
marriage relation should be so considered by all, 132 
SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
regardless of creed, color, or race. Under ordinary 
circumstances and in ordinary conversation, there is 
no necessity for mentioning it at all, and when 
spoken of, it should be treated with the respect that 
is its due. 
Strict attention to your business or studies with 
the determination to excel, leaves no time for un- 
profitable, debasing sexual thoughts or desires. Like- 
wise, an interest in athletic sports will promote 
morality, for the prospective athlete has no energy 
to waste, and feels that time spent in training is con- 
ducive to health and strength, whereas dissipation of 
any kind, especially illicit sexual relations, would 
unfit him for his sports, and be actually harmful. 
In fact, no trainer would permit any one in his charge 
to lead an immoral life, and with the mind filled 
with thoughts of clean sports there is no room for 
foul ones. 
In passing, the overeating of meats and rich 
foods may be mentioned as conducing to sexual 
stimulation. So, also, anything within or without 
the sexual tract that irritates either pleasantly or 
unpleasantly serves to awaken a desire, in most 
cases false, for sexual intercourse. Included among 
the latter are the chronic inflammation set up by 
masturbation, wounds or diseases of the sexual 
tract, abnormal urine, etc. 
Never handle the sexual parts any more than is 
absolutely necessary, directly or indirectly. Exer- SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
133 
cise care in the choice of your boy and girl com- 
panions. Do not join a gang of corner loafers or 
barroom loungers. Your time is too valuable to be 
wasted in pool and billiard rooms day after day, 
night after night, in the company of loafers who 
make much of you for what they can get from you. 
Do not misunderstand me. Pool, billiards, bowling, 
and like amusements are delightful when in the right 
company, but very harmful when indulged in to the 
exclusion of the real things of life. I am a most 
firm believer in the old saying, “ All work and no 
play makes Jack a dull boy! ” but there is also much 
truth in another, “ The devil finds plenty of evil for 
idle hands to do.” 
In choosing your male friends, select those who 
are fit to be in your company. You want to be im- 
proved by the company you keep, not to sink to a 
lower level. Do not, from fear of ridicule, be afraid 
to say “ No ” when something is proposed which 
you feel is wrong. Remember that, in slaughter- 
houses, newly arrived sheep are led to the killing 
block by an older sheep that is trained to sacrifice 
his kind. They follow blindly the lead of this 
“ bell ” sheep, so called because of the bell worn 
around his neck, because they have no minds of their 
own, and letting the bell sheep do their thinking for 
them costs them their lives. 
Do not, like the simple sheep, be led unquestion- 
ingly to slaughter. Use your brains! That is what 134 
SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
the Creator gave them to you for. In life there are 
many human bell sheep, and still more of unthinking 
human sheep and lambs who allow others to do their 
thinking for them, and suffer accordingly in health 
and reputation. It is just as easy to be a bell sheep 
yourself as to be an insignificant member of the flock 
that hasten to do his beck and call. Aim to be a 
leader and a power for good among your associates 
—and good includes the protection of the sex of 
your mothers and sisters—in’ other words, morality. 
Not only practise it but preach it, not only preach it 
but practise it. Do not be like the minister who, as 
the story goes, said to his congregation, “ Do as I 
say, and not as I do.” 
The force of a good example, is very great. Be 
a gentleman always in word, action, and deed, and 
whether among strangers or people whom you know. 
It is just as important to be well behaved on trains, 
boats, trolleys, and other public conveyances as it is 
to be so in your own homes or anywhere else. It is 
just as necessary that your conduct be proper at 
beaches, parks, and other outing places, as any- 
where else. Always show proper respect for the 
feelings, rights, and privileges of others, with special 
consideration for the old, sick, crippled, maimed, or 
feeble, and mothers who have children with them, 
and you will be surprised at the good effect upon 
yourselves. 
Do not be a double personage, with a set of beau- SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
135 
tiful manners, words, and actions for use outside of 
your home, and another, the reverse of the former, 
for use at home. In other words, always be sincere. 
Don’t be a hypocrite. Don’t be the monkey that 
sticks his paw into the fire to pull out roasted chest- 
nuts for some one else to eat. Listen to your con- 
science, and obey its voice. It will not always agree 
with your thoughts and desires, but it will tell you 
the difference between right and wrong without fear 
or favor. It will be your good friend, if you will 
allow it; the sort of friend you should appreciate, for 
its dictates cannot be improperly influenced one way 
or the other. It is always on the side of right and 
against the wrong, and always wants you also to be 
this way—and with it, “ might does not make right.” 
At one of my lecture courses, a boy once told me 
that when he did not do as the rest of the crowd did 
they looked upon him as “ queer.” Well, you can 
stand being “ queer ” if it means that you are the 
only real man in the crowd. You can stand being 
“ queer ” if it means that you refuse to degrade a 
woman, because your honor tells you that the mean- 
est, lowest, and most despicable thief is the one who 
steals from a woman her moral purity or honor. 
Other thieves can give back what they take, or the 
money value thereof, but he who ruins a woman, a 
member of the same sex as his mother and sisters, 
can never replace or make amends for his thefts. 
If being “ queer ” means that you hold your mother 136 
SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
and sisters in sacred love, and respect and venerate 
their sex, by all means be “queer!” If being 
“ queer ” means that you have a proper regard for 
your own health and happiness and the health and 
happiness of your future wife and children, be 
“ queer ” and glory in the brand. The world will 
be better and brighter as this brand of queerness is 
applied more and more to young men, and, in fact, 
to men of all ages. 
It will mean increased health and happiness of 
both sexes of all ages. It will decrease the profits of 
asylums for the insane, the number of schools for the 
backward and feeble-minded, it will lessen the prac- 
tice of physicians and surgeons, and the profits of 
drug stores; but it will add years and years to human 
life, and there will be more strong vigorous men, in- 
stead of old young men and the wrecks of what 
once were human beings. 
This is the brand of queerness that we indorse 
most heartily and sincerely. With it in vogue, im- 
morality will sink into its deserved and proper place. 
Those who indulge in illicit sexual intercourse, 
whether man or woman, will fail to be received in 
respectable society. No longer will womanhood be 
debased, and the most sacred and intimate of human 
relations be made a toy and sport, without a penalty 
for both the violators of human decency. The world 
now punishes the fallen woman, and allows the man SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
137 
who is her partner in shame to go on his way- 
unscathed. 
Will you, each and every one, help to bring about 
this change, not only by being virtuous yourselves, 
but by helping to spread the doctrine of purity here, 
there, wherever you go? There can be no such 
thing as a double standard of morals, for men and 
for women. There is but one standard of morality, 
and that declares there shall be no indulgence in 
sexual relations until a marriage ceremony, based on 
deep and mutual love, shall have been performed. 
Note I say that a great mutual love should be the 
basis of all marriages, and nothing else. 
I. What thought concerning your own family might pre- 
vent your commission of an immoral act? 
II. Mention one factor that makes for morality. How? 
III. What is circumcision and why is it performed? 
IV. How can the company you keep influence you morally? 
V. Explain some advantages to be derived from the com- 
mingling of the sexes. 
VI. Tell why saloons and alcoholic drinks are dangerous 
to one’s moral sense. 
VII. Mention some other foes to morality. 
VIII. State how you can influence your companions for good. 
IX. State how the special kind of “ queerness ” mentioned 
might uplift mankind. 
X. Why is the present double standard of morals ab- 
solutely wrong? 
REVIEW VIII 
Before discussing husbands, wives, and fathers, 
we will spend a little time in talking of various 
things which I think of importance to the whole 
human race. The first thing we shall consider is 
the mode of dress of women of all ages; you may 
wonder at this, but I believe the question is one 
that concerns you. At the present time we are 
confronted with fashions for women which are a 
combination of freakishness and immodesty. As we 
are all interested, to say the least, in the women 
of our own families, anything that would put their 
dress into the above category, concerns us most 
vitally. We want them to understand that, while 
not posing as their masters or “ bosses,” we still 
have ideas as to what is right and wrong; and, being 
convinced of the justness of our ideas, we expect 
them to conform to these. 
If men are to understand that the old time 
notions of modesty were incorrect, this change must 
be a gradual one. You see we must work not only 
for those who are already here but for those who 
will come in the future, and the better and higher 
our ideals in the present and the nearer we come to 
living up to those ideals, the better parents we are 
going to be in the future and the better will be our 
children. It is a mistaken idea of some that our 
138 SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
139 
lives are entirely our own and we make of them 
what we please without regard to our neighbors or 
the future. Not only is this totally erroneous but 
most selfish. We are responsible to the present and 
the future and must strive hard to fulfill these duties 
properly. 
We do not ask them to go back to the old style of 
wearing so many skirts that they look like clothes 
racks; but one may, I think, with propriety, ask 
them to wear enough clothing to render an indecent 
display of their forms impossible. The husband, the 
father, the brother, the sweetheart, and the friend 
can all help fight this battle for the preservation of 
the priceless jewel of modesty in our womenfolk, 
against the forces of imported indecent styles. Cer- 
tainly our wishes should have as much weight with 
our women as the dictates of a so-called style. If 
we find they do not, we must make them so. 
You' may think me old-fashioned in making this 
suggestion, and I am perfectly willing to plead guilty 
to the charge. But listen, and perhaps you may 
clamor to be admitted to this class. You would not 
want to have your sister or some other young woman 
in whom you are very much interested classed among 
the fallen of their sex. Well, just walk behind her 
sometime when she is out dressed in this present 
mode, and listen to the remarks that will be made of, 
and perhaps to her. No doubt will be left in your 
mind as to the thoughts these styles arouse in the 140 
SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
minds of many of the men who look on. You will 
probably feel like doing some fighting, and you will 
go home a convert to the same old-fashioned ideas 
that I represent. 
No, it would hardly be right to resent the remarks 
you overhear because, if girls imitate the dress and 
actions of their unfortunate sisters, they should not 
complain if they are classed with them. Of course, 
you would permit no deliberate insult,—otherwise, 
you would not be a man,—but you must acknowledge 
that the circumstances would render quick and hot 
indignation on your part a little hasty. “ Skating 
on thin ice is always dangerous,” and you must make 
the women members of your families and among 
your friends realize this fact. 
By joining this crusade against immodesty in 
dress, you will also help along the cause of morality, 
for the reason that this immodest display of the 
female form does arouse in many men an animal 
desire for sexual gratification, and impels them to 
seek some woman to degrade for their need. Of 
course, the need is not real, but that fact will not 
save the unfortunate woman. 
Another thing to which I ask your attention, 
and your aid in its suppression, is the use of face 
paints and powders by girls and women. Almost 
every one of them can have a good complexion with- 
out their use. As a matter of fact, cosmetics never SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
141 
improve the complexion, but have ruined irretriev- 
ably many a naturally good complexion. 
Except by actors and actresses while on the stage, 
the use of paint and powder was formerly left en- 
tirely to disreputable women. The lives they lead 
are such that neither health nor complexion can long 
survive, and in order to hide the ravages of dissi- 
pation they are obliged to resort to cosmetics for 
an artificial effect, in the endeavor to make them- 
selves attractive to the men whom they would tempt 
to sin with them. 
Do you like the idea of your sister, or some other 
young lady in whom you feel a special interest, being 
classed with women of this type? I suppose not, and 
you cannot be blamed, for it would be strange if you 
felt any other way about it. Here, again, an em- 
phatic protest should have the desired effect; but, 
if not, stronger measures should be adopted. Many 
girls have told me that they wear these up-to-date 
styles and use these injurious cosmetics to please 
their male friends who want them to be “ right up to 
date.” On behalf of our sex, I have always denied 
this statement, and I want you to> prove the correct- 
ness of my opinion. Oh, yes, you may be told at first 
that these things are none of your business; but if 
you show you are really in earnest a change of front 
will soon be apparent. It is our business, most de- 
cidedly, for these women folks of ours are to be the 142 
SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
future mothers of our race, and we want mothers of 
the best and highest class in everything. 
I wonder if you have ever thought that, to a cer- 
tain extent, it is your duty to be somewhat of a 
guardian and companion tO' your sisters, and as much 
their confidant as you can possibly be. If you stand 
in this relation to them they will be much safer than 
if they look elsewhere for such service. Of course, 
every girl’s mother should be her nearest and dearest 
friend and confidant, but you can be the one to render 
immediate service by seeing that your sister associ- 
ates with the same circle of friends that you do. 
This will be of double benefit: for you will take care 
that your friends are of a kind that your sister can 
safely associate with, and she likewise will always 
be under your protection and guidance. Her choice 
of companions will not necessarily be limited to 
those of your choosing, but of her own, with the 
difference that they will be of your circle, and you 
will know who are your sister’s friends, and what 
reputation they bear, and can judge how safe your 
sister will be with them. 
It is also advisable to know something of your 
sister’s girl associates. They may be just as harm- 
ful to her morally as her male friends. Many girls 
are low enough to accept pay for betraying into the 
hands of vile men, pure, untainted girls, who are 
thus ruined. Needless to say that most of these SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
143 
girls are themselves immoral. There is another class 
of girls whose thoughts, actions, and. conversation 
are impure, and who, as companions of your sister, 
would tempt her to follow in their footsteps. No, 
they are different from the first class I mentioned 
inasmuch as no personal profit comes to them for 
the corruption of any girl. They merely belong to a 
class of girls whose morals are loose, and some of 
them do not even profit by their own degradation. 
If your sisters go to business of some kind, or 
attend school or college, you should see that their 
style of dress is in accordance with the family means 
and suited to their occupation. All of you have 
observed young women in the cars attired for busi- 
ness or school as if they were going to parties. They 
have attracted undue attention from others besides 
yourself, and some of the remarks you have over- 
heard as to their reasons for dressing in this way are 
such that you would not like them to be applied to a 
sister of yours, or to be even thought in connection 
with her. 
Take enough interest in your sister to' ascertain 
where and for whom she works, if she is so unfor- 
tunate as to be compelled to go outside of her home 
to make a livelihood. Find out how she is treated 
by those with whom she comes in contact, and 
whether the treatment is the kind that an employee 
should get—no better and no worse. 144 
SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
In almost every home a knowledge of the earn- 
ings of each and every member of the family is more 
or less common property as well as the allowance each 
has for himself or herself. If your sister’s ward- 
robe contains attire not in keeping with her allow- 
ance, a searching investigation by the home folks is 
in order at once, and the truth should be obtained. 
Fine clothes, jewelry, and other womanly adorn- 
ments are usually given either to tempt the girl by 
such display, or in return for actual lapses from 
virtue. If the home people were only a little more 
observant of these things early, many girls who have 
gone astray would still be safe. 
It is unfortunate that girls who have been well 
educated in everything but sexual matters should be 
sent out from homes where they have been guarded 
from temptation and harm, and suddenly be expected 
to know how to act in the business world, whom 
to trust, of whom to be mistrustful, and, in general, 
to understand life as it is. Some day parents will 
be much wiser in this respect than they now are, 
and girls will be properly instructed at home, and 
“ trusting to luck ” will no longer be a common 
practice as it is to-day. 
As you would want some other man to treat 
your sister in the business world, so must you treat 
the sister of some one else. Do not try to take advan- 
tage of her innocence, as a loafer would, but be a SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
145 
man, and guard her and protect her in every way that 
you can. Let the girl see that she has a friend indeed, 
who will be a friend in need, if occasion arises; not 
from any bad motive and for personal profit subse- 
quently, but because you revere and respect the sex 
of your mother and sisters, anywhere and every- 
where, and do unto the sisters of others as you would 
have others do unto your sister. 
Have I told you to avoid kissing? Well, I meant 
it if I did. The kissing of the opposite sex is fraught 
with danger to both parties. In the first place, tuber- 
culosis, syphilis, and several other diseases can be 
transmitted in this way, which, in itself, is sufficient 
reason for not indulging in kisses. Secondly, kissing 
with any feeling is liable to be passionate, and 
thereby tends decidedly to arouse the sexual desire. 
This makes it dangerous and most unwise. Even 
between engaged couples kissing is not to be encour- 
aged, especially in secluded places or when they are 
alone. As I told the girls in my talks to them, 
“ kissing, in couples, is always dangerous.” How- 
ever, kissing in crowds is also to be condemned for 
sanitary and other reasons. A girl should keep her 
kisses for her future husband and her relatives, and 
a young man should do the same. 
You can get along very well without playing 
kissing games, and this will diminish the danger of 
spreading, not only venereal, but other diseases. Do 146 
SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
you realize the chances you take in a general kissing 
game? One person, man or woman, suffering from 
syphilis or other transmissible disease could, in one 
evening, do considerable damage, as each person 
kissed by the infected one would help to spread 
whatever disease he had. Kissing is really a foolish 
act unless it means something, and when it means 
something, “ proceed with caution.” 
What have I to say about dancing? Only a few 
words. When not carried to excess, I believe it to 
be a healthy, pleasant, and not injurious pastime. 
Of course I do not speak of the several sensational, 
sensual dances now in vogue in many places. They 
are indecent, and those that dance them as they are 
supposed to be danced must be wanting in self- 
respect. The dancing I approve of is the kind that 
helps you to while away an evening pleasantly, and 
does not suggest thoughts of sexual gratification by 
the poses, manner, or steps of your partners or your- 
selves. Even singing can be made objectionable by 
the singer and by the song. So, in dancing, approval 
or condemnation depends upon the dancers and the 
dance. 
Never think when you remove your clothes for 
the healthful and most delightful recreation of bath- 
ing that this gives you license to act like a rowdy, 
your ordinary manners evidently cast off with your 
clothes. Your conduct in either words or actions SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
147 
should still be that of a gentleman. Your bathing 
suit confers no liberty to be familiar with your 
women companions, as many of you seem to think, 
if I am to judge by behavior I have seen on the 
beach. The water, too, is a very poor cloak to con- 
ceal familiarities toward your companion, either with 
or without her knowledge. All this brings us back 
to our little rule: “ Do unto the sisters of others as 
I would have them do to a sister of mine.” Bear 
in mind always that this refers not only to bathing 
and dancing, but to every act toward a girl. 
One of the most evil institutions of our industrial 
world to-day is child labor, both that of boy and 
girl. Child labor stamps our civilization as very low, 
while female child labor is a most atrocious crime 
against God and man. It undermines the physical 
and mental health of our future wives and mothers, 
and therefore strikes at the very roots of the welfare 
of our race. It is so disgraceful that one seeks in 
vain for words strong enough with which to con- 
demn it in proper and fitting terms. It certainly 
shows us to be far from civilized despite our boasts 
to the contrary. The permitting of male child labor 
is almost, if not quite, as bad in its way. The future 
fathers of our race should not be stunted in mental 
and physical development because, being only chil- 
dren, poorer wages—usually a mere pittance—can 
be paid to them than to adults; and the profits of the 148 
SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
human beasts who thus deprive them of the joys of 
childhood are correspondingly increased. 
Love of luxury and gilded show are now the 
bane of our people, but it is to be hoped that the limit 
will be reached before irreparable damage is done. 
No! I am not preaching socialism to you, nor any 
other “ ism,” but merely commenting upon and 
bringing to your attention as future fathers and citi- 
zens a state of affairs that needs correction, and the 
sooner it is corrected the better it will be for the 
nation. 
Boys, like girls, are uneducated in sexual matters, 
and when sent out to work are almost sure to pick 
up a street knowledge of these important organs 
and functions which makes it certain that they will 
acquire many wrong ideas and few which are right. 
In shops, factories, and offices there are always to be 
found some misguided boys or men who undertake 
to corrupt the morals of any boy or young man 
with whom they may come in contact. They want 
to appear wise and worldly, and to impress the new- 
comer with a sense of their great importance, and 
their knowledge of everything within and outside 
the business. Unless a boy has had remarkably good 
home training, or is lucky enough to have a home 
and people with whom he talks things over, he is 
liable to fall an easy victim to the winning ways 
and apparent interest of such an “ important ” per- SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
149 
sonage. Of course this interest in his welfare is 
liable to prove expensive in the long run, when the 
victim of it finds himself infected with one or both 
of the venereal diseases. 
It is the same with drinking and smoking. There 
is always some “ sport ” who thinks it a most won- 
derful accomplishment on his part when he has 
induced some innocent boy to learn to do these things. 
This human vulture believes that when, he gets his 
“ easy mark ” actually drunk he has done something 
which deserves special reward—and he is right; 
only, the special reward should be confinement in 
jail, and not the pleasant one he thinks he deserves. 
Here, again, the influence of a good home and parent- 
companionship count. What do I mean by parent- 
companionship? Just this. The parent, instead of 
being most rigid and severe with the children, and a 
high and mighty ruler of the family, is their com- 
panion, their guide and confidant, interested in their 
doings, at all ages and all times. When this is not 
so, the children are most apt to get into trouble. 
It is well for the children if they never reach 
that stage where, because of greater educational or 
social advantages, they think themselves wiser than 
their parents. This is a state to be avoided by every 
child. You must all bear in mind that you are of 
the same stock as your parents, and that if, by good 
fortune, they are able to help you on your way 150 
SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
through the world by giving you more than they 
received as children, you should be most thankful 
to them, and not try to show off your supposed 
superiority to them. Never forget this. Children 
have claims on their parents, it is true, but it is like- 
wise true that parents have their rights. 
Before taking up another subject, let me say this 
about smoking and drinking. If you think it brings 
you nearer to man’s estate to indulge in either one 
or both of these useless habits, let me assure you 
that you are much mistaken. 
Although it is perhaps a divergence from our 
subject matter, sex talks, I am going to say a few 
words regarding life insurance. I may plead as an 
excuse for introducing it the fact that our next two 
talks will be devoted to husbandhood and fatherhood. 
Many people who intend to have their lives insured 
say, “ I will do it just as soon as I become engaged 
to marry.” This is foolish for two reasons, per- 
haps more. Every year that you allow to go by 
means that, when you do apply, the rate will be 
higher than it would have been the preceding year; 
also that, while insurable this year, the uncertainty 
of life is such that you may not be insurable next 
year. Another reason against delay is that, while a 
single man, you probably spend your money more 
easily than you will when married, and much that 
you now throw away without thought would pay for SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
151 
a comfortable life insurance on any of the plans 
offered by numerous reliable companies. This is 
something that should interest all of you, and I have 
often wished that some one had given me this advice 
many years ago. 
REVIEW 
I. How can you promote modesty in women’s dress? 
II. What dangers to the girl lurk in this, and in the use 
of paint and powder? 
III. By joining the crusade against these practices how might 
you advance the cause of morality? 
IV. State fully why you should be the guardians and com- 
panions of your sisters. 
V. Why is this method of double service? 
VI. How can you protect your sister from vicious female 
acquaintances and in her business life? 
VII. State an excellent rule for your own guidance in 
your treatment of girls. 
VIII. Discuss the dangers of kissing in its various phases. 
IX. How might dancing and bathing be made objection- 
able? 
X. What is the advantage of early life insurance? IX 
Although most of you, perhaps, are still a 
long way off from the time when marriage will 
interest you personally, still a sex hygiene course 
should include the duties of a husband and father, 
therefore we will discuss that important personage, 
the husband and father, taking up the former first. 
What is marriage? Marriage is the union for 
life, of two people who love each other fondly, truly, 
and faithfully. Love, therefore, can be the only 
basis of a real marriage. Marriage without it, or for 
any other reason, is merely indulgence in the mar- 
riage relation with a legal license; in other words, 
legalized immorality. Am I severe in the terms of 
my statement ? Well I must be perfectly honest and 
frank with you, and that is the way it seems to me. 
It is to live a lie, and probably to bring children into 
the world, in whom the great power of love is lack- 
ing. If we are to regard the married state as the 
expression of the highest and most sacred of all 
human love, we cannot but condemn the man or 
woman who enters it with any other feeling than 
love. As a matter of fact, marriages upon any 
other basis but that of a deep, earnest, constant, and 
devoted mutual love are not likely to be lasting, nor 
152 SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
153 
even happy in their brief duration. Such marriages 
are manifestly unfair to the children born of such a 
union, for they are not consulted about coming into 
the world, and are handicapped at the beginning of 
their existence by having this poor inheritance— 
parents who are not in accord with each other. 
Again, in this sort of marriage, there is not always 
fidelity to the marriage vows and immoral living is 
fostered. 
What is love ? Love is the greatest of all human 
emotions. There are various kinds of love, such 
as love for parents, for sisters, and brothers, etc. 
These are different, however, from the love you will 
have for the woman you desire to marry. Love in 
this case will be an emotion, that is hard to explain, 
despite the fact that many have attempted to do so. 
It will make you long always to be in the company of 
this particular woman. It will develop in you all that 
is good, and check all that is bad. It will mean that 
eating, sleeping, playing, or working, your whole 
world will revolve around this object of your affec- 
tions. She will at once, become the sole object that 
you are striving for, and if, at any time, your 
thoughts of her should have a sexual basis, it will 
be with the highest respect; you would like her to 
be the mother of your children, because you recog- 
nize in her the qualities which make the ideal wife 
and mother. 154 
SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
The fact that the sex relation takes place after 
marriage is not, as you may have been told by 
so-called free thinkers or those who scoff at the 
sacredness of marriage, a sign that marriage is based 
only on the sexual relation—in other words, is the 
legal way of having sexual relations. It is, as I 
have told you, the expression of the most sacred 
and deepest love that human beings are capable of; 
in its practice it perpetuates the human race, and 
makes these descendants, begotten by this great 
mutual love, beings of the best and highest type. 
Remember, I am discussing a marriage of love. 
The other kind I would not dignify by the name 
of marriage, no matter how many religious and 
civil ceremonies were gone through. 
What makes a good husband? Or, to put it 
differently, what has the wife a right to expect in 
her husband ? 
First of all, morality. A husband must devote 
himself, so far at least as sexual relations are con- 
cerned, absolutely to his wife. It must be a source 
of great pleasure and pride to the pure girl about 
to enter into the state of matrimony to know that 
her chosen husband is as pure in the matter of sexual 
life as she is, and that no other woman has held such 
relations with him in the past, as she naturally ex- 
pects that no other woman will hold such relations 
with him in the future. At present, unfortunately, SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
155 
few brides can enjoy this most pleasant thought, but 
in the future it will be different; for, if the man has 
not lived a pure life before marriage, the expectant 
bride will firmly decline to have for a husband one 
who has degraded himself, her sex, and the mar- 
riage relation by making it a mere pastime and 
dissipation. 
Certainly, even now, when thoughts of marriage 
enter the mind of a young man who has heretofore 
been loose in his morals, illicit sexual relations 
should cease at once. If they do not, I feel quite 
sure that his love for the woman he wishes for his 
wife is not of the right kind, and that, if she accepts 
him, she will probably have cause to regret it; for 
the right sort of man would not want even to’ be seen 
in the company of a degraded woman at this time of 
his life, much less to hold illicit relations with her. 
Those of you who have listened to my talks and 
who are still morally clean, I hope will remain so, 
and I hope my talks will convince those of you who 
have already gone astray, that immorality is wrong; 
and that you have determined that in the future you 
will be morally clean. 
To return to marriage. The prospective hus- 
band should be sexually just as pure as he expects 
his future wife to be. He must have thought care- 
fully on the matter, and be sure that he really loves 
the girl he wishes to marry, and that it is not merely 156 
SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
infatuation—that counterfeit imitation of love that 
does not endure the test of time. He must realize 
that not only should he be really in love with his 
prospective wife, but he should also study, so far as 
possible, her ways and trend of thoughts, and be 
sure that they meet his approval. Love must not be 
blind, in the beginning or at any other time, and 
before marriage, as an actual fact, it needs to see 
very clearly, and the parties concerned should know 
as much as possible about each other. 
The girl has a right to expect in her husband-to- 
be the excellent qualities of patience, justice, kind- 
ness, and gentleness; that he will always show her 
consideration, and, if possible, be even more patient, 
just, gentle, and kind when he knows his wife is 
going to become a mother. He should continue to 
be the sweetheart of the courting days, as well as 
the husband of the present and future, which means 
that in love and devotion he must be what he was 
when trying to win his wife, or be even more devoted. 
He then showed her only his best side, and this is the 
only side she ever should see, unless he can do 
better; in fact, we should all constantly endeavor 
to improve on our best. You have heard the old 
and true saying, “ There is always room for im- 
provement.” 
The husband must never fall into the error of 
imagining his wife to be anything less than his com- SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
157 
panion, and on an equality with himself. She is 
neither his hand-maiden, servant, or slave, and not 
necessarily his mental inferior. As a matter of 
fact, in many cases she is his mental superior by 
many degrees. She has brains, and is capable of the 
highest thoughts, actions, and deeds. On the other 
hand, she is not a doll to be petted and pampered to 
a harmful degree. She is entitled to more consid- 
eration and respect than any other woman the hus- 
band may know. His first duty is to her, and their 
joint duty is to their children. She has a right to 
expect her husband to give her a good home, in all 
that the word home implies, and should not be made 
to feel that he is doing any more than is right when 
he provides it. 
If she is a good wife to him, she makes full re- 
turn for all that he may expend upon her. The wife 
makes for him a good home, and runs it to the best 
of her ability, and therefore she is not merely an 
expense to her husband, nor a paid employee, but 
should be the full partner in his joys and sorrows, 
willing and anxious to lighten and share his burdens 
when she can; ready to sympathize with and encour- 
age her husband, and always eager to help him and 
advance his interests. All she asks in return for her 
constant, unselfish devotion to her husband and their 
children is his entire love and devotion. She will- 
ingly and unflinchingly risks her life and bears the 158 
SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
severe trials and pains of childbirth through love 
for her husband. 
The husband should show his appreciation of 
all this by being faithful, true, and devoted to the 
interests of his wife, their children, and their home, 
which should be a real home to him, not just a place 
for eating and sleeping, with his leisure time spent 
elsewhere. 
While the home must be a real home to which 
the husband can bring his little circle of intimate 
friends for a pleasant evening, and not merely a 
show place for acquaintances to admire, it must be 
neat and orderly, for he would be the first to com- 
plain if it were not; therefore, the husband must do 
his share toward keeping it in this way. It is wrong 
for him to deliberately or thoughtlessly make work 
for the housekeeper, just as he would object if, at 
his place of business, his duties were unnecessarily 
added to by carelessness. 
Not only should he set a good example by help- 
ing to keep the house in order, but he must be neat 
and clean in person and clothes. When he courted 
his wife he was probably always neat-looking and 
well-groomed, and that is the way she wants to 
see him after marriage. If he was not slovenly 
and untidy before marriage, he has no right to be so 
afterward. If you think a wife enjoys hearing her 
husband criticised because of his untidy appearance, SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
159 
you are much mistaken. It hurts her, and is some- 
what of a reflection upon her that her husband has 
not sufficient love and respect for her to keep him- 
self neat and clean. Understand there is a difference 
between a fop and a neat, tidy-looking man. Clothes 
do not make the man, by any means; but a man 
should always wear neat, clean, and suitable clothes. 
Sitting around the house in a state of undress in 
which you could not receive your friends is not a 
compliment to your wife. I do not mean without 
a collar or tie, but in a state of semi-undress; and 
coming to the table for meals in this way is not 
proper. You would not do it if company were 
present, and surely your wife is as good as any 
company can be, and worthy of the same consid- 
eration. 
Then, again, personal habits of cleanliness count 
for much. Bodily cleanliness is best preserved by a 
daily bath, one bath a week not being sufficient; the 
teeth should be cleansed at least once daily with a 
tooth-brush and some good dental preparation, and 
mouth rinsings are very important. A dainty 
woman who is particular about these things is liable 
to find a man repulsive to her, if he is careless in 
these respects, no matter how much she may love 
him; and the man may and probably will feel the 
same toward his wife, if the circumstances are 
reversed. 160 
SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
Remember, when the right sort of girl consents 
to marry you, she does so because she loves you 
above everything and everybody else. To- her you 
represent the very best of mankind, and it is up to 
you “ to make good.” It is to be regretted that in 
the courting days, as a rule, you show only “ com- 
pany ” manners to each other, rather than your 
natural selves. The wise young man will try to look 
beneath these manners, and study the girl as she 
is when not on “ dress parade.” He can then make 
up his mind whether the girl and he are fitted for 
life companionship. 
By living up to your part of the marriage con- 
tract you encourage the wife to do her share, if 
she needs such encouragement. Both of you will 
be constantly improved, mentally and physically, by 
this mutual desire, born of deep, pure love, to make 
the other healthy, happy, and contented. The nearer 
both of you approach the supreme height of health, 
happiness and contentment, the finer will be the 
fruit of your union, and every devoted husband and 
father wants his children to be of the best and 
highest type possible. 
Carelessness and indifference ruin most mar- 
riages, and the happiness of the husband, wife, and 
blameless children. Neither husband nor wife has 
the right to sacrifice the other, nor the innocent chil- 
dren. Do not permit these evils to creep into your SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
161 
life, and ruin your marriage. Do not keep all your 
courtesy for those outside of your home, bringing 
into it only words of censure. Even a wife can be 
praised sometimes, without any danger of its spoiling 
her. 
Always bear in mind that, if you expect to have 
your children grow up to love and respect their 
mother and yourself, you must set them a good 
example by loving and respecting your own parents, 
and those of your wife. We formerly heard a good 
many jokes about the mother-in-law; but I never 
found any of them very terrible, nor the tyrants and 
enemies of the husband that they have been pictured 
to be. They are much worse as grandmothers, and 
often give the doctor no end of trouble by their 
alleged knowledge of baby lore. 
Every business house must have its head, and so 
should every home. If the head of a business house 
is an unreasonable, disagreeable tyrant, his business 
is not likely to prosper, and it is the same with the 
head of a home. Nominally, the head of every home 
is the husband, and his rule should be kind, consider- 
ate, and loving; otherwise, he will find his home a 
dismal failure; for, no matter how much fear his 
presence may inspire, he will, sooner or later, learn 
a painful lesson through plans matured behind his 
back. The successful ruler everywhere is the one 
to whose rule his subjects consent because of per- 162 
SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
sonal love for him. The time has passed for any 
other government; in fact, rule based on any other 
foundation is liable to be misrule. 
Therefore, in summing up the characteristics of 
a good husband, we enumerate the following, though 
somewhat incomplete list of requirements: (a) 
good morals, (b) constant, faithful, and unswerv- 
ing love, (c) integrity and kindness, (d) devotion 
and gentleness, (e) good temper and patience, 
(/) loyalty and consideration, (g) temperance in 
drinking, as well as in many other things, (h) in- 
terest in the wife, family, and home, instead of the 
saloon, club, or other outside affairs, (i) good citi- 
zenship, making a fight for purity and honesty in 
national, state, and local govermnents, (/) obedi- 
ence to law and order, (k) and strict observance 
of the golden rule, “ Do unto others as you would 
have others do unto you.” 
This, you observe, is a rather high standard for 
the qualities which a wife has the right to expect in 
her husband, and yet all could be condensed into 
one phrase, “ Be a real man in all that the term 
implies.” 
The next thing to discuss is what I believe you 
should look for in the girl whom you want to make 
your wife. You will find I am just as exacting 
in this case as I was in the other. My advice to you 
would be as follows: (a) good morals (and because SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
163 
you look for purity in her and make it of prime 
importance it is but just that you also« should be 
pure), (b) love of children (I believe there is some- 
thing wrong with the woman who does not love 
children nor want them after she is married; to 
me, at least, she does not seem like a real woman), 
(c) womanliness (under this heading I put capacity 
for deep love, constancy, and faithfulness; gentle- 
ness, patience, kindness, and devotion), (d) good 
temper (here we might also put consideration for 
others and self-control), (e) domesticity (which 
means love of housekeeping and home-making, not 
gadding about and concerned in everybody’s business 
but her own), (/) neatness (if you are neat your- 
self, the lack of it in others will be very distasteful 
to you, and especially so in the woman you have to 
live with all your life), (g)moderation (this will 
include food, dress, mode of living, amusements, 
and other things), (h) temperance (in my opinion 
a wife who never drinks at all is the most desirable 
one to have; no woman was ever made a better wife 
by drink, but thousands who would have otherwise 
been good wives have been ruined by it), (i) econ- 
omy (it is certainly an advantage to have a wife who 
will help you to save and make provision for the 
future, instead of urging you on to extravagance 
in the present), (/) strength of character (a man 
certainly desires in the future mother of his children 164 
SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
a character which combines strength, determination, 
and firmness). 
The question of looks is a very personal one. All 
have different ideas as to what constitutes beauty; 
and, after all, beauty is superficial, and often there 
lies back of it a very shallow and selfish nature, with 
stupid mind. It would almost seem an axiom that 
would bear no contradiction that a girl with a beauti- 
ful character is far preferable to one whose only 
recommendation is a pretty face or an attractive 
figure. You would probably find out when it was 
too late to retreat that it takes more than these to 
make matrimony a success. 
Do not marry in haste to repent at leisure. Look 
upon marriage as a tie that really binds for life, at 
least, and as though there were no such thing as 
divorce. The question whether divorce should or 
should not exist we will not discuss. Much could 
be said on both the negative and affirmative sides, but 
in these talks we will not attempt either to justify it 
or to condemn it. Let all of you try to select such 
wives that the question whether divorce should be 
allowed or not will be of no personal interest to you 
so far as your own marriage is concerned. The man 
or woman who enters into marriage with the idea 
that if it proves unsuccessful, a divorce will dissolve 
it, makes a bad beginning, and had better not enter 
the married state at all. SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
165 
Let me spend a few minutes in telling you some- 
thing about the woman who is going to become a 
mother. The condition, known as pregnancy, pro- 
duces certain changes in her, which you, as future 
husbands and fathers, should understand and bear 
in mind for future use. I do not know of any sex 
hygiene courses for boys or men in which these 
points are discussed, yet they are of prime impor- 
tance. Perhaps I might hesitate to discuss these 
with you now, owing to the youth of some of my 
auditors, if I felt sure you could have the benefit 
of such advice when your future wife becomes preg- 
nant. However, after thinking it over carefully I 
have decided to take the chances of being criticised, 
and will speak on this subject; for, I hope you will 
each and all be missionaries in the cause of morality 
and by helping to disseminate a proper knowledge 
of sex hygiene save some men and women some 
very unpleasant times. 
The expectant mother is entitled to especial con- 
sideration in all things, and if the prospective father 
wants the finest offspring that his wife and himself 
are capable of giving to the world, he must be pre- 
pared for many unexpected things, and must not be 
surprised nor lose his temper to the detriment of 
his wife, hence also to the detriment of the unborn 
child. The normal disposition of his wife may 
change for better or for worse, and if for the latter, 166 
SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
he must bear it uncomplainingly, consoling himself 
with the reflection that the change is only tempo- 
rary and will be over in a short time. He must 
allow her to have absolutely her own way regarding 
their sexual life, but there should be no sexual excess, 
for this will be detrimental to the wife, and the un- 
born child will suffer. If, on the other hand, the 
sexual relation is absolutely repugnant to the wife 
for the time being, he must submit. 
Worry, shock, and nervous strain must be 
avoided as far as possible. They all have a bad 
effect upon the mother, and anything that affects 
the mother in this way will also affect the child. 
'Overfatigue, whether in work or pleasure, is bad 
for the expectant mother, the former being worse 
however. Overeating, especially of rich food, and 
strong alcoholic drinks, are, of course, detrimental 
to her and the unborn child. 
All proper pleasures and amusements are good 
for her, but violent exercise, whether as work or 
pleasure, is most injurious, and here may be men- 
tioned jumping, dancing, long travel, and automobile 
riding. 
The expectant mother should lead a quiet, un- 
eventful life, cared for with love and devotion by 
her husband, who should be her stalwart protector, 
and ward off anything that would tend to affect her 
and their child unfavorably. Through modesty, her SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
167 
condition may make her desire to keep indoors, but 
she needs air, exercise, and sunshine, both for her 
own benefit and that of the unborn child. 
When you become a husband, and your wife 
confides to you the delightful secret that she expects 
to be a mother, see to it that she is immediately 
placed under the care of a good physician. This is 
advisable both for her own health and comfort and 
the development of the unborn child. The early 
advice and care of the physician will make the 
pre-birth stage easier and better for the mother and 
also there are certain things to be watched for to 
safeguard the mother, i.e., fever, convulsions or 
worse. Do not let her go around to find the doctor 
who will attend her at this time for the smallest 
fee, but let her engage the one who, you think, will 
attend her the best. Remember, childbirth is a time 
with a certain amount of danger attached to it. If 
your life and the degree of what is a most severe 
and agonizing pain were to depend, to a certain 
extent, upon the skill of the doctor attending you, 
you would not think of expense, but would want 
the finest and most skilful physician you could get. 
So it is in childbirth. The expectant mother should 
have the best medical attendant your purse can 
secure, for the best is none too good for her. It is 
often said, perhaps with truth, that if men had to 
endure what the mother does in giving birth to a 168 
SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
child, few children would be born. So it is always, 
“ Hats off! ” to our mothers. Nothing can be too 
good for a real mother, and the husband and chil- 
dren who do not appreciate her are lacking in 
intelligence and gratitude. 
REVIEW 
I. What is marriage? Discuss it. 
II. What is love? 
III. Mention some qualities a wife has a right to expect in 
her- husband. 
IV. What erroneous ideas may a husband have concerning 
his wife’s position? 
V. What return should a wife make to a loving and faith- 
ful husband ? 
VI. What is an important result of the happy, contented 
marriage state upon the quality of the children? 
VII. State some of the qualities that should be found in the 
wife. 
VIII. What are some of the claims of the expectant mother 
on the husband’s consideration? 
IX. How should he watch over and protect her, especially 
at this time? 
X. What is the proper sexual life during pregnancy? X 
In this, the final talk of our series, we will first 
discuss babyhood, and then give a little time to 
“ summing up,” as the lawyers say, the entire course. 
Be prepared to ask your final questions (see Pref- 
ace). You will not be confined to the present talk, 
but may ask questions on any of the previous ones, 
or about anything connected with our topic, whether 
discussed in our meetings or not. I want you all 
to have* at the conclusion of these talks, not only 
a thorough understanding of everything that I have 
brought to your attention, but with any question that 
occurs to you answered, to your full satisfaction. 
Every father should be, and a good father is, 
deeply interested in his baby’s welfare, and should 
retain that interest as long as his child lives, and for 
a father to be properly interested in his baby means 
that he must have some knowledge of baby lore, and 
I am going to take it upon myself to properly intro- 
duce you into this very interesting garden of knowl- 
edge. Like the rest of my talks to you the knowl- 
edge herein offered is to be spread for the benefit 
of all. 
The public is much interested in the question of 
reducing infant mortality, especially that from pre- 
169 170 
SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
veritable causes, and chiefly due to ignorance on the 
part of parents,—ignorance which should not exist 
in any community that calls itself civilized; igno- 
rance that is wholly inexcusable, and is largely re- 
sponsible for the fact that between 30 and 40 infants 
out of every 100 born die before their first birthday. 
Among those who survive this period, a large per- 
centage die before reaching the age of five years,— 
not a satisfactory statement to look at or ponder. 
Do you want your future offspring to> be among 
those who survive, or to be made a sacrifice to 
ignorance and indifference? 
You hear a great deal about the natural paternal 
and maternal instinct, but I am afraid that the pres- 
ent generation is sadly lacking in intelligent natural 
instincts. I say it with regret; for it is not because 
they lack brains, but because their thoughts are so 
occupied with the present that they make no pro- 
vision for future needs. Our ancestors were, per- 
haps, better off in this respect than are we, because 
they were not “ money-making mad ” and “ society 
crazy ”; and they took more pride in the welfare of 
their children than in the size of their bank accounts 
or the latest styles in dress and millinery. Oh, yes, 
even then infant mortality was very high, but that 
was not because the infants were neglected but be- 
cause knowledge of baby life and needs was very 
limited. Now we know more about what is good SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
171 
and what is bad for the new-born infant, but find, 
only too often, an unreceptive public to which to 
offer it. 
The first piece of advice I am going to offer you 
is this: as it is the sacred duty of every mother to 
take care of her child, the employment of a nurse 
to take the mother’s place should not be permitted. 
The lack of interest some mothers seem to take in 
their offspring is absolutely criminal. The child is 
the mother’s, and if it is too much trouble for her 
to look after her own child, why should mother love 
and care be expected from a paid stranger? Let 
the mother drop a few of her outside interests, and 
devote herself to her baby. 
To the possible answer that every mother does 
not know how to take care of her baby I would say, 
“ Shame! ” and that she should learn. Why should 
a nurse know more? In the great majority of cases 
she does not. There are books, lectures, and many 
other ways of acquiring this knowledge, and it is 
far more important than to know the latest dance, 
song, or game that may be at present in vogue in 
society. I might also add that it is just as per- 
missible to be up to date in baby lore as it is to know 
the latest phase of the newest scandal or murder 
case. This may seem strange to you in view of 
what you see and hear, but it, nevertheless, is really 
quite true. I admit that, judging from many stand- 172 
SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
points, my statements may seem queer and untrue, 
but I insist upon their veracity, and that when we 
awaken the people to these facts, infant mortality 
will decrease rapidly. 
Do you think that the number of infants that 
die annually is not large? Well, to impress upon 
you as future fathers that it is so, I repeat it has been 
estimated that, varying with different communities, 
30 to 40 per cent, of all babies born die before they 
are one year old, and of the survivors many die 
before they are five years old. Rather a large har- 
vest for the grim old reaper Death to garner from 
“ the little budding plants of human life,” and not 
a pleasant fact for the thoughtful to contemplate. 
Should mothers suffer the dangers and pains of 
childbirth only to be robbed of the reward before a 
year has passed? 
The most important thing for the new-born baby 
is its food, and, as a rule, the healthiest baby is a 
properly managed breast-fed baby. The milk of the 
mother is the natural food for the young of all mam- 
mals, and so the young baby will thrive best if fed 
on Nature’s food. 
What do I mean by properly managed? This 
means that a baby, just like grown folks, should have 
regular feeding times, and not be given food every 
time it cries. This refers to bottle-fed as well as 
breast-fed babies. SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
173 
Night feedings for babies, by which is meant giv- 
ing them food between ten or eleven o’clock at night 
and six or seven o’clock in the morning, are unneces- 
sary except when they are very young, and never 
after the fourth or fifth month of age. Well-trained 
babies usually sleep from about ten o’clock at night 
until about six o’clock in the morning, or even later. 
A baby, whether artificially-fed or breast-fed, 
should be fed at the same hours every day, even if it 
must be awakened from sleep to take its food. This 
will not often be necessary, for soon baby will be 
more reliable than the clock. The only exception 
to this rule is when the baby is fed during the night. 
This feeding may be given at any time the baby 
awakens for it during the night, provided that from 
two to two and a half hours have elapsed since the 
last feeding, and that this period of time is still to 
pass before the regular hour for the first morning 
feeding. At no age should a baby be allowed more 
than one feeding during the night, and this should be 
stopped just as soon as the baby shows a disin- 
clination for it by not awakening to cry for it. Never 
wake him for it. If he wants it he will awaken you. 
You can readily understand that it should be discon- 
tinued as soon as possible because this means a good 
night’s rest for the whole household, including the 
baby. 
Now, how do we train a baby to proper sleeping 174 
SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
hours? This is a very simple matter, although it 
sounds like an impossibility. Young babies sleep 
most of the time. In fact, all that a very young 
baby does is to eat, to sleep, and to cry. It has been 
noticed that there are two long periods of sleep and 
several short ones, and by utilizing this fact we 
succeed in training the baby. By awakening the 
baby during the day at the regular short intervals 
which correspond to the regular hours for its feed- 
ings, the baby is only allowed to sleep its short 
periods by day, therefore at night it is tired enough 
to sleep during the long periods; which is fortunate 
for the family and the neighborhood, all of whom 
wish to do likewise. 
Sometimes a little trouble is experienced in try- 
ing to establish a regular routine, especially if the 
babies are not trained from the very beginning; but 
perseverance succeeds in the end; and when the baby 
is allowed to cry a little without any attention being 
paid to its protests, it soon realizes what is expected 
of it. I speak from a somewhat large experience, 
and not from mere theory. 
At birth the proper feeding time for babies is 
every two hours and the interval is increased grad- 
ually by a half hour until it is four hours. This is 
regulated by the baby’s age and development. 
Please remember this statement particularly—age 
and development. The latter is certainly as impor- SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
175 
tant a consideration as the former, and perhaps 
more so. Babies, so far as feeding goes, are not 
reckoned by actual age alone but also by their 
development, and weight is a part of their develop- 
ment. 
The only food babies require is milk and water. 
The latter should be boiled, then allowed to cool in 
covered bottles or other receptacles which have first 
been boiled to render them thoroughly clean. Water 
filtered through a stone filter can be used unboiled. 
Babies should never be given ice-cold water or iced 
milk. Breast-fed babies do not seem to require as 
much water as bottle-fed infants. When a baby has 
reached the proper development for eight or nine 
months of age, we begin to add other things to its 
diet or food list, but this we will revert to later. 
When a mother is so unfortunate that she cannot 
give her baby the natural food which Nature usually 
puts into the breasts, artificial food must be substi- 
tuted for it, and the best practical substitute we have 
is cow’s milk, properly diluted, until the baby reaches 
a stage in its age-development that the milk can 
be taken without dilution. It is usually advisable 
to wait almost a year before trying to give a child 
undiluted cow’s milk, gradually approaching the 
undiluted stage by easy steps. This is a very impor- 
tant statement to remember. 
Many of the patent baby foods that you see 176 
SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
advertised have practically no place in the proper 
feeding of the average infant. Their chief use is to 
fill the pockets of those who manufacture them. If 
you could take the time and trouble to investigate, 
you would find that many manufacturers of these 
foods do not use them in their own families when 
there is an infant to be fed. They are too wise for 
that. They call in a doctor who understands infant 
feeding, and follow his advice very strictly. Cer- 
tainly, if the food they manufacture is not good 
enough for their own children, it should not be good 
enough for yours, therefore I advise you not to take 
any chances with it, but follow their example and 
have expert advice. It will save much trouble and 
expense in the long run. 
Get the best cow’s milk you can for the baby; 
this does not mean the most expensive, nor the rich- 
est. It means the cleanest milk, unadulterated and 
unmixed with preservatives, one whose daily average 
will be about the same, running a butter fat content 
of from 3.5 per cent, to 4.0 per cent. Any reliable 
milk dealer will be willing to give you this infor- 
mation about his milk. If he should refuse, it would 
not speak well for the product. 
In the city never buy loose milk from a can, but 
always that sold in sealed containers. I hope the 
time is coming when these containers will be other 
than expensive glass bottles, so that they can be SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
177 
destroyed after being used once. Then one need no 
longer worry about the cleanliness of the containers. 
Always be sure that the baby’s milk is sweet and 
fresh before you give it to the child, for serious 
stomach and bowel disturbances are induced by im- 
pure or sour milk. The fact whether milk is sweet 
or sour can be ascertained by putting a little in a 
spoon and tasting it, but never put into your mouth 
first what is later going to be put into the baby’s 
mouth. You know you would not like to use a fork 
that another had used without first having it washed. 
The bottles for the baby, and the nipples to be 
used on them, must be kept scrupulously clean, like 
everything else to be used in or around a baby. I 
will not give details for diluting milk for the various 
ages, because this is a general talk about babies, 
and my idea is, not to make you finished baby special- 
ists, but to give you such general information as 
will, in the future, enable you to take an intelligent 
interest in your own babies. It will also permit you, 
in the present, to spread broadcast such baby lore 
as will interest parents of to-day, and make some of 
them realize their shortcomings in this respect. Hav- 
ing the best interests of their offspring at heart, it 
may make them go more deeply into the subject with 
their regular medical advisers. Besides many of you 
can impart this general advice and knowledge to your 178 
SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
parents, for the benefit of younger brothers and 
sisters. 
With babies, as with grown folks, “ Cleanliness 
is next to Godliness.” They should have at least 
one bath a day, and in warm weather two. Baths 
may be given immediately before a feeding time, 
but never afterward until at least one and a half to 
two hours have elapsed. 
Baby should have clean clothes every day, and a 
soiled or wet diaper should be changed immediately 
upon discovery. Do not overdress a baby, nor under- 
dress it either; of the two mistakes the former is 
preferable. Do not buy fancy clothes for a baby 
to wear. It is money wasted. It does the baby no 
good to be dressed up like a show-window doll; be- 
sides, babies develop so rapidly in the first few years 
of life that they soon outgrow things. It is best 
to buy only simple, substantial, well-made garments 
for the infant’s wear. 
Babies thrive on sunshine and fresh air, and the 
latter is as necessary by night as by day. At night, 
too, care must be taken not to overdress or under- 
dress a baby, and, the same as by day, it had better 
wear too much than too little. Moving picture shows 
and like amusement places are not noted for their 
pure air, which is only one of the many reasons why 
babies ought not to go there. 
Babies wax fat and healthy on good care and SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
179 
love, but this does not mean that they should have 
their own way in everything, and not be corrected 
when they do wrong. They must be properly trained 
to know the difference between right and wrong. 
They soon learn how to get their own way, which 
indicates a certain power of understanding that 
might just as well be utilized in the right direction. 
The time to commence the education of a baby is 
immediately after it is born, and lessons in discipline 
should be kept up until you have a well-trained child. 
Such children are a source of constant pleasure 
to their parents. I might also add that a well-dis- 
ciplined baby is more easily trained into the right 
sort of boy and man, girl and woman, and parents 
should always be thinking of their children’s future. 
Babies should have at least one voluntary bowel 
movement every day, and to the trained eye this 
movement reveals a great deal regarding the baby’s 
digestion and general health. If there is not a bowel 
movement, the food should be so regulated as to 
bring it about, and patent medicines should not be 
poured into the baby’s stomach. Neither should it 
ever be allowed to remain constipated, for this is 
dangerous, constipation being one of the chief causes 
of convulsions in infants and young children. 
Babies can be trained at a very early age to cease 
soiling the diapers; likewise the wetting of diapers 
can be done away with at a very early period. In my 180 
SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
course of lectures to girls entitled “ Ten Sex Talks 
to Girls,” this and other matters which I touch upon 
lightly with you were gone into in more detail. The 
actual care of the baby is the duty of the mother, but 
a father who has the right ideas and some knowledge 
of baby lore can be a great help in shaping things in 
the right direction, instead of being the hindrance 
that many fathers are through their absolute igno- 
rance. 
The nursery should be the largest, brightest, and 
most airy room in the whole house; but, contrary to 
popular ideas, it should not be all painted in white. 
Soft gray tints are far superior as they do not reflect 
the light, and they thereby conserve baby’s sight. 
Baby should sleep by day in a well-aired, darkened 
room, and by night in a well-ventilated room in which 
no light is kept burning. While baby is asleep quiet 
should prevail, so far as possible, and the child should 
never be awakened suddenly. Never scream at a 
baby in anger, and never strike one to correct it. 
Shocks, either sudden or great, pleasant or other- 
wise, are harmful to a baby. Babies need plenty of 
sleep, and should go to bed with the chickens, as it 
were—but there is no necessity for getting up with 
them. It is no less than criminal to keep them up till 
all hours of the night to suit the convenience of the 
parents. 
Babies are not interested in moving pictures, BEX TALKS TO BOYS 
181 
vaudeville, shoot the chutes, or other like amuse- 
ments, but are much benefited by outings in the parks, 
to the country, and to quiet beaches; in the latter 
we do not include such crowded places as Coney 
Island and similar resorts. Merry-go-rounds, scenic 
railways, swings, whirligigs, etc., are not meant for 
babies, nor are they conducive to the development 
of a healthy nervous system. It might also be re- 
marked that pop-corn, frankfurters, sundaes, tea, 
coffee, beer, liquor of any kind, ice cream soda, 
watermelon, hot corn, and other like articles of food, 
not only do not promote good digestion in the baby, 
but may be the cause of serious illness and even 
have a fatal result. 
Babies have no place in crowds, whether indoors 
or out. They need plenty of space about them, and 
the fewer the people they come into actual contact 
with the less chance there is of “ catching ” some 
disease. 
Never allow babies to suck a “ pacifier.” It will 
quiet them; but it is the sort of a quiet that may last 
forever. The so-called “ baby pacifier ” is the great- 
est known distributor of disease germs. It is no 
more necessary for a baby to have one than it is that 
the child should be given a loaded pistol to play with. 
I really think the latter would be less dangerous. 
Well-trained babies do without them, and poorly- 
trained babies should not have them. The only per- 182 
SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
sons they really benefit are those who profit by their 
sale. 
Babies should never be kissed on or near the 
mouth, and the fewer people that kiss them at all the 
better. It is safer for the babies if this affection is 
shown in some other way. All that domestic ani- 
mals, such as dogs and cats, do for babies is to convey 
to them the germs of many diseases, therefore babies 
should not be permitted to handle them at all, and 
families with a baby certainly need no other pet in 
the house. The baby should be the only pet, first, 
last, and all the time. It is true, unfortunately, that 
there are some so-called mothers who take their pet 
dogs out daily for an airing, yet would be ashamed 
to take their babies; and I sincerely hope that none 
of you, when you are fathers, will permit such a 
piece of wickedness as this—your baby handed over 
to a nurse-maid, while the dog receives the personal 
care of the baby’s mother. 
The present fad of “ toughening ” babies by 
exposing them to all kinds of weather seems to me 
a silly one, and likely to benefit only the doctor and 
the undertaker. If the baby survives the toughen- 
ing process, it is well; but, if it does not, all I can 
say is that most parents will prefer a live, “ untough- 
ened ” one. Short stockings may be all right for the 
warm weather season, but I cannot indorse them 
for wear all the year round. SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
183 
Do not try to force the development of a baby. 
Certain events, such as cutting teeth, talking, crawl- 
ing, and walking happen at a certain age, and in 
most babies no outside interference is necessary; 
in fact, this often works harm. Never mind what 
the baby next-door can do, I tell parents, yours will 
“ get there ” also. If you think something is really 
wrong with your baby consult your family physician, 
not your next-door neighbor. 
When a baby is sick, do not consult the corner 
druggist or the circulars and advertisements of 
patent medicine manufacturers. Consult a compe- 
tent doctor. This is what the patent medicine manu- 
facturers do when their babies need medical atten- 
tion; no ready-made cure-alls for their children. 
Certainly the baby you are interested in is as good 
as theirs. Why should you take chances that they 
will not? 
Babies must not be constantly handled and 
“ pawed ” over, and when very young they are better 
without any handling at all. The baby who cries, 
and all babies should, cries for various reasons, and 
by observation these reasons can be learned from 
the tone and expression of the cry. Many babies 
cry to be picked up or to get their own way in some- 
thing. If this kind of cry is disregarded, the baby 
learns to obey, and to realize that he cannot have his 
own way always. SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
184 
Babies should never be rocked to sleep, neither 
should their trips to slumberland be aided by song. 
The proper way for putting a baby to bed is first 
to feed the child, see that he is comfortable, clean, 
and dry, put him into bed, turn out the light, open 
the window for ventilation, and go away, leaving 
the baby alone to fall asleep. 
At about eight months of age, every baby should 
begin to take the juice of a fresh orange, once a day, 
a small amount at first, but this increased gradually 
until the juice of an entire orange is taken daily. A 
little later, we introduce semi-solid food into the 
baby’s diet, beginning usually with a little strained 
oatmeal or other cereal, and proceeding very slowly, 
both as to increasing the quantity and the addition 
of new things. 
This is about all that I shall say to you on the 
subject of baby lore; some may think me very foolish 
to have said anything at all. I am willing, however, 
to be so considered and will add that only limitations 
of time prevent me from saying more. 
Our talks are practically finished. I do not claim 
that they are the best or the fullest talks that could 
have been prepared on this most important subject; 
but I have tried hard to instruct you correctly in 
matters of sex hygiene, and to give you accurate 
knowledge of your genital organs and their proper SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
185 
functions. I have tried to show you that the best 
path for you to follow is one of strict morality; 
and this not only for your own sakes, but for the 
well-being of your future wives and children. I 
have tried to show you what respect you owe to the 
sex of your own mothers and sisters, and again I 
say, “ Do unto others as you would have them do 
unto you.” And how many of you are willing that 
your own dear ones should be sacrificed on the foul 
altars of immorality? 
I have tried to show you in what being a true 
man actually consists, and how empty is the phrase 
“ being a sport.” I have offered you food for deep 
thought, with the hope that you will profit thereby, 
as I trust you will. 
I have tried to explain everything to you in 
simple, plain language, avoiding medical terms as far 
as was possible. I have not tried to be scientific, but 
merely truthful, so that you could derive from the 
talks all the benefit possible. Theories as to why and 
how have been purposely left out, and facts that may 
be of service to you, put in, to take the place of what 
might interest scientists, but would have no particu- 
lar interest, nor be profitable, to you. 
I have given you these talks not only in the hope 
of benefiting my auditors, but also> with the hope that 
you will go forth willing, able, and anxious to spread 
the gospel of morality and pure living, not only by 186 
SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
word of mouth, but by actual personal example, by 
putting into practice what you preach. Those of 
you who do this will find that you have made a good 
investment which will pay big dividends in the 
future, in the way of health and happiness, to your 
future children, your future wives, and to your- 
selves. You will never have the vain regrets that 
those do who live impure lives and make the innocent 
who suffer with them pay dearly for the “ sowing of 
their wild oats.” 
If you will lead a decent; pure life, there will be 
no blind babies to point their little fingers at you and 
say, “ You robbed me, your child, of my eyesight, 
and condemned me to eternal darkness; ” there will 
be no dead babies on whose tombstones might appear, 
“ You killed your child, even before it was bom; ” 
and there will be no sick, suffering wife, lying on the 
operating table, to moan to you after a serious oper- 
ation which mutilates her body, “ You robbed me of 
my sex, and murdered my babies.” In the hereafter, 
you will not have to answer to the Almighty the ques- 
tions, “ Why did you break the moral laws of God 
and man? ” and, “ What of your stewardship of the 
pure, innocent woman who was your wife, the 
mother of your children? ” 
Think it all over most carefully, and ask your- 
selves earnestly and seriously, not only “ Is morality 
obligatory from a religious and humane stand- SEX TALKS TO BOYS 
187 
point? ” but, “ Does morality pay? ” Personally, I 
think it does,—from a religious, humane, and every 
other point from which it can be considered, so I 
preach it to you as earnestly as I can. 
Let my final words be this statement, already 
emphasized several times in the course of my talks, 
yet which will bear many repetitions: The Sexual 
Relation is Absolutely Unnecessary to Either 
Sex, at any Time, or for any Reason. Keep 
your minds off things sexual, and you will not be 
bothered by sexual desire. 
REVIEW 
I. What is the value of a discussion of babyhood in a series 
of talks to boys? 
II. How may the ignorant mother learn to properly care 
for her baby? 
III. Which baby is usually the healthiest, the breast-fed or 
the bottle-fed? 
IV. Discuss regularity of baby feedings, including night 
feeding. 
V. How can the baby be trained to proper sleeping hours? 
VI. Discuss the proper food for babies and the necessity 
of its cleanliness. 
VII. Discuss the regulation of the baby’s bowels and the dan- 
gers of constipation. 
VIII. What is the objection to the “pacifier”? 
IX. What change in baby’s diet is made at the age of eight 
months or a little later? 
X. With what important positive statement do we finish 
our course?