[1] Montesquieu, Persian Lett. 49.

[2] The title of the Original French is Onanisme, which is changed in this translation, to avoid the mistake of the one work for the other.

[3] Boerhaave PrÆlectiones ad Inst. §. 658. 1. 5. p. 444. Edit. Goett.

[4] De Morbis, Lib. ii. cap. 49. Foes. 479.

[5] De glandulis. Foes. p. 273.

[6] De re medica, Lib. i. cap. 9 & 11.

[7] De signis et causis dict. morb. Lib. ii. cap. 5.

[8] L. i. c. 7. p. 34. Edit. Boerhaave.

[9] Comm. tert. in Lib. iii. Hipp. De morb. vulg. Oper. Omn. tom. iii. p. 583.

[10] Historia mundi, Lib. vii. cap. 53. p. 124.

[11] Tetrab. Serm. iii. cap. 34.

[12] Medic. Static. Sect. 6. Aphor. 15. 19. 21. 23 & 24.

[13] Commentar. de sanitate tuenda, p. m. 37.

[14] Obs. Medic. L. iii. c. 24.

[15] ZipÆus, Fundam. Med. Part. ii. Art. 6.

[16] Instit. Medic. Part. ii. cap. 28.

[17] Praxis Chirurgic. Decur. i. Obs. 4.

[18] Decur. ii. Ann. 5. Append. Obs. 88. p. 56.

[19] Schelammer Ars medendi univers. Lib. ii. Sect. ii. Cap. iv. §. 23.

[20] Consult. Cent. 2 & 3. Cas. 102. T. iii. p. 293.

[21] Same place, Cas. 103.

[22] Same place.

[23] De morbis ex nimia venere, § 18. Oper. Omn. Suppl. sec. Pars prim. p. 496.

[24] Institut. § 77. Translated into French by M. D. L. M.

[25] Comment. on the foregoing quotation, T. vii. p. 214.

[26] Institut. physiol. § 870. 872.

[27] De insensib. perspir. cap. ult.

[28] Aphor. 586. T. ii. p. 46.

[29] De morb. anim. ab infirm. medull. cer. p. 37.

[30] Opera Omnia, fol. T. iii. p. 295.

[31] Lewis’s Tab. Dorf. p. 12.

[32] Lewis’s Tab. Dors. p. 16.

[33] Immoderata seminis profusio, non solum utilissimi humoris jactura, sed ipso etiam motu convulsivo, quo emittitur, frequentius repetito, imprimis lÆdit. Etenim summam voluptatem universalis excipit virium resolutio, quÆ crebro ferri nequit, quin enervet. Colatoria autem corporis quo magis emulgentur, eo plus humorum aliunde ad se trahunt, succisque sic ad genitalia derivatis reliquÆ partes depauperantur. Inde ex nimia venere, lassitudo, debilitas, immobilitas, incessus delumbis, encephali dolores, convulsiones sensuum omnium, maxime visus, hebetatio, cÆcitas, fatuitas, circulatio febrilis, exsiccatio, macies, tabes & pulmonica & dorsalis, effeminatio. Augentur hÆc mala, atque insanabilia fiunt, ob perpetuum in venerem pruritum, quem mens non minus quam corpus tandem contrahit, quoque efficitur ut & dormientes obscÆna phantasmata exerceant, & in tentiginem pronÆ partes quavis occasione impetum concipiant, onerique & stimulo sit quamlibet exigua reparati spermatis copia, levissimo conatu, & vel sine hoc, de relaxatis loculis relapsura. Quo circa liquet quare adolescentiÆ florem adeo pessundet iste excessus.

Institutiones PathologiÆ Medicin. Auctore H.D. Gaubio, Leyden, 1758.

[34] Consult. Med. T. ii. p. 16.

[35] Dated the 15th September, 1755.

[36] Decur. ii. ann. 4. Obs. 166. p. 327.

[37] Schenckius, L. i. Obs. 2. 36.

[38] §. 1077. T. iii. p. 429.

[39] QuÆst. med. An EpilepsiÆ Merc. util.

[40] De locis affectis, L. v. c. 6.

[41] Observationes medicÆ (oppido rarÆ,) Obs. 18.

[42] §. 1075. T. iii. p. 412.

[43] De morb. nerv., p. 462.

[44] Nosologia methodica, seu classes morborum, t. 5.

[45] Ad. §. 658. n. f. c. 5. p. 446.

[46] Epidem. L. iii. sect. 3. Æg. 16. Foes. p. 1117.

[47] De morb. ex nim. ven. § 20, 21.

[48] Nic. Chesneau Observ. medic. lib. v. Obs. 36, 37.

[49] Nosol. T. ii, p. 262.

[50] De sanitate tuenda, p. 110.

[51] Aphor. sect. 6. 46.

[52] De Ætate conjugio opportuna, Sect. 10. Suppl. 2do. p. 340. The whole Dissertation deserves perusal, though it might have been better written.

[53] Juven. Sat. vi. ver. 321.

[54] De genitura, Foes. p. 231.

[55] De spermate, L. i. C. i. T. viii. p. 135.

[56] De semine, L. i. C. xxv. T. i. p. 1281.

[57] Cas. 102. p. 193.

[58] De perspiratione insensibili, Cap. xvii. § 5. pag. 219. In 1720, the Dr. D. A. Jacques maintained, at Paris, a thesis on this question, “An humorum prÆstantior semen?” and, according to custom, defended the affirmative.

[59] I adopt, or appear to adopt here, the common system of the absorbent power of the ordinary veins. In Mr. Hunter’s system, who will have it that the absorption is only made by the lymphatic vein, the parts of generation are equally proper for a very considerable absorption, since they abound in vessels of that kind.

[60] De semine, L. i. C. xxxiv. T. i. p. 1279.

[61] Hall. Prim. lin. phys. §. 790. Besides which there may be consulted upon this head, Wharton De glandulis; Russel De oeconomia natur. in glandul. morb. p. 92. Schmeider De regressuseminis ad massam sanguineam. Supplement aux actes des SÇavans de Lipsie, T. v. p. 552. and a croud of other physiological authors.

[62] Such as are curious to see an excellent work upon these imperfect men, will find their account in perusing a treatise of Withof De castratis.

[63] Fel. Plateri Obs. lib. i. Suffocatio ex congressu, p. 174.

[64] Epidem. L. iii. Æg. 17. Foes. p. 1117.

[65] Encycl. med. L. ii. c. 6. p. 347.

[66] Neuropathia, L. i. ver. 375.

[67] Sect. 6. Aph. 10.

[68] De motu animali, L. ii. cap. xii. Prop. 170.

[69] TraitÉ du Coeur, L. iv. cap. xii. §. 3. p. 539.

[70] Aphor. 4. p. 6.

[71] De morbis a nim. ven. sect. 17.

[72] Abstract from Lynch’s Guide to health, p. 306.

[73] Q. Serenus Samn.

[74] In tentigine ardentissima juvenum inest quid grati in ore ventriculi; in concubitum si ruunt salacissimi, et ultra vires tendant opus, tunc in ore ventriculi manet illud ingratissimum, amarumque quod exprimere nequeunt: poenas et luunt, et poenitentia dolent: hinc macies, marasmus, &c. G. R. de Payva De affectu atrabiliario, mirachiali, etc. p. 17.

[75] De morbis chronicis, L. ii. c. 6. “Stomachus delectationis tristitiÆque princeps est.”

[76] De morb. nerv. p. 454.

[77] Ibid. p. 807.

[78] De perspiratione, Cap. xvii. § 8-12. and Aph.

[79] The works of the late Clifton Wintringham, T. ii. p. 85, &c.

[80] Comment. in lib. de DiÆta, p. 228.

[81] Regnier, Sat. v. The sense of which is nearly as follows:

[82] Lucretius De natura rerum.

[83] De Aere, Locis, et Aquis. Foes. p. 293.

[84] Sect. 6. Aphor. 35.

[85] De natura pueri, Text. 22. Foes. p. 242.

[86] Translated from the French. There may also be seen an excellent passage on the force and dangers of voluptuous habits, in a new Treatise of M. Pujatti, Professor at Padua, long of great reputation for his admirable work De victu febricitantium, p. 63.

[87] See Gaubii Institutiones pathologicÆ, §. 529.

[88] P. 126.

[89] Excerptum totius ItalicÆ et HelveticÆ LiteraturÆ, pro anno 1759. T. i. p. 93.

[90] On Experience. In German, by M. Zimmerman, vol. ii. p. 400. I take this fragment from those which his friendship has engaged him to translate in my favor. Almost all the other will serve to adorn a work of which I am preparing the publication, which will soon follow this.

[91] The demonstration of this truth may be seen in the part I am quoting of M. Senac’s treatise On the Heart, L. iii. §. 7., a work that seemed to have left nothing more to be wished for upon that subject, if its illustrious author had not, in his promise of a second edition, given us to understand, that he could yet render it more perfect. A great man may surpass himself, and see a point of perfection, which others do not so much as imagine.

[92] Lessons on his Institutes, Sect. 776.

[93] De ratione victus in morbis acutis. Foes. p. 405, 406.

[94] De morb. a nimia venere, §. 24, & 26.

[95] Instit. de med. T. vii. p. 215.

[96] This symptom is very frequent among persons who have exhausted themselves by venery, and contributes to prolong or maintain that exhaustion. The smallest temptation produces a beginning of erection, which is followed by an efflux of the seed.

[97] The one selected here is the seventh. This thesis, so worthy of perusal, is to be found, together with a great number of other small excellent works, which are to be come at no where else but in that fine collection of practical theses, which M. Haller (who desires and promotes the advancement of medical knowledge, with as much zeal as discernment) has taken the pains to publish, under this title: Disputationes ad morborum historiam & curationem facientes. Lausanne, 1758. The name of the author is a sufficient attestation of the merit of the work, which bids fair to become one of the foundations of a library of practical study. The piece, which I am here quoting, is, Stephani Wezpremi Observationes MedicÆ, Trajecti, 1756. See T. vi. p. 804.

[98] As he does not particularise the species, it can be no other than the lamium album, white archangel, or the lamium maculatum.

[99] A practical essay on the Tabes dorsalis, etc. the fourth edition, p. 20 and 25.

[100] Sect. 10. p. 27. also Robins on Consumptions, p. 98.

[101] Ibid. p. 26 and 28.

[102] Medic. annuus, T. ii. p. 216.

[103] De perspir. insensib. p. 504.

[104] De curat. acutorum, L. ii. c. iii. p. 103.

[105] Sect. 6. Aphor. 22.

[106] P. 27.

[107] G????????G??S. Tentamen, &c. Basle, 1707.

[108] Ibid. Sect. 32.

[109] De DiÆta acuta. L. iii. c. 12. Foes. 368.

[110] M. Thierry, anonymous author of La Medecine Experimentale. When an author publishes so valuable a work, he ought not to wish or imagine that he can long remain unknown, nor fear the being discovered. The moment that we shall have all that work compleat, it will furnish a considerable epoch in the history of physic.

[111] Tabes Dorsalis, Sect. 9.

[112] Sect. ix.

[113] Epidem. L. vi. §. 4. Aphor. 14. Foes. 1180.

[114] Observat. et Curat. L. i. Obs. 10. T. i. p. 122.

[115] On sea voyages, p. 117.

[116] A Letter shewing what is the proper preparation of persons for inoculation. Sect. iv.

[117] TraitÉ de Coeur. L. iv. c. 1. § 2. T. ii. p. 263.

[118] Sect. 484.

[119] Recueil periodique d’Observations de MÉdecine, T. vi. p. 195. In the second volume of which same work may be seen the description of a disorder produced by the same cause, which deserves attention.

[120] ???????S??, or the History of Cold Bathing, p. 254, 281.

[121] Sect. x.

[122]

To be taken an hour before breakfast, dinner, and supper, with three ounces of the following draught:

[123] This passage is taken from a Dissertation of this learned Physician, On the foundations of health. See the Danish Mercury for July 1758. p. 95.

[124] De puerorum institutione, Cap. x.

[125] Supplement À l’Ouvrage de Penelope, Chap. i. p. 35. “Amabilis ille Dux se posuerat extra matrimonium; ego illum reposui intra.”

[126] Medical Observations and Enquiries, T. i. p. 36.

[127] In febre ex venere cavendum a venÆ sectione. Syntagma, L. i. tit. 2. c. 1.

[128] On Sea voyages, p. 119.

[129] De perspiratione insens. p. 514, 515.

[130] Quod animi mores temperamenta sequentur. C. 9. Charterius, T. v. p. 457.

[131] See Rousseau’s Emilius, English Translation, Vol. ii. p. 188, & seq. Vol. iii. p. 155, &c.

[132] De diut. morb. 1. i. proem. p. 27.

[133] De locis affectis, L. vi. c. 5. Charter. T. vii. p. 519.

[134] Prax. admirand. L. i. Obs. 85.

[135] Prax. admirand. L. i. Obs. 109, 110.

[136] An ex negato veneris usu morbi, 1722.

[137] Penelope, ch. 8. Des qualitÉs necessaires aux medecins.

[138] Nicolaus Zindelius De morbis ex castitate nimia oriundis. Basle, 1745.

[139] Nosolog. medic. T. iv. p. 344.

[140] Institutiones PathologicÆ, §. 563.

[141] Galenus, Libr. De consuetudinibus, Charter. T. vi. p. 541. M. Maty, Dissertatio de consuetudinis efficacia in corpus humanum, Leyd. 1740. M. Pujati has also given us some very good reflexions on this matter, in his Treatise De la DiÉte des Fievreux, p. 57, &c. Metaphysicians, who appear to have the best handled this point, are Mr. Locke, Essays, L. ii. c. 32, M. de Condillac, TraitÉ des animaux, p. 2. c. 2. and 9. and the anonymous author des Elemens de Physiologie, c. 61, 62, 63, 64. I know a man that, having been waked, above twenty years before, at one after midnight, by an alarm of fire, has since that time constantly waked of himself precisely at that hour.

[142] Epidem. L. vi. §. 8. n. 52. Foesul. 1201.

[143] De semine, Lib. ii. cap. 1. Charter. T. iii p. 213.

[144] Obs. Chirurg. Cent. i. Obs. 22.

[145] Cons. 102.

[146] Cas. 102.

[147] Institut. §. 776.

[148] Consult. Cent. 2 & 3. Op. T. iii. p. 214.

[149] Epid. L. vi. § 3. No. 13. Foes. 1173.

[150] Ibid. La Mettrie, T. vii. p. 214.

[151] De Medicina, Lib. iv. cap. 21.

[152] Medicus, sive de methodo medendi, L. i. c. 22.

[153] Praxis medica, L. iii. Part. ix. Sect. 2. c. 4.

[154] De morb. nervor. p. 717. This Work, gathered from his Lessons, from 1730 to 1745, and in that posterior by some years to the Lessons collected by M. de Haller, proves that Boerhaave had changed his opinion as to the possibility of a purely seminal gonorrhoea; and it is well known, that that great man was always ready to renounce his former ideas to adopt new ones, the instant he was convinced of their being the justest.

[155] G. L. Koempf De morbis ex atrophia, Basle, 1756.

[156] Historia plantarum, &c. p. 51.

[157] L. iv. c. 8.

[158] P. 231.

[159] Oper. Omn. p. 544.

[160] See J. J. Mangeti Bibliotheca medico-practica, T. ii. p. 625.

[161] Ibid. 624.

[162] Colleg. pract. special. C. ii. T. i. p. 459.

[163] Usus Opii salubris et noxius, p. 131.