ON IMPOTENCE, STERILITY, AND ALLIED DISORDERS OF THE MALE SEXUAL ORGANS. BY SAMUEL W. GROSS, A.M., M.D., LECTURER ON VENEREAL AND GENITO-URINARY DISEASES IN THE JEFFERSON MEDICAL COLLEGE ON TUMORS OF THE MAMMARY GLAND; FELLOW OF, AND FORMERLY MUTTER Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1881, by HENRY C. LEA'S SON & CO., in the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. COLLINS, PRINTER. N45 G87 1881 PREFACE. Or the affections discussed in this brochure at least two-Impotence and Spermatorrhoea—are commonly described as functional diseases of the testicles; while, according to my observations, they usually depend upon reflex disturbances of the genito-spinal centre, and are almost invariably induced or maintained by appreciable lesions of the prostatic portion of the urethra, which, as they may not be perceived by the patient, are frequently overlooked by the physician. A more extended knowledge of these pathological facts, it is hoped, will afford a more rational and simple basis for treatment. My aim has been to supply in a compact form practical and strictly scientific information, especially adapted to the wants of the general practitioner, in regard to a class of common and grave disorders, upon the correction of which so much of human happiness depends. In the chapter on Sterility, the abnormal conditions of the semen and the causes which deprive it of its fecundating properties are fully considered a portion of the work intended to supplement the subject of sterility in the female. From answers to letters addressed to many of the most prominent writers in this country on gynecology, I find that, with few exceptions, the woman alone commands attention in unfruitful marriages. The importance of examining the husband before subjecting the wife to operation will be best appreciated when I state that he is, as a rule, at fault in at least one instance in every six. S. W. GROSS. PHILADELPHIA, 1112 Walnut Street, July, 1881. 53974 |