CHAPTER VII.

In the creation of the human body and the endowment of man, God has conferred upon us no higher nor holier function and office than that of transmitting life. The degraded view which men so often hold with regard to the reproductive organs and the exercise of the reproductive function, is due to the base and worse than beastly manner in which these organs and functions are prostituted. Proper views with regard to the design and purpose of the Creator in endowing man with reproductive power will go far toward correcting the vices which are made the curse of the human race.

It would have been perfectly possible and proper for the Creator to have withheld from man the power of reproduction, and to have peopled the earth with human beings by creating each man and woman separately, the same as He did Adam and Eve. He might have adopted any one of an infinite number of methods, all of which were known and were also possible to Him, but in infinite wisdom He saw best to endow man with a power which was very similar to His own creative power. He saw that it was wisest and best to endow man with reproductive power, and to make the divine institution of marriage the corner-stone of domestic happiness and the foundation of civil government. Marriage is the enduring basis of this most sacred relation, and one of the greatest sources of man's blessing and happiness.

The study of the reproductive system in plants, fishes, reptiles, birds, animals and man is one of intense interest. Its thoughtful contemplation inspires awe and reverence. In the opening chapters of the first volume of this series, entitled “What a Young Boy Ought to Know,” we have treated this entire subject and some length, and while the language used there is designed to be very plain and intelligible, so that it can be readily understood by boys of eight and ten years of age, yet the subject is of such intense interest that there is not one man in a thousand to whom the information imparted in those pages will not be entirely new, and the many letters received from eminent men and women indicate that the interest it is to educated and cultivated adults, as well as to boys. On account of lack of space we are compelled to refer the reader t that volume, where he will find this subject treated at greater length and with more fulness. There are however, some phases of this subject which more properly belong to the consideration of older persons, and on that account it deserves and additional and somewhat different treatment in this place.

When God created the universe, from all inanimate objects, such as the sun, moon, stars, mountains, rocks, and the like, He withheld the power to reproduce others. He reserved to Himself the sole power to destroy these worlds or create others, as in His infinite wisdom might seem good. To all objects that have life, such as plants, trees, fishes, reptiles, birds, animals and man, God has given reproductive power, and an endowment of such instincts or intelligence as would be necessary to exercise these functions aright. Reproductive power is not power to create, else plants might create birds, and fishes might create animals, and thus introduce disorder and confusion into the harmony and beauty which in infinite wisdom God has instituted. In the creation God endowed each with the power to produce seed after its own kind. The power which He gave them was not creative, but reproductive power—power to produce seeds from which should be raised up the young of plants, and animals to take the places of the parent life which was to continue only for a time, and then die and pass away. By this means life was to be perpetuated upon the earth, passing from parent to child, year after year, and generation after generation, until the end of time.

Now if we take animate objects, all of which have reproductive power, we can readily divide them into three classes. First, plants which do not have nerves or any of the five senses, and which produce seeds which are fertilized by the pollen and which are then matured in a pod which is on the exterior of the plant, and from which the seeds generally fall upon the ground and are quickened into life by moisture and warmth, and thus the life of the plant is perpetuated. The reproductive organs of plants are found in the blossom or flower which constitutes its beauty, and is also the source of its fragrance. In many flowers the male and the female organs of reproduction are united, while in others the male flower may grow by the side of the female flower, or on an adjoining branch or stalk while in other instances the plants which bear the male flowers are entirely separated from those which bear the female flowers, and the pollen necessary to fertilize the seeds in the pod, or womb, of the female flower is blown by the wind, or is carried by the bees and insects which are engaged in the gathering of honey.

The individual who is sufficiently intelligent to learn the lessons which the flower teaches while in its passion of beauty which attends it at the period when the seeds are to be fertilized, and when the flower is most beautiful and fragrant, and then observes and understands the lessons which it again teaches, as its beauty fades, its fragrance vanishes, but the hidden and undeveloped life has been quickened and remains to perpetuate the life which shall spring up in the plants which are to come after it, such a person has learned the lessons which illustrate in beautiful outlines the unfolding, the beauty, and the fading of human life.

Were it not for this means of perpetuation all vegetable life would perish from the face of the earth, and it would require only a few months, or years at most, until every herb and plant and tree and all forms of grain would have perished, the earth would have become a barren waste, and all animal and human life would consequently perish because of dearth and famine.

The reproductive power which is so beautifully illustrated in the study of the flowers is also found in the fishes, reptiles, insects and birds. When we come to this second class we discover some differences, however, which are suggestive and interesting. In most plants the seeds are produced in a pod which is upon the exterior, and when the seeds are ripe the pod usually bursts and its contents either fall to the ground, or, as in the case of thistles, are borne by the wind to some distant field. When we study the orders of life which are next higher than the plants, we find that the seed is retained in the inside of the body of the parent female. In some instances, and perhaps in most, the egg is fertilized while it still remains in the body of the female, by the bodily contact of the male, after which it passes out of the body to be incubated or hatched in any one of an interesting variety of ways.

When we come to the next higher order of creation we find that among the animals the egg is retained within the body of the female, and after being fertilized by the bodily contact of the male, it continues in the body of the female until it has passed through a period of growth and development and is fitted to pass out into the world to begin its own separate and individual life. The reason for this difference is easily understood when we remember that as we ascend in the scale of being the animals are exposed to a larger series of dangers, and because of the higher sphere they occupy they are required to meet an enlarged round of duties and obligations. That these dangers may be guarded against, and these duties discharged, it is necessary that the individual animal should be enable to pass from place to place, to escape danger or discharge duty, while at the same time the growing life should be protected from destruction and also from injury. To secure these ends it was therefore ordained that the germ of the developing life should be retained within the body of the parent mother.

It might also be interesting to note that where the egg after being fertilized is covered with a shell and then passes into the outer world to be hatched, the germ or egg is much larger than in the case of the higher forms of life, where the germ is oftentimes so minute as to require the aid of a microscope to render it visible to the human eye. The reason for this is that the growing germ must be provided with nourishment sufficient within the shell to sustain life until the developing body is matured and the shell has been broken, so that the infant creature can either be fed by the parents or obtain its own nourishment as God has directed.

When we study the reproductive organs in the three forms of life to which we have referred, we find that there are some marvelous differences, the study of which are full of interesting and suggestive lessons. In the lowest forms of life the reproductive organs of the female are on the exterior, while in the higher these organs ar found in the interior. When, however, we study the male organs of reproduction, we find that while in the plant they are quite like those of the female plant, but when we come to the fishes and birds we find that the male organs, instead of having a development which might be called positive, the male organ is a negative, the same as in the female. In some of these forms, especially among the fishes, the male and female never come into bodily contact in the act of fertilizing the seed. In the large majority of instances, however, this is not the case. When you come to animals, the male organ is a positive. It is, however, contained within the body, from which it does not pass except in the exercise of the reproductive function. As we ascend higher in the scale, the male organ is partially upon the exterior of the body, but always sheathed. The reproductive organs of the male are not upon the exterior of the body and fully exposed until we come to the highest form of development, which is found in man.

We have referred to this matter in order to call attention to the fact that sexual degradation in the form of masturbation, or self-pollution, is mechanically almost practically impossible to all the lower forms of animal life.

As we have never seen this subject alluded to by other writers, we have made a careful investigation of the subject, and find that all forms of masturbation are mechanically and physically almost absolutely impossible to all animals except man and the monkey. Masturbation among animals is so exceptional and rare that of those who have spent their entire lives among animals of various kinds, there are only exceptional individuals who have ever seen an animal masturbate himself. There are occasional instances of this kind, but they are wholly exceptional, seem to have been learned by accident, and are accomplished with the utmost difficulty. And even where other animals have witnessed the act, they do not attempt it by imitation. It will not be seen from this that self-pollution in man does not arise from any natural necessity; indeed, it is so far a violation of nature that no human being will begin the practice of this vice until he is taught by some degraded companion, or learns it because of some unnatural and unfortunate circumstance.

The fact that God has placed the reproductive organs of man upon the exterior of his body is an indication of the exaltation to which he has lifted man. He has endowed him with intelligence, with a moral sense, and with a conscience. These elevate man infinitely above every other creature.

But it is not alone because of the reproductive organs are upon the exterior of th body in man, but God has also blessed man with a physical endowment which He has conferred upon no other creature. The beneficent Creator has given to man a hand. Without our hands it would be impossible for us to make clothing, to build houses, to compound medicines, to cultivate the fields, to prepare our food, to invent, devise, construct, or to do any of the thousands of things which are so essential to our elevation and comfort, to say nothing of our existence. Without the perfect human hand man could not overcome the physical difficulties by which he is surrounded, or rise above the level of the beast.

But with the hand man not only constructs and confers blessings, but he destroys, and inflicts curses, not only upon others, but also upon himself. Without the hand it would be impossible for man to wage war, to destroy his fellow man upon the field of battle, to commit murder, to prostitute and pollute his own body, or to overpower and compel women to yield to his lustful passions. The human female is the only female that cannot successfully resist the male, or can be made the subject of a rape.

The facts which we have named in this chapter, it seems to us, are designed by the Creator to teach us the sacredness of the reproductive function, and to manifest to us the confidence which he has reposed in man by endowing him with capacities and powers which are infinitely above those conferred upon any other creature. But the greater the exaltation and honor, the greater the fall and the ruin, if these faculties are prostituted and these powers perverted from the purpose which God has had in conferring them. God has created man in His own moral likeness and image, and has designed that he should be pure and holy. Virtue and purity are easily possible to any individual who will avoid the influences which so often degrade and will use the aids which God has designed should be helpful in safeguarding and saving mankind.

The great difficulty is that hundreds and thousands daily go wrong, fall into sin and into the physical, temporal and eternal ruin, simply because they grope in the darkness of profound ignorance. It is with a desire to impart knowledge, to encourage thoughtfulness, and inspire to personal purity, that we have undertaken in this chapter to direct the minds of young men to these phases of this interesting subject

From Stall, Sylvanus: "What a Young Man Ought to Know", published by The Vir Publishing Company, 1897. pp155-164