of real conviction. Both wholly misrepresent the teaching and attitude of
the great majority of physicians who constitute the reputable body of the
profession.

Dr. William H. Howell, Professor of Physiology at Johns Hopkins
University, says: "There is no evidence whatsoever that the sexual
appetite or the act of reproduction has any physiological relationship to
the preservation of the integrity of the individual. This appetite has
been created or evolved and made strong in us for an entirely different
purpose. A sexual necessity exists only so far as the integrity of the
race is concerned; so far as the individual is concerned his sexual
functions may be unused or he may be completely unsexed without any injury
to his bodily health."

FOOTNOTES:

[1] The full list of authorities is given in _The Physician's Answer_, by
M.J. Exner, M.D., Secretary, Student Department, International Committee,
Young Men's Christian Associations, Association Press, New York, 1913.
This is the best treatment of the question of physiological necessity. It
is freely quoted in this chapter. [Editor.]




CHAPTER IV

MEDICAL PHASES

_By Andrew C. Smith_