Confidential Chats with Boys

BOOKS BY

WM. LEE HOWARD, M.D.

FACTS FOR THE MARRIED

PLAIN FACTS ON SEX HYGIENE

CONFIDENTIAL CHATS WITH BOYS

CONFIDENTIAL CHATS WITH GIRLS

CONFIDENTIAL CHATS
WITH BOYS

BY

WILLIAM LEE HOWARD, M.D.

Author of
“Plain Facts on Sex Hygiene,” “Confidential Chats with Girls,”
“Facts for the Married”

New York
Edward J. Clode
Publisher

Copyright, 1911, by

EDWARD J. CLODE

CONTENTS

FOREWORD
THE REASON

These chats are the pleasurable results of the many little confidential ones I have given at boys’ and young men’s clubs and at preparatory schools.

It has been my fortune—for so I consider it—to have been brought into intimate relations with men who are failures. Not the down and out men, but those who are struggling along dissatisfied with what they are doing—what false and wrong training has forced them to do.

Many of these despondent and useless men have been guided into places where they fit—where there is conservation of energy, happiness and results. These are the factors for a mentally and physically balanced man—provided he has had early instruction in some vital matters.

The impulse to have the future fathers in a position to guide and live in close confidential relations with their sons, is the reason for this book.

Professional experience has proven to my complete satisfaction that the many failures, misfits, despondents and diseased in our present generation were not fundamentally ill fitted to battle with life, but that they had never been started right, physically, mentally, vocationally.

Physical instructors built muscle, teachers forced much useful and also useless stuff into unwilling brain cells, fathers furnished the money—as a rule I find that this latter was about all the parents did furnish; and thought this all-sufficient.

The results have been deplorable. Wasted energies, disgust for study in lines that never appealed, misdirected powers, and exhausted vigor is what I have daily seen for twenty-five years.

And most of these conditions are avoidable.

How frequently have I heard the remark, after explaining to a young man who came to me a complete failure: “Why didn’t my father see all this?” or “I wanted to do that, Doctor, but they said that I didn’t know my own mind; so they made me study things that I hated.” Then the vital facts which every boy should early have confidentially and chummily told him:—“Oh, Doctor, if I had only known these things ten years ago! What a different man I would be to-day!”

Yes, and your sons can benefit from your experience, for it has forced me to “chat” with them in these pages.

My plan as outlined is to give the boy and youth the information which will enable him to conserve his energies, increase his vigor and learn just what his mental endowment and powers are. Then to concentrate upon these constantly, allowing deviations only so far as they broaden the horizon surrounding his vocation.

There also is much to say upon physical conservation—the storing of physical vigor which in emergencies can be called upon without injury to the working capital. This vital matter has seldom been touched in the training of our youths; and as men we find them working up to the last degree of power and when the call comes for extra power there is none—the man then goes to the human dump pile. There is no excuse for this sad state of affairs—the cause is ignorance of man’s vital resources and how to conserve them.

Boys, I have been a repairer of human machines all my life; machines sent out on the road not properly adjusted, they have been returned to my shop, and with most of them I could only point out certain parts which were weak and let them go again, taking care not to put too great a strain on these parts.

Now I want you all to start out with every part—brain, body and soul—equally adjusted, all of the same strong material, well fitted to work in peace, happiness and health—these factors working in harmony means success—no matter what line you take up for life’s work.

William Lee Howard.

CONFIDENTIAL CHATS WITH BOYS

[CHAPTER I]
THE BODY AS A MACHINE

Any young man who understands the simple facts concerning his body and the laws of human energy, should be able to be as strong in body and nerves at fifty as he is at twenty-five years of age.

If he is strong in body and nerves at fifty he has the increased brain power of experience and work, and only think of the force he has then to utilize for the next twenty years.

This is a practical idea and not a theory or a statement of exceptional cases.

But if this is so, why have not our parents been able to be boys with us instead of old men at fifty? Because they did not understand; never had the plain points shown them; physicians have not always considered this side of boyhood development, and because physiology as taught in the public schools was not that physiology needed by youths and boys.

We shall not here bother with the old style and schoolbook physiology. I am going to present to you the simple, common-sense facts about the body and how it must be handled to get the best out of it.

If you have an automobile, the first thing you do is to understand it; its different working parts, how they are dependent upon each other, how much fuel is needed and how applied, what will make the engine run smoothly, what will injure it and what kind of usage is necessary to keep it always in good running order, what will cause it to break down and become an old rattling thing and send it to the scrap heap.

The finest built machine is of no value if any of the parts which have gone into it are faulty; it will break down when a strain comes. It is just so with man; for when you really come to understand the machinery within you, you will realize that you are the most delicate and at the same time toughest piece of mechanism ever produced. Muscular power, brain force, will, mental ability, all depend upon the PHYSICAL condition of man—the parts and condition of the machine in him.

The higher power in us that makes the human body a mere medium for development we shall not here say much about, but so related is it to the body itself, that a poorly adjusted or diseased body will affect this higher power, the soul, the conscience, the morals of the man. That is, a diseased or weak body—not merely muscular weakness, but a general weakness due to neglect of nature’s laws—will show a weak will, a lack of determination and a further falling away from a high moral standard—in other words make a failure of a man.

But why should this be so? Is man to be blamed for being physically weak, to be punished because he has not that full strength of body that others have? Yes; I think so. But suppose he inherits a weak body, inherits disease? Is he to be blamed for something over which he has no control? Not exactly that, for there is only one disease you can inherit, and that is a punishment for your parents’ or grandparents’ sins—or in most cases, ignorance.

When you thoroughly understand your own body, the little tendencies to weakness or predisposition to certain diseases can all be overcome. The distressing effects of venereal diseases seen in children whose parents have been ignorant of the facts you will be given in this book, have been a blessing to mankind, insomuch as you can all avoid them after the knowledge concerning them and your body is yours.

You see, what I mean is that you will possess knowledge your parents did not possess. In such a grand position the future men and women—your children—will be started right. And so will you if you heed and absorb what I shall tell you.

Big muscles do not necessarily mean strength, but to be strong one must have well developed muscles.

Seems an odd statement; doesn’t it?

A man may inherit big bones to which are attached big muscles. The fibres of these muscles may be coarse, inelastic and under control of a slow motor—a sluggish nervous system. Just as you may have a big motor car, big frames and running gear, but under-powered.

Now remember that all real muscular power originates in the nervous system and brain. If the nervous system and brain are not in perfect condition, the full power of the muscles can never be utilized any more than you can get the full power out of your big car if the cylinders are too small or so weak in construction that you do not dare to run them at full speed.

This is one reason why men born with big frames and large muscles are not always the strong men. Frequently these men break down in the prime of life. Also during their active lives they really never get all their power in use. I consider such men unfortunate in that they do not possess the knowledge of their condition, so they neglect in early life the necessary rules and habits which, if heeded would bring them to old age in full possession of their natural strength.

The weakling who realizes his failings and knows how to correct and care for them, is more often the strong and healthy man in middle and later life. This fact teaches us one of the great laws of nature; that is that we cannot for a day neglect our body; the born strong man does, he never watches or cleans his big machine—it goes to rust and wears out in parts.

These strong men as youths, from the mere fact of having big, hawser-like muscles controlled by a slow-moving force, do not have the incentive to build up active muscles nor the energy to train the nervous mechanism controlling muscular activity. The result is that such a man’s muscles remain coarse fibered, fatty, bulky, and respond slowly to the motor centers of the brain. Moreover, they feel in such perfect health that they are careless about their habits and throw away a lot of energy that the man who is building up strength takes care of—saves for future use and material.

A youth who desires to build muscular strength goes about it carefully and slowly. Remember that all staying powers, brain or muscle, must be built up slowly. The tough and hardy oak does not grow like the weak poplar—quickly. Its growth is steady, regular and slow, but in the end it is powerful, long lived and richly reproductive. Make haste slowly is one of the fundamental laws of nature.

Brain and nervous system always come first in starting to build muscular power that is to last and be always at your command. The basis of power depends upon the rapidity with which the muscles respond to mental impulses. Properly developed muscles are finely-fibered, and react instantly to the impulse of the motor cells of the brain—the cells which tell the muscles to shoot out at once. Now let anything such as alcohol, tobacco, loss of sleep or immoral habits, fasten on the youth and all attempts to get the full strength out of muscles, no matter how big they are, will be useless. The reason is that the brain cells have been affected—they cannot act as they should and so the muscles cannot respond to the impulse. This is the cause of so many first-class boxers taking the final count. Success has made them careless; they neglect the rules of the physiologic game, they drink a little, smoke and indulge in other habits which affect their nervous system. They go on the stage breathing the foul and poisonous atmosphere while exhibiting, are necessarily late to bed and while still keeping up their MUSCULAR training neglect the fact that every day they are injuring their nervous motility. It is so little noticed that no attention is paid to the matter. But when it comes to a battle after such a career—even if careful training has been done weeks before the contest—the effect is shown, and down the champion goes before a less experienced boxer, one not so strong in the muscles but one whose full brain and nervous force has remained uncontaminated. Then, sad to relate, THIS champion goes the same way.

So you see that mere gross muscular structure is valueless—except it is needed for daily labor, where it exists as mere animal automatism—unless it is under the immediate control of a highly-organized nervous system free from disease and abuse.

So delicate is this nervous element of the body in getting the muscles to respond, that I have tested hundreds of athletes—including myself—by a very sensitive instrument which shows the response of the muscles to the condition of the brain cells. A youth who has lived a perfect life—physiologically speaking—is kept from one half of his night’s sleep. The next day he is tested and there is a difference shown in the rapidity of muscular response. The difference in a tenth of a second in a blow makes all the difference between a champion and a loser, and this tenth of a second can be brought about by the loss of one night’s rest. How must it be then when the youth has lost several, or been breathing foul air with heavily working lungs?

The extreme muscular development seen in those who pose on the stage and before the camera, while marvelous to the sight, is in reality of little practical use. Such muscles are not developed through normal exercises, but gain their prominence by being contracted and expanded through mental concentration on the muscle itself, not on any work that the muscle should be made to perform. Under this fad form of “physical culture” the levers which the muscles should lift and lower are kept immovable, the muscles themselves do no work, the fibers only being caused to swell and shrink.

Take the “development” of the biceps, for instance. This muscle is intended to flex the forearm, attachments being on the upper arm and shoulder and the insertions in the upper part of the lower arm, making a perfect leverage. Now, in this false “physical culture” system the arm is held semi-flexed and rigid and the muscle made to rise and fall, no tension being put upon its attachments. The result is a development of the center of the muscle, but a development of a mere shape, not the development of the power of lifting. The attachments are not developed or strengthened; they remain thin; hence, to the spectator in the audience, the center of the bulking mass of biceps looms up as a powerful organ of force—it is simply an artificial lump.

This false method of “physical culture” also squeezes out the little amount of fat that the muscle should bed in for ease and nourishment, and this further accentuates its size when illumined by a spot light against a black background.

Big chests do not necessarily mean big lung power, but one must have a capacious chest to have great lung power.

Another odd statement? Not exactly.

The average man does not use in daily work much more than half his lung power-capacity. There remain in the lower portion of his lungs thousands of little air cells, which stay practically closed in ordinary breathing. When a man is called upon to run a long distance he soon finds himself in distress, has “a stitch in his side.” This slight pain is caused by the effort made by the air to get into these closed cells. It is the forcing open of these reserve cells that produces the “stitch in the side.” When these cells become active and take up the extra air needed, the distress ceases and the man gets his “second wind.”

Now, it can readily be seen that the greater the chest capacity the greater the reserve force. As it is in the muscle of the “physical culture” man so it is in the chest development of the same class—an unnatural condition. These latter possess, by constant deep breathing, forcibly inhaling and exhaling, a large chest. But there is no reserve force; all the cells are constantly filled. The chest development is good to look upon, but we must remember that the owner of such a chest has no reserve power—no extra breathing space to call upon when most needed. He has reached his limit at the start—a condition fatal to athletic work. A condition injurious to the man’s future health, for there are many times in illness and in emergencies when he will need some reserve force to fall back upon. It is like taking a journey and spending all your money at the start—when you need some, it is not there.

Athletes are healthy, not because they are athletes, but because all healthy individuals are athletes; not necessarily competitors in games or strivers after honors, but persons who enjoy outdoor living and breathing the fresh red-blood giving air.

But there are so many mistakes made by youths and boys who strive to become athletes before their body machinery is properly adjusted, that much harm has been done by overtraining and a misunderstanding of what really constitutes a healthy man.

Americans have absorbed much of the energy in the world, but not all its wisdom. Too many of our athletic instructors at the schools have tried to turn out athletes instead of strong men and women.

When we read in the daily papers of the collapse of a celebrated athlete, or the breaking down during training of a young aspirant for honors on the cinder path, we naturally surmise that fundamental knowledge of the physiology of the muscular mechanism of the human body is either submerged by the overpowering desire to make a record or is totally absent among certain trainers and their pupils.

The want of wisdom concerning man and his body is the cause of many sad conditions existing to-day among formerly strong and healthy young men. A comprehensive idea of the physiology of growth, of the physiologic and chemic relations of strength and endurance to age and condition, would be of great value to a large number of old individuals—not old in years, but old in vessels and tissues—who strive to put an unusual strain on their weak arteries, as well as to the youth whose central nervous system is often permanently injured by over-exertion in attempting to make records placed by carefully trained and intelligent athletes.

Let us take those Marathon runs as an example. Two years ago I witnessed the real Marathon—that is, the great one in this country—the Boston event. This run is a nerve-racking, lung-pulling one of twenty-six miles up many steep and long hills. Among the large number of contestants were a boy of about sixteen and a man somewhere in the forties.[1] To allow such starters was a great mistake—especially in the boy’s case. There were physicians at the start to examine into the condition of the runners, but what doctor could tell off-hand of the past habits, inherited faults in the bodily mechanism or system of training these various contestants possessed? There was only one reasonable course to take—that is, to withhold their sanction to the starting of those whose years had not fully developed the bodily functions, and of those whose habits had brought a strain on the valves of the heart.

[1] Since my criticism and explanation in the magazines, the Committee allow no youths under eighteen years to run in the event.

If we were all Indians, having been placed at birth out in the open and lived without clothes until puberty placed a loin cloth on us, accustomed every day to run and tramp, developing the different organs of the body harmoniously and gradually until they all reached their full power and held in reserve extra power, then these runs of twenty and more miles would not injure us. But, as it is, they are of no benefit and in many cases injurious. Young men who spend hours indoors, who have worn clothing since birth, been prevented from using the greatest breathing organ next to the lungs,—the skin,—who train for this event and then step back to our civilized life of houses, furnaces, trolleys and clothing, are not fitted for these great strains on organs which have been unused to them.

The human body is a wonderful piece of mechanism, which not only renews itself constantly, but whose strength and endurance and capacity for more work increase with increased use up to the point at which use becomes abuse. At what time and under what pressure this danger-line is reached depends upon the individual. However, the approach to the danger-line is governed in all cases by fixed and immutable laws.

The athlete must always bear in mind that the length of time a muscle cell can continue to work will depend upon the rapidity with which the energy-holding explosive compounds are formed by the cell protoplasm and the waste products are secreted. In other words, the capital must not be expended at a greater rate than it can be replaced. If it is expended at a greater rate fatigue commences, and a continuance of this expenditure results in physical bankruptcy.

It is simply the case of the automobile over again. To run smoothly and continuously there must be fuel steadily supplied and the exhaust—the waste products—cast off, leaving no residue to clog up the engine. But you watch your fuel tank and see that it is well supplied, for you know the consequences if the fuel runs out—if you run your engine up to the last drop.

To use up no more fuel in the body than the body will replace, is the secret of athletic success. To go beyond this point means injury—often injury that a life time can never repair. This is one reason why sprinters who have made records succumb early in life to disease or ill health. They have over-heated their human machinery, and the worn parts can never run completely smooth again.

How is this fuel that is being used up in the body replaced?

The muscle is continually undergoing change of material. The minute substances which make up the muscle, and whose very actions keep it alive, are being constantly cast off, fresh substances taking their place. The cast-off material is the fatigue poison. And it is a poison. Inject it into a dog and he will soon die. Without muscle rest, this dead poisonous stuff cannot be replaced fast enough by the new products, and the result is an impoverished capital of force elements. This does not apply only to the muscle in active use up to this point, but to all muscles of the body.

The energy products of the food are delivered up to the muscle by the blood, and this fluid picks up and carries away the cast-off substances of the muscle. These fatigue products are only gradually eliminated from the blood.

In the youth these poisonous products are cast off much more rapidly than in the full grown man. Also they are not so rapidly manufactured. But right here lies a danger point—the youth is not warned in time and often goes beyond the point where the off-castings are entirely eliminated and some remain stored up in his system. Then his nervous system suffers and the trouble goes on unrecognized until it is too late.

Another thing may happen. In the youth the fatigue poison may be thrown off quicker than the good material can take its place, hence such an athlete—generally a runner—will fall from sheer exhaustion of the muscular mechanism—perhaps ruined for life.

To keep on the right side of the danger-line in exercise, the muscle must have short intervals of rest. Nature so well understood the proneness of man not to heed advice that she placed the action of one muscle beyond his control. This muscle is so constructed, internally adjusted, that it has its regular periods of rest, and only in disorder of the body can its expenditure be raised beyond its means. This great and wonderful muscle is the heart.

However, there are certain conditions having their origin in the will and the excitement of mental forces, where the heart is pushed beyond its self-control. Such cases sometimes occur in college boat races—the four-mile races. It is not so much the mere muscular efforts of the contestants as it is the intense mental excitement accompanying the effort. No youth of a highly-strung, nervous temperament should row in these races—no matter what his muscular strength is.

The heart, though making contractions at the rate of seventy-two times a minute, is able to continue its work without fatigue throughout the life of the individual. Each contraction of this wonderful muscle is followed by an interval of rest, during which the cells recuperate. Push the heart-beats to a very rapid rate and we approach the danger-line at which fatigue products cannot be replaced by fresh cells; the intervals of rest are not sufficient. The same conditions exist in every muscle. This is the reason why we often see immediate or ultimate collapse at the finish of a four-mile boat race or a quarter-mile run. Such a collapse may be followed by irremediable loss of health.

You should remember all through your life that each member of the body, in the very act of living, produces poison to itself. When this poison accumulates faster than it can be thrown off, which always occurs unless the muscle can have an interval of rest, then will come fatigue, which is only another expression for poisonous infection—real, genuine poison. If the muscle is given an interval of rest, so that the cell can give off its waste product to keep pace with the new productions, the muscle will then liberate energy for a long time. This latter condition is what we call endurance. When you say a boy has long endurance it simply means that all his organs are in perfect working order; that they repair as soon as they waste. Such a condition kept up means a long life and a healthy one. And you can all obtain this state, as I shall later on show you.

The power and endurance of the human machine are limited according to our understanding of the above facts. But another important bit of knowledge is necessary to have if we wish to avoid ruining our physical energy: that is, to recognize the necessity of starting the human machine slowly. Like any other ponderous and intricate machine, the body requires time to get in harmonious working order. What would you think of an engineer who started his engine off with a jump at high speed? What would happen to a big engine if the throttle were pulled wide open at the instant of starting?

The brain, nerves, heart and muscles must be given some warning of the work they are expected, collectively, to perform. Ignorance of this fact has broken down many a young man who aspired to honors on the cinder-path. The necessity of getting all the parts of the body slowly in working order is well understood by trainers and jockeys on the racetrack, as is evidenced by the preliminary “warming up” they give their horses, although it is doubtful if the trainers could give any physiologic reason for the custom.

I once asked an old darky trainer in the South why he always ran his horses just before a race, and he replied, “I’s got ter ile ’em up; jus’ ile ’em up.” Then he shouted to a little bow-legged coon on a big bay horse: “Youse, git a goin’ dar, Sam; git ’im iled up so I kaint heer ’im squeek—git de ile in ’is jints; go dar!” And Sam went on “iling ’im up.”

Of the substances supplied to the muscles by the blood, oxygen is one the want of which is soonest felt. The muscle contains within itself a certain store of oxygen, but one which is by no means equal to the oxidizable substances. The muscle’s activity is dependent, to a great extent, on the character and force of the blood-flow. It must be clear of waste products, and contain, as well, sufficient oxygen to keep up continually a renewal of energy.

From what has been said, it will readily be seen that the result of a muscular task which an athlete wishes to perform, will depend primarily on his muscular bulk and on the conditions of these muscles and the rate at which he expends his capital; the test of his endurance will depend upon the condition of the other parts of his body and how rapidly they will carry off the quickly formed poisonous products and supply fresh ones.

A large number of the lesser pugilists have died in the ring the last ten years. Scarcely one of these deaths was directly due to the force or severity of the blows struck, but because the fighters were “out of condition.” The writer, himself, once had an opponent in the amateur ring whose condition was so plainly unfit that he refrained from exerting forceful energy, but let the man poison himself, when a gentle cross-counter laid him out. He literally beat himself.

What I have said about self-poisoning refers also to the nerves and brain. As the muscles work faster, so do the central nerve cells which send the stimulating impulses to these muscles. These latter cells become fatigued sooner than the muscles. This is a grand feature of physiologic economy; for, did not this condition exist, the muscles would work themselves to pieces—run wild, like an uncontrolled engine.

The muscular differences noted in individuals are in reality the difference in the nerve cells, the actions of the muscles indicating the activity of the central nervous system. When the muscles are being exercised the nerve cells indirectly determine the muscular activity.

From the above statement it can be seen why one with exhausted nerve cells should avoid exercise. The nervous system should be at rest. For example; if a youth is recovering from some severe illness—typhoid fever, let us say—he should not at first try to get back his muscular strength by self-exercise. The muscles need blood sent to them to grow and regain their former elasticity, but the nerve cells required for all this must have a rest. How is it to be done?

By the exercise of another person’s nerve cells. That is, the muscles should be massaged by some strong man. As the nerve cells gradually come to their full activity again, then the youth may commence gradual exercises on his own account.

It is the general impression among athletes that exhaustion and “loss of wind” are due to the inability to consume sufficient oxygen and exhale rapidly enough carbon dioxide. When the muscle is moving rapidly and forcibly, it is true that it demands more oxygen and gives off to the blood more carbon dioxide than when at rest. When a man is running as fast as he can make his limbs move, he is able to keep up the pace but for a short distance, unless, like the hunted hare, he runs to death. On account of the forced and rapid muscular action in this case the poisonous materials are thrown into the blood, to be carried to all parts of the body—muscles, nerves, brain. The heart is affected by this poison through the nerve cells controlling this organ; the muscles of respiration are similarly disturbed. The panting, distressed efforts of breathing, sidelong tumbling and final semi-unconsciousness of the hunted stag or hare are good examples of acute self-poisoning ending in death. It is just as much a case of poisoning as would be a case of gas poisoning; the only difference being that in the first case the gas is manufactured in your body, in the other case, outside and you breathe it in.

One of the main “clearing houses” of the body, by which the blood is constantly cleared of much of its poisons, is the liver. The minute cells of this organ each have their individual work to perform in transforming the poisonous material into harmless substances. The cells of this “clearing house” are delicate little organs, and will not stand abuse. All habits having a tendency to cause dyspepsia—eating rapidly, eating indigestible food, constant and intemperate use of alcohol or the use of tobacco in the youth—disturb the normal work of the liver. Hence, one of the first aims of a boy who desires to be a strong man—and what boy does not have this admirable aim?—should be to keep the liver in the best possible condition. Any clogging or disturbance of the ordinary work of the liver prevents the blood from being in a pure state. All parts of the body will show distressing symptoms of fatigue and exhaustion if the little cells of the liver have become diseased or useless through intemperate living and ignorance of the duties belonging to each separate organ of the human body.

In general terms I have given you some facts necessary to know if you wish to reach full manhood in perfect health and with all the organs so adjusted that the human machine in you will work the rest of your long life without squeaking and rattling. But there are many little details for you to know in order to keep the adjustment perfect and to increase the power and energy in you—mental and physical. Too many boys and youths have never been taught how to get the best that is in them to work—to be a success because they are doing what is in them to do and are happy in doing it—this is what means success. I shall try in the next chat to go into some of these details, and so on up to the most important facts in life. To give you a comprehensive knowledge of your sex organs, how to care for them, what Life means, and in all matters that go to make up the normal man. To give you instruction that makes a man, produces the character of the man of honor, to give you the inward grace of a gentleman, which cannot manifest itself outwardly save in good manners, modesty of bearing and fearlessness. And so many of these qualities depend inwardly upon a perfect adjustment of all your organs. You shall be told all about differences of man and woman; why you should be at all times kind and considerate to the girls and women—in fact what the world means in its development and what you can do to assist in its better development.

[CHAPTER II]
THE OUTSIDE LUNGS—THE SKIN

I have told you that next to the lungs the greatest breathing organ of the body is the skin. The great importance of this fact has been overlooked by many of your school teachers and parents—that is, from the boy’s standpoint.

It is through the skin that much of the poison of the body is thrown off; and it is because there are conditions in our methods of living which prevent its full activity that we have so much insanity of a certain form, habits that are injurious to body and brain and are often the cause for the boy being inattentive to his studies and blamed by the teacher for being lazy or stupid. He is not, in fact, anything of the kind; he is indolent and unable to interest himself in his work because through his brain is flowing blood contaminated by poisons that the skin has not been able to cast off.

I think we all know about those Saturday night’s baths. Your mother was brought up with the impression that if you had a bath once a week that was sufficient. You see the real facts were never given her. She simply thinks of cleanliness, and once a week is enough to get the DIRT off the ordinary boy. But this is the OUTSIDE dirt—what you must be careful to do is to get the inside dirt—poisons—out of your system. Many an unfortunate boy has been handicapped for life because these poisons accumulated in his system as he grew up and the real cause for his nervousness, restlessness and inability to keep at one thing was never known.

Here is an example of the powerful effects of not keeping the pores of the skin so open that every drop of the poisons being made in the body every minute can work out. If a healthy boy should have his body—up to his neck—wrapped in tin foil, or any similar substance which would completely close the pores of the skin, he would soon have headache. This would become very severe, followed by loss of consciousness and finally convulsions—fits followed by death. Now this would occur even if he were in the open air. You can see by this fact that the lungs cannot alone cast off the poisons in the body; in fact their principal work is to supply the blood with oxygen and throw off carbonic acid gas—carbon dioxide; the skin must get rid of much of the other injurious material.

Another important thing to remember is that when this poisonous stuff is allowed to remain in the body it causes a ready soil for disease germs to grow in—typhoid fever, malaria, pneumonia, etc. If you keep the body free from all its poisons and have plenty of sleep, exercise and proper food scarcely any disease can attack you, for there are in the human body millions of little cells which roam around devouring all the germs of real diseases if they dare venture into a healthy body. If this were not so, not one of us would live out our infancy.

You have heard a great many stories about the endurance of the little Japanese, and a lot has been said about its being due to their custom of living on rice. This has but little to do with their powers of endurance. Of course a diet of rice and vegetables do not leave in the body such an amount of poison as meat will leave; but even when the Japanese eat meat we witness their wonderful powers of endurance.

They can start on a run and keep it up all day. But they will stop two or three times a day and take a hot bath. Here is the secret—that is, the principal secret. I have had one of these little, but powerful chaps pull me in a ’rickshaw up hills and around mountain roads at a dog trot which tired me to watch him; so fearful was I at first that he would break down. But about every two hours he would stop at a bathhouse along the roadside and literally wash off the sweat containing the cast-off poisons from his body. Then fresh as when he started in the morning, he would go on again.

He wore only a loin cloth, hence his body was free from any covering which would keep the pores from working and performing their duty—the second secret of his endurance.

Now, if this man had been dressed in underwear and over this skin covering wore a pair of trousers and a jacket, he would have become tired, had a heavy feeling throughout his limbs, and if forced onward, succumbed to headache—that is he would have shown all the symptoms of self-poisoning. Especially so would this have happened had the baths been denied him.

Similar habits and customs were the reason for the Indian being able to run long distances and keep the pace up day after day.

But you ask; how about the Northmen; the Icelanders, those hardy and enduring men of Lapland? Surely they have to wear heavy clothing and have no hot baths along the roadside. Partly true; but their endurance is of a different nature; it is that of being able to put out great muscular power, to withstand severe cold and long fasting. This latter ability is simply because when they do eat it is a gorging of fatty food; food which gives out heat. The Eskimo remains quiet and semi-asleep many months in the year. When he makes a kill for food he and his family—even the babies—eat like wolves. They stuff themselves like the animals, then go to sleep in the winter and live off the fat on their body. Then their form of endurance is one of race—a trait which has been passed down to them for generation after generation. But I am doubtful if their contact with civilization does not injure this trait, and then will come their extinction.

But contrary to the general impression those hardy Northmen living in Norway, Lapland and Iceland take excellent care of their skin. In traveling in Iceland after a hard day’s work over ice fields and lava deserts, the natives would bring us to camp where there were either hot springs or little huts built of lava blocks which were primitive Turkish baths. In these huts were round stones; upon these they would build a hot fire and after it had burnt to ashes these were brushed off and water poured upon the stones. This produced a hot steam in which the natives would remain until the sweat poured down in streams. Then after rubbing each other they would put on their heavy homespun clothes and emerge fit for another day’s hard work. It is the same in Norway and Lapland.

These habits are what gives them the ability to endure physical work without exhaustion.

While upon this subject I would like to impress upon you the unnecessary custom of using any perfumes upon the body. The sweetest odor is that coming from a clean, healthy skin.

There is another feature of this skin cleanliness—the help it gives the kidneys. A lot of poisonous matter is cast off from the kidneys. Now, if the pores of the skin are kept constantly open, much of this material goes out through them, thereby relieving the kidneys from extra work. As you grow along in years this becomes a very important matter, for many kidney diseases are due to the overwork they have had to do, when it could have been better done by the skin. When we come to dealing with vital matters in keeping good health—the care of the sex organs—more will be told you about these poisons.

As considerably more than ninety per cent. of the body is made up of water, you can realize how necessary it is that plenty of pure water should be supplied the body. Here again the sweating process aids man to replace waste water by returning to it pure water. The loss of water containing poisonous stuff makes one thirsty, and this is one way Nature has of keeping man’s body well balanced—the useless goes out and the useful goes in.

If we thoroughly understand what our body consists of and how to care for it, there would be no necessity for doctors or medicines. In fact, drugs are far more harmful than useful. Four or five simple medicines—or rather correctives—are all man needs if he has the proper understanding of himself. Of course surgeons are necessary and doctors in accidents—such as the great diseases like pneumonia or typhoid, for these are really accidents, accidental insomuch as you have taken poisonous germs into your stomach or lungs. But even in this latter disease, knowledge of how it is contracted is all that is necessary, for then we can keep our sewerage from emptying into the drinking water; flies from landing on refuse and then on the food we are to eat, and if you carefully remember all I shall tell you, those diseases which are breaking down so many of our fathers and mothers, can be avoided. Kidney troubles, as I informed you, may be avoided by commencing to see that the kidneys do not do the work that the skin is intended to do.

And the liver? Just remember what I said about it being the “clearing house” of the body.

There are many boys and young men who have a sluggish or over-active liver. These unfortunate chaps have always been misunderstood and often blamed for being slothful or willful, when in reality they were suffering from poisons in their body which were not cast off. If these conditions go on, the result is sometimes very unfortunate—destructive to any attempt to make a success in life—no matter how hard one tries.

Here is a case that came under my observation, only one of many; oh, so many misunderstood fellows.

He was twenty-seven years old when I saw him. His father and mother were heart-broken over his habits—that is what they called them.

Everything they knew had been tried; but he would drink at times. These sprees came over him at certain times and nothing the doctors, ministers or friends could do would stop him.

We know better now.

When he was a boy at school he would have severe headaches. When they first came on he would try to keep up with his studies, but day after day became more indolent and the teachers called his attitude “pure cussedness.” At the end of the attacks he would become very sick; vomit for hours, and when the poison was thrown off through his stomach he was weak for days after. The doctors who were called all said about the same thing: “Only a bilious attack; he will be all right after he has thrown the bile off.” But he never was all right. Each attack left some residue of the poison; also left him less able to fight against another attack, and so the poor chap went on suffering misery of the body and pain of soul because he was blamed for a state over which he had no control. He became useless to himself, and after he had reached full age could find nothing to do because he could not stick to anything. One day when he was feeling so badly that he could hardly hold up his head, some older man suggested a drink of whisky. He took it; it was the first and only thing which had given him relief. Of course this “relief” was only a blind one; the alcohol gave him a false impression of his condition. It also sent the poison running through his brain and this called for more whisky. When the next attack came on he, of course, took whisky again and remained practically insane until the whisky drove the poison out through his stomach AND SKIN—it sweated it out.

But by this time he had been pronounced a drunkard. He was nothing of the kind; he would have given up his life for a cure of the awful demand for whisky when these attacks came over him.

These cases we call dipsomania; and they are now understood to be cases of faulty work on the part of the liver and other organs which retain the poisons of the body.

Turkish baths, sweating and other methods soon put him in a position to understand himself. He was shown just what to do to keep the poisons out of his body and hence keep off the attacks. Of course his liver had been injured, and probably his kidneys, by the absorption of so much alcohol; but by care and watchfulness he became a useful citizen, but could never for a moment forget his delicate condition.

Now it is not necessary for you to understand what to do in these cases—but it is necessary for you to understand how to keep from getting into the same state.

If you have headaches due to some cause that you do not recognize—as you would from those following blows or breathing foul air in closed rooms—just remember that some organ of the body—skin, kidneys or liver—is retaining poison. You must get rid of that at once; for every hour it remains it accumulates and if allowed to go on, some of the organs will be affected. Then when you get to be forty and over you will wonder why your kidneys are not in perfect health or why you have become so nervous.

If the headaches are so distressing that you cannot exercise violently enough to sweat—not simply perspire—then get out in the air, no matter what the weather is, and take long, deep breathing exercises. Keep this up until your chest muscles ache. Now you should commence to feel better. Put all the pure water in you you can hold. After a while make a brave effort to exercise so that the water and its poisons run off your skin. Then wrap yourself in a thick blanket and go to bed. Before breakfast eat some fruit and drink plenty of water. After your bowels have moved you should be feeling as fit as a trivet.

If this feeling of well-being possesses you, then it is certain you had an overplus of the natural poisons in your body.

If this advice and knowledge had been the possession of boys and youths twenty years ago we should not have to build hospitals for dipsomaniacs as we are doing to-day.

All I am saying to you and shall say, does not mean you should not consult a doctor—quite the contrary. What I want you all to understand is some of the important matters that have not been told boys by teachers or parents—things which, when you thoroughly grasp, will make your growing life free from worry and misunderstanding. Oh! there are so many moments in a boy’s life when he needs to know things; when he longs for that knowledge; when he suffers inwardly, is afraid of himself and when he only gets from his father or mother the advice: “You had better go and see the doctor.” And the doctor? Generally gives him a slip of paper and tells him to return in a day or so to see if the medicine works.

And the soul-suffering chap needed something more than a slip of paper.

He needs someone to help him unburden his mind; to free him from his worry, to confidentially overhaul his mind and put him to rights again. Some man who was and is a boy, and who can say to him: “Here is the trouble, Harry; it amounts to nothing now; so glad you came to me; for we can show you how to rid yourself of the worry. Now be sure to come again when anything worries you; or you want to know.”

Go to your old doctor and talk to him about what worries you. Most doctors will be pleased to chat with you. The trouble is that you have not been instructed in the fact that what you want from a man of knowledge and kind and appreciative heart, is a good talk, not medicines. Go and have a plain talk with your father first; if he is too busy to give you the time then seek a friend in the physician—the right kind.

Boys, if you are healthy boys, no matter if you haven’t big muscles and strength, all you need for a tonic is fresh air, plenty of sleep and food, and a clear understanding of your body. Not one single portion of it or its uses should be kept from your knowledge, and it shall not in these chats.

Boys often ask me: “Doctor Howard, what shall I eat to make me big and strong? Is underdone meat good? Shall I chew, so many times, all my food?” and many other questions along the same lines.

Eat what you like. In this matter study the healthy animals—for in our bodily living we are simply animals. Let all food fads alone. The only rule to follow is that of common sense. You should be certain that the food is fresh, that you eat at regular intervals and only eat that which you relish. Man, as an animal, needs variety. Sometimes a boy will crave one kind of food, at another time a totally different sort. If he is not suffering from some disease, nature tells him what chemical constituents his body needs and then gives him a craving for the foods containing these materials.

I know of some fathers who wrongly blame a boy because he will not eat fat with his meat. The father likes fat and so unthinkingly, believes that the son should not waste it, but relish it. The full grown and the elderly man needs fat to give him heat; the boy has hot blood coursing in him and besides, exercises; his system does not need fat; so his appetite rebels. If he relishes fatty substances, it shows that his system needs it.

And so on through all foods—eat what you relish if it is fresh. Of course there are a few general principles to be followed. Chewing, for instance. Every animal chews his food according to the nature of its food. Man has teeth to handle all sorts—flesh and vegetable. Watch a good-sized dog eat—not the lap dog brought up on candy and cookies; such is not a regular dog; just an unfortunate, wheezy, overfat, ill-smelling substitute for a little baby—something to fondle. The boy’s dog will bite, grind and then chew his bone or meat. He does not count the number of times his jaws work, just gets the food ground up into small pieces so that the digestive fluids in the stomach can get it ready for further digestion in the intestines. For in reality it is these latter organs which have more to do with digestion than the stomach.

This brings us to a very important subject—the care of the teeth. There is only one thing to say about the teeth—ALWAYS KEEP THEM CLEAN. I know boys are naturally careless in this matter—we all are; but if you commence the habit of always cleaning them after each meal—or whenever they have had work to do, you will be saved much future misery and chagrin. Foul teeth always means foul breath. Decayed teeth means that your muscles can never reach their full development because the food cannot be properly chewed and churned; hence the blood and muscles do not get the benefit of the nourishing elements of the food.

You should not delay nor try to attend to your teeth aside from keeping them clean. At the least sign of decay or the appearance of color on them, go to a dentist. There is no pain or distress in the dentist’s chair if you attend to the matter at once.

Drink plenty of water before breakfast, then when possible, fruit. Remember that there are about thirty-three feet or more of piping in your body. Through this piping—the intestines—there is a constant flow of food-stuff undergoing a chemical process. It leaves a lot of dirt—useless stuff—in the pipes. Now if you had a series of lead pipes through which flowed constantly some fluid which made a deposit on the sides, you would naturally flush out the pipes, every once in a while—wouldn’t you? Of course you would.

Well, do the same with your system of piping. In the morning there is a lot of useless matter containing germs left in your thirty-three feet of intestines. Flush them out by large drinks of water, plenty of it. This will also keep your bowels free; the principal thing to observe if you wish a healthy body.

Shall I drink water with my meals or after—or when?

Again watch your dog; he drinks when he is thirsty; do the same. It is better to drink some water just before meals, and if your meal has been somewhat a dry meal, drink water during that meal; if you desire it—just do as your system demands.

Do not attempt any training through a regular system of diet. If you prefer a lot of meat and like it, it is going to do you good; if you force underdone meat down against your liking, it is going to weaken your muscles instead of strengthening them.

Is candy or other sweets harmful?

No; not a bit—the normal boy often needs sugar—his system demands it. But here is the trouble with all sweets—they are too often eaten between or just before meals. This destroys the edge of a good appetite and hence the habit is injurious—not the candy itself. After meals if you crave sweets they will do you good. Chocolate is beneficial to all boys if eaten only after the second or third meal of the day.

But there is so much adulteration of all candies and chocolate that in order not to injure yourself you should avoid all cheap stuff, and especially that rotten mess sold on the street stands. Then think of the dirt and germs which have accumulated upon these adulterated sweets. Get the best or leave sweets alone.

Now one little word about training for the boy and the youth. Never train to get off weight but to put it on. Remember that every tiny cell in your body is growing and developing to be of use when the great time in your life’s struggle comes. Anything you do to stop this growth injures your future prospects. The stoppage of one minute’s growth of a cell can never be regained. That little improvement that was about to be made has been interrupted—stopped. Aid Nature in her growth and development—don’t interrupt her. If you do, later on in life she will punish you—this is as certain as is the rise of the sun.

If you have done some sprinting in the spring, and when you return to school find that you are a little too heavy for running, don’t for a moment think of trying to reduce your weight.

Just quit sprinting and be very thankful that you are in such excellent health that every organ in your body is growing big and strong.

Any exercise that puts on weight in the boy or youth is good exercise—anything that takes off weight is harmful. When you have reached middle life, if you are in good health and busily occupied in doing your allotted work in this world—as every healthy—mentally and morally—man has to do, you will have enough to do to keep off the extra and unhealthy fat that has accumulated around your organs.

I know of a very sad case of this trying to insult nature in a growing boy. He was sixteen years of age; big, strong, and a champion wrestler in his class. He was entered to wrestle for the interstate championship—140-lb. class. His instructor and the athletic club to which he belonged expected him to win for them. But as the weeks went on he gained weight at a very rapid rate. He was a straight, wholesome, moral boy—of course he gained weight—he lived right. Two days before the contest he was seven pounds overweight. His trainers took measures to bring him down—to rob Nature of that seven pounds of her good work. They did it; he lost the match and from that time onward he has never regained his full strength. The process of building going on smoothly in all his organs was interfered with, and the inevitable setback followed.

Every boy—every person—should sleep alone. Think of what I have said about the skin and its emanations. You do not want to be under the sheets with another boy who is throwing off from his skin poisons; breathing some of them, letting others be absorbed by your own pores. Try to get two dogs to sleep under the same blanket—respectable dogs, such as you or I would own. In about two minutes each will get from under cover with distended nostrils and deep breathing. They’ll sleep together without covering; but never under it.

Sleep alone under as light coverings as possible for comfort. This will aid you in getting big and strong. Don’t forget this advice.

[CHAPTER III]
HOW ALL LIFE COMMENCES

We have seen that the human body after it gets started is quite as much a physical apparatus as a chemical laboratory, and the harmonious working of all its parts is to a considerable extent a matter of mechanics.

You will find that this is true for every disease or disturbance of the body. For instance; nervousness or headache from eyestrain. This strain may come through insufficient light or light wrongly entering the pupil of the eye. The nervousness may come because there is too much effort to adjust the lenses of the eyes by a constant pull on the tiny muscles. Even that peculiar nervousness that many unwise men and women are suffering from which makes them take ruinous drugs, is due to a chemical disturbance of the nerve cells. All the drugs in the world will not help them—it only increases the chemical disturbance. These sufferers need the poison out of their system; not more put in.

And so it goes on throughout the whole system; some of the physical or chemical elements are unevenly balanced or worn out for the time. In diseases due to a particular germ—like diphtheria or pneumonia—it is the disturbance of the chemical elements in the body which brings about the disease.

But we have finished with the chemistry and machinery of the body and now enter upon the wonderful and interesting part of life which deals with reproduction—the continuance of species. Every living thing—flowers, fishes, animals, man—is reproduced by laws all having the same principles. The underlying facts in all these different forms of life are the same. There is absolutely no exception to the law of reproduction. Every living thing is the result of the mating of the male element with that of the female.

We shall not have much to say about botany or zoology, you can read all about these sciences in your books. What I shall tell you in the rest of our chats are things which you do not get from your books or teachers.

It makes no difference what your religion is; what you have been taught to believe, how little or how much you already know about the laws of nature, you will all have to come to one conclusion as you get along in the world—that God, Nature, or some great Power controls and rules everything on this earth. You cannot avoid this conclusion after knowing certain facts—positive facts which are to be seen everywhere in all their glory.

As you grow older and reach full manhood many of you will become scoffers at all religion; some of you will call yourselves atheists, others agnostics—one who does not know—more of you will have a blind faith in orthodox religion.

But if you have kept your brain power and moral health, and I shall show you how to do this, in the end you will all come to the right point—reverence and love for the great Power which controls us all.

You cannot avoid this desired point in life; it WILL come in time. Worry and impatience in your youthful days; self-questioning and a feeling that something is wrong with the world, will be your portion of man’s burden. You will see what looks like injustice, the apparent success of the evil-minded, the accumulation of wealth by the man of shady methods, and those who should be happy, miserable, and those who in your estimation should receive punishment, living in luxury, and highly esteemed.

But this vision will lose its distortion as you live on; you will then see matters in their true light. Have you ever looked down through clear water and seen rocks, even fishes, appearing queer and out of shape? When you dive down to the bottom and open your eyes, how different the true outlines of these things look to you. You first saw them through distorted rays; a false vision. It is just so with the truths of life: you have to dive down into your heart and mind to see their real shape and meaning.

I believe that every man is better for going through all the phases of doubt, irreligion, and becoming worldly wise; for when he does reach the point of seeing right he thinks right. This state causes him to be a true man to himself and to the Power which controls him.

Get all sides of a question and then think for yourself. And don’t forget that every question has FOUR sides: the right, wrong, inside and outside. When you have decided, be true to your convictions and at the same time keep looking around and INTO yourself.

We can all see the marvels of nature around us, but we can never understand until we also see the things IN us.

Deep within ourselves lie our powers. Getting them out is what brings success. These are the forces which every young man must study for himself. There are no rules we know that can be laid down for the governing or control of that thing we call conscience, soul, or whatever you care to call it. It is the vital principle—it is the power within us to DO. It varies in all men, its force, direction and application directed rightly will bring man up to marvelous deeds. No matter what your impulses are, if they are for good living and helping along the progress of man, go at them and win out. If they make for evil, or the working of injurious suggestion; go at them also, but to give them the count. Put them down and out. The first victory will be a hard one; but as the pugilist gains confidence after winning his first fight, and then goes on easily winning, so you all can in this matter of fighting wrong impulses.

Yes; it is this vital principle in us to Do, that makes life worth fighting—that is, knocking out the bad. It is also from this wonderful source that comes the vital force in the seed of males and the eggs of females, which, when united, brings forth life—flowers or man. It is with the laws governing this uniting of the two sexes we shall now, in easily understood explanations and words, chat about.

If I explain to you that the yellow or grey dust coming from flowers is the male seed, and that by wind, insects or birds it is deposited in the female flower’s womb to grow into little flowers, you certainly do not see anything to laugh at; nothing wrong to talk about, nothing in the wonderful arrangement of nature to sniggle over or to go behind the house or barn and whisper to other boys. Certainly not. Neither will you, when you understand all those marvelous laws which enabled your good mother to give YOU life.

I want you all to take a hammer-lock upon this fact—the holiest, most wonderful and everlasting laws of nature will bring you to a state of reverence and pure thoughts when you see them from the inside; as you shall, as every boy and girl ought to see them.

It is your birthright to know yourself and the living brothers and sisters around you; to realize that a mother dog with her little puppies has gone through dog troubles and pain to be able to give birth to her babies and to nurse them just as your mother did for you. That you owe to the mother dog the same kind words you always owe your mother and sister will be plain to you.

Everything during the course of reproduction—and this is the only way the world is kept alive—suffers pain, trouble, but in the end gains happiness. We are bound, if we are true boys and men, to remember this fact and act accordingly. You can no more bruise a flower in the spring without killing some little life than you can kick a mother dog without running the risk of killing her unborn puppies.

Both of these mothers, flower and dog, are going to bring forth new lives from the same great cause; the union of the male seed and the female’s eggs.

All life comes from an egg. This is the first law of nature. Every form of female has a method of protecting her eggs so as to bring them ready to receive the life germs of the male. Some flowers bury their ovaries—the organ that makes the eggs—in the ground. Some form of water flowers show us how careful we boys and men should be to protect our powers from being wasted. These flowers protect and keep their seed by closing their sacks—corollas—under the water until the time comes for them to act as fathers. If they kept their seed sacks above the water the wind would carry it away and then they would have none to place in the female flower when she was ready to receive it; or the egg, which is the same thing. Then this female flower would be childless, and soon we should be without the beautiful flowers.

It is on account of this care of the life-giving germ that all nature, including intelligent and strong men, is able to keep the world populated and growing better. For in spite of apparent signs of the non-improvement of the men and women to-day, in reality we are getting to be better men and women. And a plain understanding of life such as I am chatting to you about, is one of the good signs; for in your mother’s and father’s days these important matters were left for them to pick up at hazard and often from the wrong sources. But it will not be so with you; knowing the truth you will all be able to live right, go to your little wife a healthy man, strong in body, clean morals and conscience and not suffer the horrible self-accusation later on in life when seeing your son or daughter a cripple, helpless or incompetent. No, I believe that many of these awful conditions will cease to be; for they can be entirely wiped out if you heed and act upon what I tell you.

Boys and young men have not had the seriousness of this matter fully explained, and through their ignorance have wasted life-energy, ruined themselves and finally become broken down in morals and bodily health, been sent to insane asylums, or died in hospitals from diseases caught through evil habits.

Ignorance has caused them to be fathers of weak boys, sometimes idiots, and of daughters who followed the unmoral life of their father.

Now it may sound funny to you, but the truth is, that if the boys in the past had really known as much as the chipmunks, we should have very few asylums for the insane or hospitals for the horrible diseases. To be sure, the chipmunk’s habits of right living so as to have only healthy and sane children, is due to instinct; but we have the same instinct; let us see that it is not suppressed by ignorance on the one hand and the upheaval of evil thoughts and acts on the other.

Of course there are many diseases which are not due to wasting of life’s energy or vicious habits, but more than one-half of the degeneracy and insanity in our land is due to these awful mistakes.

We do not have crazy foxes or idiotic colts; we seldom have any wild animal born unfit to live. Yet the method of reproduction, the mating of the male with the female, is just the same as with man. The great difference is that animals mate when in PERFECT condition. Neither the lion, eagle, nor the rose, has wasted or poisoned the vital fluid or dust by bad habits, or lost their power by ruinous indulgence.

All these facts are a wonderful and plain lesson to us; and when we think it over carefully and recognize all it means, the question rises: why have we done as we have been doing all these long years of supposed intelligence? Because your parents and grandparents were not allowed to know the truth.

The pollen-dust of flowers is, as I have said, the seed of the male flower, just as full of life-giving energy as is the seed being produced in you—and which you must protect and save for future power and reproduction. That is, when married to be able to be the father of strong, healthy children. The Bible distinctly calls your attention to this matter, and lays down the law.

Life is a long foot race; a constant struggle to reach the tape. Now if you knew that you had this race to run and to win, would you be so foolish as to dissipate your strength, to lose sleep, to run long distances until you were completely exhausted just before you were to start on the REAL race? Of course not; yet when a young man exhausts his energies and powers by wrong living and when tired out enters upon his LIFE’S race—marriage and fatherhood—he comes to the tape wasted, exhausted and way behind the man who has trained properly. As a rule he will not finish the race—just be one of those “also ran.” He will leave weaklings on the path, poor unfortunate children who suffer all their lives because their father was UNFIT—unfit to be a father at any time. I realize these are harsh and strong words, but they tell you the truth, and I warned you that you would hear the truth.

I believe with a very strong belief that you boys to-day will be in a position to give the world better men and women than the world has ever known. You are being shown how to make yourselves fit to bring this about.

Every day I hear the cry: “Oh! Doctor Howard, if I only had known these things when I was a youth! What a different man I would be to-day!” I have had men tell me that they would willingly have cut an arm off for such knowledge as you boys are getting, and considered the fee cheap at that.

We will now leave the flowers and their forms of reproduction and get right into things that every boy sees, yet had not had a thorough understanding of what relations they bear to his life and those dear to him.

To repeat: All life comes from an egg. You know how the eggs of fishes look as well as the fact that the shad roe you eat is a mass of eggs. The male shad is called the buck shad or the milt shad. The milt is the semen of the male shad. It is a milky-white substance. The little life-giving germs are hidden in this milk-like fluid. They are so small that it takes a powerful microscope to see them.

The eggs of the female cannot produce life unless the life germs of the male pass into them. This is true of all animals, including man. Every form of living thing has a different method of doing this, but the principle is the same for all. Let us first take the fishes.

Springtime is the season for all life to bring forth its kind. In the spring the fishes swim to their spawning or breeding places. They seek warm and generally still waters. The shad, for instance, swims up rivers until it finds the proper place. By this time the eggs are ready to be expelled from her ovaries, the sacks in which they have been forming all winter. As she lies still in the warm waters these eggs drop out in large quantities. Then she swims away, gradually making her trip down to the sea. At the same time that her eggs are ready to be deposited in the waters the male shad is filled with milt-fish semen. He is strong, vigorous, and never having wasted any of this seed he is able to give full life to the waiting eggs. He slowly swims over the floating eggs and the semen in him pours out. Once over the eggs each little life-germ wiggles through the outer lining of an egg and meets the true egg. At once these two, the female and male germ, are the beginning of a little fish. It takes some time, of course, for even the little fish to burst from its covering, for the growth from the two germ cells into a completely-formed, though tiny fish, occupies many days. But just as soon as it is ready to swim, out it comes.

The way the different kinds of fish protect their young until they can care for themselves, is an interesting study, but you can read all about such matters in your zoologies.

In breeding, or propagating, fish at the hatcheries, the eggs are squeezed out of the female and immediately after this has been done the milt from the male is squeezed out over them. This is never done except when both female and male fish are ready to deposit their eggs and sperm. By this method the little fish can be kept in confined waters, arranged according to their ages, and when old enough, be sent to replace fished-out streams.

It is wonderful that with all the hundreds of different kinds of fishes in the ocean and rivers, the seed of the male will enter only the eggs of its own kind. It is the same throughout all life on the world; like can only reproduce like. If it were not so, we should have a sorry mess of mixtures and all life would die out.

When we leave the fishes and come to the higher scales of life, we see the same method of development from the union of the female and male elements—the egg vitalized by the male seed. But there is a difference in the methods of protecting the growing life in the egg. The fish simply drops her eggs and leaves them for the warm water to hatch. The birds deposit them in a ready-made nest and keep them warm by their own bodies.

The “frog spittle” you see on ponds and along the banks of streams is the mass of eggs and sperm from the male and female frogs. The bullfrog does not, like the male fish, throw his life germs over the eggs of his mate after she has deposited them in the water. This is done before she lets them leave her body. The frog’s method of vitalizing the eggs is that of all the higher animals.

When the eggs in the female are ripe for the male seed they lie inside her near their outlet. The bullfrog introduces his seed directly into her body at the spot where the eggs are waiting to receive it. A short time after this takes place the eggs are cast upon the waters and left for the sun to develop the little pollywogs, or tadpoles. When ready, those tiny fellows with their funny tails swim out and remain in large groups until their tails drop off and hind legs have grown.

If you have ever tried to stir up a large lot of “frog spittle” you have noticed how difficult it is to break up. This is another wonderful provision of Nature to protect her living and growing things. The greenish mass you see is a mucilage-like substance made to hold the eggs together. The real eggs are those tiny black spots. If it were not for this sticky material, the wind and waves would break up the whole mass and leave the eggs to be washed away and chilled. In other words, not one would send out a little pollywog, the wiggling frog bodies would be chilled to death. So remember that when you try to break up a lot of frog spittle you are really killing thousands of little pollywogs—frogs to be.

The same method of breeding takes place among the turtles and snakes. Only here the eggs are not cast off directly after receiving the male seed. They stay in the female, as they do in the birds and hens, until they have received a protecting cover. These reptiles have not reached the scale of the birds and hens; they are between the frog and the bird. As we have seen, the frog has the mucilage-like substance holding together the eggs; the hens and the birds the hard shell protecting each egg; the turtle and his like have a soft shell.

The turtle, alligator, and those of the same kind of reptiles do not sit on their eggs. The female makes a kind of a nest in the sand or dry mud, lays the eggs, covers them over with sand and leaves the sun to do the rest. There are, however, many differences in the manner of HATCHING, the way the eggs are protected, and how the little ones are left to shift for themselves. But the manner of starting each different form of life is always the same.

In the bird, as in all live creatures of the female sex, are what we call ovaries, from the Latin word ovum, meaning egg. These ovaries are situated in the body in the region we call the groin. These ovaries are little sacks which have the power of creating eggs. As breeding time comes, these eggs drop out from the ovaries and remain for a short time just outside the sacks, but still in the bird’s body.

Now the birds commence to mate, which is really nothing but the powerful instinct to reproduce their kind. The male bird is ready to be a father. He becomes vigorous, proud and strutting. His plumage is shining brilliant and he tries to show himself off before the females, who soon pick out their mates. The birds of the turkey or partridge type, dance, fight and sing in order to attract the attention of the females.

As soon as mating takes place, off the couples go to build their nests, both working together early and late to make a warm place for the little ones to be hatched.

The mating has taken place, the eggs of the female have become vitalized. The life germs have worked their way into the interior of the eggs; the eggs now commence to take on a protective covering; the shell. This soon grows to a hard shell. The eggs now being safely protected they drop out into the nest, and when all have been laid, the mother, and at times, the father bird, sit upon them until the little ones are hatched.

If the female bird was kept in a cage and away from the male bird, the eggs would come just the same. But no amount of sitting upon them or putting them in an incubator would bring forth the young. The reason you all readily understand; the eggs have not been vitalized, given the sperm, by the male bird. So if you want to breed chickens you must always have a cock in the yard.

All breeders of chickens first examine the eggs they are to put under a hen or in an incubator. By the light of a candle in a dark room you can see a tiny spot in the egg if it has been vitalized. This spot is the germinal spot—the evidence of the male element. Such an egg will hatch; one without such a spot will simply rot.

When we reach the higher scale in animal life, where the dog, horse, lion, belong, we have reached that point where all reproduction takes place in the same manner as in man. I am referring now to details only, for as I have told you, the PRINCIPLES of reproduction are the same for everything that lives.

All through nature, if you carefully think over the strict laws governing the continuation of life, you will be struck with wonder and reverence; not curiosity nor evil thoughts.

At first it may sound a little harsh to have me tell you that you were developed from a single cell in your mother’s womb which had been vitalized by the seed of your father. But such is the undeniable truth, and it is the truth concerning ourselves that I want you to understand.

Of course we are different from the mere animals in having a something in us that they do not apparently possess. This “something” may be called a soul, the essence of a Great Will, the evidence of God. But it makes no matter what you have been taught to call it—it is there; and some day you will recognize it.

It is the great Power back of us, in us, ahead of us. It is the something we can feel, but not see nor demonstrate. As you study over what I tell you it will be plain that, while we can and should understand the laws of nature, this Power, the actual Power itself must be studied in our hearts.

But no man has done justice to this great Will, or to God, or to himself, who has avoided trying to understand those laws which are indubitably for our benefit and future progress. One of the plain duties which the law points out to us, is that of so regulating our lives that we can give health and moral strength to those who come after us. And this can never be done unless we know and obey those laws which we have plainly set before us.

Before going further into the facts of reproduction, let us see how strict Nature is in some of her laws controlling this process. Remember what I said about the marvelous fact that fishes do not inter-breed; that is, that the seed from a male salmon will not enter the eggs of a female bass, nor that of a “shiner” into a sunfish. Nature will not allow such a mixing of things. A dog cannot impregnate a cat, only a dog. So you see that Nature has so arranged matters that in spite of the running wild of all kinds of animals and species, each egg is so chemically adjusted that only the male seed made for its particular eggs can vitalize them.

“But,” you say, “I saw at the circus a half tiger and a half lion, he rode a horse.”

True, but you have so long been accustomed to think that the lion and tiger were different species of animals that it did not enter your minds that in reality they were the same. Both belong to the cat tribe—felines. Circus men call all these animals, lion, tiger, cougar, leopard, etc., “big cats.”

In their natural state even these animals of the same species will not inbreed; there is a social class among them; and while man forced the lion to mate with the tiger, it was a forced marriage and presumably a disagreeable one. We have too many lion and tiger marriages in our own society.

From all this we should derive a lesson.

Nature will not, however, give in altogether to man’s foolish acts; for even when we cross the species we get a thing that cannot reproduce. The strict laws here step in and say: “So far shalt thou go, but no farther.”

The mule is an example of what I mean. The mule is the result of breeding the ass to a mare. It is hybrid; it cannot reproduce its kind. So in order to have mules we must always use an ass and mare. The mule cannot reproduce its kind because it is a born eunuch. That is, it has no seed to give life to eggs.

Now in some respects the mule is more useful to man than the horse. Again we see that the laws controlling our lives are often adjusted to our desires when these desires are for our benefit. So we can breed from a mare and stallion ass; but cannot go any farther with the species. It is about the same with the inbreeding of zebras and horses, although this has not yet been carried far enough to determine what the outcome will be. But don’t forget this fact: ass and horse, zebra and horse are all the same species—equines.

You have seen how birds and hens lay their eggs in a nest, and how, if they have received the male germ, the eggs bring forth their young. In the higher forms of animals—those who nurse their young—exactly the same PROCESS takes place but under different details. In these higher animals, the dog, for instance, we have the ovaries making the eggs just as in the birds. At certain intervals in the year these eggs slip from the ovaries into a nest lying just down beneath the two ovaries—one on each side of the female dog. This nest we call the uterus—or, in ordinary terms, the womb. When these eggs slide into their nest they produce an inflammation of the parts; also a peculiar odor. This is another wonderful law of nature, for without these conditions life would soon cease to exist. The inflammation gives the female dog—bitch is the proper name—a longing to be a mother. It is nothing impure in her, nothing to be ashamed of, but a condition to be proud of and to cause reverence in those of pure minds. The odor is to tell the male that now he must do his share in keeping dogs on the earth.

So they mate.

When each little egg is vitalized by the dog’s sperm, they remain in the womb—the bitch’s nest—for nine weeks, growing day by day until they are ready to come into the world.

Then did you ever see such a beautiful sight as the watchful and happy mother? Never, if you have all the real feelings of the genuine boy. There must arise that in you which we all feel but cannot explain. Kind words come to you as you watch the happy dog mother; gentle strokes as she cuddles to warm her little babies. And yet there are boys who have so little understood the beauty and wonder of all this act of reproduction that they sniggle and make sport of the desires of the innocent want-to-be-mother dog.

Exactly the same details happen throughout all the animal kingdom. The larger the animal, the longer it takes for the little one to grow and develop in the mother’s womb. This is the only difference, except that in the larger animals we find one or two babies the general rule. You see these big babies require so much milk that the mother could not supply enough for many hungry mouths, so she gives birth to only that number she can well nourish and care for.

[CHAPTER IV]
CARE OF SELF DURING PUBERTY

As the anxious mother bird watches day after day, while keeping her eggs warm, for the sound of the little tapping from the inside followed by the soft bill and wondering eyes of her little ones, so did your mother anxiously watch and pray for the coming of her helpless baby.

In her warm nest, the womb, you lay from the meeting of the two cells until your tiny body was completely formed. This was a period of nine months. Then you were born.

No boy or man can have a full appreciation of all he owes a mother until this wonderful work of nature is thoroughly implanted on his memory, never to be effaced. While the period of watching and waiting is only nine months, to the mother it is a whole lifetime. For to her it means ALL her life—sometimes she gives her life for yours. Think what wondrous love there must be for a woman to run the risk with pleasure and happiness. Every moment of these nine months the mother has her mind upon one thing: the tiny life growing in her womb, nourished by her blood, given oxygen through her breath, brought into the world smiling and laughing because the mother is laughing and smiling. And her one hope is that you will be able to go through your life smiling and laughing; that you will so live and grow that both of you can show to the world the most powerful searchlight known to man: the light which shines from a pure face and healthy mind. And such a light is far more penetrating than you have ever realized. It searches out truth, it reflects your mother’s face even after she has gone; it makes others happy and brings hope to many worried homes. And it is your mother who lights this bright ray of a pure mind; but it is your duty to keep the flame and reflector ever active and shining.

Thousands of boys and men have brought tears and dimmed the once bright eyes of their mothers. They have not consciously done so. It is against all nature for a boy to deliberately inflict pain and grief upon his mother. When he does, it is because he has been ignorant of all his mother has gone through for him. He has never been told in plain talks just all his mother worried and suffered while waiting for him to make his appearance on this earth. He never fully realized how she often dragged herself around weighted with his little body; how her nights were sleepless on his account; how she worked, sacrificed and planned for him. He never knew how careful she was about her food so he might grow strong while in her womb; how she forced herself to walk when every step was an effort, how she tried to keep her mind upon pleasant subjects and to read only such books as might send pleasant and beneficial impulses to his then unconscious mind.

When you have reached eight or ten years of age you have never been told how careful you should be to use kind words and be ever on the watch to help your mother in little things, because there is a little sister or brother growing in your mother’s womb who will soon be in the cradle. No, you have of course been told to be always kind to her; to help her in little matters; but JUST why you should now be more careful than usual has been kept from you. So if you have been cross and disobedient at times; brought tears to your mother, and who knows but unconscious tears to the little unborn one, you are not wholly to blame. You didn’t know, and nine times out of ten, if you asked questions about how babies come, you were put off with queer answers or else told not to ask such questions. The fault has been in a wrong idea of instruction. Your mother was never allowed to know when she was a child; your father picked up what knowledge he could from older boys, which was generally wrong knowledge gathered from another generation of boys, and your teachers and those of your parents were either criminally silent or themselves ignorant.

From all this false attitude of teachers has grown much of the misery and disease which is with us to-day. It is my intention to have this misery and disease abolished, and it can be done by giving you the information your parents and teachers did not possess until too late. All information regarding right sex living and care should be in the possession of the boy and youth while they can utilize such information. Of what use is it to you after the harm has been done through ignorance? No use; more—it does much harm when it comes too late.

“Oh, Doctor; if I had only known. Can I never be a well man again? Why didn’t my teachers and parents tell me all this was wrong?”

I am going to try to stop the cause for these pitiable cries so that in your and future generations they shall be no longer heard.

In the same manner you have been kept from knowing the absolute necessity of attending to the sex organs with the absence of any ideas except those of cleanliness. It is as reasonable for you to clean the teeth and leave the wax to accumulate in the ears until deafness follows, as it is to wash your hands and neglect the penis.

Your sex organ needs attention at an early age. If you have parents who understand this matter, they have instructed you in the details; but if you are like most boys, these have been left to chance and possible wrong treatment.

The gland of the penis secretes a cheesy material. This is constantly being poured out in small quantities and unless cleaned away will at first become offensive to the nostrils, then irritating and in some cases proceed to an inflammation which will require the services of a surgeon.

But to begin with the small boy. He should pull back the foreskin every morning as he washes, and with a soft cloth soaked in warm water, remove all the accumulation. Do it carefully; but don’t forget to do it, even if you have to let the face go. The reason for being so particular about this matter I shall explain further on in these Chats.

If your foreskin is too long, or if it hangs over so as to retain some drops of urine after you have relieved the bladder, go first to your father; and if you are so unfortunate as not to have a father or mother to whom you can go in these matters—and I know there are many such—go to your doctor and explain to him.

Many boys are far better off when circumcised. This is a simple little operation—just the snipping off the overhanging foreskin. If your parents have been wise and instructed in this necessary detail of the sex toilet, you will have been circumcised when a baby. But you cannot blame them if it has been neglected. However, your boy will have a right to blame you if he is allowed to be a victim of irritation and inflammation of the penis when he is a youth.

As you grow older this detail of the toilet becomes more and more necessary, for at puberty—fourteen to sixteen years of age—all your glands become very active, and those of the penis especially so.

I have told you in the first Chat about the bad effects of allowing your bowels to retain matter that should always be kept out of the body. The absorption of the poisons from this dead stuff left from food causes headaches, laziness and in time affects the complexion. It is a lot of natural filth left in the pocket of the lower bowel which Nature intends should be thrown out daily. There are muscles in this bowel or pocket especially for this purpose. If you neglect to work the muscles placed for this purpose, they soon become weak, inactive and refuse to perform their duty unless irritated by some drug, salts or castor oil. In a healthy boy—one who has taken any decent care of himself—these medicines are never needed. If such methods to make the muscles of the lower bowel work are constantly used, the muscles lose their tone and of course usefulness. Then in later life the veins become full of black blood, swell and often burst. These swollen veins are generally called piles. You see how you can avoid these disagreeable things, which are only plain signs that the man or boy has kept in his lower bowel filthy stuff. Just think for a moment; would you allow filthy stuff to remain in your pocket? Of course not; yet if this stuff were kept there, it would not do you physical harm. It would be a little disagreeable, I admit, but not bring about the ill health it does when kept in the pocket of the bowel.

Now, when you have the gland of the penis inflamed from the gathering of the matter behind it, you can readily see how it may be aggravated by any other dead material in the same region of the body. And this region in the growing boy is very sensitive to all disturbances. So here is another reason why you should empty your bowels EVERY day.

You will ask: Why is this secretion coming behind the gland of the penis harmful if it is natural?

It is there to keep the gland and its covering from growing together. If it were not there the urine would irritate and inflame the parts. Whenever we have inflammation we have a tendency to growth. Under these circumstances the covering of the penis would adhere to the gland, and then would come great trouble.

The secretion is a sort of oil for the sliding parts. But this oil has to be renewed by fresh oil—this is the reason for washing the old, rancid oil and letting fresh oil take its place. Again, if this rancid secretion is allowed to remain it becomes absorbed and then you have another poison in your system.

It is useless for a boy to try to become a strong man unless his sex organs have the best of care. I don’t mean that you should keep your mind upon the subject; quite the contrary. If you have kept them clean and attended to the little matters I have mentioned, your mind will not be upon the sex organs. If you wash your teeth every day and have them always in good condition, you do not think of them. You chew your food thinking of the coming ball game—not of your teeth. But if you neglect them soon come pain and trouble; then in spite of all the thinking of the next ball game, your mind WILL go to those awful teeth.

Just so with your sex organs; a decent regard for their care drives out all thoughts but what are necessary and decent.

The neglect or abuse of the sex organs—this latter subject we shall have a plain talk about—affects all the other portions of the body. It causes stupidity and soft muscles. Sometimes big muscles will be seen in a youth who has neglected the toilet of his organs. But these muscles are fatty muscles. They do not contain strong, blood-red fibres of true muscles. Moreover, the FORCE behind these muscles, the nerve cells, are themselves weakened by the absorption of secretions and the whole general effect of the unclean and often abused parts.

Remember this fact: You cannot perform big deeds when a man if you have neglected the little ones belonging to the development of your body. The foundation of every big structure, brain or building, is the essential part of the work. Unless this is built upon solid ground and of solid material, ruin comes when pressure is brought to bear.

I have seen hundreds of men with powerful brains and intellects unable to utilize them because their foundations for withstanding pressure were weak. And it was ever the same old cry: “No one ever told me, Doctor!”

At an early age you will be faced by a great injury to all boys. It is the appearance in the public schools of smutty pictures, lecherous talk and nasty stories. Now all these go to make for a weak foundation. If you have grasped the full sense of sex life,—what it means to your future, what it can do for a glorious life or a miserable end,—you will shun such nasty things as you would a boy with the smallpox. I want you all to know everything about sex life; but smut and filth are not connected with this knowledge. They have nothing to do with sex development. Nothing more to do with a full appreciation of the powers growing in you than the ulcers of a foul disease have to do with the growth of a healthful skin.

These nasty tales and pictures befoul a good mind. In listening or looking you are simply allowing your growing brain to wallow in a pigsty of thought. Scientific books on sex life, all the real knowledge you can obtain covering the real meaning of life, are proper reading. It is not necessary to roll in a manure heap to understand the care and diseases of cows. It is not necessary, but harmful, to live in an atmosphere of vice and mental filth to understand man and woman.

So you can see that it is as important to keep the mind clean as it is any organ. For one affects the other. If you have an unclean mind, poisons flowing through the brain from filthy talk, you will find that the sex organs will feel the effect. This is a dangerous state. Clean both at once and keep them clean as they grow.

Why, boys, there is scarcely one of your waking dreams of big deeds that is not possible of being true if you keep a mind clean for big thoughts and work. But this mind cannot work if it has to compete with foul matter working alongside.

If you were engaged upon some delicate work and had a chap working alongside of you who pulled down as fast as you built up, what would you do? Throw that fellow out. Of course. Well, if he gets along inside of your good thoughts, throw HIM out.

At this early age in your career I would not advise you to attempt any missionary work among those boys of evil thoughts and acts. Just let them alone; have nothing to do with them. This will appeal to such boys much more than any attempt at “goody-goody” talk. I don’t believe in this kind of education for the boys of vicious habits; it doesn’t appeal to them. What you can do if they ask questions is to show them the PRACTICAL side of the whole matter: That you want to be a strong man, a man who can do things, a man whose children will bless instead of curse him.

Sometimes it is necessary to smash a boy who makes evil suggestions to you. Don’t talk to him, smash him in the face. Smash him good and hard. Remember that if you have followed my advice and directions you will have much more strength than a boy of evil thoughts and habits. Such a one will be a coward; even if he LOOKS larger than you.

But beyond all, don’t blame such a boy; don’t unjustly blame him for what he is. Perhaps he had not had the chances you have had. Possibly he has had no parents to care for him and his associations have been such that he cannot see the good in life. Remember that such a boy has some good in him; often he wants to be the right kind of a fellow but does not know how. After you have licked him—if he makes any really bad suggestions—then he may become your good friend. If so, then you can tell him what you know. But no preaching, mind you. Don’t try to make him think you are any better than he is. Just let him understand that you know what is necessary to make a strong and successful man. Then he will want to know.

[CHAPTER V]
NIGHT EMISSIONS AND THE BOY’S WORRY

As you reach the age of puberty and for a few years thereafter, you will have many little worries and hours of fear. There is absolutely no reason why you should have these times of self-fear or any kind of worry. The gradual change from boyhood to manhood should go on without mental worry or too much thinking of the changes in yourself. Nature never intended that this time should be any but a joyful and happy time. And it can be made a period of full content and feeling that all is right with yourself and the good world.

But why have boys been so depressed during this time of sexual growth and development? Why is it that we see men whose whole careers have been handicapped and physical misery been their lot, just because when they were youths they had some fright which has lasted throughout life?

Because they were left the prey of their own thoughts; because little matters that are natural to the growing boy were exaggerated into fearful diseases, because they struggled through a fog of ignorance upon which were blown the lies of older boys and the advertisements of those beasts—the QUACKS.

To sum it all up in a few words: because the boys were never told the real truth.

Truth is never vile, nasty nor injurious. To hide the truth is criminal, cowardly and injurious. But conditions which we will not bother ourselves about here have kept our parents and teachers from seeing the truth. It is here where all the harm has been done to the boy and the girl. You were not able to get the truth because it was hidden from you, but the lies, nasty lies, were allowed to get to your ears and eyes. If there were any false colors surrounding truth it certainly would not be the TRUTH; would it? If the laws of nature were untruthful in their significance, if nature were all lies, then the whole world and the power behind it is a LIVING LIE. But it is not; it is a beautiful revelation of powerful truths and when you know it as it is, nothing more astounding or wonderful can possibly fill your mind.

And to know the truth these things should be plainly told you:—

About fourteen years of age you may feel a gradual soreness in the nipples. This will increase and sometimes be a little annoying. Now don’t become frightened and try to recall some blow you have received there. It is only a demonstration of how the growing sex instinct affects all the body. There are little glands in the breast that for a short time become slightly inflamed and this produces the soreness and itching which bother you.

I knew a boy who was much affected with this soreness; he had no idea what it meant. He worried about it silently and ceaselessly. He could not apply his mind to his studies; he lost sleep and ceased to play with his companions. One day when he was moping around the house his mother noticed how pale and listless he was. She asked him what the trouble was. He told her that his chest was very sore; that the nipples pained him; that he had suffered day after day.