The Male Motor

I was recently at my parents house and noticed an old tattered book on the kitchen counter that my father picked up at a yard sale. He mentioned that it was one of his favorite books, based on the gross inaccuracies in it. The Male Motor by M. Sayle Taylor SC.D, Ph.D was first published in November of 1927. The primary concern of the book are the issues middle aged men face in regards to their prostate. Taylor fears that everyman is at risk of losing his sex energy in old age from being oversexed. I highly recommend that you read this on your own, but here is one of my favorite parts of the book in the chapter on masturbation.

“There are comparatively few men, whose memory serves them correctly, who can look back on a boyhood absolutely devoid of any phase of this practice. And in many cases the habit was begun long before the age of puberty had been reached. Usually, when begun in early boyhood, it is a social rather than a solitary game. Older boys, older or more precocious, ofttimes with nothing other than the exuberant spirit of play in their minds, initiate the boys into a gang or neighborhood clique, using exposure and some sort of competitive “game” as part of the initiation.
Fortunately most boys go through this stage just as they do the stage of petty-thievery, when cookies, pies, and jams are swiped- without becoming an addict. But when the habit carries over or is begun after the age of puberty has been reached, it then takes on a grim aspect. The sex anatomy, just budding into adult form, is taxed far beyond its capacity. When the practice is carried on over a period of years excessively (beyond natures recuperative ability), the harmful effect becomes so self-evident that is does not take the eye of a physician to discover what is wrong. The victim becomes sallow and anemic. The face loses its expressiveness, the eye becomes shifty, and the whole body takes on a languid air. Cowardliness, listlessness, slovenliness, and absent-mindedness are some of the characteristics of the victim of excessive self pollution.”
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As I understand it, this book is kind of hard to find and is something of a collectors item. Here is a link(sadly Amazon is out) if you are interested in buying this incredible book. They only have one copy though. It is perfect rainy day quick read that makes for interesting dinner conversation.