.. Insanity, Its Classification, Diagnosis and Treatment; a Manual for Students and Parishioners of Medicine by Spitzka, E.C - 1883

New York: Bermingham & Co, 1883. First Edition. Octavo. 415 pages, illustrations. There was a rush by the medical profession beginning in the early 19th century to trace insanity to masturbation. Though beginning in 1885 many of the best educated doctors showed this was incorrect (Piaget being among them), the idea persisted into the early part of the 20th century. Spitzka notes one case where he prescribed bed rest, regulated exercise and a bland diet for the offender. Once, however, the person was insolent to his mother, he thought it was obvious his bad habit had returned. Freud believed it was the least of the causes of neuroses. After discussing the various forms of insanity, he keeps coming back to this habit as the root. Parents are instructed to look for evidence of semen on bed sheets. It would appear that they did not distinguish between nocturnal emissions and self-willed activity. Bound in green cloth lettered and decorated in blind, spine gilt, tiny bump to upper edge of each board, near fine.