LEWIS S. PILCHER, M.D., GEORGE R. FOWLER, M.D.,

CONTRIBUTORS

TO VOLUME IV.

O. H. ALLIS, M. D., OF PHILADELPHIA.
E. H. BARTLEY, M. D., OF BROOKLYN, N. Y.
J. D. BRYANT, M. D., OF NEW YORK.

G. J. FISHER, M. D., OF SING SING, N. Y.

M. FIGUEIRA, M. D., OF BROOKLYN, N. Y.

G. R. FOWLER, M. D., of Brooklyn, N. Y.
E. M. HARTWELL, PH. D., OF BALTIMORE, MD.
J. W. HOWE, M. D., OF NEW YORK.

A. H. P LEUF, M. D., OF BROOKLYN, N. Y.

W. MACEWEN, M. D,, OF GLASGOW, SCOTLAND.

H. O. MARCY, M. D., OF BOSTON, MASS.

W. M. MASTIN, M. D., OF MOBILE, Ala.

J. E. MICHAEL, M. D., OF BALTIMORE, MD.
W. OSLER, M. D., M. R. C. P., LOND., OF MONTREAL.
L S. PILCHER, M. D., OF BROOKLYN, N. Y.

A. L. RANNEY, M. D., of New York.
J. B. ROBERTS, M. D., OF PHILADELPHIA.
L. A. RODENSTEIN, M. D., OF NEW YORK.
A. ROSE, M. D., OF NEW YORK.

J. C. SCHAPPS, M. D., OF BROOKLYN, N. Y.

M. SCHÜLLER, M. D., OF GREIFSWALD, GERMANY.

N. M. SHAFFER, M. D., OF NEW YORK.

F. J. SHEPHERD, M. D., M. R. C. S., OF MONTREAL.

N. B. SIZER, M. D., OF BROOKLYN, N. Y.

C. F. TAYLOR, M. D., OF NEW YORK.

R. A. VANCE, M. D., OF CINCINNATI, OHIO.

B. A. WATSON, M. D., OF JERSEY CITY, N. J.

GENITAL IRRITATION.

By C. FAYETTE TAYLOR, M. D.,

OF NEW YORK.

L

ONG before Dr. Sayre called the attention of the pro

fession to phimosis as an exciting cause, in some cases, of what has been termed "reflex paralysis," I had become satisfied, through a pretty extensive acquaintance with analogous phenomena, in an entirely different class of cases, that imperfect sexual hygiene was capable of producing many strange perturbations in both infantile and adult life; and among such disturbances a loss of muscular power was not infrequently one of the incidents. So that, while I expected that a too exuberant enthusiasm might carry some of the less stable professional minds off their balance, and that, in the reaction, some would go as much too far the other way, I felt that the profession was placed under obligations to Dr. Sayre for starting an inquiry which could not fail to result in increasing our practical knowledge of nervous phenomena. It is no doubt time that a voice was raised against a too indiscriminate application of one class of facts. But Dr. Newton M. Shaffer, in an article on "Indiscriminate Circumcision," in the May number of the ANNALS OF ANATOMY AND SURGERY, denies, by implication and argument, that there is such a thing as “reflex paralysis" resulting from genital irritation. Such extreme generalization, I feel confident, is incorrect. Because mistakes are made by persons with insufficient opportunities,