Hello everybody, Shrouded Hand here,
I said on my last video I like to break up the ultra depressing stories
with something a bit more lighthearted now and then. So I thought this week,
I’d take a look at the strange world of Victorian spermatorrhoea devices.
In the mid 1800s, English doctors became obsessed with the condition called spermatorrhoea. Now,
I think this word does have a legitimate medical use but back then 'spermatorrhoea'
was used more as a general term for any semen loss through anything other than regular intercourse.
This may be involuntary nocturnal emissions or... lets call it "self pleasure"
Too much of this sort of thing was thought
to negatively impact a man's mental and physical health.
The idea was championed in 1835 by a french doctor named Claude-François Lallemand. He wrote
a treatise on the spermatorrhoea in which he said “involuntary seminal discharges were sufficiently
serious to disorder the health of patients considerably, and even sometimes, to cause death”.
After too many seminal emission, he said- “The mind becomes enfeebled and incapable
of protracted attention, the memory fallacious and uncertain, and the patient feels that he is
no longer fitted for his usual avocations. His disposition undergoes an equal change;
he becomes morose and suspicious, fond of
solitude, lachrymose upon trivial occasions, and exhibits those apparently causeless contrarieties
of temper which are commonly received as evidences of hypochondriasis or eccentricity.
“the body gradually emaciates, especially about the lower extremities; the aspect becomes
dejected; the patient seldom raises his eyes to the person he addresses, as if conscious that
the expression of his countenance would reveal his wretched condition; digestion is impaired,
and accompanied by pain and flatulence; the bowels are almost invariably costive.”
And so, it was thought, the patient would continue to deteriorate until
something could be done to stop his discharges.
There were quite a few medical procedures designed to stop a man having his emissions..
One involved cauterizing the prostate gland, another involved injecting a
caustic substance down a man's urethra. Some men have acupuncture needles inserted
into their testicles and prostate. In 1879, Dr. Robert Bartholow wrote
of a procedure in which he treated a mans spermatorrhoea by forcibly dilating
the anal sphincter. He said: The method as pursued by me consists in the introduction
of a bi-valve rectal speculum, and then working the screw until the
blades are sufﬁciently separated. The operation causes considerable pain,
and may rupture the sphincter if incautiously carried too far.
I don't imagine there were too many men lining up to have these procedures done,
even if it did save them from the dreaded Spermatorrhoea,
and so, a number of mechanical devices were invented instead.
One solution was the Spermatorrhoea ring, also known as the Jugum Penis or the Pollutions Ring.
The idea is pretty simple, the flaccid member is passed through the inner ring before a
man goes to bed. Then, if they should experience any arousal during the night,
his member will expand until the outer spikes start to dig into him. This would
wake him up before they can have any deadly nocturnal emissions.
These are some similar devices called urethral rings which anatomically that name doesn't make
much sense to me but there you go. Much like the spermatorrhoea ring,
these devices were designed to alert the sleeper to any night-time erections.
I imagine the risk of accidental injury was pretty high with these things, I mean,
what happens if you roll over onto your belly while you’re wearing it?
I suppose it shows how serious people were about this condition
that these things were actually manufactured.
Another weird invention was this, James Bowens Surgical Appliance.
As described in the patent filing: “The operation is as follows:
The cap is fitted on the head of the organ and the clasps are attached to the hair around said organ”
Simply put- the cables attached at one end to the wearers pubic hair. If he experienced
any nocturnal tumescence, his hairs would be pulled painfully and he would wake up.
In 1903, Albert Todd filed two patents for devices designed to stop nocturnal emissions.
One is a simple spiral of metal wire, sturdy enough to stop any unwanted rigidity, the
second is a much more elaborate device. A hollow tube worn over the organ with a bell at one end.
If the wearer experienced any arousal, the alarm would sound and wake them up.
Both the devices also included a metal coil,
designed to go wound the scrotum and deliver a constant electrical current to the area.
These electroshocks were thought to cure various sexual disorders and other nervous conditions.
The most sinister thing about these two devices, is the measures made to stop people removing them.
The coil apparatus has a thick wire running through the straps to prevent
someone from tearing through them. The bell device had spikes at the end of the tube,
as described in the patent filing:
“At the inner edge of the tube and projecting toward the body of the patient is a series of
short points or brads. These are of sufficient length to cause considerable annoyance and pain
to the patient should any attempt be made to manipulate the penis by means of the tube,
thus serving to prevent weak minded and insane patients from practicing Self-abuse.”
This is one of the creepiest aspects about all of this. As Spermatorrhoea
was thought to cause mental problems, it was often
patients in mental institutions that were forced, unwillingly, to wear these devices.
I don't know about you, but I think if I was strapped into a device that
electrocuted my balls and sounded an alarm every time I got an erection,
I’d probably develop some new mental disorders rather than cure have them cured.
And here's another strange device, patented by Frank Orth in 1883.
It consists of a sort of hollow envelope designed to enclose the genitalia.
The man's member goes into the hollow tube which has a
special valve designed to react to any expansion.
The whole thing is hooked up via a hose to a supply of ice cold water.
As you’ve probably guessed, any unwanted growth in the nether regions will cause the valve to open,
sending freezing cold water into the tube and causing significant shrinkage.
Yet another torturous device was invented by John Long in 1889.
It works in much the same way as many of the other instruments shown in this video, a ring
around the genitals reacts to any sudden change in girth. In this case, it closes an electrical
circuit which then sends a painful shock to two metal rings placed on the man's fingers.
A lot of other wearable devices were basically some variation of a chastity
cage, some had spikes on the inside. Some of the inventions that strayed
away from the crotch but still look pretty uncomfortable. Special anti-wan king mittens,
straight jackets where the arms were sewn to the sides so the wearer couldn't reach their junk.
This strange looking invention was patented in 1908 by Clarence Fraser. The idea was to keep the
knees up like this with two straps around the legs and another one round the neck. This, he claims,
would stop sleepwear or bedsheets from rubbing against the wearer's crotch, thus eliminating
one of the leading causes of unwanted arousal. It would probably make it impossible to sleep
aswell, so at least you won't be having any wet dreams I guess.
Spermatorrhoea devices were still being patented well into the 1900s,
this idea had real sticking power.
Eventually it fell ll out of favour although we do still see vestiges of it today.
If you’re familiar with nofap, coomerism or no nut november you’ll know the idea
that seminal loss being linked somehow to a person's character and mental health is
still a pretty popular idea among some circles. Thankfully its modern incarnation seems to be
a voluntary show of restraint, rather than something that's forced on mental patients.
So, I hope you’ve enjoyed this slight change of pace for the channel. I do like to mix up
the content now and then. I'm not sure if people will find this kind of thing
interesting or disgusting. If anything, I might have given you some ideas for Christmas presents.
So, big thanks to the patrons, your support is highly appreciated. I wouldn't be able to cover
these weird sorts of topics without you because I doubt it's monetizable, so thank you very much.
If you're new here then check out my channel and here's some more videos you might enjoy.
Until next time, goodbye.