Three essays: first, on the disorders of people of fashion. Second, on diseases incidental to literary and sedentary persons, with proper rules for preventing their fatal consequences, and insstructions for the cure. Third, on onanism: or, a treatise upon the disorders produced by masturbation: or, the effects of secret and excessive venery

Dublin: James Williams, 1772. FIRST COLLECTED EDITION. Half-calf and marbled boards, spine label; an excellent copy. First collected edition, each essay previously published separately. The first two works are on the diseases of men of letters and of rich people, actually a fascinating insight into the (medical) challenges of the wealthy who do not do much more than sit around and ... be wealthy. The third work is a comprehensive medical treatise on masturbation. The original edition was printed in 1760 under the title L’Onanisme. The books points out the ill effects of the act of self pleasure on both sexes. The author describes the various symptoms which precede the need to masturbate and the effects, differentiating between the male and female, over time. He is quite serious about the causes that propel the poor individual who deigns to do it to themselves, examining the seminal fluids and further delineating the dangers of the practice. He argues that semen is an “essential oil” and “stimulus” that, when lost from the body in great amounts, would cause “a perceptible reduction of strength, of memory and even of reason; blurred vision, all the nervous disorders, all types of gout and rheumatism, weakening of the organs of generation, blood in the urine, disturbance of the appetite, headaches and a great number of other disorders.” He then lists various remedies and cures, which include regular and systematic health practices (air, food, bowel movements). Finally, not to be incomplete, the author mentions related “ailments” that might occur including nocturnal emission and gonorrhea.

Tissot (1728-1797) was a Swiss doctor, one of the great physicians of the eighteenth century. He and his colleagues attempted to introduce improvements in both private and public health practices, and he was an early champion of inoculation.