It is on account of this care of the life-giving germ that all nature, including intelligent and strong men, is able to keep the world populated and growing better. For in spite of apparent signs of the non-improvement of the men and women to-day, in reality we are getting to be better men and women. And a plain understanding of life such as I am chatting to you about, is one of the good signs; for in your mother’s and father’s days these important matters were left for them to pick up at hazard and often from the wrong sources. But it will not be so with you; knowing the truth you will all be able to live right, go to your little wife a healthy man, strong in body, clean morals and conscience and not suffer the horrible self-accusation later on in life when seeing your son or daughter a cripple, helpless or incompetent. No, I believe that many of these awful conditions will cease to be; for they can be entirely wiped out if you heed and act upon what I tell you.
Boys and young men have not had the seriousness of this matter fully explained, and through their ignorance have wasted life-energy, ruined themselves and finally become broken down in morals and bodily health, been sent to insane asylums, or died in hospitals from diseases caught through evil habits.
Ignorance has caused them to be fathers of weak boys, sometimes idiots, and of daughters who followed the unmoral life of their father.
Now it may sound funny to you, but the truth is, that if the boys in the past had really known as much as the chipmunks, we should have very few asylums for the insane or hospitals for the horrible diseases. To be sure, the chipmunk’s habits of right living so as to have only healthy and sane children, is due to instinct; but we have the same instinct; let us see that it is not suppressed by ignorance on the one hand and the upheaval of evil thoughts and acts on the other.
Of course there are many diseases which are not due to wasting of life’s energy or vicious habits, but more than one-half of the degeneracy and insanity in our land _is_ due to these awful mistakes.
We do not have crazy foxes or idiotic colts; we seldom have any wild animal born unfit to live. Yet the method of reproduction, the mating of the male with the female, is just the same as with man. The great difference is that animals mate when in PERFECT condition. Neither the lion, eagle, nor the rose, has wasted or poisoned the vital fluid or dust by bad habits, or lost their power by ruinous indulgence.