FR02-09\u2003GEORGE FRANK LYDSTON: CONTROVERSIES IN VENEREAL DISEASES, TESTICULAR TRANSPLANTATION, AND THE AMERICAN EUGENICS MOVEMENT

Abstract

INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES: In the early twentieth century, testicular implantation was promoted as a viable treatment option for the ageing and hypogonadal male. We take an in depth look into the works of G. Frank Lydston, a Chicago urologist and law school professor who was not only a prolific writer on venereal diseases and supporter of the American eugenics movement, but who also performed testicular implantation on himself in 1914. METHODS: A comprehensive literature review of scientific publications, books, newspaper articles, and historical documents regarding G. Frank Lydston was performed. RESULTS: Born in 1858 and completing his training at New York Charity Hospital in 1881, Lydston was a professor at Northwestern College of Dental Surgery, surgeon at Cook County Hospital, as well as professor of criminology and sociology at Kent College of Law in Chicago. A contemporary of testicular implantation-proponents Steinach, Lespinasse, and Morris, Lydston investigated and published a case series in the Journal of the American Medical Association in 1916 on “sex gland implantation” for the ageing male, in which he argued that implantation increased longevity, slowed senility, reduced arteriosclerosis, cured chronic skin conditions, boosted individual efficiency, and tackled malnutrition. He was also a prolific writer during the American eugenics movement and a friend of his patient W. E. B. Du Bois. He opined on everything from syphilis to impotence to malingering among criminals and criminal anthropology. He wrote “Asexualization as a Remedy for Crime”, opposed capital punishment and recommended castration for criminals, and thought sexual perversion arose from cerebellar injury. In one of his most controversial writings, an 1893 correspondence to Hunter McGuire, he lamented hereditary influences from “uncivilized” African-American ancestors and believed that the emancipation of slaves in the American South led to criminal tendencies. CONCLUSIONS: Lydston’s work on venereal diseases and testicular implantation influenced the field of urology and reflected contemporary thought in his time. However, the synthesis of dihydrotestosterone in 1935 and subsequent discoveries reduced testicular implantation to a historical footnote. In the end, it would be his controversial writings on eugenics, race, and crime in the United States that ultimately define his legacy. Source of Funding: none