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This book A Mind of Its Own: A Cultural History of the Penis contains the following sentence:

Isaac Newton supposedly “never lost a single drop of seminal fluid.

And in Everybody's Own Physician; Or, How to Acquire and Preserve Health ...:

Newton declared that he had never lost a single drop of his seminal fluid in all ...

Did he say that?

Oddthinking
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Alexan
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1 Answers1

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This claim is analyzed in the 1897 What a Young Man Ought to Know:

the statement made by quacks, that in his closing years Sir Isaac Newton affirmed that never in his entire life had he lost a single drop of sexual fluid cannot be sufficiently substantiated to make the statement credible even in this given instance. Indeed, we would feel perfectly safe in offering a thousand dollars for positive proof that Sir Isaac Newton ever made such an absurd statement.

DavePhD
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    I would hardly call that "analysis". What are the sources that book cites? What line of reasoning? Who are the "quacks" to whom it refers? At best, this answer is theoretical or hearsay. – Reinstate Monica -- notmaynard Nov 08 '16 at 18:11
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    @iamnotmaynard The second reference in the OP is from 1874, says that Newton told his doctor on his death bed. So we will never know beyond hearsay. The best someone could possible do is find a written statement from the doctor. – DavePhD Nov 08 '16 at 19:12
  • @DavePhD, do you mean that probably Newton never said this? Before accepting your answer, I'll be waiting some time if we have some other answers. – Alexan Nov 09 '16 at 03:08
  • @Alex yes, that's what i'm saying, but wait and see if someone comes up with more – DavePhD Nov 09 '16 at 03:10