A jugum penis is a jagged metal ring used historically for preventing masturbation and nocturnal emissions in Great Britain during the Victorian Era.
A man wore the jugum penis on the base of his penis. A screw or clip catch kept it in place through the night. If the wearer began to get an erection the man’s penis would meet the jugum penis’s teeth-like spikes. The pain he felt would deter the problematic behavior.
In Victorian Britain, masturbation was seen as a problematic, dangerous behavior that could lead to fatigue and anxiety. Nocturnal emissions were also a cause for concern, as physicians believed losing sperm would sap the body of energy. They believed losing sperm would leading to a potentially fatal medical condition called spermatorrhoea which Swiss doctor Samuel Auguste Tissot said was worse than smallpox. Sleeping with the jugum penis was thought to cure boys and men of the problems that led to this imagined illness.
Thankfully, jugum penises are now only seen in museums. Some of the historic medical devices currently on display have been found that are believed to date back to somewhere between 1880 and 1920.
