William Acton

William Acton (1813–1875) was a British medical doctor and book writer. He was known for his books on masturbation. Biography Acton was a native of Shillingstone and he enrolled as a resident apprentice at St Bartholomew's Hospital. In 1836, Acton, by then 23 years old, moved to Paris, where he met the well-known American-born doctor Philippe Ricord. He learned about the functions of the generative and urinary organs under Ricord's supervision, and decided to concentrate on gynecology. Acton spent some time in Paris working at the women's venereal hospital. At the age of twenty-seven, Acton returned to England, already a recognized expert in the gynecological field. In part because of his previous experience in the field, Acton was accepted into the Royal College of Surgeons. At about the same time, Acton began working on his first written work, a book named A Practical Treatise on Diseases of the Urinary and Generative Organs in Both Sexes, where he discussed the relationship between the human brain and children's sexuality.