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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Sexual Life of the Child, by Albert Moll
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: The Sexual Life of the Child
+
+Author: Albert Moll
+
+Contributor: Edward L. Thorndike
+
+Translator: Eden Paul
+
+Release Date: March 25, 2009 [EBook #28402]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE SEXUAL LIFE OF THE CHILD ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Fritz Ohrenschall, Turgut Dincer and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This
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+
+
+
+  THE SEXUAL LIFE OF
+  THE CHILD
+
+  By
+  Dr. Albert Moll
+
+  TRANSLATED FROM THE GERMAN BY
+  DR. EDEN PAUL
+
+  WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY
+  EDWARD L. THORNDIKE
+  PROFESSOR OF EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY
+  TEACHERS COLLEGE, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY
+
+  NEW YORK
+  THE MACMILLAN COMPANY
+  1919
+  _All rights reserved_
+
+  COPYRIGHT, 1912,
+  BY THE MACMILLAN COMPANY.
+
+  Set up and electrotyped. Published June, 1912.
+
+  NORWOOD PRESS
+  J. S. Cushing Co.--Berwick & Smith Co.
+  Norwood, Mass., U.S.A.
+
+
+
+
+INTRODUCTION
+
+
+Dr. Moll is a gifted physician of long experience whose work with those
+problems of medicine and hygiene which demand scientific acquaintance
+with human nature has made him well known to experts in these fields. In
+this book he has undertaken to describe the origin and development, in
+childhood and youth, of the acts and feelings due to sex; to explain the
+forces by which sex-responses are directed and misdirected; and to judge
+the wisdom of existing and proposed methods of preventing the
+degradation of a child's sexual life.
+
+This difficult task is carried out, as it should be, with dignity and
+frankness. In spite of the best intentions, a scientific book on
+sex-psychology is likely to appear, at least in spots, to gratify a low
+curiosity; but in Dr. Moll's book there is no such taint. Popular books
+on sex-hygiene, on the other hand, are likely to suffer from a
+pardonable but harmful delicacy whereby the facts of anatomy,
+physiology, and psychology which are necessary to make their principles
+comprehensible and useful, are omitted, veiled, or even distorted. Dr.
+Moll honors his readers by a frankness which may seem brutal to some of
+them. It is necessary.
+
+With dignity and frankness Dr. Moll combines notable good sense. In the
+case of any exciting movement in advance of traditional custom, the
+forerunners are likely to combine a certain one-sidedness and lack of
+balance with their really valuable progressive ideas. The greater
+sagacity and critical power are more often found amongst the men of
+science who avoid public discussion of exciting social or moral reforms,
+and are suspicious of startling and revolutionary doctrines or
+practices. It is therefore fortunate that a book on the sexual life
+during childhood should have been written by a man of critical,
+matter-of-fact mind, of long experience as a medical specialist, and of
+wide scholarship, who has no private interest in any exciting
+psychological doctrine or educational panacea.
+
+The translation of this book will be welcomed by men and women from many
+different professions, but alike in the need of preparation to guide the
+sex-life of boys and girls and to meet emergencies caused by its
+corruption by weakness within or attack from without. Of the clergymen
+in this country who are in real touch with the lives of their charges,
+there is hardly a one who does not, every so often, have to minister to
+a mind whose moral and religious distress depends on an unfortunate sex
+history. Conscientious and observant teachers realize, in a dim way,
+that they cannot do justice to even the purely intellectual needs of
+pupils without understanding the natural history of those instinctive
+impulses, which, concealed and falsified as they are under our
+traditional taboos, nevertheless retain enormous potency. The facts, so
+clearly shown in the present volume, that the life of sex begins long
+before its obvious manifestations at puberty, and that the direction of
+its vaguer and less differentiated habits in these earlier years is as
+important as its hygiene at the more noticeable climax of the early
+'teens, increase the teacher's responsibility. Moreover, there is
+probably not a teacher of ten years' standing who has not faced--or by
+ignorance neglected--some emergency where moderate insight into the laws
+whereby the vague instincts of sex are turned into healthy and unhealthy
+habits, and form right and wrong attitudes, could have rescued a boy or
+girl from years of wretched anxiety, or degraded conduct, or both.
+
+The social worker, still more emphatically, knows his or her need of a
+surer equipment for the wise direction of the life of sex in childhood
+and its protection from the abominable suggestions of those who are
+themselves sexually diseased or depraved. The casual questioning of
+medical or legal friends, reminiscences of vague references in the Bible
+or classic literature, and the miscellaneous experiences which life
+itself throws in one's way, are hopelessly inadequate.
+
+The conscientious practitioner of medicine, too, will gladly add to the
+scanty, though accurate, knowledge of the sex-instinct and its pathology
+which is all that even the best medical course can compass, the facts
+presented by a specialist in this field. The easiest way for those
+parents who accept the responsibility for rational guidance of their
+children in matters of sex-behavior to discharge this responsibility is
+by the aid of the family physician. For the physician in such cases to
+gain the child's confidence, understand his individual dangers and
+possible false attitudes, and give more than perfunctory general
+counsel, knowledge of the psychology of sex-behavior, as well as its
+physiology, is necessary. In general, also, modern medical practice must
+look after the _prevention_ of bad habits and unnecessary anxieties in
+respect to the sex-life as well as their cure; and the science of
+preventive medicine in this field receives a substantial contribution
+from this summary of the sex-life of childhood.
+
+There are now many men and women who are dissatisfied with doing for
+their children merely what outgrown customs decree, who are willing to
+give time and study, as well as money and affection, in their service,
+and who are eager to see or hear or read anything pertinent to their
+welfare. For many such parents, if they are of the scientific,
+matter-of-fact type, Dr. Moll's book may prove the means of answering
+many troublesome questions and of prompting to a wiser coöperation with
+church, school, and the medical profession in safeguarding their
+own--and, we may hope, all other--children against blunders and
+contaminations.
+
+One word of caution is perhaps necessary for those readers who are
+unused to descriptions of symptoms of diseases, abnormalities, and
+defects. Such readers are likely to interpret perfectly ordinary facts
+as the symptoms which they have been studying. So the medical student at
+the beginning of his reading, fears appendicitis when he has slight
+indigestion, and sees incipient tuberculosis in every household! So the
+embryonic psychologist finds 'degenerates' in every crowd of boys,
+'hypnotic suggestion' in every popular preacher, and 'aphasia' in any
+friend who forgets names and faces! Dr. Moll gives more protection
+against such exaggerated inferences than is commonly given in books on
+pathology, but many of his readers will do well to be on their guard
+lest they interpret perfectly innocent behavior as a symptom of
+abnormality. The mischief done by our present ignorance and neglect of
+important features of sex-behavior should be prevented without the
+incidence of mischief from exaggerated expectations and unwise meddling.
+
+It would be evasive to shirk mention of the fact that many of the most
+devoted servants of health and morals object to public discussion of the
+facts of sex. They discard enlightenment about sex as relatively
+unimportant because a clean ancestry, decency in the family and
+neighborhood, and noble needs in friendship, love, and marriage must, in
+any case, be the main roots of healthy direction and ideal restraint of
+the sex-instinct. Or they fear enlightenment as a possible stimulus to
+undesirable imagination and experimentation. Or they dislike, even
+abhor, it as esthetically repulsive--shocking to an unreasoned but
+cherished craving for silence about these things--a craving which the
+customs of our land and time have made an unwritten law of society.
+
+Of the first of these three attitudes, it may be said briefly that the
+relative unimportance of enlightenment is a fact, but no argument
+against it. Modesty, austerity, and clean living on the part of parents
+will counterbalance much negligence in direct guidance or protection.
+But the former need be in no wise lessened by improving the latter. Of
+the second, I dare affirm that if the men and women in America should
+stop whatever they are doing for an evening and read this book, there
+would be less harmful imagination as a result than from the occupations
+which its reading would replace. Of all the causes of sexual disorder,
+the reading of scientific books by reputable men is surely the least!
+The third--that is, the esthetic--repulsion toward publicity in respect
+to the natural history of sex, I will not pretend to judge. Only we must
+not strain at gnats and swallow camels. It is no sign of true esthetic
+or moral sensitiveness for a person to be shocked by 'Ghosts,' 'Mrs.
+Warren's Profession,' or 'The Sexual Life of the Child,' who finds
+pleasant diversion in the treatment of sex-behavior in the ordinary
+novel, newspaper, or play.
+
+On the whole, the gain from giving earnest men and women the facts they
+need, seems likely to outweigh by much the harm done to such light minds
+as will be misled, or to such sentimental minds as will be wounded, by
+enlightenment about sex. No harm will be done to those men and women
+whose interest in the welfare of children makes them eager to face every
+problem that it involves, and whose faith in the ideal possibilities of
+love between the sexes is too well-grounded to be disturbed by the facts
+of its natural history.
+
+EDWARD L. THORNDIKE.
+
+MAY, 1912.
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE
+
+
+The number of books and essays dealing with sexual topics published
+during recent years is by no means small; but although some of the works
+in question have added considerably to our knowledge, the advance of
+sexual science as a whole has not been proportionate to the extent of
+these contributions. The reason is that insufficient attention has been
+paid to special problems; and the majority of writers have either
+repeated what has already been said by another, in identical or
+equivalent words, or else they have published comprehensive treatises on
+the sexual life, which may, perhaps, be of interest to the laity, but do
+not in any way enrich our science. Further advances in our knowledge of
+the sexual life can be effected only by the investigation of special
+problems. Such work is, indeed, laborious; but that it is also fruitful,
+has been clearly shown, not only in the first instance by von
+Krafft-Ebing, but more recently, above all, by Havelock Ellis, whose
+special studies have contributed more to the advance of sexual science
+than the work of dozens of other writers.
+
+The recognition of the need for specialised investigations has led me,
+in this province of scientific work as in other departments, to devote
+myself to the elucidation of certain definite problems. For several
+reasons I determined to study the sexual life of the child. In the first
+place, I believe that an advance in our knowledge of the sexual life of
+the child will indirectly enrich our knowledge also of the sexual life
+of the adult. In order to understand the sexual life, the gradual
+development of that life must be recognised, and for this purpose it is
+essential that we should study the sexual life of the child. Moreover,
+the modern movement in favour of the sexual enlightenment of young
+persons renders indispensable the possession of precise knowledge of the
+sexuality of the child; and such knowledge is no less necessary to all
+instructors of youth, especially to those to whom the psychical life of
+children is a matter of concern. Judges and magistrates also, as we
+shall see in the seventh chapter, are very greatly interested in this
+matter: it is, in fact, hardly open to question that erroneous legal
+decisions and the unjust condemnation of reputed criminals can only be
+avoided by giving our judicial authorities the opportunity of obtaining
+sound knowledge concerning the sexual life of children in all its modes
+of manifestation. By all these considerations I have been induced to
+study the problem of the sexuality of children from the most widely
+different points of view. Although other writers, such as Freud, Bell,
+and Kötscher, have contributed certain data towards the solution of
+these questions, no comprehensive study of the subject has hitherto been
+attempted. My material does not consist only of the reports of patients.
+In addition, in order to avoid a one-sided dependence upon pathological
+considerations, I have accepted with greater confidence the reports
+concerning the sexual life of children which I have received from
+healthy individuals, both men and women. I take this opportunity of
+tendering my most heartfelt thanks to all those who have assisted me in
+this manner.
+
+ALBERT MOLL.
+
+
+
+
+  CONTENTS
+                                                               Page
+
+  INTRODUCTION                                                    v
+
+  PREFACE                                                        xi
+
+  CONTENTS                                                     xiii
+
+
+  CHAP.
+
+  I. INTRODUCTORY AND HISTORICAL                                  1
+
+  Subdivisions of the Period of Childhood--The Notion of
+  Puberty--Methods of Investigation.
+
+  Rousseau and Tissot--The Philanthropes--Medical
+  Literature--The Older Psychology--History of
+  Civilisation--Studies of Prostitution--Works on
+  Zoology--Biographies--Belletristic Literature--Erotic
+  Literature--Studies of Sexual Perversions--Recent Special
+  Researches--Diaries.
+
+
+  II. THE REPRODUCTIVE ORGANS--THE SEXUAL IMPULSE                17
+
+  The Male Reproductive Organs--Erection--Ejaculation--The
+  Voluptuous Sensation--Female Reproductive
+  Organs--Menstruation and Ovulation--Peripheral Processes,
+  Erection, Ejaculation, and Voluptuous Sensation, in the
+  Female--The Reproductive Organs in Children.
+
+  Components of the Sexual Impulse--Excitement of the Sexual
+  Impulse--The Sexual Impulse and the Voluptuous Sensation.
+
+
+  III. SEXUAL DIFFERENTIATION IN CHILDHOOD                       33
+
+  Secondary Sexual Characters--First Period of
+  Childhood--Second Period of Childhood--Psychical Differences
+  in Children--The Teachings of Experimental Psychology--The
+  Teachings of Empirical Psychology
+  (_Erfahrungspsychologie_)--Inborn Character of Sexual
+  Differences--Pathological Experiences--Criminological
+  Experiences.
+
+
+  IV. SYMPTOMATOLOGY                                             50
+
+  Erections in the Child--Ejaculation--Origin of
+  Ejaculation--Voluptuous Sensation.
+
+  The Undifferentiated Sexual Impulse--Examples--Phenomena of
+  Contrectation in the Child--The Object of
+  Desire--Romanticism--Manifestations of
+  Love--Jealousy--Love-Letters and
+  Love-Poems--Vanity--Shame--Differences between Boys and
+  Girls--Changes in the Object of Desire.
+
+  Interdependence of the Processes of Contrectation and
+  Detumescence--Temporal Relationship between these respective
+  Processes.
+
+  Masturbation--The Voluptuous Sensation--Modes of
+  Masturbation--Erogenic Zones--Comparison between Boys and
+  Girls.
+
+  Ejaculation as a Consequence of Feelings of
+  Anxiety--Pollutions--Madame Roland's Description--Individual
+  Differences--Sexual Phenomena in the Youth of the Lower
+  Animals.
+
+  The Teachings of Castration--Significance of the
+  Reproductive Glands--Theories.
+
+  The Years of Ripening--Retardation of Sexual Development.
+
+
+  V. PATHOLOGY                                                  114
+
+  Pathologically Premature Menarche in Girls--Premature
+  Puberty in Boys--Conditions met with in Dwarfs--Sexual
+  Parodoxy--Examples.
+
+  Sexual Perversions--Premature Development--Congenital
+  Character of Perversions--Illusions of Memory--Disappearance
+  of the Perversions of Childhood--The Association
+  Theory--Criticism of this Theory--Instances in which
+  Perversions could be traced back to a very early Age--Origin
+  of Sexual Perversions in Non-Sexual
+  Dispositions--Homosexuality and Friendship--Sexual Cruelty
+  and Cruelty of other Kinds--Diagnostic
+  Difficulties--Exhibitionism--Skatophilia--Hermaphroditism.
+
+
+  VI. ETIOLOGY AND DIAGNOSIS                                    146
+
+  Family Tendencies--Abnormal Nervous
+  System--Race--Climate--Position in Life--Town and
+  Country--Modern Civilisation--Importance of Congenital
+  Predisposition--Seduction--Local Stimulation--Chemical
+  Stimuli--Psychical Stimuli.
+
+  Diagnostic Difficulties--Recognition by means of
+  Observation--Erroneous Diagnoses of Masturbation--The Value
+  of Physical Signs--Value of a Confidant--Misleading
+  Statements and Conduct on the part of Children.
+
+  Non-Sexual Erections--Non-Sexual Manipulations--Sucking
+  Movements--Nail-Biting--Imitativeness--Impossibility of any
+  Definite Demarcation of Sexual Feelings.
+
+
+  VII. IMPORTANCE OF THE SEXUAL LIFE OF THE CHILD               179
+
+  The Sexual Life and Morbid Hereditary
+  Predisposition--Hygienic Dangers--The Dangers of
+  Masturbation in General--Of Masturbation in the
+  Child--Masturbation without Ejaculation--Exaggerated Views
+  to be Avoided--Amatory Passion and Suicide--Freud's
+  Theory--Infectious Diseases.
+
+  Ethical Dangers--Masturbation and Ethics--Social
+  Dangers--Social Degradation of Girls--Seduction of
+  Girls--Forensic Importance of the Sexual Life--Children's
+  Evidence--Circumstances affecting Culpability--Penal
+  Responsibility of Children--Intellectual Dangers--Sexuality
+  and Altruism.
+
+  Sexual Perversions and the Choice of a
+  Profession--Punishments and Masochism--Curiosity of
+  Children--Sexuality and Art--The Question of the Offspring.
+
+  Importance of Tardy Sexual Development.
+
+  VIII. THE CHILD AS AN OBJECT OF SEXUAL PRACTICES              219
+
+  Pædophilia Erotica--Other Sexual Offences against
+  Children--Sexual Acts Performed on Children--Significance of
+  each Acts to the Child--Artificial Production of Sexual
+  Perversions--False Accusations--Statistics of Accusations by
+  Children--Reasons for Protecting Children----Injuries
+  effected on Children by the Law--Responsibility of
+  Pædophiles.
+
+  Exhibitionism--Sadism--Newspaper Advertisement.
+
+
+  IX. SEXUAL EDUCATION                                          246
+
+  Limits of Educability--General Hygiene--Custom and
+  Morality--Inculcation of the Sentiments of Shame and
+  Disgust--Influence upon these Sentiments of Habit and
+  Example--Morality and Nakedness--Excessive Sentiments of
+  Shame and Disgust--The Nude in Art--Morality in
+  Fanatics--Erotic Books and Pictures.
+
+  Co-Education of the Sexes--Children's Balls--Diversion of
+  the Sexual Impulse--Religious Education--The Bible--The
+  Confessional--Hypnotism--Psycho-Analysis--Counteraction of
+  Psychical Contagion.
+
+  Sexual Enlightenment--General Educational
+  Interests--Hygienic Reasons for Enlightenment--The Dangers
+  of Venereal Infection--Of Masturbation--Ethical
+  Reasons--Forensic Reasons--Social Reasons--Age at which
+  Enlightenment is Desirable--Place of Enlightenment; School
+  or Home--The School Physician--Importance of the
+  Mother--Individualisation--Mode of Enlightenment.--Reasons
+  urged against Enlightenment--Need that the Instructor should
+  be an Enlightened Person--Exaggerated Views regarding the
+  Importance of Sexual Enlightenment.
+
+  Physical Hygienic Measures--Stimulation by Means of the
+  Bed--Local Stimulation--Mechanical
+  Measures--Hydrotherapeutic Measures--Dirt--Sport and
+  Games--Féré's Method.
+
+  Pedagogy and Sexual Perversions--Dangers from
+  Pædophiles--Necessity for Heterosexual Influences--Dangers
+  of Corporal Punishment--The Right of the Teacher to Inflict
+  Punishment--Conclusion.
+
+
+  INDEX OF SUBJECTS                                             325
+
+  INDEX OF NAMES                                                337
+
+
+THE SEXUAL LIFE OF
+THE CHILD
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+INTRODUCTORY AND HISTORICAL
+
+
+To speak of "the sexual life of the child" seems at first sight to
+involve a contradiction in terms. It is generally assumed that the
+sexual life first awakens at the on-coming of puberty (the attainment of
+sexual maturity of manhood or womanhood); the on-coming of puberty is
+regarded as the termination of childhood; in fact the term _child_ is
+usually defined as the human being from the time of birth to the
+on-coming of puberty. But this contradiction is apparent merely, and
+depends on the assumption that the on-coming of puberty is indicated by
+certain outward signs (more especially the first menstruation and the
+first seminal emission), insufficient attention being paid to the long
+period of development which usually precedes these occurrences. And yet,
+during this period of preliminary development, the occurrence of certain
+manifestations of the sexual life is plainly demonstrable.
+
+The period of childhood is subdivided into several sub-epochs, but the
+delimitation and nomenclature of these varies so much with different
+investigators, that to avoid misunderstanding I must first define the
+subdivisions which I myself propose to employ. If we regard the
+beginning of the fifteenth year as the termination of childhood, we may
+divide childhood into two equal periods, the first extending from birth
+to the completion of the seventh year, the second from the beginning of
+the eighth to the end of the fourteenth year. I shall in this work
+designate these two periods as the _first_ and the _second period of
+childhood_ respectively. In the first period of childhood, the first
+year of life may be further distinguished as the _period of infancy_.[1]
+The first and second periods of childhood comprise childhood in the
+narrower sense of the term. The years that immediately follow the
+beginning of the fifteenth year I shall denote as the _period of youth_.
+Inasmuch as the symptoms of this latter come to differ from those of
+childhood proper, not abruptly, but gradually, the first years, at
+least, of youth will often come under our consideration, and I shall
+speak of this period of life as the _third period of childhood_.
+Although childhood in the narrower sense comprises the first and second
+periods only, childhood in the wider sense includes also the third
+period. It is hardly possible that any misunderstanding can arise if the
+reader will bear in mind that whenever I speak of childhood without
+qualification, I allude only to the period of life before the beginning
+of the fifteenth year. For all these periods of childhood, first,
+second, and third, I shall for practical convenience when speaking of
+males use the word _boy_, and when speaking of females, the word _girl_.
+
+The use of this terminology must not be regarded as implying that the
+distinctions indicated correspond in any way to fixed natural lines of
+demarcation; on the contrary, individual variations are numerous and
+manifold. Not only does the rate of development differ in different
+races (in the Caucasian race, more especially, the age of puberty comes
+comparatively late, so that among the members of this race childhood is
+prolonged); but further, within the limits of one and the same race,
+notable differences occur. More than all have we to take into account
+the differences between the sexes, childhood terminating earlier in the
+female sex than in the male--among our own people [the Germans] this
+difference is commonly estimated at as much as two years. In addition,
+in this respect, there are marked differences between different classes
+of the population, a matter to which we shall return in Chapter VI.
+
+It is also necessary to point out here in what sense I employ the term
+_puberty_ (nubility, sexual ripeness, or maturity), and the associated
+terms, _nubile_ and _sexually mature_. Much confusion exists in respect
+of the application of these terms. Some use _puberty_ to denote a period
+of time, others, a point of time, and in various other ways the word is
+differently used by different authors. Similarly as regards the term
+_nubile_; some consider an individual to be nubile as soon as he or she
+is competent for procreation, others speak of anyone as nubile only when
+the development of the sexual life is completed. Obviously, these two
+notions are very different; for instance, a girl of thirteen who has
+begun to menstruate may be competent for the act of procreation, and yet
+her sexual development may still be far from complete. The confusion as
+regards the use of the substantive _puberty_ is no less perplexing. One
+writer uses it to denote the time at which procreative capacity begins,
+and believes he is right in assuming that in the male this time is
+indicated by the occurrence of the first involuntary sexual orgasm.[2] I
+may point out in passing that there is a confusion here between
+procreative capacity and competence for sexual intercourse, for as a
+rule the first seminal emissions contain no spermatozoa. But, apart from
+such confusions, the term puberty is used in various senses. Thus, a
+second writer denotes by puberty the point of time at which the sexual
+development is completed; a third means by puberty the period which
+elapses between the occurrence of the first involuntary orgasm and the
+completion of sexual development; a fourth uses the word to denote the
+entire period of life during which procreative capacity endures; and
+finally, a fifth includes under the notion of puberty the whole course
+of life after the completion of sexual development. In this work I shall
+mean by _puberty_ the period of life between the completion of sexual
+development and the extinction of the sexual life. The period during
+which the state of puberty is being attained will be spoken of as the
+_period of puberal development_, and I shall therefore speak of the
+_beginning_ and the _end_ of the puberal development. The terms
+_nubility_, _sexual maturity_, _nubile_, and _sexually mature_, will be
+used with a similar signification. As regards the puberal development,
+let me at the outset draw attention to the fact that it takes place very
+gradually; and further, as we shall see, that it begins much earlier
+than is commonly believed. In the young girl, from the date of the first
+menstruation to the time at which she has become fitted for marriage,
+the average lapse of time is assumed by Ribbing[3] to be two years. This
+is a fair estimate, but it does not correspond to the totality of the
+period of the puberal development. If we estimate that period from its
+true beginning its duration greatly exceeds two years, for the first
+indications of the puberal development are manifest in the girl long
+before the first menstruation, and in the boy long before the first
+discharge of semen. The approach of puberty is indicated by numerous
+symptoms, some of which are psychical and some physical in character. In
+perfectly healthy children, as will be shown in the sequel, individual
+symptoms may make their appearance as early as the age of seven or
+eight, and further symptoms successively appear during succeeding years,
+until the puberal development is completed.
+
+What methods are available for the study of the sexual life of the
+child? Three methods have to be considered: first, the observation of
+children; secondly, experiment; and thirdly, reports made by individuals
+regarding their own experiences. As regards the last mentioned, we must
+distinguish clearly between accounts reproduced from memory long after
+the incidents to which they relate, and accounts given by children of
+their state at the time of narration. But both varieties of clinical
+history are defective. The child is often incompetent to describe his
+sensations--think, for instance, of the processes of the earliest years
+of life. Even when the child is able to make reports, a sense of shame
+will often interfere with the truthfulness of his account. Whilst as
+regards the memory-pictures of adults, recourse to this method often
+fails us because the experiences are so remote as to have been largely,
+if not entirely, forgotten. The autobiographies of sexually perverse
+individuals have drawn my attention to the fallacious nature of memory.
+Its records are uncertain, but that especially is recorded which has
+aroused interest. Not only the interest felt in the experiences at the
+time determines what shall be recorded, but also the interest felt later
+when reviving these experiences in memory. Childish experiences are very
+readily forgotten, either if they were uninteresting at the time, or if
+subsequently they have become uninteresting. During childhood, a
+homosexual woman has experienced sexual feeling, directed now towards
+boys, now towards girls. Later in life, when the homosexuality has
+developed fully, the memory of the inclination towards boys fades away,
+and her homosexual sentiments only are remembered. As a result, we often
+find that the homosexual woman--and the converse is equally true of the
+homosexual man--declares at first, when inquiries are made, that she has
+never experienced any inclination for members of the other sex; whereas,
+at any rate in a large proportion of cases, a stricter examination of
+her memory, or the reports of other individuals, will reveal beyond
+dispute that in childhood heterosexual inclinations were not lacking.
+
+A further defect of memory has been made manifest to me by the study of
+perversions. Processes which in childhood were entirely devoid of any
+sexual tinge, but which later became associated with sex-feelings, very
+readily acquire false sexual associations also when they are revived in
+memory. Consider, for instance, the case of a homosexual man. He
+remembers that, as a small boy, he was very fond of sitting on his
+uncle's knees, and he believes that the pleasure he formerly experienced
+was tinged by sexual feeling. In reality this was by no means the case.
+His uncle took the boy on his knee in order to tell him a story.
+Possibly, also, the riding movements which the uncle imitated by jogging
+his knees up and down gave the child pleasure, which, however, was
+entirely devoid of any admixture of sexual feeling. But in the
+consciousness of the full-grown man, in whom homosexual feeling has
+later undergone full development, all this becomes distorted. The
+non-sexual motives are forgotten; he believes that even in early
+childhood he had homosexual inclinations, and that for _this_ reason it
+gave him pleasure to ride on his uncle's knees.
+
+Nor is observation in any way adapted to furnish us with a clear picture
+of the sexual life of the child. So little can be directly observed,
+that in the absence of reports much would remain entirely unknown. From
+the moment when the children gain a consciousness, however obscure, of
+the nature of sexual processes, they almost invariably endeavour to
+conceal their knowledge as much as possible, so that we shall discover
+its existence only by a rare chance. None the less, the results of
+direct observation are often important; sometimes because we are able to
+watch children when they are unaware of our attention, and sometimes
+because they do not as yet fully understand the nature of the processes
+under observation, and for this reason are less secretive.
+
+The third method, that of experiment, is available to us only in the
+form of castration. I need not dilate on the inadequacy of this
+application of the experimental method, even apart from the fact that it
+subserves our purposes almost exclusively in respect of the male
+sex--for in the case of young girls, castration (oöphorectomy) is almost
+entirely unknown.
+
+Thus we see that all our methods of investigation exhibit extensive
+lacunæ, and further, that they are all in many respects fallacious; we
+shall therefore endeavour to supplement each by the others, in order to
+arrive at results which shall be as free from error as possible. Thus
+guided, we learn that sexual incidents occur in childhood far more
+frequently than is usually supposed. So common are they, that they
+cannot possibly escape the notice of any practising physician or
+educationalist who pays attention to the question, provided, of course,
+that he enjoys the confidence of the parents. These latter have often
+been aware of such sexual manifestations in their children for a long
+time, but a false shame has prevented them from asking the advice of the
+physician. They have been afraid lest he should regard the child as
+intellectually or morally deficient, or as the offspring of a degenerate
+family. In addition, we have to take into account self-deception on the
+part of the parents, who, indeed, often deceive themselves willingly,
+saying to themselves that the matter is of no importance, and that the
+symptoms will disappear spontaneously.
+
+Having given this brief account of the terminology to be employed and of
+the methods of investigation, I propose to sketch no less briefly the
+history of the subject.
+
+
+Casual references to the sexual life of the child are to be found even
+in the older scientific literature. In the latter half of the eighteenth
+century, and at the beginning of the nineteenth, interest in the subject
+became more general. Two works, in especial, published almost
+simultaneously, attracted the attention of physicians and
+educationalists. One of these, Rousseau's _Émile_, discusses the proper
+conduct of parents and elders in relation to the awakening sexual life,
+and what they should do in order to delay that awakening as much as
+possible. The other, the celebrated work of Tissot, depicts the dangers
+of masturbation, but deals chiefly with persons who have attained sexual
+maturity. None the less, in consequence of this book, much attention was
+directed to the sexual life of the child. Earlier works on masturbation,
+such as that of Sarganeck, for instance, had not succeeded in arousing
+any enduring interest in this question. But Rousseau's and Tissot's
+books induced a large number of physicians and educationalists to occupy
+themselves in this province of study. Thus at this early day many
+authorities were led to advocate the sexual enlightenment of children,
+in order to guide them in the avoidance of the dangers of the sexual
+life. An excellent historical and critical study of this movement,
+written by Thalhofer, has recently been published.[4] Among the
+educationalists who took part in it may be mentioned Basedow, Salzmann,
+Campe, and Niemeyer. The modern movement in favour of sexual
+enlightenment originated chiefly in the endeavour to prevent the
+diffusion of venereal diseases; but the earlier movement, occurring at a
+time when much less was known about venereal diseases, had a different
+aim. This was rather to prevent masturbation and other sexual excesses,
+on account of their direct effect upon the organism; an aim not
+neglected by the modern movement for sexual enlightenment, though
+subsidiary to the object of the prevention of the venereal diseases.
+Teachers of that day touched, of course, upon the subject of the sexual
+life of the child. But this was done cursorily, for when instruction was
+given on the sexual life, not the actual experience of children, but the
+sexual life of mature persons, was the subject of discourse. This must
+be said also of the works of those physicians who, like Hufeland in his
+_Makrobiotik_ (written as a sequel to the work of Tissot), spoke of the
+dangers of masturbation.
+
+A few of the numerous medical books dealing with the puberal development
+deserve mention in this place; for instance, Marro, _La Pubertà_ (first
+edition, published in 1897), and Bacqué, _La Puberté_ (Argenteuil,
+1876). A number of recent works on masturbation have also touched on the
+topic of the sexual life of the child.
+
+Apart from these recent special investigations, the older and the more
+recent medical and anthropological literature contains numerous
+observations which concern the subject of this book. More especially do
+we find reports of cases in which the external manifestations of sexual
+maturity appeared in very early childhood. Now we find an account of a
+girl menstruating at four years of age, now an account of a
+three-year-old boy who exhibited many of the external signs of sexual
+maturity. Even in the older, purely psychological works we find
+occasional references to the sexual life of the child--a fact that will
+surprise no one who is acquainted with the high development of the
+empirical psychology (_Erfahrungspsychologie_) of that day (1800). The
+_Venus Urania_ of Ramdohr, for instance, a work on the psychology of
+love, emphasises the frequency of amatory sentiments in children.
+
+In works dealing with the history of civilisation, we also encounter
+occasional references to our subject. Take, for instance, the knightly
+_Code of Love_ (_Liebeskodex_), a work highly esteemed in the days of
+chivalry, and legendarily supposed to have originated in King Arthur's
+Court. Paragraph 6 of this _Code_ runs: "A man shall not practise love
+until he is fully grown." According to Rudeck,[5] from whom I quote this
+instance, the aim of the admonition was to protect the youth of the
+nobility from unwholesome consequences. Obviously, the love affairs of
+immature persons must have been the determining cause of any allusion to
+the matter. We may also draw attention in this connexion to many
+marriage laws, which show that the subject has come under consideration,
+either because they expressly sanction the marriages of children, or,
+conversely, because they forbid such unions. At the present day, among
+many peoples (as, for instance, the Hindus), child-marriages are
+frequent; and in many countries in which such marriages are now illegal,
+they were sanctioned in former ages. Many works on prostitution also
+touch on our chosen subject. Parent-Duchâtelet, in his great book,
+refers to girls who had become prostitutes at the ages of twelve or even
+ten years. I shall show later that in individual instances such early
+prostitution is directly dependent upon the sexuality of the children
+concerned. Many ethnological works also contribute to our knowledge of
+the sexual life of the child, describing, as they do, in certain races,
+the early awakening of sexual activity.
+
+Remarkably little material do we find, however, in many works in which
+we might have expected to find a great deal. I refer to works on
+education and on the psychology of the child. In exceptional instances,
+indeed, as I have already indicated, the educationalists have taken part
+in the movement in favour of sexual enlightenment. But when we consider
+the enormous importance and great frequency of the sexual processes of
+the child, we are positively astounded at the manner in which this
+department of knowledge has been ignored by those who have written on
+the science and art of education, and by those psychologists who have
+occupied themselves in the study of the mind of the child. Has it been a
+false notion of morality by which these investigators have been withheld
+from the elucidation of the sexual life of the child? Or has the reason
+merely been their defective powers of observation? As a matter of fact,
+I suppose that both these causes have operated in producing this
+remarkable gap in our knowledge.
+
+A certain amount of material is to be found in a number of books on
+zoology, and also in a few quite recent works on comparative psychology.
+Among works of the former class I mention especially that of Brehm, who
+has reported a considerable number of individual details; of books on
+comparative psychology, one of the most useful for our purposes is that
+of Groos,[6] who gives us much valuable information regarding love-games
+of young animals.
+
+I may also point out that in the autobiographies, biographies, memoirs,
+&c., of celebrated persons, we find much information regarding premature
+amatory sentiments. Goethe, in his _Wahrheit und Dichtung_, relates that
+as a boy of ten or so he fell in love with a young Frenchwoman, the
+sister of his friend Derones. Of Alfred de Musset, his brother and
+biographer, Paul Musset, records that at the early age of four he was
+passionately in love with a girl cousin. It is on record that Dante fell
+in love at the age of nine, Canova at five, and Alfieri at ten. Well
+known also is the story of Byron's love, at eight years of age, for Mary
+Duff. Möbius tells us of himself that when a boy of ten he was
+desperately enamoured of a young married woman. We are told of Napoleon
+I. that when a boy of nine he fell in love with his father's cousin, a
+handsome woman of thirty, then on a visit to his home, and that he
+caressed her in the most passionate manner. Belonging to an earlier day
+was Felix Platter, the celebrated Swiss physician of the sixteenth
+century, who tells us in his autobiography that when he was a child he
+loved to be kissed by a certain young married woman. In _Un Coeur
+Simple_, Flaubert describes the development of the love-sentiments. "For
+mankind there is so much love in life. At the age of four we love
+horses, the sun, flowers, shining weapons, uniforms; at ten we love a
+little girl, our playmate; at thirteen we love a buxom, full-necked
+woman. The first time I saw the two breasts of a woman, entirely
+unclothed, I almost fainted. Finally, at the age of fourteen or fifteen,
+we love a young girl, who is a little more to us than a sister and a
+little less than a mistress; and then, at sixteen, we love a woman once
+more, and marry her."
+
+Most charmingly Hebbel describes his first experience of love, when but
+four years old. "It was in Susanna's dull schoolroom, also, that I
+learned the meaning of love; it was, indeed, in the very hour when I
+first entered it, at the age of four. First love! Who is there who will
+not smile as he reads these words? Who will fail to recall memories of
+some Anne or Margaret, who once seemed to him to wear a crown of stars,
+and to be clad in the blue of heaven and the gold of dawn; and now--but
+it would be malicious to depict the contrast! Who will fail to admit
+that it seemed to him then as if he passed on the wing through the
+garden of the earth, flitting from flower to flower, sipping from their
+honey-cups; passing too swiftly, indeed, to become intoxicated, but
+pausing long enough at each to inhale its divine perfume!... It was some
+time before I ventured to raise my eyes, for I felt that I was under
+inspection, and this embarrassed me. But at length I looked up, and my
+first glance fell upon a pale and slender girl who sat opposite me: her
+name was Emily, and she was the daughter of the parish-clerk. A
+passionate trembling seized me, the blood rushed to my heart; but a
+sentiment of shame was also intermingled with my first sensations, and I
+lowered my eyes to the ground once more, as rapidly as if I had caught
+sight of something horrible. From that moment Emily was ever in my
+thoughts; and the school, so greatly dreaded in anticipation, became a
+joy to me, because it was there only that I could see her. The Sundays
+and holidays which separated me from her were as greatly detested by me
+as in other circumstances they would have been greatly desired; one day
+when she stayed away from school, I felt utterly miserable. In
+imagination she was always before my eyes, wherever I went; when alone,
+I was never weary of repeating her name; above all, her black eyebrows
+and intensely red lips were ever before my eyes, whereas I do not
+remember that at this time her voice had made any impression on me,
+although later this became all-important."
+
+In belletristic literature, also, we find occasional references to the
+love-sentiment in childhood. Groos refers to an instance which he thinks
+perhaps the most delicate known to him, and one in which the erotic
+element is but faintly emphasised, namely, Gottfried Keller's _Romeo und
+Julia_. "In a spot entirely covered with green undergrowth the girl
+stretched herself on her back, for she was tired, and began in a
+monotonous tone to sing a few words, repeating the same ones over and
+over again; the boy crouched close beside her, half inclined, he also,
+to stretch himself at full length on the ground, so lethargic did he
+feel. The sun shone into the girl's open mouth as she sang, lighting up
+her glistening white teeth, and gleaming on her full red lips. The boy
+caught sight of her teeth, and, holding the girl's head and eagerly
+examining her teeth, said, 'Tell me, how many teeth has one?' The girl
+paused for a moment, as if thinking the matter carefully over, but then
+answered at random, 'A hundred.' 'No!' he cried; 'thirty-two is the
+proper number; wait a moment, I'll count yours.' He counted them, but
+could not get the tale right to thirty-two, and so counted them again,
+and again, and again. The girl let him go on for some time, but as he
+did not come to an end of his eager counting, she suddenly interrupted
+him, and said, 'Now, let me count yours.' The boy lay down in his turn
+on the undergrowth; the girl leaned over him, with her arm round his
+head; he opened his mouth, and she began counting: 'One, two, seven,
+five, two, one,' for the little beauty did not yet know how to count.
+The boy corrected her, and explained to her how to count properly; so
+she, in her turn, attempted to count his teeth over and over again: and
+this game seemed to please them more than any they had played together
+that day. At last, however, the girl sank down on her youthful
+instructor's breast, and the two children fell asleep in the bright
+midday sunshine."
+
+In erotic literature we also occasionally find descriptions belonging to
+our province, as, for instance, in the _Satyricon_ of Petronius Arbiter.
+Indeed, a certain kind of erotic literature, more especially
+pornographic literature, selects this subject by preference. Thus, I may
+allude to the _Anti-Justine_ of Rétif de la Bretonne. In a certain
+section of such literature, improper practices between children and
+their parents and other blood relatives play a part.
+
+Recently, in connexion with two different fields of study, attention has
+been directed to the sexual life of the child. The first of these is
+concerned with the abnormal, and especially the perverse, manifestations
+of the sexual life, a study of which Westphal, and above all von
+Krafft-Ebing, have been the founders. The other is the modern movement
+in favour of the sexual enlightenment of children. As regards the
+latter, the literature to which it has given rise has not, indeed,
+contributed much, beyond a few casual references, in the way of positive
+material concerning the sexual life of the child. But none the less, it
+is this movement which has made it of prime importance that our subject
+should be carefully investigated. As regards studies of the
+abnormalities of the sexual impulse, under the name of _paradoxical
+sexual impulse_ cases have been published in which that impulse
+manifested itself at an age of life in which it is normally
+non-existent--old age and childhood. Recent research has brought to
+light a large number of cases of this nature. Among those who have
+reported such cases, we must mention first of all von Krafft-Ebing, and
+in addition, Féré, Fuchs, Pélofi, and Lombroso.
+
+In addition to these various works, others must be mentioned which have
+arisen mainly out of the recently awakened interest in the sexual life;
+for example, works on puberty, the psychology of love, and similar
+topics. In his _Fisiologia del Amore_ (_Physiology of Love_), Mantegazza
+emphasises the love-manifestations of childhood. The same may be said of
+many other general works on the sexual life, and more especially, as
+previously mentioned, of works on prostitution. Certain works on
+offences against morality have also enriched our knowledge in this
+province.
+
+It might at first sight appear from what has been said that the
+literature of the sexual life of the child was extremely voluminous, but
+this is not in reality the case. Almost always, this important question
+is handled in a casual or cursory manner. A thorough presentation of the
+subject has not, as far as my knowledge extends, hitherto been
+attempted. Freud rightly insists that even in all, or nearly all, the
+works on the psychology of the child, this important department is
+ignored. Quite recently, indeed, special works have appeared upon the
+sexual life of the child, among which I must first of all mention
+Freud's own contribution to the subject, forming part of his _Drei
+Abhandlungen zur sexuellen Theorie_ (_Three Essays on the Sexual
+Theory_, Leipzig and Vienna, 1905).[7] But what this writer describes as
+an indication of infantile sexuality, viz., certain sucking movements,
+has, in my opinion, nothing to do with the sexual life of the child--as
+little to do with sexuality as have the functions of the stomach or any
+other non-genital organ. A number of other processes occurring in
+childhood, which Freud and his followers have recently described as
+sexual in nature, and as playing a great part later in life in connexion
+with hysteria, neurasthenia, compulsion-neuroses, the anxiety-neurosis,
+and dementia præcox, have very little true relationship to the sexual
+life of the child. In any case, Freud has not systematically studied the
+individual manifestations of the sexual life of the child. I must also
+mention a small work by Kötscher, _Das Erwachen des Geschlechtsbewusstseins
+und seine Anomalien_ (_The Awakening of the Consciousness of Sex and its
+Anomalies_, Wiesbaden, 1907). Kötscher, however, does not give any
+detailed account of the sexual life of the child; he starts, rather,
+from the sexual life of the adult, and only as a supplement to his
+account of this does he give a few data regarding the awakening of the
+consciousness of sex. In the _American Journal of Psychology_, July
+1902, we find an elaborate study of the sexual life of the child. In
+this paper, _A Preliminary Study of the Emotion of Love between the
+Sexes_, the writer, Sanford Bell, devotes much attention to the
+love-sentiments in childhood. He discusses, indeed, only heterosexual,
+qualitatively normal inclinations, and his essay deals only with the
+psychological aspects of the question. The processes taking place in the
+genital organs do not come within the scope of the writer's
+observations, and, indeed, are outside the limits of his chosen theme. A
+great many other points connected with the question are also left
+untouched. None the less, the paper is full of matter. The same must be
+said of the works of the English investigator, Havelock Ellis, who is,
+in my opinion, the leader of all those at present engaged in the study
+of sexual psychology and pathology. Unfortunately his writings are not
+so well known in Germany as they deserve to be, the reason being that
+owing to their strictly scientific character they are not so noisily
+obtruded on the public notice as are certain other widely advertised and
+reputedly scientific works. In his various books, and above all in his
+six volumes entitled _Studies in the Psychology of Sex_ (F. A. Davies
+Company, Philadelphia, Pa.), as a part of his general contributions to
+our knowledge of the sexual life, Havelock Ellis records numerous
+observations relating to the years of childhood; especially valuable in
+this connexion are the biographies given in the third volume of the
+above-mentioned _Studies_.
+
+A valuable source of data for our field of inquiry exists in the form of
+unpublished diaries, autobiographies, and albums, which are not
+accessible to the general public. I have myself had the opportunity of
+studying a number of records of this nature, and have formed the opinion
+that a quantity of invaluable material lies hidden in these recesses. I
+may add that the records I have been able to use have not only related
+to living persons; in addition, I have been able to study a number of
+albums and diaries dating from an earlier day. These have remained
+unpublished, in part because they appeared to be of interest only to the
+families of the writers, and in part because many of them were in
+intention purely private memoranda, a written record for the sole use of
+the writer.
+
+Speaking generally, however, this province of research has received but
+little scientific attention; and of comprehensive studies, intended to
+throw light on every aspect of the sexual life of the child, not a
+single one is known to me.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter II
+
+THE SEXUAL ORGANS--THE SEXUAL IMPULSE
+
+
+A proper understanding of physiological functions is based upon
+anatomical knowledge of the organs concerned. For our purpose,
+therefore, a knowledge of the sexual organs of the child is essential.
+The proper course, in this instance, appears to be to start with an
+account of the adult organs, and then to describe the distinctive
+characteristics of the same organs in the child. Let us, then, begin
+with the organs of the adult man.
+
+The _membrum virile_ or _penis_ is visible externally, and behind it is
+situated the scrotum. Within this latter are two ovoid structures, named
+_testicles_ or _testes_. Each testicle is enveloped in a fibrous
+capsule, known as the _tunica albuginea_, from which fibrous _septa_
+pass into the interior of the organ, thus dividing it into a number of
+separate _lobules_. Each lobule is composed of _seminiferous tubules_,
+which are greatly convoluted and likewise branched, the branches being
+continuous with those of neighbouring tubules, both within the same
+lobule, and (by perforating the fibrous septa) in adjoining lobules. In
+the walls of the seminiferous tubules the _spermatozoa_ are formed. The
+seminiferous tubules unite to form the efferent ducts (_vasa
+efferentia_), about a dozen in number for each testicle; immediately
+passing out of the testicle, these efferent ducts make up the
+_epididymis_, situated at the upper and back part of the testicle. After
+numerous convolutions, these unite at length on each side to form a
+single canal, which leaves the epididymis under the name of the _vas
+deferens_; this is the excretory duct of the testicle, conveying the
+secretion of that organ to the exterior. The vas deferens traverses the
+inguinal canal into the abdominal cavity, and therein passes downwards
+to the prostatic portion of the urethra (_vide infra_). The anterior
+portion only of the _penis_ is visible externally, dependent in front
+of the scrotum; the posterior portion is concealed by the scrotum and
+the skin of the perineum. The terminal segment of the penis is formed by
+the _glans_, which is covered by the _foreskin_ or _prepuce_. This last
+is sometimes artificially removed: either on ritual grounds, as, for
+instance, among the Jews; or for medical reasons, for example, when the
+preputial orifice is greatly constricted. At the anterior extremity of
+the glans penis is the orifice of the urethra (_meatus_). The _urethra_
+is a canal running through the entire length of the penis, opening by
+its proximal extremity into the urinary bladder, and serving for the
+passage of the urine from the bladder to the exterior of the body. The
+main substance of the penis is composed of three cavernous bodies, the
+paired _corpora cavernosa penis_, and the single _corpus spongiosum_, or
+_corpus cavernosum urethræ_. These consist of what is known as _erectile
+tissue_, a spongy mass within whose lacunar spaces a large quantity of
+blood can, in certain conditions, be retained. When this occurs, the
+penis becomes notably thicker and longer, and simultaneously hard and
+inflexible. This process is known as _erection_ of the penis, and is
+requisite to render possible the introduction of the organ into the
+genital canal of the female.
+
+The proximal segment of the urethra is surrounded by the _prostate
+gland_. The secretion of this gland is conveyed into the urethra by
+numerous short ducts, known as the _prostatic ducts_. Behind the
+prostate, at the base or fundus of bladder, are the paired _seminal
+vesicles_. The duct of the seminal vesicle joins the _vas deferens_ of
+the same side (both functionally and embryologically the seminal vesicle
+is no more than a diverticulum of the vas deferens); passing on under
+the name of the _common seminal_ or _ejaculatory duct_, the canal opens
+into the prostatic portion of the urethra (the orifices of the two
+common seminal ducts are in the folds of mucous membrane forming the
+right and left lateral margins of the _prostatic utricle_ or _uterus
+masculinus_). These ducts convey the secretion of the testicles into the
+urethra along which canal it passes to the exterior. Behind the
+posterior part of the urethra, but distal to the prostate gland, are
+situate also the paired _glands of Cowper_, or _suburethral glands_,
+whose excretory ducts likewise open into the urethra. There are glands
+also in the walls of the seminal vesicles, the vasa deferentia, and the
+urethra; the urethral glands are commonly known as the _glands of
+Littré_.
+
+As previously mentioned, it is in the testicles that the secretion
+necessary for the reproductive act is prepared. This secretion is
+evacuated during sexual intercourse, and also during masturbation and
+involuntary seminal emissions. The testicular secretion is a tenacious
+fluid. When examined microscopically, it is seen to contain countless
+spermatozoa, structures about 50 [Greek: m] (1/500 inch) in length, with
+a thick head and a long filiform tail. They represent the male
+reproductive cells, which during coitus are introduced into the interior
+of the female reproductive organs; a single spermatozoon unites with the
+ovum of the female to form the fertilised ovum. The spermatozoa are
+formed in the walls of the convoluted seminiferous tubules. The cells
+lining these tubules are of several different kinds (although in
+childhood they are not differentiated as they are after the puberal
+development has taken place). One variety of these cells, the
+_spermatogonia_, undergo an increase of size at puberty, and from these
+spermatogonia, after passing through several intermediate transitional
+stages, the spermatozoa are formed.
+
+It was formerly believed that the sole function of the testicles was the
+production of the spermatozoa; recently, however, the opinion has gained
+ground that these organs have in addition another specific function,
+that of internal secretion. Whilst the spermatogonia become transformed
+into spermatozoa, other cellular structures of the testicle, more
+especially the interstitial cells, produce, it is assumed, the internal
+secretion of the gland. The constituents of this internal secretion,
+having been poured into the general circulation, are supposed to give
+rise to the specific masculine sexual development, and, in particular,
+to lead to the appearance of the secondary sexual characters. This
+matter will subsequently be discussed in detail, and here I shall merely
+add that perhaps none of the proper constituents of the internal
+secretion find their way into the external secretion of the testicle.
+
+This external secretion of the testicles does, however, receive the
+admixture of a number of other secretions, to constitute the semen as
+actually discharged, viz., the secretion of the prostate gland, that of
+the seminal vesicles, Cowper's glands, and the glands of the vasa
+deferentia, and perhaps also that of the glands of Littré. The term
+semen is, indeed, often applied to the secretion of the testicles alone;
+but to avoid misunderstanding, Fürbringer[8] recommends that only the
+mixed secretion, as actually discharged, should be spoken of as the
+semen, and that this term should never be employed to denote the
+testicular secretion alone.
+
+In what has gone before, I have not only described the structure of the
+male sexual organs, but have alluded also in passing to their functions.
+These latter must, however, be described more fully. Let us begin with
+_erection_, which, as we saw, is due to distension of the penis with
+blood. How is this distension brought about? It results from stimulation
+of the erection centre. Until recently, it was supposed that this centre
+was situated in the lumbar enlargement of the spinal cord; but now,
+owing to the researches of L. R. Müller, it is believed to form part of
+the sympathetic plexuses of the pelvis. Stimulation of the centre leads
+to distension of the penis with blood, and thus to erection of that
+organ. The stimulation of the centre can be effected in either of two
+ways.
+
+In the first place, by psychical processes. Thus, in a man, the sight of
+a woman exercises such a stimulus, the stimulation proceeding from the
+brain along the spinal cord to reach the centre. The psychical stimulus
+may also consist of reminiscences. In this way the memory of an
+attractive woman may be just as effective in causing erection as if she
+were actually visible at the moment; reading erotic literature may have
+the same result. When the sexual impulse is perverted, the ideas causing
+erection will naturally be themselves of a perverse character. Thus, in
+the homosexual male, erection occurs at the sight or remembrance of a
+man; in the fetichist, the idea of the fetich is operative--in the case
+of the body-linen fetichist, for instance, the idea of articles of
+underclothing.
+
+In the second place, the activity of the erection centre can be aroused
+by physical stimuli. To this category belong masturbatory manipulations,
+stimulation of the glans penis and other parts of the genital organs.
+But other erogenic areas exist, the stimulation of which produces the
+same results. Among these areas, the buttocks must be particularly
+mentioned. But individual peculiarities play a great part in this
+connexion. Thus, in many persons, a slight stimulation of the nape of
+the neck, of the scalp, &c., has an erogenic effect. In all cases alike,
+the stimulus is conducted along the sensory nerves to the erection
+centre, and it is the stimulation of this centre which by reflex action
+leads to distension of the penis with blood and its consequent erection.
+The physical stimulus leading to erection may also result from some
+pathological process, such as inflammation of the penis or of the
+urethra. Finally, certain internal physiological processes may be the
+starting-point of the afferent physical stimuli leading to erection; for
+example, distension of the bladder, and also of the seminal vesicles,
+and of the seminiferous tubules of the testicle. In addition, it is
+probable that many of the processes of growth occurring in the
+reproductive glands act in a similar way. These internal stimuli all
+pass to the erection centre along the afferent (sensory) nerves, and
+induce erection by reflex action; and it is important to bear in mind
+that this effect may result without any direct affection of
+consciousness by the originating afferent impulses.
+
+Although either kind of stimuli, psychical or physical, acting alone,
+may give rise to erection, experience shows that in most instances the
+two varieties co-operate in the production of this effect. Thus, in the
+sexually mature man, the accumulation of semen in the seminal vesicles
+gives rise, not only to excitement of the erection centre, but also to
+voluptuous ideas, and these latter, in their turn, further stimulate the
+erection centre.
+
+Normally, during coitus, erection is followed by _ejaculation_. A
+special nerve centre for ejaculation is also supposed to exist; and the
+ejaculation centre, like the erection centre, was formerly believed to
+be situated in the lumbar enlargement of the spinal cord, but recent
+investigations have shown that it also most probably forms part of the
+sympathetic plexuses of the pelvis. This centre also may be stimulated
+either by psychical or by physical stimuli. In normal conditions,
+however, much more powerful stimuli are needed to cause ejaculation than
+those which are competent to give rise to erection. For this reason,
+erections often occur without leading to ejaculation, whereas in normal
+conditions ejaculation hardly ever occurs without erection. In fact,
+ejaculation in the absence of erection is almost peculiar to
+pathological states, and may occur, for instance, in many forms of
+impotence, in which the ejaculation centre still remains susceptible to
+stimulation, whilst the erection centre is exhausted. Whereas
+stimulation of the erection centre exercises its reflex influence
+through the vasomotor nerves, thus leading to distension of the penis
+with blood, the reflex impulses resulting from stimulation of the
+ejaculation centre are transmitted by the motor nerves to certain
+muscles--those, namely, whose contraction forcibly expels the
+accumulated semen. The contractions of the affected muscles occur
+rhythmically, the stimulation of the ejaculation centre giving rise to a
+series of contractions alternating with relaxations. True ejaculation,
+resulting from the activity of these muscles, must be distinguished from
+the appearance of a drop or two of fluid at the urethral meatus, which
+occasionally occurs at the outset of sexual excitement--the so-called
+_urethrorrhoea ex libidine_. This fluid runs out while the ejaculatory
+muscles are quiescent. It was formerly believed that it consisted of the
+secretion of the prostate gland; but Fürbringer, to whom we are indebted
+for the most valuable researches in this province, has shown that this
+view is erroneous. These drops are, he states, derived solely from the
+glands of Littré and the glands of Cowper (urethral and suburethral
+glands).
+
+Sexual excitement is accompanied throughout by a sensation of pleasure,
+specifically known as _voluptuous pleasure_, the _voluptuous sensation_,
+or simply _voluptuousness_ (in Latin, _libido sexualis_). Several stages
+of the voluptuous sensation must be distinguished: its onset; the
+equable voluptuous sensation; the voluptuous acme, coincident with the
+rhythmical contraction of the perineal muscles and the ejaculation of
+the semen; and, finally, the quite sudden diminution and cessation of
+the voluptuous sensation. Associated with the last stage we usually have
+a sense of satisfaction, and simultaneously a cessation of the sexual
+impulse; a sense of ease and calm ensues, and at the same time a feeling
+of fatigue. This voluptuous sensation localised in the genital organs
+must, of course, be distinguished from the general sense of pleasure
+produced in a man by the idea of, or by contact with, a woman in whom he
+is sexually interested.
+
+Now let us pass on to the consideration of the reproductive organs in
+the female. The most conspicuous part of the external genital organs
+consists of two large folds, situated on either side of the median line,
+and known as the _labia majora_. Within these are two much smaller
+folds, the _labia minora_ or _nymphæ_. In the median line, in the space
+between the labia minora, we see two apertures: the anterior of these is
+the _urethral orifice_ (_meatus_), from which the comparatively short
+and almost straight urethra of the female passes upwards and backwards
+to the bladder; the posterior aperture is the _vaginal orifice_. The
+labia minora, divergent posteriorly, converge as they pass forwards like
+the limbs of a V; at the apex of the V is the _clitoris_; in shape and
+structure this resembles the penis of the male, but it is much smaller,
+and is solid, not being perforated by the urethra. It contains two
+_corpora cavernosa_, which unite to form the _body_ of the organ, whilst
+the distal extremity is known as the _glans_, and is homologous to the
+glans penis. Posteriorly to the clitoris, and beneath the mucous
+membrane on either side, is an additional mass of erectile tissue, known
+as the _vaginal bulb_, or _bulb of the vestibule_. Just outside the
+vaginal orifice on either side are visible the orifices of the ducts of
+_Bartholin's glands_ (known also as _Duverney's glands_); these are
+homologous with Cowper's glands in the male.
+
+When we attempt to pass from the vaginal orifice to the internal
+reproductive organs, we find that in the virgin an obstacle exists, the
+_hymen_ or _maidenhead_, consisting of a duplicature of the mucous
+membrane. It is very variable in form, but in the great majority of
+instances it diminishes the size of the vaginal inlet to such an extent
+as to render coitus impossible until the hymen has been torn. Through
+the vaginal orifice access is gained to the interior of the _vagina_, a
+tubular structure, but flattened from before backwards, so that in the
+quiescent state the anterior and posterior walls of the passage are in
+apposition. The _uterus_ or _womb_ is a muscular, pear-shaped organ,
+with an elongated central cavity, which opens into the upper part of the
+vagina. At the upper end of the cavity of the uterus are two small
+laterally placed apertures, which lead into the _Fallopian tubes_ (or
+_oviducts_). These tubes pass outwards in a somewhat sinuous course
+towards the _ovaries_, the reproductive glands of the female, homologous
+with the testicles in the male, and situated on either side of the upper
+extremity of the uterus. The shape of the ovaries is somewhat ovoid.
+They contain a large number of vesicular structures, the _ovarian
+follicles_, the largest, ripe follicles being known as _Graafian
+follicles_, whilst the smaller, partially developed follicles are termed
+_primitive ovarian follicles_, or _primitive Graafian follicles_. In the
+interior of each follicle is an _ovum_. In the sexually mature woman, a
+Graafian follicle ripens at regular intervals of four weeks. When ripe,
+the follicle bursts, the ovum is expelled, and passes through the
+Fallopian tube into the interior of the uterus: here it is either
+fertilised by uniting with a spermatozoon derived from the male, in
+which case it proceeds to develop into an embryo; or else it remains
+unfertilised, in which case it is shortly expelled from the body.
+
+In the uterus, as well as in the ovaries, an important change occurs at
+intervals of four weeks, characterised by an increased flow of blood to
+the organ, culminating in an actual outflow of blood from the vessels
+into the uterine cavity, and thence through the vagina to the exterior
+of the body; the whole process is known as _menstruation_, the _monthly
+sickness_ or the (_monthly_) _period_. After the fertilisation of the
+ovum, during pregnancy, that is to say, menstruation usually ceases
+until after the birth of the child, and often until the completion of
+lactation.
+
+I do not propose to discuss here the nature of the connexion between
+these periodic processes in the ovaries and the uterus,
+respectively--that is, between ovulation and menstruation. I shall,
+however, take this opportunity of stating that, as careful
+investigations have shown, the periodic processes in question are not
+limited to the uterus and the ovaries, but affect also the external
+genital organs, which become congested simultaneously with menstruation;
+and further, that the entire feminine organism is affected by an
+undulatory rhythm of nutrition, the rise and fall of which correspond to
+menstruation and to the intermenstrual interval, respectively.
+
+I must now give some account of the peripheral processes occurring in
+the female genital organs in connexion with the sexual act. In part,
+they are completely analogous to those which take place in the male. I
+have already pointed out that in many respects the clitoris in the
+female corresponds to the penis in the male, In the clitoris, also,
+erection occurs, conditioned partly by psychical and partly by physical
+stimuli. The psychical stimuli consist of ideas relating to the male.
+The physical stimuli may, just as in the case of the other sex, vary in
+their nature. Thus, the condition of the reproductive glands may act as
+a physical stimulus to erection; also the touching of certain regions of
+the body, especially the clitoris, the labia minora, or other erogenic
+zones. Under the influence of such stimuli, the venus plexuses making up
+the vaginal bulbs also become distended with blood. In fact, speaking
+generally, sexual excitement is characterised by a vigorous flow of
+blood to the genital organs. During coitus, in woman, as in man, a
+process of ejaculation normally occurs, taking the form of rhythmical
+muscular contractions, affecting not only the perineal muscles, but also
+the muscular investment of the vagina, and occasionally, perhaps, the
+uterus itself. These muscular contractions also favour the expulsion of
+a secretion, but this secretion does not contain the reproductive cells
+of the female, and consists merely of a mixture of indifferent
+secretions--the secretion of Bartholin's glands, that of the uterine
+mucous membrane, and that of the mucous glands of the vagina and vulva.
+In the woman also, even at the outset of the sexual act, a secretion
+from the local glands takes place, whereby the genital region is
+moistened prior to the actual orgasm. We have as yet no precise
+knowledge as to which glands are concerned in the production of this
+phenomenon, which is homologous to the _urethrorrhæa ex libidine_ of the
+male. In woman, as in man, the curve of voluptuousness exhibits four
+phases: an ascending limb, the equable voluptuous sensation, the acme,
+and the rapid decline. There are, however, in this respect, certain
+differences between man and woman, to which von Krafft-Ebing drew
+attention, and whose existence was confirmed by Otto Alder.[9] Whereas
+in the male the curve of voluptuousness both rises and falls with
+extreme abruptness, in the female both the onset and the decline of
+voluptuous sensation are slower and more gradual. There is an additional
+difference between man and woman. In woman very often voluptuous
+pleasure is entirely lacking; certainly such absence is far commoner in
+women than in men--a condition of affairs which must on no account be
+confused with _absence of the sexual impulse_. Even when the sexual
+impulse is perfectly normal, the entire voluptuous curve with its acme
+may be wanting. In such cases, the after-sense of complete satisfaction,
+which occurs more especially when ejaculation has been associated with
+an extremity of voluptuous pleasure, it is commonly also lacking.
+Finally, it is necessary to add that in woman, as in man, the
+reproductive glands appear to have a duplex function--such is, at least,
+the belief to which recent investigations more and more definitely
+point. The ovaries, that is to say, do not only produce ova; they also,
+like the testicles, furnish an internal secretion, and the absorption
+and distribution of this secretion by the blood are supposed to cause
+the development of the secondary sexual characters in woman.
+
+Having now concluded our account of the structure and functions of the
+productive organs of adults, let us turn to consider the differences
+between these organs and those of children. In the child, the testicles
+are considerably smaller; smaller also are the penis and the other
+genital organs. In the adult, the root of the penis is surrounded by the
+pubic hair; this hair is absent in the child. The most important
+distinctive characteristic, however, lies in the fact that in the child
+the morphological elements upon which the capacity for procreation
+depends, namely, the spermatozoa, are not yet present in the testicles.
+The spermatozoa first make their appearance during that year of life
+which is usually regarded as the year of the puberal development. The
+microscopical appearances of the testicle, of which an account has
+previously been given, thus naturally differ according as the specimen
+under examination has been taken from a child or from an adult. As
+regards the other glands considered to form part of the genital organs,
+some of these secrete even in childhood. This matter will be
+subsequently discussed in some detail.
+
+In the female sex, also, there are notable differences in the condition
+of the genital organs between the adult and the child. In the first
+place, the relative sizes of the various organs differ greatly. But
+other differences are also noticeable, not dependent, however, on
+differences in age, but on whether there has or has not been experience
+of sexual intercourse, and on whether pregnancy and parturition have
+occurred. When we compare a female child with an adult woman, the first
+obvious difference is in the shape of the external genital organs. In
+the child, the vulva is placed much higher and more to the front, so
+that it is distinctly visible even when the thighs are in close
+apposition. In the child, also, the labia majora are less developed, for
+as womanhood approaches a great deposit of fat takes place in these
+structures. Again, in the child, the outer surfaces of the labia majora
+and that part of the skin of the abdomen just in front of the labia (the
+_mons veneris_) are as hairless as the rest of the body, whereas in the
+adult woman these regions are covered with the pubic hair. According to
+Marthe Francillon,[10] to whom we are indebted for an elaborate study of
+puberty in the female sex, during the puberal development changes occur
+also in the clitoris. The genital corpuscles of Krause and the
+corpuscles of Finger (_Wollustkörperchen_), the terminals of the nerves
+passing to the erectile tissue of the clitoris, undergo at this time a
+marked increase in size. The clitoris itself, hitherto comparatively
+small, now attains a length of three to four centimetres (1.2 to 1.6
+inch), in the quiescent state, and of four and a half to five
+centimetres (1.8 to 2 inches) when erect. In the virgin also, as
+previously mentioned, the hymen is present, a structure of very variable
+form. After defloration its remnants persist in the form of small
+prominences around the margin of the vaginal inlet (_carunculæ
+myrtiformes_). But, quite independently of defloration, in the child the
+vaginal orifice is much smaller than in the riper girl. The uterus
+undergoes remarkable changes. In the foetus, during the latter part of
+intra-uterine life, this organ grows very rapidly; but immediately after
+birth its growth is arrested, so that in a girl of nine it is little
+larger than in the new-born infant. During the period of puberal
+development, however, the growth of the organ is once more extremely
+rapid. Its shape also changes at this time. In the child, the uterus is
+longer in proportion to its thickness; in childhood, too, the
+comparative length of the cervix in relation to that of the body of the
+organ is much greater than in the adult woman. We need only allude in
+passing to the fact that later in life marked changes occur in the
+uterus as a result of pregnancy and parturition. The hyperæmia and the
+bleeding that take place periodically during menstruation lead to
+certain changes in the mucous surface of the uterus. Ovulation, which in
+the sexually mature woman recurs at four-weekly intervals, also gives
+rise to certain permanent changes in the ovaries. The site of each
+ruptured Graafian follicle becomes cicatrised, and in consequence of the
+formation of these little scars, the ovary no longer retains the
+smoothness of surface which was characteristic of the organ in
+childhood. From birth onwards the ovaries gradually increase in size,
+but the growth is disproportionate in different diameters. Thus, for
+instance, during the eighth year of life, growth is chiefly in
+thickness, so that the ratio between the length and the thickness
+becomes less than before. The structure of the ovaries also varies at
+different ages. In a girl of three years, the primitive ovarian
+follicles number about 400,000; at the age of eight it is estimated that
+their number has been reduced to about 36,000. Certainly the majority of
+the primitive follicles come to nothing. True Graafian follicles, of
+which an account has already been given, are not usually formed prior
+to the beginning of the puberal development; occasionally, however, they
+are formed in the ovaries of immature girls.
+
+
+Let us now pass to the consideration of the sexual impulse. We learn
+from personal observation that two entirely distinct processes
+participate in this impulse. In the first place, we have the physical
+processes that take place in the genital organs; these are in part
+unperceived, but in part they affect consciousness in the form of common
+sensations, or as ordinary tactile and other similar sensations. In the
+second place, we have those higher psychical processes by means of which
+man is attracted to woman, and woman to man. In our actual experience of
+the normal sexual life, both these groups of processes do, as a matter
+of fact, work in unison; but not only is it possible for us to
+distinguish them analytically; it is, in addition, possible in many
+instances to observe them in action clinically isolated each from the
+other. A long while ago I utilised this distinction for the analysis of
+the sexual impulse, describing the impulse in so far as it was confined
+to the peripheral organs as the _detumescence-impulse_ (from
+_detumescere_, to decrease in size), and in so far as it takes the form
+of processes tending towards bodily and mental approximation to another
+individual, as the _contrectation-impulse_ (from _contrectare_ to touch,
+or to think about). The distinction will become clearer to our minds if
+we familiarise ourselves first with cases in which either process occurs
+independently of the other. The detumescence-impulse is sometimes the
+sole manifestation of the sexual impulse. Certain idiots practise
+masturbation as a physical act, because sensations proceeding from the
+genital organs impel them to do so, precisely as itching of an area of
+the skin impels us to scratch. They masturbate without thinking of
+another person, and they feel no impulsion whatever towards sexual
+contact with another person. Analogous phenomena may be witnessed in the
+animal world also, in connexion with the masturbatory acts of monkeys,
+bulls, and stallions. When a stallion kicks its genital organs again and
+again with its hind-foot, and repeats the action until ejaculation
+ensues, we are hardly justified in assuming that the animal has the
+idea of a mare before its mind. We must rather suppose that we have to
+do with a local physical stimulus, to which the stallion reacts in the
+manner above described. The other component, also, of the sexual
+impulse, the contrectation-impulse, manifests itself, occasionally, at
+any rate, in isolation. Certain boys, long before the appearance of any
+signs of the puberal development, are impelled towards physical contact
+with members of the other sex, to kiss them, to think of them, although
+these boys may exhibit no tendency whatever to masturbate, or to
+manipulate their genital organs. It often happens, indeed, that such a
+boy is himself greatly astonished to find, some day, that these ideas
+are reflected to the genital organs, giving rise to erection; or, when
+he is embracing a girl, to experience erection and ejaculation. In the
+sexually mature normal man, the detumescence-impulse and the
+contrectation-impulse act in unison, and hence he is impelled towards
+intimate contact with the woman, and is ultimately driven to effect
+detumescence by the practice of coitus. Nevertheless, we must hold fast
+to the idea that in the normal adult man the sexual processes may also
+be theoretically analysed into these two components.
+
+This is true also of woman, in whom the processes in the genital organs
+are equally separable from those which impel to contact with a member of
+the other sex. But in woman, the processes in the genital organs do not
+culminate in the ejection of the reproductive cells, that is, of the
+ovum, but, as we have seen, in the ejaculation of indifferent
+secretions. In the woman, also, the detumescence impulse is occasionally
+met with in isolation--for example, in many female idiots. In the animal
+world, too, we encounter it as an isolated phenomenon. Certain mares,
+when rutting, rub their hind quarters against some object in their
+stalls. The contrectation-impulse may also manifest itself in isolation
+in woman. It is then directed towards the male, but is not in any way
+associated with the wish for a definite sexual act. Most commonly,
+however, in woman also the two components of the sexual impulse are
+united, and from this union results the impulsion towards coitus. But to
+this extent the conditions in woman are apt to differ from those in
+man, inasmuch as, in the former, voluptuous sensations are more often in
+abeyance; or in woman voluptuous pleasure may not arise during coitus,
+but may be produced in some other way, as, for instance, by a
+masturbatory act.
+
+The sexual impulse, and indeed either of its components, may be excited
+either by bodily or by mental stimuli; but we must always bear in mind
+the fact that in normal adults, both male and female, the two components
+are so intimately associated that they can as a rule be separated only
+by artificial analysis. The nature and mode of operation of the stimuli
+need not be further discussed, since enough has been said about the
+matter in our description of erection. Nor is it necessary in this place
+to deal with such differences as may exist between the psychosexual life
+of the child and that of the adult, since this matter will be fully
+considered in the fourth chapter. In this chapter my aim has merely been
+to give a general description of the sexual impulse.
+
+Here I need allude to one more point only, a knowledge of which is
+indispensable for the understanding of the sexual life of the child,
+namely, the connexion between the central processes and the peripheral
+voluptuous sensation. Let us ask, in the first place, by what means the
+voluptuous sensation, the voluptuous acme, and the sense of
+satisfaction, are produced. Various factors are here operative. A
+homosexual man, in heterosexual coitus, by keeping present to his
+imagination the idea of coitus with a man, may succeed in obtaining
+erection and ejaculation; but he does not experience the voluptuous
+acme, nor does he feel the sense of satisfaction. Notwithstanding the
+fact that the peripheral processes occur in normal fashion, the sense of
+satisfaction remains in abeyance; because the act is in his case
+inadequate, the sexual act in which he is engaged lacks harmonious
+relationship to his sexual impulse. But the same homosexual man,
+embracing a man with whom he is in full sympathy, will experience alike
+the voluptuous acme and the sense of satisfaction. _Mutatis mutandis_,
+the like is true of woman. Many cases which have been regarded as
+instances of sexual anæsthesia would appear in quite another light if
+the woman concerned were to have intercourse with a sexually
+sympathetic man. I have myself known cases in which women were able to
+experience the voluptuous acme in intercourse with men whom they
+earnestly loved, whilst in intercourse with men to whom they were
+indifferent, the voluptuous sensation and the sense of satisfaction were
+wanting, even though in some of these cases the peripheral processes
+culminated in ejaculation. Such a physically complete sexual act,
+without voluptuous acme or sense of satisfaction, may occur when the
+woman, having intercourse with a man whom she does not love, pictures in
+imagination that she is having intercourse with her lover.
+Unquestionably, the psychical processes are of the greatest importance
+in contributing to the occurrence of the voluptuous sensation and the
+sense of satisfaction. On the other hand, of course, certain peripheral
+conditions must also be fulfilled if the voluptuous acme is to ensue.
+Among these conditions may be mentioned a certain anatomical state of
+the skin and the nerves concerned. Experience also shows that in the
+adult the voluptuous acme coincides with the act of ejaculation.
+Ejaculation is effected by the rhythmical contraction of certain
+definite muscles, and Otto Adler believes that it is these contractions
+which are principally effective in producing the voluptuous acme, and
+that actual ejaculation is not indispensable. He believes, that is, that
+the voluptuous acme may occur in the absence of any discharge of actual
+secretion.
+
+In any case, let us hold fast to the fact that in the adult, for the
+occurrence of the voluptuous acme and of the sense of full satisfaction,
+certain central processes are, in general, indispensable.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+SEXUAL DIFFERENTIATION IN CHILDHOOD
+
+
+In the previous chapter, I have described the differences between the
+reproductive organs of men and women, and between those of adults and
+children, respectively. Man and woman are, however, distinguished one
+from the other, not only by differences in their reproductive organs,
+but by other qualities as well, some of these being bodily, others
+mental. Such distinctive characters are spoken of as _secondary sexual
+characters_, in contradistinction to the _primary sexual characters_,
+the reproductive organs. Our terminology would, perhaps, be more exact
+if we were to regard the reproductive glands alone, the testicles and
+the ovaries, as primary sexual characters; including the rest of the
+genital organs among the secondary sexual characters. Havelock Ellis[11]
+distinguishes, in addition to the primary and secondary sexual
+characters (as commonly defined), _tertiary sexual characters_, by which
+he denotes those differences between the sexes which do not attract our
+attention when we compare individual members of the two sexes, but which
+become noticeable when we compare the average male with the average
+female type. Among such tertiary sexual characters may be mentioned the
+comparatively flatter skull, the greater size and activity of the
+thyroid gland, and the lesser corpuscular richness of the blood, in
+women. Especially distinct are the secondary sexual characters in
+respect of general bodily structure. The form of the skeleton is
+different in the two sexes. Thus, in woman the pelvis is wider and
+shallower than in man. In the hair also there are notable differences:
+in woman the hair of the head tends to grow much longer, and woman is
+much less liable than man to premature baldness; the beard, on the
+other hand, is a masculine peculiarity. In woman the breasts attain a
+much greater development. The larynx is in man more prominent and
+longer; in woman it is wider and shallower. Woman's skin is more
+delicate than man's. And so on.
+
+Now what have we to say regarding these sexual differences in the case
+of children? During the age which we have defined as the first period of
+childhood, except in the matter of the genital organs, we can detect
+hardly any important bodily characters distinguishing the sexes. Still,
+even at this early age some differences have been recorded. Thus, the
+average weight of new-born girls is less than that of new-born boys, the
+figures given by Stratz[12] being, for boys, 3500 grams (7.7 lbs.); for
+girls, 3250 grams (7.15 lbs.). According to a very large number of
+measurements, the mean length of the new-born girl is somewhat less than
+that of the new-born boy, the difference amounting to nearly 1 cm.
+(2/5ths inch). Craniometric records, taken at the end of the first
+period of childhood, exhibit differences between the sexes; in general,
+the measurements show that the girl's head is smaller than the boy's in
+respect both of length and breadth. Further, dynamometric records, taken
+from children six years of age, have shown that the grasp in girls is
+less powerful than in boys. But if we except such differences as these,
+which relate rather to averages than to individuals, and which,
+moreover, are for the most part demonstrable only during the latter part
+of the first period of childhood, we find that, apart from the
+reproductive organs, very little difference between the sexes can be
+detected during the first years of life. Many investigators have been
+unable to confirm the assertion that even in the first year of life the
+hips are more powerfully developed in girls than in boys. Fehling,[13]
+however, declares that as early as the fifth month of intra-uterine
+life, sexual differences manifest themselves in the formation of the
+pelvis. However this may be, it is beyond question that during the
+earlier years of the first period of childhood the differences between
+the sexes are comparatively trifling. But towards the end of this
+period, sexual differentiation becomes more marked. According to Stratz,
+it is at this time that the characteristic form of the lower half of the
+body develops. The thighs and the hips of the young girl exhibit a
+somewhat more marked deposit of fat than is seen in the boy of the same
+age. To a lesser extent the same is true of the calves. It is often
+assumed that even in very early childhood the sexes can be distinguished
+by the formation of the face. The girl's face is said to be rounder and
+fuller than the boy's; the expression of countenance in the former, to
+be more bashful and modest. Stratz, however, urges in opposition to this
+view, with justice, in my opinion, that we have here to do only with the
+effects of individual educational influences, or perhaps with individual
+variations, from which no general conclusions can safely be drawn.
+
+During the second period of childhood sexual differences become much
+more distinct. Before considering these differences, I must say a few
+words regarding the growth of the child, since in this particular there
+exists a notable distinction between the sexes. Careful measurements
+have shown that during certain years of childhood growth occurs
+especially in height, whereas in other years the main increase is in
+girth. For this reason, it is customary to follow Bartels in his
+subdivision of each of the two periods of childhood into two subperiods.
+The age from one to four years is the _first period of growth in girth_;
+from the beginning of the fifth to the completion of the seventh year is
+the _first period of growth in height_; from the beginning of the eighth
+to the completion of the tenth year is the _second period of growth in
+girth_; and from the beginning of the eleventh to the completion of the
+fourteenth year is the _second period of growth in height_. During these
+periods there are certain differences in respect of growth between boys
+and girls. Although in general the growth in height of the boy exceeds
+that of the girl, there is a certain period during which the average
+height of girls is greater than that of boys. From the beginning of the
+eleventh year onwards, the girl grows in height so much more rapidly
+than the boy, that from this age until the beginning of the fifteenth
+year the average height of girls exceeds that of boys, although at all
+other ages the reverse is the case. In our consideration of the
+differences between the sexes, these differences in respect of growth
+must not be overlooked.
+
+In addition to these, other important differences between the sexes
+manifest themselves during the second period of childhood. In the first
+place, it is an established fact that in the girl the secondary sexual
+characters make their appearance earlier than in the boy, the boy
+remaining longer in the comparatively neutral condition of childhood. We
+have seen that in the girl, at the end of the first period of childhood,
+the lower half of the body begins to resemble that of the woman in type.
+During the second period of childhood, this peculiarity becomes more
+marked; the pelvis and the hips widen, the thighs and the buttocks
+become more and more rounded; the enduring feminine characteristics in
+these respects are acquired. More gradually, the feminine development of
+the upper half of the body succeeds that of the lower; the transition
+from the lower jaw to the neck become less abrupt, and the face becomes
+fuller. The sexual difference in the growth of the hair also manifests
+itself in childhood. Whether cut or uncut, the girl's hair tends to grow
+longer than the boy's. Later, the typical development of the breasts
+occurs. As early as the beginning of the second period of childhood, the
+surface of the areola mammæ may become slightly raised; but the typical
+deposit of fat, leading to the hemispherical prominence of the breast,
+does not begin until towards the close of the second period of
+childhood. Even later than this is the growth of the axillary and pubic
+hair. Various answers are given to the question as to the relation in
+time between the appearance of menstruation and the development of the
+sexual characters just described. Unquestionably there are great
+differences in this respect. Whereas Axel Key declared that the
+secondary sexual characters appeared before the first menstruation,
+according to C. H. Stratz this is true only of girls belonging to the
+lower classes; whilst according to his own observations on girls
+belonging to the upper classes of society, the first menstruation
+precedes the development of the breasts and the growth of the pubic and
+axillary hair.
+
+Concerning a number of sexual differences, during childhood, authors are
+not agreed. As regards the type of breathing, for instance, in the adult
+man, the abdominal type prevails; that is, the respiratory exchange of
+gases is effected chiefly by movements of the diaphragm and the
+abdominal muscles: whereas in the adult woman the respiration is costal,
+the respiratory exchange being effected chiefly by movements of the
+thorax. How unsettled our views are in respect of the types of
+respiration in children is well displayed by the collection of opinions
+given by Havelock Ellis.[14] According to Boerhaave, sexual differences
+in the type of respiration were manifest even in very small children;
+but his observations have not been confirmed by others. Thus, Sibson
+states that the characteristic costal type of respiration begins in
+girls at the age of ten, for which reason some observers have assumed
+that the wearing of the corset is the cause of its appearance; others,
+however, among whom Hutchinson may be mentioned, deny this alleged
+causal connexion, stating that they have observed costal respiration in
+young girls who have never worn any constricting garments.
+Unquestionably, sexual differences in the type of respiration become
+apparent in the later years of childhood.
+
+I have already pointed out that in girls the secondary sexual characters
+begin to make their appearance at an earlier age than in boys. In the
+onset of sexual differentiation, the boy thus plays a more passive part
+than the girl, inasmuch as he retains longer the childish type. None the
+less, in the boy also certain secondary sexual characters begin to
+develop comparatively early. Thus, in the second period of childhood,
+the boy's shoulders often become wider, his muscles stronger, than those
+of the girl. Since at the same period there occurs in girls the greater
+deposit of fat previously described, marked differences result in the
+external contours of the respective bodies. The boy's body is therefore
+much more angular and knobby, far less softly rounded, than that of the
+girl. Towards the end of the second period of childhood, an additional
+sexual character makes its appearance in the male sex, namely, the voice
+breaks. The chief remaining differences, the growth of the beard and
+the pubic hair, and the development of the characteristically masculine
+larynx, usually manifest themselves after the close of the second period
+of childhood--that is to say, during the period of youth.
+
+As children become physically differentiated in respect of sex, so also
+does a mental differentiation ensue. Authorities are not agreed as to
+whether mental sexual differentiation exists in the very earliest years
+of life. Many assume its existence, and profess to have observed sexual
+differences even in the movements of quite small children. On the other
+hand, it is urged that the alleged differences are made up out of
+chance, auto-suggestion on the part of the observer, and the results of
+education. There is, however, general agreement as to the fact that
+during the second period of childhood mental differences become apparent
+between the sexes. Such differences are observed in the matter of
+occupation, of games, of movements, and numerous other details. Since
+man is to play the active part in life, boys rejoice especially in rough
+outdoor games. Girls, on the other hand, prefer such games as correspond
+to their future occupations. Hence their inclination to mother smaller
+children, and to play with dolls. Watch how a little girl takes care of
+her doll, washes it, dresses and undresses it. When only six or seven
+years of age, she is often an excellent nurse. As Padberg[15] pictures
+her, she sits at the bedside of her sick brother or sister, resembling
+as she does so an angel in human form. Her need to occupy herself in
+such activities is often so great, that she pretends that her doll is
+ill. Chamisso, in his poem _Das kleine Mädchen und die Puppe_ (_The
+Little Girl and her Doll_), describes this relationship between the
+child and her doll, one whose nature is fully understood only by a
+mother:--
+
+  "Wie Du mit den kleinen Kindern,
+   Will ich alles mit ihr tun,
+   Und sie soll in ihrer Wiege
+   Neben meinem Bette ruhn.
+   Schläft sie, werd' ich von ihr träumen,
+   Schreit sie auf, erwach' ich gleich,--
+   Mein himmlisch gute Mutter,
+   O, wie bin ich dock so reich!"
+
+  "All you do for your children,
+   For my Doll I do instead,
+   And in her little cradle
+   She lies beside my bed.
+   When she sleeps, I dream about her,
+   When she cries, I wake up too.
+   My own, dear, darling Mother,
+   I'm just as rich as you!"
+
+Once I saw a little girl of seven running up and down the room, carrying
+all kinds of things as fast as she could to her doll. When I asked her
+what was the matter, she told me that her doll had the measles, and she
+was taking care of her. In all kinds of ways, we see the little girl
+occupying herself in the activities and inclinations of her future
+existence. She practises housework; she has a little kitchen, in which
+she cooks for herself and her doll. She is fond of needlework. The care
+of her own person, and more especially its adornment, are not forgotten.
+I remember seeing a girl of three who kept on interrupting her elders'
+conversation by crying out "New clothes!" and would not keep quiet until
+these latter had been duly admired. The love of self-adornment is almost
+peculiar to female children; boys, on the other hand, prefer rough
+outdoor games, in which their muscles are actively employed,
+robber-games, soldier-games, and the like. And whereas, in early
+childhood, both sexes are fond of very noisy games, the fondness for
+these disappears earlier in girls than in boys.
+
+Differences between the sexes have been established also by means of
+experimental psychology, based upon the examination of a very large
+number of instances. Although it must be admitted that some of the
+acquirements of this school are still open to dispute, the data of these
+collective investigations must not be ignored. Berthold Hartmann has
+studied the childish circle of thought, by means of a series of
+experiments which are commonly spoken of as the Annaberg experiments.
+Schoolboys to the number of 660 and schoolgirls to the number of 652, at
+ages between 5-3/4 and 6-3/4 years, were subjected to examination. It
+was very remarkable to see how in respect of certain ideas, such as
+those of the triangle, cube, and circle, the girls greatly excelled the
+boys; whereas in respect of animals, minerals and social ideas, the boys
+were better informed than the girls. Characteristic of the differences
+between the sexes, according to Meumann,[16] from whom I take these
+details, and some of those that follow, is the fact that the idea of
+"marriage" was known to only 70 boys, as compared to 227 girls; whilst
+the idea of "infant baptism" was known to 180 boys as compared to 220
+girls. The idea of "pleasure" was also much better understood by girls
+than by boys. Examination of the memory has also established the
+existence of differences between the sexes in childhood. In boys the
+memory for objects appears to be at first the best developed; to this
+succeeds the memory for words with a visual content: in the case of
+girls, the reverse of this was observed. In respect of numerous details,
+however, the authorities conflict. According to Lobsien, boys have a
+better memory for numbers, words, and sounds. The same investigator
+informs us that in girls the visual memory is distinctly better than it
+is in boys, this indicating that girls' memory for objects is also
+better; but Netschajeff, on the other hand, maintains that boys have a
+better memory for objects perceptible by the senses. It is interesting
+to note that certain variations have been shown to exist at different
+ages. During the first years of school-life, boys' memories are in
+general better than girls', this advantage persisting up to the age of
+ten; from this time onwards until the end of the years spent in primary
+schools, girls excel boys in the matter of memory, but especially at
+ages of eleven, twelve, thirteen, and fourteen. Later than this, the
+boys become equal to the girls, and still later surpass them. Very
+striking is the fact, one upon which a very large number of
+investigators are agreed, that girls have a superior knowledge of
+colours. Experimental investigations made by means of Holmgren's test
+have shown that the superiority of girls in this respect is remarkable,
+and these experiments are confirmed by other lines of study.
+
+There are additional psychological data relating to the differences
+between the sexes in childhood. I may recall Stern's investigations
+concerning the psychology of evidence, which showed that girls were much
+more inaccurate than boys. I may also refer, on the other hand, in
+relation to sexual differentiation, to the experiences obtained by Hans
+Gross by means of observations on practical life, although his results
+are not entirely free from certain sources of fallacy, and moreover have
+been disputed by other observers as not generally applicable. Hans
+Gross, however, found a notable difference between boys and girls, of
+which I shall later give a detailed description. Here, I shall merely
+quote the comprehensive summary given in his _Criminal Psychology_: "My
+results show that the boy who has passed his first years of childhood
+is, if well trained, the best observer and witness that can possibly be
+found, because he watches with interest all that goes on around him,
+stores it impartially in his memory, and reproduces it faithfully;
+whereas the girl of like age is often an untrustworthy, and even a
+dangerous witness. She is inevitably this when, after traversing the
+stages of talent, ardour, reverie, romanticism, and enthusiasm, she has
+passed into a condition of _Weltschmerz_, tinged with _tedium vitæ_.
+This emotional mental atmosphere is entered at an earlier age than is
+commonly imagined; and when such a girl's own personal interests are in
+any way affected by the occurrences under examination, we are never
+secure from gross exaggeration and misstatement. Petty larceny becomes
+robbery with violence; a trifling incivility, a serious assault; a
+harmless pleasantry, an interesting proposal for elopement; and the
+foolish prattle of children becomes a dangerous conspiracy."
+
+I shall subsequently discuss in detail a psychical difference which is
+the most important of all those connected with the sexual life, namely,
+the direction of the sexual impulse, which attracts the man to the
+woman, and the woman to the man. We shall see to what a considerable
+degree this phenomenon manifests itself even in childhood.
+
+It has been widely assumed that these psychical differences between the
+sexes result from education, and are not inborn. To avoid
+misunderstanding, we must, in our consideration of this question of
+education, distinguish between two distinct classes of phenomena, those
+which are individual and those which have existed for a number of
+generations. The sexually differentiated qualities in any individual may
+be regarded as inborn, and yet we may admit that the differentiation was
+originally the result of education, if we suppose that in earlier
+generations in either sex certain qualities were developed, and that
+gradually, by monosexual inheritance, the differences became confirmed,
+until finally they became inborn. Others, however, assume that the
+psychical characteristics by which the sexes are differentiated result
+solely from individual differences in education. Stern believes that in
+the case of one differential character, at least, he can prove that for
+many centuries there has been no difference between the sexes in the
+matter of education; this character is the capacity for drawing.
+Kerschensteiner has studied the development of this gift, and considers
+that his results have established beyond dispute that girls are greatly
+inferior in this respect to boys of like age. Stern[17] points out that
+there can be no question here of cultivation leading to a sexual
+differentiation of faculty, since there is no attempt at a general and
+systematic teaching of draughtsmanship to the members of one sex to the
+exclusion of members of the other.
+
+Without further discussing the question, to what extent in earlier
+generations there has been any cultivation of psychical differences, I
+believe that we are justified in asserting that at the present time the
+sexual differentiation manifested in respect of quite a number of
+psychical qualities is the result of direct inheritance. It would be
+quite wrong to assume that all these differences arise in each
+individual in consequence of education. It does, indeed, appear to me to
+be true that inherited tendencies may be increased or diminished by
+individual education; and further, that when the inherited tendency is
+not a very powerful one, it may in this way even be suppressed.
+Observations on animals which exhibit sexual differentiation very early
+in life, also support the notion of the inherited character of certain
+tendencies; for instance, the movements of male animals often differ
+from those of the females of the same species.
+
+We must not forget the frequent intimate association between structure
+and function. This well-proved connexion would lead us _a priori_, from
+the more powerful muscular development of boys, to infer the different
+inclinations of the two sexes. Rough outdoor games and wrestling thus
+correspond to the physical constitution of the boy. So, also, it is by
+no means improbable that the little girl, whose pelvis and hips have
+already begun to indicate by their development their adaptation for the
+supreme functions of the sexually mature woman, should experience
+obscurely a certain impulsion towards her predestined maternal
+occupation, and that her inclinations and amusements should in this way
+be determined. Many, indeed, and above all the extreme advocates of
+women's rights, prefer to maintain that such sexually differentiated
+inclinations result solely from differences in individual education: if
+the boy has no enduring taste for dolls and cooking, this is because his
+mother and others have told him, perhaps with mockery, that such
+amusements are unsuited to a boy; whilst in a similar way the girl is
+dissuaded from the rough sports of boyhood. Such an assumption is the
+expression of that general psychological and educational tendency, which
+ascribes to the activity of the will an overwhelmingly powerful
+influence upon the development of the organs subserving the intellect,
+and secondarily also upon that of the other organs of the body. By the
+influence of the will, it is supposed by this school, certain
+association-tracts in the brain are developed; or at least certain
+tracts hitherto functionally inactive are rendered functionally active.
+We cannot dispute the fact that in such a way the activity of the will
+may, within certain limits, be effective, especially in cases in which
+the inherited tendency thus counteracted is comparatively weak; but only
+within certain limits. Thus we can understand how it is that in some
+cases, by means of education, a child is impressed with characteristics
+normally foreign to its sex; qualities and tendencies are thus developed
+which ordinarily appear only in a child of the opposite sex. But even
+though we must admit that the activity of the individual may operate in
+this way, none the less are we compelled to assume that certain
+tendencies are inborn. The failure of innumerable attempts to
+counteract such inborn tendencies by means of education throws a strong
+light upon the limitations of the activity of the individual will; and
+the same must be said of a large number of other experiences.
+
+It is, moreover, established beyond dispute that in certain cases, in
+consequence of an inborn predisposition, contrary sexual inclinations
+make their appearance, and that these represent a divergency from the
+proper sexual characters. It is with these mental sexual differential
+characters just as it is with the physical secondary sexual characters,
+any of which may, on occasion, make their appearance in the wrong sex,
+or may be wanting in the right one. We know that there exist women with
+beards, masculine larynges, and a masculine type of thorax; and, on the
+other hand, men with feminine mammæ, feminine larynges, and a feminine
+type of pelvis. Because we meet with such atypical instances, we are not
+therefore justified in inferring that it is by a mere arbitrary sport of
+nature that in the woman a great mammary development is normally
+associated with the development of the ovaries, and that in man the
+growth of the beard is associated with the development of the testicles.
+But just as in these respects there are certain exceptions, whose origin
+we are not always in a position to explain, so also are there
+exceptional sexual associations in respect of the secondary psychical
+sexual characters. Thus it comes to pass that many women exhibit
+masculine tendencies, and many men exhibit feminine tendencies.
+Unquestionably, the fact that psychical qualities, just as much as
+physical characters, may occasionally make their appearance in the wrong
+sex, does not invalidate the general truth of the statement that
+sexually differentiated psychical tendencies are inborn.
+
+Occasionally, indeed, even in late childhood, this psychical
+differentiation is still but little marked. We must also bear in mind
+the fact that in many instances the bodily development of the
+girl--apart, of course, from the actual reproductive organs--differs but
+little, even during the second period of childhood, from that of the
+boy; and that in such cases the specific differentiation makes its first
+appearance later than is usual. We find boys also who have entered upon
+the period of youth (see p. 1) without exhibiting any trace of downy
+growth upon the upper lip or the chin; in some, the first definite
+growth of hair on the face may not occur until several years later. I
+remember also that I have seen boys in whom during the period of puberal
+development an enlargement of the mammæ took place, going so far that it
+was possible by pressure on the glands to expel fluid from the
+mammillary ducts; at a more advanced age, however, this mammary growth
+was arrested, and subsequently atrophy ensued.
+
+But all these observations notwithstanding, the fact remains well
+established that even in childhood notable sexual differences make their
+appearance. Other observations, too, confirm this notion of sexual
+differentiation--for example, pathological experiences.
+
+There are some diseases to which women are especially liable, others
+which occur by preference in men. To some extent, indeed, this is
+explained by the special exposure of one sex or the other to certain
+noxious influences. The neuroses that appear as the sequelæ of injuries
+are especially common in the male sex, because the occupations of men
+expose them more than women to injuries of all kinds. Of such cases, of
+course, we do not speak here. But there are some unquestionably
+hereditary morbid tendencies which manifest themselves by preference in
+one sex or the other, and such sexual predisposition shows itself even
+in childhood. I propose to give instances of this; some quoted from
+Möbius,[18] some from other authors, and some taken from my own personal
+experience.
+
+Chlorosis is a disease of feminine youth, but very often makes its
+appearance in childhood, especially towards the end of the second period
+of childhood, at this earlier age, also, attacking girls in preference
+to boys. Hæmophilia, on the other hand, and also certain hereditary
+forms of muscular atrophy, occur chiefly in males, and this in early
+childhood. Diabetes is principally a disease of adults, but occasionally
+it is met with in children also; among adults, there is a considerable
+preponderance of males affected with this disease when diabetes occurs
+in childhood, the disease also exhibits a preference for the male sex,
+although at this time the peculiar sex-incidence is less marked than in
+later life. Congenital defects of the heart are commoner in boys, the
+proportion obtained from a very large number of cases of this kind being
+61.6 boys: 38.4 girls. Chorea (St. Vitus's dance) affects girls more
+often than boys, the ratio in this case being 2.5 girls: 1 boy. In the
+case of whooping cough, we find that two girls suffer for every one boy.
+As regards circumscribed facial atrophy, which usually begins during
+childhood, a preponderance of the disease in the female sex is also
+noticeable. Hysteria was formerly regarded as a typically feminine
+disease, and although this view has now been shown to be erroneous, the
+fact remains that girls and women are far more often affected than boys
+and men. As regards hysteria in childhood, Bruns[19] states that the
+ratio of girls affected is to boys affected as 2:1. It is interesting to
+note that in the earlier years of childhood, prior, that is to say, to
+the age of nine years or thereabouts, no marked difference exists in the
+sex incidence of hysteria, the cases being distributed in the
+proportion, 55 per cent. girls, 45 per cent. boys; but after the age of
+nine, the proportion of girls affected with hysteria increases, while
+that of boys diminishes. Eulenburg,[20] indeed, records 17 cases of
+hysteria, affecting children at ages nine to fourteen years; of these
+nine were boys, and eight girls. Clopatt, on the other hand, collected
+from the literature of the subject 272 cases of hysteria in young
+children, 96 being boys, and 176 girls. Typhoid is commoner in males;
+and Möbius lays stress on the fact, which he regards as especially
+striking, that the difference in the sex-incidence of this disease is
+manifest even in childhood. As regards colour-blindness, there is a
+notable preponderance among males, and since we here have to do with a
+congenital affection, this preponderance is as marked among children as
+among adults. Many defects of speech also exhibit a notable difference
+in their sex-incidence. Hermann Gutzmann[21] has shown that in the case
+of stammerers we find 71 per cent. boys and 29 per cent. girls. I take
+this opportunity of referring briefly to the fact that, as Max
+Marcuse[22] reports, certain diseases of the skin exhibit sexual
+differentiation of type even during childhood. The disseminated
+cutaneous gangrene of children is far more frequent in girls than it is
+in boys; Broker, among twelve cases, found ten girls. Alopecia areata,
+on the other hand, affects both sexes with equal frequency, but affects
+them at different ages. Whereas during the first years of life girls are
+more frequently attacked; when the age of twenty is passed, the relation
+between the sexes in this respect are reversed.
+
+Criminological experiences appear also to confirm the notion of an
+inherited sexual differentiation, in children as well as in adults.
+According to various statistics, embracing not only the period of
+childhood, but including as well the period of youth, we learn that
+girls constitute one-fifth only of the total number of youthful
+criminals. A number of different explanations have been offered to
+account for this disproportion. Thus, for instance, attention has been
+drawn to the fact that a girl's physical weakness renders her incapable
+of attempting violent assaults upon the person, and this would suffice
+to explain why it is that girls so rarely commit such crimes. In the
+case of offences for which bodily strength is less requisite, such as
+fraud, theft, &c., the number of youthful female offenders is
+proportionately larger, although here also they are less numerous than
+males of corresponding age charged with the like offences. It has been
+asserted that in the law courts girls find more sympathy than boys, and
+that for this reason the former receive milder sentences than the
+latter; hence it results that in appearance merely the criminality of
+girls is less than that of boys. Others, again, refer the differences in
+respect of criminality between the youthful members of the two sexes to
+the influences of education and general environment. Morrison,[23]
+however, maintains that all these influences combined are yet
+insufficient to account for the great disproportion between the sexes,
+and insists that there exists in youth as well as in adult life a
+specific sexual differentiation, based, for the most part, upon
+biological differences of a mental and physical character. I have
+referred to these criminological data for the sake of completeness, but
+I feel it necessary to add that their importance in relation to our
+subject of study is comparatively trifling, since most of the cases in
+question are offences committed by persons who can no longer properly be
+regarded as children.
+
+As we have seen, during childhood, and especially during the second
+period of childhood, there exists a larger number of sexual differences
+both mental and physical. Some of these are obviously discernible when
+we compare isolated individuals; others only become apparent when we
+institute a statistical comparison. And when such differences appear in
+childhood, we find that they are quantitatively less extensive than the
+sexual differences of adults. For the sexual life is in the child less
+developed than it is in the adult. We shall learn that in the matter of
+the sexual impulse, the child exhibits an imperfect differentiation. A
+similarly imperfect differentiation is found in childhood in respect of
+a number of other qualities. Thus, there are many diseases which later
+in life manifest a sexual differentiation, but in childhood are
+undifferentiated. We observe a similar age-distinction in respect of
+suicide, which occurs in Europe far more frequently in men than in
+women, the ratio among suicides being three or four men to one woman.
+Among child-suicides there is far less disproportion between the sexes.
+According to Havelock Ellis, indeed, the suicidal tendency makes its
+appearance in girls at an earlier age than in boys.
+
+Such a marked differentiation as there is between the adult man and the
+adult woman certainly does not exist in childhood. Similarly in respect
+of many other qualities, alike bodily and mental, in respect of many
+inclinations and numerous activities, we find that in childhood sexual
+differentiation is less marked than it is in adult life. None the less,
+we have learned in this chapter, a number of sexual differences can be
+shown to exist even in childhood; and as regards many other differences,
+though they are not yet apparent, we are nevertheless compelled to
+assume that they already exist potentially in the organs of the child.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+SYMPTOMATOLOGY
+
+
+The data recorded in the preceding chapter suffice to show that the
+activity of the sexual life begins in childhood, for the secondary
+sexual characters and the other sexual peculiarities which manifest
+themselves thus early in life are dependent upon sex. We shall now
+proceed to the systematic description of the direct manifestations of
+the sexual life, and we can most usefully begin with the genital organs.
+
+Erections occur during childhood; they have been observed even in
+infancy. They sometimes result from external stimuli, especially of a
+pathological nature, such as a strictured prepuce, or inflammatory
+states of the penis. Occasionally in the child, as normally in the adult
+male, distension of the bladder with urine leads to erection of the
+penis. Although in these cases the erection is not induced by sexual
+processes, it is nevertheless not devoid of significance in relation to
+the sexual life. The sensations in the genital organs to which the
+pathological stimuli give rise are further increased by the erection,
+and the child's attention is therefore increasingly drawn to his sexual
+organs. His attention may, of course, be directed to his genital organs
+by such stimuli as those we have described, even though these latter do
+not lead to the occurrence of erection. By such sensations, the child is
+very readily induced to manipulate his genital organs. Just as the
+little child soon learns to scratch other itching regions of the skin,
+so also he learns to scratch his genital organs when these are the seat
+of an itching eruption, or when in any other way irritating sensations
+arise in this region. Pflüger and Preyer[24] have made investigations
+regarding the itching-reflex (_Kitzelreflexe_), and although in many
+respects their results are divergent, yet one point is clearly
+established by both, namely, that within a few months after birth a
+distinct itching-reflex is in operation, inasmuch as the child
+endeavours to scratch itching areas. Thus, by itching of the genital
+organs, a child is readily led to practise masturbation; and this is not
+necessarily effected by the hands, but sometimes by the feet, or by
+rubbing the thighs against one another, this last being generally done
+when the child is in the sitting posture. When erections occur in the
+child, we cannot always trace them to external stimuli, for in many
+cases they are due to stimuli of other kinds. Erection may, in fact,
+result from internal stimuli, connected with the development of the
+genital organs, and more especially that of the testicles. Moreover,
+such developmental stimuli may induce the child to manipulate the
+genital organs, and thus give rise to masturbation, without in the first
+instance causing erection. It appears that such stimuli leading to the
+practice of masturbation occur, during the first years of childhood,
+chiefly, if not exclusively, in children with morbid hereditary
+predisposition.
+
+Such processes as these, viz., inflammatory stimuli originating in the
+external genital organs, or developmental stimuli proceeding from the
+testicles, may lead to the practice of masturbation without having
+directly affected the child's consciousness. Just as in the pithed frog,
+if we stimulate one foot with acetic acid, the other foot scratches the
+irritated area, so a child may, with his hands or in some other way,
+scratch itching regions of the body, and, above all, of the external
+genital organs, without its being necessary for us to assume that he is
+fully conscious of what he is doing. Further, as we have already pointed
+out, such masturbation may or may not be preceded by a reflex erection.
+And just as the boy soon learns that itching is relieved by scratching,
+so also he learns that by means of artificial stimulation he may induce
+sensations of a voluptuous character. It is the same with the little
+girl, in whom sensations occur in the genital organs, due in some cases
+to developmental, and in others to pathological stimuli (skin eruptions
+are an instance of the latter kind), and these lead to manipulations of
+the genital organs.
+
+In contradistinction to the cases just described, in which the child
+has learned spontaneously to practise artificial stimulation of his
+genital organs, are the cases in which seduction by others is the cause
+of masturbation. Nurses sometimes touch, stroke, and stimulate the
+external genital organs of the children entrusted to their care--boys
+and girls alike--either to keep them quiet, or for the gratification of
+their own lustful feelings. In this way the child, who in the case of
+all agreeable sensations has a natural desire for their repetition, is
+gradually led to imitate the manipulations which have given rise to the
+voluptuous sensations, and is thus seduced to the practice of
+masturbation.
+
+In the preceding passages I have spoken of all kinds of mechanical
+stimulation of the genital organs, and also of erections[25] occurring
+in small children. I now pass on to consider ejaculation. Whereas during
+normal intercourse in the sexually mature man and woman a fluid
+secretion is expelled, nothing of the kind is possible in children, at
+least such is the general opinion. Frequently, indeed, as regards the
+male sex, the end of childhood, properly speaking, is supposed to be
+indicated by the first ejaculation of semen. Matters are, however, by no
+means so simple as this. We have seen that the testicular secretion, the
+most important constituent of the semen, consists, as Fürbringer[26] has
+pointed out, almost entirely of spermatozoa. But how is it in the case
+of children? The spermatozoa may be first formed at very varying ages.
+According to the investigations of Mantegazza,[27] they rarely make
+their appearance earlier than the eighteenth year of life. Fürbringer
+does not unconditionally accept this view; but he has himself, as he has
+personally informed me, examined boys at ages of fifteen to sixteen in
+whom the ejaculation was entirely devoid of spermatozoa. But, on the
+other hand, he has found spermatozoa in the semen of a boy aged only
+twelve or thirteen years. I have myself examined the emissions of boys
+in a considerable number of cases, and have repeatedly found that, even
+in the case of boys of sixteen, the ejaculated secretions contained no
+spermatozoa. The reports of other investigators also show that as
+regards this point very wide individual variations occur. Hofmann[28]
+has contributed some data to this discussion. A case published by Klose,
+in which pregnancy is alleged to have resulted from intercourse with a
+boy aged nine years, is, indeed, regarded by Hofmann as probably
+apocryphal. But he had personal knowledge of a case in which a woman was
+impregnated by a boy fourteen years of age. He assumes that when a boy's
+general development is advanced (masculine habit of body, large penis,
+&c.), his reproductive capacity will also make its appearance at an
+earlier age. But he has met with exceptions to this generalisation.
+Thus, in the post-mortem examination of the body of a boy aged fourteen,
+whose physique was still quite infantile, he found well-developed
+spermatozoa both in the testicles and in the seminal vesicles. In the
+case of two boys aged fifteen years, in whom the genital organs were
+powerfully developed, he found in one abundant spermatozoa, but in the
+other none at all. In two other boys, also fifteen years of age, in whom
+the pubic hair had not yet appeared, spermatozoa were present. They were
+absent, again, in a young man of eighteen years. Similar variations were
+found by Haberda. Thus, for example, in two boys aged fifteen and
+seventeen years, respectively, he found no spermatozoa, notwithstanding
+the fact that in both the pubic hair had grown. On the other hand, in a
+boy aged 13-3/4 years, with an abundance of pubic hair, numerous
+well-developed spermatozoa were present. Haberda is of opinion that,
+speaking generally, the first formation of the spermatozoa is associated
+with the appearance of the other indications of puberty. The earliest
+authenticated age at which spermotozoa have been known to appear is
+13-1/2 years; they have been found at this age by two separate
+investigators, one in Paris, the other in Berlin. Notwithstanding the
+fact that, as we have seen, such extensive variations occur, we are
+justified in making the general statement that in the case of children
+in our own country no spermatozoa are developed; if exceptions ever
+occur, they can relate only to the last year or year and a half of the
+second period of childhood.
+
+We must now proceed to ask whether it is possible for ejaculation to
+occur in children at a time of life when the formation of spermatozoa in
+the testicles has not yet begun; this question must be answered with an
+unconditional affirmative. We have seen that the secretions of several
+other glands intermingle with the secretion of the testicles. These
+glands are the following: the prostate gland, the glands of the vesiculæ
+seminales and the vasa deferentia, the glands of Cowper, and the glands
+of Littré. It is certain that these glands begin to secrete at different
+times, and, above all, that some of them begin to secrete before
+spermatozoa have appeared in the testicles. Hence it is rightly believed
+that the capacity for coitus (_potentia coeundi_) develops much earlier
+than the capacity for procreation (_potentia generandi_)--a fact which
+was well known to Zacchias.[29] _Quae enim hanc juventutem vel præcedunt
+ætates, vel sequuntur aut plane semen non effundunt aut certe
+infoecundum aut male foecundum effundunt._ Strassmann[30] considers
+that in our climate the capacity for procreation begins at the earliest
+at the end of the fifteenth year, and the capacity for coitus at the end
+of the thirteenth year. In a number of cases in which in children I
+found stains on the underclothing, or in some other way obtained
+specimens of the ejaculated fluid, the results of the examination for
+spermatozoa were entirely negative. In a case which came under my notice
+a long time ago, that of a child seven years of age, I had assumed that
+the fluid with which the underclothing was stained was produced by
+inflammatory irritation of the urethra consequent upon masturbation.
+Subsequent experience, however, in conjunction with the observations of
+other investigators, has led me to the firm conviction that even in our
+climate we do not need to invoke the idea of such inflammatory
+irritation of the urethra in order to account for the ejaculation of
+fluid by children--at any rate when these are approaching the end of the
+second period of childhood. In the case of twelve-year-old boys, I
+believe that such ejaculations of fluid occur in quite a large number of
+cases. One instance, which did not come under my own observation, but
+was communicated to me by one of our best-known educationalists, relates
+to a boy only ten years of age. This boy, endeavouring to climb over a
+fence, repeatedly slipped back; while thus engaged, he experienced his
+first seminal emission. In this way he then masturbated several
+times.[31]
+
+Let us now consider whence the ejaculated fluid can be derived prior to
+the age at which it comes to contain spermatozoa. In the first place, it
+is possible that the testicles themselves, before they begin to form the
+spermatozoa, may yet furnish an indifferent secretion, although in the
+adult the secretion of the testicles consists chiefly of the
+spermatozoa. We have also to consider the glands previously enumerated,
+whose secretions normally form constituents of the semen. We possess,
+however, hardly any trustworthy information regarding the time at which
+the glands of the vasa deferentia begin to secrete. The glands of
+Cowper, as Henle[32] showed many years ago, begin to secrete within a
+few weeks after birth. He believed that these glands secreted
+continuously, but that the secretion was retained for a time in the
+ducts, and was discharged intermittently with the urine. For this reason
+he believed that the glands of Cowper did not form a part of the
+reproductive system. Subsequent investigations, however, have led us to
+believe that the secretion of Cowper's glands is one of the constituents
+of the semen. Another constituent is the secretion of the glands of
+Littré, and these glands also perhaps begin to secrete at a much earlier
+age than the testicles. We may regard it as certain that the seminal
+vesicles may contain secretion before any spermatozoa are formed in the
+testicles. As regards the prostate gland, it is supposed that this
+first begins to secrete at the commencement of the age of puberal
+development or even later. According to the data collected by Frisch,
+the prostate gland, comparatively small in childhood, first begins to
+grow quickly at the epoch of the puberal development. During childhood,
+the gland tissue is comparatively scanty, although it already contains
+concretions. Only during the puberal development does the prostate gland
+attain its full size; according to the researches of Englisch, who
+observed 1282 instances, this does not occur until after the full
+development of the testicles. Beyond question we are justified, from the
+information at our disposal, in concluding that the prostate gland
+begins to secrete comparatively late. But, on the other hand, it is
+equally clear that certain glands whose secretion in the adult forms
+part of the semen, begin to secrete long before any spermatozoa have
+been formed in the testicles, and may in this way give rise to the
+formation of a semen incapable of fertilising the ovum.
+
+In respect of the extrusion of the fluid, we have to recognise two
+different ways in which this is effected: first, ejaculation, due to a
+rhythmical expulsive movement; and secondly, the _urethrorrhoea ex
+libidine_ met with in adults, of which an account was given in the
+second chapter (p. 22). In my own investigations on the subject, I have
+been able to learn nothing regarding the occurrence in children of any
+_urethrorrhoea ex libidine_; and my information relates only to the
+true ejaculation of a fluid, I have seen a few cases in which such
+ejaculation occurred in boys at the early age of twelve years, although
+this is quite exceptional, and, as already mentioned, in such cases the
+ejaculated fluid contains no spermatozoa.
+
+In the case of women, what has been said of the glands of Cowper applies
+equally to the glands of Bartholin, the homologues of the former both as
+regards significance and development. The glands of Bartholin also begin
+to secrete in sexually immature girls, and even in children. It must be
+added that when ejaculation occurs in sexually immature girls, the
+products of other glands are probably intermingled with the secretion of
+the glands of Bartholin (mucous glands of the uterus, of the cervix
+uteri, the vagina, the vulva, and perhaps also of the urethra).
+
+I have distinguished the simple outflow of secretion from its forcible
+expulsion--from true ejaculation. This latter demands the rhythmical
+activity of certain muscles, such as takes place during coitus. The
+question arises, whether such muscular activity can occur before any
+fluid has been formed capable of being ejaculated. When I compare what
+is published in the literature of the subject with what I have myself
+observed in this connexion, I regard the following points as definitely
+established. There are certain cases, and these in young persons of both
+sexes, in which typical rhythmical muscular contractions take place in
+the child, although no ejaculated fluid is discoverable. It remains
+doubtful, however, whether a small quantity of secretion, overlooked by
+the observer, and perhaps not even recognisable, may not, after all, be
+ejaculated. I consider it probable that this is so. Moreover, we must
+not forget that the rhythmical muscular contractions, which in the adult
+effect ejaculation, are able to expel the fluid from the urethra only
+when this fluid is present in sufficient quantity. When the quantity is
+minimal the fluid is retained for a time in that passage, owing to the
+frictional resistance of the urethra, and is perhaps not expelled until
+the next act of micturition. Some may, of course, object to denote such
+a process by the word ejaculation; but I myself see no reason why the
+term should not be extended to include the rhythmical muscular
+contraction both in the child and the adult, even in cases in which
+there is not sufficient fluid secretion in the urethra for this to be
+visibly extruded by these contractions.
+
+What have we to say regarding the voluptuous sensation in children? It
+is extremely difficult to form clear ideas about this matter, for the
+sources of fallacy previously described (p. 5 _et seq._) are here
+markedly in operation; above all, in the case of little children, the
+voluptuous sensation, purely subjective in character, is extraordinarily
+difficult to recognise objectively. This much, however, may be said. It
+appears to me to be beyond question that in childhood, and even in very
+early childhood, a sensation may sometimes be excited of the same kind
+as the voluptuous sensation of adult life. None the less, we must be
+careful not to assume too readily, in any particular case, that such a
+sensation has actually been experienced. Certain oscillatory movements
+on the part of infants and other small children have frequently been
+regarded as an indication of the practice of masturbation, and of the
+occurrence of voluptuous sensations; but in my opinion that view is to a
+large extent erroneous. Such movements may be no more than the
+expression of a general sense of well-being, without having anything
+whatever to do with the sexual life or with the specific voluptuous
+sensation. Doubtless the voluptuous sensation may be experienced by very
+small children, and even by infants. When we see a child lying with
+moist, widely-opened eyes, and exhibiting all the other signs of sexual
+excitement, such as we are accustomed to observe in adults, we are
+justified in assuming that the child is experiencing a voluptuous
+sensation. But what is usually wanting in such cases, at any rate in
+young children, is the voluptuous acme which in adults occurs in
+association with the act of ejaculation. Cases have also been
+occasionally reported to me in which, even in infancy, a voluptuous acme
+has occurred; and still more frequently I have been told this in respect
+of somewhat older children, for example, at ages of seven or eight
+years. I believe, however, that this voluptuous acme is, at any rate in
+children, much less common than the equable voluptuous sensation which
+can be aroused by all kinds of manipulations and stimulations of the
+peripheral genital organs, and more especially of the glans, the penis,
+the clitoris, and the labia minora. The older the child, the more
+frequently is the voluptuous acme attained; in our own climate, during
+the last years of the second period of childhood, this occurs
+comparatively often; the voluptuous acme does not last so long as in
+sexually mature individuals, but is in other respects described in
+identical terms. It is experienced simultaneously with the occurrence of
+the rhythmical muscular contractions which have previously been
+described. It is possible, as I suggested before, that in such cases the
+ejaculation of a certain quantity of glandular secretion always occurs,
+although, as I have also explained, this secretion may sometimes be too
+small in quantity to be actually expelled from the urethra by the
+muscular extractions. This point is, however, still obscure. But it may
+be regarded as definitely established that the equable voluptuous
+sensation, and more particularly the voluptuous acme, may occur at an
+age at which, at any rate, secretion does not yet exist in sufficient
+quantity to be expelled from the urethra, and the existence of such
+secretion is therefore not unequivocally manifested. In exceptional, and
+doubtless pathological instances, and above all in cases in which, owing
+to the practice of masturbation, there has been excessive stimulation,
+instead of the voluptuous acme, a painful sensation may be experienced.
+In general, however, in children, just as in adults, the voluptuous acme
+is associated with a sense of satisfaction, and with the subsidence of
+the previously existing sexual excitement. _This much is beyond
+question, that the voluptuous acme and the sense of satisfaction
+associated therewith make their appearance subsequent to the development
+of erection and the equable voluptuous sensation in the genital organs._
+Mutatis mutandis, _this is equally true of both sexes_.
+
+In other respects, however, the voluptuous sensation and the voluptuous
+acme exhibit in the child an important difference from the same
+phenomena in the adult, to which we shall have to return later. To sum
+up, we may regard it as certain that erections often appear many years
+before the end of the second period of childhood; not infrequently,
+indeed, in the beginning of the second period of childhood, and even
+earlier. These erections may very early in life be associated with an
+equable voluptuous sensation, allied to the sensations of itching or
+tickling.[33] The voluptuous acme and ejaculation do not make their
+appearance until later. These statements apply, in the first place, to
+boys. The conditions in girls appear, however, to be analogous. But here
+we must be most cautious in drawing conclusions, for the reason that the
+sexual life of the girl is still much more obscure to us than that of
+the boy; this difference in our knowledge of the sexes is no less marked
+in the case of children than it is in respect of the adult man and
+woman.
+
+Hitherto we have occupied ourselves with the description of the
+peripheral sexual organs, and of the processes of detumescence. We must
+now pass on to the second group of sexual phenomena, the processes of
+contrectation. Even in childhood, these processes play an important
+part; indeed, they generally manifest themselves at an earlier age than
+the processes of detumescence. But first, let me briefly summarise Max
+Dessoir's account of the stages of the sexual impulse--stages in which
+the contrectation impulse is alone concerned. In its development, three
+stages may be distinguished. One of these is the neutral stage, in
+earliest childhood, in which, speaking generally, the processes of
+contrectation are not yet to be observed, and during which the child
+does not feel attracted towards anyone in such a manner as to make it
+necessary for us to assume the occurrence of any psychosexual process.
+This stage is succeeded by the extremely important undifferentiated
+stage, to which Max Dessoir[34] has drawn attention. Its principal
+characteristic is indicated in its name: the direction of the impulse is
+not yet completely differentiated. It oscillates to and fro, and depends
+upon the external objects which happen to be in the vicinity. This
+undifferentiated stage is of profound importance; and owing to the fact
+that its existence has been ignored in the study of sexual perversions,
+great confusion has arisen. During the undifferentiated period, it may
+happen that quite normal children exhibit homosexual excitement, whose
+importance is apt to be greatly over-estimated by their relatives and
+others. During the undifferentiated stage a boy may love one of his
+teachers or one of his friends, and yet in later life be perfectly
+normal; many a woman, again, who loves her husband ardently has earlier,
+during the undifferentiated period, passionately loved a school-fellow
+or a governess. On the other hand, during the undifferentiated stage a
+boy may exhibit an inclination towards someone of the opposite sex, the
+governess or the girl-friend of his sister, for instance; conversely,
+the girl may be attracted by a boy or a young man. This inclination,
+whether homosexual or heterosexual, often leads to bodily acts, to
+contact with the beloved person, embraces, and kisses, without the
+necessary occurrence of any manifestations on the part of the external
+genital organs, although such manifestations may at times ensue. The
+undifferentiated stage is followed by the third stage, in which the
+contrectation impulse becomes differentiated, so that in normal
+individuals the sexual impulse becomes unmistakably heterosexual.
+Normally, this differentiated stage endures until the time of the final
+extinction of the sexual impulse.
+
+I do not believe that an undifferentiated stage occurs in every one
+without exception. On the other hand, I have absolutely no doubt that it
+occurs very frequently indeed--far more frequently than is commonly
+believed--and that it occurs in persons whose subsequent sexual
+development is perfectly normal. Moreover, during the undifferentiated
+stage, in addition to heterosexual and homosexual inclinations, perverse
+sentiments may make their appearance. Masochistic, sadistic, fetichistic
+excitations of all kinds are met with, and sexual inclination towards
+animals is by no means rare. As regards the last named, the inclination
+is directed especially towards the animals with which the child is most
+intimately associated, as, for instance, a dog, a cat, a bird, a horse,
+and the like. Again, during the period of undifferentiated sexual
+impulse all kinds of disordered ideas may become associated with that
+impulse; for instance, an impulse may arise to touch the saliva, or some
+other excretory product, of the beloved being, human or animal, as the
+case may be, and even to take such a product into the mouth. Many
+persons completely forget all these manifestations of the
+undifferentiated sexual impulse which have formed part of their own
+early experiences. The causes of such oblivion have been discussed in
+the first chapter (p. 5).
+
+Yet another reason may be mentioned for regarding a knowledge of the
+undifferentiated stage of the sexual impulse as of great importance. In
+works on the pathology of the sexual impulse we are frequently assured
+that in this or that specific instance the perversion was inborn,
+because perverse sensations have existed since the days of childhood.
+But the existence of the undifferentiated stage teaches us that we are
+not justified in inferring, from the mere fact of the primary occurrence
+of a "perverse" mode of sexual sensibility, that this perversion is
+congenital; for the primary direction of the contrectation impulse
+during the undifferentiated stage often depends to a considerably
+greater extent upon chance than upon an inherited predisposition.
+
+The undifferentiated stage begins at very various ages. I have known
+instances in which it could be traced back to the fifth, year of life. I
+regard it as probable, however, that it may begin even earlier than
+this. But more commonly it begins somewhat later; not infrequently at
+the age of seven or eight, and very often at the age of nine or ten
+years. As previously mentioned, I do not maintain that an
+undifferentiated stage is of universal occurrence. When such a stage is
+absent, the symptoms of the differentiated sexual impulse often make
+their appearance at the age at which in other cases the undifferentiated
+stage of the impulse usually begins. In the case of a large number of
+men, inquiry will show that at the age of nine or ten they began to
+experience an inclination towards persons of the female sex; in a good
+many this occurs even at the age of eight, and in a few yet earlier; as
+regards women, _mutatis mutandis_, the same conditions obtain. In cases
+in which an undifferentiated stage is well marked, its duration is
+likewise very variable. In isolated instances it lasts until the age of
+twenty, or even a few years longer. Ordinarily, however, the
+differentiation of the impulse becomes manifest at an earlier
+age--between the ages of fifteen and seventeen years. Beyond question,
+in the great majority of cases, the "perverse" sentiments of childhood
+subsequently disappear spontaneously. But when I come to discuss sexual
+perversions in detail, I shall point out that this disappearance, in
+certain circumstances, fails to occur.
+
+I take this opportunity of referring to a beautiful example of the
+undifferentiated sexual impulse which is found in _Wilhelm Meisters
+Wanderjahren_. In the twelfth chapter of the second book, Wilhelm
+describes "one of the earliest incidents of his youth":--"The elder of
+these boys, a year or two my own senior, the son of the fisherman,
+seemed to take no pleasure in this sport with flowers. This boy, by whom
+at his first appearance I had been greatly attracted, invited me to go
+with him to the river, a fairly wide stream which flowed past at a
+little distance. We sat side by side in a shady spot with our
+fishing-rods.... As we sat there quietly, leaning towards one another,
+he seemed to grow rather weary of our inaction, and he drew my attention
+to a flat stretch of gravel which extended from our feet beneath the
+surface of the water. This would be a fine place to bathe. At last,
+jumping to his feet, he cried out that the chance was too good to be
+missed, and almost before I realised his intention, he had stripped, and
+was in the water. Being a good swimmer, he soon left the shallows, swam
+across the stream, and then back again into the deep water near the bank
+on which I was sitting. My own mood was a strange one. Grasshoppers
+danced round about me, ants crawled to and fro, many-coloured beetles
+hung from the twigs, and brilliant dragon flies hovered in the air; my
+companion caught sight of a great crayfish, flashing merrily out from
+its hole beneath the roots overhanging the water, and cleverly eluding
+an attempt to seize it by darting back into its lair. The air was so
+warm and moist; in the sunshine one longed for the shade, and even in
+the coolness of the shade one longed for the still greater coolness of
+the water. Thus it was easy for him to entice me into the stream; his
+invitation, once or twice repeated, proved irresistible, notwithstanding
+my fear of a scolding from my parents, mingled with some dread of the
+unknown element. Soon I undressed upon the gravelly bank, and ventured
+gently into the water, not too far down the gradually shelving bank;
+here he let me wait awhile, swimming out himself across the stream; then
+he returned to my side, and as he left the water, standing upright, to
+dry himself in the bright sunshine, it seemed to me that my eyes must be
+dazzled by the power of the sun, so blindingly beautiful was the human
+form--far more beautiful than I had ever before imagined. He seemed to
+look at me with equal attention. Dressing quickly, we stood beside each
+other with all barriers broken down, our spirits were drawn closely
+together, and with ardent kisses we swore eternal friendship."
+
+Groos rightly sees in this passage a delicate intimation of sexual
+sensibility. A little later we read how Wilhelm, having made an
+appointment with this boy to meet him one evening in the forest,
+encounters a young girl, a little younger than himself. "Spring flowers
+of all kinds were growing in the beautifully adorned fields, among the
+grass, and along the hedges. My companion was beautiful, blond, gentle;
+we walked trustingly side by side, each holding the other by the hand,
+and seeming to wish for nothing better in the world.... When, after the
+lapse of so many years, I look back upon my former state, it seems to me
+to have been a truly enviable one. Unexpectedly, in the same instant, I
+experienced the sentiments of friendship and of love; for as I
+unwillingly took leave of the beautiful child, I was consoled by the
+thought of explaining these ideas to my young boy-friend, by the
+prospect of confiding in him, and of rejoicing in his participation in
+these newly discovered sentiments."
+
+The following description of the period of the undifferentiated sexual
+impulse has been placed at my disposal:--
+
+CASE 1.--X. is now thirty-four years of age, happily married, with
+several healthy children. He is himself a thoroughly healthy man, with
+normal impulses, and free from all bodily and mental abnormality. His
+description of the period of the undifferentiated sexual impulse may
+best be given in his own words. "At the age of nine, when I was still
+living in the country, and was being educated by a private tutor, a
+passionate affection for him took possession of me. Generally speaking,
+he was good-natured and indulgent, but was at times strict, I used my
+utmost endeavours to be near him as much as possible. I was happy when
+he touched me. Gradually this inclination increased; everything that he
+had touched, everything that he had warmed with his body, I also wished
+to touch. If he had drunk from a glass, I secretly drank from it myself,
+so that my lips might touch the very spot where his had rested. At the
+age of ten I began to attend the public school in the town, I sat beside
+a fellow-pupil who, like myself, came from the country. Soon I conceived
+a fondness for him. He was not only my playmate, I wished always that we
+should do our work together; whenever he had any other companion than
+myself, I was profoundly unhappy. Was this jealousy? I believe it was.
+When he left the school--it must have been about a year after I had
+entered--I was at first very unhappy, but my fondness for him was soon
+replaced by a passion for his sister, a girl about twelve years of age.
+I had made her acquaintance through so often working with her brother,
+and through visiting his parents' house. She was a pretty girl. At
+first, after my friend had departed, I went to the house occasionally,
+in order to hear some news of him, and of his doings in the school
+abroad to which he had been sent. In the house that had been his home I
+had also an indefinite feeling that I was near him once again. But
+gradually my liking for his sister grew, and I was glad that her parents
+gave me renewed invitations to the house, especially for the Sundays. To
+be with this girl, to play with her, were to me an enduring source of
+delight; and I remember that at this time I even developed a taste for
+girlish amusements, which had hitherto been very disagreeable to me, and
+for which later also my antipathy returned. Simultaneously with this
+fondness for the girl, when I myself was about twelve years old I was
+attracted by one of the schoolmasters, a man who ruled his classes very
+strictly. My sentiments for this master were of exactly the same
+character as those with which my tutor had formerly inspired me, but the
+conditions of our intercourse were different, for I could see him only
+in school, and on very rare occasions out of school hours, whereas in
+the case of my tutor, who lived with us when I was at home, I could be
+with him as much as I desired. This fondness for my schoolmaster
+persisted simultaneously with the passion for the girl. When her brother
+came home for the holidays, I saw him for a few days only, for I also
+returned home for the holidays. Although I was by no means indifferent
+to him, my former passionate affection for him had entirely disappeared.
+My passion for his sister and for the schoolmaster lasted for a long
+time. I also fell in love with a somewhat elderly female cousin who
+chanced to visit our house. Growing older, I at length attained the age
+of puberty, and experienced definite erections; these occurred
+especially when I thought of my friend's sister; or when she touched me,
+as occasionally happened, without, I believe, any sexual feeling on her
+part. At this time also when erections had already begun, I still felt
+definitely attracted by my schoolmaster, and under the influence of this
+attraction erections occasionally occurred. Somewhat later came the time
+when I began to masturbate. I can no longer remember with certainty
+whether I was seduced to this practice by any of my school-fellows. We
+sometimes talked to one another about the matter. I continued at times
+to be influenced by the inclinations previously mentioned, viz., that
+for my schoolmaster, and that for my friend's sister. I experienced also
+transient passion for one of my school-fellows, who was remarkable for
+his pleasing and delicately girlish exterior. It was not until several
+years had elapsed, and the occurrence of seminal emissions had shown
+that I had attained some degree of sexual maturity, that all inclination
+towards the male sex disappeared, and the inclination towards the female
+sex persisted in isolation. When I left the town, in order to attend a
+different school, my fondness for my friend's sister passed away. I was
+then sixteen years of age; from this time onwards my sexual passion was
+exhibited exclusively towards members of the female sex."
+
+CASE 2.--This case provides us with another description of the
+undifferentiated sexual impulse. X. is thirty years of age. No morbid
+condition is demonstrable in him. He remembers that the first sentiments
+which he regards as sexual were experienced by him in the country. His
+home was in a town, but during the holidays he was sent to board in the
+country, in the house of a clergyman. He played much in the open air,
+and he still recalls quite distinctly the passion with which, first of
+all, he approached animals. "As if by an irresistible impulse I was
+attracted, now by a goat, now by a dog, sometimes even by a horse. No
+excitement of the genital organs was noticeable at this time, but I have
+no doubt whatever now that these inclinations were sexual in their
+nature. Not only did I touch the animals, but I embraced them and kissed
+them. The warmth and the odour proceeding from such an animal, which is
+now as a rule distasteful to me, was then a source of pleasure. When I
+left the country, I took these memories away with me, but gradually they
+faded and became faint. Next a fondness for one of my school-fellows
+became most marked, and this lasted for a long time. I know not how to
+describe the feeling I had for him otherwise than as an immeasurable,
+passionate love. I was unhappy when I sat above him in the class.
+Occasionally we sat side by side, but not always, since our places were
+determined by our performances in class. If I was sitting next above
+him, it was a joy to me to fail deliberately to answer a question,
+simply in order to enable him to take my place, and thus to give him
+pleasure. This relationship continued undisturbed for several years; we
+rose together from class to class and remained friends. Not until the
+beginning of the true puberal development did this fondness begin to
+wane. I began to learn dancing rather early, and in the dancing-class
+was a girl by whom I was now greatly attracted. She was of the same age
+as myself--fourteen years. As far as I can remember, my inclinations
+were now confined for a time to my boy companion and to this girl. At
+first my affection for the boy was the greater, but gradually my
+affection for the girl, who was healthy and vivacious in appearance,
+became stronger. Still, this passion was a fire of straw, for though, in
+the course of the next few years, my fondness for the boy gradually
+declined, whilst my affection for the girl grew stronger, yet later this
+girl was expelled from my circle of interests by others, my inclinations
+changing rapidly from one girl to another. Homosexual sentiments hardly
+existed any more. Very occasionally, indeed, even up to my twentieth
+year, a certain interest was aroused in me by any youth with a truly
+girlish, milk-white countenance. But subsequently this homosexual
+inclination disappeared entirely, and my heterosexual development was
+completed, so that I am now, I believe, in every respect a healthy
+male."
+
+CASE 3.--Next we have the case of a woman, now married and twenty-six
+years of age, in whom also the undifferentiated sexual impulse was
+clearly manifested. From the age of eight to the age of fifteen years
+she attended a day-school for girls, and subsequently, after receiving
+private tuition for a time, went to a boarding-school. "In my earlier
+years I can recall no feelings for my school-fellows beyond those of
+simple friendship. We kissed one another, but no more intimate contact
+took place. In these kisses, I was not aware of any sentiment exceeding
+pure friendship; and to-day when I thoroughly understand the nature of
+the kiss of erotic love, I do not believe that there was any erotic
+element intermingled with these first kisses. Such simple friendliness
+towards my fellow-schoolgirls persisted unaltered even after in my tenth
+year I first experienced a sentiment of enthusiastic devotion. This
+latter was inspired by an actress, a remarkably beautiful woman visiting
+our town--I lived then in a town of medium size--whose pictures were
+displayed in all the shop windows. Although I realised later that her
+talents were by no means of a high order, and notwithstanding the fact
+that I never saw her on the stage, I conceived for her an enthusiastic
+admiration. I tried from time to time, when I could do so without being
+observed, to catch a glimpse of her in the street; almost the only
+possible opportunity was when she was on her way to rehearsals. When the
+actress went away, her place in my heart was occupied by a schoolmaster
+of typically masculine appearance, with a full, fair beard. He gave us
+lessons in history, literature, and German. Nearly all the class were
+fascinated by him, and I by no means less than the others. This
+admiration lasted almost the whole of the remaining time during which I
+attended the school. When I went to the boarding-school, being now
+somewhat older, and regarded as almost a young woman, I was allowed to
+witness a representation of Faust. The part of Gretchen was played by an
+actress who is still of note to-day, and she made a most enduring
+impression on me. To my great delight I was unexpectedly presented to
+her, and she wrote a line or two in my album. Unfortunately, the
+headmistress would not allow us to go often to the theatre, a
+prohibition doubtless in part dependent on the high prices of the seats.
+But I still remember quite distinctly how I trembled with joy whenever I
+was allowed to go. I remember, too, that on one occasion, in which it
+had been arranged that I was to go to see a play in which this actress
+did not appear, I shammed illness in order to save up the price of the
+seat, go that I might use it on another occasion, on which I should be
+able to see her. This particular enthusiasm lasted as long as I
+remained at the boarding-school. When later I grew old enough to marry,
+and when with the approval of my parents a gentleman who appeared to
+love me (though, in fact, I think he was influenced rather by prudential
+motives) began to pay me his addresses, my fondness for the actress soon
+began to fade away. Even at the present day, however, I esteem this
+artiste very highly indeed, and the impression which she made on my
+imagination will never be entirely expunged from my memory. If I were to
+see her to-day, I should willingly kiss her hands, in thankfulness for
+the happy hours she has given me; but I do not believe that any erotic
+element now remains in my feeling for her. I may add that I do not love
+my husband passionately, although I love him well enough. Physical
+contact with the actress of whom I have spoken would not be positively
+repulsive to me, but such contact would, as far as I am concerned, be
+entirely devoid of sexual feeling, and the idea of sexual contact with a
+person of my own sex is very unpleasant to me; whereas in sexual
+intercourse with my husband I am perfectly normal." This patient does
+not belong to the class of sexually anæsthetic women; she feels the
+impulse towards sexual intercourse, and in intercourse she experiences
+normal enjoyment.
+
+I shall now discuss some of the general phenomena of the contrectation
+impulse in the child. Sanford Bell has published cases in which as early
+as the age of two years psychosexual phenomena have been observed. But
+in many of Bell's cases a sexual basis for the feelings of attraction
+does not appear to have been adequately proved to exist. Unquestionably,
+however, sexual phenomena are more frequently observed in proportion as
+the child's age increases. Although in the case of children it is very
+difficult for others to arrive at certainty regarding the sexual or
+non-sexual character of certain manifestations, still, in the eighth
+year of life, the phenomena of the contrectation impulse become so
+frequent--I am referring here to personal observations--that at this
+time of life these phenomena must be regarded, not merely as not
+pathological, but further, as not even abnormal. The older the child
+becomes, the more are the phenomena of the contrectation impulse
+complicated by those of detumescence. The processes of contrectation,
+however, may continue to manifest themselves during the first years of
+the period of youth in complete isolation from any apparent changes in
+the genital organs. The manifestations of what is known as "calf-love"
+commonly occur quite independently of any thought of sexual contact.
+
+Very various are the objects of this early attraction. Often a boy is
+attracted by a girl of about his own age; often, again, by a girl
+considerably older than himself. On the other hand, as has been
+previously shown, when the sexual attraction felt by the boy is
+exhibited towards one of his own sex, it may sometimes happen that the
+object of attraction is a boy of his own age, sometimes a man
+considerably older than himself. By no means rare are sexual
+inclinations on the part of boys towards their masters--in some cases a
+private tutor; in others, a schoolmaster. With girls similar variations
+are observed. A girl may love another girl of her own age, and this is
+extremely common in the case of girls at boarding-schools. But a boy, a
+friend of her brother's, may be the object of a girl's affection.
+Frequently, again, a girl may become attached to some one considerably
+older than herself, commonly a master or a governess. Persons playing
+some conspicuous part in life very readily inspire love: an artist, for
+instance; or an actress, about whom all the papers are writing, and of
+whom everyone is talking. In many cases, the personal appearance plays a
+considerable part in originating the attraction. At times, indeed,
+affection is inspired by individuals devoid of all personal charm. But,
+speaking generally, we shall find that to the child, no less than to the
+adult, in sexual relationships beauty is by no means indifferent. A
+pretty girl is more attractive to a boy than an ugly one. A handsome
+master will charm a girl much more than one who is ill-favoured or
+deformed. Other qualities besides beauty affect the issue. Effeminate
+boys or tomboyish girls are apt to be repulsive to other children; they
+are exposed to mockery and teasing of all kinds, and are very unlikely
+to give rise to erotic sentiments in their companions. It is by no means
+rare for the inclinations of children to be directed towards their own
+parents. In the case of many children who are fond of "getting into
+mother's bed," sexual sentiments lie at the root of the desire.
+Moreover, it is occasionally asserted that sexual differentiation
+manifests itself in this connexion in very early childhood, the little
+boy preferring to cuddle his mother; the little girl, on the other hand,
+to be caressed by her father. In the chapter on diagnosis, I shall
+consider the distinction of such sexual inclinations from other
+sympathetic feelings manifested in childhood. It is a remarkable fact
+that the first sexual inclinations are very rarely directed towards a
+child's own brother or sister. I have, indeed, been able to observe a
+considerable number of such exceptional instances, both homosexual and
+heterosexual in character. But, I repeat, such cases are comparatively
+rare. We must not, of course, confuse with genuine sexual inclinations
+and acts, cases in which from curiosity alone brothers and sisters
+indulge together in obscene conversation and even improper practices.
+Unquestionably, the lack of sexual sympathy between brothers and sisters
+depends upon a deeply rooted psychological causation. Above all, in this
+connexion, we have to bear in mind the slight degree of influence each
+exercises on the senses of the other, precisely in consequence of the
+long-continued, comparatively unrestrained intercourse between them.
+Further, the conventional factors implanted in mankind from earliest
+childhood play their part. Many, perhaps, will see an additional cause
+in teleological considerations, aiming at the avoidance of in-and-in
+breeding.
+
+Many lovers incline to the romantic transfiguration of the object of
+their affection, a process in which the imagination plays an important
+part; but for this to be possible, it is, of course, necessary that an
+age should have been attained at which the imagination is sufficiently
+active. The age at which the child has learned to delight in fairy-tales
+is here of importance; from the contents of such fairy-tales all kinds
+of ideas are transferred to the sexual sphere. Romantic embellishment
+plays a great part not merely in childhood, but also later in life; but
+in childhood, this tendency often exists to an extraordinary degree. The
+person whom a boy loves must be very highly placed; for example, during
+the period of the undifferentiated sexual impulse, he prefers a boy of
+the highest possible birth. Similarly, a young girl who loves a boy will
+invest him in imagination with every possible attribute of distinction
+and high rank. Often the love is directed towards a person of no
+concrete existence, or towards one who is unattainable.[35] We may
+sometimes be in doubt whether we have to do with sexual love, or whether
+some other sentiment may not be in operation. For example, the devotion
+to some saint of either sex may overpower all other feelings. Where a
+child is enamoured of some definite individual, self-deception occurs
+just as it does in adults similarly situated. The faults of the beloved
+one are imaginatively transmuted into virtues, or any possible excuse is
+found for them. Is a boy attracted by a girl known to be habitually
+untruthful? Especially when himself unaware that his interest is sexual,
+he looks out for every merit she may possibly possess, in order that his
+fondness may be justified. Her untruthfulness is transfigured as caution
+and cleverness; her vanity becomes neatness; idleness is excused on the
+ground that she has to attend to more important duties; and the boy
+regards his interest in the girl as exclusively friendly in character,
+and as justified by her superlative excellences. Sometimes, in children
+no less than in adults, a sexual inclination masquerades as an
+educational interest. Thus, under the influence of sexual attraction, a
+girl becomes intimate with a boy endowed with various bad qualities and
+impulses, and endeavours to utilise this intimacy for the boy's
+advantage, in order that he may free himself of his faults as he grows
+to manhood. Such a girl may succeed in persuading herself that this
+motive is the exclusive cause of her interest in the boy. A similar
+combination of educational and sexual motives is, moreover, often
+encountered in the case of homosexual sentiments.
+
+The child's sexual inclination may manifest itself in many different
+ways. It seeks every opportunity of seeing, of being in close proximity
+to, of touching, and of kissing the beloved person. Thus, many a boy
+takes part in the common sports, solely because the girl whom he loves
+is one of the players. Sanford Bell mentions numerous games in which
+children find pleasure chiefly for the reason that kissing plays a
+principal part in them. For kissing is one of the leading manifestations
+of sexual desire; and another is the wish for close proximity to and for
+embracing the beloved person. A mother who kept a close watch on her
+eight-year-old daughter told me that when in play a boy of ten pressed
+close up against the girl; they kissed one another somewhat
+passionately, and the boy broke out in the naïve utterance, "You don't
+know how fond I am of you; I do love you so." Not infrequently, indeed,
+children are really troublesome to adults in their desire for close
+physical contact. I have known instances in which young women or girls
+have been intolerably annoyed by boys eight or nine years of age, who
+have continually followed them about and pressed up against them; this
+has gone on for a long time without those concerned recognising the
+sexual foundation of such conduct. Love on the part of children almost
+invariably gives rise to the desire for physical contact of some kind.
+Of course, other manifestations also occur. Besides the contemplation of
+the beloved person, contemplation of his or her picture plays a notable
+part. A sexual motive occasionally underlies the wrestling so common
+among boys--in such cases it is the manifestation of a desire for
+intimate physical contact with the beloved boy. According to Sanford
+Bell, a boy and a girl may also wrestle with one another with the same
+end in view of attaining intimate contact; and he states that children
+lift one another with the same object. Moreover, children are induced to
+wrestle by sexual motives of a somewhat different character; the wish is
+operative to be overcome by, or, it may be, to overcome, the beloved
+boy. Herein we see displayed very clearly those sexual feelings known to
+us in adults under the names of masochism and sadism; the same feelings
+are occasionally observed also in childhood; in some cases as
+manifestations of the undifferentiated sexual impulse, in others as
+manifestations of developing sexual perversions.
+
+The more intensely passionate the love of the child, the more
+fantastical is its conduct. The child sometimes endeavours to imitate
+the beloved person in every detail, often with the most ridiculous
+results. A boy's mode of dress, even, may be influenced by his love for
+a girl, and still more by his love for another boy. The child tries also
+to imitate the movements of the beloved person, and in walking to tread
+in the same footsteps. The youthful knight seeks in every possible way
+to become pleasing to the girl of his choice, and to exhibit to her
+every attention in his power. He does all this, not merely in imitation
+of the conduct of grown-up persons, but for the gratification of his own
+impulses. Sometimes we are able to observe the changes of mood that
+occur in the child when the loved one is present or absent. The boy
+bubbles over with joy when the girl he loves draws near; sorrow and
+depression overwhelm him when the hour of parting is at hand. All kinds
+of fetichistic sentiments are also met with even in childhood. Every
+object belonging to the loved one is covered with passionate kisses; and
+everything which has been touched by the beloved, has been endowed for
+the child-lover with a quite exceptional value. "Those lovely girls whom
+kindly or cruel Nature has predestined to awaken desire and to call
+forth sighs at every footstep they take, are often unaware that among
+the crowd of their admirers are numbered boys also, who have hardly
+outgrown the age of childhood, who kiss in secret every flower which
+their beloved has let fall, who are happy if they have been able to
+steal like thieves into the room in which the fair one has slept, who
+kiss the carpet where her foot has pressed, to whom she is the most
+wonderful creature in the universe. And when a young woman allows a boy
+to sit on the ground beside her, resting his head on her knee, when her
+fingers play lightly among his curls, how rarely does she know that his
+heart is beating furiously under her caressing touch; when he throws
+back his curly head, and she sees that his face is reddened, she does
+not know that this is not simply on account of the heat of the fire, but
+that he is glowing from the effect of an internal fire whose nature is a
+mystery even to himself--the fire of Love."[36]
+
+Children have also ample experience of jealousy. A boy is tortured by
+its pangs when he sees his much-loved friend conversing with another. A
+girl of ten may suffer from sleepless nights when the governess she
+loves has spoken affectionately to another girl. A child may wait for
+hours before the door or in the neighbourhood of the beloved person,
+simply to snatch a glance in passing. Speaking generally, it appears to
+me that children are jealous of adults to a less extent than they are
+jealous of children of their own age.
+
+Very frequently even in childhood sexuality gives rise to enduring
+imaginative sexual activity. There results that which Hufeland in his
+_Makrobiotik_ terms psychical onanism, viz., the imaginative
+contemplation of a train of lascivious and voluptuous ideas. In many
+instances there even results a poetical treatment of the sexual topic.
+
+Among children, love-letters also play their part. Sometimes, indeed,
+their contents is so harmless that the sexual motive remains
+unsuspected; but in other cases, the child's sentiments are clearly
+displayed, even when the whole character of the letter is extremely
+naïve. Sometimes the letter appears out of harmony with the child's
+conduct in other respects. For example, I have seen cases in which,
+though in conversation children spoke to one another in an impassioned
+manner as "darling" and "my dear love," no such expressions were used
+by them in their letters. Verses are also composed by comparatively
+youthful lovers. As we should expect, such verses are commonly deficient
+in the matter of artistic technique. A lady who, when twelve years of
+age, had been enamoured of her governess, copied for me from her album
+the following verses:--
+
+
+  "Es gibt nichts schöneres auf der Welt,
+   Als wenn einem ein Wesen besonders gefällt;
+   Und fühlt man sich gezogen hin
+   Zu einer süssen Lehrerin,
+   Das ist ein Glück.
+   Und liebt man sie so inniglich,
+   Dann fürchtet wohl gar sehr man sich
+   Vorm Abschiedtag..."
+
+  "Of all things sweet beneath the sun,
+   The sweetest is to love but one;
+   And when the object of one's fondness
+   Is one's darling governess,
+   Supreme the joy.
+   And if one love her so intensely,
+   Then, of course, one dreads immensely
+   The day of parting...."
+
+In this style the poem continues for some time, and occasionally we come
+to verses showing that jealousy was felt:--
+
+  "O! Du Pauline sei kein Dieb,
+   Raub' mir nicht Fräulein ----'s Lieb'.
+   Die Eifersucht, die quält mich sehr
+   Und noch mit jedem Tage mehr.
+   Sie sucht mich heim selbst in der Nacht.
+   O Liebe, Du hast dies vollbracht."
+
+  "Pauline, you my anger move,
+   Stealing my Miss ----'s love.
+   From jealousy I've no release;
+   Day by day my pangs increase;
+   I've jealous thoughts too in the night.
+   Love, I suffer from thy might."
+
+Many of the accompaniments of love may make their appearance the very
+first time the passion awakens, such as the desire to please and to
+astonish the object of affection, whether by mental or by bodily
+excellence, A schoolmaster, of whom a child is enamoured, will
+frequently find that this child is more obedient and more diligent than
+all the others, the child endeavouring in every possible way to inspire
+a reciprocal admiration. I remember a girl who during her first years at
+school was extremely idle. Although by no means lacking in intelligence,
+all the efforts spent on her failed to bring about a proper advance. All
+at once she became most industrious; no task was too hard for her, and
+everyone wondered at the sudden change, until after a time the enigma
+was explained. The child, having conceived a great fondness for her
+schoolmistress, wished to please the latter by attention to her lessons.
+In addition, she was jealous; afraid lest the mistress should prefer
+some other girl. In many instances, where a child's behaviour is
+puzzling, such a solution of the riddle will become apparent when it is
+looked for. Boys, again, endeavour by feats of strength to make the
+greatest possible impression upon the girls of their choice, in
+gymnastic exercises, for example, in athletic sports, and games.
+Coquetry also occasionally manifests itself very early in life. Girls
+try to please boys by their dress, and in similar ways. In boys also
+similar phenomena may often be observed.
+
+Vanity, too, plays an important part, and this all the more because a
+child often wishes to appear older than his years, and despises childish
+ways. If a boy loves a girl several years older than himself, his
+sensitive pride will suffer if, as usually happens in such cases, the
+girl treats him as a child. Goethe, who at the age of ten was inspired
+by such a passion, describes it in _Wahrheit und Dichtung_. "Young
+Derones introduced me to his sister, who was a few years older than
+myself, a very agreeable girl, well-grown, regularly formed, a brunette,
+with black hair and eyes. Her whole expression was quiet, and even sad.
+I tried to please her in every possible way, but could not succeed in
+attracting her attention. Young girls are apt to regard themselves as
+greatly in advance of boys a little younger than themselves, and whilst
+they look up to young men, they assume the manners of an aunt towards
+any boy who makes them the object of his first love."
+
+The sense of shame makes its appearance in childhood. Havelock Ellis
+and others indeed deny this, pointing out how readily shyness is
+mistaken for the sense of shame. The error is common enough, but it
+certainly does not apply to all cases, for even in childhood we often
+enough encounter distinct manifestations of the sexual sense of shame. I
+shall not here discuss the question to what extent this sense is innate
+and to what extent acquired, since the matter will come up for
+consideration in later part of this book. Unquestionably, during
+childhood, the sense of shame in respect of certain processes may be
+awakened by means of imitation and education. Thus we may observe that
+many children, boys as well as girls, are greatly distressed, at any
+rate during the second period of childhood, at having to undress in the
+presence of others, and especially in the presence of persons of the
+opposite sex. It is interesting to learn that many homosexuals declare
+that even during childhood they felt ashamed when they were compelled to
+undress before someone of their own sex, whereas in the presence of a
+person of the opposite sex they were comparatively unashamed.
+
+Sanford Bell is of opinion that girl-children, although in them as in
+boys the sense of shame awakens comparatively early, are yet more
+aggressive than boys. I have not myself been able to observe any such
+difference. In the earlier years of childhood I have been unable to
+detect any notable difference in this respect between the sexes; but
+during the latter part of the second period of childhood, boys are
+unquestionably more active. In general, the girl-child, when in love,
+displays far less coyness and reserve than the young woman. In this
+respect the difference between children and adults is most marked. A
+girl of eleven, for example, will not make any difficulties about the
+exchange of love-letters with the boy she loves, or about appointments
+for secret meetings; whereas the young woman, at any rate when
+well-behaved and well brought up, is cautious in such matters. But none
+the less, I cannot admit that girls are more free in their behaviour in
+these respects than boys. We must not forget that many typical sexual
+differences do not develop until later in life; for this reason, if we
+observe in respect of the sense of shame that girls seem somewhat
+defective, we must contrast their condition with that which will
+subsequently develop as age advances, and not expect to find prematurely
+in the girl a keener sense of shame than is exhibited by the boy.
+
+Sanford Bell believes that at a certain period during childhood, namely,
+between eight and twelve years of age, manifestations of love are less
+noticeable than either earlier or later. He alleges as the reason of
+this that at this particular age the child tends to conceal its fondness
+from others, and perhaps even from the person beloved; hence it is
+difficult during these years to observe the phenomena. According to this
+view, the difference is apparent merely, and depends only upon greater
+secretiveness. It may, indeed, be regarded as proved that in the course
+of development, especially in the case of boys, there are certain years
+during which children are less inclined to seek the company of those of
+the opposite sex than either before or afterwards. This occurs
+especially during the period of hobbledehoyhood, during which boys take
+pleasure above all in rough sports. It has, indeed, been suggested that
+this phenomenon has a teleological significance, that nature is here
+pursuing a quite definite aim, to minimise by means of sexual antipathy
+the danger attendant on the awakening of the sexual impulse. We must
+not, however, over-value this self-help of the part of nature [if it
+exists], since, if boys and girls avoid one another, the perverse
+activities of the undifferentiated sexual impulse may very readily
+appear in place of the suppressed heterosexual manifestations.
+
+In the child, the moods of the amatory sentiment are exceedingly
+variable. To-day, the love may be romantic in character; to-morrow, on
+the other hand, rather sensual. To-day, a girl is enamoured of some
+friend of her father's; to-morrow, she is in love with some little
+friend of her brother's, or with one of her schoolmasters. A little
+later, a member of her own sex becomes the object of passion, a
+girl-friend of her own, or some actress of note. In general, especially,
+too, when the stage of the undifferentiated impulse has not been
+well-marked, we notice that as the years pass the inclination gradually
+comes to relate to older persons. Since the period of childhood embraces
+a comparatively small number of years, it is naturally not easy to
+establish this point with mathematical precision; but I have been led to
+form such an opinion by questioning a large number of persons of either
+sex. In this respect we sometimes observe that which, in the _Satyricon_
+of Petronius, Quartilla said long ago, when young Giton is united to the
+seven-year-old Pannychis. In free phraseology, Quartilla assures us that
+she has no remembrance of ever having been a virgin. "When I was a
+child, I made use of children for this purpose; as I became older,
+bigger boys served my turn; and thus, from stage to stage, I attained my
+present age."
+
+Thus we can explain how it sometimes happens that a fondness conceived
+in childhood may endure on into adult life, and may even culminate in
+marriage. In large towns, indeed, such an occurrence is comparatively
+rare, but in small towns and in the country, quite a number of instances
+have been brought to my notice. As children, the two have grown up
+together. Their reciprocal fondness originated long prior to the
+formation of any conscious sexual sentiments; subsequently, when such
+sentiments have arisen, and the sexual impulse has awakened, it is
+natural that sexual relations should often ensue. Since in the country
+(in contrast with large towns, in which prostitution is commonly
+rampant) premarital sexual intercourse is comparatively frequent, we can
+readily understand that such a relationship as has been described will
+often culminate in marriage, for in the country marriage is far less
+often prevented by the occurrence of pre-marital intercourse than it is
+in large towns.
+
+On the whole, however, the amatory manifestations of childhood are of
+brief duration. Separation at first gives rise to spiritual pain, but
+this is as a rule soon forgotten; similarly when the beloved one is
+snatched away by death, the child's grief is not enduring. Commonly such
+painful emotions speedily pass away; and whether the parting is due to
+death or to other causes, a new passion is apt shortly to replace the
+old. In exceptional cases, however, the death of the beloved one, or
+separation otherwise effected, may, even in the child lead to suicide or
+to severe nervous disturbances.
+
+Hitherto I have spoken of the processes of detumescence and
+contrectation as isolated manifestations. As regards the relationships
+between these respective processes, there are various possibilities. In
+the first place, one may exist when the other is absent, that is to say,
+the phenomena of detumescence or the phenomena of contrectation may
+appear in isolation. Secondly, the two processes may be in complete
+association each with the other. A boy of thirteen years feels the
+impulse to draw near to a girl, and to kiss her; when this close contact
+takes place, erection ensues. Of all the cases known to me, the earliest
+age at which such a phenomenon occurred is given in a case published by
+Féré.[37]
+
+Two cousins, boy and girl, were playmates from the time they were both
+about three years old. They played at being man and wife; and when they
+were not actually together, the boy's imagination was occupied with the
+subject. He thought continually about it, and when he was in bed at
+night erection occurred, accompanied by an agreeable sensation. He went
+to sleep, and dreamed that other persons got into bed with him and
+touched him. Among these persons was the little girl, his cousin. Such
+dreams recurred very frequently; the girl, moreover, was constantly in
+his waking thoughts. As he grew older, his fondness persisted; but when
+at the age of seventeen he made up his mind to tell his cousin of his
+love for her, she became engaged to someone else. Consequently he
+suffered from severe nervous shock.
+
+In the third place, the two processes, contrectation and detumescence,
+may occur simultaneously, without the detumescence being associated with
+the object of the contrectation impulse. Thus cases occur in which boys
+experience organic sensations in the genital organs leading them to
+masturbate, and at the same time love someone; and yet when in the
+company of, and even when embracing the beloved, such a boy will not
+experience any specific sensations in the genital organs, nor will any
+impulse arise towards sexual contact with the beloved person.
+
+When the two processes are associated in such a manner that proximity
+to the object of the contrectation impulse arouses the phenomena of
+detumescence, sexual acts between the two persons are very likely to
+result--provided, of course, that the affection is reciprocal. In this
+way many of the sexual acts effected between children originate; and the
+same is true of those in which children at times very readily lend
+themselves to the gratification of the sexual passion of adults. We
+learn from experience that in such cases attempts at actual intercourse
+may be made by children, usually accompanied by erection, but in most
+cases without ejaculation. I append a brief report of one case which
+came under my own observation.
+
+CASE 4.--X., twenty-one years of age, apparently sprung from a healthy
+family, and at least free from hereditary taint, declares that his first
+experience of sexual sensations occurred at the early age of five or six
+years; at this age he became enamoured of a servant girl, who caressed
+him very frequently, and pressed her genital organs against his body.
+Later, when eight or nine years old, he fell in love with a girl of
+about the same age, and made attempts at coitus. He remembers quite
+distinctly that he then had erections, and also a kind of voluptuous
+sensation, but no ejaculation. After continuing this practice for a
+considerable time, he became aware, being very religiously brought up,
+that he was behaving very wrongly. He therefore gave up all attempts at
+sexual congress, and lived quite chastely until he attained the age of
+nineteen. Throughout this time he neither masturbated, nor endeavoured
+to effect coitus, nor practised any kind of sexual act. At the age of
+nineteen, however, the sexual impulse becoming very powerful, he began
+to masturbate, and has continued to do so up to the present time---
+once, twice, thrice, or even four times weekly. Once he did not
+masturbate for as long as three months, but this was the only prolonged
+continent interval. He experiences a normal impulse towards members of
+the other sex. Prostitutes are repulsive to him; he is attracted chiefly
+by girls of exceptional intelligence. He feels quite certain that to
+kiss and embrace such a girl would be very pleasurable to him, although
+he is not aware of any definite impulse towards coitus. Masturbation
+has always been practised by him as a purely physical act,
+unaccompanied, that is to say, by any imaginative ideas.
+
+In most cases, the complete association of the processes of detumescence
+and contrectation, such as occurs in the impulse towards coitus, first
+takes place at a somewhat later age. This is so even when the sensory
+element, which constitutes a part also of the contrectation impulse, has
+been already clearly manifested. The contrectation impulse does not
+consist solely in this, that the boy experiences a purely spiritual love
+for the girl; it may rather happen that certain definite sexual bodily
+peculiarities in a woman attract him. When such a boy one day
+unexpectedly sees a girl's breasts, this may exercise on him a powerful
+stimulus. Similarly, I have known instances in which, in the absence of
+any evidence of definite seduction, a woman's genital organs have
+excited a very young boy, without arousing any idea in his mind of
+contact between _his own_ genitals and those of the woman. Conversely,
+on many girls, masculine attributes, and especially the male genital
+organs, sometimes exert a stimulating influence. But in these cases
+also, the complete fusion of the processes of detumescence and
+contrectation occurs very gradually. Sometimes the boy himself is
+greatly astonished to discover that close contact with a person whom he
+loves leads to erection and even ejaculation. At the outset the impulse
+is much less definite than it is in adults. It is by gradual stages only
+that the sense of indefinite longing develops into the impulse towards
+sexual union in coitus; at first the imagination contemplates pictures
+of a quite indefinite character.
+
+Although, as we have seen, the processes both of detumescence and of
+contrectation may manifest themselves primarily in childhood as
+associated conscious sensations, by far the most common event is for the
+processes of contrectation to appear separately, before those of
+detumescence. From an inquiry relating to eighty-six heterosexual men,
+who to the best of my belief were sexually normal, I ascertained that in
+more than 75 per cent., the feelings of contrectation appeared first,
+and not until after this had happened was the boy's consciousness
+attracted by sensations in the genital organs. This appears rather
+remarkable, inasmuch as we must assume that in the phylogeny of our
+species the processes of detumescence appeared earlier. Originally, in
+the earlier ancestral types, reproduction was effected by fission or
+gemmation (simple division or budding), without any necessity for
+conjugation with another individual of the species; and reproduction by
+gemmation corresponds to the processes of detumescence, to the
+ejaculation of the spermatozoa by the male. But although in most
+individuals the processes of detumescence make their appearance in
+consciousness only in a secondary manner, it does not follow that in the
+actual course of development they are also secondary. They do not,
+indeed, enter so early the sphere of conscious impulses, but there is a
+considerable amount of evidence to show that important processes are
+going on in the external genital organs long before consciousness is
+directly affected by these processes--consider, for example, the
+consequences of early castration.
+
+CASE 5.--This is a typical example of the primary awakening of the
+contrectation impulse, and the secondary superposition of the phenomena
+of detumescence. The patient is a man thirty-two years of age, somewhat
+neurasthenic, but, as far as I could ascertain, free from any other
+morbid manifestations. "At the age of seven I went to school; at first
+to a private school, in which little boys and girls were co-educated. In
+our playtime also the sexes were not separated; the girls came as
+friends to my house, and I visited them at theirs. Soon I became
+especially intimate with one of the girls; we did our lessons together.
+Thus it went on until I was nine years old, when I went to a school for
+boys only. My friendship with the girl at the other school persisted,
+however; we met from time to time, and all the more readily because a
+friendship had sprung up between our respective parents; they used to
+make holiday journeys together, and we children went with them. From the
+time when we were first at school together, this girl had always been
+more dear to me than the others, I do not know what it was in her by
+which I was particularly charmed. Was it that her general appearance
+seemed sympathetic to me; was it her abundant fair hair, her clear blue
+eyes, or her frank and natural manner? I do not know. But I remember
+quite distinctly that this same girl was a favourite with the other boys
+also, that they preferred to play with her, to have her as their
+companion. But it was to me that the girl, and perhaps her parents also,
+gave the preference. There was never any impropriety in our mutual
+relations; indeed, it is probable that I loved her too much for anything
+of the kind to be possible. Every night, before I went to sleep, I
+prayed to God to watch over this girl. As I have said before, my
+fondness was reciprocated; we often spoke to one another about our love,
+and of our dreams of the happy days to come, when we should be grown up,
+and should become man and wife. This was quite a settled matter; we had
+arranged every detail, how the wedding should be conducted, and whom we
+should invite to the ceremony. With this girl I shared all my
+possessions, although before I knew her I had been considered
+close-fisted. I was often angry when in games with the other girls she
+failed to win. In a word I can truthfully declare that I have hardly
+ever since loved so fondly and so sincerely as I did then. When I went
+to the boys' school, it was no longer possible for us to be together as
+much as before. Thus it came to pass, that the less we saw of one
+another, the less were my thoughts occupied with this girl. But I cannot
+remember that my fondness for her was ever replaced by a similar passion
+for a boy; nor, speaking generally, can I recall having ever at any time
+had any kind of sexual inclination towards one of my own sex. I would
+not venture absolutely to deny that this ever occurred; but, bearing in
+mind what I have learned from you on several occasions, I have carefully
+taxed my memory, and can only repeat what I told you at first, that I
+remember nothing of the kind. Somewhat later, in my dreams, boys
+occasionally played a part, but I cannot recall that these dreams about
+boys had any sexual complexion. They were vague images of boys
+sympathetic to me, but these dreams were not accompanied by any
+excitement of the genital organs, or by any other sexual manifestation.
+When I was thirteen years of age, my parents and those of my girl-friend
+had taken us to spend the summer at a seaside resort. The girl and I
+played together on the seashore, and occasionally, though we were now
+somewhat old for such an amusement, we dug sand-castles. As small
+children we had from time to time embraced one another, but a kiss had
+been the most intimate contact we had experienced. One day we were
+playing on the shore--I remember it very distinctly--and were rolling
+about together in the sand; thus occupied we came into close physical
+contact, and thereupon I had an erection. I remember too that the
+sensation of this was very agreeable. I cannot describe this agreeable
+feeling with precision, but there was no sense of sexual gratification,
+nor definite voluptuous sensation. From this time forward I always had
+the desire for close bodily contact with the girl. Moreover she was
+continually in my thoughts, and this to a much greater extent than
+formerly. It was my desire to gain a harmless pleasure by being always
+with her; it was impossible for me to imagine that we should ever be
+separated. I had naturally heard a great deal about marriage. With these
+and with similar thoughts I was occupied, but I cannot recall my
+thoughts in a more detailed manner. But to this day I remember very
+clearly my desire that the girl and I should never be separated from one
+another. We returned home, and in the ensuing winter, as in previous
+winters, we met at intervals. Naturally, physical contact was now much
+more difficult. One night I had a dream with seminal emission. Then, as
+for a long time before, I had been thinking a great deal about the girl;
+I dreamed of one of the scenes on the seashore which I have just
+described; it was in this dream that I had my first seminal emission. My
+fondness for the girl persisted. Only when she left the day-school in
+the town, and was sent away to a boarding-school, did my passion
+gradually abate. At first when she went away, I felt very unhappy and
+very lonely. My parents forced me to go out for walks with other boys
+and to play with them; I did so only with the greatest reluctance.
+Later, the girl did not disappear completely from my circle of
+acquaintances, but I lost all interest in her. From school I went to the
+university, having just before begun to masturbate. From the time I went
+to the university until the present day I have occasionally had
+intercourse with women, and my sexual development has been perfectly
+normal."
+
+In so far as in what has gone before I have described the individual
+processes, there appear to be no important differences between the boy
+and the girl, over and above those dependent upon the different
+structure of the genital organs in the respective sexes. But one notable
+difference must now be indicated. Just as in adult life in the female
+sex sexual anæsthesia is very frequently observed, so that in coitus the
+specific voluptuous sensation is wanting, and indeed often enough the
+impulse to coitus itself is actually in abeyance (whereas in men the
+sexual impulse and sexual pleasure are very rarely absent), so also in
+the case of children a similar difference between the sexes is
+conspicuous. In female children the peripheral processes of the sexual
+impulse are, comparatively speaking, far less active than in the case of
+males. Thus it happens that, although in the girl the phenomena of the
+contrectation impulses are hardly, if at all, less conspicuous than they
+are in the boy, and appear at as early an age in the former as they do
+in the latter, yet in respect of detumescence there is an important
+distinction between girls and boys. A girl who has fallen in love with a
+boy will be greatly interested in all his doings, and will gladly
+embrace and even kiss him; but she will be far less disposed to proceed
+to actions in which the genital organs play a part than would a boy with
+a like affection for a girl. The same rule holds good when, in the
+undifferentiated stage of the sexual impulse, homosexual sentiments and
+practices ensue. In such cases, when girls are concerned, caresses of
+all kinds will follow, but the genital organs will in all probability
+not be involved; whereas in the case of an analogous fondness between
+two boys, manipulation of the genital organs is very likely to occur.
+Homosexual intimacies between girls are far more often platonic than
+similar intimacies between boys.
+
+
+I have had occasion several times to allude to the practice of
+masturbation[38] by children, and will now proceed to give a more
+detailed description. I have previously alluded to masturbation as a
+manifestation of the detumescence impulse. Much more frequently,
+however, it occurs in those in whom the phenomena of the contrectation
+impulse have also been previously manifested. Sometimes it is a purely
+organic act, the individual masturbating in the entire absence of any
+imaginative sexual ideas; but at other times the imagination plays a
+notable part in the process, alike in children and in adults. When an
+imaginative idea is concerned in the process of masturbation, it is the
+idea of the object of the contrectation impulse; that is to say, the boy
+when masturbating thinks now of a girl, now, again (and this especially
+during the undifferentiated stage of the sexual impulse), of a boy, or
+in many cases of an adult; in the cases of girls who masturbate similar
+relationships obtain, Just as during youth masturbation is more commonly
+practised in association with than without imaginative sexual ideas, so
+also is it in the case of children; and even though imaginative activity
+may often be in abeyance when the masturbatory act is begun, during the
+progress of the act the imagination usually comes into operation. None
+the less, masturbation of a purely mechanical kind, in which the
+imagination plays no part, is comparatively more common during childhood
+than it is during youth. The peripheral processes of the detumescence
+impulse and the central processes of the contrectation impulse are not
+at this early age so intimately associated as they are later in life.
+Even when the contrectation impulse is already awakened, as usually
+happens before the detumescence impulse becomes active, when the
+detumescence impulse finally manifests itself, its gratification by
+means of masturbation without any imaginative activity is comparatively
+common in children. In such cases artificial stimulation of the genital
+organs is effected quite independently of the longing for intimate
+physical contact with and the embraces of another individual.
+
+In an earlier chapter (pp. 31, 32) I have explained that in the adult
+the voluptuous sensation is closely associated with the psychosexual
+perceptions, associated, that is to say, with the mode of the
+contrectation impulse; I stated that as a rule the voluptuous sensation
+was experienced to the full in those cases only in which the sexual act
+was one adequate to the contrectation impulse of the person concerned.
+But when the association between the processes of detumescence and those
+of contrectation has not yet occurred, the voluptuous sensation is
+independent of the contrectation impulse. This explains the fact that in
+the child both the peripheral voluptuous sensation, and also the
+voluptuous acme and the sense of satisfaction, are more frequently
+independent of the processes of contrectation than is the case in the
+adult Gradually the two groups of processes become associated with one
+another; and, as we have learned, this association frequently occurs
+even in childhood. In the latter case, the voluptuous acme and the
+subjective sense of satisfaction ensue only when the sexual act or the
+sexual idea is adequate. But we must always remember that in the child
+more often than in the adult the voluptuous acme and the sense of
+satisfaction occur independently of the processes of contrectation.
+
+An ejaculation of fluid secretions does not invariably occur when
+masturbation is practised. Whereas in the adult masturbation ordinarily
+culminates in ejaculation, in the child this is not usually the case; at
+any rate, as regards many children the occurrence of ejaculation is not
+demonstrable. I refer in this connexion to what I have already stated on
+page 54 _et seq._ It is self-evident from what has been previously said
+that during the second period of childhood masturbation is more likely
+than during the first period to culminate in ejaculation.
+
+The methods by which the artificial stimulation of the genital organs is
+effected are extremely variable. The commonest way to masturbate is with
+the hands, but this is by no means the invariable practice. All kinds of
+little artifices are employed, partly to render it possible to
+masturbate unobserved in the presence of others, and partly in order to
+increase the intensity of the stimulus. Boys sometimes manipulate their
+genital organs through their trouser pockets; some even make a hole in
+the pocket to enable them to masturbate more effectually. In other
+cases, children, especially girls, lean against some article of
+furniture--a chair or a table--apparently in a harmless manner, but
+really in such a way that pressure is exercised upon the genital
+organs, which are stimulated by pressure or friction. In some, strong
+mechanical stimulation is required; in others, weaker stimuli suffice,
+because the way has previously been sufficiently prepared by psychical
+processes. In female children frequently, but less often in males,
+masturbation is effected by rubbing the crossed thighs one against the
+other. We learn from many girls that they tie a knot in the nightgown or
+chemise, and masturbate by rubbing this against the genital organs. I
+must allude also to horseback riding, working the treadle of a sewing
+machine, cycling, the vibration of a carriage or railway train in
+motion; we must, however, be careful not to attach undue importance to
+these factors of masturbation, for in such cases much depends upon the
+individuality, and much also upon the external mechanical conditions---
+as, for instance, on the construction of the saddle used in cycling and
+the like. In the case of the male genital organs, the glans penis is the
+most sensitive portion, and mechanical stimulation of this structure in
+especial is likely to induce the practice of masturbation; in the case
+of the female genital organs, on the other hand, it is the clitoris
+which is most sensitive, and of which, therefore, we have especially to
+think in this connexion. But there is a tendency to overestimate the
+proportion of cases in which stimulation of the glans penis, in the
+male, or the clitoris, in the female, is the exciting cause of
+masturbation. In a very large number of cases of masturbation, it is not
+the glans, but some other portion of the penis, which is the focus of
+stimulation. In girls, also, in numerous instances, masturbation is
+effected by stimulation of the labia minora, and I am inclined to
+believe that the importance of the labia minora is in this respect not
+inferior to that of the clitoris. In solitude, and above all in bed,
+masturbation can naturally be effected much more readily. Some little
+girls grasp a pillow between their legs in such a way as to give rise to
+a masturbatory stimulus. Others introduce cylindrical objects into the
+vagina, a practice much commoner among fully-grown girls than among
+children. Still, physicians are sometimes called on to remove such
+articles from the vaginæ of quite little girls. But it is an error to
+suppose that the hymen is frequently ruptured by practices of this kind;
+the rupture of the hymen is far too painful for it to be likely to be
+effected during masturbation.
+
+Erogenic zones, that is to say, areas of the surface of the body whose
+stimulation gives rise, directly or indirectly, to voluptuous
+sensations, are met with often in early childhood. First of all we have
+those parts of the genital organs mentioned in the last paragraph;
+secondly, other regions of the body. Thus, in some individuals,
+stimulation of the anal and gluteal regions gives rise to voluptuous
+sensations. Freud[39] maintains that voluntary retention of the fæces is
+utilised for this purpose, but this appears to me very doubtful. In many
+children, however, gentle scratching of the anal region or the buttocks,
+and also more powerful stimulation of the gluteal region, such as occurs
+in flagellation, are associated with sexual excitement. Some children,
+with this end in view, stimulate the anal region with the finger or with
+some instrument. Other erogenic zones are also at times found in
+children, but not often; whereas in adults such erogenic zones are
+numerous, but differ greatly in different individuals. In this
+connexion, I need merely allude to the production of voluptuous
+sensations by tickling the nape of the neck.
+
+Attempts have often been made to determine the comparative frequency of
+masturbation in the two sexes. On one point at least all writers are
+agreed, viz., that of boys an overwhelming majority masturbate
+occasionally. The only point in dispute is whether there are any
+exceptions. For my own part, I am confident that exceptions exist. I
+have received direct information on the point from leading men of
+science, and from others whose absolute veracity I have never had any
+reason to doubt. Healthy men, endowed with a normal sexual impulse, are
+occasionally to be found who have never masturbated at all. I go
+further, and believe that such persons are by no means so rare as many
+authorities maintain. Nevertheless, as regards the male sex, differences
+of opinion are, after all, not very extensive, since it is only in
+relation to a minority that these differences exist. But when we pass
+to the question of the extent of masturbation among girls, the
+differences become more acute. On this point also I have endeavoured to
+obtain exact information by means of numerous inquiries, with the
+following results. Among girls, masturbation is less general than it is
+among boys. Among those who have never masturbated during girlhood, we
+find women who as adults have powerful sexual impulse. On the other
+hand, many girls who masturbate do so very often. I believe, indeed,
+that cases in which masturbation is performed twice or thrice in brief
+succession are _relatively_ commoner among girls than they are among
+boys. As regards this point my own experience harmonises with that of
+Guttceit.[40] On the other hand, Guttceit's assumption that almost all
+girls who attain the age of eighteen or twenty years without any
+opportunity for sexual intercourse practise masturbation conflicts with
+my own experience. I am acquainted with a number of women of a fairly
+ardent temperament who do not masturbate, although they have no
+opportunity for sexual intercourse. Moreover, this view is confirmed by
+the common experience regarding the relative sexual anæsthesia of women;
+it is an admitted fact that complete sexuality is in women far less
+readily awakened than it is in men.
+
+I must take this opportunity of referring at some length to a matter
+which, though somewhat obscure, is none the less profoundly interesting.
+In many instances sexual excitement occurs in children as the result of
+a feeling of anxiety; in boys such anxiety may lead to ejaculation, with
+or without erection, and with more or less voluptuous sensation. A
+schoolboy informed me that he had had a seminal emission with a slight
+sense of voluptuous pleasure when in class he was in difficulties with a
+passage of unseen translation, and he was afraid he would be unable to
+finish the passage before the end of the lesson. Another reported to me
+a precisely similar experience; he was overcome with anxiety during a
+written examination, and had a seminal emission. A third had an
+ejaculation when, being detected in some offence against school
+discipline, he was sent for by the headmaster, and was afraid he would
+be expelled. Quite a number of similar cases have been reported to me of
+sexual excitement occurring in childhood as a sequel to anxiety. I have
+recorded the facts, and do not propose to discuss exhaustively the
+theoretical aspect of the matter. Perhaps the phenomenon is allied to
+masochism, since anxiety is to a certain extent painful. We may also, in
+this connexion, think of the seminal emissions sometimes observed in
+cases of suicidal hanging. Freud's theory may also be mentioned, that
+the anxiety-neurosis is referable to certain sexual processes; but we
+must not forget that Freud makes a similar assumption in the case of
+other neuroses as well. Stekel,[41] one of Freud's pupils, in an
+elaborate monograph, also lays stress on the sexual factor of the
+anxiety-neurosis. In my own view, however, Freud's generalisation is too
+comprehensive; inasmuch as he symbolises all things in accordance with
+his own peculiar preconceptions, the concept sexual receives, in his
+hands, an undue extension. But I do not deny the occasional association
+of sexual excitement with a sense of anxiety. Certain boys would appear
+to have a peculiar predisposition to the occurrence of such processes;
+at any rate, several persons have told me that during childhood they had
+frequently had ejaculations as a result of feelings of anxiety. As a
+rule, however, each of these persons has had such an experience either
+once only, or but very few times. Two identical instances have been
+reported to me as occurring in girls--ejaculation with an indefinite
+voluptuous sensation as a sequel of anxiety. These girls were from
+thirteen to fourteen years of age. In one of the two, the phenomenon
+recurred several times; and even at the present day, when she is a
+fully-grown woman, she occasionally experiences ejaculation in connexion
+with a feeling of anxiety.
+
+CASE 6.--A student, twenty years of age, described his experiences to me
+in the following terms:--As regards his sexual development, he remembers
+that he was sixteen years of age when he first experienced sexual
+sensations. Before this time he had been told by other boys about sexual
+intercourse, masturbation, and many other things. He had, however,
+never masturbated, though he had once or twice attempted to do so. One
+day, when he was in the Upper Second Class, a mathematical problem was
+given out, and as he found a difficulty in solving it, he became
+anxious, all the more because his chances of promotion to a higher class
+were largely dependent on his success. When he had barely finished half
+the necessary calculations, the master announced that there were only
+ten minutes left, at the end of which time the exercise books would be
+collected. Thereupon his anxiety became extreme, and simultaneously he
+experienced his first seminal emission. He is unable to give a more
+detailed description of what occurred, and does not remember having had
+an erection; but, as he expresses it, the sensation was extremely
+pleasant. Subsequently, when in the First Class, the same experience
+recurred several times, that is to say, he had a seminal emission as a
+result of a similar feeling of anxiety. In other respects his sexual
+development was normal. Seminal dreams were accompanied by the idea of
+contact with a woman. On one occasion, however, he had a seminal
+emission during the night in association with a feeling of anxiety. He
+dreamed that he was being pursued by a mad dog, when suddenly he became,
+as it were, paralysed and unable to run a single step further. The
+consequent acute anxiety culminated in emission.
+
+
+During sleep, sexually mature men and many sexually mature women have
+from time to time involuntary sexual orgasms;[42] these occur chiefly in
+persons without opportunities for sexual intercourse, who do not
+practise masturbation. In such involuntary orgasms the male ejaculates
+semen, the female indifferent glandular secretions. As a rule, the
+ejaculation is accompanied not merely by a voluptuous sensation, but
+also by a psychical process corresponding with the mode of sexual
+sensibility of the person concerned. A normal man during the orgasm
+dreams that he is embracing a woman; a normal woman that she is
+embracing a man; a homosexual man dreams of the embraces of another man.
+The dream-ejaculation is distinguished from the waking act of
+intercourse to this extent, that in the former the ejaculation usually
+takes place during the preparatory stages to the act of
+intercourse--during kissing, physical contact, or the embrace--so that
+the dream stops short of complete sexual intercourse. But in other
+respects the dream ordinarily corresponds to the psychical processes of
+the waking state. The same correspondence exists as regards sexual
+dreams that do not culminate in ejaculation. Children also experience
+sexual dreams either with or without orgasm. In those who have never
+masturbated in the waking state, a sexual dream is commonly the cause of
+the first experience of ejaculation; and this occurs more often than is
+generally believed. More especially in the female sex I have come across
+many cases in which the orgasm made a primary appearance during sleep.
+In both sexes alike it is usual for psychosexual phenomena to manifest
+themselves before the erotic dream makes its appearance; a boy, for
+instance, will during his waking life have felt an attraction towards
+members of the other sex before he has begun to dream of embracing a
+girl. We must not, however, forget that, apart from those cases in which
+a dream beyond question first unveils to consciousness the psychosexual
+life, dreams are forgotten very rapidly indeed, especially when the
+memory is not stimulated by so vivid an occurrence as the sexual orgasm.
+Hence, even though it is true that the psychosexual life commonly
+appears to begin during the waking state, we must admit that it is quite
+likely that psychosexual dreams may have previously occurred and have
+been forgotten. Thus, in many individuals, sexual perversions make their
+first appearance in dreams. It has even been suggested that dreams may
+exercise a similar influence to that of post-hypnotic suggestion; that
+is to say, that a dream may be the actual originating cause of sexual
+perversion. This is a matter which I cannot discuss further, more
+especially in view of the fact that the whole idea is too hypothetical.
+
+The earlier the age at which the child begins to ripen sexually, the
+earlier do sexual dreams and nocturnal ejaculations make their
+appearance. I have known of numerous instances in which children ten or
+eleven years of age have had sexual dreams; occasionally, even, I have
+been informed of the occurrence of such dreams in children of seven or
+eight years of age. In children, as in adults, the object which is
+sexually exciting in the waking state plays a leading part in the sexual
+dream. But in the sexual dreams of children the imagination is even more
+active than it is in the sexual dreams of adults. All kinds of perverse
+dreams may, in children, accompany the emission, even when the
+corresponding ideas have no erotic association in the waking state.
+Things of which the child has learned from fairy tales, stories of
+robbers, of imprisoned or enchanted princesses, princes, fettered
+slaves--all may play a part in the psychosexual processes of the
+dream-life. Anyone unaware of the fact that in the great majority of
+children this tendency disappears spontaneously in the course of the
+further development of the sexual life might too readily infer the
+existence of some morbid perversion. In such instances we must, indeed,
+bear in mind the possibility of sexual perversion, especially in view of
+the fact that sexually perverse adults are often able to trace back into
+childhood the memory of sexual dreams characteristic of their peculiar
+type of perversion. Occasionally the feelings of anxiety of which we
+have spoken above may, even in dreams, lead to the occurrence of
+involuntary ejaculations. Thus we are told of dreams of pursuit by
+robbers or by wild animals, or of dreams of missing a train the dreamer
+has been running to catch, in which ejaculations occur. In isolated
+cases the dreams of children which are associated with ejaculations may
+be quite indistinct; in such cases, just as sometimes in the sexual
+dreams of adults, it is impossible to recognise any definite
+relationship to the psychosexual feelings of the waking state. In this
+connexion no difference between the sexes can be shown to exist, except
+this, that, at any rate as far as my own experience goes, nocturnal
+ejaculations are much more often absent in girls than in boys.
+Occasionally, manual or other artificial stimulation of the genital
+organs is effected during sleep; I have myself known several instances
+of this, both in boys and in girls. In several cases, at least, there
+were satisfactory grounds for believing that we were not concerned with
+masturbation practised at night in the waking state, but all the
+indications pointed to the fact that the processes wore carried on
+unconsciously during sleep. In isolated cases I have had children
+watched throughout the night, in order to clear up this point, and my
+conclusion was thus confirmed that children do at times play with the
+genital organs during sleep.
+
+A classical description of her first nocturnal orgasm is given by Madame
+Roland in her _Mémoires Particuliers_,[43] written during the last
+months of her life in prison in Paris at the time of the Terror. She
+menstruated for the first time, she informs us, soon after she had been
+partially enlightened regarding sexual matters by her grandmother. Even
+before menstruation began, she had experienced sexual excitement in
+dreams. "I had sometimes been awakened from a deep sleep in a most
+remarkable manner. My imagination played no part in what occurred; it
+was occupied with far more serious matters, and my tender conscience was
+far too strictly on guard against the deliberate pursuit of pleasure for
+me to make any attempt to dwell in imagination on what I regarded as a
+forbidden province of thought. But an extraordinary outbreak awakened my
+senses from their quiet slumber, and, my constitution being a very
+vigorous one, a process whose nature and cause were equally unknown to
+me made its appearance spontaneously. The first result of this
+experience was the onset of great mental anguish; I had learned from my
+'Philothea'[44] that it was forbidden to enjoy any bodily pleasure,
+except in lawful wedlock; this teaching recurred to my mind; the
+sensations I had experienced could certainly be described as
+pleasurable; I had, therefore, committed a sin, and, indeed, a sin of
+the most shameful and grievous character, because it was the sin most of
+all displeasing to the Lamb without blemish and without spot. Great
+disturbance of mind, prayers and penances; how could I avoid a
+repetition of the offence? for I had not foreseen it in any way, but in
+the moment of the experience I had taken no trouble to prevent it. My
+watchfulness became extreme; I noticed that when lying in certain
+positions I was more exposed to the danger, and I avoided these
+positions with anxious conscientiousness. My uneasiness became so great
+that ultimately I came to wake up before the catastrophe. When unable to
+prevent it, I would jump out of bed, and, notwithstanding the cold of
+winter, stand bare-footed on the polished floor, crossing my arms, and
+praying earnestly to God to guard me from the snares of Satan." She goes
+on to describe her subsequent attempts to mortify the flesh by means of
+fasting.
+
+I have hitherto described the individual sexual processes which are
+observed during childhood, I have already explained that in some, one
+process, in some, another process, is alone present, or, at any rate,
+preponderates. For instance, a girl may be sexually attracted towards a
+boy without the genital organs playing any conscious part in the
+attraction. But the converse may also occur. Moreover, the strength of
+the sexual feeling is subject to extensive individual variations. In
+some children the sexual impulse is so powerful that scandalous
+misconduct can hardly be avoided; on the other hand, we see cases in
+which the sexual impulse manifests itself at the normal age, but is so
+weak that it can scarcely be said to play any important part in the
+consciousness of the child. This is true of both components of the
+sexual impulse, of the phenomena of contrectation, no less than of those
+of detumescence. Formerly it was very generally believed that in
+sexually perverse persons the sexual sensations awakened unusually early
+in life. There is no foundation for this view. Normal sexual sensations
+can be detected very early in childhood. The existence of these was
+ignored, simply because the study of the normal was neglected for the
+study of the perverse. Moreover, the strength of the sexual sensations
+has no necessary association with the existence of perversions; these
+latter sometimes occur without being particularly strong. On the other
+hand, qualitatively normal sexual sensations may be associated with
+sexual hyperæsthesia, and they may attain a notable strength even during
+childhood.
+
+In the third chapter I showed that in childhood the sexes are
+differentiated both physically and mentally, altogether apart from the
+genital organs and the sexual impulse; and I pointed out that games in
+particular afforded indications of mental sexual differentiation. Many
+games, indeed, may even be regarded as direct manifestations of the
+sexual impulse, and I must therefore now return to the consideration of
+this topic; but I shall confine myself to certain phenomena observable
+in the animal world, since the games of animals are, in this connexion,
+so much simpler than those of children. Play constitutes a major part of
+the activities of young animals; think, for instance, of a kitten
+playing with a hanging tassel or with a ball, of puppies chasing one
+another, and of young birds playing with fluttering wings. The games of
+young animals often exhibit the character of love-games, and are in that
+case sexually differentiated. Various authors, and especially Brehm,
+have recorded numerous examples of this; I give here a few instances,
+quoted from Groos.[45] The young male, even before its testicles have
+developed, woos the female by movements, song, or other characteristic
+sounds. The female, also sexually immature, responds coquettishly to
+these advances of the male. Song, which Brehm regards as a sign of the
+awakening of love, makes its appearance at an age when the animal is
+still unfitted for the reproductive act.
+
+"Young magpies (_Corvus pica_) address one another in September, and
+often in August and in October, in consecutive clucking notes, and in
+this way make exactly the same kind of noise that they are always heard
+making in early spring just before the pairing season. The young male
+green woodpecker (_Picus viridicanus_) sings in September as beautifully
+as in April, as I have myself heard more than once; the young great
+spotted woodpecker (_Picus major_) may even be heard at times in autumn,
+just as in spring, making his characteristic tapping sound as he
+explores hard branches in search of insects. Both varieties of creeper
+begin to sing before they have changed their youthful plumage; their
+song closely resembles that of the adult birds in spring, but the note
+is somewhat shorter and weaker. Similarly, both the German varieties of
+crossbill commonly begin to sing before losing the plumage
+characteristic of youth. Young house-sparrows and hedge-sparrows not
+only chatter and swear at one another like the full-grown birds at
+pairing time, but also like the latter the young birds distend their
+throats, let their wings droop, peck at one another, and in fact behave
+as exactly as they will next spring when fully grown. Young linnets also
+begin to sing before losing their youthful plumage, learn to sing well
+during the moulting season, and often continue to warble right on into
+the winter; in a mild winter young linnets will sing just as well as old
+ones. The young woodlark begins to sing as soon as its first moulting is
+nearly over, and not only does this when perching, but flies aloft like
+the adult bird in the spring-time, and soars for a long time, singing
+continually. Titmice all sing when still quite young, but more
+especially the large crested titmouse and the marsh titmouse; the notes
+of the young marsh titmouse are precisely similar to those with which in
+spring the adult bird sings to his mate; and as regards the crested
+titmouse, in October 1821, I observed a young male bird making advances
+of a most marked character to a young hen, whilst the hen drooped its
+wings and spread out its tail--in short, these two young birds were
+behaving exactly as do the full-grown birds before pairing in the
+spring. The young cock starling conducts itself precisely as if it
+wished to pair. At the beginning of September, as soon as moulting is
+completed, this bird returns to its birthplace, apparently in order to
+take possession of the nest. It perches on the tree-top, just like the
+full-grown bird in March, and sings almost for the whole morning. While
+still perching, it flaps its wings, quarrels with and chases other young
+starlings; sometimes it even creeps into the hollow tree or other
+hiding-place containing the nest in which it was hatched. The yellow
+wagtail sings while still in its youthful plumage, and the young birds
+chase one another about while in this condition; during and immediately
+after the first moulting, these birds produce peculiar trilling notes,
+identical with those with which in April the cock bird salutes his mate,
+and they may also be seen in the remarkable fluttering flight
+characteristic of many birds in the pairing season. The grey wood wren
+begins to sing before the first moulting, but sings more powerfully
+during and after moulting, right on into the month of October, singing
+like a full-grown bird. At the same time this bird twists the body from
+side to side, and moves the tail to and fro; it quarrels also with birds
+of its own species, and quarrels, too, with other birds, sometimes with
+birds as much as four times its own size. In August and September young
+mountain fowl and heath fowl utter love calls to each other, not,
+indeed, so loudly as those of the adult birds, nor in association with
+the characteristic movements of the body made by these latter in the
+spring-time, but still unmistakable love calls.... According to Hudson,
+many kinds of American woodpecker carry on a kind of duet, and they
+practise this artistic performance from the very earliest youth. On
+meeting, the male and female, standing close together, and facing each
+other, utter their clear ringing concert, one emitting loud single
+measured notes, while the notes of its fellow are rapid, rhythmical
+triplets; their voices have a joyous character, and seem to accord, thus
+producing a kind of harmony. This manner of singing is perhaps most
+perfect in the oven-bird (_Furnarius_), and it is very curious that the
+_young birds, when only partially fledged_, are constantly heard in the
+nest or oven apparently practising these duets in the intervals when the
+parents are absent; single measured notes, triplets, and long concluding
+trills are all repeated with wonderful fidelity, and in character these
+notes are utterly unlike the hunger cry, which is like that of other
+fledglings."
+
+In such cases as those just enumerated, actual copulation is not
+effected; but animals still sexually immature may perform coitus-like
+acts, and Groos's work contains observations of these made by Seitz and
+others. Seitz saw an antelope six weeks old making copulatory movements.
+In young dogs such movements may often be observed, also in young
+stallions and young bulls.
+
+The view that in such cases the movements are imitative merely is
+untenable, for young animals which have never had any opportunity of
+watching the physical manifestations of love in older ones, will
+nevertheless themselves exhibit such manifestations. At most it remains
+open to dispute whether in these cases it is still permissible to speak
+of love-games, as do Groos and others, or whether we should not rather
+speak simply of manifestations of the activity of the sexual impulse.
+But the dispute does not involve differences of opinion regarding
+matters of fact; it is purely terminological. For, in the first place,
+Groos himself, who regards the games of childhood as a form of training,
+suitable to the nature of the individual, for its subsequent activities,
+recognises that games are sexually differentiated. He believes that we
+have to do, not, as some think, with imitative processes, but with
+preliminary practice, subserving the purposes of self-development; and
+he considers that girls naturally turn to games adapted to train them
+for their subsequent profession of motherhood, whilst boys incline to
+games corresponding to their predestined activity as men. Even if we
+accept this theory of Groos, we are compelled to recognise a sexual
+element in the games of youthful animals. In addition, however, we must
+note the fact that Groos gives a wider extension to the concept of play
+than other writers, and that he regards as love-games processes which
+others might perhaps describe as sexual manifestations. According to
+Groos, caressing contact is to be regarded as playful when, in the
+serious intercourse between the sexes, such contact appears to be merely
+a preliminary activity rather than an end in itself. Here two cases are
+possible: in one the carrying out of the instinctive activity to its
+real end is prevented by incapacity or by ignorance; in the other, it is
+prevented by a deliberate exercise of will. The former occurs in
+children; the latter, often enough in adults. Whatever view we hold
+regarding this matter, the sexually differentiated love-games of young
+animals must be regarded as a manifestation of the sexual life. None the
+less, in sexually immature animals, just as in the case of children,
+sexual differentiation is not always so marked as it is in adults; and
+it may happen that the sexes may exchange their rôles. Cases observed by
+Seitz have been published by Groos and also by myself.[46] I have myself
+watched a young cow which repeatedly attempted to mount another young
+cow; I have also on several occasions seen young bitches attempt to
+cover dogs. To this part of our subject belongs the observation of
+Exner, that when dogs are playing wildly with one another one hardly
+ever sees a bitch among them. But if an exception should occur, the
+bitch is usually a young one. In animals, sexual differentiation is not
+complete until sexual maturity is attained, and the same is true of the
+human species, although, as I have shown above, children already
+manifest sexual differentiation in their games, their inclinations, and
+their general conduct.
+
+I have thought it desirable to refer to the play of animals in this
+place, as well as to treat of the subject in its direct relationship to
+the sexual impulse. What is true of play is true also of the other
+interests and inclinations of the child, many of which are also
+associated with the sexual life; these have been described earlier, so
+that here I need merely allude to the matter in passing.
+
+
+Hitherto I have described the sexual life of the child in so far as it
+is the subject of direct observation or can be recalled to memory. But
+it was explained at the outset that there is still another way of
+gaining clear knowledge of the subject, namely, by experiment; and it
+was shown that castration may be regarded as such an experiment.
+Although the reproductive capacity of the male is not developed prior to
+the formation of spermatozoa in the testicles, nevertheless we learn
+from the effects of castration that the testicles exhibit important
+functional activity much earlier in life. This fact was long overlooked,
+and its importance is even to-day largely underestimated, because we
+have been accustomed to regard the provision of an external secretion as
+the only function of the testicle. But it is now firmly established that
+these glands exercise influence in other ways. We know that bodily and
+mental development are affected by the removal of the testicles; and
+that the influence is greater the earlier in life the castration takes
+place. A number of secondary sexual characters remain undeveloped. The
+beard does not grow; in many instances a thick _panniculus adiposus_ is
+formed; there are changes in the growth of the bones; the voice remains
+a soprano; and the other reproductive organs are imperfectly developed,
+the penis and the prostate remaining comparatively small An early
+castration does not, of course, result in the obliteration of all
+differences between the male and the female; we must rather say that a
+part only of the typical differential characters of sex remain
+undeveloped. The earlier assumption, that the secretion of semen
+competent to effect fertilisation influenced the development of the
+secondary sexual characters, has of late been more and more generally
+abandoned. Many considerations tell against such a theory, more
+especially a comparison of the three following facts. First, if
+castration is not effected until after the formation of spermatozoa has
+already begun, the familiar results of this operation are either
+entirely wanting, or else appear to a small extent only, and are limited
+to a small number of the secondary sexual characters. Secondly, the
+results of castration are most marked when the operation is performed in
+early childhood. Thirdly, when castration is effected in the later years
+of childhood, but before the secretion of fertilising semen has taken
+place, the results are intermediate in degree, being much less marked
+than in the second class of cases, but more extensive than in the first.
+If the secretion of a fertilising semen were the principal factor in the
+development of the secondary sexual characters, we should expect the
+results of castration to be the same whether the operation were
+performed early in childhood or late so long as it was done before any
+spermatozoa had been formed.
+
+The secondary sexual characters are, therefore, independent of the
+formation of spermatozoa, and the appearance of these characters must
+depend upon other processes, occurring much earlier in life. Thus, in
+persons who were castrated in the eighth or ninth year of life, we note
+the presence of definite secondary sexual characters, which are, indeed,
+less strongly developed than in normal persons, but which do not appear
+at all when the castration has been effected at a still earlier age. The
+varying views of different authors regarding the influence of castration
+in early life upon the development of the secondary sexual characters
+may readily be explained with reference to the individual differences
+that may be observed in the functional activity of the testicles in
+different males before the power of reproduction has been acquired. Just
+as in boys the capacity for reproduction, and in girls the function of
+menstruation, does not appear at a fixed and definite age, so also in
+the case of the other processes that come into being under the influence
+of the activity of the reproductive glands, we have to reckon with such
+individual differences. For this reason, in persons who have been
+castrated at the same age, the subsequent course of development may vary
+to some degree, notwithstanding the apparent identity of the determining
+factor in each case. In some, the pelvis, the beard, the voice, and the
+mental qualities, develop in normal fashion; in others, there is
+interference with the development of one or all of these characters. In
+certain cases, the bodily structure is influenced by castration at an
+age when the mental development is no longer affected. This explains the
+fact that many oriental eunuchs, in whom castration is commonly effected
+shortly before the seventh or eighth year of life, while they exhibit
+the bodily configuration characteristic of the eunuch, are nevertheless
+capable of experiencing heterosexual feelings, and even passionate love.
+
+In Western countries we rarely have an opportunity of studying the full
+consequences of castration, for with us the operation is hardly ever
+performed so early in life as it is in the East; and the reports that
+are available concerning oriental and other foreign eunuchs are to a
+large extent untrustworthy. None the less, from such reports, and from
+accounts that have come down to us from earlier days in the West (more
+especially in the case of the boys who were formerly castrated in Italy
+for the preservation of the soprano voice), we obtain evidence amply
+sufficient to justify the statements made above. Even more convincing
+are observations made on the lower animals. For example, in horses which
+have been castrated at a very early age the sexual impulse remains
+undeveloped; but we have to contrast with this the fact that a certain
+number of geldings possess a well-marked sexual impulse, because in
+these animals, though they were gelded while still immature, the
+operation was performed too late. All these observations combine to
+justify the inference that long before spermatozoa capable of effecting
+fertilisation are formed in the testicles, changes occur in these
+glands which are of great importance in relation to the sexual life,
+both in the human species and in the lower animals.
+
+We cannot speak so positively as to the truth of this in the case of the
+reproductive glands in women, the ovaries, because alike in the human
+female and in the females of the lower animals oöphorectomy is less
+commonly performed than is castration in the male. The literature of our
+subject contains few references to this matter. What little information
+we do possess, derived in part from travellers who have had
+opportunities for observation in extra-European countries, and in part
+from students of animal life, leads to the same conclusion as in the
+case of males, namely, that long before the age commonly regarded as the
+commencement of sexual maturity, important changes are going on in the
+reproductive glands.
+
+No detailed discussion can be attempted here of the other observations
+there may be on record to show the existence of such sexual processes
+during childhood. We may merely refer, for example, to the results of
+the removal of one testicle before the commencement of puberty; this is
+followed by a compensatory hypertrophy of the other testicle--whereas
+removal of one testicle after the attainment of sexual maturity does not
+lead to any such hypertrophy of the remaining testicle, or if so, only
+in comparatively slight degree.
+
+Although from the facts just stated it appears that, alike in human
+beings and in the lower animals, before the formation of the specific
+germ-cells and sperm-cells has begun in the reproductive glands of the
+respective sexes important processes take place in these glands, it
+still remains obscure what is the nature of these processes, and in what
+manner they influence the organism. One question complicating this
+problem, and one which is to-day frequently discussed, is the extent of
+the influence exercised by the reproductive glands on the development of
+the secondary sexual characters. I can here do little more than state
+the difficulty. Whereas it was formerly assumed that the reproductive
+glands exercised a direct determining influence in this direction, more
+recently another view has been put forward, among others by Halban.[47]
+According to this theory, the stimulus proceeding from the glands is
+protective merely, not formative, nor directly stimulating the growth of
+organs. In the fertilised ovum, it is supposed, the rudiment of sex
+already exists, likewise the rudiment of the reproductive gland, and the
+rudiments of the appropriate sexual characters. That is to say, the
+development of the secondary sexual characters is not determined by the
+presence of the reproductive gland; but the sex of the reproductive
+gland and the associated sexual characters are already determined by
+some common cause at the moment of fertilisation. But this theoretical
+controversy has no very important bearing on the problem with which we
+are especially concerned; and the influence of the reproductive gland
+upon the development of the secondary sexual characters is admitted as
+fully by Halban as it is by other writers, the only difference between
+the two views lying in the dispute whether the influence of the glands
+is of a formative or a protective nature. The influence exercised by the
+reproductive glands on the development of the secondary sexual
+characters can be adequately discussed, even though the precise way in
+which that influence is exerted remains in dispute.
+
+As to the general nature of the influence, two chief theories have to be
+considered, viz., the nervous theory and the chemical theory. According
+to the former, we must assume that a stimulus originates in the
+reproductive glands, the testicles in the male, and the ovaries in the
+female, and that these glands excite a kind of reflex action--that is,
+that the stimulus passes to the central nervous system, and thence is
+"reflected" to the periphery, where it promotes, either the growth of
+particular parts of the body, _e.g._ the beard, or the development of
+definite properties in certain organs, _e.g._ the characteristics of the
+male larynx or of the female mamma. It is possible that the reflected
+impulse stimulates trophic nerves. But it may be that in cases of early
+castration the state of affairs is similar to that which obtains when
+from earliest infancy one of the sense organs is wanting, as a result of
+which the corresponding portions of the central nervous system are
+found to undergo atrophy.[48] On this assumption, the manifest arrest of
+the development of certain organs which results from castration is to be
+regarded as the sequel of a partial atrophy of certain portions of the
+brain. Of late, however, the chemical theory, that the results of
+castration are dependent on the lack of the internal secretion of the
+excised glands, has gained ground at the expense of the nervous theory.
+The reason for this change of view is that much which was unsuspected in
+former years has recently been learned about the chemical activities of
+other glands. It suffices to allude to the function of the thyroid body.
+According to this chemical theory, chemical substances are prepared in
+the reproductive glands, and these substances exert a specific influence
+in promoting the development of the secondary sexual characters. The
+same theory has been invoked to account for the alleged ill effects of
+sexual abstinence, it being suggested that the reabsorption of glandular
+products properly destined for excretion may give rise to toxic
+effects.[49] If it be assumed that the testicles can secrete substances
+upon the influence of which the development of the secondary sexual
+characters depends, it is obvious that these substances have nothing to
+do with the spermatozoa, inasmuch as the testicles exert the influence
+under consideration at an age at which the formation of spermatozoa has
+not yet begun. The substances that act in this way must be of a
+different kind. As was pointed out earlier in this book (p. 19), recent
+researches have shown that the testicles possess a twofold activity; and
+some French physicians even go so far as to say that the testicle is not
+a single gland, but two glands. They distinguish between the gland that
+prepares the spermatozoa and the interstitial gland.[50] Whilst the
+formation of spermatozoa subserves the generative act, the function of
+the interstitial gland is to prepare substances which pass into the
+lymph or blood-stream, and give rise to the development of the secondary
+sexual characters. Thus, the effects of castration are due, on this
+theory, not to the absence of the formation of spermatozoa, but to the
+absence of the products of the interstitial glands. French investigators
+consider that the assumption that such an interstitial gland exists is
+justified by the results of experimental work.
+
+Whichever theory we accept, the chemical or the nervous, both theories
+harmonise equally with the fact that in boys, before the formation of
+spermatozoa begins, processes occur in the testicles which powerfully
+influence the organism. Thus, we learn also from a study of the results
+of castration how active is the sexual life even in childhood, since
+thus early in life influences proceed from the reproductive glands
+whereby the development of the secondary sexual characters is markedly
+affected.
+
+
+The principal sexual processes occurring in childhood have now been
+described. Although we have been forced to admit the fact that in the
+child sexual processes are much more extensive than has commonly been
+believed, we must, on the other hand, guard ourselves against the
+exaggerations of those who interpret everything in sexual terms. In the
+chapter on diagnosis it will be necessary to refer to these
+exaggerations once again.
+
+As a rule, of course, the manifestations of the sexual life of the child
+increase from year to year, although not always by continuous
+gradations. Thus, in consequence of misdirection, sexual manifestations
+may arise in the child, and then, if these evil communications are cut
+off, such manifestations may cease. But, altogether apart from
+deliberate seduction, we may observe periods of more rapid and periods
+of less rapid sexual development, the causes of which may remain
+obscure. Individual cases vary to such an extent, that it is impossible
+to lay down a rule to which there are no exceptions. This applies
+equally to both components of the sexual impulse, to the phenomena of
+detumescence as well as to those of contrectation.
+
+But although as we have seen, the development of the sexual life is not
+always by regular progression, yet on the whole the increasing intensity
+of sexual manifestations from the years of childhood to the termination
+of the period of the puberal development cannot be denied. Especially
+extensive are the changes occurring at the end of the second period of
+childhood. At this period we note more particularly the development of
+the outward signs of sexual maturity. In the boy, we observe the growth
+of the beard and the pubic hair, and a more rapid enlargement of the
+testicles and the other organs of reproduction. In the girl, the breasts
+and the pelvis assume the adult female type, and ovulation and
+menstruation begin. During this period, also, the mental changes are
+extremely marked, even though in many cases these changes may have begun
+considerably earlier. The internal organic changes make themselves felt
+also in the sphere of action. The years of adolescence in the male are
+characterised by an impulse to travel, to adventures, but in addition to
+all kinds of ideal efforts and to religious activity. The loftiest
+ethical ideas alternate with a self-conscious bumptiousness. A change of
+disposition manifests itself which is sharply contrasted with the
+behaviour at an earlier and a subsequent age. This is no less true of
+the girl. That which formerly was no more than a vague indication, now
+becomes a manifest quality. More and more does the feminine mode of
+feeling display itself. The "tom-boyishness" so often seen in girls
+during the second period of childhood disappears. The former tomboy has
+become one[51]--
+
+  "In whose orbs a shadow lies
+   Like the dusk in evening skies,"
+
+and we see her--
+
+  "Standing, with reluctant feet,
+   Where the brook and river meet,
+   Womanhood and childhood fleet!
+
+  "Gazing, with a timid glance,
+   On the brooklet's swift advance,
+   On the river's broad expanse!"
+
+The considerations put forward in this chapter show us how necessary it
+was to explain the conception of puberty at the very outset of this
+work. If the period of the puberal development be understood to
+correspond to the development and ripening of the sexual life, we see
+that this development begins much earlier than is commonly assumed in
+books on the subject. Writers have been too ready to identify with this
+developmental period the appearance of certain _external_
+manifestations, more especially the growth of the pubic hair in both
+sexes, the development of the breasts in the female, and the breaking of
+the voice in the male; and the appearance of certain definite outward
+signs--in the girl, the first menstruation, and in the boy, the first
+ejaculation--has usually been regarded as marking a turning-point in
+this development. But neither in the boy is the occurrence of the first
+ejaculation a proof of capacity for reproduction, or a proof that the
+period of the puberal development is completed; nor in the girl is the
+occurrence of the first menstruation, which may long precede the
+establishment of the far more important function of ovulation,
+characteristic in either of these respects. Observations made on
+children, accounts given by children and memories of childhood, and the
+results of castration (and oöphorectomy),[52] all combine to prove the
+occurrence of sexual processes during childhood, at least as early as
+the beginning of the second period of childhood. At this time of life,
+the psychosexual in especial often plays a great part. If,
+notwithstanding all these facts, anyone desires to associate the
+beginning or the end of the puberal development, as was formerly done,
+with the appearance of "the external signs of puberty," no one can
+prevent this usage. But the scientific investigator, the physician, the
+schoolmaster, and the parents, should all alike fully understand that
+such external processes comprise but a small part of all that
+constitutes pubescence. A straining of terminology may at times be
+permissible; but on no account must we allow currency to so disastrous
+an error as the belief that the sexual life of the child either begins
+or is completed with the appearance of these external signs. The sexual
+life of the child begins long before, and the puberal development is not
+completed till many years after, the appearance of these external signs,
+which by most people are erroneously regarded as typical of pubescence.
+
+Although I have detailed a number of phenomena characteristic of the
+sexual life of the child, it must not be assumed that these phenomena
+are common to all cases, or that every individual symptom is invariably
+observed. As I have previously explained, numerous exceptions occur. In
+some instances, only one symptom is discernible; in others, another
+only. The commonest early manifestations of the sexual life in childhood
+are, as was said before, the psychosexual phenomena. _Frequently, the
+individual symptoms are so faintly marked that they can be detected only
+by a very thorough and careful examination._ I wish merely to insist
+upon the fact that during the years of childhood which are commonly
+regarded as asexual, manifestations of the sexual life can with care
+almost always be detected, although at times their detection is by no
+means easy.
+
+In conclusion, however, it is necessary to point out that there are a
+certain number of children in whom up to the fourteenth year of life,
+and even later, manifestations of the sexual life are hardly
+discernible; but we have to remember that the results of castration
+prove, as has been shown above, that even when, in early life, the
+occurrence of sexual processes cannot be demonstrated, such processes
+are nevertheless going on. We meet with individuals in whom, even during
+the first years of youth, the development of the sexual life is
+extremely backward. There are boys of fifteen or sixteen who from time
+to time have an involuntary seminal emission, but who exhibit no other
+indications whatever of an active sexual life--neither masturbation, nor
+any discernible psychosexual processes. Nevertheless, in most cases of
+this kind, more careful observation will bring to light much, besides
+the occurrence of the involuntary seminal emissions, which points to an
+awakening of sexuality. Still, in some individuals, it is remarkable how
+long entire sexual innocence may persist. This is doubtless due in such
+cases, not to any specially rigorous natural virtue, but simply to the
+fact that in these cases sexual development is much slower than the
+average. Those concerned are thus devoid of all understanding of the
+sexual, just in the same way as persons born blind lack all
+understanding of colour. In most of the cases in which such retardation
+occurs, the sexual life subsequently becomes entirely normal, showing
+that the only abnormality was the exceptional delay in the occurrence of
+the various processes. I have myself seen a number of cases in which the
+development of the sexual life was delayed to such an extent that
+ejaculation during coitus was not effected until towards the end of the
+third decade of life, although erections, and even occasional nocturnal
+emissions, had occurred long before. I believe that cases of this kind
+are to a small extent only, if at all, the result of educational
+influences, and they are in no way dependent upon the so-called sexual
+neurasthenia; we are concerned simply with a retardation of development,
+dependent upon congenital predisposition.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+PATHOLOGY
+
+
+In the previous chapters I have from time to time mentioned some
+phenomenon of comparatively rare occurrence; but for the most part I
+have described those processes only which are regularly met with, which
+cannot be regarded as exceptional peculiarities, and therefore must not
+be considered to be pathological manifestations. It is true that much
+that has been described comes within the province of the pathological;
+for example, many of the active manifestations of the sexual impulse
+occurring during the first period of childhood, such as the case quoted
+from Féré on page 81. For practical reasons, however, such cases as this
+cannot always be dealt with as members of a distinct pathological group.
+On the other hand, it is necessary to give a separate consideration to
+the pathological aspect of our subject. Many of the cases which must be
+grouped as pathological occur in girls. Thus, we meet with cases in
+which menstruation becomes established at the age of eight, five, two,
+or even earlier.[53] Carus reports the case of a woman whose medical
+history showed that she had begun to menstruate at the age of two years,
+and that she became pregnant for the first time when eight years old. In
+girls from ten to twelve years of age, pregnancy has many times been
+observed. A French physician had under observation a girl who when only
+three mouths old had well-developed breasts, and in whom only a little
+later the pubic and axillary hair grew and menstruation began. When
+twenty-seven months old, the child was again seen by the same physician,
+and at this time menstruation was proceeding regularly; the features had
+now lost the infantile type, and the body as a whole exhibited all the
+signs of premature development. A collection of cases made by
+Gebhard[54] contains one case in which menstruation was established at
+birth; in quite a number of the cases menstruation began during the
+first year of life.
+
+A case was reported from New Orleans in which menstruation began at the
+age of three months and continued regularly thereafter. This was a case
+of premature general growth; at the age of four years the girl was over
+4 feet high, and her breasts were the size of a large orange. As a
+general rule, in these cases of premature development of the
+reproductive organs in girls, the great size of the breasts attracts
+especial attention. According to Kisch (_op. cit._, p. 78), these girls
+with precocious menstruation and premature sexual development very
+commonly exhibit also a comparatively high body-weight, great
+development of fat, and early dentition; they look older than their
+years, and their genital organs also develop very early, with hair on
+the pubes and in the axillæ; the labia majora and the breasts resemble
+those of full-grown women, and the pelvis also has the adult form.
+Commonly also the sexual impulse develops early, whilst in other
+respects the mental development lags behind the physical.
+
+In the post-mortem room, corresponding conditions are occasionally found
+in the ovaries; and some writers express the opinion that such premature
+sexual development is commoner than would appear from the comparative
+rarity of reports on the subject. Unquestionably, examination of the
+ovaries of young girls not infrequently leads to the discovery of ripe
+ovarian follicles; in one case this happened in the body of a female
+infant born prematurely. In a girl five years of age, fifteen follicles
+were counted in the ovaries. Liégeois,[55] in post-mortem examinations,
+twice found mature ova in girls two years of age.
+
+Similar cases of premature sexual development are occasionally seen also
+in boys. For example, Breschet, in the year 1820, reported the case of a
+boy three years of age who exhibited all the signs of puberty. His voice
+resembled that of a young man of sixteen to eighteen. The length of the
+flaccid penis was 9.6 cm. (3-3/4 inches), its diameter at the root was 7.2
+cm. (2-3/4 inches); the length of the organ when erect was 13.5 cm.
+(5-1/4 inches). In the presence of girls or women the boy's penis became
+erect, his whole manner became more vivacious, and his hands were
+directed towards the genital organs of these females. Masturbation was
+never observed. The boy showed many additional signs of premature
+development. For instance, the central incisors of the upper jaw were
+cut at the age of three months. Breschet also quotes a case published by
+Mead, in which a boy had undergone the puberal development before the
+end of the first year of his life; when five years of age, he died of
+pulmonary consumption, attended with all the signs of old age. The same
+writer records another case, that of a boy five years of age, whose
+genital organs were fully developed, who had a well-grown beard, and
+exhibited, in short, all the (physical) characteristics of complete
+sexual maturity. In accordance with the theoretical views of that day,
+more especially as a result of the wide acceptance of the phrenological
+doctrines of Gall, it was generally believed that an exceptional
+development of the cerebellum (which was supposed by Gall to be the seat
+of the sexual impulse) was the determining cause of such premature
+awakening of the sexual impulse.
+
+Contrasted with the cases just described, are those in which there is a
+retardation of the whole course of sexual development, so that the signs
+of sexual maturity are not manifested until an age greatly exceeding the
+average "age of puberty." In respect of one symptom or several, many
+individuals may remain throughout life in an infantile condition. This
+is occasionally seen, for example, in dwarfs. It would be of great
+interest, from this point of view, to make a careful study of the sexual
+behaviour of dwarfs. In this respect, dwarfs appear to vary greatly.
+These differences depend, in part, at least, upon the fact that many
+persons are classified as dwarfs who do not, strictly speaking, belong
+to this category. This statement applies more especially to those whose
+growth has been impaired by rickets; for, properly speaking, those only
+should be designated dwarfs who are, though small, generally
+well-proportioned; and the term should not be applied to those in whom
+the defective stature is consequent on rachitis or some similar disease.
+It appears doubtful, however, if the confusion of terms just mentioned
+explains all the observed differences in the sexuality of those commonly
+spoken of as "dwarfs." From data communicated to me concerning a fairly
+large community of dwarfs, living in a single place, and in whom the
+dwarfing appears to have no connexion with rickets, it would seem that
+in the case of true dwarfs there is considerable variation in sexual
+behaviour. This particular group of dwarfs constitute a society of
+persons living and working together. Although they are all living in
+close association, there seems to be a striking lack of warmth in their
+sexual relationships. Notwithstanding the fact that they have been
+living together for ten years, they still address one another formally
+as "Mr." and "Miss." In the case of the male dwarfs, with one exception
+all had fully developed genital organs; the exceptional instance was
+that of a member of the community then thirty years of age, in whom the
+genitals were rudimentary. All were endowed with normal sexual impulse,
+but this was directed towards persons of normal stature. In one of these
+dwarfs, an Italian, the genital organs remained undeveloped and hairless
+until he attained the age of twenty-eight; then these organs underwent
+the normal degree of growth, and at the same time pubic hair appeared.
+As already mentioned, the sexual inclinations of dwarfs appear as a rule
+to be directed towards fully grown persons, and I knew one dwarf twenty
+years of age who never missed an opportunity of pressing up against a
+certain very pretty young lady. These observations of my own regarding
+the sexual inclinations in dwarfs are confirmed by other cases recorded
+in the literature of the subject, although in isolated instances sexual
+attraction between a male and a female dwarf has been observed to
+eventuate in the birth of a child.
+
+This is the place in which to refer to those cases of which a brief
+mention was made in the first chapter, to which von Krafft-Ebing has
+given the name of _sexual paradoxy_. Activity of the sexual impulse is
+sometimes observed at an age at which this impulse is normally
+quiescent. The term applies alike to cases in which the sexual impulse
+becomes active in early childhood, and to cases in which the impulse
+persists to an advanced age. Whilst the cases in which the phenomena of
+contrectation alone occurred have commonly been overlooked, considerable
+attention has been paid to those cases in which the sexual impulse
+manifests itself by peripheral changes, more especially by premature
+impulse towards masturbation or towards actual sexual congress with one
+of the other sex. It was shown, however, in the last chapter, that
+active manifestations of the sexual impulse during childhood are not
+always paradoxical. If we examine cases which have been published as
+coming under this latter category (I limit myself here to cases
+occurring in childhood, and am not speaking of sexual paradoxy in old
+age), we find that they are characterised more particularly by the
+strength with which the peripheral sexual impulse manifests itself.
+There is, in fact, a marked distinction between cases, according as we
+have to do with an occasional general sensation in the genital organs,
+or with masturbation to excess and with sexual assaults upon others. But
+we must not describe as sexual paradoxy all manifestations of the sexual
+life occurring in early childhood. A reference to the last chapter will
+show that the cases of sexual paradoxy, when accurately studied, differ
+from the normal rather quantitatively than qualitatively. During the
+first period of childhood, and more especially during the first few
+years of life, a case in which sexual activity in a child threatens the
+well-being of members of that child's social environment is so sharply
+differentiated from the normal that there can hardly arise even
+momentary hesitation regarding the paradoxical nature of the
+manifestation. On the other hand, we shall do well to follow von
+Krafft-Ebing in excluding from the category of sexual paradoxy those
+cases in which sexual excitement is caused solely by peripheral
+inflammatory stimuli, balanitis (inflammation of the glans penis),
+threadworms, and the like. These are not instances of sexual paradoxy,
+because the essential characteristic of the latter is that it originates
+centrally, even though its manifestations take a peripheral form.
+
+I will now recount three cases which I regard as pathological in nature,
+and as examples of a paradoxical sexual impulse.
+
+CASE 7.--The girl X., six years of age, stated by the mother to be free
+from all morbid inheritance, produces the general impression of being a
+nervous subject. She is affected with facial muscular spasms, especially
+affecting the corners of the mouth, the eyelids, and the neck. Her
+mental development, as far as can be judged from my own observations and
+from the account given by the parents, is perfectly normal; but
+attention is at once attracted by the appearance of premature
+development. The mother states that in the second year of life, owing to
+the carelessness of a nursemaid, the child fell out of her cradle,
+without, however, sustaining any manifest injury. The mother does not
+think there is any reason to suppose that the child has ever been led
+astray in sexual matters. For the past two years or more, the mother has
+noticed that the child likes to press up against articles of furniture
+in such a way that her genital organs come into contact with narrow
+edges or corners; for example, the back of a chair, and especially a
+small portfolio-stand in the room. At first the child did this very
+often. Then the mother forbade it, and the father whipped her several
+times for doing it; since then it has been done more furtively, but the
+mother has none the less often seen it done. When the child is in bed
+she plays with the genital organs with her fingers. A definite orgasm
+occurs: there are spastic twitchings of the whole body, the eyes
+brighten, the respiratory rhythm changes; all these changes, occurring
+as they do in association with the artificial stimulation of the genital
+organs, combine to prove that we have not to do here with a simple
+spasmodic neurosis, but with the artificial induction of the sexual
+orgasm. The process is, moreover, confined to peripheral manifestations.
+The most careful observation failed to show the existence, in
+association with the sexual excitement, of any especially tender
+sentiments towards other individuals.
+
+CASE 8.--The boy Y. was brought to see me when he was eight and a half
+years of age. From the second year of life he had been noticed to be
+subject to masturbatory impulses, attended from the first with erection
+of the penis. The practice of masturbation increased to such a degree
+that before the boy was four years of age it was found necessary to keep
+him separate, as far as possible, from his brothers and sisters to save
+these latter from being corrupted by him. But notwithstanding this
+precaution, by the time he was five years old he had begun to make
+sexual attacks on a sister one year older than himself. He was cunning
+enough to arrange matters in such a way that he was alone with his
+sister, at times when the usual safeguards to keep him separate from the
+other children were suspended--for example, when his parents were away,
+and when his governess (who had been made fully acquainted with the
+circumstances) was keeping some assignation of her own. (All this was
+fully elucidated at a later date. The distressed parents were foolish
+enough to imagine that a child with inherited morbid predispositions of
+this character could be adequately safeguarded by means of hired help;
+they were painfully disillusioned when it appeared that the hired
+assistant, instead of watching the child, was pursuing her own
+pleasures--a point in which she merely imitated the parents, themselves
+earnest pleasure-seekers, deluding themselves with the belief that
+everything possible was being done for their child.) Although the
+parents had known all about the boy's habit of masturbation for many
+years past, it was only through a fortunate accident, and after the
+sexual malpractices with the sister had been going on for a long time,
+that these at length came to light. It appears that the boy had from
+time to time made sexual advances to other girls than his sister. One
+day, while playing with the little daughter belonging to a neighbouring
+family, he endeavoured to lead this child sexually astray. The little
+girl told her parents what had happened, and these latter consequently
+refused to allow her to play with Y. any more. This prohibition led Y.'s
+parents to inquire into the whole matter with great care. It was then
+discovered that for years past Y. had been engaged in sexual misconduct
+with his sister, his usual method being to play with her genital organs
+with his hands. In the girl, the frequent repetition of this act had
+given rise to abrasions and local inflammations.
+
+The following case, the leading features of which are the early age at
+which seminal ejaculation occurred, and the marked hyperæsthesia of the
+sexual impulse, may also be regarded as an example of sexual paradoxy.
+This patient exhibits a number of different perverse modes of sexual
+sensibility, some of which have persisted to the present day.
+
+CASE 9.--Z., now thirty years of age, admits prolonged sexual excesses,
+and divides his sexual history into two periods: the first period
+extends from the age of seven to the age of twelve, before he had
+learned the use of alcohol; during the second period, from the age of
+thirteen to the age of thirty-years, his sexual excesses occurred under
+the influence of alcohol. He gives his own history in the following
+terms:--
+
+"In very early childhood my imagination began to exercise itself
+pleasurably in the pictured contemplation of the bodies of naked girls.
+I can also remember distinctly that my dreams were chiefly concerned
+with images of this character. In the later years of childhood (nine to
+twelve years) I masturbated to great excess, often five to ten times
+daily, sometimes actually while in class at school. Seminal emission had
+already begun--I remember this quite distinctly at the age of ten, and
+perhaps even at the age of nine years--but the quantity of semen was
+very small. I found several schoolmates with similar inclinations to my
+own, and with these I practised mutual masturbation. When I was eleven
+years old I became acquainted with a boy somewhat younger than myself,
+and in this case the proposal for mutual masturbation came from his
+side. At that time the thought that there was anything wrong in the
+practice had never entered my mind; on the contrary, I was always on the
+lookout for boys who would join with me in mutual masturbation. Such
+were my sexual habits, until as a boy of thirteen I for the first time
+had complete sexual intercourse with a woman, a prostitute.
+Thenceforward, for a time, I had intercourse at intervals of from four
+to six weeks, continuing in the meanwhile daily masturbation.
+Subsequently I sought and found opportunities for intercourse with
+women, married and unmarried, about once a week, for money. These almost
+daily venereal excesses appeared to have no bad effects on my physical
+health; my diet was at the time abundant, if not superabundant. On the
+other hand, I lacked effective will-power to make a successful stand
+against the promptings of my bodily lusts; nor was I able, though not
+devoid of talent, to perform any arduous or enduring mental work. There
+ensued also at this early stage a great infirmity of purpose, from which
+I still suffer to this day. I would take up now one thing, now another,
+at first with fiery zeal, soon to cast it aside in favour of some new
+undertaking, to be abandoned with the like precipitation.
+
+"Having command of abundant means, I now, at the age of fifteen, became
+enabled to gratify my sexual desires without restraint with dependents
+of the other sex; nor did any untoward physical consequences arise to
+impose limitations. After a time, ordinary sexual intercourse ceased to
+furnish adequate gratification; and I began to excite myself sexually by
+contact with special parts of the body, most often the breasts. But the
+woman must not, as had formerly been my desire, strip herself completely
+nude; for I found the most powerful sexual stimulus was now exerted by
+her white drawers. The display, intentional or unintentional, of this
+article of feminine attire sufficed to arouse in me sexual feelings. For
+this reason I now came to frequent the skating rink, in order to obtain
+a sexual stimulus from the glimpse of a woman's drawers when putting on
+her skates. But even when a girl was physically beautiful and elegantly
+dressed, if her drawers were not white but coloured, she produced in me
+no sexual appetite whatever.
+
+"As a result of long-continued excesses, attempts at ordinary
+intercourse no longer evoked an adequate sexual stimulus, so that I now
+began the practice of cunnilinctus. It was when the woman herself became
+excited through the cunnilinctus, that I experienced the highest sexual
+gratification. In the intervals, when I had no opportunity for sexual
+intercourse, I would endeavour to secure sexual gratification by
+exposing my genital organs in the presence of females, or when passing
+them in the street--especially female children. I also sought every
+possible opportunity of watching female dependents engaged in the act of
+urination. This gave me especially great gratification if, when they
+were urinating, I could see their white underlinen. I also procured
+pornographic literature, and masturbated frequently while reading it."
+
+The next period in this patient's history now begins. But I shall not
+recount his case further, since the subsequent episodes have no bearing
+on the questions with which we are especially concerned. It will suffice
+to remark that Z. now exhibits numerous neuropathic and psychopathic
+characteristics. But the various psychopathic symptoms, some of which
+are very severe, lie altogether outside our chosen field of study.
+
+Paradoxical sexual impulse is observed also in the lower animals. Weston
+reports the case of a colt which when only six weeks old attempted to
+serve its mother; when three months old this animal became so
+troublesome, owing to its attempts to cover other foals and even calves,
+that castration was necessary.[56] The same author describes a case of
+masturbation in a foal only two months old; the animal masturbated by
+arching the back to an extreme degree, and pushing the hind feet forward
+along the surface of the belly on either side of the penis.
+
+
+Several allusions have been made in passing to the subject of sexual
+perversions. A detailed consideration of these manifestations is now
+necessary, owing to the fact that perversions exhibit peculiar
+relationships to the sexual life of the child, such relationships being
+of two distinct kinds. In the first place, perverse modes of sexual
+sensibility are very common during childhood; and since erroneous views
+on the subject are widely prevalent, the true significance of such
+perversions demands very careful study. In the second place, it is
+maintained that certain influences affecting the sexual life during
+childhood are competent to give rise to permanent sexual perversions. We
+will discuss these two questions in the order here stated.
+
+Adult sexual perverts frequently declare that their first experience of
+perverse sexual sensibility dates from the eighth year, or even earlier.
+Thus, by homosexuals we are told that the homosexual inclination was
+felt in very early childhood, in one case directed towards a
+school-fellow, in another towards some near relative, or towards a
+resident tutor--- or in the case of female homosexuals, towards a
+girl-companion or a governess. Moreover, homosexuals often assure us
+that the homosexual inclination has been persistent, and that it has
+never been interrupted by any manifestation of heterosexual desire. The
+assumption that in homosexuals the sexual impulse becomes active earlier
+in life than is normal, was one of several considerations by which von
+Krafft-Ebing was led to regard homosexuality as a degenerative
+phenomenon, consequent upon neuropathic or psychopathic hereditary
+taint; and this author held the same view regarding other sexual
+perversions--sadism, for instance. In opposition to this opinion,
+attention may be drawn to the fact, which was fully considered in the
+last chapter, that very commonly indeed the activity of the normal
+sexual life can also be traced back into the early days of childhood.
+This fact has hitherto to a large extent been overlooked simply for the
+reason that recent investigations dealing with the sexual impulse have
+in most cases dealt exclusively with morbid manifestations; whilst the
+psychologists by profession, whose province it was to study the normal
+sexual life, have with few exceptions (Max Dessoir, Binet, Jodl, and
+Ribot) completely ignored this field of inquiry. For this reason many
+phenomena, _e.g._, early activity of the sexual impulse, and
+hyperæsthesia of that impulse, have been assumed to be characteristic of
+the perverse modes of sexual sensibility, whereas the like phenomena may
+readily be observed in association with a qualitatively normal mode of
+sexual sensibility.
+
+The theory of the congenital nature of homosexuality was based for the
+most part on the common assumption that the condition is primary and
+premature in its occurrence, and that it is exclusive of the opposite
+mode of sexual sensibility. But for several reasons the inference is not
+justified. For, first of all, for many cases it is incorrect to assume
+that the homosexual inclinations are thus exclusive in their character;
+as I have previously explained, the adult homosexual's belief that from
+early childhood he has never experienced any other than homosexual
+inclinations, depends in many instances on an illusion of memory. Owing
+to the fact that in consequence of the fuller development of
+homosexuality he is no longer interested in the heterosexual, he is apt
+to forget any early heterosexual inclinations. Secondly, the primary
+appearance of homosexual inclinations does not prove that these
+inclinations are congenital; for in homosexuals, as in heterosexuals,
+the specialised mode of sexual sensibility is preceded by a period in
+which the sexual impulse is undifferentiated; and, in homosexuals and
+heterosexuals alike, chance plays a great part in determining which mode
+of sexual sensibility first manifests itself. The congenital nature of
+heterosexuality is not disproved by the fact that one who in adult life
+possesses a normal mode of sexual sensibility, may as a schoolboy have
+first experienced sexual desire towards a school-fellow; just as little,
+then, does a similar early history in one who in adult life is
+homosexual in his inclinations, prove that his homosexuality is
+congenital. In the animal world also, before the occurrence of sexual
+maturity, the love-games occasionally display a similar confusion of
+rôles, so that the sexually immature female animal may attempt to cover
+the youthful male. The congenital nature of homosexuality is displayed,
+not by the primary appearance of this mode of sensibility, but by the
+fact that when the puberal development takes place, the homosexual
+sentiments persist, and are not replaced by heterosexuality.
+
+The congenital nature of homosexuality has been assumed more
+particularly in those cases which are described respectively as
+_effemination_ and _viraginity_. The former name is given by von
+Krafft-Ebing to cases in which in homosexual men the entire system of
+feelings and inclinations is influenced by the abnormal mode of sexual
+sensibility. Such a male homosexual has a strong dislike for smoking and
+drinking, and for all masculine sports; on the other hand, he delights
+in self-adornment, in art and belles-lettres and even in literary
+affectations. The corresponding condition in women was by von
+Krafft-Ebing termed viraginity. Such female homosexuals do not merely
+experience sexual attraction towards members of their own sex, but they
+also exhibit other peculiarities usually characteristic of the male,
+such as dislike of ordinary feminine occupations, a neglect of the arts
+of the toilet, and a rough and masculine mode of behaviour. They exhibit
+inclinations for science rather than for art. They sometimes attempt to
+drink and smoke in a masculine manner. Von Krafft-Ebing and many other
+writers have assumed that the characteristics of effemination and of
+viraginity are displayed in early childhood. We are told that a boy with
+these tendencies prefers the society of little girls to that of boys,
+that he likes to play with dolls, and to help his mother in her
+housework. He takes naturally to cooking, sewing, and darning; and
+becomes clever in the selection of feminine dress, so that he can help
+his sisters in the choice of their clothes. Contrariwise, the girl who
+is destined in later life to display the characteristics of viraginity
+will be found frequenting the playground of the boys. Such a girl will
+have nothing to do with dolls, but exhibits a passion for the rocking
+horse and for playing at soldiers and robbers. It is indisputable that
+these descriptions apply to many cases. But it is necessary here to
+repeat my previous warning against over-ready generalisation; for we
+find that there is quite a number of boys and girls who exhibit during
+childhood such contrary sexual qualities and inclinations, and yet
+subsequently undergo a perfectly normal, or at any rate a
+non-homosexual, development of the sexual life. During the period of the
+puberal development, the normal heterosexual characteristics come to
+predominate. The non-differentiated character of the sexual life during
+childhood forbids us, from the mere existence at this period of life of
+such contrary sexual tendencies, to infer that these tendencies will
+necessarily persist, and that the subsequent sexual development will
+also be of an inverted character. We must point out, in addition, that
+from childhood onwards many women and many men fail to exhibit the
+psychical tendencies appropriate to _average_ members of their
+respective sexes, without this justifying the conclusion that we have to
+do with homosexuality. There are heterosexual men who are fond of
+needlework; and there are heterosexual women in whom housework and the
+care of children, and even in many cases the details of their own
+toilet, arouse no interest whatever. Because we observe, in any
+individual, certain contrary sexual tendencies of this character, to
+draw the inference that in such a case we necessarily have to do with
+homosexuality, would be a most disastrous error.
+
+Apart from these considerations, we have, when there is a history of
+such tendencies in childhood, to take into account the possibility of
+illusions of memory just as much as we have in the cases in which adult
+homosexuals assure us that in childhood they never experienced any other
+than homosexual inclinations--a matter discussed in the first chapter
+(see pp. 5 and 6). A homosexual man, recalling his memories of
+childhood, lays especial stress on all that appears to be connected with
+homosexuality; he is apt to remember those instances only in which his
+conduct exhibited girlish characteristics, and to forget all instances
+of an opposite kind. Finally, we have to take into consideration the
+various interpretations which are tenable of occurrences during
+childhood. An adult homosexual who as a child once did some needlework
+for a joke, sees in this later a characteristic of effemination. A girl
+who, for lack of companions of her own sex, was accustomed to join in
+her brother's sports, comes to believe, when subsequently she has
+developed into a homosexual woman, that her conduct in childhood
+resulted from congenital perversion, whereas in reality this conduct was
+the purely accidental result of her childish environment. On the other
+hand, the withdrawal during childhood from the companionship of members
+of the same sex is explicable in a converse fashion. Homosexual adults
+often tell us that even in boyhood they shunned the company of other
+boys, and sought girl companions, to join in the games of these
+latter--and they endeavour to explain this conduct on their part as
+determined by contrary sexual inclinations in early childhood. Yet, in
+many cases, boys avoid those of their own sex, and seek the
+companionship of girls, not for the reason just alleged, but solely
+because these boys thus early experience erotic stimulation when
+associating with girls. In any case, we must carefully avoid
+over-estimating the importance of what may appear to be contrary sexual
+phenomena during childhood, and we must not be too ready to accept the
+occurrence of such phenomena as a proof that sexual perversion had
+manifested itself already during childhood. The general possibility of
+this occurrence is, of course, not disputed; but the far too common
+exaggerations of the matter cannot be too decisively rejected.
+
+The case I have now to describe is that of a woman whose characteristics
+during childhood were thoroughly boyish, and who at this time
+experienced homosexual inclinations; during the period of the puberal
+development, however, the homosexual tendencies disappeared, never to
+return.
+
+CASE 10.--Mrs. X., twenty-six years of age, happily married for five
+years past, enjoys excellent health, with the exception of pains during
+menstruation, has normal intercourse with her husband, experiencing
+sexual impulse of full intensity, and a normal voluptuous sensation. The
+family history is healthy on the whole; some of the mother's relatives
+are described as "nervous"; but in so large a family, otherwise healthy,
+this is of trifling significance. Most of her blood-relations are, so
+far as inheritable morbid conditions are concerned, thoroughly healthy.
+As a girl, X. (whose statements, in so far as I was able to inquire,
+were in all important respects substantiated by her mother) was at first
+accustomed to seek the companionship of boys only. She was continually
+playing with her brothers and their friends, and was always the leader
+in their wildest games including war-games, and playing at Indians.
+During childhood she was almost always regarded as "the baby," although
+she had a sister two years younger than herself, this sister being
+altogether girlish in her ways. Very seldom did X. play with anyone but
+the boys; when she did on rare occasions seek other companionship, it
+was always that of the sister of one of her boy friends. The two girls
+had obviously great sympathy each for the other, manifested when they
+were as yet only nine years of age, and increasing as the years went on.
+The closer her association became with this girl, the more did X.
+withdraw from the companionship of the boys, to devote herself to her
+girl friend. The association became more and more intimate; and when
+they were both thirteen years old their endearments passed from kisses
+and embraces to manipulation of the genital organs. In these latter, X.
+always played a passive part, not herself touching her own genital
+organs nor those of her friend. Occasionally X. would feel drawn towards
+some other girl, but such errant inclinations never lasted long. At
+about the time when her fondness for the other girl began, that is to
+say, during her tenth year, X., who was then accustomed to compassionate
+herself for not having been born a boy, began to assume a more
+definitely boyish behaviour. Under the pretence of "dressing up," she
+used to wear her brother's clothes; occasionally she smoked, although in
+her home, and in the circle to which her family belonged, smoking was
+disapproved of even in grown women. At the age of fourteen, X. began to
+menstruate. The friendship between the two girls continued until the
+seventeenth year of life. Then X. gradually "came out," her homosexual
+tendencies disappeared, and at the same time her feminine nature became
+apparent. The desire to dress up as a man and the desire to smoke passed
+away, and have never returned, although X. now moves in circles in which
+many women smoke. And, most important fact of all, the homosexual
+relations were now completely broken off. The two girls remained on
+friendly terms; but alike in X. and in her friend the homosexual
+inclinations disappeared, and the improper sexual practices were
+entirely discontinued. X. began to flirt, now with one man, now with
+another, until when nineteen years old she fell in love with her present
+husband, and married him after a two years' engagement.
+
+This case shows that neither the existence of homosexual inclinations
+during childhood, nor the simultaneous exhibition of other contrary
+sexual mental qualities, necessarily foreshadows the development of
+permanent homosexuality. On the other hand, we must not from the
+subsequent appearance of heterosexuality draw the conclusion that this
+was first acquired _intra vitam_, for it very often happens that
+congenital heterosexuality first manifests itself during the period of
+the puberal development. In an analogous case, in which the homosexual
+and other contrary sexual tendencies and inclinations of childhood have
+persisted during the adult sexual life, it would be equally erroneous in
+the absence of further evidence to conclude that the homosexuality was
+congenital. I recognise the existence of congenital homosexuality, but I
+consider that the reality of this condition is established by other
+grounds than those just mentioned. This question has been fully
+discussed by me elsewhere,[57] and cannot here be further considered.
+
+Many investigators regard homosexuality as an acquired manifestation. In
+cases in which the existence of homosexuality can be traced back into
+childhood, they explain this on the ground that at a time when the
+individual concerned was in a state of sexual excitement, some other
+person of the same sex must have made a marked impression upon his
+imagination. In this way, they suggest, is effected an association whose
+influence endures throughout life. I will here say no more than this,
+that this association theory does not suffice to account for the facts.
+The deficiencies of the association theory will to some extent become
+apparent from the account I am about to give of the other sexual
+perversions.
+
+For the dispute to what extent sexual perversions are congenital and to
+what extent they are acquired, prevails not only concerning
+homosexuality, but also concerning sadism, masochism, sexual fetichism,
+&c. In the case also of these latter perversions, some maintain that in
+those instances in which the perversion began in childhood, some early
+association was the originating cause; whilst others, from the very fact
+that the perversion appeared very early in life and was apparently
+primary, infer that it must be of a congenital character. For instance,
+a man experiences sexual excitement whenever he sees a cook or other
+woman kill a fowl; and when revived in memory, the corresponding ideas
+exercise a similar exciting influence. On inquiry, we learn that when he
+was eight years old he by chance saw a fowl killed, and then immediately
+felt strong sexual excitement. Similarly, many masochists and sadists
+assure us that their first experience of their peculiarly tinged sexual
+excitement occurred during childhood; _e.g._, in the case of the
+masochist, when being punished with a whipping, and so on.
+
+Beyond question, the impressions of childhood may result in the
+formation of enduring associations. From experiences during childhood
+may originate terrors and feelings of disgust which are never
+subsequently overcome. A child who for any reason has several times felt
+a strong loathing towards some particular article of food, will retain
+throughout life a dislike to this same substance. Felix Platter relates
+his own experience as follows. When a child, he once saw his sister
+slicing rings of "boiled gorge" (_see note_, below.), and sticking these
+rings on her finger. The sight was so unpleasant to him that he had to
+go away. The disagreeable memory has been so persistent, that ever since
+he has been unable to bear the sight, not merely of such "rings of
+flesh," but rings of gold, silver, or any other material. A child who
+has once been frightened by a dog, may ever after be terrified of all
+dogs. An individual may also, by a kind of moral contagion, be affected
+by the experiences of others. A child who has seen another child
+frightened by a cat, may for this reason acquire an antipathy to cats
+lasting for the whole of life. It is upon the undoubted fact of such
+experiences as these, that those build their case who maintain that
+sexual perversions originate in chance impressions during childhood or
+early youth. But weighty reasons can be alleged against any such
+generalisation.
+
+  _Note on the expression "Boiled Gorge."_--This is a literal
+  translation of the German _gesottne Gurgeln_, an apparently forgotten
+  article of diet. Finding no account of it in any German dictionary, I
+  applied to Dr. Moll, who writes as follows:--"_Gurgel_ denotes a
+  particular part of the neck, in human beings the front part, comprising
+  the hyoid bone, the larynx and trachea, the pharynx and the upper part
+  of the oesophagus, the thyroid body, and the adjoining muscles. As far
+  as I am aware, this part of the animal body is not now used for food.
+  Presumably it was so used in Felix Platter's time, but I cannot say if
+  the 'rings' of which he speaks were cut from the trachea, the
+  oesophagus, or perhaps the great blood-vessels."--TRANSLATOR'S NOTE.
+
+To return to the instance of the man who is sexually excited by the
+sight of fowls being killed, it is true that on superficial
+consideration the case may appear to support the theory that we have
+here to do with an acquired perversion. We cannot assume that in this
+child the complicated image of the killing of a fowl was inborn, and the
+first inference will therefore be that his perversion is purely an
+acquired one. But on closer examination we perceive that the matter is
+less simple than appeared at first sight. First of all we have to
+inquire why it is that in this particular instance the sight of the
+killing of a fowl induced such a perversion, when in hundreds of other
+cases no such result follows the same stimulus. The assumption that in
+the particular case there chanced to occur sexual excitement
+simultaneously with the sight of the fowl-killing, is altogether
+inadequate as an explanation. For, first, this assumption of the
+simultaneous occurrence of sexual excitement is in most cases a pure
+supposition, quite unsupported by proof. Secondly, even when the two
+processes, the sight of the killing, and the sexual excitement, do occur
+simultaneously, it is still open to question whether the latter may not
+have been determined by the former; that is to say, it may be that the
+perverse mode of sexual sensibility previously existed, at least as a
+predisposition, and that the connexion between the phenomena is the
+reverse of what is supposed. Thirdly, moreover, the chance view of some
+occurrence in association with sexual excitement does not suffice to
+explain the enduring association of sexual excitement with such an
+occurrence throughout the whole of life. Think of persons who have
+masturbated during childhood. When they were masturbating, their eyes
+have rested on various indifferent objects: underlinen, articles of
+furniture, pictures, books, &c.; but this does not induce the association
+throughout life of sexual excitement with the sight of any of these
+articles.
+
+Apart from these considerations, the fact that some external process,
+such as the killing of a fowl, has important relationships with the
+content of a subsequent perversion, does not prove that this perversion
+is an acquired one. We may rather suppose that in the case of one
+endowed with a congenital predisposition to the excitement of the sexual
+impulse by the sight of cruelty, the particular cruel act which will
+prove the determinant in a particular case, must depend upon the chance
+circumstances of the individual's life. On this view, if, in the case
+under consideration, the fowl-killing had not happened, at the
+appropriate time, to awaken the sexual impulse, it must be assumed that
+some other but similar process would have been competent to effect this.
+In any case, the association theory alone will not suffice to account
+for these cases; and the possibility cannot be excluded that in cases of
+sadism there is a specific abnormal disposition of the sexual impulse,
+and that the experiences during childhood influence the matter only in
+so far as they may determine the special manner in which the sadistic
+tendency will subsequently manifest itself. It is, in fact, very
+remarkable how often some particular act of cruelty will, in a certain
+individual, exercise throughout life a sexually exciting influence: in
+one person the desire to strike may be associated with sexual
+excitement; in another it may be the desire to stab or to cut; in one
+individual sexual excitement results from the sight of a fowl being
+killed; in another, when the victim is a fish, and so on. Although we
+encounter some in whom the particular cruel act associated with sexual
+excitement changes many times during life; yet, on the other hand, we
+find that there are many persons in whom sexual excitement is aroused by
+some special sadistic practice, and by that alone; and on careful
+inquiry we ascertain that even in childhood such an act was associated
+with voluptuous excitement.
+
+I will take this opportunity of explaining very briefly that there is
+still another possible way of explaining these enduring associations as
+being based upon impressions received during childhood, without the
+supposition that these impressions of childhood are the exclusive
+determinants; this is the assumption that there exists a congenital
+weakness of the rudiment of the normal sexual impulse, and that it is
+owing to this primary defect that the paths of nervous conduction
+involved in the activity of the normal sexual impulse so readily become
+impassable.
+
+No further discussion of such disputed problems of the sexual life can
+now be attempted. What has been said should suffice, on the one hand, to
+prove that the experiences of childhood have important relationships to
+the occurrence of sexual perversions; and, on the other, to put the
+reader on his guard against numerous exaggerations. I will merely add
+that whilst the examples I have given concern only homosexuality and
+sadism, similar considerations will be found to apply, _mutatis
+mutandis_, to other sexual perversions.
+
+Notes of a few cases will now be given in which more or less perverse
+tendencies can be traced back into the days of childhood, at least in so
+far as the memories of those concerned can be regarded as trustworthy.
+
+CASE 11.--X., thirty-one years of age, is a foot-fetichist. He believes
+that his preference for feet dates from the age of six years, when he
+began to regard with extraordinary interest the feet of a servant girl
+in his father's house when she was engaged in washing the floor. From
+the age of six to the age of eleven years, X.'s memories are somewhat
+confused. Thenceforward, however, in the matter of his fondness for
+feet, his memories are distinct enough. When he was twelve years old he
+saw in his parents' house a young girl standing bare-footed before the
+kitchen fire; he seized the opportunity of crouching down on the ground
+quite close to the girl's feet, giving as his excuse that he wanted to
+bask in the heat of the fire. While doing this, he yearned to touch or
+to kiss the girl's feet. Between the ages of thirteen and sixteen he was
+crazy about the naked feet of girls and women. He took every opportunity
+of seeing the servants' feet when they were scrubbing the floors, and
+this sight sufficed to induce in him erection of the penis. This foot
+fetichism has persisted, directed sometimes towards the feet of women,
+sometimes towards the feet of men. Since he grew up, X. has from time to
+time had normal heterosexual intercourse.
+
+CASE 12.--Y., twenty-five years of age, homosexual, with a special
+preference for soldiers. In early childhood he noticed in himself a
+great fondness for handsome men. When walking in the streets of the town
+as a small boy, it was the soldiers, in especial, from among the men he
+met, who made a strong impression upon him. He remembers that when he
+was seven years of age, he allowed a soldier to take him on his knees,
+and that it gave him great pleasure to stroke the man's cheeks. The
+roughness of the cheeks gave him an extremely agreeable sensation, and
+he sought every opportunity of renewing this sensation. He found cavalry
+soldiers especially stimulating. From the age of eleven dates his
+peculiar delight in the well-rounded nates of a cavalry soldier. As he
+himself puts it, with the lapse of time, this has become to him a
+genuine fetich. Subsequently, young men-servants also aroused his
+interest, but never to the same degree as cavalry soldiers. The
+homosexual tendency has persisted into adult life.
+
+CASE 13.--Z., twenty-seven years of age, has several times been
+prosecuted, on account of his attempts to spy upon women in public
+lavatories. It is his custom, when in such a place he can observe the
+genital organs of a woman in the act of defæcation, to masturbate. He
+states that this tendency was well marked in him at the age of thirteen
+years. He believes, indeed, that at this time he was inspired mainly by
+curiosity--by a desire to see what the genital organs of a female were
+like. But he recalls that when a child, at about the age of eight or
+nine years, he experienced sexual stimulation when a girl cousin of six
+sat on his face; and he thinks that when only five or six years old he
+crawled under the petticoats of a servant girl, in order to lay his face
+against her nates. Even as early as this he experienced great pleasure
+in the act.
+
+CASE 14.--X., is now twenty years of age. He always experiences sexual
+excitement when he thinks of the act of whipping. It is unnecessary for
+him to play any active part in this himself; and it is a matter of
+indifference to him whether a man beats a woman, a woman beats a man, or
+an adult of either sex beats a child. In all cases alike the sight
+induces sexual excitement; and the imaginative reproduction of such a
+scene is his customary stimulus during masturbation--this being a fairly
+frequent occurrence. He traces back to childhood the stimulus exercised
+on him by a whipping seen or imagined. When from seven to nine years of
+age, he began to find such experiences sexually stimulating; by the age
+of ten, he was quite clear as to the existence of this peculiarity in
+himself. At this early age he struck himself with a stick, under the
+influence of an obscure impulse to arouse voluptuous sensations by means
+of the blows; he did this fairly frequently.
+
+As regards his sexual sensibilities in general, he is by no means
+indifferent to members of the opposite sex. He gladly seeks social
+intercourse with females, and likes to kiss them; but he does not
+experience any definite sexual impulse towards them, such as might
+culminate in sexual intercourse. Three times he has had actual
+intercourse, but on each occasion he has been able to effect erection
+and ejaculation only by means of all kinds of artificial stimulation. It
+is a noteworthy fact that when he was fifteen or sixteen years of age he
+became intimate with the members of a homosexual circle, and only by
+considerable effort was he able to free himself from these associations.
+
+In autobiographical literature we from time to time come across accounts
+of such perverse modes of sexual sensibility. Ulrich von Lichtenstein,
+in whom masochistic inclinations were unmistakably present, relates that
+when he was barely twelve years of age he became the devoted slave of a
+grown woman; and he describes his sentiments, at this early age and
+subsequently, towards this woman, who was well born, good and beautiful,
+chaste in mind and body, and in every respect virtuous. Well known, too,
+is the case of Rousseau, of which I shall have to speak again later;
+this writer traces his masochistic perversion back to the seventh year
+of his life. I may allude also to Rétif de la Bretonne, who was born in
+1734, and certainly experienced sexual sentiments in very early
+childhood. In his _Monsieur Nicolas_,[58] which must be regarded as an
+autobiographical work, Rétif relates the beginnings, in the years
+1743-44, of his fetichistic fondness (which endured throughout his life)
+for women's feet and women's shoes. In purely fictional works, analogous
+cases are also described. Thus, in his _Pour une Nuit d'Amour_, Zola
+depicts a sadistic-masochistic relationship between two children:--
+
+"From earliest childhood Thérèse von Morsanne used Colombel as the
+scapegoat and the sport of her caprices. He was about six months older
+than she. Thérèse was a dreadful child. Not that she was wild and
+uncontrolled, like the ordinary unruly child; on the contrary, she was
+extraordinarily serious, with the outward aspect of a well-brought-up
+young lady. But she had most remarkable whims and caprices, When she was
+alone, she would from time to time utter inarticulate cries or angry
+howls.
+
+"From the age of six she began to torment little Colombel. He was small
+and weakly. She would lead him to the back of the park, to a place where
+the chestnut-trees formed an arbour; here she would spring on his back
+and make him carry her about, riding sometimes round and round for
+hours. She compressed his neck, and thrust her heels into his sides, so
+that he could hardly breathe. He was the horse, she was the lady on
+horseback. When he was tired out, and ready to drop from exhaustion, she
+would bite him till the blood flowed, and would cling to her seat so
+tightly that her nails sank into his flesh. And the ride would thus
+start once more. The cruel queen of six years old, borne on the back of
+the little boy who served her as beast of burden, hunted thus on
+horseback with her hair streaming in the wind. Afterwards, when they
+were with their parents, she would pinch him secretly, and by repeated
+threats would prevent him from crying or complaining. Thus in secret
+they led a life of their own, very different from that which was
+apparent to the eyes of others. When they were alone, she treated him as
+a toy, to be broken to fragments at her pleasure, simply to see what
+might be inside. Was she not the Marquise? Were not people on their
+knees before her? And when she was tired of tyrannising over Colombel in
+private, she would take a peculiar pleasure, when a number of others
+were present, in tripping him up, or in running a pin into his arm or
+leg, whilst at the same time she forbade him with a fierce glance of her
+black eyes to show even by the movement of an eyelid that she was to
+blame.
+
+"Colombel bore his martyrdom with a dull resentment. Trembling, he kept
+his eyes on the ground, to escape the temptation to strangle his young
+mistress. And yet he did not dislike being beaten; it gave him a bitter
+delight. Sometimes, even, he actually sought for a blow, awaiting the
+pain with a peculiar thrill, and feeling a certain satisfaction in the
+smart when she pricked him with a pin."
+
+I have now recounted a number of cases in which the perversions observed
+in adults can be traced back to early childhood. I have shown that it
+remains doubtful, when the specific perversion first makes its
+appearance, whether it results from a congenital predisposition which is
+merely aroused to activity by an outward stimulus, or whether the
+outward stimulus is also the true determinant. A further point has now
+to be considered, and it is one which, as far as I know, has hitherto
+been completely ignored in the literature of the subject. The majority
+of sexual perverts trace back the origin of their perversion to a time
+at which the detumescence impulse had not yet been awakened. Thus, the
+homosexual tells us of a peculiar impulse he felt in childhood to kiss
+his tutor; we learn from the hair-fetichist that when still a child he
+loved to play with girls' hair; and so on. And we are told that these
+impulses, voluptuously tinged, occurred at a time when erection and
+ejaculation had not yet taken place, and that there was not as yet any
+of that peripheral voluptuous sensation which can be clearly
+differentiated from the purely psychical voluptuous sensation. The
+question then arises, was this voluptuous sensation excited during
+childhood of a truly sexual nature at this early age? Was the boy's
+impulsive desire to kiss his tutor a sexual impulse? From the fact that
+later in life such an impulse is unmistakably sexual, the conclusion is
+often drawn that the earlier inclinations, and the pleasurable
+sensations associated with the corresponding mental processes, were also
+sexual. The inference is an obvious one, and is doubtless justified in
+many instances. But the following point must be taken into
+consideration. It is a fact that the psychosexual processes of the child
+are less sharply differentiated from other psychical processes than is
+the case in the adult; and it is therefore possible that the specific
+sexual perversions, and the specific sexual sensibility, develop out of
+a corresponding sensibility in the child which is not yet of a sexual
+character. The observation of Stanley Hall[59] that children display a
+peculiar interest, not only in their own feet, but also in the feet of
+other persons, would appear to confirm this view. He writes: "Quite
+small children often display a marked fondness for stroking the feet of
+others, especially when these feet are well formed; and many adults
+testify to the persistence of such an impulse, whose gratification gives
+them a peculiar pleasure." It may readily be supposed, in many cases of
+foot-fetichism, that this unmistakably sexual phenomenon has originally
+developed out of such a non-sexual fondness for feet.
+
+Unquestionably, many of the processes of childhood are not to be
+regarded as sexual, although they are closely related to the sexual
+life. This statement applies to many of the friendships between boys or
+between girls, such as are formed during the period in which the sexual
+impulse is still undifferentiated, or after its differentiation has
+occurred--and such friendships must not be identified with sexual
+feelings. At this period of life, we occasionally observe a desire in
+boys to form romantic friendships with others of their own sex; and the
+same is true also of girls. In many cases of this kind, there is no
+question of the presence of any sexual element, and we have no right,
+therefore, to regard as manifestations of the sexual impulse such
+instances of enthusiastic friendship during the period of
+undifferentiated sexual impulse. Each case must be separately analysed,
+in order to determine its nature. On the other hand, the sexual
+character of an inclination may sometimes be recognised in the early
+years of childhood, even in cases in which the boy's own genital organs
+are in no way involved. It may happen that a boy of eight will display a
+marked interest in the genital organs of youths or of men, and will
+seize every opportunity of peeping at them; and in such a case we are as
+a rule justified in assuming the existence of a homosexual tendency,
+even when there is no reflection of sexual disturbance to the boys own
+genital organs. But we must guard against the mistake of seeing a sexual
+element in every friendship between boys.
+
+As with human beings, so also with the lower animals, it is not always
+possible to differentiate friendship from the sexual impulse. Robert
+Müller has collected a number of interesting observations bearing on
+this matter.[60] He states that the so-called animal friendships,
+friendships between animals of different species, are in many cases
+determined by sexual feelings. He mentions the case of a dog ten months
+old, which made sexual attacks on hens, and thereby killed them; in
+another instance, a thorough-bred dog, two years old, exhibited a
+similar perversion, and had a lasting sexual relationship with a hen. He
+also quotes a case of which a man named P. Momsen was the witness, in
+which a gander attempted to pair with a bitch. These examples show that
+in the cases of animal friendship so often reported in the newspapers,
+the existence of an element of perverse sexuality is at least possible.
+But it does not, of course, follow that every strange animal friendship
+is of a sexual nature.
+
+This is true, also, of other perversions--of sadism, for instance. The
+tendency to cruelty appears in early childhood, and it is only
+subsequently that this tendency becomes definitely associated with the
+sexual life. But even though this association (of cruelty with the
+sexual life) is demonstrable in so many instances, we are not for this
+reason justified in regarding every brutal act, all deliberate cruelty,
+as manifestations of sadism; and this reservation applies no less to
+adults than to children. Thus, delight in the sufferings of others,
+though it may be regarded as analogous with sadism, has no necessary
+connexion with the sexual impulse. Just as little can we assume that the
+deliberate ill-treatment of animals, whether on the part of children or
+on that of adults, is necessarily the outcome of sadism.
+
+Felix Platter relates in his autobiography that when as a boy verging on
+maturity he had already chosen his future profession as a medical man,
+he came to the conclusion that he ought to accustom himself to the sight
+of disagreeable things; with this end in view, to habituate himself to
+see without emotion the heart and other viscera, he frequented the
+slaughter-house. Subsequently he experimented on a little bird, to
+ascertain if it had blood-vessels, and if it could be "bled"; he opened
+a vein with a penknife, and the little bird died. He did the same thing
+with various insects--stag-beetles, cock-chafers, and the like. Actions
+of this kind performed by children have, of course, no connexion with
+the sexual life. When a child tears off the feet of an insect, or
+mutilates any other animal, the motive is often simply that with which
+the same child will pull a watch to pieces. The same act may result from
+various motives; and for this reason we must guard against the
+misconception which might lead us, from every cruel act performed by a
+child, to diagnose the existence of sadism, or the certainty of a
+subsequent sadistic development.
+
+In a case of rose-fetichism, which I have published elsewhere, the
+subject was a philologist, thirty years of age, who had never
+masturbated during his school days, and until he was nineteen or twenty
+had remained sexually neutral, experiencing sexual inclination neither
+towards females nor towards members of his own sex. But he had from an
+early age exhibited a very great interest in flowers, and while still a
+child used to kiss them. He is unable, however, to recall the existence
+in this connexion of any sexual excitement. When about twenty-one years
+old he was introduced to a young lady who at the time was wearing a
+large rose fastened into the front of her jacket. Henceforward, in his
+sexual sensibility, the rose assumed extraordinary importance. Whenever
+he was able, he bought roses, kissed them, and took them to bed with
+him. The act of kissing a rose induced an erection of the penis. In his
+seminal dreams, the image of the rose always played a leading part.
+
+This case is extremely instructive. A great love for flowers, leading to
+the act of kissing, occurs in many children without any subsequent
+association, when these children have grown up, of sexual sentiments
+with flowers. Such persons will lay little stress on their memories of
+such occurrences in childhood--indeed, in adult life these incidents are
+for the most part forgotten. But to X., who when grown-up became
+affected with rose-fetichism as a sequel of a specific experience, it
+seems that his sexual fetichism is causally dependent upon his childish
+love of flowers--and probably he is right in so thinking. But we must
+not for this reason assume that his childish preference had any sexual
+character. It is more likely that the abnormally great fondness for
+flowers, beginning in childhood, was a favouring factor of the
+subsequent development of the rose-fetichism. What applies here to a
+pathological instance, may also be assumed to be true of the normal
+sexual life. _That is to say, the experiences of childhood, which have
+not as yet any relationship with sexual life, are nevertheless of great
+significance in relation to the subsequent upbuilding of the sexual
+life, and above all in relation to the development of the psychosexual
+sentiments._
+
+For the sake of completeness I must allude here to two additional
+processes which are also related to the sexual life of the child, viz.,
+exhibitionism and skatophilia. As regards exhibitionism, Lasègue[61]
+describes as exhibitionists those persons who display their genital
+organs to others from a certain distance, without attempting any other
+improper manipulations, and above all without making any endeavour to
+effect sexual intercourse. Kovalevsky[62] contends that the tendency to
+exhibitionism is observed in the male sex especially during childhood at
+the approach of puberty, and in old age. He records the following case:
+"The headmistress of a boarding-school one day brought to see me a boy
+fourteen years of age, very well behaved and intelligent, who
+experienced from time to time an irresistible impulse, when he met one
+of the little girls of the school, to expose his penis. As a rule he was
+able to withstand this terrible impulse, but occasionally he yielded to
+it. He then experienced a sense of confusion in his head and his vision,
+and his whole body seemed to become tense, whilst at the same time he
+experienced a voluptuous sensation in the penis and in the body
+generally. This state lasted for one or two minutes, and was succeeded
+by a moderate sense of weakness and a very distressing sense of shame.
+The acts of exhibition were never accompanied with seminal emission,
+although he sometimes had such emissions during the night." I have
+myself hardly ever observed this form of exhibitionism in children.
+Somewhat commoner, however, is the mutual and perfectly voluntary
+exhibition of their genital organs by children, generally boys and girls
+together; in these cases, as previously explained (p. 71), the acts are
+determined rather by curiosity than by the sexual impulse. It is
+necessary to insist upon this fact, as distinguishing exhibitionism in
+children from exhibitionism in adults. A like question arises regarding
+the skatological inclinations and interests of children, which are
+assumed by Havelock Ellis[63] to be intimately connected with the sexual
+life. It is an undoubted fact that many children before puberty are
+greatly interested in the excretions from the bladder and the intestine.
+Stanley Hall,[64] to whom Havelock Ellis refers, is of opinion that
+"micturitional obscenities, which our returns show to be so common
+before adolescence, culminate at ten or twelve, and seem to retreat into
+the background as sex-phenomena appear." He distinguishes between two
+classes of cases: "fouling persons or things, secretly from adults, but
+openly with each other," and, less often, "ceremonial acts, connected
+with the act or the product, that almost suggest the skatological rites
+of savages." I can myself, as a result of numerous inquiries, confirm
+the existence of skatophilia in children. But I have not yet been able
+to satisfy myself that these processes always, or even usually, have any
+connexion with the sexual life. Such a connexion unquestionably exists
+in some cases, but no less certainly it is not an invariable one.
+Skatological acts--those, that is to say, in which the more disgusting
+excreta play a part--arise in some instances out of a masochistic mode
+of sensibility. In cases in which adult masochists have such
+inclinations, it is often impossible to trace their existence back into
+childhood. It rather appears, in most of the instances of skatological
+inclinations which have come under my own observation, that these
+inclinations have been superimposed upon other masochistic tendencies,
+and these latter may sometimes be traced back to the days of childhood.
+But in a few cases I have found skatological perversions to have
+originated very early in life. A man with a university education, with
+an inclination to the practice of cunnilinctus, assured me that this
+inclination began in childhood. Another man, whose interest in the
+female nates and anus was unquestionably not the result of any excesses,
+stated positively that he was able to refer the origin of this
+inclination to a definite experience of his childhood. When only seven
+years of age, he experienced the impulse to look at the nates of a
+servant-maid; and he believes that this inclination, which in his case
+was certainly generalised at a very early age, arose from a still
+earlier experience, viz., the chance sight of his mother's nates, when
+she urinated in his presence. His whole account of the matter suggests
+the existence of a fetichism directed to the nates, impelling him to the
+most disgusting acts, which he has several times performed. A similar
+case, but on a homosexual basis, will be found recorded as Case 20 in my
+work on Sexual Inversion.[65]
+
+No detailed account of other pathological manifestations of the sexual
+life will now be attempted, since this work professes to deal only with
+subjects of a wide and general significance. We cannot consider those
+cases, for instance, in which there is developmental defect of the
+reproductive organs; those, for example, in which there is no
+discoverable development of the reproductive glands. But some reference
+may be made to hermaphroditism. In the human species true
+hermaphroditism is a very rare occurrence, whereas apparent
+hermaphroditism, the so-called pseudo-hermaphroditism, is comparatively
+frequent. The sexual life of pseudo-hermaphrodites has in some instances
+been very carefully studied, more especially with reference to the
+relationship of pseudo-hermaphroditism to the direction of the sexual
+impulse. It appears that in a number of cases of pseudo-hermaphroditism,
+not only did the secondary sexual characters exhibit an inverted or
+contrary sexual development, but the sexual impulse was also
+inverted--was directed, that is to say, towards individuals of the same
+sex as that to which the pseudo-hermaphrodite really belonged. Beyond
+question, cases have been observed in which pseudo-hermaphrodites with
+testicles have had sexual inclination towards males; and
+pseudo-hermaphrodites with ovaries, sexual inclination towards females.
+In many of these cases, such contrary sexual tendencies could be traced
+back into childhood. We have, of course, to reckon with the fact that in
+the case of pseudo-hermaphrodites the diagnosis of the sex is usually
+based upon the formation of the external genital organs, and without any
+expert examination of the reproductive glands; thus they are often
+brought up as members of a sex to which they do not really belong, and
+in consequence of this their education is sexually inverted. In such
+cases it may reasonably be suggested that the homosexuality is the
+result, not so much of a congenital inversion of the sexual impulse, as
+of the contrary sexual education.
+
+For a detailed treatment of the subject of hermaphroditism, reference
+should be made to the special literature of the subject, and above all
+to the exhaustive and laborious work of Neugebauer.[66]
+
+
+
+
+Chapter VI
+
+ETIOLOGY AND DIAGNOSIS
+
+
+The last chapter dealt with pathological phenomena in the sexual life of
+the child. From the considerations urged in this and in earlier
+chapters, it will have become apparent that sexual manifestations in
+childhood are not necessarily to be regarded as pathological. This
+conclusion does not conflict with the assumption that certain factors
+influence the sexual life of the child. The numerous individual
+differences suffice to indicate the existence of such factors. Many of
+these are of a pathological character, but others have no connexion with
+the domain of pathology. Among the factors thus influencing the sexual
+life of the child, we can distinguish those affecting the germinal
+rudiments from those which exercise their influence later. Those of the
+former group first demand our attention.
+
+In certain families, the early awakening of sexuality is observed with
+remarkable frequency. These are often neuropathic or psychopathic
+families, and moreover the early awakening of the sexual life is
+frequently associated with neuropathic or psychopathic symptoms. But
+this is by no means always the case, and often enough such persons
+belong to healthy families and are themselves healthy. We are therefore
+not entitled to regard the occurrence of sexual manifestations in
+childhood as a proof of degeneration or of a morbid inheritance. But
+equally erroneous is the opposite view, that the early awakening of
+sexuality is an indication of exceptional endowments. It is true that in
+many persons of genius premature sexual passion has been observed, and
+such manifestations are by no means always confined to the contrectation
+impulse. We learn, too, in our consulting rooms, that not infrequently
+the most diligent schoolboys exhibit at a comparatively early age the
+phenomena alike of contrectation and of detumescence. But the fallacy of
+drawing general conclusions from this fact is shown by the additional
+fact that in idiots and imbeciles premature awakening of the sexual life
+is also of common occurrence. In cases such as were formerly described
+as moral insanity, but which in Germany to-day are classed with
+imbecility, sexual assaults on others are very common at an early age.
+This is true also of other forms of idiocy and imbecility. In asylums
+for such patients, feeble-minded children not infrequently make sexual
+attempts on nurses and on other inmates. In this connexion, we have to
+consider both components of the sexual impulse, the phenomena of
+contrectation as well as those of detumescence. In the case of low-grade
+idiots, we often see the phenomena of pure detumescence, without the
+accompaniment of any sexual inclination directed towards another person;
+this is simply physical masturbation, performed under the promptings of
+an organic impulse. But not only in imbeciles and idiots, and in persons
+of genius, but also in those with perfectly normal mental endowments,
+the sexual impulse, and more especially the phenomena of contrectation,
+may appear at a very early age. Persons with artistic tendencies develop
+in this way with comparative frequency. We must, for these reasons,
+guard against the misconception that the early awakening of sexuality is
+_per se_ pathological. The fact that the study of the sexual life has
+been undertaken chiefly by medical men, and above all by neurologists
+and alienists, has inevitably introduced a certain bias into the results
+of the investigation. Opportunities for the study of the sexual life of
+normal persons have been comparatively rare; for those in whom the early
+awakening of sexuality has been recorded have for the most part sought
+medical advice and treatment for some other reason, and the physician
+has taken the opportunity to make inquiries into the patient's sexual
+history. The boundary-line between what is pathological and what is
+normal can be determined only by an extended study of the sexual life in
+normal persons. By very numerous inquiries I have done my best to effect
+this; and a careful examination of the accumulated material leads to the
+above-mentioned conclusion, that an early awakening of the sexual life
+is commoner in those with an abnormal nervous system than it is in
+healthy persons: but it also appears that an abnormal sensitiveness of a
+non-pathological character, such as is exhibited by persons with the
+artistic temperament, and likewise a disposition excitable to a degree
+which cannot yet be called morbid, predispose the subjects to an early
+awakening of sexuality.
+
+To attain to clear views on this question, it is necessary to bear
+certain distinctions in mind: first, as regards the different periods of
+childhood; and, secondly, as regards the two components of the sexual
+impulse (detumescence and contrectation). My own investigations have led
+me to draw the following conclusions. _During the first period of
+childhood, that is to say, up to the end of the seventh year of life,
+the occurrence of manifestations of the sexual impulse must arouse
+suspicions of the existence of a congenital morbid predisposition._ But
+as regards the phenomena of detumescence, which are confined to the
+peripheral genital organs, we must make an exception to this rule if
+they do not appear spontaneously, but result either from local
+inflammatory or other morbid changes, or from deliberate seduction of
+the child to the performance of sexual manipulations; at any rate, in
+such cases, the probability of the existence of _congenital morbid
+predisposition_ is greatly diminished. _I am also forced to regard as
+suspicious the occurrence of phenomena of contrectation during the first
+period of childhood, although not to the same extent as are the
+peripheral manifestation of the sexual impulse--and I hold this view
+notwithstanding the numerous cases recorded by Sanford Bell. Passing to
+the second period of childhood, the phenomena of contrectation may
+appear at the very beginning of this period, that is, during the eighth
+year of life, without justifying the inference that any morbid
+predisposition exists. Regarding the phenomena of detumescence, we must
+not hold them to be necessarily morbid when they make their appearance
+during the last years of the second period of childhood; but when this
+occurs earlier, during the tenth or eleventh year of life for instance,
+some suspicion may reasonably be aroused._ In this general survey of the
+material, it did not appear that any important difference existed
+between the two sexes in the matters under consideration; but I believe
+that in girls the phenomena of contrectation often make their
+appearance somewhat earlier than in boys, whereas, on the other hand,
+the occurrence of the phenomena of detumescence at an early age is more
+likely to indicate the existence of congenital morbid predisposition in
+girls than it is in boys.
+
+In the delimitation of the pathological from the healthy, I have
+endeavoured to lay down broad general lines. It must not be supposed
+that precisely at the close of the first period of childhood, that is to
+say, at the end of the seventh year of life, the sexual life, and our
+opinions as to the significance of its manifestations, undergo sudden
+alterations. Our estimates as to the significance of phenomena occurring
+during the early months of the eighth year of life, will not differ
+materially from our estimates as to the significance of the same
+phenomena when they occur during the last months of the seventh year. My
+conclusions have no more than a general application, based as they are
+on the recorded experiences and on my own personal observations of
+numerous persons, healthy and diseased.
+
+Let us consider further what are the factors favouring an early
+awakening of the sexual life. I have previously mentioned the fact that
+in certain families a remarkably early sexual development is quite
+common. This is true also of certain races. But the data bearing on this
+question are not quite so trustworthy as might be wished. The fact that
+among certain nations marriage sometimes takes place at a remarkably
+early age, is no certain proof of the early awakening of sexuality in
+persons of this nationality; for the marriage may be a purely ceremonial
+affair, and may be effected long before the individual is ripe for
+sexual intercourse or for procreation; and the first act of intercourse
+may not take place until several years after the ceremony of marriage.
+Among ourselves, marriage, especially in the case of men, does not as a
+rule take place until long after the age of puberty, and it therefore
+seems to us very remarkable when, in another race, men marry ten years
+earlier; but this must not be taken as a proof that sexual development
+occurs at an earlier age. We can gain some knowledge of the subject from
+the statistical inquiries which have been made regarding the appearance
+of that manifestation of puberty which is most readily available for
+such inquiries, namely, the first occurrence of menstruation.
+Ribbing[67] has made a study of this question, and gives the following
+figures regarding the commencement of menstruation in women of different
+nationalities in various places: Swedish Lapland, 18 years; Christiania,
+16 years, 9 months, 25 days; Berlin, 15 years, 7 months, 6 days; Paris
+15 years, 7 months, 18 days, and 14 years, 5 months, and 17 days;
+Madeira, 14 years, 3 months; Sierra Leone and Egypt, 10 years. From
+these data we should naturally he led to infer that there would be great
+variations in the age at which other manifestations of the sexual life
+first make their appearance, and experience justifies this inference.
+
+Some writers attribute to climate a great influence in this respect;
+whilst others regard this view as erroneous, and believe that the
+differences observed depend rather on racial peculiarities. By advocates
+of the former view it is assumed that a hot climate leads to the early
+appearance of menstruation, whilst a cold climate retards the
+development of this function. Those who dispute the influence of climate
+bring forward instances of a contrary kind. Thus, among the Samoyede
+Eskimos, menstruation begins at the age of twelve or thirteen,
+notwithstanding the fact that they dwell within the Arctic circle;
+whereas, among the Danes and the Swedes, menstruation begins at about
+the age of sixteen or seventeen years. Again, we are told that among the
+Creoles of the Antilles, as in France, menstruation rarely begins before
+the fourteenth year, whilst in the same islands, girls of African race
+begin to menstruate, as in Africa, at ten or eleven years of age.[68]
+These objections to the climatic theory are certainly serious ones. But
+when we are considering the possible influence of climate upon
+menstruation, we have to remember that it is possible that climate may
+exert its influence cumulatively in successive generations, and may not
+produce its full effect upon the age at which menstruation begins, until
+after the lapse of several generations. We certainly lack evidence to
+show that in isolated individuals a change of climate affects the first
+appearance of menstruation. But it is not impossible that climate may
+exert such an influence in the course of several generations. Such a
+view would appear to receive support from our observations on animals,
+for the sexual life of the latter is notably influenced by the seasons,
+and change of season resembles in many respects change of climate. In
+most animals, and more especially in those living in a state of nature,
+the sexual impulse becomes active at stated intervals only, and these
+intervals are related to the duration of pregnancy in such a way that
+the birth of the young occurs always at a season in which the nutritive
+conditions are favourable. It is widely assumed that even in the human
+species there remain vestiges of such a periodicity in the sexual
+impulse. I have discussed this matter very fully elsewhere,[69] and will
+here do no more than draw attention to the fact that the poetry of
+spring, which sings partly of love alone, and partly of the relations
+between love and the annual awakening of nature, bears upon the
+influence of this season of the year upon the sexual impulse. It seems
+that the spring also exerts an influence upon the love-sentiments of the
+child. It is possible that suggestion here plays a certain part,
+inasmuch as from childhood onwards poetry and many observations teach
+that there is a connexion between love and the season of spring. Sanford
+Bell considers that the importance of spring in this connexion depends
+on the fact that at this season children begin to meet one another in
+the open, subject to less restraint, and perhaps more frequently. But he
+does not exclude the possible existence of an inherited vestige of
+periodicity in the sexual impulse.
+
+It is widely assumed that among the higher social classes the awakening
+of the sexual life occurs earlier than among the lower. But it can
+hardly be said that trustworthy statistics exist to illustrate this
+point; and the most we can admit is that it may be true of the
+commencement of menstruation--though even here the data available hardly
+suffice to afford proof of the thesis. It is said that in girls of the
+upper classes menstruation begins on the average at an earlier age than
+in girls of the lower classes; and also that menstruation begins earlier
+in towns than in the country. Rousseau[70] asserted this long ago,
+taking his facts from Buffon, who attributed the fact to the sparer and
+poorer fare of the country folk. Rousseau, while admitting that
+menstruation began later in the country districts, considered that diet
+had nothing to do with the matter, since even where (as in Valais) the
+peasants enjoyed a liberal fare, puberty, in both sexes, occurred later
+than in the majority of towns, in which an excessively rich diet was
+often customary. He believed that the difference between town and
+country in this respect depended rather upon the more enduring repose of
+the imagination in the country, this latter itself arising from the
+greater fixity of customs in the rural districts. Speaking generally,
+however, the question whether in the country the sexual life awakens
+later than it does in the towns, cannot be said to have been decisively
+answered.
+
+Closely connected with the question of the alleged later awakening of
+the sexual life in the country is the belief that in the country
+children are also more moral and remain longer uncorrupted.
+
+I myself do not believe that children are more moral in the country, or
+that they here remain longer uncorrupted than in towns, whether large or
+small. Nor is it proved that in former times the country possessed any
+advantage in these respects, as compared with our own days and with the
+modern town. The entire fable of rural innocence appears to rest, not
+upon an actual comparison between town and country, but rather upon the
+more lively interest felt in town life, and especially in the life of
+the great towns: in towns, immorality has been more carefully studied
+and more often _described_; and on account of the greater concentration
+of town life, it is also more readily apparent. But any one who studies
+erotic literature and descriptions of manners and customs, at any rate,
+anyone who studies these without prejudice, will find ample ground for
+the opinion that even in earlier times morality stood in the country on
+no higher level than in the towns. The opinion that country life was
+more moral has existed from very early times, and it is interesting to
+observe the way in which in erotic literature we at times encounter a
+satirical use of this fact, describing the painful disillusionment of a
+man who has hoped to find perfect innocence in his loved one from the
+country, and has been bitterly disappointed.
+
+I do not propose to give numerous examples of rural immorality in
+earlier times; two will suffice, both dating from the eighteenth
+century, and both bearing on the seduction of children. Laukhard,[71]
+born in the year 1758, at Wendelsheim, in the Lower Palatinate, tells us
+how, when six years of age, he was introduced by a manservant into the
+secrets of the sexual life, so that he was speedily in a position "to
+take part, with consummate ability and to the admiration of all, in the
+most shameless lewd sports and conversations of the menials of the
+household." And Laukhard adds in a note that, in the Palatinate,
+obscenity was so universal, and among the common people the general
+conversation was so utterly shameless, that a Prussian grenadier would
+have blushed on hearing the foul talk of the Jacks and Gills of the
+Palatinate. He also relates that he soon found an opportunity of
+practising with one of the servant-girls what the manservant who had
+been his instructor had extolled to him as the _non plus ultra_ of the
+higher knowledge. If we compare with this the descriptions given by
+Rétif de la Bretonne, who was born in the year 1734 in the village of
+Sacy in Lower Burgundy, and was the son of a well-to-do peasant, and if
+we study a number of similar accounts of country life, we shall hardly
+be inclined to take a very roseate view regarding rural morals in former
+days. We learn from Rétif,[72] that while still quite a little boy, only
+four years of age, he had the most diverse sexual experiences with a
+grown-up girl, Marie Piôt, after she had induced an erection of his
+penis by tickling his genital organs. These and numerous similar
+accounts, which we find in the works of writers of previous centuries,
+are not likely to sustain the conviction that rural morals were formerly
+distinguished by exceptional purity.
+
+But if this claim must be disputed as regards rural life in former
+times, it is still more certain that we must deny that to-day a higher
+moral level obtains in the country than in the towns, and this is true
+above all as regards children. It is certain that sexual activity in
+children does not begin later in the country. My views as to present
+conditions in the country are derived mainly from information directly
+communicated to myself. From a number of grown-up persons, now residing
+in the metropolis, but born and bred in the country, I have received
+details of their own early sexual experiences. I have in addition had
+opportunities for direct personal inquiries in rural districts and in
+the smaller country towns. Lastly, I have received reports voluntarily
+furnished to me by persons still residing in the country. Combining all
+these sources of information, I am justified in asserting that in the
+country sexual practices among children are of exceedingly common
+occurrence.
+
+Just as the recent increasing development of large towns has been
+regarded as responsible for immorality and for premature sexual
+activities in children, so also has modern civilisation in general been
+blamed for the same results. There has always existed a tendency to
+depreciate the morals of contemporary periods, and to exalt in
+comparison the morals of an earlier day. In books of earlier
+generations, in those, for instance, which appeared between the middle
+of the eighteenth century and the middle of the nineteenth century, we
+find, just as we find in the writings of our own day, lamentations upon
+existing corruption, especially as regards the morals of children, and
+panegyrics upon the morality of an earlier time. But when we examine the
+documents of the past, we find adequate proof of the fact that morals
+stood at no higher level in former times than to-day, and, more
+particularly, we learn that the sexual morals of children were no better
+then than now. If this were otherwise, how could we explain the fact
+that, in the year 1527, for instance, the Town Council of Ulm issued an
+order to the brothel-keepers of that town that they were no longer to
+admit to the brothels boys of from twelve to fourteen years of age, but
+rather were to drive them away with birch-rods. This fact, with many
+others, is recorded by Hans Boesch;[73] and collectively they suffice to
+prove, not merely that the children of former times were no whit more
+moral than those of our own day, but also that the awakening of sexual
+activity occurred just as early then as now.
+
+But although I contest the alleged general influence of the life of
+large towns and of modern civilisation upon the morality and the sexual
+activities of children, I admit at once that peculiar conditions of
+place and time may exert a great influence in these respects.
+Frequently, no detailed analysis of these conditions is possible; but
+sometimes such an analysis can be effected. Only by the assumption that
+these special influences exist can we understand how it is that such
+marked differences exist at different times in the same place. I know
+certain schools in Berlin in which masturbation, and even mutual
+masturbation, are widely diffused; and I know others regarding which in
+this respect no unfavourable reports can be made. I know, indeed, of
+schools about which I have received from former pupils, persons whose
+trustworthiness I have absolutely no reason to doubt, reports which
+prove that a remarkably high level of sexual morality must have existed
+in these schools. On the other hand, ex-pupils of other schools,
+attended by boys of very various classes of the population, have
+informed me that at these schools there was hardly a boy who did not
+masturbate. It is not always possible to ascertain the causes of such
+differences. One child, perhaps, may corrupt an entire class. But I
+believe also that the influence of the schoolmasters, and especially
+that of the headmaster, may be of enormous importance in this respect.
+Similar differences exist in the country. It is even believed by some
+that there are differences between the Catholic and Protestant
+inhabitants of the rural districts. How extensive may be the differences
+even within a comparatively small area, is shown by an example, which I
+will quote, from C. Wagner.[74] One of the districts studied by him was
+the Province of Jagst in Würtemberg, and he reports that there is a
+striking difference between the Alt-Würtemberg and the Franconian
+districts. The report states that in the former district the greater
+number of parents appear to recognise it as their sacred duty to bring
+up their children properly and to watch over their development. Moral
+depravity could not be said to be general among the children of this
+region. Very different was it in the Franconian districts, in which not
+only were the children cared for much less perfectly, but in which also
+"the children saw and heard much too early things which impair or
+destroy the innocence and purity of the heart." We are told that
+shamelessness in the satisfaction of natural needs was general; some
+cases of self-abuse were reported; and obscene and lascivious
+conversation was common. The causes assigned for this in the report are:
+overcrowding in the dwellings, there being in some cases but a single
+bed for children of school age of different sexes; also that children
+had been present when cattle were performing the sexual act. Often in
+the country we are told that children have been corrupted by grown
+persons, through sleeping in the same bed with the latter.
+
+What has just been said bears upon the influences which at the opening
+of this chapter I classed with the second group of the influences
+affecting the sexual life of the child, namely, those that come into
+play only after birth. But whatever degree of importance we may
+attribute to these, it cannot be doubted that congenital predisposition
+plays a very important part in inducing an early awakening of the sexual
+life. What we see in this case is similar to what happens in respect of
+other qualities than the sexual. Some persons are congenitally
+predisposed to a one-sided development; and in some persons there occurs
+a phenomenally early development of certain particular talents. It will
+suffice to remind the reader of children who while still quite young can
+perform extraordinary arithmetical operations, and of those who at six
+or seven years of age can play beautifully on the piano or some other
+instrument. In these latter cases the most important feature is the
+congenital predisposition, but this predisposition has, of course, to be
+aroused to activity; and the same is true in the case of the sexual
+impulse. This explains why it is that the most careful education often
+fails to prevent the premature commencement of the amatory life; and it
+explains also, on the other hand, why it is that even in the most
+unfavourable circumstances, sexual phenomena do not always make their
+appearance during childhood. I know of persons who have passed the years
+of childhood in a brothel, amid surroundings obviously calculated to
+turn their attention to sexuality, but in whom nevertheless during
+childhood no development of the sexual life appeared to have occurred.
+The popular saying, "What is bred in the bone will not out of the
+flesh," may be to some degree an overstatement, but nevertheless
+corresponds to the actual facts. But we must not go to the other
+extreme, and refuse to recognise the importance of the influences
+surrounding the developing child. We must bear in mind that congenital
+predispositions vary in strength; and a little reflection will convince
+us that the awakening of the sexual life will be hindered by a
+favourable environment, but facilitated and accelerated by an
+unfavourable one. In cases of seduction, the congenital predisposition
+often plays no more than a secondary part. Sexual acts in childhood
+resulting from seduction often exhibit a merely imitative character, and
+do not appear to proceed from an organically conditioned impulse; in
+such cases the sexual malpractices are often discontinued when the
+seducing influence is withdrawn; but if this influence is exercised
+persistently and systematically, it may have a permanent effect even in
+cases in which the congenital predisposition is slight.
+
+This is all I have to say about the relationship between the congenital
+predisposition and the external influences of life. Turning now to
+consider these influences by themselves, we have to distinguish between
+those that are somatic or physical and those that are psychical in
+nature. Influences of these two classes may co-operate simultaneously,
+or may pass one into the other; and, speaking generally, it is by no
+means always easy to maintain a sharp distinction between them.
+
+Seduction may in some instances arise largely by way of physical
+stimulation, as, for example, when another person deliberately handles
+the genital organs of a child. Nurses sometimes stroke or tickle a
+child's genitals in order to put an end to a screaming fit. But in some
+cases--and these are more numerous than is commonly supposed--nursemaids
+do this under the impulse of their own lustful feelings. Such actions
+are not necessarily the outcome of a perverse sexual impulse, although
+they may be due to such an impulse in the form of pædophilia, as I shall
+have to explain in detail when I come to describe that perversion.
+Frequently the offenders are not in the least aware of the danger of
+what they are doing, and do it merely in sport. In many instances the
+seduction is effected by other children, and often at a very early age.
+Recently a case was reported to me in which a boy only five years of age
+led older children astray. In schools, a closet used by both boys and
+girls is by many considered extremely dangerous. In the country, the
+fact that children have a long way to go to school often gives
+opportunity for improper conduct; and this is especially likely to occur
+if there are copses near the road in which the children can conceal
+themselves from observation. When children in the country traverse long
+distances on the way to preparatory confirmation classes, misconduct is
+exceptionally likely, for such children are now at an age at which the
+activity of the sexual life is becoming more manifest. Whether the
+seduction be the work of other children or of adults, the child thus led
+astray is likely subsequently to induce artificially as often as
+possible the agreeable sensations with which it has now been made
+acquainted, more especially in view of the fact that in children the
+imitative impulse is far more strongly developed than it is in adults,
+in whom imitative inclinations are counteracted by numerous inhibitions.
+What is true of seduction is true also of the various affections of the
+genital organs which induce an impulse to scratch, such as eczema,
+prurigo, urticaria, &c. Affections of regions adjoining the genital
+organs may also lead to similar troubles--for instance, threadworms in
+the rectum or the vagina.
+
+Clothing, also, especially in boys the breeches, may give rise during
+childhood to unwholesome stimulation. Hufeland, in his _Makrobiotik_,
+long ago advised against the wearing of breeches by little boys. The
+Schaumburg-Lippe body-physician, Faust,[75] in a work published in the
+year 1791, strongly recommended that boys should not wear breeches.
+Frequently the climbing of the pole in the gymnasium is regarded as
+being the etiological factor in the induction of premature masturbation.
+Experience shows that occasionally the first voluptuous sensations do
+actually arise during the act of climbing the pole. A similar report is
+made also in regard to the climbing of trees and of gymnastic exercises
+on the parallel and horizontal bars. It is obvious that pressure on the
+genital organs will very readily arise in these ways. But cases are
+reported in which the child experiences sexual excitement from
+exercising on the horizontal bar, not when he is straddling the bar, but
+when he is hanging to it by the hands. It must in these cases remain
+doubtful whether the sexual excitement results from the pressure of the
+breeches, or is a direct result of the hanging posture. Where pressure
+is exerted on the genital organs, it is not always the _strength_ of the
+stimulus which is most significant. A nursemaid may do much more harm by
+gently tickling a child's genital organs than by pressing them forcibly.
+Nor have we to think only of the quality of the stimulus, but also of
+its newness; for an unfamiliar stimulus may cause sexual excitement
+simply because it is unfamiliar. Various stimuli have to be considered,
+in addition to those previously enumerated. I may refer here to
+flagellation. It is well known that in many children the first
+experience of sexual excitement results from a whipping; indeed, a
+perverse mode of sexual sensibility lasting throughout the whole of life
+may thus originate. I shall return to this matter in the chapter on
+Sexual Education. I will merely refer here to certain other stimuli
+which have in many cases aroused sexual excitement for the first time.
+Penta reports the case of a girl twelve years of age who first
+experienced sexual excitement during a railway journey. Certain men have
+informed me that they became sexually excited for the first time while
+driving over a rough stone pavement. It is obvious in these cases that
+the rapidly repeated succussion stimulates the peripheral genital
+organs, and that in this way sexual sensibility is awakened. Havelock
+Ellis[76] reports cases in which boys first experienced sexual pleasure
+when wrestling. Thus, a physician wrote regarding a boy of twelve or
+thirteen, that he experienced an extraordinarily pleasant sensation
+whilst wrestling with another boy, and that thenceforward he sought
+every opportunity to wrestle, often three or four times daily, and
+continued to do this until he was nearly nineteen years of ago. Whilst
+in this instance we are told that contact of the penis with the
+opponent's hips was effected, and that probably the sexual excitement
+was induced in this manner, I must point out that a masochistic-sadistic
+form of excitement may also result from wrestling, and that it is to
+this that we must refer the sexual desires and voluptuous sensations
+that are aroused in many males by the act of wrestling.
+
+Chemical stimuli must be regarded as a sub-variety of physical stimuli.
+It is sometimes asserted that a diet too rich in meat or otherwise too
+stimulating is dangerous in this regard. But an examination of the
+available material will show that this opinion lacks foundation. There
+is no proof that the sexual impulse can be prematurely awakened by a
+meat diet, or by any other particular diet. I cannot regard such an
+assertion as proved even as regards alcohol. Although I hold very
+strongly that no alcohol should be given to children, this is not
+because there is any proof that in children to whom alcohol is given the
+awakening of the sexual impulse occurs earlier than in others. But once
+the awakening of the sexual life has taken place, it is true that
+alcohol may have an exciting influence, and this in two different ways.
+On the one hand, if so much alcohol is taken as to interfere with the
+natural psychical inhibitions, sexual practices may occur that would
+not otherwise have occurred. On the other hand, also large quantities of
+alcohol may often induce an after-effect, after the intoxicating effects
+have completely passed away, manifesting itself, it may be, in the form
+of sexual excitement, but also, and chiefly, in the form of common
+sensations in the genital organs. To complete the account of this matter
+it is necessary to add that there are many persons who consume large
+quantities of alcohol, who yet are extremely moderate in sexual
+relationships. But alcohol should not be administered to children, for
+reasons altogether independent of its influence upon the sexual life.
+
+Psychical stimuli are perhaps even more important than physical stimuli.
+Here also seduction has to be considered, especially during the second
+period of childhood, in which danger may arise from playmates or
+school-fellows. This applies equally to children of either sex. Danger
+may also arise from adults, not only through systematic seduction on the
+part of grown persons who deliberately debase the mind of youth, but
+also in other ways. The conversations of adults often lead to sexual
+acts on the part of children, who understand far more of what is said in
+their presence than grownups commonly believe. While the child is to all
+appearance immersed in a book, while a girl is playing with her doll, or
+a boy with his tin soldiers, the parents or some other adults carry on a
+conversation in the child's presence under the influence of an utterly
+false belief that the latter's occupation engrosses his or her entire
+attention. Yet many children, in such cases, are listening to what is
+being said with all their ears. Especially foolish, however, are those
+parents who believe that by the employment of innuendo they are able to
+conceal from any children who may be present the true inwardness of
+their conversation. In these matters children are as a rule far sharper
+than their elders are accustomed to believe. It is hardly necessary for
+me to point out that opportunities for direct observation are especially
+dangerous to children. I allude more particularly to the case of
+children living in the same house with prostitutes; but the danger is
+hardly less when the children have an opportunity of observing their own
+parents engaged in sexual acts, or even in the mere preparation for
+such acts. Forel[77] quotes the report of an experienced physician to
+the effect that the children of peasants who have watched the copulation
+of animals often attempt to perform such acts with one another, when
+bathing, or when any other opportunity offers.
+
+In the preceding portions of this chapter I have attempted to
+distinguish individual influences from general influences, to
+distinguish congenital influences affecting the germinal rudiments from
+environmental influences acting after birth, and to distinguish
+psychical stimuli from physical stimuli. But it is obvious that the
+maintenance of a sharp distinction in these respects is very difficult,
+and indeed often quite impossible. A few additional considerations will
+elucidate this statement. Let us consider, for instance, seduction: here
+the separation of the psychical from the physical element cannot
+possibly be effected, because, as a rule, in these cases the two
+elements co-operate simultaneously. Let us consider the cases in which,
+owing to a congenital racial peculiarity, the sexual life awakens
+earlier than is usual among ourselves. In such cases, the manners and
+customs of the race in which this early development of sexuality is
+usual will be found to be especially adapted to attract the child's
+attention to sexual matters earlier than is here customary. It suffices
+to remind the reader of the celebrations of puberty and of the early
+marriages common among such races. Here it is hardly possible to
+separate the congenital characters from the effects of environment. But
+although, for the reasons given, the discrimination between the
+individual factors may be exceedingly difficult, still an attempt at
+discrimination must be made, more especially in view of the fact that a
+purposive sexual education can be attempted only when due consideration
+has been paid to the various etiological factors.
+
+
+It would naturally be of the utmost importance to be able to foresee the
+cases in which it is likely that the sexual processes of childhood would
+undergo an exceptionally early development. But as a rule we are unable
+to do this; and we must therefore be satisfied with the attempt to
+determine in individual cases whether manifestations of the sexual life
+occur during childhood, and if so, which manifestations. But even here
+we encounter difficulties, which in many instances are insuperable, but
+in others arise from the incompetence of adults. This is all the more
+deplorable because the effectiveness of sexual education is minimised
+through the lack of insight. Just as in the practice of medicine an
+accurate diagnosis is an indispensable prerequisite to correct
+therapeutics, so also here. Since in the earliest years the child has no
+conscious understanding of sexual processes, whilst children in whom a
+sexual consciousness has begun to dawn conceal most carefully from their
+elders all manifestations of their sexual life, diagnosis is possible
+only through knowledge of mankind in conjunction with tact.
+
+Let us first consider the phenomena of contrectation. We shall notice
+sometimes that a little boy, perhaps seven years of age or even younger,
+will withdraw from the society of other boys, and will seek the company
+of some particular individual, for example that of a girl friend of his
+sister, of about his own age. Similar phenomena occur in girls. A little
+girl in her tenth year will frequently be noticed to find something to
+speak to her mother about whenever a particular male friend of the
+family visits the house. Even a shrewd and observant mother will often
+fail to take note of the reason why on these occasions her little
+daughter invariably comes into the room. The child will have every
+possible kind of excuse ready to enable her to seek the company of this
+particular person. At times this goes further. We then notice that the
+child endeavours to come into physical contact with the object of
+affection, showing him great tenderness, and showering on him caresses.
+
+Such a desire for intimate physical caresses must always arouse the
+suspicion that sexual feelings have now been awakened. We must not, of
+course, assume that every childish caress is sexually determined; but we
+should always bear in mind this possibility in cases in which the
+child's desire to caress someone is well marked. If such feelings
+manifest themselves towards the end of the first period of childhood or
+at the beginning of the second, observation will be comparatively easy,
+for the younger the child is the less competent is it to conceal its
+feelings. The consciousness that there is anything wrong in the
+gratification of such sentiments awakens as a rule very gradually
+indeed.
+
+Similarly, it will be far easier in the case of children to observe
+peripheral processes in the genital organs than it is to make such
+observations in adults. Thus, even in the case of infants in arms, but
+more often in the case of boys who are somewhat older, the mother or the
+nurse may be surprised to observe erections when the boy is undressed
+for his bath or some other reason, or when he has kicked off the
+bedclothes at night. In other cases the child may be seen handling his
+genital organs, either openly or beneath his clothing. Often, in the
+absence of manual stimulation, the child adopts some other means of
+stimulating his genital organs. Thus, in girls the legs will be crossed,
+and the thighs rubbed lightly each against the other. In other cases,
+both in boys and in girls, the child will lean against a piece of
+furniture in what appears to be a perfectly innocent manner; but in
+reality pressure is being exercised on the genital organs, it may be by
+the corner of a table, it may be by the back of a chair; and then the
+stimulus is strengthened by various movements. In some such way children
+will effect masturbatory stimulation and obtain sexual gratification, in
+the presence, not only of their mother, but in that of quite a number of
+other persons. Guttceit[78] reports the case of a woman who squatted
+down so that her bare heel came into contact with the genitals, and she
+then masturbated by rubbing the two parts together. I myself have known
+the case of a young girl who sat with her legs beneath her, and
+masturbated with the boot she was wearing. In many instances we are
+enabled, by watching the child's movements, to ascertain with such
+certainty what it is doing, that no confirmatory evidence is needed. We
+notice, especially, that when the orgasm is approaching, the movements
+change in character and rhythm. The eyes become bright, and the face
+assumes an excited and voluptuous expression. This may be observed even
+in infants in arms. Townsend[79] reports the case of an infant, eight
+months old, "who would cross her right thigh over the left, close her
+eyes and clench her fists; after a minute or two there would be complete
+relaxation, with sweating and redness of face; this would occur about
+once a week or oftener; the child was quite healthy, with no abnormal
+condition of the genital organs."
+
+In the absence of these definite indications, it is necessary to be
+cautious in coming to a diagnosis. Failing such caution, mistakes which
+may entail serious consequences are likely to arise. Two cases are known
+to me in which, after suspicion had rightly or wrongly been aroused, the
+child's most harmless movements were regarded as masturbatory in
+character. If a child becomes aware that its mother or some other person
+in authority is making such a mistake, the effect will naturally be very
+unfavourable. We have also to reckon with the fact that children who are
+somewhat older, from eight or nine years upwards, hardly ever masturbate
+when others are present, but only when they believe themselves to be
+unobserved--in bed, in the closet, or when out walking. In such cases it
+is hardly possible to diagnose masturbation with certainty; more
+especially in view of the fact that the signs that may betray an older
+boy--stains on the shirt or other articles of underclothing--are usually
+lacking during the first two periods of childhood. It must be added that
+such stains on linen resulting from ejaculation do not at first contain
+spermatozoa, and for this reason their diagnostic value is greatly
+lessened (see pp. 52-56). Still, the possible appearance of these stains
+is a matter to which attention should always be paid, and this in girls
+as well as in boys. In many instances, also, our diagnosis may be
+supported by the discovery of articles used for onanistic[80] purposes.
+In the case of boys we shall seldom, comparatively speaking, be able to
+do this; although, even in boys, operation is sometimes needed for the
+removal of articles used for onanistic purposes, which have found their
+way into the urethra or the bladder. In girls, such operations are more
+frequently required. Hairpins, pencils, and various other articles used
+for onanistic purposes, are from time to time removed from the vagina or
+the female bladder. Other signs that are supposed to indicate the
+habitual practice of masturbation are of little diagnostic value. It is
+traditionally held that masturbation in girls leads to elongation of the
+clitoris, but there appears to be no warrant in fact for this opinion.
+As I have previously pointed out, laceration of the hymen does not in
+general result from masturbation. Other signs, such as local irritation
+or swelling, are hardly ever seen in boys, and in girls are seen only in
+cases in which they masturbate to excess. _In girls, moderate reddening
+of the external genital organs has no significance whatever; and I take
+this opportunity of giving a special warning against inferring from the
+existence of such reddening that masturbation is practised, and also
+against attaching any importance to this symptom in a case in which a
+sexual assault is supposed to have been committed on a little girl._
+
+Certain other signs which have been believed to support a diagnosis of
+masturbation, do not even justify suspicion. Among these reputed signs
+may be mentioned: black lines under the eyes, pallor of the cheeks,
+inflammation of the eyes, &c. Generally speaking, it must be said that
+in sexually immature children nothing but direct observation will
+justify a definite diagnosis of masturbation, except in cases in which
+the child itself makes confession to someone in its confidence. For the
+diagnosis of auto-erotism, however, it is not necessary to establish
+the occurrence in the child of the voluptuous acme; it suffices for this
+diagnosis if there occur signs of those general voluptuous sensations
+which were described on page 58. In many cases in which the practice of
+masturbation is diagnosed, and in cases in which children themselves
+confess to masturbating thirty times a day or more, we can hardly
+suppose that the voluptuous acme or orgasm is attained.
+
+It is sometimes maintained that the early appearance of the physical
+manifestations of puberty is an indication that psychosexual processes
+are also occurring prematurely. Thus, Kisch[81] expresses the opinion
+that in many cases premature sexual development manifests itself in
+children by the enlargement of the breasts, and by the growth of the
+axillary and pubic hair, in the absence of the commencement of
+menstruation, Kussmaul also observed cases in which, in comparatively
+early girlhood, all the physical signs of puberty were present although
+menstruation had not yet begun. According to my own experience, we must
+be careful to avoid taking an exaggerated view of such a connexion.
+Passionate psychosexual processes may occur in young children in the
+absence of any physical signs of premature sexual development. An
+impulse to masturbate may also arise quite independently of the
+commencement of the adult development of the external genital organs.
+Psychically determined erections may likewise occur, although the
+physical development is by no means far advanced. We shall therefore do
+wisely to avoid taking a narrow view of such a connexion, inasmuch as it
+may be that the physical signs of puberty on the one hand, and the
+phenomena of detumescence and contrectation on the other, may occur in
+conjunction at a very early age, whilst, in other cases, phenomena of
+the one class or of the other may occur in isolation. This statement is
+true, not merely of the secondary sexual characters, whose development
+by no means always affords a measure for the degree of development of
+the sexual impulse, but it is true also of the reproductive organs
+themselves. Halban[82] reports the case of a boy six years of age,
+whose penis was as large as that of a full-grown man, but in whom, apart
+from the erection, all the characters were infantile. Still more often
+do we note the independence in many young men of the individual symptoms
+of sexual development from the growth of the beard, for this latter is
+often still lacking at an age when the sexual life in general has
+attained an extensive development. Still less importance must be
+attached to other occasional signs. According to Marc d'Espine[83]
+"puberty occurs early in girls with dark hair, grey eyes, a delicate
+white skin, and of powerful build; late, on the other hand, in girls
+with chestnut hair, greenish eyes, a coarse, darkly-pigmented skin, and
+of delicate, weakly build;" but the evidence to justify any such
+generalisation is lacking. It is possible that the opinion quoted is
+supported to some extent by certain associated racial peculiarities, but
+we must be on our guard against accepting inferences of too sweeping a
+character. Still less, of course, are such peculiarities a trustworthy
+aid for the diagnosis of the occurrence of sexual acts at an early age.
+
+The safest way of obtaining accurate information as to the practice of
+masturbation and other sexual acts is by means of confessions made to
+some person in the child's confidence. Cases are known to me in which
+children have very readily confided in some elder person. If this does
+not often occur, the fault commonly lies with the child's elder
+associates, who do not understand how to establish a truly confidential
+relationship with the children under their care. If a child finds that
+no one will speak to it about sexual matters, it must ultimately become
+secretive about its own sexual life. The child sees very clearly that
+every word it utters about such things is repressed as improper, and
+soon learns that the whole field of sexuality is regarded as something
+unclean, about which not a word must be uttered. The ordinary behaviour
+of adults inevitably produces this impression in the child's mind, and
+it will readily be understood what an effect this has in preventing us
+from gaining information about the sexual life of the child. In many
+mothers, the abhorrence of the sexual is carried to such an extreme that
+while in other respects they keep their children scrupulously clean,
+they feel so strongly that the genital organs must not be touched, that
+they neglect to secure the ordinary cleanliness of this region of the
+body.
+
+The best confidant for a young child will usually be the mother, not
+only because she sees more of the child than the father and because her
+relationship is a more intimate one than his, but in addition because a
+woman's insight into certain things generally excels a man's. As a
+matter of fact, for the reasons stated, masturbation in young children
+is in most cases discovered by the mother. It will be obvious that I
+speak here only of those mothers who have real affection for and
+sympathy with their children, and who share their children's interests;
+I do not refer to those mothers who think they have adequately fulfilled
+their maternal duties by paying a nurse or a governess, whilst
+themselves immersed in the pleasures of society--or perhaps engaged in
+the preparation and delivery of lectures on the best way of bringing up
+children, on the Woman's Movement, Woman's Suffrage, and similar
+topics--or, it may be, attending these same lectures--those who, in any
+case, prefer some other occupation to the care of their own children.
+
+Above all, let not those who have the care of children be deceived,
+either by diligence, or by conduct exemplary in other ways, or indeed by
+earnest study of the Bible, by pious protestations, or by regular
+attendance at church. I know a boy of twelve, reputed to be extremely
+religious, and ostensibly on religious grounds going to church every
+Sunday; but whose real motive in the church-going was the hope to meet
+the girl of whom he was enamoured. Extensive experience of the conduct
+of adults should teach us the necessity for extreme caution in these
+respects. I recall the case of a gentleman whose reputation was that of
+a paragon of all the virtues. When others of an evening went out to
+enjoy a glass or two of beer, or in search of even lighter pleasures, he
+was supposed always to turn homewards, ostensibly in order to work.
+Only after some years was the fact disclosed that he was an habitual
+loose-liver, enjoying indiscriminate sexual intercourse with unmarried
+girls and with his neighbours' wives, although to his friends and
+comrades he had appeared to be a man of exceptionally strict life, and
+this above all in sexual relationships. The same may be true also of
+quite little children. Hebbel relates that in his first year at school
+be sat next to a boy who appeared to be engaged in the most earnest
+study of the catechism, whilst under the rose he was pouring into young
+Hebbel's ear all kinds of obscenities, and was asking him if he was
+still stupid enough to believe that children were brought by a stork or
+were found in a basket in the cabbage-patch. Many parents, too, know so
+little about their children in these respects, that they are utterly
+astonished when some day their eyes are opened to the facts of the case
+by their family physician. I knew a boy of fourteen who went regularly
+to church, and who in other respects was a fine fellow, and a diligent
+pupil at school He was brought to see me because he was affected with
+spasmodic movements. On examination, I found him to be suffering from a
+severe attack of gonorrhoea, which he had contracted in intercourse
+with his aunt's servant-maid. When I told his mother the truth, she was
+at first extremely angry at what she was convinced must be a mistake on
+my part; but further inquiry disclosed the fact that for a year or more
+the boy had been intimate with prostitutes and other girls.
+
+I have been writing of processes occurring in the reproductive organs,
+such as erections, seminal and other discharges, and masturbation; and
+of the means for the recognition of these processes. But it is necessary
+to recognise that we must not assume without further inquiry that all
+processes occurring in the genital organs are of a sexual nature,
+although in individual instances the distinction between the sexual and
+the non-sexual may be extremely difficult, or even impossible. Thus, of
+erections occurring before the reproductive glands ripen, not all are of
+a sexual nature. We know, too, that even in the adult, non-sexual
+erections may occur. The clearest instances of this are met with in the
+form of priapism, the principal characteristic of this condition being
+the occurrence of permanent erection which has nothing at all to do with
+the sexual impulse. The same is true for the most part of matutinal
+erections, the precise cause of which is not yet determined. They are
+commonly referred to distension of the bladder, which is supposed by
+reflex action to lead to distension of the corpora cavernosa of the
+penis. It is certain, at any rate, that these matutinal erections are
+not caused by sexual thoughts, nor as a rule do they induce sexual
+feelings. We must distinguish between these processes; just as recently
+we have learned to distinguish herpes progenitalis, the characteristic
+of which is its localisation to the genital organs, from herpes
+sexualis, which is directly dependent upon sexual processes. If we
+regard this distinction between sexual and non-sexual erections as
+applicable also to erections in childhood, we are justified in assuming
+that many erections, in infants-in-arms, for instance, are non-sexual in
+nature, even though in appearance there is nothing to distinguish them
+from sexual erections. In infants, erections may arise from external
+stimuli or from distension of the bladder, which must be distinguished
+from the erections which have a definitely sexual causation. We must, of
+course, admit the possibility that such primarily non-sexual erections
+may secondarily give rise to sexual processes; inasmuch as by the
+stimuli resulting from the erection, the child's attention may be
+directed to the genital organs. Just as we must guard against regarding
+every erection in the child as a sexual process, so also must we be
+cautious in our estimate of the significance of manual stimulations.
+Children often stimulate various parts of the body. Some children will
+rub the lobule of the ear, others will suck their fingers, or will
+stimulate their mouths in other ways. Some children have the offensive
+habit of picking their nose; and it is evident that many cases in which
+children stimulate the genital organs manually are on the same footing
+with nose-picking and numerous similar habits. In such cases we have not
+to do with a specific genital sensation to which the child responds; but
+with a stimulus which may be pathological, but is not necessarily
+sexual. In many cases, indeed, the stimulus is not even pathological.
+We have to take the following point into consideration. As soon as the
+child begins to become conscious of the existence of its organs, it
+fingers them. It does this with its nose and its ears, just as it does
+with its feet; and it is obvious that the genital organs will receive
+the same treatment. A gentleman who had grown up in the country related
+to me that as a child he had often been present when cows were being
+milked, and that in the evenings, after he had gone to bed, he performed
+the milking movement on his penis, and was greatly astonished at the
+fact that no milk flowed forth. He assured me that the like experience
+had occurred to quite a number of boys who had been his playmates in the
+country. It is certain that such manipulations of the genital organs,
+entirely non-sexual in origin, may lead to the practice of masturbation.
+But we must not immediately conclude that every manipulation of the
+genital organs in a child is sexually determined.
+
+It is true that many investigators regard numerous movements on the part
+of children as sexual processes, even when the genital organs are in no
+way involved. Freud[84] above all, discovers sexuality in the life of
+the child in cases in which, I am convinced, sexual elements play no
+part whatever. Sucking movements in children are regarded by Freud as
+sexual phenomena. He considers that the lips and the fingers are
+erogenic zones. With just as much reason, every movement might be
+regarded as sexual--as, for instance, the clenching by a child of its
+little fists. As long ago as 1879, Lindner,[85] of Budapest, published
+an able essay about the movements made by children sucking their
+fingers, lips, &c., and suggested that there was some connexion between
+these sucking movements and sexual processes. He stated that many
+children, when sucking the lips, the fingers, the back of the hand or
+some other part, or when sucking a rubber teat, simultaneously rubbed
+some other region of the body--in some cases the lobule of the ear, the
+nipple, or the genital organs; this was sometimes done with one hand
+only, sometimes, if both hands were free, with both. This statement is
+perfectly correct. It may happen that the child stops rubbing the
+genital organs as soon as the sucking is interfered with; or,
+conversely, the sucking may cease as soon as we withdraw the child's
+hands from its genital organs. But, even in these cases, the friction of
+the genital organs does not necessarily possess a specifically sexual
+character, since friction of the lobule of the ear or of some other part
+of the body is an equivalent act. It is certain that there is here no
+intimate connexion between the act of sucking and the sexual life. Thus,
+there is no proof whatever for the view of Lindner, which has recently
+been carried to a still greater extreme by Freud, that this "voluptuous
+sucking" (_Wonnesaugen_) is a truly sexual process. We may, indeed,
+assume, as does Rohleder,[86] that such sucking movements occur with
+especial frequency in children with a congenital morbid predisposition,
+and that to this extent therefore it is connected with masturbation. But
+in my opinion it is essential to regard the two movements as clearly
+independent in character.
+
+Certain other childish habits, such as nail-biting, have also been
+described as sexual manifestations. What I have said of sucking
+movements applies to this also. It is true that nail-biting and
+masturbation may both occur in the same child, and French writers have
+maintained that there is a causal nexus between the two processes. If we
+regard nail-biting as a "tic" occurring chiefly in neuropaths, and if we
+assume that the neuropathic congenital predisposition is the basis of
+the premature awakening of sexuality, it may be supposed that to that
+extent there exists a relationship between the two phenomena, inasmuch
+as we may refer both manifestations to a common cause, viz., the
+neuropathic predisposition. But there is no justification whatever for
+regarding, as some do, one manifestation as the direct consequence of
+the other.
+
+Speaking generally, we shall do wisely to exercise caution in defining
+the limits of the sexual life of the child. If a boy runs after a girl,
+and if the two flirt one with the other, it will often be merely from a
+desire to imitate their elders. In many instances, even, in which the
+genital organs play a part in such imitation, we must distinguish what
+is done from the sexual life proper of the child. If children play at
+"father and mother," if the "midwife" comes, and "childbirth" takes
+place, the play may certainly depend upon an early awakening of the
+sexual life; but this is not necessarily the case. There may be no more
+than innocent imitation of grownups, as the following case shows. A
+number of little boys and girls, almost all under eight years of age,
+played at being prostitutes, souteneurs, and men-about-town. The little
+girls each demanded a penny when they had allowed the little boys to
+touch their genital organs. It was an extremely characteristic fact that
+the leader of this band was a feeble-minded boy, whose parents I had
+advised to send him to an asylum, because, after various dangerous
+actions, he had attempted one night to kill his little sister eighteen
+months old by inserting beans in her nose. Such acts as that first
+described may, of course, depend upon a premature awakening of the
+sexual impulse; and when a number of children engage in amusements of
+this kind we not infrequently find that in the leader and seducer the
+sexual impulse is already awakened, whilst the others act merely in
+obedience, at first, at least, to an imitative impulse. Certainly, I
+have known a few instances in which children with premature sexual
+development very rapidly came to a mutual understanding, and in whom
+their intimate association was dependent upon prematurely awakened
+sexual impulses.
+
+Just as sexual acts in which the genital organs play a part occasionally
+arise, not from premature awakening of the sexual impulse, but from
+imitation merely, so also, as previously explained, may this happen in
+the case of more harmless processes. Braggadocio here plays a great
+part, and also the desire to act like grown-ups. Thus, the boy who runs
+after girls, and makes appointments with them, sometimes does this
+merely to show off before his companions, and to produce in them the
+impression that he is a "manly" fellow. We must take care to separate
+these cases, also, from those that are genuinely sexual.
+
+If it is difficult to separate the sexual from the merely imitative, no
+less difficult may it be to distinguish psychosexual processes from
+others. If a child lavishes caresses on mother, governess, or sister, it
+may be difficult to discover definite characteristics enabling us to
+distinguish whether the motive is or is not sexual. But, generally
+speaking, when a child exhibits an intimate and caressive affection for
+its mother we shall not incline to think of processes of the sexual
+life. We cannot dispute the truth of the statement made by various
+authors, that in these caressive inclinations sexual elements are
+intermingled. But this talk of the intermingling of sexual sentiments
+arises in reality only from the fact that neither on theoretical nor on
+practical grounds are we in a position to draw a clear line of
+demarcation between the sexual and the non-sexual; and we must avoid
+stretching this idea of the intermixture of sexual elements beyond the
+fact that a scientifically based practical distinction is not always
+possible.
+
+_We have to admit that above all in the mind of the child the various
+feelings comprised under the idea of "sympathy" (friendship, affection
+for parents, love of children, sexual love) cannot always be marked off
+each from the other after the manner of provinces on a map._ Even
+jealousy, which is often regarded as characteristic of the erotic
+sentiments, does not necessarily possess a sexual basis. The boy, in his
+love for his mother, is jealous of his father, jealous of one of his
+brothers or sisters, jealous even of a dog to which his mother pays
+attention. How little jealousy may depend upon a sexual motive, may be
+learned by the observation of animal life; a dog becomes jealous if its
+master takes notice of another dog, or even pays attention to his own
+children. _In children, more especially, the extension of jealousy is
+far greater than it is in adults._ Whereas in adults this sentiment is
+chiefly, if not exclusively, associated with the erotic feelings, in
+children this is by no means the case. In the child, jealousy may
+clearly be associated with every possible variety of sympathetic
+feeling. For this reason, it is impossible for us to draw a distinction
+between sexual and other psychical processes, simply on the ground of
+the associated manifestation of jealousy.
+
+On what grounds, then, can we decide that certain processes are of a
+sexual nature? In many instances, only the subsequent development will
+show that one process was sexual, another non-sexual. If one day a boy,
+embracing, as often before, his girl friend, has an erection, and then
+perhaps endeavours to draw her towards him so that her body presses
+against his genital organs, or even has an ejaculation with a voluptuous
+sensation, we may assume the influence of a contrectation impulse, which
+has existed for some time, but only now has for the first time been
+localised in the peripheral genital organs. On the other hand, if in the
+same boy when he hugs his mother no peripheral sexual manifestations
+occur, either now or subsequently, we must assume that in the earlier
+embraces of his mother there was no sexual element. But no such simple
+solution of the difficulty is really possible. It may happen that in the
+case of feelings originally sexual their further development is
+inhibited. A boy might experience sexual sentiments towards his mother;
+but it is very probable that in such a case convention, education, and
+perhaps also the very frequent association with his mother, would
+repress the growth of these sentiments. This criticism is a sound one,
+and in my opinion the materials are lacking to enable us to overcome its
+force. For why should certain processes occurring in childhood--for
+example, a boy's impulse to caress his mother--be regarded as
+non-sexual; and yet the same processes subsequently be regarded as
+sexual, merely because they ultimately become associated with the
+phenomena of detumescence? Take the case of a boy seven years of age; he
+loves and cuddles his mother; he is drawn also to a girl friend of the
+same age as himself, and kisses her with equal pleasure. The boy grows
+older, and after some years begins to have definite erections when he
+embraces and kisses his friend; but nothing of the kind occurs when he
+embraces and kisses his mother. Now, have we any right to assert, simply
+owing to the subsequent appearance of these peripheral manifestations in
+the one case and not in the other, that originally, when between the
+boy's inclination towards his girl friend and his inclination towards
+his mother no clear distinction could be drawn, the former was sexual,
+the latter non-sexual in nature?
+
+The dilemma is unanswerable, unless we admit that, in the child,
+sympathetic feelings, which we shall subsequently be able to classify
+without difficulty, are, when they first appear, not always susceptible
+of any such differentiation; and that for this reason we are just as
+little able to distinguish a boy's love for his mother from has
+non-sexual friendship for a little girl, as we are able to distinguish
+either from a sexual love for another girl. To a very acute observer,
+certain slight indications may in many cases give some idea of how the
+matter really stands; but we are here largely concerned with subjective
+interpretations, rather than with distinctions that are objectively
+demonstrable. The difficulty of drawing distinctions is all the greater
+in view of the fact that in the case of non-sexual feelings sexuality
+constantly plays a certain part. Our sentiments are complex, and
+compounded of many and various elements; sexual contrasts play their
+part in family relationships; and it is not by pure chance that harmony
+exists by preference between father and daughter, and between mother and
+son. This sexual contrast tends to manifest itself in all displays of
+family affection. Thus, many men will tell us that in early boyhood they
+loved to kiss their mother and sisters, rather than their father and
+brothers. In my experience, the analogous sexual contrast does not show
+its effects so clearly in the case of women as in the case of men. I
+cannot be certain if the differences I have observed in this respect
+depend merely upon chance. It is certainly a fact that men, in their
+confidences to me, have remarkably often reported childish memories of
+the working of this sexual contrast. And conversely, many homosexuals
+have assured me that in boyhood they kissed their father with much
+greater pleasure than their mother.
+
+Our diagnosis will, naturally, be greatly facilitated in those cases in
+which the phenomena of contrectation are plainly reflected to the
+reproductive organs. I, at any rate, believe that in practice such an
+association suffices completely to establish the diagnosis. We can,
+indeed, recognise this also in the dream life, at least as soon as the
+first nocturnal emissions have occurred. In the first edition of my work
+on _Contrary Sexuality_ (Berlin, 1891), I drew attention to the fact
+that those affected with perverse sexuality commonly have perverse
+dreams; and Näcke has further discussed the significance of sexual
+dreams for the diagnosis of sexual perversions. In children also we
+shall find in their sexual dreams, especially when these dreams have
+begun to be accompanied with seminal emissions, a certain assistance in
+the delimitation of their sexual sentiments from other manifestations of
+sympathetic sentiment. But this aid in diagnosis is not available till
+comparatively late in childhood, _i.e._ not until ejaculation has
+already begun. Even before this epoch dreams may have a sexual
+character, and may be conditioned by sexual processes. But practically,
+before the occurrence of ejaculation and orgasm in dreams, an exact
+diagnosis is opposed by so many difficulties, that little of value can
+in this way be gained.
+
+In this chapter we have examined the considerations that must guide us
+in our study and diagnosis of the sexual life of the child. It is,
+naturally, an important question, whether signs exist pointing to an
+abnormal development of the sexual life, and more especially to the
+growth of a sexual perversion. This matter has been discussed with
+considerable detail, and I need not, in conclusion, add anything to the
+emphatic warning previously given, against making apparently perverse
+manifestations in childhood the basis of a definite diagnosis or
+prognosis.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+IMPORTANCE OF THE SEXUAL LIFE OF THE CHILD
+
+
+The problem of the significance of sexual phenomena in the child is
+naturally one of great importance. We have here, in fact, two problems
+to consider: first, whether the appearance of sexual phenomena in
+childhood indicates a morbid or in other ways abnormal state; and,
+secondly, what are the consequences of the occurrence of sexual
+phenomena in the child. An example will help to illustrate the need for
+drawing this distinction. Certain malformations of the external ear are
+indications of the existence of a morbid degenerative condition; but
+from the malformation itself there is nothing to fear. Similarly with
+the sexual life of the child, it may happen that a manifestation
+indicates the existence of morbidity, although the manifestation does
+not by itself entail upon the child any serious consequences. On the
+other hand, sexual phenomena in the child deserve in some cases the most
+attentive study, owing to the dangers likely to result from their
+occurrence.
+
+With regard to the first question, whether sexual manifestations in the
+child indicate _per se_ the existence of a morbid state, it is not
+necessary to say much here, since the subject has been fully discussed
+in the section on Etiology (see page 148). In any case, we must avoid
+exaggerating the importance of sexual feelings in the child. Ribbing[87]
+contends that we must regard it as abnormal when a boy of thirteen or
+fourteen is obsessed (_hanté_) by erotic ideas. This is true enough if
+there is real obsession by such ideas, but it is not true if there is no
+more than an occasional uprising of sexual feelings. On page 118 of this
+work, I explained that an over-development of the sexual life in the
+child was an indication of the existence of a congenital morbid
+predisposition.
+
+Passing to the second question, as to the consequences of the occurrence
+of sexual phenomena in the child, these consequences may be very various
+in nature. They arise more especially in the hygienic, social, ethical,
+educational, forensic, and intellectual domains.
+
+First of all, then, let us consider the dangers to health.
+
+The earlier the sexual impulse awakens, the earlier also arises the
+danger of sexual practices, and more particularly of masturbation.
+Common sensations in the genital organs, the feelings associated
+therewith, the impulse to allay the unsatisfied libido--all these may
+lead the boy to handle and rub his penis. The girl is affected by
+similar stimuli. In these cases, the first act of masturbation does not
+depend upon the desire to enjoy a voluptuous sensation, but results from
+the impulse to allay vague feelings of uneasiness. Only subsequently,
+when the child has learned by experience that mechanical stimulation of
+the genital organs induces voluptuous sensations, or when he has been
+taught this fact by a seducer, does the desire to produce voluptuous
+sensations become the mainspring driving to masturbation. The danger, of
+course, increases, in proportion as the child comes fully to understand
+that in this way it can produce agreeable sensations, all the more
+because the child is either unaware of the injurious consequences of the
+practice, or, if it has been informed of these consequences, the
+knowledge cannot weigh in the balance against the easily induced
+enjoyment. But, let me say here at the outset, the dangers of
+masturbation have been greatly exaggerated. Chiefly since the
+publication, at the end of the eighteenth century, of Tissot's book on
+masturbation, but to some extent also even earlier, it has been usual to
+refer to masturbation the occurrence of innumerable diseases, including
+mental disorders and locomotor ataxia. I do not propose to reproduce the
+account given by Tissott, and after him by Hufeland, and also by the
+innumerable quacks and swindlers who trade in the "cure" of "secret
+diseases"--these latter, preying upon the fears of humanity, declare
+that every possible affliction in both sexes may result from
+masturbation, and recommend innumerable miraculous remedies for these
+often imaginary ills. Disorders and displacements of the uterus, ulcers
+and cancer, gastralgia and gastric spasms, jaundice, pains in the nose,
+are supposed in women to result from masturbation, as well as fluor
+albus, nymphomania, &c. There is hardly a single organ of the body of
+which disease and destruction have not by many been referred to
+masturbation. In reality all this is false. It is more than doubtful
+whether, as far as adults are concerned, occasional masturbation is
+necessarily more harmful than normal sexual intercourse. According to my
+own observations, the principal question is whether, in masturbation,
+the bodily and mental stimuli employed to obtain sexual gratification
+involve an especial shock to the nervous system--a greater shock than
+results from normal sexual intercourse. More powerful shock may, indeed,
+arise from the fact that the masturbatory act is apt to be repeated with
+excessive frequency; and we have to admit that the chief danger of
+masturbation lies in the fact that there is so grave a risk of sexual
+excess. Owing, too, to the frequency of repetition, a need will very
+readily arise for an increase in the stimulation, and this may apply
+alike to the bodily stimuli and to the mental; and the stronger the
+stimuli have to be, the more powerful also will be the general effect on
+the nervous system. Thus the danger of shock to the nervous system from
+masturbation will be seen to depend, first, upon the frequency with
+which the act is repeated, and, secondly, upon the increasing intensity
+of the stimulation. To this extent, therefore, masturbation may be more
+dangerous than normal sexual intercourse; for this latter also, unless
+it is to exert an unfavourable influence on the health, must not involve
+mental and bodily stimulation of too powerful a kind. The good effects
+of sexual intercourse depend upon its adequacy to the feelings, upon the
+absence of any exhausting imaginative activity, and upon the absence
+also of artificial bodily stimulation. But artificial stimuli and
+exhausting imaginative activity are often associated with coitus also,
+in cases in which the stimulus evoked by the personality of the sexual
+partner is inadequate. Again, the powerful efforts which must as a rule
+be made by persons who desire to repeat the act of intercourse several
+times within a brief period, will have a similar effect upon the system
+to the powerful imaginative activity in cases of masturbation. The
+resemblances, on the one hand, and the differences, on the other,
+between masturbation and normal sexual intercourse, will be apparent to
+those who carefully consider the facts just stated; and it will also
+become apparent in what circumstances masturbation must be regarded as
+injurious. This is all I have to say concerning masturbation in adults.
+
+The idea that masturbation is, generally speaking, dangerous, is by many
+restricted to the practice during childhood and youth, the belief in its
+danger at this stage of life being based upon the view that the organs
+are at this time insufficiently developed. But even this contention
+cannot be regarded as fully established. I will, in the first place,
+consider those cases only in which masturbation is practised after the
+formation of semen has begun, but when the processes by which bodily
+maturity is attained are not yet fully completed. To the theoretical
+assumption that masturbation is especially hurtful in cases in which the
+organs are not yet adequately developed, we may oppose the consideration
+that the completer development of organs is favoured by exercise. We
+cannot further discuss such theoretical speculations, which lack the
+firm foundation of experience. On the whole, I agree with the estimate
+of the consequences of masturbation expressed by Aschaffenburg,[88] a
+man to whom we are indebted for the refutation of many extravagant
+views. Experience teaches that almost all men, healthy and unhealthy,
+moral and immoral, have masturbated for some years, once or several
+times a week, towards the end of the second and during the beginning of
+the third period of childhood. In view of this experience, what right
+have we to maintain seriously that masturbation is, generally speaking,
+dangerous to health. It is, of course, possible to contend that these
+persons would have developed better if they had not masturbated. But
+there is equal ground for asserting the opposite. We possess no evidence
+whatever to show that those young persons who never masturbate are in
+after life stronger and healthier than the others. I know some persons
+who have never masturbated. In the case of some of these, it was because
+the impulse to masturbate was lacking; others, notwithstanding the
+existence of a strong impulse, refrained from masturbation under the
+influence of religious or ethical motives. In both of these groups, I
+have seen persons exhibiting the very morbid symptoms which Tissot and
+his followers referred to masturbation; and I was quite unable to
+convince myself that abstinence from masturbation secured any notable
+advantage. Whilst I do not assert that the morbid phenomena which I
+observed in these individuals arose in consequence of their refraining
+from masturbation, I consider that there is no justification for the
+converse assumption in the case of those who did masturbate. I believe
+that many of those patients who never masturbated were the subjects of
+congenital morbid predisposition, and that, as a direct consequence of
+this fact in many of them, the sexual impulse was of minimum intensity
+or developed exceptionally late; I consider, therefore, that the morbid
+manifestations in the domain of the nervous system were dependent, not
+upon the fact that they did not masturbate, but principally upon the
+congenital morbid predisposition.
+
+Whilst I thus reject the view that masturbation in children is generally
+dangerous, this must not be regarded as implying that I consider the
+practice altogether indifferent as far as its influence upon health is
+concerned. In the child, as in the adult, there is danger in the fact
+that the act is so easy that it is likely to be repeated very
+frequently, and thus to become habitual. In addition, the masturbator is
+apt to require strong physical and mental stimuli, and this increase of
+the stimulus may become dangerous. A special danger of persistent
+masturbation is to be found in the possibility that impotence may
+result. The masturbator, being accustomed to stimulate his genital
+organs by manipulations, and by various methods increasing in intensity
+of stimulus, will often find subsequently that the normal stimuli,
+acting in part in the form of the sensory processes in the genital
+organs, and in part in the form of the normal psychical influences
+proceeding from without, are no longer competent to induce the normal
+sexual reactions (erection and ejaculation). This affects chiefly
+members of the male sex, but in some instances the same is true also of
+women. It is true that in women the sexual act is rather of a passive
+character, erection not being in them essential as it is in the male;
+but in the case of women also, long-continued masturbation, whether
+practised in childhood or subsequently, may bring about so intimate a
+dependence of sexual desire, ejaculation, and gratification, upon the
+artificial stimuli, that the occurrence of these phenomena in normal
+coitus may be hindered or completely inhibited.
+
+Some writers contend that sexual perversions, homosexuality, for
+example, may be induced by masturbation, but I myself doubt this. For
+such a development to be possible, it is necessary that very special
+influences should be in operation, more particularly a congenital
+predisposition, or the cultivation of the perversion by perverse
+imaginative processes--this latter, indeed, occurring very readily in
+masturbators. But masturbation to excess is far more likely to induce
+general neurasthenia than to give rise to sexual perversions. When I
+speak of excessive masturbation, however, it must be admitted that the
+term is a relative one. What is harmful excess in one person is not
+necessarily excess in another. This is true of children as well as of
+adults. I have seen children who, owing to premature awakening of the
+sexual life, have begun to masturbate at a very early age, without any
+serious effect upon health. Having seen such children again in adult
+life, after the lapse of more than fifteen years, I consider that I have
+had opportunities for forming a sound judgment upon this point. We have
+to take into account the fact that when a youthful masturbator
+subsequently exhibits nervous manifestations, these often result from
+the anxiety he has experienced on being informed of the serious
+consequences of masturbation. Not masturbation itself, but fear of the
+effects of the practice, is here responsible for the resulting injury to
+health. Experience teaches that a certain sort of popular literature has
+an especially unfavourable influence in this respect. Moreover, in many
+cases, self-reproach on _moral_ grounds, it may be in childhood, but
+more often later in life, must in such persons be regarded as the cause
+of the appearance of nervous and mental symptoms. The dread of having
+committed a deadly sin, or an extremely immoral act, explains a part of
+the results which are commonly referred directly to masturbation. The
+dangers of masturbation must not be underestimated, but exaggeration
+must equally be avoided. I do not believe that in children masturbation
+is, generally speaking, more dangerous than it is in adults; but I
+consider that masturbation resulting from a spontaneous impulse is less
+harmful, than when artificial bodily and mental stimuli are freely
+employed. And though the dangers are slightest when masturbation is not
+continued for a long period, still, in this connexion, a period of a few
+years cannot be regarded as so very long; at any rate, practical
+experience shows us that we must avoid over-estimating the importance of
+masturbation even if continued for several years.
+
+A particular description must now be given of masturbation as practised
+in boys before the formation of semen has begun--that is, before the
+fourteenth or fifteenth year of life. Féré[89] regards orgasm without
+ejaculation as very dangerous, and compares its effects with the
+phenomena of fatigue. The nervous discharge occurring in the orgasm may
+certainly explain the depressed state of many masturbators, also their
+tired appearance, dilated pupils, and languid movements. We note also
+mental disturbances as well as physical, especially diminished powers of
+attention and memory, and somnolence up to the point of narcolepsy.
+According to Féré, the physical and the mental symptoms alike can be
+detected by precise investigations. In children suspected of
+masturbation, dynamometric observations disclosed a notable diminution,
+to the extent even of one-half, when the children were not kept under
+constant observation and when other signs of masturbation existed; and
+in these cases experimental observation also showed a diminution of the
+power of attention. The test applied was to erase some particular letter
+of the alphabet from one page of a book. When such a test is employed,
+the practice of masturbation is said to have an unfavourable effect, and
+to cause mistakes. I do not think that these so-called precise
+investigations are of much value, for suggestion on the part of the
+experimenter, who is sometimes prejudiced, may play a great part in
+producing the results. Even when transient phenomena of fatigue appear,
+and are demonstrable by experiment, it does not follow that any
+permanent injury has been done, and just as little do otherwise
+transient manifestations of fatigue necessarily indicate anything
+pathological, or foreshadow the onset of any progressive morbid state.
+
+The clinical material offered in support of the idea that masturbation
+is especially dangerous in children too young to have an ejaculation
+should, moreover, be carefully and critically examined. I myself
+formerly accepted the view of most authoritative writers as to the grave
+danger of masturbation in these circumstances. But we can no longer do
+this unconditionally. The gradual change in my own views arose as
+follows. From the commencement of my medical practice I was frequently
+consulted about masturbation in children. Many of these cases date from
+ten, fifteen, and even twenty years back. I have recently instituted
+inquiries as to the present condition of my former patients. In so far
+as information was obtainable, I have been astonished to learn how well
+boys, who from the age of eight, nine, or ten had masturbated for
+several years, had developed as youths and as full-grown men. I have had
+similar experiences in the case of girls. Among my patients, I have had
+girls who masturbated at the age of five or six years; and ten to twenty
+years later, when some of them have married, I have gathered information
+regarding their subsequent development, either from the patients
+themselves or from their associates. Here also it was very remarkable to
+learn how rarely unfavourable consequences have occurred from the
+practice of masturbation in early childhood, notwithstanding the dangers
+commonly supposed to attend thereon. Especially rare have ill
+consequences been in those cases in which masturbation was not pushed to
+the point of inducing orgasm, but in which the children have masturbated
+simply in order to procure agreeable local stimulation. But in some
+instances also, in which orgasm without ejaculation had been observed,
+no bad results have occurred. Such results are, however, much more
+likely to follow in cases in which there has been prolonged sexual
+excitement preparatory to the orgasm, whilst this latter has been
+artificially deferred as long as possible. Where this has been habitual,
+I have, in some of the patients, seen serious consequences, and
+especially neurasthenic symptoms, result from masturbation. But the
+persons thus affected were in many cases the subjects of such severe
+hereditary taint, that it was impossible to decide to what extent their
+troubles were due to congenital predisposition, and to what extent they
+were referable to masturbation or to other noxious influences. It is,
+moreover, probable that when the nervous system is less resistent in
+consequence of congenital predisposition, the bad effects of
+masturbation will more readily appear than in those whose inheritance is
+a sound one.
+
+As a result of these experiences, I feel justified in coming to the
+following conclusions regarding masturbation during childhood. _It has
+not been proved that masturbation during childhood, with or without
+ejaculation, is generally dangerous. The possibility of danger resulting
+from the practice is, however, increased by long-continued and
+frequently repeated masturbation; also by the artificial postponement of
+the voluptuous acme, and by congenital predisposition to nervous
+disorders._ My notes of the cases which I have seen during many years of
+medical practice show that, even in children, masturbation does not
+necessarily do any harm.
+
+CASE 15.--The girl X., four years of age, was brought to see me because
+it had been noticed that she frequently tried to handle her genital
+organs, and also that she stimulated the same organs by means of rubbing
+movements of the crossed thighs. Her mother had further from time to
+time noticed rocking movements, associated with a fixed stare, which had
+aroused suspicions of the occurrence of the sexual orgasm. Various
+methods were tried to put a stop to these practices, but without result.
+Hypnotic treatment was not tried, because the child was still too young
+and her attention wandered too much. Mechanical methods of control were
+also fruitless. The trouble continued for five years, during all of
+which time the child was under my own observation. She went to school,
+where she proved a diligent scholar, and was one of the most successful
+pupils; her physical condition was also excellent. Thenceforward, for
+several years, I received no precise information about the patient,
+although from time to time I saw some of her associates. But after about
+eight years, I had an opportunity of learning her later history. The
+child which had begun to masturbate when four years old was now a young
+lady of eighteen. When fourteen years old she had for some months
+suffered from chlorosis, but had never been troubled by any other
+serious illness. I could not learn with certainty whether the habit of
+masturbation had been discontinued; but there had been no definite
+evidence of the practice of masturbation, or of any other artificial
+sexual stimulation, after the age of nine. At the present time X. is
+perfectly healthy.
+
+CASE 16.--The boy Y. was brought to me when eight years old. It had been
+noticed that at night, whether sleeping or waking, he very often handled
+his genital organs. Erection of the penis had also been observed from
+time to time. His mother and his governess believed that he masturbated
+every night. When this had been going on for several years, the patient
+was brought to me for suggestive treatment. Mechanical means were
+simultaneously employed, his hands being fastened at night in such a way
+that he could not bring them into contact with his genital organs. But
+he speedily loosed himself from his bonds. The trouble abated in
+severity, but continued none the less for several years. I saw the
+patient again when he was twenty-four years of age. No abnormality
+whatever could be observed. He had normal sexual potency, and was
+entirely free from neurasthenic symptoms.
+
+I have hitherto, in this chapter, spoken only of the dangers of
+auto-erotism. It is hardly necessary to mention the fact that the
+nervous system of the child may be injuriously affected by other sexual
+acts, as, for instance, by premature sexual intercourse. The occurrence
+of such acts is naturally favoured by a premature awakening of the
+sexual life.
+
+We have also to consider the results of passionate love in children,
+apart from actual sexual intercourse. In children with congenital
+neuropathic predisposition, these results may be serious; and, as Bell
+points out, symptoms of severe nervous shock may ensue, more especially
+owing to separation from the beloved object, or in consequence of
+rejected affection. The same writer even records several attempted
+suicides consequent upon the death of the loved one; two of these
+occurred in boys of eight and nine years of age respectively; two
+occurred in girls, aged nine and eleven years. Eulenburg,[90] who has
+made a special study of suicide and attempted suicide during
+school-life, in his enumeration of the causes of such acts, mentions
+several that are germane to our subject. Among these are the following:
+becoming acquainted with the existence of a liaison on the part of the
+loved one with another; unfortunate love; love for a married woman;
+neglect of school work owing to a love-affair and consequent fear of
+expulsion; and, finally, love-anxiety. It must, however, be freely
+admitted that Eulenburg's cases relate to schoolboys who were fairly
+old. Thus, one of these cases was that of a Catholic boy in one of the
+higher forms, who had formed a liaison with a girl of sixteen in a
+neighbouring girls' school, and whose Director had intervened, very
+judiciously, as it appears, on learning of the affair. The other cases
+in which Eulenburg mentions the age of those concerned were also those
+of boys no longer very young; in some of these, double murder or double
+suicide resulted. In the other comprehensive works on suicide, and even
+in those dealing especially with suicide in children, I have been able
+to find comparatively little material bearing on this particular
+question. Brierre de Boismont,[91] indeed, tells us that children
+occasionally commit suicide on account of jealousy; here, however, he
+does not refer to sexual jealousy, but to jealousy of a more general
+character aroused by preference shown to another child. Although such
+serious consequences occur chiefly or exclusively in children who cannot
+be regarded as perfectly normal, it is nevertheless possible for erotic
+influences to act as the final determinant. But such serious results are
+certainly comparatively rare.
+
+Just as in former times masturbation was believed to be the cause of all
+kinds of illness, so to-day, according to Freud[92] and his followers,
+the general sexual experiences of children are responsible for various
+subsequent illnesses. Four neuroses (neurasthenia, anxiety-neurosis,
+hysteria, and compulsion-neuroses) are referred by Freud to all sorts of
+disturbances of the sexual life, past or present. Hysteria and
+compulsion-neuroses are regarded as a reaction to the sexual experiences
+of childhood; neurasthenia and anxiety-neurosis are referred to later
+sexual experiences. Freud originally assumed that during the childhood
+of hysterical patients sexual seduction by adults or by older children
+played the chief part; but at a later date he has advocated the view
+that the imaginative activities of the days of puberty, which intervene
+between the sexual experiences of childhood and the appearance of the
+hysterical symptoms, are responsible for the occurrence of the latter.
+Quite recently, Abraham[93] has insisted that a sexual experience may be
+of some importance in relation even to the onset of dementia præcox. But
+I do not consider that Freud's assumption is justified, nor do I think
+that he adequately excludes the effects of hetero-and auto-suggestion.
+It is out of the question that in every case of the above-mentioned
+neuroses, sexual experiences should be the cause; and it is equally
+erroneous to suppose that every sexual experience in childhood has the
+effects which he assumes. It is true that Freud and his followers report
+cases which they regard as proving their thesis. But I am by no means
+satisfied with these clinical histories. They rather produce the
+impression that much in the alleged histories has been introduced by the
+suggestive questioning of the examiner, or that sufficient care has not
+been taken to guard against illusions of memory. The impression produced
+in my mind is that the theory of Freud and his followers suffices to
+account for the clinical histories, not that the clinical histories
+suffice to prove the truth of the theory. Freud endeavours to establish
+his theory by the aid of psycho-analysis. But this involves so many
+arbitrary interpretations, that it is impossible to speak of proof in
+any strict sense of the term. Dreams are interpreted symbolically at
+will, and other definite objects are arbitrarily assumed to be symbolic
+representatives of the genital organs. I detect the principal source of
+fallacy in this arbitrary interpretation of alleged symbols.
+
+However this may be, there is no justification for the assumption that
+hysteria or other neuroses are always, or even in the great majority of
+instances, to be regarded as dependent upon masturbatory or other sexual
+acts during childhood. We must on no account forget that an illness
+often has a dozen causes or more; and although one or another of these
+may have had a preponderating influence in the causation, we have no
+right arbitrarily to select one of them as the efficient cause. I do not
+deny that occasionally the sexual life during childhood plays a part in
+inducing a subsequent neurosis; but this applies only to a comparatively
+small proportion of cases, and we must guard against exaggeration in the
+matter.
+
+This is all I have to say concerning the relationships of the sexual
+life of the child to the occurrence of nervous diseases. The sexual life
+has, of course, important bearings on health in other ways. The venereal
+diseases, in most cases, result from sexual intercourse; and it will
+readily be understood that since early sexual intercourse is rendered
+more likely by a premature awakening of the sexual life, an increased
+danger of venereal infection will thus arise. Although infection in
+children occurs comparatively seldom in consequence of spontaneously
+practised sexual intercourse, and more frequently as the result of the
+mishandling of children by perverted or criminal adults, still cases are
+from time to time observed in which infection with venereal disease
+arises in children from spontaneously sought sexual intercourse. In
+Jullien's work[94] we find a striking chapter on gonorrhoea in
+children, illustrated with appropriate cases. He writes. "In other
+cases, little boys, sexually premature, make early attempts at sexual
+intercourse. In Paris we see hardly grown youths appearing at the
+specialist's clinic, quite proud that they need to be treated for
+gonorrhoea. The very fact that they present themselves so coolly at
+the places for the special treatment of venereal diseases, suffices to
+show that they fully understand the cause of their illness." In
+Jullien's opinion, venereal disease is especially serious in children,
+because many of them conceal their condition as long as possible in the
+hope of avoiding punishment. Barthélemy reported a case in which the
+parents came to consult him because the boy was passing water every few
+minutes, and because at school he was repeatedly asking to leave the
+room in order to go to the urinal. Examination showed that he was
+suffering from cystitis, and that this was a sequel of gonorrhoea. As
+regards children of the other sex, I have myself seen cases of
+gonorrhoea in which sexually immature girls have been infected in
+sexual intercourse of which they themselves had been the instigators. In
+most cases, infection in children results from intercourse with grown
+persons, but it sometimes happens that children infect one another.
+Little need be said here about the dangers of gonorrhoeal infection.
+Although in children the course of the disease exhibits many
+peculiarities, the general results are much the same as in adults, viz.,
+pain, orchitis and epididymitis with atrophy, cystitis, &c.; and in
+girls, more especially peritonitis. Other venereal infections may of
+course also occur in children, such as soft chancre and syphilis. No
+detailed account will be given of these diseases. Although we need
+further information as to the results of venereal infection in children,
+in well-informed medical circles the numerous and severe ill
+consequences of such infections are well understood.
+
+I have in this chapter spoken more especially of the dangers threatening
+the child's health from the side of its sexual life. These are, of
+course, not the only dangers; the moral and social dangers are even
+greater. First of all, in this connexion, we have to consider the
+practice of masturbation; but in our estimate of its effect upon morals,
+we must be careful to avoid sanctimoniousness. The question why
+masturbation is regarded as immoral has never yet been answered,
+declamation being here commonly mistaken for argument. And yet reasons
+may be found for the belief that masturbation may sometimes be a
+positively moral act; as, for instance, when one who is dominated by a
+very powerful sexual impulse, avoids injury to another by means of
+masturbation. Consider a case, for example, in which one who
+masturbates would otherwise transmit venereal infection to another, or
+would injure another by illegitimate sexual intercourse. In cases of
+perverse sexual practices in which the offender's liability to
+punishment was under discussion in the law court, I have more than once
+called attention to this point. Take the case of a man whose sexual
+impulse is directed towards children, and who finds great difficulty in
+restraining himself from sexual malpractices against children. His
+action is assuredly a far more moral one if he satisfies his impulse by
+the practice of masturbation, rather than by a sexual assault upon a
+child! If, notwithstanding these considerations, masturbation is
+generally regarded as an immoral act, the reason for this opinion must
+obviously be sought in deeper and more general grounds. In the first
+place, we have to take into account the fact that according to the moral
+code of many persons, and certainly according to the official
+theological code, the only kind of sexual intercourse that is morally
+permissible is that which is known as "legitimate," _i.e._ connubial
+intercourse; extra-connubial intercourse is stigmatised as immoral.
+Masturbation, like extra-connubial sexual intercourse, is sexual
+indulgence outside the limits of that which is alone permissible by the
+canons of theological morality. Owing to the definite teaching of the
+Church in this matter, the views of the common people are inevitably
+influenced thereby, although the practical relationships of life are
+thus completely ignored; above all, the fact is ignored that marriage
+does not as a rule become possible until long after the awakening of the
+sexual impulse. The purpose of the proscription by theological morality
+of illegitimate intercourse and of masturbation is to effect the
+prevention of all varieties of sexual indulgence except under the form
+of marriage, and, if possible, under the form of marriage blessed by the
+Church. The importance attributed to receiving the approval of
+theological morality is seen from the fact that in all strata of the
+population, however much alike in private conversation and in political
+assemblies they may protest against the dominion of the Church,
+nevertheless almost invariably the ecclesiastical ceremony is superadded
+to the civil marriage. In our moral estimate of masturbation, we have to
+take another point into consideration. We have seen that long-continued
+and excessive masturbation is dangerous to health; now every voluntary
+action, and every action that is commonly believed to be voluntary, the
+effects of which are injurious to body or to mind, is considered to be
+immoral, unless it is performed in pursuit of some lofty aim--as, for
+instance, in the case of the doctor who exposes himself to some deadly
+infection for the sake of his patient's welfare. But these reasons do
+not suffice to account for the fact that masturbation is commonly
+regarded as a more immoral act than illegitimate sexual intercourse.
+Here, however, as so often happens, the popular instinct contains a
+kernel of truth, which in this case relates not so much to the
+individual ethical judgment as to the general interest. The popular
+instinct, or we may rather say the soul of the people, commonly regards
+that as immoral which, if approved, would entail serious general
+consequences. In this ethical judgment we have, as it were, the
+manifestation of an instinct of self-preservation on the part of the
+soul of the people. We must not forget that the practice of masturbation
+is extraordinarily easy, and that if it were recognised as a morally
+permissible act, its frequency would be notably increased. The reason
+last given, namely, the injury to health that may result from
+masturbation, explains one way in which the practice is opposed to the
+general interest. But another reason is still more important. The
+practice of masturbation naturally limits the frequency of sexual
+intercourse, not only in its illegitimate, but also in its legitimate
+form. The easier an act is, the more readily, if it is deleterious, will
+popular sentiment build a protective wall around it. In individual
+instances, such popular valuations are devoid of logical foundation, and
+for this very reason it is often impossible to reject them on logical
+grounds. But they are largely based upon considerations of the general
+interest, and for this reason it is often just as well that they are
+impervious to logic. Hence, although in concrete cases of masturbation
+physicians and schoolmasters will not always take a severe view, and, in
+certain instances, as explained above, it may even be considered that
+masturbation is a morally permissible act, this will not affect the
+general disapproval, in consequence of which a very large number of
+persons refrain from masturbation. Moreover, the absence of such
+disapproval would lead to extremely serious consequences. Merely in
+order to prevent interference with normal sexual intercourse between man
+and woman, it is necessary that in the popular judgment masturbation, as
+the greatest enemy of sexual intercourse, should be condemned. In
+addition to these motives, there are others closely connected with them,
+which in some cases operate unconsciously. Since masturbation is
+practised in solitude, if masturbation were regarded as morally
+permissible to men, the value of woman would diminish, since her wooing
+and winning would be no longer necessary to man, Analogous
+considerations naturally apply to masturbation in women. The need that
+each sex should regard the other as indispensable is a powerful motive
+in bringing about the popular condemnation of masturbation; and it must
+further be remembered that the amatory life, and more especially its
+psychical accompaniments, in truth only attain their fullest development
+through the mutual intercourse of the sexes.
+
+The general condemnation of masturbation is, in my view, most readily
+explained on the considerations just outlined. However this may be, we
+have certainly to reckon with the fact that masturbation is regarded as
+an immoral act. But inasmuch as the early awakening of the sexual life,
+or at least the early appearance of the phenomena of detumescence, leads
+almost inevitably to the practice of masturbation, it will readily be
+understood that the child is apt to be forced into a line of conduct
+which conflicts with the generally accepted ethical code.
+
+The social dangers of masturbation are very closely connected with the
+ethical dangers, and we frequently find them appearing concurrently. In
+isolated instances, as Lombroso and Ferrero have shown,[95] premature
+awakening of sexuality may lead to prostitution. In the chapter on
+Biology and Psychology, a special section is devoted to sexual
+prematurity, and the authors contend that in Italy this factor plays a
+greater part than it does elsewhere. It is further characteristic that
+in erotic literature women who are famous or notorious for their
+love-adventures are commonly described as having been the subjects of
+premature sexual development. From the beautiful Helen, who at the age
+of seven, according to one story, and at the age of twelve, according to
+another, was deflowered by Theseus, down to modern times, we find that
+premature sexual development is frequently adduced as a characteristic
+of such women. Although it is true that in many cases of the seduction
+of children there is no question of sexual prematurity, still, for a
+part of the cases, premature sexual development is responsible. For it
+can hardly be disputed that the crime of the child-seducer is greatly
+facilitated, if the child meets the seducer halfway. In cases in which
+sexual offences were committed on little girls, Tardieu[96] made a
+special class of those in which the offence was frequently repeated upon
+the same individual. Of the 60 cases of this kind, 29 were in little
+girls under eleven years of age, and 26 were in girls from eleven to
+fifteen years. He states that in these chronic victims, he was first of
+all struck by the premature development of the genital organs and the
+remarkable prematurity of general sexual development, both of these
+conflicting with the age and the development of the girls in other
+respects, Tardieu certainly paid especial attention to the physical
+peculiarities of the genital organs, and he was inclined to refer the
+premature development to the early experience of sexual intercourse. But
+it is possible that the real connexion was the reverse of this--and,
+indeed, many other observations support such a view--in that owing to
+their sexual prematurity the children experienced a powerful sexual
+impulse at an unusually early age, and that for this reason they became
+the victims of sexual attempts much earlier than others. Kisch[97] also
+believes that in many cases of premature puberty, premature sexual
+intercourse is observed, and parturition may even occur at a very early
+age. He writes: "A girl in whom menstruation began at the age of one
+year, gave birth to a child when she was ten years old (Montgomery). A
+girl who began to menstruate when at the age of nine years, became
+pregnant very shortly afterwards (d'Outreport). The well-known case
+recorded by Haller, in which at birth the pubic hair was already grown,
+and in which menstruation began at the age of two years, was also one of
+very early pregnancy, the girl giving birth to a child when nine years
+old. Another girl in whom at birth the pubes were already covered with
+hair began to menstruate when four years old, copulated regularly from
+the age of eight, and at nine years became pregnant, and was delivered
+of a vesicular mole with an embryo (Molitor). A girl began to menstruate
+at the age of two, had a growth of hair on the pubes and developed mammæ
+at the age of three, and became pregnant at the age of eight (Carus).
+With these cases must be classed that observed by Martin in America of a
+woman who was a grandmother at the age of twenty-six. Lantier, in his
+travels in Greece, speaks of a mother of twenty-five with a daughter of
+thirteen."
+
+Whatever the real sequence of events--whether in a little girl the
+occurrence of sexual intercourse is favoured by the spontaneous
+premature awakening of the sexual impulse, or, conversely, it is the
+premature intercourse which awakens the impulse and keeps it active
+thereafter--the consequences of premature awakening of the sexual
+impulse are always extremely serious, and often result in the permanent
+social extinction of the girl concerned. Although in many cases she may
+be fortunate enough to escape the fate of the prostitute, none the less
+in modern civilised countries the loss of virginity is a serious
+disgrace, by which her future will be affected altogether apart from the
+moral shocks resulting from sexual intercourse in early childhood, and
+from the possibility of impregnation. The case is much the same as
+regards children of the male sex. The fact that a boy is sexually
+precocious, will greatly facilitate his being led astray by grown
+females to whom his extreme youth acts as a stimulus. Moreover, his
+sexual precocity may deliver the boy to the embraces of homosexual men,
+an outcome which is rendered the more likely by the commonly
+undifferentiated character of the childish sexual impulse. There are
+certain homosexual adult males whose impulse is especially directed
+towards boys still possessing the milk-white face of the child, and his
+encounter with such a pervert may make all the difference to a sexually
+premature boy. Although I have been engaged for years in the collection
+of facts bearing on this question of homosexuality, I have recently been
+astonished to learn, in an ever-increasing number of cases, how adult
+homosexuals, men of thirty years and upwards, form homosexual
+relationships with schoolboys, and regard their right to do this as
+practically self-evident. It is obvious that this is likely to do grave
+moral injury to the boy--altogether apart from the fact that the
+production of homosexuality is thereby greatly facilitated, however much
+interested homosexuals may contest this assertion. It is clear, too,
+that boys upon whom such relationships are imposed will sometimes tend
+to grow up as male prostitutes, just in the same way as little girls
+prematurely seduced in consequence of an early awakening of sexuality
+often adopt a life of prostitution.
+
+Children in whom sexuality has awakened are especially dangerous to
+their associates, since they readily seduce others to sexual
+malpractices. Thus, it sometimes happens, though happily not often, that
+children attempt sexual intercourse with one another. A question in
+forensic medicine formerly much discussed, is the age at which children
+are first able to effect sexual intercourse. I have no doubt whatever
+that by the end of the second period of childhood, in a comparatively
+large number of boys, spontaneous erections occur adequate to allow the
+introduction of the penis into the vagina to be effected; but no doubt
+it might be difficult for such a boy to effect complete penetration into
+the vagina of a girl in whom the hymen was still intact. Pouillet[98]
+even asserts that all boys have the faculty of erection in quite early
+childhood; and he places on record the following experiment, whose
+repetition had better be avoided. If in an infant lying in its cradle
+the edge of the foreskin be tickled with a feather, we shall at once see
+the penis swell up and become erect, and the infant will grasp at it
+with the hand. There is no doubt that boys in whom the sexual impulse
+is prematurely awakened may be a danger to little girls through
+attempting intercourse with them. More frequently, however, the danger
+lies, not in attempts at coitus, but in other improper manipulations and
+contacts, which may take almost every conceivable form. Mutual
+masturbation is fairly common among children, or one child may
+manipulate the genitals of another; such practices occur more often
+between two boys than between two girls or between boy and girl. But
+experience shows that other and more advanced sexual acts may occur,
+though fortunately less often; for instance, pæderastic acts between
+boys, introduction of the penis of one individual into the mouth of
+another, &c. Ferriani[99] has collected a number of cases of this kind,
+occurring in youthful criminals. In boys he distinguishes two groups,
+those from the tenth to the fourteenth, and those from the fourteenth to
+the eighteenth year of life. He made inquiries regarding the sexual life
+in 69 boys belonging to the former group, and in 48 belonging to the
+latter. Of the 69 belonging to the former group, 48 were found to
+masturbate, in 25 improper sexual acts with the mouth were admitted, in
+12 active pæderasty, and in 17 passive pæderasty. It is evident that
+these data must not be generalised, for Ferriani's studies related to
+boys who had been morally neglected from the earliest days of childhood,
+and who had been sent to prison as thieves, beggars, and vagabonds. A
+great danger attendant on sexual acts in which one child is led astray
+by another is, of course, the moral harm which threatens the other
+associates of such children. Girls and boys are equally exposed to such
+seduction, and the seducer also may be of either sex. In cases of an
+altogether exceptional character, danger threatens in this respect from
+a child's own brothers or sisters. I alluded to this matter in an
+earlier chapter, on page 71. Among cases which have come under my
+notice, I may mention one in which a boy began to carry out all kinds of
+perverse sexual acts with his sister, who was about eight years younger
+than himself, and continued to do this when he had attained the age of
+twenty-nine years. Forel[100] sees, rightly, as I believe, especial
+danger in the leading of others astray by young homosexuals, alike in
+boys' and in girls' boarding-schools. In some of these cases the
+seducer's act is merely a manifestation of the early undifferentiated
+state of the sexual impulse, but in others it is an early sign of a real
+homosexual development.
+
+I append here certain cases from the literature of the subject showing
+the great dangers that proceed from such premature sexual development.
+One case reported by Forel[101] was that of a girl nine years of age.
+"This girl would stimulate sexually all boys of her own age or somewhat
+younger whom she could induce to allow her to do so. She did this so
+secretly, that by mishandling the genital organs of her two little
+brothers, both younger than herself, she slowly brought one to his
+death, and in the other caused serious injury to the bladder and
+urethra. With an older boy, she was accustomed to have actual sexual
+intercourse in the woods. I could not, in this case, gain any definite
+information regarding hereditary taint. Such persons commonly become
+criminals in later life, or at least indulge in the most shameless
+masturbation or give themselves up to prostitution."
+
+A case which at one time attracted great attention in France may here be
+given in the actual words of the report. "Leo, thirteen years old,
+demanded the favours of eleven little girls, offering in return, as the
+girls confessed, a small reward--a penny or a sweet. Many others must
+have been compelled by their parents to make no complaint, in order to
+avoid a mortifying publicity. Leo is the son of a good fellow, a
+shoemaker by trade, and also a lamplighter. The mother having run away,
+and the father being often out at work, the boy was left much alone. He
+would then entice into the house little girls of the neighbourhood, one
+after another, in order to commit immoral acts with them. One day he
+invited in a little girl of five. The girl's brother peeped through the
+window, and saw Leo standing naked in front of Mary, as if he _posait
+pour le torse_. Ultimately the matter was reported to the police
+superintendent of the district, and it transpired that not less than
+ten or eleven little girls of the quarter had been thus led astray. From
+time to time he invited into the house a number of good-for-nothings of
+the same stamp as himself, and here this youthful Casanova organised
+pleasure-parties of a kind usually unknown to those of his age. The lad
+was bound over to come up for trial if called upon. Such cases as this
+are commoner than is generally believed; and perhaps commoner in the
+country than in the town."
+
+The way in which such practices spread by moral contagion is shown by a
+report of Ferriani,[102] who made inquiries of nine boys, at ages
+varying between eight and twelve years, how they had learned to
+masturbate. I. had been taught by a certain K., II. by I., III. by IV.,
+IV. by I., V. by II., VI. by III., VII. by IV., VIII. by VI., IX. by II.
+Not long ago, I myself came across such an epidemic, in which there
+occurred, not only masturbation, but, in addition, all sorts of mutual
+sexual contacts between boys and girls; a boy of five was the primary
+seducer, having undertaken the sexual enlightenment of a girl of seven,
+and beginning this process with the remark that she need no longer
+believe that babies were brought by a stork. These two went on to
+improper contact, and subsequently quite a number of children were
+gradually corrupted by the two.
+
+To the jurist, also, the question of the sexual life of the child is one
+of great importance. I do not myself share the view of Ferriani and
+others, that the sexual life of the child, when it awakes prematurely,
+is a common cause of crime--although this may be true of certain special
+cases, presently to be described. But the sexual life of the child is of
+importance from another point of view. In cases in which children are
+the objects of sexual offences, such as have recently so often come
+before the courts, the question of the capacity of the children to give
+evidence frequently plays a great part. The lawyer, who is often
+ignorant of the extent to which sexual imaginations and sexual acts may
+prevail among children, is apt to assume that the child is of necessity
+sexually inexperienced, and for this reason to put a trust in childish
+evidence which is in many instances not justified by the facts of the
+case, because the supposed inexperience may not really exist. If judges
+and magistrates knew how much and how often children's brains are
+occupied with sexual imaginations, without speaking of the sexual acts
+which many children have engaged in while still quite young, they would
+be more guarded than they are at present in their acceptance of
+children's evidence in sexual matters. Not infrequently, when such a
+child describes the sexual offence which is supposed to have been
+committed, it is assumed without further inquiry that the child's
+account must be accurate, the grounds for this assumption being stated
+as follows: "How could such an accusation be invented? The poor child
+has had no previous experience of such matters; what is now described
+must have actually happened, for it is impossible that an inexperienced
+child could construct it all out of its own imagination." But to anyone
+who has seriously studied the sexual life of the child, this logic is
+utterly fallacious. Still, the argument is none the less a very
+dangerous one; and as an expert witness I have assisted at several
+trials as to which I remain convinced to this day that the judge has
+assumed the offender to be guilty simply because he (the judge) was
+ignorant of the nature of the sexual life of the child, above all as
+regards psychosexual imaginations. Some years ago there was tried in
+Berlin a case in which a wealthy banker was accused of misconduct with a
+little girl. In the end the accused received a severe sentence. In that
+trial I was called as an expert witness, and I believe that as regards
+the principal charge the banker was wrongfully condemned. The principal
+witness was a girl twelve years of age, and it was her accusation which
+formed the main ground of the conviction, and this notwithstanding the
+fact that the child had subsequently withdrawn her charges. In common
+with other expert witnesses, I pointed out, in rebuttal of the girl's
+evidence, that the person on whom the alleged offence had been committed
+was not, as the police magistrate and the judge had both assumed, an
+inexperienced child, but one in whom sexuality had prematurely awakened,
+and in whom strongly sensual tendencies were manifest; we showed that in
+her imaginative activities the sexual life played a leading part, and
+that the child herself had at an earlier date performed some of the
+actions with which she charged the accused. But the child had made so
+favourable an impression on the police magistrate and the judge that
+they firmly believed her first statement, and held that her subsequent
+withdrawal of her accusation was due to outside influence. It would be
+well, in some cases of the kind, to insist upon a complete examination
+of the girl who makes the accusation, this examination to include her
+bodily state, to ascertain if there are indications of a prematurely
+awakened sexual life--for example, any irritation of the genital organs
+by masturbation. We shall also do well, in such cases, to endeavour to
+ascertain whether the child is already fully informed concerning the
+nature of sex. We must always bear in mind that things which may give an
+indication regarding this are usually kept very secret, and that none of
+the child's associates may be able to give us any information. Even
+though among the witnesses we have parents, masters, or governesses all
+uniting to assure us that the child's mind is still perfectly innocent,
+and that not a suspicion regarding matters of sex has yet been aroused,
+the judge should not allow himself to be deceived. Sexual imaginations
+often dominate the consciousness of the child, at the very time when a
+display of shamefacedness in relation to such things deceives the
+onlookers. In such trials, it is sometimes put forward as a defence,
+that some third person, some police official, the examining judge, or
+even an enemy of the accused, has reiterated the false accusation to the
+child, and has, as it were, suggested it. Such an assumption is, for
+many cases, altogether superfluous, even if we do not believe a word of
+the child's accusation, for it completely underestimates the power of
+the childish imagination. The French physician, Bourdin,[103] in his
+work on _Lying Children_, gives the case of a little girl who by her
+good behaviour and affectionate disposition had won the love of her
+foster-parents. One day they were reading aloud the report of a
+scandalous trial, while the child was in the room playing with her
+dolls, and to all appearance paying no attention to the reading. A few
+days later the foster-parents saw the little girl putting her dolls
+together in an indecent posture. In answer to earnest inquiries, the
+child said she was only doing what someone had once done to her; she
+then went on to make detailed and serious accusations against certain
+other persons. A clever and experienced physician was asked to
+investigate the matter before any application was made to the law
+courts. As a result of a physical examination of the girl, he declared
+that what she described could not possibly have taken place; and
+ultimately she admitted that the whole accusation was false. As a reason
+for her lies, she said, "qu'elle avait voulu faire comme les dames que
+l'on avait mises dans le journal." Such imaginative activity may occur
+in healthy children, but it is in the case of those with a morbid
+inheritance that we have especially to reckon with these possibilities.
+As with the grown woman, so with the child, the degenerative form of
+hysteria makes those subject to it untrustworthy witnesses. This applies
+above all to accusations of sexual offences. Feeble-mindedness is also
+dangerous in this connexion, for its existence is apt to be overlooked
+by the judge, although an expert examination of the witness--who, in
+most of these cases, is of the female sex--would facilitate the
+diagnosis. Among the feeble-minded, we find, not only sexually premature
+individuals, but also persons with a tendency to pathological deceit,
+this latter sometimes manifesting itself in childhood, and of course
+lessening or completely abolishing the subject's credibility as a
+witness to the occurrence of alleged sexual offences.
+
+These considerations must not lead us to the opposite extreme, of
+altogether discrediting the assertions of child-witnesses; but they
+should convince us of the need for the recognition of a source of
+fallacy often completely overlooked by parents, namely, the indulgence
+by children in sexual imaginative activity, and the frequent existence
+of unsuspected sexual enlightenment. To this extent only do such
+questions form part of my subject. Following Hans Gross, I have on page
+41 already drawn attention to the fact that girls of a certain age are
+untrustworthy witnesses regarding their own _experiences._ But to guard
+against too comprehensive a generalisation in this respect, I must
+point out that during the second period of childhood a girl may be a
+highly competent observer, and this precisely for matters in which her
+interest has been aroused by the development of her sexual life. I may
+quote from Hans Gross certain remarks bearing on this.[104] "We have to
+recognise that in the observation and understanding of certain matters,
+there is no one cleverer than a growing girl. Her school-life, and her
+personal experiences and occupations, do not adequately occupy her
+energies. Sexual influences are beginning to become active, and
+half-unconsciously the girl studies her environment in search of
+experiences bearing, however remotely, on this sphere. The little
+interests and amours of the nearer and further environment will be by no
+one discovered so speedily as by a bright and lively half-grown girl.
+Every variation in the mutual interest of the pair she has under
+observation will be noted by such a girl with the keenest sympathy. Long
+before the two have come to an understanding, she will be aware of their
+sentiments for one another. She notes when they are drawing nearer
+together, and she knows at once when they have given open expression to
+their love. Whether they become engaged or whether they draw apart from
+one another, the little one knows all about it before any of their
+intimates. Moreover, such a girl will take note of all the doings of
+certain of her acquaintances. An interesting beauty, or a young man
+living near at hand, will have no more watchful observer of all their
+doings than a young girl of twelve years. She, too, will take note more
+accurately than anyone else of all the changes of mood of those who are
+under her observation."
+
+But the sexual life of children is of importance, not only in relation
+to the question of their credibility as witnesses, but also in respect
+of our decision as to matters of fact. Sexual attempts on children under
+fourteen years of age are legally punishable offences, and it is a
+matter of indifference whether the offender or the child was the
+instigator. In determining the degree of culpability it is, however, of
+important whether the child against whom the offence has been committed
+was innocent and uncorrupted, or was one with previous sexual
+experiences. In addition to this, we have also to take into account the
+question whether the child incited to the offence, under the influence
+of the spontaneous activity of its own sexual impulse. All these
+considerations will make it clear that from many points of view the
+sexual life of the child is a matter of forensic importance.
+
+We must not forget that the child itself may be threatened with legal
+dangers as a result of the activity of its own sexual impulse. The
+German legal code decrees different degrees of penal responsibility at
+different ages. Children not yet twelve years of age are not liable to
+criminal prosecution. A child over twelve, but under eighteen years of
+age, must be exonerated if when the offence was committed the child did
+not possess the knowledge enabling him or her to understand its
+culpability. By the third paragraph of section 176 of the German
+criminal code, any one who has improper sexual relations with a person
+under fourteen years of age, or who induces such a person to practise or
+suffer such relations, is liable to severe punishment.
+
+If, therefore, two children of eleven engage in mutual misconduct, they
+incur no liability to legal punishment. But two boys of thirteen are
+liable to prosecution for the practice of mutual masturbation. Each of
+them has performed an improper act with a child under fourteen years of
+age, and the liability to punishment in each case depends upon the
+answer to the question whether the offender possessed sufficient
+knowledge to enable him to understand his culpability. This knowledge is
+not identical with the knowledge that the offence was legally
+punishable; that is to say, either boy would be liable to punishment,
+even though he had no idea whatever that improper sexual relations with
+children under fourteen constituted an offence against the law. All that
+is necessary is that he should possess a sufficient degree of
+intelligence to understand his culpability, which is quite another thing
+from his possessing knowledge of his legal liability to punishment.
+Generally speaking, however, the public prosecutor is disinclined to
+initiate proceedings in such cases, for the most part because it is
+held that the necessary understanding of culpability is commonly
+lacking. But such prosecutions have more than once occurred. In the year
+1899, in a little town in the Mark of Brandenburg, proceedings were
+taken against eighteen school-children, boys and girls, and five
+pupil-teachers. These twenty-three persons, who appeared in the dock,
+had all reached an age at which they became liable to criminal
+prosecution; in the case of a number of other boys and girls who were
+concerned in the affair, no prosecution could take place. Ultimately,
+all the accused were discharged, as it was held that when the offence
+was committed they did not possess the requisite understanding of its
+culpable character. But by order of the court several of the accused
+were transferred to a reformatory. Since a prosecution may take place in
+such cases, a conviction is also possible. It is evident that as soon as
+a child is twelve years old, it may incur legal liabilities in
+consequence of the activity of the sexual impulse.
+
+We must not overlook the fact that the intellectual side of development
+may be influenced by an early awakening of the sexual life, the child
+inclining, in this case, to occupy its mind with sexual thoughts, to the
+neglect of educational opportunities. I have seen cases which were
+regarded as instances of aprosexia,[105] the lack of the power of
+concentration being attributed to adenoid vegetations, but in which the
+defect might, with at least as much reason, have been referred to the
+play of sexual ideas. To the teacher, his pupil's inattentiveness is
+often an insoluble riddle, merely because he ignores in the child the
+play of erotic imagination, and, in fact, ignores the child's inner life
+in general. And yet, in such cases, the child's failure to attend to the
+work of the class sometimes depends upon nothing more than occupation
+with thoughts about a beloved person. In other instances, the
+inattention is due, not to sexual ideas, but to sexual acts. As a
+patient of my own put the matter: in boyhood, while in the Latin class
+he was supposed to be learning his _amo, amas, amat_, he and his
+school-fellows were studying the subject practically beneath the table.
+Naturally, the stronger the child's sexual impulse, the more will the
+attention wander; and although in most cases, in children, the impulse
+is comparatively weak, in isolated instances it may from the first be
+abnormally powerful, entailing dangers to the intellectual development
+as serious as those other dangers previously enumerated. According to
+Sanford Bell, unfavourable consequences to intellectual development
+cannot, as a general rule, be attributed to the early amatory
+inclinations of childhood. All that is likely to be noticed is that on
+days when the child loved by another is away from school, the latter
+child will be less attentive than usual. But the circumstances are
+somewhat different when the object of affection is not a school-fellow.
+Bell speaks only of cases in which the child-lovers are members of the
+same class, and he refers to heterosexual inclinations only. In such
+cases, the results of early amatory inclinations may even be good.
+Hebbel relates of himself, how zealously as a little boy he attended
+school, simply in order to meet in the class the girl he loved. The
+presence of the loved one may, in fact, powerfully stimulate ambition
+and the desire to work. A little girl who has fallen in love with her
+schoolmistress or governess, will strive to please the latter by hard
+work and attention; and, similarly, a boy who loves a boy or a girl
+classmate, very often attempts to make an impression on the feelings of
+the loved one by his performances at school. Whilst we recognise the
+dangers attendant on the development of sexuality in the child, we must
+not overlook the fact that this development may have its good side.
+
+For, just in the same way, a child's altruistic feelings may be
+stimulated by love. We see cases in which a child tries to help the
+beloved schoolmate in every possible difficulty or trouble. Such a love
+may also spur the lover on to excellence in other fields than the mere
+work of the class. The boy, while still quite young, seeks to make an
+impression on the girl by courage and steadfastness, just as he will
+seek to do this somewhat later, when he has attained early manhood.
+
+A spirited description is given by Grünstein of boys engaged in a sham
+fight. At first the contending parties are timorous, appearing afraid of
+one another:--
+
+  "But when the girls draw near, to view
+     The slaughter of a stricken plain,
+   In mimic battle, at this cue,
+     The boys now join with might and main.
+
+   Under the spell of girlish eyes
+     Each strives his courage to display;
+   For wounds or death he may despise,
+     Who helps his side to win the day.
+
+   And as the factions join in strife,
+     They shout amid the battle's din;
+   Fighting as if for very life,
+     Each one will do his best to win.
+
+   Each hopes the victory to gain;
+     Each would the bravest warrior prove.
+   Hurrah! they cry, and each is fain
+     To win bright glances from his love."
+
+As I have previously explained, the existence of sexual perversions may
+sometimes be traced back into early childhood, although, in individual
+cases, the experiences of childhood may throw little light on the
+subsequent sexual life. But we saw that cases certainly occur in which
+the abnormal tendencies of the sexual life are manifested in early
+childhood, and in which, also, other tendencies of childhood are
+determined by the abnormal sexual life. In such cases, the mental life
+of the child is also profoundly affected. Such a child feels unhappy on
+account of its abnormal sexual relationships. The boy would rather have
+been a girl, the girl a boy. In such a case, the choice of a future
+profession will also be affected by mental peculiarities closely
+associated with the sexual life. The homosexual ladies' tailor, the
+music-hall artiste who makes a speciality of feminine impersonations,
+the ladies' hairdresser, and others in like occupations, will often tell
+us that the choice of their trade or profession was made while they were
+still children. In this connexion, I may also refer to the sexual life
+of Catholic priests. It is certain that some of these exhibit homosexual
+tendencies. It is often suggested that it is their repulsion from
+heterosexual intercourse which leads such men to take the Catholic vow
+of celibacy. But there is another possible factor which must not be
+overlooked. It is not unlikely that certain persons, not homosexual, but
+in whom sexual inclination towards women is primarily wanting, may
+incline to enter the priesthood. Yet another possibility is pointed out
+by a Catholic priest who has written on this subject. He is of opinion
+that homosexually inclined boys often exhibit even in childhood
+caressive tendencies; such boys early attract the attention of priests,
+who make use of them in the performance of various ecclesiastical
+ceremonies. For this reason, such boys come under the influence of the
+priesthood at an exceptionally early age; and thus it comes about that
+in an exceptionally large proportion of cases they themselves enter the
+priesthood.
+
+There are other sexual perversions, in addition to those just mentioned,
+by which the inclinations and occupations of the child may be
+influenced. A hair-fetichist, whose case I had occasion to study
+carefully when, at the age of fifteen, he had to stand his trial on
+account of cutting off girls' plaits of hair, informed me that for one
+or two years before he first committed this offence, he had experienced
+a peculiar stimulus whenever he handled hair. In other cases of
+fetichism which I have had under observation, the abnormal fetichistic
+tendency went much further back. An underclothing fetichist began at the
+age of seven to be greatly interested in his sister's and in the
+maidservant's underclothing, touching such articles of clothing as often
+as he could, and pressing up against them in a caressing way. The choice
+of reading is sometimes determined by perverse sensibilities, the sexual
+nature of which may often not become apparent until a considerable
+period has elapsed. I know certain persons with masochistic and with
+sadistic tendencies, who in childhood preferred to read stories about
+robbers and slaves, the use of fetters and the descriptions of violence
+of all kinds playing a peculiar part in their imaginations. It must be
+regarded as definitely established that children sometimes deliberately
+incur corporal punishment in order to enjoy masochistic sexual
+sensations. The best-known instance is that of Jean Jacques Rousseau,
+who at _the age of seven_ was chastised by Mademoiselle Lambercier, and
+thereupon experienced agreeable sensual feelings. He himself tells
+us[106] how sincere was his affection for Mademoiselle Lambercier, and
+his extremely tractable disposition would have tended to prevent his
+deliberately seeking to commit an improper act. And yet in spite of this
+the chastisement was repeated, and again he experienced a secret
+stimulation. In a little erotic work of the eighteenth century, _Le
+Joujou des Demoiselles_, we find under the heading of "Le Fouet" ("A
+Whipping"), the following short poem, relating to a girl twelve years of
+age:--
+
+
+  "A l'âge de douze ans, pour certain grave cas,
+         Que je sais et ne dirai pas,
+         Lise du fouet fut menacée
+   A sa maman, justement courroucée,
+
+         Lise repondit fièrement,
+         Vous avez tout lieu de vous plaindre,
+         Mais pour le fouet tout doucement,
+   Je suis d'âge à l'aimer et non pas à le craindre.
+
+   At the age of twelve, for a good reason,
+         Which I know, but will not tell,
+         Lise was threatened with a whipping.
+   To her mother, justly incensed,
+
+         Lise answered proudly,
+         You have just cause of complaint,
+         But as regards a moderate whipping,
+   I am of an age to enjoy and not to fear it."
+
+The awakening of sex has further effects upon the mental life of the
+child. Its curiosity is aroused, as soon as the phenomena of pubescence
+make their appearance, either in themselves or in other children. Long
+before this, as a rule, the navel has to the child been an object of
+curiosity. This part of the body seems strange and perplexing, and even
+in early childhood the genital organs may inspire similar sentiments.
+The child observes that in respect of such things some reserve is the
+rule, that a certain shyness is manifested in looking at and touching
+the genital organs, and for these very reasons the child's attention is
+apt to be directed to these organs. But curiosity becomes much keener
+when the signs of puberty manifest themselves. To many a child, the
+looking-glass serves as a means for the thorough observation of these
+remarkable signs of development. With amazement the child watches the
+growth of the axillary and the pubic hair; and in girls attention is
+aroused by the enlargement of the breasts. Curiosity then leads the
+child to seek information about these things from various books, and
+especially from an encyclopædia. It is a matter of general experience
+that the article on Masturbation is eagerly studied by many children,
+even before the end of the second period of childhood. A search is made
+for anatomical illustrations, in order to see the genital organs of both
+sexes. In many cases brothers and sisters arrange to satisfy one
+another's curiosity on this point. Elder brother and younger, elder
+sister and younger, or brother and sister will often seek to enlighten
+one another as to differences in bodily structure, especially as regards
+the external genital organs, by means of mutual inspection. Such
+childish curiosity may be, and often is, altogether independent of the
+awakening of the sexual life; the real motive is then the rationalist
+one, if the expression be permitted. But in other instances the
+curiosity is determined, or increased, by the awakening of the sexual
+life. Similar considerations apply to the observation of the sexual acts
+of animals, for which opportunities occur more especially in the
+country, but sometimes also in the town; in most cases, the motive for
+such observation in the first instance is pure curiosity, independent of
+sexual processes in the child. Parents who surprise their children thus
+engaged, usually regard such investigations as signs of gross
+immorality; but it is unnecessary to take so tragic a view. It is simply
+childish curiosity, on the part of those who see nothing wrong in what
+they are doing. That which is immoral in the adult is not necessarily
+immoral in the child, who is merely led by curiosity, and by his
+astonishment at the changes taking place in his body, to study these
+changes closely. It is not immoral for a child to wish to study _in
+propriâ personâ_ matters about which information has been withheld.
+Adults are far too ready to interpret the actions of children in the
+light of their own feelings--a mistake which cannot be too strongly
+condemned.
+
+The curiosity of the child about his own body is often intermingled
+with fear; above all in the perfectly innocent, completely unenlightened
+child, the first seminal emission, whether it occurs during sleep or in
+the waking hours, and in the girl, the first appearance of the menstrual
+flow, may readily cause serious alarm. It must not be supposed that such
+alarm is of rare occurrence. Even in large towns, which our moralists
+are apt to regard as altogether corrupt, we sometimes find that a boy of
+fifteen or sixteen may be greatly alarmed, on waking, to discover that
+he has had a seminal emission, for which he has been prepared neither by
+experience nor by instruction.
+
+Additional wider influences of the sexual life of the child cannot here
+be fully discussed. But when we see that in great poets and other
+artists much of their creative work may be effected in childhood, and
+when, on the other hand, we observe the connexion of many artistic
+productions with the psychosexual sphere, we cannot fail to admit the
+possibility that the sexual life of the child is to some extent related
+to art. Thus, we sometimes see children endeavouring, however
+imperfectly, to express their feelings in verse; and in cases in which
+nothing of the kind occurs, the erotic feelings of childhood may still
+exercise influence later in life. As examples from world-literature, I
+may mention: Heine, who was still a boy when he was so greatly attracted
+by his Sefchen, the executioner's niece, whose personality made a
+definite impression on the poet's maturer work;[107] Goethe, whose
+friendship with the sister of the little Derones, likewise had certain
+artistic results; Dante, who first met his Beatrice at the age of nine
+years, and ever thenceforward remained under her spell. If in such cases
+we inquire as to the impressions of childhood, we unquestionably find,
+in poets and artists, traces, sometimes of direct, but more frequently
+of indirect influences.
+
+Mantegazza[108] goes so far as to regard the premature development of
+psychosexual sentiments as a peculiarity of richly endowed and talented
+natures. An obscure, shamefaced feeling, by which the boy is drawn to
+the girl, is, he thinks, manifest in such natures, even before sex has
+made its profound impression upon the developing organism, and before
+the reproductive organs have assumed their adult forms. He compares such
+feelings with the rosy tint which appears on the horizon before the
+sunrise, and he considers that in men of a lower type or less highly
+gifted by nature, the new sentiments known by the name of love do not
+appear until after the adult development of the reproductive organs. I
+do not believe that this generalisation is well founded; although, as
+previously mentioned, I consider that the alarm which is often caused in
+elders by the appearance in the child of such early psychosexual
+manifestations is not warranted, as a rule, by the facts of the case.
+
+The question as to the quality of the offspring resulting from the
+sexual intercourse of children, either of two children who are both
+sexually mature, or of a sexually mature child with a grown person, has
+not, in Europe, any great or immediate practical interest. With us,
+procreation is rarely possible on the part of those who are still
+children, for the boy is hardly competent for procreation before the
+completion of the second period of childhood, and in the case of girls
+such competence is rarely met with till towards the very end of the
+second period of childhood. But if we put the question in a somewhat
+more general form, and study the quality of the offspring of youthful
+persons in whom bodily development is not yet fully completed, the
+matter becomes one of greater practical interest. But for a decision
+even on this point, data are insufficient, notwithstanding the fact
+that, according to Pauline Tarnowsky,[109] among the Russians a young
+girl frequently marries while still sexually immature, at the age of
+sixteen or seventeen, when, in that country, menstruation has often not
+yet begun. But there is a country from which data bearing on this
+problem can be obtained--data of considerable, and, as some think, of
+decisive importance--viz. India. In India, child-marriages occur with
+extraordinary frequency, and, according to Hans Fehlinger,[110] their
+number continues to increase. Originally almost confined to the Hindus,
+these marriages have spread to the Mohammedans, the Buddhists, and the
+Animists, notwithstanding the fact that religious reasons for such
+marriages exist only in the case of the Hindus. In the year 1881, for
+every 1000 persons under 10 years of age, 99 were married, of these 24
+being boys, and 75 girls. In the year 1901, the number of married
+persons under 10 years of age was 158 per 1000, of whom 20 were children
+under 5 years old. This is an enormous percentage: and although
+Fehlinger himself draws attention to the fact that marriage in childhood
+is not always tantamount to the beginning of sexual intercourse, since
+in many cases years will intervene between marriage and the commencement
+of cohabitation, yet in many other instances no such interval exists. E.
+Rüdin[111] also deals with the question of child-marriages in India,
+discussing it from the point of view of racial degeneration. He states
+that, with one exception, modern writers are agreed that the
+consequences of the Indian custom of child-marriage are altogether
+bad--that not a single point can be urged in favour of the practice. The
+solitary writer to urge anything in favour of the custom of
+child-marriage is Sir Denzil Ibbetsson, who asserts that in the Western
+Punjab, where child-marriages are exceptional, immorality and assaults
+upon women are commoner than in the Eastern Punjab, where
+child-marriages are the rule. Those who strongly disapprove of
+child-marriages, point more particularly to the fact that when a
+girl-child is married to an adult man, she often receives mechanical
+injuries in the act of intercourse; and they contend, in addition, that
+child-marriage is injurious to the offspring. For, by child-marriage, we
+obviate any possibility of sexual selection within the limits of a
+particular caste, inasmuch as persons are bound together in marriage
+whose defective constitution and inferior mental endowments may not
+become apparent until long after marriage, and yet the couple, tied to
+one another for life, will continue to procreate an inferior stock. But,
+in this connexion, it must not be forgotten that in India puberty is
+attained far earlier in life than it is in Western Europe.
+
+Having dealt with the premature development of the sexual life, a few
+words must now be allotted to the consideration of an abnormally late
+awakening of sexuality. This latter phenomenon must, unquestionably, be
+regarded as a morbid manifestation. In the course of my experience, I
+have seen quite a number of people in whom the sexual impulse made its
+first appearance very late; in childhood, and also later, some of these
+were regarded by their associates as models of chastity. They had no
+intercourse with prostitutes, because even at the age of twenty they had
+not yet experienced any definite sexual impulse. They despised other
+young men who practised irregular sexual intercourse, and they
+themselves had no difficulty in refraining from such intercourse. But
+many such persons are the subjects of a remarkable self-deception; for a
+long time they really believe themselves to be exceptionally moral, and
+succeed in convincing themselves that their abstinence from sexual
+intercourse is dependent upon ethical motives, whereas often the real
+reason has merely been the lack of inclination and of capacity for
+sexual intercourse. In most cases the real nature of the case
+subsequently becomes clear to them, and they come to understand that
+their previous sexual abstinence was not determined by ethical motives.
+When we analyse such cases more accurately, we often find that we have
+to do with abnormal individualities; abnormal not merely in respect of
+the retarded development of the sexual life, but also as regards other
+phenomena. Not infrequently we have to do with neuropathic and
+psychopathic natures, and the reality of this is quite unaffected by the
+fact that the superficial observer is convinced that such persons are
+exceptionally moral. I possess a considerable number of autobiographical
+case-histories of this kind, and it is quite usual to find that they
+state that their associates have wrongly accredited them with peculiar
+virtue, whereas in reality their apparently irreproachable conduct
+depended simply upon abnormality of development, and the strict morality
+was an illusive appearance. Many of them also produce an altogether
+unmanly, effeminate, bashful, and timid impression. Although I have
+always honoured, and continue to hold in honour, those young men who
+avoid illegitimate sexual intercourse on genuinely moral grounds, the
+persons exhibiting the peculiarities just explained must be regarded as
+pathological subjects. If our moralists hold up to us as exemplary
+specimens such young men as these, we have to answer that in that case
+sexual abstinence, and also chastity and morality, may depend upon a
+pathological inheritance. Just as we are unable to regard eunuchs as
+exceptionally virtuous individuals, so also must we be cautious in our
+assignment of moral motives for the sexual abstinence of young men of
+this nature.[112]
+
+In the female sex, also, there are persons in whom the sexual life, and
+especially the sexual impulse, awakens very late. This may happen
+notwithstanding the fact that menstruation has begun at the normal age.
+Both the peripheral phenomena of detumescence, and also the phenomena of
+contrectation, may be thus retarded; and the former especially may
+permanently fail to appear. We see girls who appear remarkably virtuous,
+because, while other girls are rejoicing at having found an admirer,
+they pass coldly along, in the streets and elsewhere, their eyes
+directed forwards, and rigidly avoid exchanging glances with any male
+person. Although this delayed sexual development does not arouse in us
+the same unsympathetic feelings in the case of young women as it does in
+the case of young men, it is none the less necessary to recognise the
+phenomenon in the female sex as well, and this not on medical grounds
+merely, but also on educational, ethical, and social grounds. In fine,
+in such cases, we have to do with something very different from cases in
+which from a true sense of shame or on moral grounds a girl maintains
+her mental and bodily chastity; different, also, from the cases in which
+we have to do with women whose bodily development is normal, but who in
+other respects resemble rather the type of those in whom the
+reproductive glands have been removed.
+
+I may take this opportunity of insisting upon the fact that the unduly
+retarded awakening of the sexual life, or the complete failure of the
+sexual impulse to appear, is not especially to be desired, and entails
+dangers and disadvantages just as does a premature development of
+sexuality. I may recall, in this connexion, certain earlier experiences.
+At one time it was assumed that there was a mental disorder known as
+pyromania; the pyromaniac was one with an irresistible impulse to light
+incendiary fires. To-day, we no longer admit the existence of any such
+disease, and the impulse to light incendiary fires, when such a morbid
+impulse manifests itself, is regarded as a symptom of imbecility, of
+cerebral degeneration, &c. But we may take this opportunity of reminding
+the reader that Henke,[113] an earlier investigator, regarded pyromania
+as due chiefly to arrest or disturbance of the physical and psychical
+phenomena of puberty. Esquirol himself appears to have shared this
+opinion; and although modern psychiatry takes quite a different view of
+pyromania, we have none the less to insist that unduly retarded
+development may, just as much as premature development, give rise to
+undesirable consequences.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+THE CHILD AS AN OBJECT OF SEXUAL PRACTICES
+
+
+We have now to consider a matter which bears but indirectly on the
+sexual life of the child, and yet may be of the greatest importance in
+relation to that life; we have to consider cases in which the child is
+the object of sexual practices by others. I have previously referred to
+instances in which one child loves another. But the child may also be an
+object of sexual desire to adults; for in certain men and women, sexual
+inclination is directed towards children. By von Krafft-Ebing this state
+is termed _pædophilia erotica_.
+
+Not all the cases in which sexual acts are performed on children belong
+to the province of pædophilia. It is well known that in certain
+countries--Germany is one of them--a superstition prevails among certain
+strata of the population to the effect that venereal diseases may be
+cured by means of sexual intercourse with children. Where this is the
+motive of the sexual act, the case does not belong to the class of
+pædophilia; and many other sexual acts in which children play a part
+must also be excepted from this class. It sometimes happens that
+debauchees, after having practised all kinds of venereal excesses,
+finally take to misusing children; nursemaids, again, and other
+servants, will carry out all sorts of sexual acts on the children
+entrusted to their care, sometimes merely in order to quiet the
+children, sometimes "for fun." Von Krafft-Ebing refers to a special
+group of young men who do not feel sufficient confidence in their sexual
+potency to attempt intercourse with grown women, also to masturbators
+affected with psychical impotence; such persons are apt to seek an
+equivalent for coitus in improper contacts with little girls.
+
+One very large group of cases belongs to the sphere of psychiatry. In
+quite a number of congenital and acquired states of mental defect or
+disorder, sexual acts performed on children appear as symptoms of moral
+and intellectual degeneration. In this connexion may be mentioned,
+congenital imbecility, progressive paralysis (paralytic dementia),
+senile dementia, chronic alcoholism, cerebral syphilis, and
+post-epileptic dementia; with or without these conditions, epileptic
+disturbances of consciousness may lead to sexual offences against
+children.
+
+None of these cases have anything to do with poedophilia erotica. And
+there are yet other cases which it is desirable to distinguish from this
+class, especially those cases in which a marked hyperæsthesia was the
+determining cause of the sexual act. In such a case, it is to the person
+thus affected almost a matter of indifference with whom the sexual act
+is performed. Anything warm and alive will do, and inasmuch as a child
+is often most readily available, a child often serves as victim, whilst
+in other cases an animal is utilised.
+
+Fritz Leppmann,[114] to whom we are indebted for a full and excellent
+study of cases of this kind, distinguishes the influences which are
+subjective to the offender from those which operate from without. Among
+the latter he refers especially to the _Schlafbursch_ or
+night-lodger;[115] it may be a young man in his prime, sleeping in the
+same room or even in the same bed with little girls; also to
+unemployment, which very readily gives occasion for sexual excesses; to
+the practice of allowing little girls to run about without proper
+supervision; to premature sexual development in children, which renders
+these latter especially liable to be the subjects of sexual misconduct;
+to child-prostitution, often at the instigation of the parents; to the
+lack of proper sexual reserve; to obscenity, dances, and popular
+festivals, whereby the sexual impulse may be stimulated; to unhappy
+marriage; and, above all, to the effects of alcohol. Occupation and
+position have also to be considered, for, in the case of many males, an
+authoritative position (that of schoolmaster, priest, doctor, employer,
+stepfather, tutor) gives extraordinary facilities for committing sexual
+offences against children.
+
+Although children of all ages, and even infants in arms, may be the
+victims of sexual misconduct, in the majority of such cases we have to
+do with children who are no longer quite young; and this is true, more
+especially, of most cases of pædophilia erotica. This latter passion may
+be directed against children of the same sex as the offender, but more
+commonly it is directed towards children of the opposite sex. Not
+infrequently, however, the impulse in such persons lacks sharp
+differentiation, the pædophile showing inclination, now for immature
+boys, now again for immature girls. Occasionally, pædophilia is the only
+form in which sexual inclination exhibits itself in the persons
+concerned; but in other cases the pædophilic impulse alternates with
+normal sexual feelings, or with some other perverse sexual
+manifestation. A homosexual man, for instance, may one day be sexually
+attracted by children, the next by adult males. Less widely known,
+although, as I think, far commoner than is usually believed, are the
+cases in which women are sexually attracted by immature boys. Some of
+those cases of which mention has previously been made, in which
+nursemaids and other female servants seduce boys to the practice of
+masturbation, belong to this category; but this does not exhaust cases
+of such a nature. It is not necessary, when we see a woman caressing a
+boy, to assume at once and in every case that a sexual motive is at
+work; but unprejudiced observation will show that many of these cases
+are sexually determined. An interesting case of this nature has been
+published by Magnan.[116] It was that of a lady twenty-nine years of
+age, with strongly marked hereditary taint, and suffering from very
+various mental abnormalities, with five nephews, the eldest of whom was
+thirteen years of age. At first, this eldest nephew was the object of
+her desires. "The sight of him caused in her intense sexual excitement;
+she experienced voluptuous sensations, which she was quite unable to
+repress, sighed, rolled her eyes, and became flushed; sometimes she had
+spasmus vaginæ, with local secretion." When this boy grew older, the
+next brother took his place in her desires; and in succession these were
+transferred to the other three. At the time when Magnan saw the patient,
+her sexual inclinations were directed towards the youngest nephew, a boy
+three years of age.
+
+In many cases, the sexual inclination towards children is primary,
+existing from the first appearance of the sexual impulse; or it may
+appear simultaneously with other inclinations without there having been,
+as far as can be learned, marked previous sexual excesses. There can be
+no doubt whatever that in such cases we have to a large extent to do
+with morbid personalities. No small part in these cases is played by a
+purely psychological factor, namely, the innocence of the child. We know
+that also in the case of the normal sexual inclination of the male,
+innocence on the part of the female exerts a notable stimulus, in which
+connexion the question whether we have to do here with a result of
+conventional opinions or with an inborn mental disposition, must
+naturally be left open.[117] But it is a fact that just as the knowledge
+of a woman's immoral past, or obscene remarks or gestures on her part,
+will in many men suffice to inhibit sexual desire; so, on the other
+hand, for many men, innocence in the woman heightens the stimulus. In
+many cases of desire for immature girls, the physical stimulus of the
+narrow vagina may also contribute to increase libido; but the part this
+plays is probably not considerable. Apart from the fact that in many
+cases in which men have sexual inclination towards such girls, _immissio
+membri_ does not take place at all, this consideration would in no way
+explain those not very uncommon cases in which adult women experience
+sexual inclination for immature boys.
+
+In connexion with this last point, it is of interest to recall the fact
+that in former days dwarfs, as well as fools, were kept at many courts.
+In view of the tender relationship which obtained between many ladies of
+position and such dwarfs, it has sometimes been inferred that the
+inclination was a sexual one, the small size and the undeveloped
+condition of the dwarf exercising a peculiar stimulus.
+
+The depraver of children satisfies his desires in very various ways. It
+will readily be understood that the progressive paralytic (paralytic
+dement) will act in one way, and the true pædophile in another. I shall
+not, however, discuss these details here, but shall merely endeavour to
+give some general ideas on the subject. Often, and especially at first,
+the depraver of children merely seeks opportunities for seeing children;
+then he wants to touch the children with his hands, and often to handle
+their genital organs; and while attempting this, or while doing it, he
+has ejaculation. In other cases he presses the child more and more
+closely into contact with himself, and especially against his own
+genital organs. Finally, we may have more complete sexual acts; and,
+especially when the child is a girl, there may be attempts at
+intercourse, and even defloration; where the child is a boy,
+pseudo-coitus may take place. The depraver of children gains his
+opportunities by appeals to the child's peculiar weaknesses. He will,
+for instance, tempt the child by the offer of sweets, and in this way
+will obviously often gain his ends. Many such persons hang about in the
+neighbourhood of a school or a children's playground, simply with this
+end in view. Some years ago the police of a certain large town were
+informed that "child-lovers" haunted a particular place. It appears that
+here the children were in the habit of swinging on a chain suspended
+between two pillars, and that the watchers waited to catch a glimpse of
+the children's genital organs, or merely of their bare legs, when their
+petticoats flew up occasionally in the act of swinging. Many pædophiles
+become sexually excited at the mere sight of children sympathetic to
+them. In other cases, by no means rare, men experience sexual excitement
+whenever they see a little girl with short petticoats; these men will
+follow such little girls all over the place, without, as a rule,
+speaking to them or interfering with them in any way, being withheld
+from doing so either by the fear of punishment or by moral restraint. To
+many the mere sight of the child appears to afford sufficient sexual
+gratification; and to others the simple contact of their hands with the
+child suffices, and nothing more is attempted. But, in other cases,
+handling the child's genital organs plays the chief part, frequently
+because the offender can himself obtain sexual gratification only
+through inducing sexual excitement in the child and watching this
+excitement. Sometimes, however, the offender has no interest in the
+child's genital organs; far from being excited sexually by regarding or
+handling these organs, he may even find them repulsive; but in such
+cases the sight of general nakedness often induces sexual excitement.
+This is often associated with sadistic feelings, and this alike in men
+and in women. In other cases, a woman will make attempts at coitus with
+a little boy, having first induced erection of his penis by manipulating
+the organ, by tickling it, or in some other way. Finally, there are
+cases in which all kinds of other actions are performed. To the more
+complex perversions I shall return. Here I shall only point out that
+children may sometimes be utilised for the wildest orgies. A case was
+formerly published by Tardieu, in which servant-maids in conjunction
+with their lovers carried out with the children under their care all
+sorts of perverse acts: cunnilinctus, masturbation, the introduction of
+various objects into the vagina and the anus. Finally, it may be pointed
+out that in the lack of an object, the pædophile will naturally satisfy
+himself with the aid of imaginative ideas, masturbating the while, or he
+may be content with purely psychical onanism. We must not forget that
+the imagination usually suggests stimuli far stronger than those
+furnished by objective experience, and this applies in a most marked
+degree to pædophilia. Many pædophiles also satisfy themselves with the
+aid of erotic and obscene literature, containing descriptions of the
+acts in which they are interested, or with pictures of such acts. Among
+obscene pictures and photographs, not a few depict sexual acts performed
+with children; and there is no doubt that these are sometimes pictures
+taken from the life, children having actually been photographed in such
+obscene attitudes. The Latin countries appear to be the principal
+source of such pictures and photographs.
+
+It will readily be understood that the performance upon children of
+sexual acts is a very serious matter for the children themselves,
+especially as affecting their sexual morality. It is true that in many
+instances pædophilia does not entail any consequences for the child,
+which completely fails to understand that it has been made use of for
+perverse purposes. The offender may know how to mask his actions, so
+that even a third person who is looking on may detect nothing more than
+tender caresses, and may remain altogether unaware of the existence of
+any sexual excitement. But in other cases the consequences for the
+children may be extremely grave. Not only is the child in this way
+prematurely introduced to sexual practices, but its moral corruption may
+result. The danger to the child is greater in view of the fact that the
+child depraver often fails to realise that he is trespassing against the
+child's rights. I remember a gentleman who had been punished with
+imprisonment on account of improper relations with a boy, and who
+continued to assure me that he had done nothing wrong in touching the
+boy's penis. In other cases, well-educated young men and women have no
+idea that unchaste conduct with children is an offence which may entail
+severe punishment, even in cases in which the child's genital organs are
+not touched.
+
+It should not need demonstration that such sexual malpractices on
+children may have serious consequences for these latter. A girl may
+suffer most severely, alike morally and socially, even though
+defloration has not been effected. It is quite conceivable that in such
+a way a girl may be brought to prostitution. Certain investigators have
+studied the question at what age defloration had been effected in women
+leading a life of prostitution, and have ascertained that in many cases
+this had taken place in childhood. Martineau[118] reports cases in which
+defloration had been effected at the age of nine or ten years.
+Experience teaches that boys also, especially when they have been
+seduced by sexual inverts, are very apt to adopt a life of prostitution.
+It must also be remembered that girls may occasionally become pregnant
+and give birth to a child even before they have themselves passed the
+years of childhood--another source of social danger. In addition, we
+have to reckon with dangers to physical health; among these we have the
+direct consequences of premature misuse of the genital organs, and,
+above all, the danger of venereal infection. In a great many cases,
+sexual offences against children are brought to light only when, on
+examining the child, gonorrhoeal or syphilitic infection is disclosed.
+Many authorities hold that the superstitious hope of curing venereal
+disease by sexual intercourse with an innocent child, is a comparatively
+frequent source of such infection in children. Freud, to whose views I
+have referred several times before, believes that sexual attempts on
+children may give rise in the latter to severe neuroses--an idea which
+forms an important part of the etiological system put forward by this
+author.
+
+We must regard it as a peculiar danger of sexual relations on the part
+of a child with an adult, that sexual perversion may be induced. I may
+refer to what I said about this matter on pp. 60-62. The chief danger does
+not arise from the fact that the child is occasionally utilised for a
+homosexual act, but from the circumstance that in the period of the
+undifferentiated sexual impulse, the child's sexual interest, and
+especially its contrectation impulse, is directed towards one of its own
+sex, and that thereby a permanent perversion may be induced. Edward
+Carpenter,[119] indeed, considers that in such homosexual relationships
+the younger partner makes the advances. "The younger boy looks on the
+other as a hero, loves to be with him, thrills with pleasure at his
+words of praise or kindness." In his general views on this question,
+Carpenter takes a somewhat peculiar position. Unfortunately, he
+overlooks the fact that the elder is not to be exonerated because the
+younger made the first advances--at any rate, in cases in which the
+elder is in a position to understand the true nature of such
+relationships. Everyday experience shows that in many cases the elder
+person is of such an age that there can be no doubt upon this point. And
+apart from this, it is not usual to find that it is the younger person
+who makes the sexual advances. In most of the cases which have come
+under my own notice it was unquestionably the elder who began to lead
+the younger astray. The matter is not as harmless as Carpenter makes
+out. The same considerations apply to sexual intercourse with immature
+girls. Beyond doubt, there are many girls who meet sexual advances
+halfway, owing to the premature development of their own sexual impulse;
+and some such girls go more than halfway. A common practice of
+pædophiles is to begin by arousing sexual excitement in the child,
+either by manual stimulation, or else by showing the child erotic
+pictures, or by reading to it from an erotic book. We must also admit
+that in certain cases the child meets sexual advances halfway, not so
+much under the stimulus of its own sexual impulse, but for other
+reasons; for example, the child may be following the instructions of its
+parents, who regard their child as a marketable commodity, either
+because they have been well paid by the pædophile, or because they wish
+to use the child as an instrument in a blackmailing scheme. The point
+last mentioned is one of great importance--the fact that intercourse on
+the part of a grown person with a child under fourteen years of age is
+sometimes deliberately instigated by the child's parents or guardians,
+with the sole object of securing thereby a permanent income from
+blackmail. In other cases, the instigation may not come from the parents
+or guardians, or not directly from these, but from professional
+procuresses, who have undertaken to satisfy the desires of sexual
+perverts. I may refer in this connexion to the _Pall Mall Gazette_
+revelations of the London of nearly a generation ago.
+
+False accusations on the part of children, especially on the part of
+little girls, who allege themselves to have been the subjects of sexual
+assaults, have been mentioned in an earlier part of this work, but the
+matter is one of such outstanding importance, that its further
+consideration will not come amiss. An experienced Berlin lawyer has
+recently emphasised this danger.[120] He shows that it is a regular
+practice to utilise the existence of certain punishments as a means of
+getting undesired persons out of the way, by bringing false accusations
+against them. Immediately after the Franco-German War, these accusations
+dealt with offences against the laws providing for the safety of the
+Empire and of the individual States of the German Confederation. At a
+later date, persons seeking revenge made frequent use of accusations of
+_lèse majesté_. Still more recently, it is the section in the German
+legal code dealing with sexual offences against children, which is
+chiefly utilised for such purposes, "The good-natured householder who,
+because it is his birthday, presents a few sweets to children assembled
+in the courtyard of his house, is suspected of an offence against sexual
+morals;" when he finds it necessary to give warning to his untrustworthy
+hall-porter, this latter revenges himself by lodging a false accusation
+of this kind. It is a melancholy fact that an experienced barrister
+should find it necessary to make the following comprehensive
+declaration: "As a rule it is of no use for the accused person to call
+expert witnesses, who give the court long lectures upon the significance
+of children's evidence, and upon the import of evidence in general. _In
+our own experience one accused of such offences rarely escapes
+conviction._ He is hardly ever spared the terrible ordeal of examination
+and cross-examination. On all hands we hear the loud complaints of such
+persons, declaring that they have been wrongfully condemned." My own
+experience in the law courts leads me to accept these statements without
+reserve, and _I regard as one of the gravest scandals of our present
+penal system the ease with which a girl who makes a pretty curtsy to the
+court, and who appears to be shamefaced when giving her evidence, is
+believed by the judge or magistrate._ The dangers involved in this are
+obvious to many, especially to those who have much to do with children.
+An actor personally known to me, constantly received advances both from
+married women and from young girls, was pestered with letters from such
+persons, and to his great distress was several times followed in the
+streets by half-mature and immature girls. One day, in the street, he
+was walking with a friend, when two girls of about thirteen or fourteen
+years of age began to follow him. Turning round, he shouted to the
+girls that they had better run off home, or their father would give them
+a good spanking. To his astonished companion he explained that only by
+such drastic methods was he able, as he thought, to protect himself from
+false accusations.
+
+It is very generally assumed that sexual offences against children are
+increasing in number. As regards the increase in Germany, the following
+figures are given by Mittelmaier.[121] For sexual offences against
+children, the convictions in the year 1897 numbered 3085; and in the
+year 1904, 4378. But of hardly any offences specified in the code can we
+say with more certainty than we can of sexual offences against children,
+that the convictions bear no necessary relationship to the number of
+offences actually committed. My own experience in the law courts leads
+me to see in the figures nothing more than an increase in the number of
+_convictions_ for such offences--convictions which may have involved the
+innocent as well as the guilty. However this may be, historical studies
+prove that sexual offences against children are no new thing. Long ago,
+Martial, in the sixth and eighth epigrams of his ninth book, complained
+of the procurement of children, referring to boys rather than to girls.
+Otto Stoll[122] reports cases from uncivilised countries; and to his
+account of the defloration of children he appends the following words:
+"From all such details, we draw the ethnologically remarkable inference,
+that those human beings who have attained the highest level of
+civilisation, relapse frequently in the matter of the sexual life to the
+rudest instincts of savagery; and that in this respect neither does one
+civilised country much excel another, nor is 'civilised man' in a
+position to cast many reproaches in the teeth of the savage." Finally, I
+may refer to the experience of a Parisian Police Commissary,[123] who in
+the middle of the nineteenth century described prostitution in Paris,
+and devoted a special chapter to the subject of child-prostitution.
+Beyond question, the committing of sexual offences against children is
+no peculiar privilege of the civilised world or of modern times;
+although it remains possible that there has of late been some increase
+in the number of such offences.
+
+It is obviously right that children should receive special protection
+from the law. The higher limit of the age of protection varies from ten
+to eighteen years. Ten years is the age-limit in certain States of the
+American Union; seventeen is the age-limit in Finland.[124] According to
+Mittelmaier, two considerations should guide us in regard to the
+protection of children: bodily immaturity, and moral weakness. The
+existence of the former leads the normal and healthy man to regard
+sexual approaches to children as unnatural and detestable. But, apart
+from the question of immaturity, we have to recognise that in children
+the moral sphere also deserves consideration; that notwithstanding the
+possible recent development of physical maturity, the child as such
+requires protection, in order to prevent the occurrence of such moral
+corruption as will render it incapable, when grown-up, of obeying the
+moral law. No thoughtful person can refuse to admit the child's right to
+protection.
+
+But here a peculiar point needs attention, concerning, namely, the
+treatment in the law courts of such offences against children. I
+consider that by legal intervention in these cases the child's morals
+are sometimes more gravely endangered than by the original offence. If a
+man has momentarily laid his hand on the knee of a girl of ten, the
+child can hardly be said to have been injured, and will certainly have
+received much less injury than would result, if the case be brought into
+court, from cross-questioning of the child, not merely by its own
+relatives, but also by the police, the magistrate and his colleagues (in
+the court of first instance), by the public prosecutor and the counsel
+for the defence (in the higher court), and perhaps in addition by expert
+witnesses. When such a child is asked, whether the offender did not put
+his hand higher than the knee, whether he did or did not actually touch
+the genital organs, grave dangers may arise from such questioning.
+There is a further danger, in that some times, in such a case, the child
+is present in court throughout the entire proceedings. Some years ago,
+in Hamburg, I was called as an expert witness in a case of this kind. In
+this instance, the presiding judge, and also the public prosecutor and
+the defending counsel, exhibited the greatest possible delicacy, when
+one child was under examination, in sending the others, as far as
+possible, out of court. But I have also been present at trials in which
+no such precautions were taken, but in which every child was allowed to
+hear all the uncleanness in the evidence of the other children, and
+perhaps also in that of adults. Knowledge of the world, and, above all,
+tact, will best save the judge from treating children wrongly in this
+matter. The way in which a trial is conducted, which is often an
+extremely mechanical one, will not always enable the judge to avail
+himself of the means requisite for the protection of children from
+contamination in the course of such a prosecution. When we take a
+comprehensive view of the harm that may be done to children by sexual
+offences committed against them and by the consequent legal proceedings,
+we shall find, in my opinion, that from the legal proceedings arises a
+notable proportion of the injury.
+
+The examination of the mental condition of the child-depraver is a
+matter of the utmost importance. In cases in which we find that the
+offender is suffering from some pronounced mental disorder, such as
+progressive paralysis (paralytic dementia), senile dementia, or an
+epileptic disturbance of consciousness, there can be no doubt as to the
+existence of irresponsibility; but it must never be forgotten that in
+the early course of such diseases, these sexual perversions often make
+their appearance at a time when no other definite signs of the brain
+disease have as yet appeared, and that for this reason the conviction of
+innocent persons--old men, for instance--on account of sexual offences
+against children, often occurs. Kirn,[125] who in the Freiburg prison
+had under observation six old men at ages from sixty-eight to
+eighty-one, all convicted for sexual offences against little girls,
+states that in all of these there were intellectual defects, and in
+several of them pronounced symptoms of senile dementia. The psychiatric
+expert must examine all such cases with the utmost care. We may also
+express a wish that judges were not inclined to regard themselves as
+experts in this field, of which, as a rule, they have no expert
+knowledge whatever.
+
+Cases in which there is no definite mental disorder belong to a
+different category. Fritz Leppmann, to whom we are indebted for the most
+comprehensive studies in this field of inquiry, comes to the conclusion
+that there is no such thing as a truly congenital sexual inclination
+towards children. Such inclinations often appear, indeed, in
+congenitally tainted or weak-minded individuals; but he considers that
+we have no right to speak of the perverse impulse as being itself
+congenital. Even if we admit this, and refuse to recognise the existence
+of a congenital perverse impulse towards children, still we have to
+admit that certain opportunities and conditions may not only lead to the
+committing of sexual offences against children, but may also induce
+pædophile tendencies. And the fact cannot be contested that this danger
+arises more especially in those who are much associated with children;
+especially, that is to say, in schoolmasters and tutors, on the one
+hand, and in schoolmistresses and governesses, on the other, Now, in
+every case that comes under our notice, two points must be taken into
+consideration. In the first place, if a remarkably large number of
+teachers come before the law courts charged with sexual offences against
+children, we have to remember that a certain proportion of these cases
+must arise from the false accusations to which those persons precisely
+are exposed who are much associated with children. The second point, on
+account of which limits are imposed on the extent of the last-mentioned
+etiological factor, is that certain persons adopt the profession of
+schoolmaster or mistress, or tutor or governess, either because they are
+aware of the fact that their sexual impulse is directed towards
+children, or else, and this is commoner, because, while they are but
+obscurely conscious of it, they are influenced thereby in the choice of
+a profession, without having any definite intention to make use of the
+children under their care in the gratification of their sexual desires.
+It is an indefinite impulse towards children which is here operative,
+and sometimes determines the choice of occupation. I have seen cases in
+which there seemed to be a sort of mania for giving education and
+instruction, but in which on closer examination it appeared that the
+interest in the children was a sexual one. Two cases which have been
+reported to me show that in the case of women also opportunity very
+easily awakens the sexual impulse; in these cases the giving of baths to
+the children under their care, first definitely gave rise in two
+governesses to such perverse inclinations, and in one of them
+subsequently led to serious sexual malpractices with the children.
+
+As regards the psychiatric treatment of true pædophilia, as a rule in
+such cases there is no possibility of pleading extenuating
+circumstances, as provided for by Section 51 of the Imperial Criminal
+Code. By this section, the offence escapes punishment if the offender
+was at the time in a state of unconsciousness, or was suffering from a
+morbid disturbance of mental activity, by which free voluntary choice
+was rendered impossible. In general, such persons must be held to be
+legally responsible. It may indeed, in individual cases, be possible to
+plead extenuating circumstances, or, when it is legally permissible, to
+plead the existence of partial responsibility--this latter more
+especially in cases in which symptoms of mental degeneration exist. But
+by itself a qualitatively abnormal sexual impulse gives the offender
+just as little right to plead irresponsibility, as a qualitatively
+abnormal sexual impulse gives the right to invade the sphere of
+interests of another. The fact that pædophile tendencies occur in those
+who are in other respects admirable persons does not countervail the
+need that children should be protected. It would be an error to assume
+that only morally defective persons are thus affected. I may mention in
+passing that Dostoiewski is said to have exhibited such pædophile
+tendencies--at any rate for a time. From the circle of my own
+acquaintanceship, I have learned that such a tendency may exist in
+those who are in other respects morally and intellectually sound.
+
+
+In the sexual inclination of adults towards children, we find a source
+of serious danger; but the risks are greatly enhanced by the fact that
+the pædophile tendency is often complicated by other sexual perversions.
+Exhibitionism in the male is exhibited not only towards adult females,
+but also towards children, commonly towards girls, but in exceptional
+instances towards boys. It appears that in these cases the stimulus of
+innocence plays the chief part. In many cases, the exhibitionist is
+satisfied with exposing his genital organs; and only in comparatively
+rare cases, which by many are not included in the category of
+exhibitionism, do we find that the exhibitionist also masturbates,
+sometimes in the presence of the child, sometimes after going elsewhere,
+The fetichistic tendencies of adults are also in many instances directed
+towards children. Well-known cases are those of the hair fetichists who
+not infrequently cut plaits of hair from the heads of schoolgirls; but
+other hair fetichists are satisfied with cutting from the head smaller
+fragments of hair.
+
+Sexual inclinations towards children are especially apt to be associated
+with sadistic acts. In a comparatively large proportion of cases,
+children are the victims of lust-murder, if this term be used in its
+strictly limited signification, and not to include all possible sexual
+acts complicated with murder, but simply to signify cases in which the
+very act of murder provides a sexual stimulus, or when the corpse is
+utilised for a lustful act; that is to say, we must exclude from
+lust-murder proper, all the cases in which, for other reasons than a
+sadistic impulse, the sexual act is complicated with murder, as when the
+female witness of a previous sexual crime must be got out of the way.
+Children, too, are often the victims of other sexual acts, such as rape,
+which in a few instances only can be included in the category of sadism.
+In some cases force is employed only because the victim resists the act
+of violation, and here there is no question of sadism; but the rape is
+sadistic when the use of force is _per se_ a sexual stimulus. Moreover,
+children are often endangered by "stabbers."
+
+In the year 1899, there was much anxiety in the city of Cologne on
+account of such a stabber. Those injured were all schoolgirls, and
+ultimately no children were sent alone to school, but they were always
+accompanied by a servant or a relative. In 1901, there was a similar
+series of cases in Moscow, a number of half-grown girls being stabbed by
+a man with a dagger. In the year 1896, a stabber appeared in Berlin. He
+enticed schoolgirls into the vestibule of a house, under the pretence
+that he wanted to brush some mud from their clothing; then, drawing a
+knife, he would inflict on the child a long and deep incised wound. In
+the summer of 1901, the inhabitants of northern Berlin were terrorised
+by a man who stabbed one girl fatally, and wounded two others severely.
+A remarkable point about this case was that the stabber made three
+separate assaults in a single afternoon, at very brief intervals. Unless
+the offender is discovered, it is naturally impossible to ascertain
+whether he has acted under the influence of some ordinary mental
+disorder (such as mania or post-epileptic insanity), or if he is a
+sexual pervert. The act alone will not enable us to answer this
+question.
+
+Boys also are liable to such attacks, as we learn from what happened in
+Breslau in the year 1889. A student of philosophy in that town enticed
+to his dwelling an eight-year-old boy whom he met in a public lavatory,
+and wounded the boy's penis with a sharp-pointed knife. It appeared that
+the offender had done the same thing before to other boys. Ultimately,
+having been examined by a committee of experts, he was on their
+recommendation adjudged to be insane. In the year 1869, Berlin was
+disturbed by the doings of a certain X. This man had made use of two
+boys for sexual purposes, and had inflicted on them horrible injuries:
+in one, he cut off the testicles, and inflicted other severe wounds, so
+that the boy died; in the other, he introduced a walking-stick through
+the anus, and pushed it roughly onwards until it had perforated the
+lung.
+
+Far commoner than the acts of such stabbers are the cases in which the
+striking of children is to the sadist a source of sex-stimulation.
+Erotic literature is full of the description of such perversions. Thus,
+in a well-known pornographic eroticon, we find pictures of a girl who
+has to subserve the perverse lusts of a wealthy boyar (Russian
+territorial magnate), the latter mishandling the child most horribly
+with cane and knout. In the English erotic literature, it is remarkable
+how often and how fully the flagellation of children is described.
+Almost typical are the English educational works in which, with little
+variation, we find descriptions of the flogging of little girls in order
+to excite the perverse lusts of the schoolmistresses. Not very long ago,
+in a certain English newspaper, a special column was devoted to accounts
+of the chastisement of children, and especially of girls. Anyone who
+reads this column with care could not fail to recognise that for the
+most part these chastisements were the expression of perverse sexual
+sensibilities. The available material shows, indeed, that in England
+this sexually perverse whipping of children is no mere matter of
+imaginative literary expression, but that such perversities are a matter
+of actual experience. Such things are, however, by no means confined to
+England, as is shown by a large number of recorded observations.
+
+In Paris, not long ago, the following case was noted. A woman entered
+into relations with the parents of girls of eleven and twelve years of
+age, in order to hire the children as the subjects of chastisement for
+perverse sexual purposes. The parents, who must have known for what
+their children were wanted, received payment. Apparently the woman did
+not do this for the satisfaction of any perversion of her own, but for
+her perverse husband or for other perverts, who watched the whippings
+through spy-holes. In Germany, some years ago, there was an important
+trial, in which I was called as an expert witness, of a man who had
+flogged his pupils (with one exception, they had all been boys) solely
+to obtain perverse sexual gratification.
+
+Many of these cases obtain publicity through the columns of the daily
+press, although occasionally, in part from sensationalism, and in part
+from sheer ignorance, a case may be allotted to the category of sadism,
+which really has nothing to do with this perversion, or whose sadistic
+character is doubtful. This applies, for example, to the well-known
+Dippold case. Here, the sons of a wealthy Berlin family were mishandled
+by a private tutor to such an extent that one of the children died.
+Neither by the legal proceedings in this case, nor by any subsidiary
+evidence, was it established, in my opinion, that sexual motives existed
+for the maltreatment; and only when such motives exist have we any right
+to speak of sadism. As a rule, such cases are elucidated only when the
+mental life of the offender is very carefully analysed. Therefore, in a
+great many cases, while there may be grounds for suspecting the
+existence of sadism, adequate proof of this is not forthcoming. Some
+cases bearing on this matter will now be briefly recorded.
+
+A furniture polisher, twenty-five years of age, induced two young
+fellows to enter his dwelling, and there, under the threat that if they
+resisted they would be severely punished by their parents, he made them
+submit to a thrashing with a cane. A similar case was reported in Paris
+some years ago. A man thirty-seven years of age, supposed to have
+formerly been a private tutor, took boarders into his house for love,
+and not because he made his living by doing so. He also had under his
+care an orphan boy, and it appeared that this child was grossly
+ill-treated. When the authorities entered the house, they found the boy
+entirely unclothed, but wrapped in rags; he was fastened to the
+crossbars of the window, and quite exposed to the cold winter air. To
+prevent the child from crying out, a gag had been placed in his mouth.
+Of dubious nature, also, was a case which occurred at Berlin in the year
+1906, in which a girl twelve years of age was enticed away by another
+girl, and taken to a man who, at the suggestion of the second girl, drew
+two teeth from the first. In the case reported from Salzwedel some years
+ago, it is possible that the offender was insane; but he may have been
+sadistically inclined. An eleven-year-old fifth-form boy was enticed
+away by a young man of twenty, who took the lad to a hotel, gagged him,
+beat him unmercifully with a walking cane, threatening him with a
+revolver to prevent his calling for help. The boy suffered also two
+severe contused wounds of the head. The offender himself put cold
+compresses on these. When the police who were in search of the boy broke
+into the room, the young man shot himself.
+
+In the year 1891, the following case occurred in Berlin. A young man,
+not yet eighteen years old, had in three cases undressed boys, and
+performed improper acts on them. Then he misused and bound the boys. The
+youth, who had previously been convicted of theft, was on this occasion
+sentenced to ten years' imprisonment for an offence against (sexual)
+morality. At Liegnitz, a few years ago, a pupil-teacher was sent to
+prison for three months, because he had lured little boys to a remote
+field, and there had mishandled them by beating them with a
+walking-stick. The court held that these acts had been performed under
+the influence of the sexual impulse, resulting from a sadistic tendency.
+About two years ago, a teacher of the pianoforte committed suicide in
+Berlin, because he had been accused of ill-treating children, apparently
+owing to a sadistic tendency. The children were nine or ten years old;
+he had undressed them and then flogged them. The matter had, it seemed,
+been kept secret for a long time, until the parents of some of the
+children discovered traces of the ill-treatment, and this led to the
+charge being brought. A case which attracted considerable attention
+occurred in Berlin in the year 1896. A man, supposed to be a Russian
+prince, entered a well-known saddler's shop in the Potsdamerstrasse,
+asked to be shown some dogwhips, and, on the pretext of wishing to try
+their quality, persuaded some boys employed in the establishment to
+allow him to try the whips on their persons. The boys were handsomely
+paid for this, and the practice went on until the head of the firm
+intervened and forbade it. Whilst some regarded the matter as a joke,
+others expressed the suspicion that it was a case in which the rein had
+been given to sadistic tendencies. A similar case was that of the
+author, X., which occurred in Hamburg a few years ago. X. was acquainted
+with a woman named Y., who lived in Berlin. The latter's son, eleven
+years of age, was sent to reside with X. for educational purposes; and
+without proper cause, but under the pretext of educational necessities,
+this lad was severely mishandled by X. The boy was frequently taken from
+his bed, stripped naked, and then struck with a switch. The boy's mother
+stated that her boy had been put under the care of X. because the lad
+needed severe discipline, being untruthful and dishonest. Further
+charges were made against X. of various indecent acts against the boy.
+Teachers and others, who were acquainted with this boy, deposed that he
+was well behaved and not untruthful, and that he had in no way merited
+such punishments as had been inflicted on him. A very remarkable case
+was reported six years ago, from one of the minor German principalities.
+Here, children who had been sentenced to imprisonment were pardoned by
+the Prince, on condition that they submitted to a whipping; and the
+remarkable feature in the case was that not only did the Prince make a
+point of seeing the whipping, but himself in part administered it. In
+some of the reports of this case it was added that the children were
+stripped naked.
+
+It is a not infrequent reproach against Catholic priests, monks, nuns,
+&c., that they make use of the children entrusted to their care for
+perverse, sadistic acts. I may recall the Graubund scandal of September
+1906, in which girls and women were whipped by an acolyte until the
+blood ran; also an affair which occurred in Christiania about fourteen
+years ago, where, at a home kept by an unmarried woman, for children
+from the age of two years until their confirmation, a horrible and
+elaborate system of punishments was in use, whippings and other tortures
+being the order of the day. In many biographies and other works giving
+descriptions of life in the cloister, we find additional details: for
+instance, in the memoirs of the Countess Kaunitz, mother of the
+well-known statesman Kaunitz, we find an account of the severe whippings
+which were administered to her during her childhood spent in a nunnery.
+
+All kinds of subterfuges are employed by the sexual pervert to make the
+punishment appear harmless and legitimate. Schoolmasters find this
+comparatively easy, inasmuch as they are able to allege misconduct such
+as would ordinarily be visited with a verbal reprimand, if not
+completely overlooked, as the reason for a whipping. Obviously, some of
+the excuses will be remarkable. In one case the flagellant asserted that
+he wished to write a work on education, and had therefore to ascertain
+how many strokes a child could endure. In a case which came under my
+own notice the offender stated that he wished to make the children
+courageous.
+
+The expert who studies the advertisements in the newspapers will observe
+that they often subserve such perverse tendencies. "Educational"
+advertisements may be classified in three groups. Those of the first
+group are perfectly harmless (in appearance). To this class belong
+advertisements in which a teacher offers instruction to children. Since
+this is the ordinary form of serious advertisement, it attracts no
+special attention; there is nothing suspicious about it, and it is
+merely intended to lead to correspondence with those who have boys or
+girls to place as pupils. The advertiser hopes that in the course of
+instruction he will find opportunity for inflicting chastisement without
+giving rise to any suspicion. The second group has a definitely
+suspicious air, some catch-word being employed to manifest to initiates
+the existence of a perverse tendency; but there is nothing more than
+this to excite suspicion. Among such catch-words, are the words
+"energetic", "severe", "English instruction." In some cases an energetic
+governess desires children to instruct; in others it is some one else
+who desires an energetic instructress. It may be that the actual
+advertiser is on the lookout for the energetic instructress; here we
+have to do with masochism. But in other instances, the advertiser wants
+the energetic instructress for children, and the wording of the
+advertisement sometimes indicates that the advertiser's aim is to
+experience sexual excitement in watching the instructress chastise the
+children. Since these advertisements are intelligible only to initiates,
+they naturally receive answers from persons who have failed to
+understand their purport; but the sadist (male or female) and the
+masochist (male or female) is aware that the use of the word "energetic"
+refers to this sexual perversion. Of course, however, an advertisement
+in which an energetic tutor or governess is asked for, may he perfectly
+innocent. If an advertisement inserted in all good faith has really been
+open to a double meaning, the advertiser will sometimes be greatly
+astonished by the receipt of all sorts of perverse offers. A married
+woman of my acquaintance advertised for energetic supplementary
+instruction for her son, a rather naughty boy of ten; and received, in
+addition to many serious answers several answers from perverts, who
+stated that they would be delighted to be able to handle a boy in the
+sense she mentioned. In many cases, notwithstanding the use of the words
+"energetic" or "severe," we recognise from the general wording of the
+advertisement that it is seriously intended, and not issued with a
+perverse aim; but at other times we derive an opposite impression. When
+an "energetic instructress" advocates her "Anglo-American methods of
+education," hardly any room for doubt remains; and such advertisements
+as this belong to our third group.
+
+I will now give some of the advertisements which I have been collecting
+for years, some belonging to the second, and some to the third group, in
+illustration of what has just been said. Certain of the advertisements
+which I have classed in the second group, were probably not issued with
+a perverse intent; this being partly shown by the context, although
+without this context they would have been suspicious.
+
+The following advertisements belong to the second group: "Boy of seven
+to be placed under simple and scrupulous care, for the purposes of
+energetic education (premium paid)." "Boys and girls of a fair age
+received in a strict and severe boarding-school." "A strict,
+disciplinary master required to teach English at a preparatory school
+for the Army." The following advertisements are extremely suspicious: "A
+fairly well-educated gentleman offers _energetic_ gratuitous
+supplementary instruction." "Severe education for boys and girls;
+energetic gentleman offers also free supplementary lessons."
+"_Distinguished_, experienced lady gives advice and help in difficult
+educational questions; defects of character, &c., treated with success."
+"Advertiser recommends himself for the severe chastisement of naughty
+children."
+
+Many advertisements worded as above, or similarly, are, as was pointed
+out above, shown by the context to be seriously meant, and must not then
+be interpreted as perverse; but in the absence of such a context, the
+use of the catch-words so well known to sexual perverts would have
+rendered them highly suspicious. "_Education of Boys_, strict if
+necessary, diligence at school, school-work under continuous control,
+&c." This advertisement was probably not issued with perverse intent,
+since the advertiser's full name and address were given, and a number of
+additional details suggested that it was seriously meant. The same is
+true of the following advertisements: "Private tutor, elderly,
+experienced, severe instructor, holds classes, and also takes private
+pupils." "Daily supplementary lessons desired by a student in the fourth
+form of the Gymnasium [School] at X. An energetic and experienced
+governess wanted." "An experienced and energetic governess, thoroughly
+competent in the English language, very musical, desires morning or
+afternoon employment as teacher of children or adults." "_Officer_
+desires board with small family, preferably with authority over sons,
+with whom strict care would gladly be taken." "Some pupils under eleven
+years of age wanted to live with our own well-behaved children--no
+objection to those difficult to manage. Energetic assistance, strict
+individual instruction in the family, &c." The last few advertisements
+are appended in illustration, although the context (which is not in all
+cases given in its entirety) shows that they had no perverse intent.
+
+Speaking generally, in view of the significance attached by sexual
+perverts to the words "energetic," "strict," "severe," "English
+methods," "discipline," &c., it will be wise, alike for those offering
+and for those seeking instruction, to exercise the utmost care when
+there is any possibility of mistake; as thus only is it possible to
+avoid being misled by the overtures of perverts.
+
+Advertisements belonging to the third group, some examples of which will
+now be given, have of late become much rarer. Here are some:
+"Distinguished, energetic lady desires fairly old boys and girls for
+strict education." "_Distinguished_ lady desires a child of fair age
+(girl by preference), to receive into the house for strict education and
+training." "_Distinguished_ lady wishes to undertake the strict care and
+education of children of fair age, boys and girls, whose relatives have
+gone abroad." "_Artist_ offers to teach French and English, strict and
+energetic." "_Strict_, _energetic_ tutor desires children of fair age
+for strict education." "_Energetic_ widow desires a boy of fair age and
+of good family, for strict education. Apply 'energetic,' Post-Office,
+No.----." "_Girl_, seven years old, received by energetic lady for
+strict education." "_Tutor_ undertakes, gratuitously, strict education
+of growing children; especially suitable for cultured widow, who lacks
+herself the requisite energy. Unexceptionable references." "Pupils
+requiring energetic management, even if fairly old, received by a
+gentleman for _strict education_." "Half-grown girl received in _strict
+board_ by a governess." The perverse character of these advertisements
+is rendered unmistakable by the fact that the catch-words are all
+italicised. "_Naughty_ children; recommended for severe discipline;
+replies to 'Free.'" "_Governess_, from England, recommends her admirable
+boarding establishment for pupils of fair age. Apply 'Hearneshouse.'" No
+doubt is possible in this case, since "Hearneshouse" is the title of a
+sadistic novel. "Strict task-mistress wanted for a naughty girl of
+fourteen. Those replying to this advertisement should describe their
+methods of instruction." Here it is obvious that the advertiser hopes
+for sexual excitement from reading the descriptions of chastisement for
+which he asks. "_English_, strict method, offered by gentleman."
+"Highly cultured lady seeks position as English gouvernante. Delight
+William, Post Office, No.----." "_Governess Housekeeper_; cultured and
+distinguished lady wanted, good-looking, age twenty to twenty-eight, for
+the education of two motherless children, knowledge of English language
+required. Good presence requisite, and must be extremely energetic."
+Here it is possible that the advertiser really wants a housekeeper; but
+the advertisement is perverse in character. "_Governess_, youthful,
+energetic, very strict, either Englishwoman or Frenchwoman, wanted for
+spoiled children. Very good salary." "_Energetic gentleman_, severe
+disciplinarian, offers _English instruction_ to boys and girls of fair
+age." No shadow of doubt is possible as to the perverse nature of this
+last advertisement. The same is true of the one that follows:
+"_Gentleman_ offers strict instruction to older boys. Replies to
+'English,' c/o Office of this paper."
+
+An advertisement which appeared about four years ago in a Hamburg paper
+had a tragi-comic sequel. It ran as follows: "Difficult educational
+opportunity. Advertiser, residing in Hanover, with pretty daughter of
+twelve years, wishes to place her under strict discipline in the care of
+a widow with a daughter of similar age. Arrangements must be made to
+enable the advertiser herself to stay with the lady in Hamburg when
+visiting that town from time to time. In replying to the office of this
+paper, give a detailed account of the methods of punishment." A
+gentleman who suspected that this advertisement was issued by a sexual
+pervert, and was anxious about the future of the child, sent a reply in
+the simulated handwriting of a woman. The answer he received showed that
+the child was, in fact, being subjected to perverse maltreatment, and in
+order to rescue the girl, after consultation with some friends, he
+communicated the facts to the Public Prosecutor. However, that official
+refused to interfere at this time. Then the advertisement appeared once
+more, and this time the offender was arrested. The gentleman thereupon
+wrote to the Public Prosecutor, blaming him for not having taken action
+on the first occasion. The Public Prosecutor regarded this as libellous,
+and actually brought an action for libel against the philanthropic
+gentleman. Happily the Public Prosecutor lost his case; but none the
+less, in view of what happened, a good citizen may well hesitate in
+future to take similar action in the public interest, if, for some
+trifling excess of zeal, he is to render himself liable to an action for
+libel.
+
+As I said above, of late years, in Berlin at any rate, such
+advertisements appear less often; or those that do appear belong chiefly
+to the second group. Doubtless we owe this to the action of the
+authorities, and more especially to a paragraph of the _Lex
+Heinze_,[126] of whose existence but few persons are aware, and of
+which, as my own note-books show, certain sexual perverts have only
+become aware to their sorrow through a legal prosecution. I refer to the
+paragraph by which the issue of advertisements for an immoral purpose is
+declared to be a punishable offence. The newspapers have now become
+cautious about the insertion of advertisements whose immoral purpose is
+plainly perceptible. Moreover, the perverts themselves who used to issue
+such advertisements, having through the activity of the authorities
+learned the significance of the paragraph in question, no longer
+advertise in unmistakable terms.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+SEXUAL EDUCATION
+
+
+In view of the dangers to which children are exposed from the side of
+the sexual life, the question presses whether and how it is possible to
+prevent these dangers arising, or, if prevention has failed, to minimise
+them. To enable us to answer this question, the general question of
+sexual education will have to be considered. In so far as sexual
+manifestations in the child may arise from hereditary taint, the
+sociologist will endeavour to prevent them by hindering marriage or
+procreation on the part of those likely to give birth to such children
+(eugenics). Our present knowledge, however, does not enable us to say,
+when an individual exhibits some particular tendency to sexual
+aberration, whether this same tendency will appear as a concrete symptom
+in the descendants. Apart, indeed, from certain cases of very severe
+taint, we are hardly in a position even to predict with any high degree
+of probability that the offspring will exhibit morbid endowments. There
+are marriages which we expect to result in the birth of congenitally
+defective children, and in spite of this the offspring are healthy; and
+conversely, we sometimes meet with affections which we are in the habit
+of regarding as dependent upon hereditary transmission, and yet we fail,
+in these cases, to find any evidence of such affections in the
+progenitors. And, apart from these theoretical considerations, the
+physician's advice is not of much importance, for experience teaches us
+that in questions of marriage his advice is very rarely followed.
+
+The less power we have to operate by control of the congenital factors,
+the more necessary shall we feel it to be to minimise the dangers
+threatening the child by influencing its environment. It is true that in
+this department, as in others, there is much diversity of opinion
+regarding the limits of educability. Some contend that we can mould the
+child like wax, a view which prevailed especially during the "period of
+enlightenment" in the eighteenth century; others maintain that organic
+development is predetermined at the time of procreation, and that
+subsequent influences can have no effect. Although we must be careful
+not to overestimate the power of education, it would be no less
+erroneous to assume that development is inalterably predetermined at the
+time of procreation. This applies to the efficacy of educational
+influences in general, and to educational influences affecting the
+sexual life in particular. The following consideration must be given due
+weight. The power of the educator is limited, not merely by the child's
+hereditary dispositions, but also by the nature of its environment.
+Rudolf Lehmann, in his work on Education and the Educator (_Erziehung
+und Erzieher_), rightly points out that Rousseau, in his _Émile_, when
+discussing the problems of education, neglects too much the influences
+of environment. If we wish our reasoning to furnish us with results of
+practical value, and not to remain confined to the purely theoretical
+plane, we must give due weight to this consideration. This applies with
+equal force to the matter of sexual education. We know that the sexual
+impulse may be excited by innumerable external stimuli. Such stimuli are
+continuously in operation, and the best educator has no power to exclude
+their influence. The mere association of the child with persons of the
+opposite sex provides such stimuli. But a separation of the sexes will
+not do away with them, as is proved, not only by the homosexual
+manifestations of the undifferentiated sexual impulse, but also by those
+that arise transiently, at any rate, when the members of one sex are
+completely segregated from those of the other--as in boarding-schools,
+on board ship, and in prisons. The educator cannot even count on being
+at all times able to safeguard the child from the sight of sexual acts.
+In the country, but also in the town, children have opportunities for
+this; not only when the members of a large family sleep in a single
+room, and the children can watch their parents and others in the act of
+sexual intercourse; but in various other ways. The mere kissing of
+affianced lovers must in this sense be regarded as a sexual act, and how
+is it possible so to bring up a child that it will never have an
+opportunity of seeing anything of the kind? If we go further, and
+recognise that through the association of ideas such a sexual stimulus
+may arise from witnessing the coupling of animals--of dogs, for
+instance, in the street--we shall understand how the educator's powers
+are limited by the milieu in which he has to work. _We have, therefore,
+to recognise clearly from the first, that in the education of the child
+the complete exclusion of sexual stimuli is impossible._
+
+Obviously, when the external noxious influences exceed a certain
+measure, we may endeavour to effect an improvement by measures of
+general hygiene, through the activities of the central government, the
+municipality, or the community at large. In this connexion, we think of
+better housing conditions, of the separation of children from
+night-lodgers, and the like measures. But, even here, we must guard
+against making Utopian demands, after the manner of many fanatics on the
+subject of social hygiene, whose proposals are often quite incompatible
+with the maintenance of human intercourse. Independently of such
+impracticable demands for future reforms, the educationalist of to-day
+seeks to protect the child from unduly frequent sexual excitement. But
+sometimes the result is other than he expects. Sport is recommended to
+divert the mind from sexual ideas, and yet I have known cases in which
+marked sexual excitement has been induced in this way. I am not now
+referring to mechanical stimulation through bicycling or
+horseback-riding, of which I shall speak later; but many a child has
+been sexually excited through playing tennis with a girl-companion, and
+many a boy has been sexually excited through rowing with another. Still,
+the fact that here and there a child may have been sexually excited in
+such a way, is no reason for condemning what is invaluable to the
+enormous majority of children.
+
+This is all that need be said regarding the manner in which general
+influences may counteract the efforts of the educationalist. But
+experience shows that the good effects of education are also seriously
+impaired by individual factors, especially by congenital
+predisposition, or by a tendency acquired very early in life. Although
+we no longer assume that human impulses, emotions, and sentiments take
+their course quite independently of the influence of other psychical
+powers, such as the reason and the will, still, unprejudiced observation
+shows that the power of the reason and the will is less than many
+persons imagine. In very many cases we are able to see how difficult it
+is, in a child of ten or less, to exert any notable influence upon the
+impulses, the emotions, and the sentiments. This is no less true in the
+positive than it is in the negative aspect. In one child it may be just
+as difficult to induce a fondness for music or reading, as it is in
+another to break it of an inclination for romping or other games. The
+same is true of the emotions--fear, for instance. In many cases,
+logically planned efforts may be altogether out of relationship to the
+result. Above all, great weight must be laid upon the consideration that
+there is a tendency to overrate the effect of education in the form of
+precept as compared with the effect of example. A child may receive the
+best of instruction without result, if in its own environment it is
+continually seeing something precisely the opposite of that which it is
+being told. _This applies with equal force to the sexual life, which can
+be influenced far more readily by example than by good teaching, if the
+latter, though daily repeated, conflicts with what the child sees every
+day in the conduct of its relatives and companions._
+
+Although, for this reason, we must avoid forming an exaggerated idea of
+the utility of individual sexual education, this is not meant to imply
+that we should assume a perfectly passive attitude, and leave everything
+to the uncontrolled course of development, in order to allow the child,
+as the modern phrase goes, "to live its own life."
+
+Before passing to consider details, we must consider the elementary
+bases of all matters connected with the education of children--namely,
+morality and custom. These two words are connected by their inner
+significance, and not merely by etymological meaning;[127] but they
+represent different standards for passing judgment upon our actions.
+Certain things conflict with established custom, without its being
+permissible for us to speak of them as immoral. If at a social gathering
+for which evening dress is the rule, a gentleman turns up in light
+tweeds, he is guilty of a breach of custom, but not of an immoral
+action. If an officer in the army, having impregnated a young girl of
+the working class, marries her, his action is a moral one in the
+positive sense, but in spite of this he commits an offence against the
+customs of his class. Moreover, we have to remember that an act which is
+immoral or opposed to custom at a certain time and among a certain
+people, may at another time, or among another people, be neither the one
+nor the other. In such matters, opinions change; and this applies also
+to the case of actions connected with the sexual life. Herodotus relates
+that in Babylon the virgins had, for a money payment, and in honour of
+the Goddess of Love, to give themselves to a strange man; and similar
+customs are reported of other peoples of antiquity.[128] In providing
+for the sexual education of the child, we have to take into account such
+changes of view; but we have also to consider the matter in relation to
+the present condition of our civilisation, for the child is to be a
+citizen of a real, not of an imaginary State.
+
+Intimately related to custom and morality are certain psychical
+processes, especially the sentiment of shame. This is aroused by actions
+which are considered immoral by ourselves or by members of our
+environment, and by actions which conflict with established custom. The
+child detected in a lie is ashamed, either because the act is immoral,
+or more often because the act is by others regarded as immoral; for the
+opinion of others plays a great part in the causation of shame. The man
+who has forgotten to put on his necktie, and in that condition appears
+in public, is ashamed, because he has committed a breach of custom. This
+dependence of the sense of shame upon morality and custom is true above
+all in matters of sex. A girl who is undressing in a hotel room, and has
+forgotten to bolt the door, so that a strange man suddenly enters by
+mistake, is ashamed; equally ashamed is a girl who encounters an
+exhibitionist with his penis exposed. These examples suffice to show
+that the sentiment of shame, which is associated with great discomfort,
+is a safeguard against immorality and against breaches of custom.
+
+Similar relations exist for the sense of disgust, which is allied to the
+sense of shame. Shame is felt in the performance of an action disgusting
+to others, if against one's will one is watched in the process.
+Defæcation is usually effected in some retired place: in the onlooker,
+defæcation arouses disgust; whilst by the person defæcating, if he knows
+that he is being observed, shame is felt. Normal sexual intercourse
+between a man and a woman, objectively regarded, is a no less unæsthetic
+act than pseudo-coitus between two men. None the less, in most persons,
+the sight of the former act arouses less disgust than that of the
+latter. This difference depends upon the fact that by most persons
+homosexual intercourse is also felt to be immoral. In this relationship
+between the sense of disgust and immorality, it is often impossible to
+determine what is primary and what is secondary. A mutual retroaction
+occurs: the sense of disgust is increased, because the act is regarded
+as immoral; and, on the other hand, a strong sense of disgust may
+increase the perception of immorality. The same mutual relationships
+with the ideas of morality are found in connexion with the sense of
+shame. Beyond question, the sentiments of shame and of disgust are
+closely connected with the ideas of custom and morality; for shame and
+disgust arise especially in connexion with matters which conflict with
+our ideas of morality. It will, therefore, readily be understood that in
+moral education it is of the greatest importance what are the processes
+in connexion with which the instructor seeks to arouse the sentiments of
+shame and disgust; and, on the other hand, it is obvious that the ideas
+of morality induced by education, favour the development, in certain
+specific relationships, of the sentiments of shame and disgust.
+
+It is a disputed question whether the sentiments of shame and disgust
+are inborn. In this controversy, two matters are confused, between which
+it is necessary to distinguish: the general disposition to experience
+such sentiments, and the special disposition to react with these
+sentiments to _specific_ occurrences. The fact is incontestable, that
+the general disposition to these sentiments is inborn. Inborn, also, is
+the association of specific bodily processes with the corresponding
+mental states: blushing, with the sentiment of shame; retching and
+vomiting, with the sentiment of disgust; these associations are
+certainly not chance products of education. The only point in doubt is,
+to what extent the tendency is inborn to experience these sentiments as
+a result of certain specific stimuli. By some it is assumed, that when
+we experience disgust at the sight of certain animals--a worm, for
+instance--such concrete reactions depend upon inborn dispositions;
+whereupon the further problem emerges, how did our ancestors acquire the
+disposition they have transmitted to us, their descendants. Others
+believe that influences operating after birth have led to the
+association with the sight or idea of the worm of the tendency to feel
+disgust. Very early in life, the child has seen others exhibit disgust
+at a worm; doubtless he has often been told how disgusting this animal
+is; and thus gradually the sentiment of disgust has become associated
+with the sight or the idea of the worm.[129] With the sentiment of
+shame, similar conditions obtain. If a human being feels shame in
+connexion with certain matters, and therefore avoids them, this may
+depend upon influences operating in the individual life (imitation,
+education, suggestion, &c.), by which the feeling of shame has been
+associated with certain perceptions. On the other hand, it is possible
+that shame may be dependent upon a special inborn disposition. Certain
+processes in the animal world--for example, the fact that many animals
+deposit their excrement in hidden places, and the fact that bitches and
+other female animals sometimes behave in a way which is interpreted as
+the exhibition of shame--may be regarded as the result of an inborn
+disposition. But others refer to the slight degree in which little girls
+appear to feel shame, as an indication that this sentiment is acquired
+during the individual life. Undoubtedly, we sometimes find
+manifestations of shame in very early childhood. Sikorsky[130] reports
+that his son exhibited typical shame at the early age of three and a
+half years. The boy was washing himself, having for this purpose taken
+off his coat and bared the upper part of the body. When his father
+unexpectedly entered the room, the boy was ashamed and startled, and
+said pleadingly, as he endeavoured to cover himself by crossing his
+hands over the breast, "Please don't come in, for I haven't got my shirt
+on." Sikorsky rightly points out that this position of the arms is
+typical of the sentiment of shame. Still, such cases are comparatively
+rare; and in contrast with them we may often note that older children,
+even girls of eight or a little more, will in play raise their
+petticoats so high that it is necessary to turn away if we wish to avoid
+seeing the genital organs, and often a word of reproof is needed from
+the mother or nurse to indicate to the child that it is doing something
+improper. The fact that in little children the sense of shame is so
+little developed, but that subsequently this sentiment becomes clearly
+manifest, has been used as an argument against the theory that it is
+inborn; but this argument cannot be accepted without reserve, for an
+inborn quality may not manifest itself until a certain definite age is
+reached--as we see clearly in the case of the sexual impulse--and this
+apart from the consideration that the development of an inborn quality
+may be inhibited by influences acting during the individual life.
+Whatever view we take of this problem, there can be no doubt as to the
+possibility of exerting a marked influence upon both qualities, the
+sentiment of disgust and the sentiment of shame, by means of influences
+operating during the lifetime of the individual. Thus, by education and
+habituation, it is possible to learn to repress disgust towards certain
+animals or certain excreta, as is done by the physician, and by nurses,
+male and female. The sentiment of disgust also depends largely upon
+general customs. The civilised European makes a mock of the fact that
+other races, certain oriental races, for instance, eat foods which to us
+are disgusting. A European invited as a guest at certain foreign
+banquets, is thoroughly disgusted when he sees food put into the mouth
+with the fingers instead of with knife and fork. And yet there is no
+great difference in respect of our own practice, when we put a piece of
+chocolate, a grape, or the like, into our own mouths. If, in Europe, we
+saw someone eating a pigeon in the same way as that in which we are
+accustomed to eat a crayfish, many persons would experience disgust. And
+yet, objectively considered, there is no reason to be less disgusted at
+the eating of crayfishes than when some other kind of animal is eaten in
+the same manner. Such modification of the sentiment of disgust by habit
+and custom applies also to sexual matters. A girl who experiences
+disgust at the sight of semen or the act of its ejaculation, may,
+through habituation, cease to feel such disgust.
+
+Similarly with the sentiment of shame, we find that in some persons it
+is aroused by matters to which others are more or less completely
+indifferent--and this is true no less of the sexual sense of shame than
+of shame in general. We note the way in which habit or other influences
+may diminish or even entirely suppress the sentiment of sexual shame,
+from the fact that prostitutes willingly undress in the presence of a
+strange man without any sense of shame (although it must be admitted
+that some remnants of shame may remain even in many prostitutes).
+Finally, the experience of the marriage-bed shows how rapidly the
+sentiment of shame in respect of certain situations may disappear or
+largely diminish. Although a refined woman may long, and in some cases
+permanently, manifest a certain reserve towards her husband, still,
+there is an enormous degree of difference between the intensity of the
+sentiment of shame which a young bride experiences when undressing on
+her bridal night and that which she experiences in the like situation
+after a year of married life.
+
+Other circumstances show that these sentiments are influenced, not
+merely by individual habituation, but also by the nature of general
+customs. A lady of the nobility, president, perhaps, of a Ladies'
+Society for the Promotion of Public Morals, may regard the short skirts
+of a music-hall dancer as the acme of impropriety, and yet will not
+hesitate for a moment to go into society in the evening in a low dress,
+with her breasts plainly visible to anyone standing by her when she is
+seated. The same lady would probably be furious at the suggestion that
+she should show herself to men in the dress of a ballet-dancer, but with
+a high corsage. And yet, experience shows that in other circumstances
+the short skirt is quite acceptable, inasmuch as when bicycling first
+obtained a vogue among the upper classes, ladies of high standing were
+to be seen in the streets with short skirts and visible calves. In
+Germany, and in many other countries, it was for long regarded as
+improper for men and women to bathe in common. The Americans, however,
+saw no impropriety in mixed bathing, and of late years even the Germans
+find it possible for the sexes to mix in bathing without any offence to
+the sense of shame. Here we have nothing more than the revival of an old
+custom, for in former centuries mixed bathing was practised in
+Germany.[131]
+
+From the examples just given, we see clearly the way in which the
+objects and situations with which are associated manifestations of shame
+and disgust, depend upon habituation and general custom. But just
+because this is so, both these sentiments are in the highest degree
+adapted to furnish protection against actions which are opposed to
+dominant custom, or are condemned by the prevailing moral code. By the
+sense of shame, the young girl is prevented from surrendering her person
+to any man who desires her. Shame interferes with the very preparations
+for the sexual act; for example, with the act of undressing in the
+presence of a man. The sentiment of disgust may also exert a protective
+influence, for disgust is aroused in women by the semen and its
+ejaculation, and by many other things connected with the sexual act.
+
+All these considerations combine to show how important it is that proper
+care should be taken to promote in the child the proper development of
+the sentiments of shame and disgust, and also of the moral ideas. It
+need hardly be said, that the sentiments of shame and disgust are not
+the only psychical aids in the sexual education of children. There are
+others, such as the fear of disagreeable consequences, which deters
+human beings from many immoral actions, and often enough at the outset
+greatly furthers the development of moral ideas; also there is direct
+instruction, the influence of which will be considered later.
+
+But in the moral education of children, and also in the disquisitions of
+adults upon morality, mistakes are made. In particular, no distinction
+is made whether anything is to be regarded as immoral _per se_, or
+whether it is only considered immoral in certain circumstances. This is
+shown very clearly in the formation of opinions, from the standpoint of
+sexual morality, regarding nakedness and the sexual life. Because, in
+particular situations, nakedness is immoral, the child is often taught
+to regard nakedness as being _per se_ disgraceful. Similarly with the
+sexual life. Instead of aiming at its proper control, the idea instilled
+is that the mere mention of sexuality, and even its very existence, are
+things gravely immoral. The very same persons who teach the child to
+repeat the commandment, Honour thy father and thy mother, educate it
+also in such a way that it is forced to regard the act to which it owes
+its own existence as something which must have rendered its parents
+unclean. It has to be admitted that at times it is by no means easy, in
+these matters, to find the right way; its discovery demands, not
+interest merely, but also intelligence; it is, perhaps, an art. But
+often the right course is not so very difficult to find; and if we only
+exercise reasonable care in the repression of hypocrisy and of perverse
+moral ideas, we shall be able to educate the child in such a way that he
+will come to understand that exposure of his person is not a matter of
+pure indifference, and yet will not regard nakedness as something
+unclean. The little girl who draws her petticoats too high, will stop
+doing so when her mother forbids it. A child will not always ask the
+reason for such a prohibition; and if it does ask, all the mother need
+answer in this case, as in so many others in which the child is not yet
+competent to understand the reason, is that it will understand well
+enough when it is older. When the child is older, and when its
+understanding has enlarged, the mother need make no difficulty about
+explaining the true reason in a suitable manner.
+
+In respect also of the sentiment of disgust, exaggerations must
+carefully be avoided. From a feeling of shame, and for fear of arousing
+disgust in others, many young girls refrain, when in the company of
+other persons, from retiring to satisfy the calls of nature. The
+physician knows that this may result not merely in discomfort, but in
+consequences by no means indifferent to health. In this respect also, a
+just mean must be the aim of education. The child has to be taught that,
+alike for æsthetic and for hygienic reasons, the evacuation of the
+excreta must be effected in a retired place. But it is necessary to
+avoid going to the extreme of producing in the child the impression that
+there is something disgusting in the faintest intimation of such a
+physical need, or of making it feel that there is something essentially
+shameful in the fulfilment of these natural functions. The same
+considerations apply also to the sentiment of disgust in relation to the
+sexual life. In this also overstatement must be avoided. The education
+of young girls aims to a large extent at inducing them to regard the
+sexual act, not merely as something of which they should be ashamed, but
+as something in itself disgusting. It is well known that quite a number
+of women are altogether unable to give themselves up to the sexual act
+in such a way as to derive from it real enjoyment and satisfaction. A
+part of the severe disillusionment following marriage, depends upon the
+lack of normal sexual sensibility in the wife; and it is by no means
+improbable that this state depends in some cases upon the education
+received in girlhood. If it is impressed on anyone from childhood
+upwards that a particular act is disgusting and shameful, ultimately
+inhibitions may arise, owing to which the natural impulse to the
+performance of that act, and its natural course and natural enjoyment,
+may be prevented. And although the widely prevalent lack of sexual
+sensibility in women has additional causes, nevertheless I regard it as
+probable that in some of the cases, at any rate, this insensibility
+directly results from educational influences. In this matter, too, we
+must guard against exaggeration. We must educate children, boys as well
+as girls, in the belief that to mishandle the genital organs is
+forbidden alike by divine and by human law. But we must not teach them
+to regard the sexual act as in itself disgusting; more especially in
+view of the fact that such an idea conflicts with the lofty ethical
+significance of the act to which we all owe our existence.
+
+What has been said about nakedness, has bearings also upon the
+relationships of the education of children to the matter of the nude in
+art. No intelligent person will deny the importance to art of the
+representation of the nude. A clothed Venus is a thing with which the
+connoisseur would prefer to dispense. Although I am not myself an
+enthusiastic adherent of the movement started a few years back with a
+great flourish of trumpets for the introduction of art into the
+education of children--a movement which has already perceptibly
+slackened--I do not wish to deny the important bearings of art upon the
+education of the child. Children who are still comparatively young, have
+not as a rule much understanding of art. None the less, we must not
+withhold from the child possibilities of appreciating the beauties of
+the nude. Apart from this purely educational aim, we have to remember
+that it is impossible to preserve children completely from the sight of
+the nude in art. We might, of course, exclude them from our museums; but
+our own houses also often contain nude statuary, and books with
+illustrations of the nude figure; and nude statues are to be seen also
+in places of public resort. A demand for the removal of such
+nude figures is so stupid, that it hardly deserves serious
+discussion--outside of the columns of the comic papers. A classical
+education, too, gives so many opportunities for the sight or the mention
+of the nude--for instance, delineations of the gods of the ancient
+mythology that the demands of the "morality-fanatics" could be met only
+by cutting off the child from the most beautiful sources of culture. But
+now, let those who, in the lower classes of our schools, have seen in
+the text-books of mythology pictures of unclad gods and goddesses,
+seriously ask themselves whether in this connexion they ever experienced
+even the faintest uncleanness of thought! If in one among thousands of
+such children, the sight of such a picture is followed by an undesired
+result, we have further to remember that this fact does not give us the
+right to deprive thousands of other children of the spiritual
+nourishment requisite for their emotional and æsthetic development, and
+for their general culture. There is no need for any anxiety about this
+question of the nude in art; and we must avoid suggesting to children
+that there is anything peculiar about the nakedness of statuary. We are,
+indeed, justified in asking whether the replacement or concealment of
+the genital organs by a fig-leaf--a practice supposed to have been
+initiated by the influence of the Jesuits about the middle of the
+eighteenth century--is a sound one; or whether this is not the very way
+to lead to objectionable conversations between children. The child
+compares the work of art with its own body and with the bodies of others
+which it has seen, notes the difference at once, and is thereby incited
+to improper conversation.
+
+Those who wish to prevent children seeing artistic representations of
+the nude are influenced by two very different motives, although by the
+morality-fanatics themselves these motives are not clearly
+distinguished. Sometimes we are told that the sight of the nude in art
+may awaken the child's sexual impulse, sometimes that morality forbids
+such representations of the nude. These two reasons must not be
+confused; for even if well-developed moral ideas may repress sexual
+acts, it does not follow that everything which is immoral is also
+sexually exciting. A great many pictures are immoral, and yet do not
+tend in the very least to induce sexual excitement--it suffices to
+mention illustrations of scatological scenes. Another source of error
+lies in the fact that things which appear sexual to the adult, may to
+the child be entirely devoid of sexual colouring. There is an amusing
+anecdote of a little girl who had been bathing with other children, and
+on her return home was asked whether boys had been bathing as well as
+girls; "I don't know," said the little one, "for they were all naked!"
+This story is based upon a profound insight into the nature of the
+child, for children in general do not regard nakedness as sexually
+important--though a few exceptions to this rule may be encountered. Just
+because the child is so often taught that nakedness is in itself
+immoral, we are apt also to teach it to experience sexual excitement at
+the sight of a nude statue; whereas if the child had simply been taught
+that nakedness at unsuitable times and places was wrong, no such
+reaction would ensue. I remember the time in which the strong agitation
+took place which led to the passing of the _Lex Heinze;_[132] and I was
+acquainted with a gentleman--he was a patient of mine--who was a member
+of the party by which the new law was so strongly demanded. When one day
+he came to see me, bringing with him his little boy, the latter noticed
+in my waiting-room a nude statue of a woman, but which the little boy
+took for a man. The child, who was obviously attempting to repeat
+something he had often heard said, asked his father naïvely: "Papa, if
+that were a woman, it would be improper, wouldn't it?" This remark is at
+once natural and characteristic; the child would never have felt the
+possibility that the statue was in any way improper, unless his
+education had led him to regard nakedness as disgraceful, or as immoral
+and improper. There is no doubt that our clothing is intimately
+connected with the development of the sentiment of shame and with the
+formation of our ideas of morality. But the more we learn so to form the
+mind of the child that it will not regard nakedness as being _per se_
+immoral, the sooner shall we be able, not only to instil into children
+truly moral ideas, but also to safeguard them against the risks of
+premature sexual excitement.
+
+The considerations just stated apply _mutatis mutandis_ to the question
+of what children should be allowed to read. Although we should give to
+children neither obscene or erotic books, still, we should not withhold
+from them every poem which deals with love. If such were our rule, we
+should have to forbid the most beautiful works in our literature, and
+also our folk-tales. Read, for example, Grimm's tales, and you will find
+many passages which our morality-fanatics would reject as improper; for
+instance, the story of the Sleeping Beauty in the Wood, and many others,
+telling of beauty, love, and kisses. The same remark applies to the
+folk-songs. There are persons, indeed, who would like to edit such songs
+and stories especially for the use of children. The case will be
+remembered in which the song, _In einem kühlen Grunde_, was so modified
+for the use of children that they were told, not of the "beloved maiden"
+who dwelt there, but of an "uncle" instead! Now, either the child that
+hears this song for the first time has as yet no understanding of the
+idea of love, and in that case there will be no danger in singing in its
+original form this song whose full beauty will not until later become
+manifest to the child; or else it has some understanding, and then the
+replacement of the girl by an uncle will certainly do nothing to
+safeguard the child's morality, but will merely corrupt its taste. The
+assumption that by hearing such a song, the awakening of sexuality can
+possibly be antedated, is almost ridiculous; and little or no proof has
+been offered that anything of the sort ever occurs. One who in such a
+song sees the least suspicion of immorality, and who thinks that the
+hearing of it entails danger to a child, not only betrays the corruption
+of his own taste, but lays himself open to the countercharge that his
+own moral endowments are somewhat defective. Similar conditions apply to
+the theatre, and to the other factors in the mental development of
+children, and of human beings in general. It is quite impossible to
+isolate children from every intimation of the erotic or the sexual. Let
+us remember the wide diffusion of the newspapers of our day. We cannot
+prevent children from reading newspapers; a statement that applies not
+to large towns merely, but to small towns and to the country districts
+as well. I speak here, not only of newspapers which are known to be
+sensational, but of others as well. The more serious periodicals are
+to-day often inclined to devote a good deal of space to many sexual
+occurrences; they even err in transforming many non-sexual matters into
+sexual ones, giving them a superfluous erotic background. They miss no
+chance of converting an ordinary murder into a lust-murder; of
+describing a common assault as the outcome of sadism; and of writing of
+any woman of whom mention has to be made in connexion with some public
+occurrence, as a young lady of surpassing beauty. But apart from all
+this, the newspapers are to-day so full of sexual matters (the question
+of sexual enlightenment, the prevention of the venereal diseases, the
+suppression of prostitution, the protection of motherhood, &c.), that
+with the best will in the world it is impossible to keep children from
+reading about such things. Nor can this be regarded as unfortunate, so
+long as these questions are treated in a moderate manner.
+
+It is altogether different as regards erotic and obscene books and
+pictures. Unfortunately such products obtain a wide currency in schools,
+in part as printed pornographica, and in part passed from hand to hand
+in the written form. Thus, from a number of girls' schools come reports
+of the circulation of thoroughly obscene writings among girls from
+twelve to fourteen years of age. Especial favourites are descriptions of
+the wedding-night, mostly in manuscript form; also an obscene version of
+the story of Faust and Gretchen; and quite a number of other improper
+poems pass from hand to hand in girls' schools. In boys' schools, the
+circulating matter consists rather of obscene printed books and
+pictures. It is evident that the advertisements in many newspapers
+indicate the chief source of such articles. There is a trade in obscene
+pictures advertised under the harmless title of "Parisian Landscapes."
+For the most part these advertisements originate in Paris; to a lesser
+extent they come from Hungary, Austria, Italy, and Spain. The German
+traders in such commodities do not venture to advertise their wares in
+the German newspapers; nor is there any evidence in foreign newspapers
+of such advertisements proceeding from Germany. Through the meritorious
+activity of the _Volksbund zur Bekämpfung des Schmutzes in Wort und
+Bild_ (The Popular League for the Suppression of Obscene Writings and
+Pictures), these advertisements have of late almost disappeared from
+our newspapers. But it can hardly be doubted that formerly immeasurable
+harm was done to children in this way. This is shown by the fact that
+half-grown boys often buy such things and circulate them among their
+school-fellows, all the more in view of the comparatively low price at
+which they can be obtained. The wide diffusion of the evil is proved by
+the frequency with which such things are confiscated in boys' schools,
+and with which obscene photographs are found even in girls'
+schools.[133] For the suppression of such pornographica in recent days
+we have certainly in great part to thank the League above named, whose
+efforts for good must not be confounded with the obscurantist aims of
+the pious and hypocritical individuals to whom every nude statue is an
+improper object.
+
+The frequency with which such pornographica are circulated in schools is
+subject to very great variations; but in the production of these
+differences, certain factors which are sometimes given great weight,
+really play a comparatively small part. Thus, it is commonly supposed
+that there is a great difference in this respect between large towns and
+small; but in the schools of small towns, pornographic writings and
+pictures are at least as common as in those of large towns; and, indeed,
+the addresses to which pornographic photographs are despatched from
+Paris are usually in the small towns. Thus the determining influence is
+not the difference between the large town and the small; and the
+character of the school depends, not only upon the moral level of its
+pupils, but above all upon the moral level and the _personal influence_
+of the head of the school and the assistant teachers. I know certain
+schools, and some of these in large towns, in which hardly a single
+improper word is spoken by the pupils, and where no sexual improprieties
+take place among the children, even though it has to be assumed that
+many of them indulge, at any rate from time to time, in solitary
+masturbation. But, on the whole, the spirit of such schools is an
+admirable one, in contrast to others, in which extremely loose manners
+prevail. Above all, therefore, we must avoid thinking that we state the
+truth of this matter by using the catch-word of "the corruption of the
+great towns."
+
+It cannot be contested that the diffusion of these things among children
+involves serious dangers alike to their morals and to their health.
+Speaking generally, upon adults pornographic objects have rather a
+repellent than a sexually exciting effect. In the case of children in
+whom no sexual sensibility has as yet developed, they exercise no sexual
+stimulation, but may later give rise to ill effects. But it is to
+ripening children and young persons, who do not yet understand the
+sexual life, but to whom it is first displayed in this form, that such
+pornographic objects are especially dangerous. Thus we find that many
+offenders against sexual morality show children obscene pictures, in
+order to excite them sexually, and render them compliant. Such sexual
+excitement is _per se_ bad for the child's health; but the moral dangers
+are even more important. Children who have become familiar with such
+obscene objects may perhaps suffer in consequence from an inadequate
+development or even from a complete inhibition of the higher psychical
+elements of the sexual life. The grave injury inflicted on children by
+these pornographica cannot possibly be doubted. What has been said above
+should, however, suffice to show that the nude in art has no necessary
+connexion with this danger from pornographic objects; although
+unfortunately, for business reasons, many persons hypocritically attempt
+to justify by false reference to the interests of art, drawings of the
+nude really intended to furnish erotic stimulus.
+
+
+The much-discussed question of the common education of the sexes
+(coeducation) is related to the mental hygiene of the sexual life of the
+child. I shall deal with this question only in so far as it bears upon
+our subject; and shall not consider whether other reasons, such as the
+different endowments of the sexes, are decisively opposed to
+coeducation. But coeducation has been opposed also for reasons of sexual
+education, on two grounds: that it leads to a premature awakening of the
+sexual life, and that it gives rise to immoral practices between the
+children.
+
+It is true that when boys and girls associate freely together the first
+sexual feelings of boys are directed towards girls. But a separation of
+boys and girls at school would here be of little use. Not only would
+some other person of the female sex be apt to take the place of a girl
+school-fellow, some person the boy often sees, it may be a grown woman,
+it may be a child (a school-friend of the boy's sister or of the family,
+a girl-cousin, or some girl employed about the house); but in many
+cases, if the sexes are separated in youth, both in boys and in girls
+the sexual impulse, when it awakens, may perhaps be directed towards a
+member of the same sex. I may refer, in this connexion, to what was said
+on page 60 about the undifferentiated sexual impulse.
+
+A further problem is that of the sexual practices which may result from
+the sexual impulse. It is an indisputable fact that many boys, when the
+contrectation impulse is intermingled with the detumescence impulse,
+readily take to sexual practices with others. Examples of this
+constantly occur in boarding-schools, and in all other kinds of
+educational institutions; even in day-schools, where the children live
+apart from one another, we may observe that occasionally they begin
+sexual practices very early in life (mutual masturbation, and intimate
+physical contact, especially contact involving the genital organs). We
+must always bear in mind the possibility that coeducation may lead to
+the more frequent occurrence of such practices between boys and girls.
+But we must avoid over-estimating this danger. In the first place, there
+are many institutions, higher schools and others, attended only by
+pupils of one sex, in which mutual sexual practices never take place,
+and in which neither boys nor girls, even though sexual inclinations
+arise in them, ever effect sexual intimacies with other children.
+Although mutual masturbation is fairly common in schools, it cannot be
+regarded as the general rule. Further, it may be pointed out that when
+boys and girls are educated in common, the girls' natural instincts of
+self-defence will in many cases lead them to repel improper sexual
+advances. This is proved by the actual experience of coeducation.
+Finck[134] gives reports regarding coeducation in the schools of the
+western states of the American Union, and informs us that there every
+girl has her beau of fourteen to seventeen years of age. Notwithstanding
+the fact that these are boys of a fair age, undesirable consequences
+have not been observed. This view is substantiated by the reports made
+to me personally by American men and women, in whose truthfulness and
+judgment I have complete confidence. During a lengthy American tour, and
+on other occasions, I have elaborately questioned American physicians,
+ministers of religion, school-teachers, and fathers and mothers of
+families, regarding this matter. Their universal opinion was that no
+such undesirable results of coeducation were ever observed. Indeed, I
+received numerous assurances regarding the customary sexual abstinence
+of American young men who had been educated in common with American
+girls. In many of these circles, a young man known to indulge in sexual
+intercourse, whether with a prostitute or in a so-called "intimacy," was
+immediately ostracised; and this shows that as far as the question of
+sexual chastity is concerned, the results of the coeducation of the
+sexes are at least not more unfavourable than those of the separate
+education of the sexes. I am well aware that many doubt the harmlessness
+of these conditions in America, and declare the account given of them
+hypocritical.[135] My own information, however, leads me to contest
+this for numerous cases. Of course we have to remember that the
+population of the United States of America is an extremely composite
+one, made up of numerous nationalities, whose customs differ as much as
+do those of the different social strata. The above remarks refer chiefly
+to the old Anglo-American circles. It is indisputable that even in these
+circles certain changes have recently taken place. The Americans refer
+this to their more extensive relations with Europe, in consequence of
+which European customs and opinions, by which sexual abstinence is not
+demanded of young men, have been gradually introduced into those circles
+of American life in which formerly other views obtained.
+
+But even if we believe that in isolated instances coeducation may lead
+to unfortunate results in the way of sexual practice, we have to
+remember the objections which may be adduced from the standpoint of
+sexual education against the separate education of the sexes. Especially
+we have to think of the fact that by the separation of the sexes during
+childhood we may favour the development of homosexuality. Apart from
+this consideration, I believe that in girls the capacity for
+self-protection arises much earlier in life when frequent association of
+boys and girls is permitted--a method of education which in Europe of
+late, at any rate outside the school, has become far more common than in
+former days, and one which is greatly favoured by the joint playing of
+games and other joint sports.
+
+If the question be asked whether the sexual life awakens earlier in
+children who mix freely with those of the opposite sex, or in those
+whose companionship is confined to members of their own sex, we find it
+difficult to detect any notable difference in this respect. As regards
+boys in boarding-schools, the information available certainly suffices
+to lead us to this conclusion; and from such information as I have
+received from girls' schools, and from the behaviour of schoolgirls
+(some of these quite young), I infer that no notable difference in the
+age at which sexual sensibility first makes its appearance, results from
+the coeducation or the separate education of the sexes.
+
+One condition has to be imposed, if coeducation is not to entail any
+dangers. The child must not be allowed to regard such education as
+experimental, and as possibly dangerous. If the child were to be
+enlightened with all sorts of warnings, dangers might ensue. It is
+necessary that the child should regard coeducation as something
+perfectly natural. In this connexion, the matter assumes a different
+aspect, according as coeducation is undertaken from the outset, or only
+after the children are already half-grown. From the latter course,
+perils might sometimes arise, as Gertrud Bäumer rightly insists.[136]
+From the earliest days of childhood onwards, coeducation should appear
+to the child as a matter of course; only if this is not the case, may
+the practice prove dangerous from the sexual standpoint, and especially
+from the standpoint of sexual morality.
+
+Here, of course, I make no attempt to offer a decisive opinion one way
+or the other upon the disputed question of coeducation of the sexes. My
+sole aim has been to show that certain of the objections commonly made
+to coeducation, on the grounds with which we are especially concerned in
+this book, do not bear examination.
+
+Better reasons can be found for objecting to some other modes of
+association on the part of children of the two sexes. The most important
+of these are common dancing lessons and children's balls. These are not
+so recent a development as is often assumed. More than a century ago,
+Pockels,[137] the distinguished psychologist and educationalist,
+objected strongly to dancing parties for children, which commonly
+lasted, he tells us, from five o'clock in the afternoon till midnight,
+and sometimes even on into the small hours of the morning. Beyond
+question, the association of children in dances can by no means be
+regarded as more innocuous than coeducation, all the more in view of the
+fact that the children at such dances are often fairly old--towards the
+end of the second period of childhood, or in the early years of the
+period of youth. For my own part, the danger of children's balls appears
+to me to affect, not so much the sphere of sexual morality, as that of
+hygiene and general morality. As regards the danger to health, I have
+known parents who were always complaining of the way in which their
+children were overworked at school, and yet saw nothing wrong in these
+same children going to dancing lessons on two evenings every week.
+
+In conclusion, I will report a case which proves that when children are
+inclined to sexual practices, they will find sufficient opportunity,
+even in the absence of coeducation. This was the case of a boy of eight
+and a girl of seven years, who stripped quite naked and got into bed
+together; from the fact that spots of blood were found on the
+bed-clothing, it appeared that very definite sexual malpractice had
+taken place. The girl's sexual history was followed up for three years
+after this. She showed herself much inclined to make sexual advances
+towards adults, pressing herself up against them in a way which innocent
+persons interpreted as manifesting the caressive inclinations of the
+child.
+
+Having given this illustrative case, I must not omit to state that
+similar incidents may, of course, occur from time to time in connexion
+with the coeducation of children. But we must avoid the error of
+attributing to external chance-influences, such as coeducation,
+occurrences which are dependent upon the very nature of human beings;
+for such things happen whatever method of education be adopted.
+Naturally, the difference between the sexes must not be ignored; but in
+children the existence of sexual differentiation must not be incessantly
+and anxiously emphasised. Brothers and sisters, when they have reached a
+certain age, should certainly not be placed naked together in a bath.
+But this is to be avoided, not for fear lest thereby sexual excitement
+might result in the children, but because to do so would be in
+opposition to the customs of our time, and it is precisely by such
+contrasts with generally accepted customs, that the attention of
+children is aroused. Further, we may approve of the fact that in
+consequence of the movement for child-protection (_Kinderschutz_), the
+misuse of children in various ways--in the theatre, for example--has
+undergone a notable diminution. But in this matter also, the decisive
+factor is not exclusively the interest of sexual morality, but rather
+the rights of the children themselves. The same consideration applies,
+in part, to an earlier movement. In France, in the year 1848, the
+appearance of children on the stage was legally prohibited, one reason
+alleged for this enactment being the moral dangers resulting from the
+mixing of the sexes in such conditions, but reference was also made more
+particularly to the need for the better protection of the physical and
+mental powers of the children.[138]
+
+I come now to the description of certain other mental influences
+necessary for the child. A very important point is that we should use
+our utmost endeavours to divert the child from the sexual impulse. The
+more the awakening of this impulse threatens to force itself upon the
+child's attention, the more necessary is it to bring into play the
+measured activity of other faculties and interests. We think here as
+much of methods of æsthetic culture, reading, and the theatre, as of
+bodily sports and games. At the same time, it must be our aim to
+cultivate the general strength of the will, since this is needed alike
+for the control of the sexual impulse, and for the overcoming of other
+temptations and passions. The general moral education of the child, the
+formation of its character, and the encouragement of a pursuit of ideal
+aims, are all also of the greatest possible importance in relation to
+sexual education. Nothing is better adapted to ensure personal happiness
+and a high moral standard, than the inculcation of idealism, which must
+on no account be confused with aloofness from the everyday affairs of
+the world.
+
+By many persons, an especial stress is laid upon the value of religious
+education, for the purpose of directing in proper paths the sexual life
+of the child, and of giving help in the mastery of its temptations. But
+notwithstanding the fact that I value most highly a _genuinely_
+religious education, I feel that for the purposes just mentioned we
+cannot place much reliance upon _that which in our schools of to-day
+passes by the name of religious education_. I have been personally
+acquainted with too many persons brought up on "strictly religious"
+lines, adherents of the most diverse creeds, but chiefly Protestants,
+Catholics, and Jews, whose religious education has been of remarkably
+little use to them in this respect. Among children, I have known some
+who masturbated immoderately, and yet their progress in their religious
+studies was extraordinary. I have known of serious epidemics of
+masturbation, in some cases of mutual masturbation, in boarding-schools
+in which the day's work was always begun with prayers and hymns. Quite
+recently, another case has been reported to me, of a so-called exemplary
+school, where the educational methods had a strong religious trend, and
+yet seduction to mutual masturbation played a great part. In spite of
+these experiences, I do not dispute the fact that even in association
+with the modern methods of religious instruction--but not always in
+consequence of these--many have been withheld from masturbatory and
+other sexual acts. These cases fall into three groups. The first group
+consists of cases in which the sexual impulse is very weak, so that very
+little is requisite to prevent the occurrence of sexual practices. To
+the second group belong the cases of those who are kept in check by the
+fear of God's anger, which will be visited, they are taught in their
+lessons on religion, upon all unrighteous acts. The third group is
+comprised of those rare natures who are really profoundly inspired by
+religious ethical sentiments, and in whom even the ordinary unpractical
+methods of religious instruction have not been able to inhibit the
+development of genuinely religious feelings. These three groups may
+readily be recognised among adults as well as among children. But when I
+compare the number of the children and young persons making up these
+three groups with the number of those to whom religious instruction has
+been quite useless, I feel justified in a certain scepticism. I do not
+pretend to assert that those who have received religious instruction
+have become more immoral than the others; but I am certainly entitled to
+contest the assertion that religious instruction induces a loftier
+sexual morality. Indeed, a further limitation is needed here, and one to
+the discredit of religious instruction. A portion, even, of those
+persons comprising the exceptional cases just enumerated, have not
+thereby attained to spiritual peace. Tormented, and at times almost
+mastered, by the sexual impulse, they struggle unceasingly under the
+influence of terror lest they should commit a deadly sin by yielding to
+this impulse. The mental condition[139] of such persons--I speak chiefly
+of young men--is in some cases such that a doctor may well doubt if he
+be not justified in advising them to indulge in illegitimate sexual
+intercourse. I have myself never given such advice in these cases, nor
+do I intend to give it in similar cases in the future. I refrain from
+doing so on ethical grounds, which I have discussed in great detail in
+connexion with the sexual question in my work on Medical Ethics.[140]
+The physician has no right to advise his patient to the performance of
+an act which is regarded by the latter as a deadly sin. But all the more
+because I have felt unable to give such advice, do I feel it my duty to
+insist here upon the seamy side of the education by which this state of
+mind is induced.
+
+My view that what is commonly called religious education does not as a
+rule help the subject to master the sexual impulse, has been forced upon
+me by the numerous confessions entrusted to me by persons who have
+received such an education. Very recently, I was shown a diary in which
+a young man, obviously very religious and pious, to whom God was the
+source of all hope, and who thanked God for His grace on every page,
+refers again and again to the fact that he has found himself unable to
+overcome the lower forms of sensuality. He writes: "In resisting this
+powerful sensual impulse, religion was of some help, but unfortunately
+not very much. When I was only twelve years of age, the impulse towards
+the lower forms of sensuality made its appearance, and speedily attained
+great intensity. Again and again I believed myself to be strong enough
+to withstand it, only to pass from a weak and inefficient resistance, to
+a profound fall." And later he writes: "But the lower sensuality
+persisted, however much and however often I resisted it. My imagination
+continually produced the horrible pictures. And though in desperate
+rage I clenched my teeth to drive them away, they always left traces in
+my soul, and from time to time I fell. How I have struggled, how I have
+fought! How often with tears have I sought God's protection and help,
+praising God with holy zeal and faith. In my room I knelt, praying for
+grace and strength. I write this, not for self-glorification, but to
+show you, dear reader, how terrible, how gigantic is the struggle for
+virtue."
+
+Notwithstanding all that I have written, I do not for a moment dispute
+the fact that a religious education may effect admirable results, both
+in respect of sexual matters, and of others. _Indeed, I am firmly
+convinced of this._ But the religious education competent to do this
+does not consist merely of learning Bible texts by heart; nor is its
+chief aim the inculcation of precepts which are to-day impossible of
+fulfilment--as the child sees at every turn in the conduct of the
+members of its own environment. I refer to the religious education which
+has an internal reality, and arises spontaneously out of the demands of
+morality. I do not mean the sort of education which regards it as almost
+a disgrace that we come naked into the world; not the religious
+education which regards man as soiled by the fact that he is born from
+his mother's womb; nor that which considers every sexual act as
+essentially sinful, and asceticism as man's salvation. It is not
+religious education of such a kind that will have any good effect in the
+matter of sexual education; but that religious education only which is
+in complete accord with our ideas of morality, and which is based, not
+so much upon the historical and material contents of the Bible, as upon
+the internal and everlasting truths of religion.
+
+The sexual dangers of the Bible have often been pointed out. But this
+work would be incomplete, if I omitted making a fresh reference to the
+matter. In the Bible, sexual processes are repeatedly mentioned. In the
+mind of the child a conflict inevitably arises when, on the one hand, he
+finds that everything of a sexual nature is diligently concealed from
+him, and, on the other, in the Holy Book which is put before him as the
+basis of his moral instruction, he finds that so much attention is paid
+to sexual things. It is not the actual accounts of sexual things in the
+Bible which constitute the danger, but the contrast between the plain
+speaking of the Bible in these matters, and the general affectation of
+secrecy outside its pages. An additional point of importance is the fact
+that in the Bible sexual topics are handled in a way which is by no
+means always delicate. I may recall the frequency with which the idea of
+the _whore_ is employed for purposes of comparison; and I may refer also
+to the occasional use of strongly erotic language, as, for example, in
+the Song of Solomon. A further danger lies in the fact that the Bible
+contains descriptions of customs which are no longer in harmony with
+modern ideas; it suffices to mention the accounts of polygamy in the Old
+Testament. Unless the distinction between what is historical and what is
+truly religious is carefully explained to the child, the latter's moral
+ideas will very readily become confused.
+
+In this connexion, I must also refer to the Catholic confessional, about
+which of late years a good deal has been written. I may recall the
+disquisitions on the moral teaching of Liguori. The father confessors
+have to read books in which are discussed the questions of casuistry
+with which they have to deal, in order to learn what authoritative
+decisions have been given regarding the concrete cases on which they are
+asked to pass judgment. In these books, sexual misconduct plays a
+leading part. This is also true of the confessional manuals written to
+assist the penitents in the discovery of their sins, in which sexual
+errors also find a place. Opinions as to the wisdom of giving such
+manuals to penitents are certainly very divergent. When we read the
+authoritative decisions, for the use of confessors, pronounced by
+Catholic theologians upon sexual faults, we are sometimes astonished at
+the practical insight displayed in these decisions; the opinions
+expressed must, indeed, often appear dubious to the strict moralist, and
+yet they are occasionally marvellously well adapted to the practical
+requirements of the case. In many instances, however, even this cannot
+be admitted; and however right from the practical point of view the
+decisions may sometimes be, we must not overlook the dangers of the
+confessional. Cases have been personally known to me in which, at the
+confessional, penitents have been cross-questioned in such a way about
+sexual details that unfavourable consequences were, in my opinion,
+extremely likely to ensue. This statement applies with equal force to
+the case of children, who have to go to confession as soon as they
+arrive at the "age of reason."[141] No one will dispute the assertion
+that the father-confessors gather much experience in the exercise of
+their profession, and that most of them possess sufficient tact to avoid
+asking improper questions. But to assert this of all of them would be to
+rush to the other extreme; and for the same reason that in the latter
+part of this chapter I shall express myself as opposed, at any rate in
+part, to sexual instruction in schools, do I think that to ask such
+questions of children as are sometimes asked in confession, may in
+certain circumstances lead to very undesirable results. When the child
+penitent describes to the confessor sexual faults (masturbation, &c.),
+however well intentioned the words of the confessor may be, it is
+impossible that they should be so individually adapted as is really
+necessary in such cases; and the detailed discussion of these matters
+which sometimes follows is open to grave objection. In what I have just
+said, it is far from my intention to attack one of the sacraments of the
+Catholic Church; but the matter is one to which it was necessary to
+allude, and I will merely add that the error must be avoided of taking
+as a basis for criticism much that is written with a party bias against
+the Catholic Church, and much also of the mockery of the confessional
+which abounds in erotic literature. For example, when Michelet[142]
+asserts that, in matters concerning love and the sexual life, a French
+girl of fifteen is as far advanced as an English girl of eighteen, and
+when he refers this to the effect of a Catholic education in
+accelerating the process of human development, it is necessary to
+observe that these far-reaching generalisations are not supported by
+any jot of proof.
+
+In the earlier parts of this chapter, I have discussed certain questions
+belonging to the psychical sphere in their bearings upon sexual
+education. I have now to refer to two specialised methods of treatment:
+first of all, the one which has initiated the whole of the newer
+psychotherapy, namely, hypnotism; and, secondly, the psycho-analytic
+method. Hypnotism has been employed against all kinds of sexual
+processes, both in adults and in children. As far as children are
+concerned, it is masturbation, in especial, for the prevention of which
+hypnotic suggestion has been tried. When the child is old enough to be
+hypnotised, good results will occasionally be obtained; but in many
+other cases the desired end can unquestionably be attained without the
+induction of the hypnotic state, either by suggestion in the waking
+state, or else by the other methods to be described in the present
+chapter.
+
+Here are brief notes of a case in which hypnotic suggestion was employed
+with beneficial results.
+
+CASE 17.--X., a boy eleven years of age, was diligent at school. For
+some time past he had withdrawn from the companionship of all his
+school-fellows, and his parents had noticed that he was continually in
+the company of a schoolgirl two years older than himself. He availed
+himself of every opportunity to play with this girl. When they sat
+together at table, it was noticed that they endeavoured to secure
+physical contact by bringing their knees together. In addition, they
+were often seen kissing one another. It was obvious that the two had a
+mutual inclination each for the other. If anyone gave the boy a present
+of money, he shared it with the girl. The two wrote letters to one
+another, and some of these letters fell into the parents' hands.
+Thereafter the two were watched, so that this exchange of letters became
+impossible. At first, the matter was not regarded seriously; on the
+contrary, the two were teased about it, especially the boy. The latter
+became very unhappy, and for a time it was believed that the intimacy
+had been broken off. In reality, the rupture was apparent merely, and
+was simulated to escape the teasing. In secret, they continued to meet.
+Whereas regarding the girl few details were at my disposal, I had a good
+deal of information about the boy. It was astonishing how many excuses
+he made to deceive his relatives. Sometimes he was supposed to be
+writing his home-lessons, sometimes to be at a gymnastic lesson or at
+church, when in reality he was with his girl friend. It had been
+observed before that the boy occasionally played with his genital
+organs. Since a complete separation from the girl gave rise in the boy
+to a state of profound depression, followed by his paying attentions to
+a somewhat older girl living in his house, his parents now sought my
+advice. The boy proved to be extremely susceptible to hypnotism and to
+hypnotic suggestion, and it was remarkable how rapidly a complete change
+in his demeanour was effected. Since then I have seen the boy
+occasionally, the last time being when he was about fifteen and a half
+years of age. There had been no return of the sexual tendencies
+previously observed. Quite recently, indeed, he had been known to
+masturbate occasionally; and it was for this reason that he was again
+brought to consult me. But for four years previously, notwithstanding
+the fact that he had been very carefully watched, no improper conduct
+had been detected. Undoubtedly, the recent practice of masturbation
+would have escaped notice, had not the parents been made very anxious by
+the earlier experiences. No special treatment was now undertaken, since
+it appeared that there was nothing more amiss than is observed in
+average boys of his age; symptoms which in most cases disappear
+spontaneously, and without treatment.
+
+A short account must also be given here of the method of Breuer and
+Freud, or the psycho-analytic method. It is true that this method is
+applicable to adults only, but its aim is to relieve the ill effects of
+sexual experiences during childhood. I have before pointed out that in
+Freud's view four neuroses always result from previous sexual
+experiences; and two of these, hysteria and compulsion-neuroses
+(_Zwangsneurose_) are considered by him to depend upon sexual
+experiences during childhood. Freud, who originally worked out this
+method in co-operation with Breuer, but subsequently further developed
+it by himself, assumes that the hysterical symptoms which result from
+the noxious influences of sexual experiences during childhood, are
+always permanently allayed if we succeed in making the subject once more
+actively conscious of them, and enable the emotions thereby again
+aroused in the mind of the patient to obtain an efficient outlet (_sie
+zum abreagieren zu bringen_). If we are able, either with or without the
+aid of hypnotism, to reawaken the effect which was originally
+experienced as a result of the sexual trauma, the hysterical symptoms
+will be permanently relieved. Originally, he endeavoured to reawaken the
+memory of the sexual trauma by means of the induction of profound
+hypnosis. Later, however, he was able to do this, without the aid of
+hypnotism, by conversing with the patient, and by awaking his memory by
+means of questions. This method, to which formerly Freud gave the name
+of the cathartic method, but which is now generally known as the
+psycho-analytic method, has to some extent been further developed by
+Freud's pupils. Freud's view is that by means of psycho-analysis he is
+enabled, from the sphere of the unconscious, or rather of the
+subconscious, to restore to the supra-consciousness the lost sexual
+experiences of childhood or of later life; and by this means to effect a
+permanent cure of the most diverse diseases. No detailed criticism of
+this method of treatment will here be attempted, but my views on the
+matter will to some extent have become apparent from what has been said
+in earlier parts of this book. The value of Freud's work appears to me
+to consist chiefly in this, that he has insisted more definitely than
+other writers upon the reality of subconscious processes. But I believe
+that the general sexual etiology which he assumes to exist can from no
+point of view be regarded as sound, even with the limitation which he
+later imposed upon his own doctrine, namely, that it is not the sexual
+experience itself, but the reaction against this experience, which is
+etiologically significant. Recently, I have several times tried to treat
+by the psycho-analytic method some of the cases for which that method is
+supposed to be suitable, and as a result of my experience I have been
+forced more and more to the conclusion that, notwithstanding all the
+other advantages of the psycho-analytic method, _the importance of the
+factor of sexual experiences in the causation of disease has been
+greatly over-estimated by Freud_. Moreover, I believe that the cures
+effected by Freud (as to the permanence of which, in view of the
+insufficiency of the published materials, no decisive opinion can as yet
+be given), are explicable in another way. A large proportion of the good
+results are certainly fully explicable as the results of suggestion. The
+patient's confidence in his physician, and the fact that the treatment
+requires much time and patience, are two such powerful factors of
+suggestion, that provisionally it is necessary to regard it as possible
+that suggestion explains the whole matter.
+
+There are, of course, many other psychological influences to which
+attention must also be directed. One of the most important of these is
+the avoidance of psychical contagion. A boy who is sexually premature,
+or in whom some other striking sexual manifestations have occurred, may
+exercise an extremely harmful influence upon other children. We must
+endeavour to remove such a boy from the companionship of others, and in
+this country this often can be effected through the instrumentality of
+the Law of Guardianship (_Fürsorgegesetz_). But it will by no means
+always be easy to find the guilty person. It is extremely common for
+such an abnormal child to set the tone for the others; and such a child
+may be making remarkable progress in study, although its sexual and
+moral level is a very low one. A number of other measures will be
+inferred from what has been said in the section on etiology. These are
+social rather than medical problems. We must avoid letting children have
+the chance of seeing others engaged in sexual intercourse; they must not
+live in too close and intimate an association with other children; they
+must not grow up in the society of prostitutes; children who are past
+infancy should not share a common bed. As regards school-life, it is
+supposed to be a matter of great importance that there should be
+separate closets for the two sexes. I am myself doubtful if this last
+matter is one of much moment.
+
+In any case, we can interfere for the special protection of children who
+have been exposed to peculiar risks, and have for this reason been led
+astray sexually. I have seen children who have been taught sexual
+misconduct, either by a nursemaid or by other children, and have
+practised such misconduct for a time; but in whom a complete cure has
+resulted from separation from the seducer. In some cases, of course, it
+will be necessary to do more than this, and to subject the child to some
+special treatment; and in rare instances, in which the sphere of the
+sexual is already markedly developed, it may be necessary that this
+treatment should be institutional. But such cases are certainly very
+uncommon. A matter of importance is that the parents or other persons
+responsible for the care and guidance of the child, should understand
+the psychical management of children; for example, that they should not
+fall into the common error of regarding the love-affairs of children as
+a joke, and that they should not, by this attitude, actually encourage
+the children in their course of conduct.
+
+
+One part of sexual education is made up by the question of the purposive
+sexual enlightenment of children--a matter much discussed at the present
+day. I have shown, on page 8, that this question is not, as many
+suppose, a new one. Those who have written on the subject of sexual
+enlightenment use this term with somewhat various meanings. As regards
+the extension of the term, it may be applied to either (or both) of two
+fields, which we may term the objective and the subjective aspects of
+the sexual life. To the objective side belong the physiological
+processes by means of which is effected the reproduction of organisms,
+whether plants, animals, or human beings. In explanation of these it is
+necessary to describe the reproductive organs, and the processes of
+conjugation, fertilisation, and fructification, as they have long been
+customarily taught in the botany class; and the nourishment of the
+nursing infant from the breast of the mother may also be described. To
+the subjective side, belong the relationships of the sexual processes to
+the individual organism, the good and the bad effects of the sexual
+impulse, &c. In this connexion, reference will be made to the dangers of
+masturbation, sexual excesses, pregnancy, venereal infection, and so on.
+By many writers, these two fields are not distinguished each from the
+other with sufficient clearness. The question, whether children should
+be taught about the methods of reproduction in plants, animals, and
+human beings, must not be confused with the question whether they should
+be taught about masturbation or the venereal diseases. It is possible to
+teach children that self-abuse is a harmful practice, without giving
+them any account of the physiological processes of reproduction; and,
+conversely, these processes may be described, without any special
+reference to the bearings of the matter on the individual life. Of
+course, the two fields are interconnected; and some writers suggest that
+in teaching children and young persons a proper respect for the genital
+organs, such teaching should be based upon a knowledge of the subsequent
+function of these organs in the work of reproduction. The individual
+processes cannot at once be referred to one field or the other;
+involuntary sexual orgasm, menstruation, the puberal development,
+inasmuch as they exhibit both a subjective and an objective aspect,
+belong to both fields. This is also true of the sexual act itself, in
+connexion with which, moreover, the principal difficulties of sexual
+enlightenment arise.
+
+Having thus considered the general significance of sexual enlightenment,
+we have next to ask what are the grounds on which such enlightenment is
+thought to be desirable. These will have become partly apparent from
+what has been said regarding the importance of the sexual life of the
+child; but this does not exhaust the matter, for the sexual
+enlightenment of the child may also comprise instruction concerning the
+entire subsequent development of the sexual life. The reasons for sexual
+enlightenment may be classified under various heads; the chief of these
+are reasons of health, of social life, of law, morality, education, and
+the intellectual development.
+
+To consider first the matter of intellectual development, we have here
+to think, not so much of a limitation of the intellectual growth in
+consequence of the sexual thoughts of the child, as of the fact that
+instruction in the nature of sexual processes, at least as far as the
+objective field is concerned, promotes the general culture. The degree
+to which even adults are ignorant about such matters, is hardly
+credible. There are persons who believe that every egg laid by a hen
+will develop into a chicken if incubated by the mother, or if kept for
+the proper time in an artificial incubator; there are persons who do
+not know what the hard roe and soft roe of fishes are, who do not
+understand the nature of the spawning process, and are, in fact, quite
+uninstructed concerning the process of reproduction in fishes. I have
+conversed with adults who did not know wherein a wether differs from a
+ram, or a bullock from a bull; and who were even ignorant, as regards
+great groups of the animal kingdom, whether they reproduced their kind
+by means of eggs or living young. But on such matters as these, every
+cultured person should be sufficiently informed, and should not be
+capable of being shamed by the superior knowledge of an uneducated child
+from the country. On one occasion, I even saw a married woman, actually
+twenty-eight years of age, who had been examined by a gynecologist, and
+for whom the latter had recommended the operative division of the hymen;
+but the lady confused this operation with oöphorectomy, and it was by no
+means an easy matter to make her understand the difference between the
+two. It will readily be understood that every grown man and woman ought
+ultimately to be fully informed concerning all such matters. In part,
+such instruction will take place at school, and more especially in the
+case of processes in the vegetable and lower animal world; these things
+will be explained in connexion with instruction in natural history and
+biology. But information about the human reproductive organs cannot be
+given in the school, unless to children of a considerable age; for these
+matters, direct personal instruction at home is more suitable.
+
+Apart from the demands of general culture there are other reasons why
+sexual enlightenment is desirable. These chiefly concern the subjective
+aspects of the sexual life, whilst the objective processes serve
+principally for preparatory instruction.
+
+First of all, grounds of health have to be considered. It may be
+desirable to enlighten the child regarding the dangers of masturbation,
+those of ordinary illegitimate sexual intercourse, and those of sexual
+excesses. No detailed discussion of these points is here necessary,
+since they have been dealt with before at considerable length,
+especially on p. 180 _et seq._ Here I will merely point out that this
+aspect of enlightenment affects the entire future of the child and the
+family it will one day have. The first consideration here is the danger
+of venereal infection, and it is this danger, in close association with
+the other prophylactic efforts of our time, which has given rise to the
+recent movement in favour of sexual enlightenment. In this connexion the
+dangers may be explained that threaten the male from gonorrhoeal
+infection, not only in his own person, but also in the persons of his
+future wife and children. The wife may be infected by the husband, and
+the visual powers of the new-born child may also be endangered.
+Ophthalmia of the new-born, which often leads to blindness, commonly
+depends upon conjunctival infection received during the act of
+parturition. Syphilis was referred to on p. 192. Here it may be added
+that still-births and abortion and miscarriage may result from
+syphilitic infection either of the mother or of the embryo. Or the child
+may be born alive, but suffering from syphilitic infection. Even when no
+actual infection of the offspring results, syphilis favours the
+occurrence of a general degeneration of the progeny. If we desire to
+safeguard human beings against such dangers as these, we shall feel it
+necessary to enlighten them before it is too late; and in view of the
+fact that from a single act of intercourse infection may result by which
+the health may be permanently injured, such enlightenment is no less
+necessary for girls than for boys.
+
+I need not describe the dangers to health resulting from masturbation
+and sexual excesses, for these have previously been considered in
+detail; but it is necessary to allude to the exaggerated statements
+which are sometimes encountered regarding the dangers of masturbation,
+especially in popular works on the subject, so that the physician may be
+on his guard about this matter. A child who during and after the act of
+masturbation has a keen sense of wrong-doing, and consequently suffers
+much from self-reproach, may, if the fear is superadded of having done
+serious permanent injury to health, be affected with grave
+hypochondriacal manifestations. Many instances of this have come under
+my notice, in young men and young women of sixteen or thereabouts. Even
+when the practice of masturbation has long been discontinued, and the
+patient is quite grown up, such symptoms may arise, owing to the
+persistence of the fear of disastrous results, and the auto-suggestive
+influence of this fear. Nowhere is more tact required by the physician
+than in his dealings with those who masturbate or have masturbated.
+There is even a real danger that a moral lecture may cause a shock to
+the system; in the case of some young men it may sometimes be better to
+acquiesce in masturbation, rather than to alarm them by talking about
+the disastrous consequences of the indulgence. I refer to those
+unfortunate creatures who suffer from severe hyperæsthesia of the sexual
+impulse, and who for social reasons are not in a position to satisfy the
+impulse in any other way than by masturbation, or who refrain from
+illicit intercourse in the well-grounded fear of venereal infection. The
+physician who has seen a number of such cases, who has learned how they
+continually relapse into the practice of masturbation, notwithstanding
+all their good resolutions and their conviction that masturbation is at
+once dangerous and immoral, will be likely to feel that it is better,
+not indeed to recommend masturbation, but from time to time tacitly to
+permit it. To do in these cases what it is well to do in certain others,
+namely, to describe the bad effects of masturbation, may give rise to
+grave conditions of depression, and even to suicide. Certainly, in such
+cases, we must carefully avoid alarming the patients too seriously about
+the consequences of masturbation.
+
+In undertaking the sexual enlightenment of the child, those phenomena of
+the sexual life should not be forgotten which are shown by experience to
+arouse in the ripening child, now curiosity, and now anxiety--and the
+chief among these are involuntary sexual orgasm and menstruation.
+Imagine the state of mind of the girl who has never heard a word about
+menstruation, and awakens one morning with blood flowing from the
+genital organs; or that of the boy, who has his first nocturnal seminal
+emission, without having received any information as to its
+significance. Similar considerations apply to some of the other signs of
+puberty; and especially to the growth of the pubic hair, which has made
+many a child extremely anxious. Although, by the time this age is
+reached, a child has commonly been sufficiently informed about these
+things by his playfellows, we meet with instances in which nothing of
+the kind has occurred.
+
+Hitherto I have been considering the hygienic grounds for effecting
+sexual enlightenment; but there are also important ethical reasons for
+such enlightenment. It is not possible in our life to speak the truth
+always and unconditionally; but this fact does not give us the right to
+lie to children without good cause. Especially dangerous is it to relate
+to children fables about the stork or the cabbage-garden, at a time when
+they have long been enlightened about sex from other sources. I recall
+the case of a girl seven years of age, whose mother was still in the
+habit of telling her that babies were brought by the storks; but this
+child was accustomed to join with other girls and boys in playing at
+"father, mother, and midwife," wherein they displayed a comparatively
+exact knowledge of the processes of reproduction and birth. We are not
+surprised when a woman tells us that as a child her confidence in her
+mother was seriously shaken from the moment when she was enlightened by
+others concerning the sexual life, and she recognised that what her
+mother had told her about the matter was quite untrue. I do not mean to
+imply that stories of the stork and cabbage-garden variety are to be
+altogether excluded. It would be as reasonable to prohibit all kinds of
+fairy tales. Some tell us that we should tell children fairy stories
+only so long as they regard the whole of life as a fairy tale. But in
+view of the vivid imagination of childhood, no such sharp distinction is
+practicable. Let the reader recall his own childhood. Does the child
+regard the fairy tale as a lie, even after he has began to doubt if the
+world of fairy stories has any actual existence? Certainly not.
+Similarly with regard to the stork fable. I consider that the complete
+suppression of this fable, unless we replace it with some like poetical
+fancy, can do nothing but harm to the child's nature. All that we must
+ask is that such a story shall not for too long be put before the child
+as fact. When the child's development has gone far enough, it will be
+well to dispense with the stork story. This is suggested by
+considerations both of prudence and of morals, and the like
+considerations urge us to describe to the child, tactfully and at the
+proper time, the true nature of the reproductive processes.
+
+Such a course is desirable, if merely for the reason that when a child
+is sexually enlightened by other children, this is usually effected in
+so coarse a manner as very readily to undermine the bases of respect for
+the sexual life of humanity. A child who has been instructed regarding
+this grave and important matter by his parents and in a proper manner,
+is in a position to reject offers of a coarse method of enlightenment;
+but by the customary--too long customary--plan, as far as children are
+concerned, of altogether ignoring the sexual life, children are deprived
+of the power of repelling obscene methods of enlightenment.
+
+The legal dangers to which reference was made on p. 201 _et seq._ are
+additional reasons for undertaking the sexual enlightenment of the
+child. I pointed out that, in certain circumstances, a boy of thirteen
+who undertook sexual practices with a girl of twelve was committing a
+punishable offence. But sexual enlightenment is desirable, not merely
+for those of this age, but also for those who are somewhat older. A
+large number of people are completely ignorant of our penal code in
+these relationships. I recall the case of a sexually perverse young man
+of twenty who on a number of occasions performed the following acts with
+boys of about thirteen years of age. He would go to a public bath,
+induce a boy of thirteen or so to enter his dressing cubicle, and, as if
+in joke, tie the boy's hands together. In reality, as he did this, he
+experienced sexual excitement to the point of ejaculation. This latter
+occurred especially when he touched the boy's body--not his genital
+organs. He had absolutely no idea that such acts were punishable with
+imprisonment, in accordance with the third paragraph of Section 176 of
+the Criminal Code; and it gave him a terrible shock when I explained to
+him that he had rendered himself liable to imprisonment. Some persons
+even believe that they may handle children's genital organs, for the
+purpose of exciting themselves sexually, without rendering themselves
+liable to punishment. It is obvious that on these grounds also
+enlightenment on sexual matters may be extremely desirable.
+
+Finally, there are certain social and economic reasons for sexual
+enlightenment. These reasons are closely connected with those bearing
+upon health, but they may in part be separated from the latter. No one
+will deny that illegitimate sexual intercourse may entail grave social
+consequences. For women these dangers are much greater than they are for
+men; but for men, even, they are by no means inconsiderable. As far as
+women are concerned, the danger of extra-marital impregnation occupies
+the first place. The importance of this of course varies greatly in
+various regions and in different social strata. In the servant-class in
+the country, for instance, pre-marital sexual intercourse, and even
+pre-marital motherhood, is far from having the seriousness which
+attaches to these things among the old peasant families firmly rooted to
+the soil. Among the servant-class in towns, the matter has a more
+serious aspect than among the same class in the country. On the other
+hand, in many artistic circles in the Metropolis, pre-marital
+intercourse, even on the part of women, is regarded far more
+indifferently than in other strata of society. None the less, for a girl
+of the upper ranks, extra-marital pregnancy is for the most part
+tantamount to social annihilation. Even here exceptions occur, and we
+shall find good families of the aristocracy and the upper bourgeoisie in
+which a woman who has given birth to an illegitimate child, or even one
+who is manifestly a cocotte, will be socially recognised, provided she
+has attained some great position, such as that of a great artist, for
+instance. In such cases we may even find that women who on other
+occasions are unable adequately to express their hatred and contempt for
+prostitutes and similar unfortunate beings, will yet be proud of their
+friendship with such a woman, and will boast of it in public. But such
+opportunities of social recovery are open to very few; most women of the
+upper classes sink rapidly and far in the social scale as soon as it is
+publicly known that they have experience of illegitimate intercourse.
+For this reason, such consequences must be taken into the reckoning. The
+objection need not be raised that the sexual enlightenment would not
+safeguard a girl, since, when she gives herself to a man, a girl knows
+well enough that children are the result of sexual intercourse. The
+objection is unsound, if we only have a right understanding of what we
+mean by sexual enlightenment, and if at the same time we do not neglect
+the general sexual education. Enlightenment should not be limited to
+merely making the person concerned aware of the consequences of sexual
+acts; it should, as it were, become ingrained in the flesh and blood, so
+as to influence the actions, even unconsciously. A girl brought up in
+this way will defend herself instinctively against the wiles of a
+seducer. But only by such an education, by one which is not confined to
+the mere imparting of information, can we produce in the girl greater
+powers of self-protection and a more enduring self-consciousness, and so
+save her from the far too common fate of behaving like a stupid unripe
+creature, and believing all the asseverations of the first man who makes
+love to her--asseverations which the man himself, in the moment of
+passion, very probably believes. Let me, then, repeat that all that
+appertains to the sexual enlightenment must became part of the flesh and
+blood of the subject; only from this can we expect good results, whereas
+a sexual education which consists merely in the acquirement of
+information, is altogether valueless. But by a true sexual
+enlightenment, in the sense above defined, it is probable that many a
+girl may be safeguarded from prostitution; and many a child, boys as
+well as girls, may be better protected against the attempts of
+pædophiles. And these considerations apply, not merely to childhood, but
+also to subsequent life--especially as regards girls. How many girls
+enter upon marriage quite ignorant and altogether inexperienced. They
+commit themselves to the keeping of a man of whom they know hardly
+anything at all. The parents are often satisfied with the most meagre
+information. It is considered improper to ask for detailed information
+regarding the husband's past life, and hence it often happens that a
+girl is delivered up to an unscrupulous man suffering from venereal
+infection, simply because she has never been adequately informed
+regarding the serious step she is undertaking, regarding the completely
+new mode of life upon which she is so suddenly entering. We thus see
+that there are ample grounds for explaining to a girl in good time
+precisely what she will undertake in entering the married state.
+
+A question of importance is at what _age_ the sexual enlightenment can
+most wisely be effected. Some advise that enlightenment should begin
+with our answers to the first questions the child propounds upon the
+subject; others contend that it is better to wait till it is somewhat
+older than this. There is truth in both these views; but the matter and
+manner of our communications must be appropriate to the age of the child
+with which we are dealing. When a young man is being sent to the
+university, it is wise to instruct him concerning the dangers of
+venereal infection; but to inform him that human beings come into the
+world as the result of an act of sexual intercourse would be altogether
+superfluous. Conversely, if a child asks its parents where its little
+brother has come from, we do not need to say anything about syphilis and
+gonorrhoea; but none the less we can give such a child an account
+suitable for one of its age of the way in which human beings come into
+the world. Speaking generally, it may be said that the biology and
+physiology of reproduction--that is to say, the objective processes--may
+be described at a comparatively early age; but that cautions regarding
+masturbation should not, _in average cases_, be given before the age of
+thirteen or fourteen; and that instruction about the risks of venereal
+infection should be deferred until even later than this. In the case of
+boys, in so far as enlightenment in the school is concerned, information
+about venereal infection may, for practical reasons, best be given about
+the time the boys are preparing to leave for a higher school. In the
+case of girls, for whom a caution against risks of impregnation and
+against prostitution are especially in question, we have also, as far as
+sexual enlightenment in the school is under consideration, to recommend
+the time when they are about to leave school. But if we prefer that
+sexual enlightenment, or at any rate a part of such enlightenment,
+should be effected at home rather than in the school (a course which I
+regard as essentially preferable), it will be impossible to lay down a
+fixed rule as to the age at which this should take place. To a lively
+girl of twelve or thirteen years, a great deal can be said far better by
+the mother, than can be said to a girl considerably older, say at
+fifteen, by the school physician, schoolmaster, or schoolmistress.
+Speaking generally, in the case of girls, the enlightenment may well
+begin at a somewhat earlier age than in the case of boys--at any rate as
+regards the subjective processes of the sexual life.
+
+On the whole, it may be regarded as definitely established that the
+child may well receive information about the objective processes at a
+very early age, and this long before the time commonly regarded as
+marking the commencement of puberty. But as regards the subjective
+processes, it is better that there should be some delay. It may, indeed,
+be asked whether it would not be preferable that in the case also of the
+subjective processes, the child should be instructed before they
+actually make their appearance in the child's own consciousness, to
+render possible the adoption on the child's part of a more objective
+attitude towards these phenomena. But in reality such a course offers no
+advantages. The child is quite unable to understand the dangers of the
+sexual life, as long as it has no actual experience of sexual feelings.
+For this reason, it is better to accept the view of those who contend
+that, as far as the subjective processes of the sexual life are
+concerned, we should wait till near the end of the second period of
+childhood before beginning the enlightenment. But we must not forget
+what has previously been pointed out, that the puberal development may
+begin at a time when nothing of the sort is apparent to the eye of the
+observer; and we must also bear in mind that the first seminal emission
+and the first menstruation are by no means so important, as marks of the
+puberal development, as is commonly believed. For the fulfilment of the
+aims of the sexual enlightenment, however, it does not so much matter
+when the first physical manifestations of the puberal development make
+their appearance, but when the first sexual feelings and sentiments,
+which must be distinguished from the unconscious and purely physical
+symptoms, are experienced. The important matter is, not whether
+follicles have already matured in the ovary, but what influence such a
+process has exercised upon the mental life of the child. For this
+reason, in our study of the individual case, we must have some knowledge
+of the psyche of the child with which we are concerned.
+
+A matter also within the scope of our subject is the question by whom
+the sexual enlightenment may best be effected. This question is
+connected with the questions for what reason and at what age
+enlightenment should take place. As regards these points, it lies
+between the school and the home. Some writers contend that so far as
+possible every thing, others, that, at any rate, a great deal, should be
+imparted at school. The latter view is also my own.
+
+In so far as the enlightenment has to do with purely biological
+processes, and especially in so far as it relates to processes in the
+vegetable and lower animal world, it can be effected in the school, and
+in the first years of the second period of childhood; but of course the
+giving of such instruction at school does not prevent a father who goes
+out walking with his son, or a mother with her daughter, from seizing
+opportunities of giving information about the sexual processes of
+plant-life. At school, education regarding such biological processes
+will form a part of the lessons in botany and zoology; or will be
+imparted in the class on general biology, if such a class exists.
+Instruction in hygiene, such as is often advised, has little to do with
+the matters we are now considering; and at any rate could merely involve
+an elementary account of such processes. The school may even be the best
+place for sexual enlightenment regarding the sexual life of human
+beings, at least in the case of the older pupils. There is no adequate
+reason for objecting to boys about to leave school being warned by a
+schoolmaster or a physician about the dangers of venereal disease; and
+at the same time a plea may be put forward against the view that it is
+incumbent upon every young man to prove his strength by the maximum
+indulgence in sexual intercourse.
+
+But the matter is very different as regards the enlightenment concerning
+the subjective processes of the sexual life of those who are still quite
+young. It is impossible to approve of the suggestion that a girl of
+twelve or a boy of fourteen should receive instruction in school as to
+the dangers of masturbation. Enlightenment of this sort must be given in
+a purely individual manner, and for this reason the school is here out
+of the question. It may be objected to this that we now and again
+encounter a schoolmaster who is able to establish between himself and
+his pupils a relationship of complete personal confidence, and that such
+a man is just as well able as the father to instruct his boys about
+these matters; _mutatis mutandis_, the same considerations apply to the
+exceptional schoolmistress as compared with the mother. But although it
+must be admitted that such cases really exist, they are--and this is no
+fault of master or mistress--such rare exceptions, that it is out of the
+question to base upon their existence a general rule that enlightenment
+upon these particular points should be given in the school.
+Enlightenment regarding the earliest manifestations of the sexual life,
+whether about the feelings or about the peripheral processes, demands
+such a degree of individualisation, that a schoolmaster or a
+schoolmistress, who has to teach from thirty to fifty pupils at once, or
+even a larger number than this, is quite unable to undertake anything of
+the kind. Such enlightenment can be properly effected only by an
+individual confidant, and by one who makes the fullest possible
+allowance for the child's own individuality. Such a confidant is most
+suitable, if only for the reason that enlightenment on these questions
+can best be effected, above all in the case of little children, as far
+as possible in response to spontaneous inquiries, or at least when an
+opportunity is afforded by some chance occurrence. The express
+manufacture of an opportunity, such as would be necessary in the school,
+might entail very unfortunate consequences; and even if, in response to
+a wide demand of our day, instruction in hygiene is given in school,
+either by a schoolmaster or a medical man, the anticipation of such
+topics might have undesirable results. In the German Medical Congress of
+the year 1908, it was evident that even the advocates of hygienic
+instruction in the school were not all prepared to answer with an
+unqualified affirmative the question whether the school was the best
+place for effecting sexual enlightenment; and a resolution proposed by
+Scheyer was adopted, to the effect "that this Congress considers that
+the question of the school taking part in the work of sexual
+enlightenment is one which it would at present be premature to
+discuss."
+
+Those who are inclined to assume to-day that we have left the older
+authorities far in the rear, would do well sometimes to study the works
+they despise. Basedow in his _Elementarbuch für die Jugend und für ihre
+Lehrer und Freunde_ (_Handbook for Young Persons, their Teachers, and
+their Friends_), gives some ideas as to how a mother may best enlighten
+her children regarding sex-differences. Looking at a chest of drawers,
+one of the children says to the mother that the purpose of clothing is
+to protect the body from cold and heat, and to cover the private parts.
+The mother replies that the last-named use of clothing is indeed very
+important, and that it is very naughty to allow these parts of the body
+to be seen, unless in cases of the greatest need. But the child goes on
+to say that an additional use of clothing is to help us to know one
+person from another, and to distinguish the female sex from the male;
+and her little brother remarks that he knows of no difference between
+the sexes other than that shown by the clothing: "If I were dressed like
+my sister, I should be a girl." "No, no, my child," answers the mother,
+"as time goes on, a girl's form becomes very different from that of a
+young man. In men, a beard grows; but not in women. Men cannot give
+birth to a child, nor can they suckle a child; they can only procreate
+children, or become fathers. For this reason, even from the time they
+are born, their bodies are different from those of little girls. And not
+only are their bodies different; their inclinations are different also;
+&c. &c." Although we may be disinclined to accept everything that
+Basedow and other early educationalists have said about such matters,
+none the less, in these old writings the modern educationalist will find
+much that is suggestive.
+
+Of late years, now that the school physician has gained a higher
+position, the suggestion is sometimes made that it is by him that the
+sexual enlightenment may best be undertaken. As far as children of a
+fair age are concerned, and in the matter of imparting warnings against
+the dangers of venereal infection, I share this view. But as regards
+enlightenment as to the personal sexual life in the case of a child of
+thirteen or so, I am compelled to differ. My reasons will be obvious
+from what has been said before. The principal reason is that the
+enlightenment ought to be effected by someone who enjoys the child's
+personal confidence. Undoubtedly there are certain school physicians who
+fulfil this condition; and to such persons this task may, of course, be
+entrusted. The very fact that they enjoy the children's confidence
+suffices to show that they possess certain special qualifications for
+such a task, and further, that they have the faculty of coming to a real
+understanding with children. But the fact that a man is appointed to the
+position of school physician, does not by itself prove that he possesses
+to an adequate degree the fine perceptions and the tact that are needed
+in effecting the sexual enlightenment; nor does it prove that he is the
+person best fitted to enlighten the children with whom he has to deal.
+In this difficult matter, we cannot be too careful in formulating any
+general rule. The person who is to effect the sexual enlightenment must
+possess, not merely a theoretical knowledge of the processes of sex, but
+also the faculty of making these processes intelligible at the right
+moment and in the right way. But how is the school physician or the
+schoolmaster to know, in individual cases, the degree to which the
+sexual life has developed? _He must have definitely abandoned the old
+view that either the child's age in years or the external physical signs
+of puberty can be regarded as indicating with any degree of precision
+the progress of psychosexual puberty._ But since this latter, the
+psychosexual development, should most often guide us in the choice of
+the right moment for effecting the sexual enlightenment, we are
+compelled to depend upon an individual consideration of the child, such
+as will be possible only to a person who is fully in its confidence. We
+learn from everyday experience that even very near relatives, if they
+have failed to penetrate the child's intimate psyche, may have utterly
+erroneous conceptions of its mental life. They completely ignore the
+extent to which the sexual imaginative activity has already developed;
+they know nothing as to whether the originally obscure sensibility of
+the child has now become focussed in a particular direction, so that its
+feelings are stimulated by definite individuals; they are ignorant of
+the degree to which the child's genital organs have become subject to
+the peripheral changes characteristic of sex. In the fourth chapter of
+this work I have discussed the wide individual differences which
+children exhibit in these various respects; and a mere reference to the
+matter here should suffice to show that the most careful and detailed
+individual examination of the child-soul is indispensable, and that the
+observance of a mechanical routine in the process of sexual
+enlightenment would be even worse than no enlightenment at all.
+
+It is a question of great importance, who, outside the school, is the
+person best fitted to undertake the sexual enlightenment; and I have
+repeatedly expressed my preference for the selection of the mother. But
+a mother who is unable to superintend the general education of her
+children, because she is compelled to spend most of her time away from
+home engaged in earning a livelihood, is not fitted to undertake the
+sexual enlightenment of her children; equally unfitted for this is the
+mother who leaves the education of her children in the hands of hired
+assistants, whilst herself occupied in attending public meetings,
+perhaps on behalf of the woman's movement, of the education of children,
+of the promotion of the sexual enlightenment, of rational dress, or the
+like, whilst her children at home are abandoned to moral corruption; and
+the same considerations apply to the mother whose nights are so much
+occupied in dancing and feasting, that the greater part of her days have
+to be spent in bed. Fortunately, however, there are many mothers who
+have very different conceptions of their duties to home and children. We
+find such mothers very often among the class of skilled artisans, but
+also among the cultured middle class,[143] although among these latter
+the desire to ape the manners of the so-called upper classes is
+unfortunately far too general. I have seen cases in which the mother was
+still the confidant of her sons after they had entered the period of
+early manhood; and thus I have known a mother who in the case of a son
+of sixteen and even of eighteen years, was in a position to allay the
+grave anxiety awakened by the first occurrence of nocturnal emissions.
+But where the mother is not the confidant, some other person must take
+this place, as, for instance, a governess or a near relative. In the
+case of boys, the father is often the person best able to undertake the
+sexual enlightenment; or it may be a physician who enjoys the lad's
+confidence, and especially a family physician in the old and excellent
+sense of the term; in other cases it may be an elder brother, or an old
+family friend. Much good in such cases may be done by a friend, older,
+indeed, than the child who is to receive enlightenment; and yet not so
+much older as to make the child feel that a mutual understanding is
+hardly possible. In any case, next to the possession of a cultivated
+intelligence by the person who undertakes to effect the sexual
+enlightenment, the point of greatest importance is that this latter
+person should receive the full confidence of the child. Only when the
+child has such perfect trust, will it accept as true what it is told,
+and not suspect that, as has so often been the case, it is being put off
+with hypocritical phrases--for children recognise the hypocritical
+character of much of what they are told about sexual matters at an age
+far earlier than most elders are willing to believe. But another reason
+why the person who undertakes the enlightenment must be one who has the
+child's fullest confidence, is that in that case only can the child be
+expected to be absolutely straightforward. A very frequent mistake in
+dealing with children is to mistrust them needlessly. Let us suppose
+that a child has been discovered to masturbate, and that it is spoken to
+very earnestly in order to break it off the habit. I have known cases in
+which, although everything pointed to the fact that the child had
+abandoned its bad habit, yet, when it denied masturbating any longer, it
+was accused of lying. A child will naturally never give its confidence
+again to one who has once unjustly reproached it in this manner. On the
+other hand, a child is far more likely to acknowledge its faults to one
+in whom it has perfect confidence. The child's confidence can be gained
+only by an individual confidant. In the presence of such a confidant, a
+child loses all sense of false shame, and this is an indispensable
+precondition for effecting a really valuable enlightenment. Where no
+individual is forthcoming who fulfils the requirements just specified,
+it is usually better to dispense with the enlightenment; and above all,
+in this matter, a mechanical routine must be avoided.
+
+I will now briefly report a case in which a younger brother made a
+confidant of his elder brother, and will show how unwise it would be to
+lay down any general rule as to who is the person best fitted to
+undertake the sexual enlightenment of a child.
+
+CASE 18.--One day a student of medicine came to me to ask my advice
+about his younger brother, a lad of thirteen. This latter, an
+intelligent boy, was attending the upper third class of the higher
+school. The boy confessed to his brother that he masturbated to excess,
+and that he found that scenes of cruelty especially aroused sexual
+stimulation. I asked the student to bring his young brother to see me,
+and the latter made on me a very favourable impression, especially in
+the matter of his frankness. He spoke to me quite openly, and attended
+most carefully to all my advice. I explained to him truthfully that his
+future was endangered, not only by the masturbation, but also by the
+perverse ideas; I told him that the danger of a combination of
+masturbation with perverse ideas was especially serious; and I assured
+him that he was still at an age when it remained possible for him to
+develop into a normal man. Some years later, I saw the young man once
+more. His subsequent development had been excellent, and he was almost
+free from perverse sexual sensibility.
+
+In this case it would have been utterly wrong to insist on the lad's
+being enlightened by his father, his mother, his guardian, or his
+schoolmaster. The particular circumstances of the life often point out
+the right way. In this instance, it was his older brother in whom the
+lad had complete confidence. Now, if the elder brother had consulted the
+parents in this difficulty, such a course would not merely have
+destroyed the younger's confidence in his elder brother's silence and
+discretion, but would have undermined the lad's confidence in general.
+Especially towards the parents, but also towards other relatives, a
+feeling of shame commonly exists--perhaps a mistaken feeling, but one
+with which we have to reckon. Often it is the parents' own fault, when
+they fail to gain the confidence of their children.
+
+The question has also been mooted whether the sexual enlightenment of
+girls should not be entrusted to some companion of the same sex, more
+especially in cases in which the mother is for one reason or another
+unfitted for this task. This view is altogether erroneous. Sex has
+comparatively little to do with the question. For example, Heidenhain,
+whose practical experience in these matters is most extensive, has shown
+that the enlightenment of girls may be effected most admirably by a male
+physician endowed with the requisite qualities.[144] The thing that
+matters is not the sex of the person who effects the enlightenment, but
+the manner in which the enlightenment is effected.
+
+To sum up. _The sexual enlightenment of the child is advisable. The
+biological processes of sex in the vegetable and lower animal world may
+be taught in school as early as the second period of childhood. A
+warning against the dangers of venereal infection may be given at school
+to the senior pupils shortly before they leave, or at some similar
+suitable opportunity. But for effecting enlightenment regarding the
+processes of the individual sexual life, the school is unsuitable; this
+matter can best be undertaken by some private person, and above all by
+the mother. Choice of the time for this last phase of the sexual
+enlightenment must be guided, in part by the questions of the child, in
+part by the child's physical maturity, but more especially by the
+indications of psychosexual development._
+
+Deliberately I avoid discussing the question as to the precise words and
+phrases with which the child's enlightenment is to be effected.
+Moreover, this question is subordinate to another, namely, to what
+extent instruction in natural science has prepared the way, in the
+child's mind, for such enlightenment. Both in Germany and in Austria,
+schemata have been drawn up for systematic preparation of this
+kind.[145] Speaking generally, we may draw the following conclusions. We
+have to distinguish according to the age of the child with which we have
+to deal. Where we have to caution a young man about to leave one of the
+higher schools, about the dangers of venereal infection, our
+difficulties are inconsiderable. But where we have to do with a girl of
+eight, who has asked her mother where her baby brother has come from; or
+with a boy of fourteen, whom we wish to protect because he has taken to
+sexual malpractices with his school-fellows, our difficulties are great.
+In such cases, tact, which cannot always be taught, and a desire for the
+best interests of the child, must show us the right path. It is obvious
+that each case will require individual consideration and treatment. An
+intelligent mother, who constitutes half the child's world and more, can
+describe these matters to her child, can even describe the sexual act,
+whose existence most persons prefer to conceal from children. It is by
+no means impossible to present even this act to the child's mind in a
+tactful way. It can be done in a poetical manner, and yet without
+departing from the strict truth. The same considerations apply to the
+act of birth. In a book dealing with this subject, a mother is asked by
+her child where children come from, and she answers as follows: "You
+see, little one, how fruit grows upon a tree; in just the same way,
+little children grow within the body of the mother." Beyond question,
+there is no justification for the assumption that sexual enlightenment
+can be effected only in a repulsive manner; and this view depends merely
+upon the fact that through a perversion of moral ideas certain persons
+regard as unclean things which are essentially clean. Everything depends
+upon the person who effects the enlightenment, upon finding a suitable
+opportunity, and upon choosing words and phrases adapted to the child's
+intelligence. Success will often follow upon replying in an illuminating
+way to some chance question of the child. In other cases, there may be
+indications for making the enlightenment part of a festival occasion--a
+method described in an old book, in which the father effects the
+enlightenment of his children to the accompaniment of public
+prayers.[146] The description shows a truly religious spirit, and a
+genuine love for children; it shows, further, that natural processes may
+be described truthfully to children without wounding in any way their
+sense of shame. There is no ground whatever for the belief that to a
+fairly advanced child a serious person cannot suitably describe all the
+natural processes of the human body, including sexual intercourse. The
+child to whom these things are described in a well-considered way, will
+receive no kind of injury to its moral sentiments; nor will such a
+description, once more, if it is couched in well-chosen words, provoke
+in the child any tendency to laughter. The secrecy with which the sexual
+life is surrounded, confused by many with the sentiment of shame, often
+gives rise to the belief that the child has the same feelings about the
+sexual life as the adult. But the unspoiled child has absolutely no
+feeling that the sexual life is in any way unclean; and for this very
+reason, no great difficulty arises in the sexual enlightenment of such
+an unspoiled child--an enlightenment which includes a description of the
+sexual act. I have myself on several occasions been asked by parents
+with a proper care for the future morality and health of their children,
+to undertake the necessary enlightenment of these latter. I am
+absolutely convinced that when the child has complete trust in the
+person who effects the enlightenment, the explanation of _everything_ is
+fully possible. In this book, I have more than once proved that a
+description of sexual intercourse, appealing as it does rather to the
+intellectual side of the child's mind, need have no bad influence at all
+upon its emotional life; and in the further course of this chapter I
+shall have to speak of the matter once again. I may add here that there
+are books written specially for the purpose of assisting parents in the
+instruction of their children in these matters.[147]
+
+From what I have written it will have been obvious that I regard the
+sexual enlightenment of the child as very desirable; but it does not
+follow from this that I regard it as something that _must_ be
+undertaken. Not everything is practicable which may seem desirable. We
+must not forget that there are dangers associated with the sexual
+enlightenment. It will not be right simply to ignore a reason often
+alleged against the desirability of sexual enlightenment, namely, that
+in this way it is possible that the child's thoughts will be turned in
+the sexual direction. This is unquestionably possible, and the danger
+can only be avoided by great adroitness. But when we remember that such
+adroitness is not found everywhere, we shall have to admit, however much
+we may wish that the sexual enlightenment of children should invariably
+be effected, that it will often be necessary to dispense with it,
+because the person suitable to undertake the enlightenment of a
+particular child is not forthcoming.
+
+If the right person is not to be found, the idea of the sexual
+enlightenment must be abandoned. However unsympathetic and even
+dangerous the manner in which, as a rule, children mutually enlighten
+one another about sexual matters, even more serious dangers may attach
+to the enlightenment of a child by an adult unsuited for this difficult
+task. Inept enlightenment may entail extremely serious consequences, and
+more especially it is likely to bring about the particular evil results
+that we are most eager to avoid, that is to say, it may direct the
+attention of the child to its own sexual inclinations. We have also to
+take into account the fact that there are persons who cannot discuss
+sexual topics without themselves becoming sexually excited; and we
+cannot afford to ignore the danger that among those who undertake
+to effect the sexual enlightenment of children there may be persons who
+will gladly seize every opportunity of speaking to the children upon
+sexual matters, intoxicating themselves the while with their own sexual
+imaginings. The grave danger of allowing an unsuitable person to
+undertake the sexual enlightenment is obvious from the existence of
+those persons who teach that homosexual inclinations occurring in
+children indicate that they are permanently homosexual--a view which, as
+has been shown, is utterly erroneous. But let us suppose that one who
+holds such a doctrine is the person who has undertaken the sexual
+enlightenment of a child, and we can hardly doubt what the result will
+be, namely, to foster homosexuality. The greatest possible care must
+therefore be exercised in the selection of the person who is to
+undertake the sexual enlightenment.
+
+Nor must we expect too much from the sexual enlightenment. Although to
+adults the way in which one schoolboy instructs another about matters of
+sex may appear to be extremely unpleasant, yet, as a matter of practical
+experience, this method has not had the disastrous results that some
+believe to attach to it. Unquestionably, the Germans and other civilised
+races have done much very important work, not only in the intellectual
+field, but also in that of ethics and in that of social life. Still we
+have learned that disadvantages are entailed by the rough-and-ready
+methods of sexual enlightenment hitherto commonly practised. Will these
+ill-effects disappear with the realisation of the modern efforts for a
+purposive and deliberate sexual enlightenment? Even though the modern
+ideas on the subject are to be preferred, it must not be supposed that
+their adoption will immediately result in the disappearance of all the
+unfavourable aspects of the sexual life. We shall not thereby transform
+children into little angels; and I doubt very much if the new methods of
+enlightenment will have much effect in diminishing the frequency of
+masturbation among children. I am led to this conviction by my
+experience that at the time when the process of sexual ripening begins,
+a child does not usually possess an adequate sense of the dangers of
+such malpractices. I am certainly afraid that nothing we can do will
+greatly lessen the prevalence of masturbation among children. I would
+rather venture to hope for a diminution in the prevalence of venereal
+diseases, as a result of the newer methods of sexual enlightenment; but
+even here there will be many cases in which passion will gain the
+victory over all possible prudential considerations. The same remarks
+apply also to pregnancy, and to the other consequences of the sexual
+life.
+
+I am, moreover, sceptical _because the very persons to whom to-day we
+have to look to effect the sexual enlightenment of children, are
+themselves to a great extent also in need of enlightenment_; and in
+respect of many of the questions about which the child has to be
+enlightened, no general harmony of scientific opinion can as yet be said
+to obtain. Take, for example, the question whether masturbation during
+the period of sexual development is or is not a physiological act; or
+the question whether sexual abstinence can do any harm to the health. It
+is true that such differences in scientific opinion are not so extensive
+as gravely to affect the question of the sexual enlightenment of the
+child. In the matter of sexual abstinence, for example, the majority of
+physicians are to-day agreed upon the view that such abstinence in
+general does no harm; and that those, if any, whose health may be
+unfavourably influenced by sexual abstinence, constitute at most a very
+small minority. In my own view, the persons who may suffer from this
+cause are those affected with hyperæsthesia of the sexual impulse, and
+in whom the impulse is dominant to such a degree that it interferes with
+all their alternative activities. But it is certainly only an extremely
+small percentage of persons about whom, among medical men able to speak
+authoritatively, that there is any difference of opinion.
+
+A more serious matter is the extent to which erroneous views about
+sexual questions still prevail among the populace. A father who starts
+with the false assumption that his son must inevitably have intercourse
+with so many prostitutes and must seduce so many girls--in a word, a
+father who regards sexual abstinence as unmanly, or as necessarily
+dangerous to health (and fathers who hold such opinions are no
+rarity)--such a father must himself be sexually enlightened before we
+give him the right to enlighten his son. Those also themselves greatly
+need enlightenment who, for instance, advise a young bridegroom who has
+always lived a chaste life to visit a prostitute before marriage, in
+order to prove his sexual potency. As if potency in intercourse with an
+experienced prostitute, skilled in all the tricks of her trade, were a
+proof that the bridegroom will prove sexually potent in intercourse with
+a chaste woman; or as if, on the other hand, the fact that a man proves
+impotent when he attempts intercourse with a prostitute whose embraces
+are repulsive to him, were in any sense whatever a proof that the same
+man will fail to effect intercourse with the woman he loves. Thus, many
+full-grown men are in need of enlightenment about this matter of sexual
+potency, and especially need information regarding the extent of the
+individual variations in this matter. We hear of young men who believe
+themselves to be ill, simply because they are not sexually potent to a
+degree that enables them to effect complete sexual intercourse several
+times in brief succession. Their error often depends upon the fact that
+they have been told by other young men that normal sexual potency
+enables a man to have repeated intercourse at intervals of a few
+minutes. As regards the informants, it may be that, having had such
+exceptional potency on one or two occasions, they really believe it to
+be a normal requisite of full manhood; more often, however, the mistake
+originates from a young man taking at its face value the boasting of one
+of his comrades who has lied freely about his own "virile potency." I
+have known similar things happen in the case of women, among whom
+boasting about the intensity of the voluptuous sensations experienced
+during sexual intercourse is by no means uncommon. There are a great
+many women in whom voluptuous sensations during intercourse are entirely
+lacking, and in whom even sexual desire may be in abeyance. Sometimes
+this is a matter of no great importance. But wives whose women-friends
+have boasted to such an extent of the intensity of the voluptuous
+sensations experienced in sexual intercourse, are apt to overestimate
+the importance of the lack of such voluptuous pleasure in their own
+experience of the sexual act; and it is therefore desirable that women
+should know the true facts of the case. We have further to remember that
+many of the disillusionments of marriage depend upon the fact that
+before marriage girls have allowed their imaginations to run riot
+concerning the intensity of enjoyment they will experience in sexual
+intercourse; all the greater is their disillusionment if they are among
+those who fail, after all, to experience sexual pleasure to the full.
+
+In conclusion, I may refer to another instance of the way in which the
+importance of the sexual enlightenment is apt to be over-estimated,
+namely, as regards the effect of the enlightenment in furnishing
+protection against the venereal diseases. It is by this very error
+attaching to so much of what is said about the sexual enlightenment,
+that attention is readily diverted from a far more important field.
+Namely, in moral questions, a child is far more easily influenced by
+good example, than by any amount of good instruction by word of mouth.
+Example arouses a stimulus towards imitative action, whilst, in
+countless cases, the listener has no inclination whatever to do what he
+is merely told. This applies even to very little children, who adopt for
+themselves the practices they observe in their elders to a far greater
+extent than is commonly believed--although, as Bleuler[148] has shown,
+in this imitativeness the conceptual life may play a comparatively small
+part. If, therefore, from the first the principal stress is laid on
+giving a good example, the subsequent sexual enlightenment would be
+rendered far easier, and its success to a large extent assured. In a
+pure household, it is not so necessary that a child should be fully
+enlightened; or rather, the child's enlightenment will be extremely
+easy. Conversely in the case of an impure household. Unless the greatest
+care is taken that children shall never be exposed to the contagion of
+bad example, how readily may it happen, that the child, after it has
+received the sexual enlightenment, and has been cautioned against any
+kind of obscene talk, is allowed to watch all sorts of improper acts and
+to listen to obscenities! Such mischances may occur, not only, as
+self-satisfied parents are apt to imagine, through the misconduct of
+servants or strangers, but often the members of the child's own family
+may be the persons at fault. Adults believe that a child hears nothing,
+when in reality it is paying careful attention to that which is not
+intended for childish ears, and to that which gives the lie to what the
+child has just been told in the form of the sexual enlightenment. And
+this may happen without the grown-up persons having made any indiscreet
+connected speeches in the child's presence. Various slight indications,
+gestures, a stolen laugh, &c., may be interpreted by the child after its
+own fashion, which is often one directly conflicting with the sense of
+the lesson previously given. How easily may it happen that a boy is
+taught that the seduction of a girl is a wicked thing, or a girl is told
+that she must never be so ignorant or so stupid as to become the victim
+of a seducer, and yet a few minutes later the child may overhear the
+instructor relating the heroic deeds of a cousin, who has seduced so and
+so many girls of the lower orders!
+
+Thus the importance of the sexual enlightenment must on no account be
+over-estimated. Rather should the words of the old proverb always be
+kept in mind: "As the old birds sing, so will the young birds chirp."
+Those who guide their own conduct in accordance with this principle,
+will find the sexual enlightenment of their children an easy matter; but
+in other houses, the theoretical enlightenment may be effected as
+carefully as you please, and yet it will do but little good. It is
+evident that the earlier movement in favour of the sexual enlightenment,
+to which I referred on page 8, failed because the expectations of its
+advocates were pitched too high, and because the emotional life of the
+child was ignored--an error rightly pointed out by Thalhofer. I have no
+doubt that in a few decades the efforts of our own day on behalf of the
+sexual enlightenment, in so far as they lay the principal stress upon
+the theoretical enlightenment, and expect its enforcement to initiate
+the golden age, will arouse similar feelings of amusement to those with
+which we ourselves now contemplate the failures of the past.
+
+
+The above is all I have to say about the psychical aids to the sexual
+enlightenment of the child, I turn now to consider the hygienic
+measures--those with a direct effect upon the body. Speaking generally,
+these are identical with those which are recommended for the treatment
+of masturbation.
+
+When the child awakes in the morning, it should not be permitted to lie
+in bed too long, above all, not in a hot feather-bed. To send children
+to bed, or to keep them in bed all day, as a punishment, as a means of
+depriving them of liberty, is, from this point of view, a practice which
+must unreservedly be condemned. Very dangerous, from this outlook, is
+also the rule common in boarding-schools and similar places, in
+accordance with which the children are sent to bed at a fixed time, and
+are not in any circumstances allowed to leave their beds before a fixed
+time in the morning. Everything must be done strictly according to the
+rules. Now although we may admit that no such institution can be carried
+on without some discipline, yet it is necessary to point out that when
+there is a rule in a boarding-school that no inmate shall get out of bed
+before seven o'clock in the morning, children that are wide awake and
+lively at an earlier hour are exceedingly likely to take to
+masturbation. The dangers attendant upon prolonged lying in bed arises
+from a combination of mental and physical influences. Among the physical
+influences, the warmth of the bed is the most important; among the
+mental influences, we have to consider the lack of occupation, and the
+ease with which the genital organs are handled.
+
+We have further to take steps to allay as far as possible all kinds of
+local irritation of the genital organs. Among these may be mentioned:
+phimosis and skin-eruptions of the genital region, which latter may lead
+to scratching, and so give rise to masturbation, even apart from the
+fact that the itching itself may favour the occurrence of voluptuous
+sensations. In addition, we have to think of the clothing. I pointed out
+before that breeches which pressed on the perineum sometimes led to the
+practice of masturbation. Hence this article of dress, breeches,
+knickerbockers, or trousers, should be made loose and comfortable. With
+regard to the proposal to do away with breeches altogether in the case
+of children, a recommendation which, as previously explained, has been
+made by several authorities, I cannot think that we should gain much
+thereby, for, to be effective, this measure would have to be continued
+up to a comparatively advanced age, and would thus involve a complete
+remodelling of our customary dress. It may be doubted however, if
+attention to this point will do much to prevent premature sexual
+stimulation; for the danger is not so great as has sometimes been
+suggested. Still, a careful mother will take care that the tailor does
+not cut her little boy's breeches so as to fit too closely: for though
+this may please the parental eye, it is undoubtedly dangerous to the
+child. I have previously referred to the dangers attendant upon climbing
+the pole in the gymnasium; and here will merely add that a number of
+teachers of gymnastics regard pole-climbing as an exercise of very great
+value, whilst they believe that the danger of sexual stimulation in
+climbing results from the use of too thin a pole, and does not occur in
+climbing a thick pole, or in climbing a rope. It has been suggested, in
+this connexion, that the rocking-horse should be eliminated from the
+list of permissible toys. Objections have also been made, on the ground
+of the possibility of improper sexual stimulation, against bicycling and
+horseback-riding; but I think these objections are largely unfounded,
+for, as far as bicycling is concerned, a well-shaped saddle cannot
+improperly stimulate the genital organs; and just as little does such
+stimulation occur in horseback exercise unless when the lower part of
+the trunk is pressed forward against the front peak of the saddle, as in
+halting, or in passing from a faster to a slower pace. Of course, for
+horseback exercise, the breeches must be properly cut, as otherwise they
+may exercise injurious pressure on the genital organs when the rider is
+in the saddle. Intestinal stimulation may also give rise to reflex
+excitation of the genital organs; for example, intestinal worms may
+initiate such reflex disturbance. Mantegazza[149] lays especial stress
+upon stimulation of the rectum, being of opinion that stimulation of
+this region is very likely to lead to the development of pæderastic
+inclinations. There are no grounds for such an assumption; but it is
+quite true that stimulation of the anal or gluteal region will very
+readily irradiate to the sphere of the genitals. For all these reasons,
+constipation, and more especially the accumulation of large scybalous
+masses in the rectum, are above all to be avoided.
+
+In cases of obstinate inclination to masturbate, all kinds of local
+measures have been recommended to prevent manipulation and artificial
+stimulation of the penis or the vulva. But speaking generally, no great
+reliance can be placed in any of these local measures. Moreover, casual
+local stimulation, especially towards the end of the second period of
+childhood, has no very profound etiological significance. The chief
+stimuli giving rise to reflex excitement of the genital organs are of an
+organic nature, and are therefore but little influenced by external
+measures. Besides, the fact that among races who never wear breeches,
+the boys masturbate freely, and perhaps even more freely than do boys in
+Europe, proves that such external stimuli as the pressure exercised by
+breeches on the genital organs play no decisive part in the causation of
+masturbation.
+
+I purposely refrain from further reference here to such measures as a
+methodical "hardening" by hydrotherapeutic procedures, and the like. In
+special text-books, whether upon masturbation, or upon hydrotherapeutics,
+ample information will be found about these matters.
+
+The suggestion has also been made that from the sexual outlook the diet
+of children is a matter worthy of the most earnest attention. Nothing
+should be given to the child which may exert a sexually stimulating
+effect; especially we must avoid giving heavy foods late in the evening.
+More detailed directions are also given as to the use of particular
+kinds of food, some of which may be consecrated by tradition, and yet
+seem to have but small reasonable foundation. To this category belong
+the prohibition or limitation of flesh-foods, and the prohibition of
+asparagus, celery, and other articles of diet. There is no proof that
+such things have a stimulating influence upon the sexual impulse, either
+in children or in adults. We might more readily incline to believe that
+certain spices may have such an influence; but even as regards these, no
+great anxiety need be felt. As regards alcohol, many maintain it has an
+exciting influence upon the sexual life, and thus gives rise to all
+kinds of excesses. This is true of a good many cases, but the rule is by
+no means so general as is commonly assumed. I recall that in my own
+student days we often classified the students into two groups, the
+alcoholic and the sexual; those of the former group spent their money
+upon alcohol, those of the latter group upon women. My own experience of
+these days certainly leads me to dispute the assertion that those
+addicted to alcohol are generally more inclined than others to
+indiscriminate sexual intercourse. But this reservation is necessary,
+that at that time actual abstainers were almost unknown among the
+students, and we classified in the alcoholic group those who consumed
+very large quantities of alcohol; whilst the members of the sexual group
+certainly also consumed alcohol, though not very much. Beyond question,
+the common belief that there is an association between the free use of
+alcohol and sexual excesses is one which lacks foundation. This view is
+to too great an extent based upon criminal statistics, and upon the
+records of the perversions to which the sexual perverts among alcoholics
+have been inclined. But think of the countless normal persons in whom
+the enjoyment of alcohol induces no tendency to sexual excesses; and, on
+the other hand, abstainers from alcohol have been personally known to me
+whom no one could venture to call moderate in their sexual relations.
+But although I make all these reservations with regard to the effects of
+the use of alcohol by adults, I am in full accord with the view that the
+use of alcohol should be prohibited to children. Alcohol cannot do any
+good to children, and the possibility that in individual instances it
+may stimulate the sexual imagination, is one which cannot be denied. But
+this fact does not justify us in advising against the moderate use of
+alcohol by adults.[150]
+
+Passing to consider the general mode of life, we certainly agree with
+Hufeland, who, in his _Makrobiotik_, recommends vigorous bodily
+activity. He contends that children who go to bed at night healthily
+tired out, will not be likely to think of masturbation. In the present
+age of sports and games it will not be found difficult to fulfil this
+indication; and we see as a matter of fact that a great deal of trouble
+is taken to give children every opportunity of keeping in active
+movement. Even in our large towns, in which, owing to the lack of a
+sufficiency of open spaces, great difficulties have arisen in this
+respect, much has of late been done to improve matters. For many years
+past in England special efforts have been made to provide such
+playgrounds for children and adults.
+
+I take this opportunity of drawing attention to a method recommended by
+Féré for the cure of masturbation, which I have myself found of good use
+in several cases, but which appears to be almost entirely unknown. It is
+that the child addicted to masturbation during the night hours should be
+watched by a trustworthy person; every time the child puts its hand to
+its genital organs, or endeavours to stimulate these organs mechanically
+in some other way, the attendant must immediately intervene, and draw
+the hands from beneath the bed-clothing. This plan may be adopted
+whether the child masturbates while asleep or while awake. But good can
+be expected from the method above all in those cases in which the child
+masturbates during sleep, and in which it commonly wakes up directly it
+is interfered with. In most cases the children treated in this way soon
+give up the practice of masturbation, even though the evil is of long
+standing. But it will be advisable to continue to supervise the child
+for some time after a cure has apparently been effected, lest what may
+have become a nervous automatism should be resumed after a brief
+intermission. The chief difficulty in the practical application of this
+method lies in the choice of a trustworthy person to watch the child. As
+a rule, the mother will be the most suitable, but now and again we shall
+find a hired nurse to whom this extremely difficult task may safely be
+entrusted. In a number of cases with which I have had to deal, I have
+recommended the mother to undertake the duty herself, because she seemed
+to me the most trustworthy person available. But it is a very
+regrettable fact that many mothers are altogether unwilling to make the
+necessary sacrifice for their child's good; and most of them are quite
+ready to believe that some woman whom they can hire for a few shillings
+a night will perform the duty which they themselves as mothers have
+renounced. Such lack of proper feeling is especially common among those
+who belong to what are termed the upper classes of society--to the
+aristocracy whether of birth or of wealth--whereas among the middle
+classes I have found mothers far more ready to make the necessary
+sacrifices.
+
+
+In sexual education, the sexual perversions must receive especial
+attention. I must first of all refer again to two matters, of which some
+account has previously been given: the influencing of congenital inborn
+tendencies; and the undifferentiated sexual impulse. As regards the
+former, we have to take the following data into consideration. The fact
+that the indications lead us to believe that a particular sexual
+perversion is inborn, need not induce us to think there is no hope of
+counteracting this perversion by well-planned educational influences. I
+have already written at considerable length about the undifferentiated
+sexual impulse, and have shown that perverse manifestations during the
+period of the undifferentiated sexual impulse do not prove that a
+permanent perversion has developed. But everything possible should be
+done to guard against the further development of any such perverse mode
+of sexual sensibility, including sexual qualities in the wider sense of
+the term. We know, for example, that many homosexual men have a tendency
+to dress in girls' clothing, and many homosexual women to go about in
+men's clothing, and, in both cases, to adopt the inclinations and
+occupations of the opposite sex. During the period of the
+undifferentiated sexual impulse, we must not attach too much importance
+to the appearance of inclinations of this kind; but it would be equally
+erroneous to ignore them altogether. Boys who adopt a girlish behaviour,
+should not be encouraged in doing so by treating the matter as a joke.
+If a boy frequently dresses up as a girl, or a girl as a boy, and if we
+observe between two boys, or between two girls, an unduly intimate
+friendship at an age which corresponds to the period of the
+undifferentiated sexual impulse, it will be as well to modify the
+children's education accordingly. A girl with such inclinations should,
+for example, be thrown as much as possible into the society of lads of
+an appropriate age. In the case of those who are still quite young,
+there is no doubt that by the proper measures we can in part check the
+development of perverse manifestations, and in part completely repress
+them; notwithstanding the fact that interested agitators, whose
+principal aim is to secure the repeal of Section 175 of the German
+Imperial Criminal Code, maintain the contrary, and assert that
+homosexual tendencies appearing in the child necessarily indicate the
+future development of permanent homosexuality. Parents, tutors,
+schoolmasters, and physicians, must not allow themselves to be led
+astray by these agitators, who falsify the data of science. In the
+interest of truth, in the interest of the children endangered by these
+perversions, and in the interest of civilisation, these misstatements
+must be contradicted.
+
+The chief danger associated with the appearance of sexual perversions
+lies in the fact that the child thus affected, whether boy or girl,
+endeavours again and ever again to revive these pleasurably-toned
+sensations; and above all in the fact that as soon as the genital organs
+are sufficiently mature, the boy or girl obtains sexual gratification
+by masturbating simultaneously with the imaginative contemplation of
+perverse ideas. Such perverse psychical onanism, accompanied or
+unaccompanied by physical masturbatory acts, is eminently adapted to
+favour the development of the perversion. Obviously, the actual
+performance of the corresponding perverse sexual act will be just as
+dangerous as is perversely associated masturbation. Thus, a boy who is
+homosexually inclined may masturbate while allowing his imagination to
+run riot upon homosexual ideas; or he may take to homosexual acts with
+one or more other male persons. Every sort of gratification that is
+associated with perverse images, is dangerous; and no less dangerous is
+the spontaneous cultivation of such perverse sexual images.
+
+A very real and serious danger to children is to be found in my opinion
+in the risk of the progressive cultivation of homosexuality, if they
+become victims of a pædophile. The adult homosexual will sometimes
+conceal a perverse inclination directed towards children under the cloak
+of friendship or of an educational interest. I have previously referred
+to the danger that the child, at a time of life when its own sexual
+impulse is still undifferentiated, may sometimes reciprocate such a
+feeling. When I recall the light-heartedness with which homosexual males
+have acknowledged to me their experiences of sexual intercourse with
+apprentice-boys, and with pupils attending the higher forms of our
+secondary schools, and when I think of the readiness with which
+homosexual women seek opportunities of sexual intercourse with immature
+or partially mature girls, it seems to me that there are good grounds
+for the utterance of an urgent warning. My experiences in this
+department further lead me to believe that if Section 175 of the German
+Imperial Criminal Code is to be repealed, a further alteration in the
+Code will also be indispensable, namely, that the Age of Protection
+(_Schutzalter_--equivalent to the _Age of Consent_ in the English
+Criminal Law Amendment Act) should be raised to the completion of the
+eighteenth year, and that the protection should apply, not merely to the
+actions now specified in Section 175 as "unnatural vice," but to all
+acts of sexual impropriety in the widest sense of the term. Recently
+this proposal has been approved by a resolution of the Reichstag.[151]
+
+There are certain additional points about which it is unnecessary to
+write here, for the reason that these have all been considered in some
+appropriate connexion earlier in this book. For example, I have insisted
+upon the importance of anyone who possesses children's confidence taking
+steps for the removal of corrupted children from the environment of
+uncorrupted ones.
+
+Where we have reason to believe, in the case of a particular child, that
+a perverse mode of sexual sensibility is developing, we shall
+occasionally find it preferable rather to attempt to hinder the growth
+of the perversion, than to try to check the general manifestations of
+the sexual impulse. Thus, in the case of a boy of fourteen, who is
+continually affected with homosexual imaginings, we shall find it far
+more difficult to repress sexual manifestations altogether, than to
+divert the homosexual sensibility into heterosexual channels. If a boy
+affected in this way be thrown much into the society of girls, or
+conversely, a girl into the society of boys (at dances, games of
+lawn-tennis, &c.), the subsequent effect is likely to be good, because
+the sexual pervert, even if his perverse tendency be congenital, can
+nevertheless be educated out of his perversion. It should hardly be
+necessary to state expressly, that when I speak of finding for the
+homosexual associates of the opposite sex, I am not thinking of
+suggesting intimate sexual intercourse. Apart from moral considerations,
+we could not, in the cases under consideration, expect any benefit to
+accrue on medical grounds; my reference was to a purely platonic
+association.
+
+No one need suggest that all these recommendations are superfluous, for
+the reason that, according to my own previous account of the matter, the
+undifferentiated condition of the sexual impulse is spontaneously
+replaced by the normal heterosexual impulse. For, first of all, the
+signs that give rise to anxiety may not be manifestations of the
+undifferentiated sexual impulse, but may be the first manifestations of
+a developing congenital perversion; and, secondly, it is by no means
+improbable that, even in the entire absence of any congenital tendency
+to sexual perversion, unfavourable external conditions may lead to the
+further development of the perverse manifestations of the
+undifferentiated period. I may refer in this connexion to what was said
+upon p. 312 _et seq._
+
+It is necessary to refer at length to one additional educational method
+which plays a very important part in sexual development, namely,
+punishment. The sexual perversions known by the names of sadism and
+masochism have of late attracted much attention from students of the
+sexual life. In sadism, sexual excitement occurs in association with the
+infliction of ill-treatment, humiliation, or pain upon others; in
+masochism the sexual excitement results from the experience of such
+ill-treatment, humiliation, or pain by the masochist in person. But in
+sadism, it is not essential that the sadist should himself play the
+active part; very often, the maltreatment by a second person of a third
+suffices to cause sexual excitement in the sadist who looks on.
+Masochistic and sadistic modes of sensibility are frequently associated
+in the same individual. As far as the relationship of these perversions
+to punishment is concerned, we learn from many adult masochists and
+sadists that their first experience of sexual excitement occurred when
+as children they received a whipping, or saw another child whipped--at
+school, for instance. The oft-quoted case of Rousseau has previously
+been mentioned in this work. It is thus evident that the subject of the
+punishment of children needs to be considered, not merely from the
+general educational point of view, but also from the special outlook of
+sexual education. The principal question is whether as a result of
+corporal punishment, either personally experienced or witnessed, an
+enduring sexual perversion may be induced in a child; and this problem
+must be carefully distinguished from another problem, which, however, is
+also of very great importance, namely, that of the sexual excitement
+which may be experienced by the person who inflicts the punishment. The
+significance of the materials available to guide us to a conclusion
+upon these questions, is not, however, perfectly clear in all cases. I
+may refer to what was said upon p. 130 _et seq._; and will here merely
+add that the question whether the infliction of corporal punishment
+really originates a perversion in the sufferer, or whether it merely
+awakens to activity a pre-existent tendency, and one which, in the
+absence of this particular exciting cause, would almost certainly have
+been awakened by some other and unavoidable cause, some influence acting
+from without--this is a question to which conflicting answers have been
+given.
+
+But corporal punishment entails other dangers, in addition to the risk
+of the origination or the awakening of a sexual perversion. Certain
+children, having experienced sexual stimulation as a result of such
+punishment, will endeavour to secure its repetition. I have known cases
+in which sexual perverts have deliberately misconducted themselves in
+school, in order to be punished, and thus to enjoy voluptuous
+sensations. Finally, there is a third danger to be taken into account,
+and this is a danger of whose reality I have been convinced by the
+direct confessions of schoolmasters and schoolmistresses, that they have
+struck their pupils for the purpose of thereby enjoying sexual
+stimulation. Even if no such admissions had ever been made to me, I
+should have regarded it as by no means improbable that such incidents
+should from time to time occur. Let no reader draw the inference that
+whenever a master chastises a naughty boy, he acts always under the
+influence of a sadistic inclination; I do not even consider that
+sadistic inclinations are a frequent cause of the infliction of corporal
+chastisement. The danger of such sweeping generalisations is obvious,
+especially in view of the fact that to-day many children, even, know
+what sadism is. Hence a schoolboy who has been punished might readily
+attribute sadistic motives to his master; and might even make a definite
+accusation of this kind.
+
+When we come to ask what practical conclusions may be drawn from our
+recognition of the relationships between corporal punishment and sexual
+perversions, the first point that occurs to our minds is to consider
+whether the corporal punishments which may possibly give rise to such
+perverse stimulations are in fact absolutely indispensable. Although in
+this matter I find myself in opposition to a great many physicians and
+to not a few educationalists, I remain of the opinion that we cannot
+propose to do away altogether with corporal punishments in our schools;
+at any rate, such punishment remains, I consider, essential, so long as
+certain other reforms are still wanting. Among the reforms which are
+indispensable preliminaries to the complete abolition of corporal
+punishment, is one giving a greater power to expel insolent and
+undisciplined boys. Not until such a power is granted can corporal
+punishments be abolished from our schools. For a flogging is oftentimes
+the only punishment of which a rough and ill-conditioned boy is afraid.
+Moreover, and altogether apart from this consideration, the discipline
+of our schools is to-day endangered in various ways: for instance, by
+public disquisitions about overwork in schools; by the conduct of many
+parents, who prejudice their children against the schools in a most
+indiscreet manner; and by attacks in the newspapers on the
+schoolmasters--attacks which are often unfair and inconsiderate.
+Further, the recent widely advertised public pronouncements against the
+right of the schoolmaster to inflict corporal punishment, are hardly
+calculated to strengthen the discipline of our schools, or to assist the
+masters in the performance of what must be at best extremely difficult
+duties. So long, therefore, as we lack the safeguard to discipline that
+would be provided by extensive powers of expelling undesirables, I
+consider that corporal punishment is essential to the discipline of our
+schools.
+
+Unquestionably it would be a good thing if we could entirely dispense
+with the use of corporal punishments, or at least dispense with them in
+all cases in which there might be any possibility of their doing harm,
+as by giving rise to sexual stimulation. But unfortunately we have no
+means of ascertaining beforehand what are the cases in which corporal
+punishment is likely to do harm. There is no possibility of withholding
+the right to inflict corporal punishment from those masters in especial
+who might use it to gratify their own sexual passions--if only for the
+reason that we have no means of finding out who these persons are. For
+it is not the masters with free views about sexual questions who are
+especially open to suspicion from the point of view we are now
+considering; nor is it the masters who are morally defective or
+irreligious. Indeed, I am acquainted with some extremely pious
+schoolmasters who, according to their own admissions to me, have
+experienced sexual excitement when chastising children; and some of
+these have in other respects had admirable characters. Cases recorded,
+not merely in erotic literature, but also in historical literature, show
+that religion affords no safeguard against such temptations; we learn,
+for instance, that in the cloister, monks and nuns have utilised their
+right to inflict punishment in order to procure sexual excitement. For
+these reasons, it is inadmissible to infer, because a schoolmaster is a
+religious man, that therefore he is the one to whom the right to inflict
+corporal punishment may safely be entrusted.
+
+The danger of an excessive use of powers of administering corporal
+punishment, and more especially the danger of awakening the sexuality of
+children prematurely and with perverse associations, may be minimised by
+the proper treatment of schoolmasters. We must not treat our
+schoolmasters in such a way that behind them they always feel the
+presence of the inspector, compelling them to force the pupils through
+the prescribed, but excessive tasks. Nor must the schoolmaster's own
+work be excessive, for nervous overstrain will very readily lead to
+outbreaks of violence. It seems also desirable that the right of
+administering corporal punishment should not be entrusted to masters who
+are still quite young, for a certain experience is needed to guide them
+to a reasonable moderation. What I have said of schoolmasters applies,
+_mutatis mutandis_, to schoolmistresses and governesses. There are many
+reasons for the belief that the danger that the right to inflict
+corporal punishment may be utilised to procure erotic excitement for the
+person exercising that right, is considerably greater in women than it
+is in men. Even if we take no notice of erotic literature, in which
+sadism in women manifested by the mishandling of children is so frequent
+a _motif_, we shall find quite a number of experiences of actual life
+which compel us to admit the frequency of such perverse sensibilities in
+women. Among various records bearing upon this matter, I may remind
+readers of those of the upper class women of ancient Rome, and of the
+horrible punishments they inflicted upon their female slaves; and also
+of American women of the slave-owning class, in the South before the
+war, who sometimes flogged young male slaves in the most terrible way.
+
+Whether this matter is regarded as one of great or of small importance,
+it is as well to inquire whether it is not possible that the necessary
+disciplinary punishment should be inflicted in such a way as to reduce
+to a minimum any dangers from the sexual point of view. Now, we learn
+from experience, that when a perversion is traced back to its
+origination in a chastisement endured during childhood, this
+chastisement was as a rule the customary whipping of the buttocks. Far
+less frequently, and indeed hardly ever, are we told that any other form
+of punishment has initiated a sexual perversion. This may, of course,
+depend merely upon the fact that other modes of punishment are far less
+common. But there are many reasons for supposing that stimulation of the
+buttock is especially apt to induce sexual excitement. It is possible,
+also, that another factor is in operation here, namely, the fact that
+the child undergoing punishment is commonly placed across the elder's
+knees in such a way that _pressure upon the child's genital organs_ is
+almost unavoidable. Moreover, when we bear in mind the fact that other
+methods of chastisement may involve dangers to health (boxing the ears,
+for instance, may threaten the integrity of the sense of hearing), the
+question which is the best method of corporal punishment becomes a very
+serious one. I have myself elsewhere expressed the opinion that as far
+as the possible effects on health are concerned, and especially from the
+point of view of sexual hygiene, blows upon the palm of the hand perhaps
+constitute the least dangerous form of corporal punishment. But I by no
+means suppose that even here danger is altogether excluded, or that no
+sexual stimulation can possibly ensue from such chastisement. For the
+local physical stimulation is not the only matter we have to consider in
+connexion with a whipping upon the buttocks. In quite a number of cases
+in which we are told that some experience during childhood has been the
+initiating cause of subsequent masochism or sadism, there has been no
+question of purely physical causation, as by a whipping upon the
+buttocks. I may recall the case in which sexual perversion appeared to
+have developed out of witnessing the slaughter of animals, so that the
+only stimulus acting upon this child belonged to the psychical sphere.
+The cases, also, in which a child refers the origin of his perversion to
+having looked on at a whipping (in school, for instance) show that such
+perversions are not only aroused by mechanical stimuli, but may depend
+also upon psychological factors. For these reasons I consider that we
+are not justified in assuming, if whipping upon the buttocks were
+altogether done away with, and if blows upon the palm of the hand became
+the only permissible form of corporal punishment, that permanent sexual
+perversions would then become impossible. With further reference to what
+I have said above about discipline in schools, I may add that the kernel
+of the problem is this: is the probability that corporal punishment will
+lead to permanent sexual perversion, or will induce sexual excitement,
+sufficiently great, to render it necessary that corporal punishment
+should be completely abolished from our schools, so long as our
+schoolmasters possess no other adequate means of making certain of their
+pupils observe the discipline of the school? It is unconditionally
+necessary that the discipline of our schools should be maintained; and
+those who are unreservedly opposed to corporal punishment in all its
+forms should make it their business to see that some other adequate
+means are provided for the maintenance of school-discipline. However
+strongly we may feel that it is essential that there should be no abuse
+by schoolmasters of their right to administer corporal punishment, none
+the less, even in this "Century of the Child," we need safeguards also
+against the abuse of sentimentality.
+
+
+In this chapter I have attempted to deal with a few only of the problems
+of sexual education. To discuss the subject exhaustively would have been
+impossible within the limits of this book; nor have I endeavoured to
+take into consideration the enormous mass of literature relating to the
+modern movement in favour of the sexual enlightenment. I have made no
+reference to the fact that it has recently been recommended that every
+girl should spend a year of service [_Dienstjahr_--analogous to the term
+of military service obligatory on all males in Germany] in hospitals,
+asylums, &c., whereby she would gain enlightenment concerning many
+things which will be of value to her in her subsequent married life. All
+such proposals are so much matters of detail, that I have thought it
+inadvisable to discuss them here.
+
+The most important requirement of all is certainly a good educator--a
+word used here in the widest possible signification. The best of all
+educators for the child should be its own mother; although we may agree
+with the assertion recently made by Eschle[152] and others, that the
+father has important duties to fulfil as instructor, even during the
+child's first year of life. Nevertheless, the father, even if his
+professional training gives him especial skill in these directions, is
+not really likely to do very much in the educational way for his infant
+offspring. It is to the mother, above all, that the care of infants and
+young children is of necessity entrusted. We have, however, to remember
+that a large proportion of mothers, especially those belonging to the
+ranks of the proletariat, take part in the work of breadwinning for the
+family, and are thus prevented from giving as much attention to their
+children as might be wished. But in the families of the well-to-do there
+is often no question of the mother herself playing the principal part in
+the education of her children, since it is customary for her to depute
+so many of her maternal duties to hired substitutes. It has recently
+been maintained that it is to the Woman's Movement that we owe the fact
+that the question of the sexual enlightenment has now become a live one;
+but this is certainly an overstatement, though it is not to be denied
+that women have had some influence in this direction. But if the women
+who play a prominent part in the Woman's Movement would do more than
+they have done as yet to impress upon the women of the well-to-do
+classes an understanding of their duties towards their children, they
+would certainly be doing excellent work. No paid substitute can
+adequately replace for the child the benefits it will derive if its
+mother herself does all that she could and should do. A mother who
+seriously devotes herself to the care of her child, need have no anxiety
+about the risks of its being misused by others for sexual purposes. Such
+a mother keeps herself fully acquainted with her child's sentiments. She
+is in a position to choose the best moment for effecting the child's
+sexual enlightenment, and she can best judge when the use of the stork
+story is no longer justified. Of such a mother, a child far more readily
+makes a confidant. Moreover, if the mother devotes a great deal of time
+and pains to the personal care of her child, this has, in the case of a
+boy, the great advantage of inculcating a greater respect for the female
+sex in general than is apt to be found in boys to-day. I consider this
+last-mentioned point to be one of the utmost importance in relation to
+the sexual enlightenment, for only in such a way can the boy when grown
+to manhood be led instinctively to refrain from the seduction of
+girls--with all the misery which such a course usually involves for the
+victims. Similarly, a young man brought up to respect women will refrain
+from making a mock of pregnancy, whether "legitimate" or "illegitimate."
+When we see a young woman bearing a new life in her womb, owing her
+position it may be to all the subtle arts of the seducer, and note how
+cruelly she is treated by the law and what scorn and contempt are poured
+upon her by society and by the individual, we cannot fail to welcome
+most heartily the movement for the Protection of Motherhood
+(_Mutterschutzbewegung_) which has recently made such progress in
+Germany. When children are properly educated, there is reason to hope
+that sexual matters will be less often treated in an obscene spirit than
+is the case to-day. Nor need we fear, when such education becomes the
+rule, that every allusion to sexual things may involve dangers to the
+child. Precisely because the sexual life will then be known to the child
+in a natural way, will there be less reason to dread the deliberate
+cultivation by children of sexual topics of conversation. When at school
+the love adventures of Mars and Venus are the subject of the lesson, in
+children thus educated no unclean thoughts need arise. It must never be
+forgotten, however, that when the imagination has been perverted,
+opportunities for unclean thoughts recur with extraordinary frequency;
+and indeed by no means whatever can such opportunities be altogether
+avoided. Since this is so, we must strengthen the child against the
+dangers it will inevitably encounter, and must be careful not to pervert
+its imagination by a false prudery.
+
+Of course we must avoid leading the child to dwell too much upon sexual
+topics, and fortunately human beings have numerous other interests. The
+sphere of the sexual must be regarded as a fraction merely of the
+general educational field. The inculcation of true ideas of morality,
+and of a sense of honour not confined to externals but one by which the
+entire being is permeated--these will be the safest essentials of a good
+sexual and general education.
+
+
+[1] _Infancy_ appears to be the best English term to represent
+the German _Sänglingsalter_, literally "age of suckling." It is
+true that the _legal_ denotation of the term _infancy_ is "the
+period from a person's birth to the attainment of the age of
+twenty-one years," but in common speech an _infant_ is "a child
+during the first two or three years of life," whilst writers on
+_infant mortality_ restrict the term to the sense employed in the
+text. Thus Newman, in _The Health of the State_ (p. 108), writes:
+"Infants are children under twelve months of age."--TRANSLATOR'S
+NOTE.
+
+[2] _Involuntary Sexual Orgasm._--This is a very cumbrous
+rendering of the German _Pollution_. In English we greatly need a
+general term, first, to denote all involuntary emissions of
+semen, whether nocturnal or diurnal; and, secondly, to denote
+involuntary sexual orgasm in the female as well as in the male.
+In the case of the female, the term "seminal emission" is
+inapplicable; but the term "pollution" may be applied in English
+(as it is in German) to such phenomena in either sex. By American
+writers the term "pollution" is now generally used (_e.g._,
+Allen, "Disorders of the Male Sexual Organs," _Twentieth Century
+Practice_, vol. vii. p. 612 _et seq._). My first inclination,
+therefore, was to adopt the rendering "pollution" in this
+translation. But this word inevitably connotes the ideas of
+physical uncleanness and moral defilement, and its use would thus
+assist the survival of medieval ideas of the essentially corrupt
+nature of sexual passion--such ideas as are exemplified by the
+quaint survival among certain "occultists" of the medieval
+doctrine of _incubi_ and _succubi_, by the belief that sexual
+dreams are induced by the "thought-forms" of other persons
+tormented by ungratified sexual desire! For this reason I have
+not attempted to acclimatise the word "pollution" in this
+country.--TRANSLATOR'S NOTE.
+
+[3] _L'Hygiène sexuelle_, Paris, 1895, p. 27.
+
+[4] Thalhofer, _Die Sexuelle Pädagogik bei den Philanthropen_,
+Kempten, 1907.
+
+[5] Rudeck, _Die Liebe_ (Leipzig, undated), p. 158.
+
+[6] Groos, _Die Spiele der Tiere_ (_The Games of Animals_), Jena,
+1896.
+
+[7] See a translation by Dr. Brill, of New York, of Freud's
+_Selected Papers on Hysteria and other Psychoneuroses_ (1909).
+
+[8] _Die Störungen der Geschlechtsfunctionen des Mannes_ (_The
+Disturbances of the Male Sexual Functions_), 2nd ed., Vienna,
+1901, p. 8.
+
+[9] Otto Adler, _Die mangelhafte Geschlechtsempfindung des
+Weibes_ (_Inadequacy of Sexual Sensation in Woman_), Berlin,
+1904, p. 54 _et seq._
+
+[10] Marthe Francillon, _Essai sur la Puberté chez la Femme_,
+Paris, 1906.
+
+[11] _Man and Woman_, 4th ed., London, 1904.
+
+[12] _Der Körper des Kindes_ (_The Body of the Child_),
+Stuttgart, 1903.
+
+[13] Halban, _Die Entstehung des Geschlechtscharakters_ (_The
+Origin of Sexual Differentiation_), Archiv für Gynäkologie, vol.
+lxx., Heft 2. p. 268.
+
+[14] _Man and Woman_, London.
+
+[15] _Weib und Mann_, Berlin, 1897, p, 116.
+
+[16] Meumann, _Vorlesungen zur Einführung in die experimentelle
+Pädagogik und ihre psychologische Grundlagen_ (_Introductory
+Lectures on Experimental Pedagogy and its Psychological Basis_),
+Leipzig, 1907, vol. i. p. 145.
+
+[17] _Zeitschrift für Psychologie_, Leipzig, 1906, p. 384.
+
+[18] _Geschlecht und Krankheit_ (_Sex and Disease_), Halle, 1903.
+
+[19] _Die Hysterie im Kindesalter_ (_Hysteria in Childhood_), 2nd
+ed., Halle, 1906.
+
+[20] _Die Hysterie des Kindes_ (_Hysteria in the Child_), p. 8,
+Berlin, 1905.
+
+[21] _Vorlesungen über Störungen der Sprache_ (_Lectures on
+Disturbances of Speech_), p. 105. Berlin, 1893.
+
+[22] _Hautkrankheiten und Sexualität_ (_Diseases of the Skin in
+Relation to Sex_). Reprinted from the _Wiener Klinik_, 1906.
+
+[23] William Douglas Morrison, _Jugendliche Uebeltäter_
+(_Youthful Delinquents_), p. 28. Leipzig, 1899.
+
+[24] _Die Seele des Kindes_ (_The Soul of the Child_) p. 147, 4th
+ed., Leipzig, 1895.
+
+[25] Although in various other parts of this book I draw
+attention to the fact that the sexual processes of childhood
+described by me are not to be witnessed in every child, but that
+on the contrary there are many children in whom such sexual
+phenomena are by no means to be observed, I take this additional
+opportunity of stating categorically that erections naturally
+occur in children less frequently than in adults; they are in
+fact notably less common in the former, but nevertheless erection
+is not, in my opinion, a pathological manifestation even in very
+early childhood. The comparatively slight capacity for erection
+possessed by children, as compared with adults, is, for example,
+shown by the fact to which Jullien draws attention, in his work
+_Seltenere und weniger bekannte Tripperformen_ (_Rare and Little
+Known Forms of Gonorrhoea_), Vienna and Leipzig, 1907, that the
+painful erections (chordee) which so commonly accompany
+gonorrhoea in adults, are very rare indeed in the case of
+gonorrhoea in children, and even in the case of older children
+are hardly ever observed.
+
+[26] _Op. cit._, p. 8.
+
+[27] _The Hygiene of Love._
+
+[28] _Lehrbuch der Gerichtlichen Medizin_ (_Text-book of Forensic
+Medicine_), p. 58, 7th ed., Vienna, 1895.
+
+[29] Pauli Zacchiae, _Quaestiones Medico-Legales_, lib. i, p. 26,
+Lipsiæ, 1630.
+
+[30] _Lehrbuch der Gerichtlichen Medizin_ (_Text-book of Forensic
+Medicine_), p. 64, Stuttgart, 1895.
+
+[31] In the next chapter I shall describe certain analogous
+pathological processes.
+
+[32] _Handbuch der Eingeweidelehre_ (_Handbook of
+Splanchnology_), 2nd ed., Brunswick, 1873.
+
+[33] German, _Kitzelgefühl_. In German, the word _Kitzel_
+signifies both _itching_ and _tickling_ and is likewise used to
+denote both _sexual desire_ and _sexual gratification_. Consult
+my note "Itching, Ticking, and Sexual Sensibility," in the
+English edition of Bloch's _The Sexual Life of Our Time_, pp. 43,
+44.--TRANSLATOR.
+
+[34] "Zur Psychologie der Vita Sexualis" ("Contributions to the
+Psychology of the Sexual Life"), _Zeitschrift für Psychiatrie_,
+vol. 1.
+
+[35] Compare Mrs. Browning's graceful treatment of a young girl's
+imaginings, in her well-known poem, "The Romance of a Swan's
+Nest."
+
+  "Little Ellie sits alone
+   . . . . .
+  While she thinks what shall be done,
+     And the sweetest pleasure chooses
+         For her future within reach.
+
+  Little Ellie in her smile
+     Chooses, 'I will have a lover
+        Riding on a steed of steeds:
+  He shall love me without guile,
+  . . . . .
+  And the steed shall be red-roan,
+     And the lover shall be noble,
+        With an eye that takes the breath:
+  And the lute he plays upon
+     Shall strike ladies into trouble,
+        As his sword strikes men to death.'
+  . . . . .
+
+And later, little Ellie imagines her lover kneeling at her knee
+to tell her--
+
+  'I am a duke's eldest son,
+       Thousand serfs do call me master,
+          But, O love, I love but _thee_!'"
+
+  --TRANSLATOR'S NOTE.
+
+[36] Mantegaaza, _Fisiologia del Amore_.
+
+[37] "Précocité et Impuissance Sexuelle," _Annales des Maladies
+des Organes Génito-Urinaires_, vol. i. No. 2, 1906.
+
+[38] By _masturbation_ or _onanism_ I understand the artificial
+mechanical stimulation of the genital organs. Etymologically and
+strictly, onanism denotes coitus interruptus (Gen. xxxviii. 9);
+masturbation (manustupration), artificial stimulation of the
+genital organs with the hand.
+
+[39] _Drei Abhandlungen zur Sexualtheorie_, p. 41, Leipzig, 1905.
+For reference to English translation, see footnote to p. 14.
+
+[40] _Dreissig Jahre Praxis_, Part I. p. 306, Vienna, 1873.
+
+[41] _Nervöse Angstzustände und ihre Behandlung_, Berlin, 1908.
+
+[42] See note to page 3.
+
+[43] Translated from the German edition of the _Memoirs of Madame
+Roland_, Part I., p. 82 _et seq._, Belle-Vue, near Constance,
+1844 (_Bibliothek ausgewählter Memoiren des XVIII. und XIX.
+Jahrhunderts_, berausgegeben von F. E. Pipitz and G. Fink).
+
+[44] _The Introduction to a Devout Life_, by St. Francis of
+Sales, published early in the seventeenth century.
+
+[45] _Die Spiele der Tiere_ (_The Games of Animals_), Jena, 1895,
+p. 255 _et seq._
+
+[46] Moll, _Untersuchungen über die Libido Sexualis_, Berlin,
+1897, p. 374.
+
+[47] "Die Entstehung der Geschlechtscharaktere" ("The Origin of
+the Sexual Characters"), _Archiv für Gynäkologie_, Berlin, 1903,
+vol. lxx.
+
+[48] Gall maintained that as a result of castration the
+development of the cerebellum was hindered, and that this failure
+of development could be detected by external examination of the
+occipital region.
+
+[49] Jastrowitz, _Einiges über das Physiologische und über die
+aussergewöhnlichen Handlungen im Liebesleben der Menschen_
+(_Physiological Considerations regarding the Amatory Life of
+Mankind, and regarding certain unusual Features of that Life_),
+p. 16 _et seq._, Leipzig, 1904.
+
+[50] Ancel et Bouin, "Insuffisance spermatique et Insuffisance
+diastématique," _La Presse Médicale_, January 13th, 1906.
+
+[51] The quotation in the German original, from the German poet
+Storm, would have lost life and spirit in any translation
+possible to me. I have therefore replaced it by an appropriate
+quotation from Longfellow.--TRANSLATOR'S NOTE.
+
+[52] In the German language the word _castration_ is used of both
+sexes; _i.e._, it signifies removal of the ovaries as well as
+removal of testicles.--TRANSLATOR'S NOTE.
+
+[53] A record of such cases will be found in the article on
+"Menstruation," p. 700 of the _Dictionnaire des Sciences
+Médicales_, Dechambre, Paris, 1873.
+
+[54] Kisch, _The Sexual Life of Woman_, pp. 79-80, English
+translation by M. Eden Paul; Rebman, London, 1910.
+
+[55] _Traité de Physiologie_, vol. i. p. 260, Paris, 1869.
+
+[56] The reference will be found in the _Jahresbericht über die
+Leistungen und Fortschritte auf dem Gebiete der Erkrankungen des
+Urogenitalapparates_, second year of issue, Berlin, 1907.
+
+[57] _Untersuchungen über die Libido Sexualis_ (_Researches into
+the Nature of the Sexual Impulse_), Berlin, 1897, chap, iii.
+
+[58] Paris, 1883, vol. i, p. 91.
+
+[59] S. Hall, "The Early Sense of Self," _Am. Journ. of Psych._,
+April 1898.
+
+[60] _Sexualbiologie_, Berlin, 1907, p. 48 _et seq._
+
+[61] _Union médicale_, May 1877.
+
+[62] _Psychopathologie légale_, Paris, 1903, vol. ii. p. 169.
+
+[63] Havelock Ellis, _Studies in the Psychology of Sex_, vol. v.,
+"Erotic Symbolism, &c.," p. 53 _et. seq._
+
+[64] "The Early Sense of Self," _American Journal of Psychology_,
+April 1898, p. 361.
+
+[65] Moll, _Die konträre Sexualempfindung_, Case 20, 3rd ed.,
+Berlin, 1898.
+
+[66] Neugebauer, _Hermaphroditismus beim Menschen_
+(_Hermaphroditism in the Human Species_), Leipzig, 1908.
+
+[67] _L'Hygiène sexuelle et ses Conséquences morales_, p. 26,
+Paris, 1895.
+
+[68] Jacobus X----, _Lois Génitales_, p. 16, Paris, 1906.
+
+[69] Albert Moll, _Untersuchungen über die Libido Sexualis_
+(_Studies concerning the Sexual Impulse_), p. 256 _et. seq._,
+Berlin, 1897.
+
+[70] _Émile_ (at the beginning of Book IV.).
+
+[71] _Magister Laukhards Leben und Schicksale, von ihm selbst
+beschrieben, bearbeitet von Viktor Petersen_ (_The Life and
+Fortunes of Master Laukhard, described in his own words, and
+edited by Viktor Petersen_), vol. i. p. 15, Stuttgart, 1908.
+
+[72] _Monsieur Nicolas_, vol. i. p. 51, Paris (Liseux), 1884.
+
+[73] _Kinderleben in der deutschen Vergangenheit_ (_Child Life in
+Old Germany_), p. 112, Leipzig, 1900.
+
+[74] _Die geschlechtlich-sittlichen Verhältnisse der
+evangelischen Landbewohner im Deutschen Reiche, dargestellt auf
+Grund der von der Allgemeinen Konferenz des_ _deutschen
+Sittlichkeitsvereine veranstalteten Umfrage_ (_The State of
+Sexual Morality among the Protestant Inhabitants of the German
+Empire, as shown by an Inquiry instituted by the General
+Conference of the German Societies for the Promotion of Public
+Morals_), vol. ii pp. 562-3, Leipzig, 1897. The collective
+investigation made by Wagner, Wittenberg, and Hückstädt, as a
+part of the inquiry instituted by the General Conference of the
+German Societies for the Promotion of Public Morals, is certainly
+the most exhaustive of which any record at present exists.
+
+[75] _Wie der Geschlechtstrieb des Menschen in Ordnung zu bringen
+usw._ (_How to Control the Human Sexual Impulse, &c._),
+Brunswick, 1791.
+
+[76] _Studies in the Psychology of Sex_, vol. iii.; _Analysis of
+the Sexual Impulse_, pp. 59-60 and footnote, Davis, Philadelphia,
+1908.
+
+[77] _The Sexual Question_, Rebman, London, 1908, pp. 485-86.
+
+[78] _Dreissig Jahre Praxis_ (_Thirty Years of Medical
+Practice_), Würzburg, 1907, p. 305.
+
+[79] Quoted by Havelock Ellis, _Studies in the Psychology of
+Sex_, vol. i., 3rd ed., Davis, Philadelphia, 1910, p. 179. The
+original paper is by C. W. Townsend, "Thigh Friction in Children
+under One Year," Annual Meeting of the American Pediatric
+Society, Montreal, 1896. Five cases are recorded by this writer,
+all in female infants.
+
+[80] Regarding the precise significance of the terms
+_iomasturbation_ and _onanism_, see the author's footnote to page
+87. The adjectives corresponding to those words are respectively
+_masturbatory_ and _onanistic_. By German writers, _onanismus_ or
+_onanie_, and _onanistisch_, are often used where, strictly
+speaking, the words are inapplicable, since reference is made to
+cases in which sexual gratification is obtained by direct
+manipulation. In this translation, I prefer for such cases to use
+the words _masturbation_ (i.e. _manustupration_) and _masturbatory_;
+and to limit the use of the terms _onanism_ and _onanistic_ to cases in
+which no direct use is made of the hand. Where sexual gratification is
+obtained without any mechanical act at all, it to preferable to speak of
+_psychical onanism_, or else to employ the general term introduced by
+Havelock Ellis for the description of all varieties of self-induced
+sexual stimulation and sexual gratification--whether mechanical or
+psychical--viz. _auto-erotism_ (adjectival form, _auto-erotic_). See
+Havelock Ellis, _Studies in the Psychology of Sex_, vol. i., 3rd ed.,
+1910. Part III., "Auto-Erotism: A Study of the Spontaneous
+Manifestations of the Sexual Impulse."--TRANSLATOR'S NOTE.
+
+[81] Kisch. _The Sexual Life of Woman_, English translation by M.
+Eden Paul, Rebman, London, 1910, p. 81.
+
+[82] "Die Entwicklung der Geschlechtscharaktere," _Archiv für
+Gynäkologie_, vol, lxx. p. 239, Berlin, 1903.
+
+[83] Kisch, _The Sexual Life of Woman_, English translation by M.
+Eden Paul, Rebman, London, 1910, p. 82.
+
+[84] _Drei Abhandlungen zur Sexualtheorie_ (_Three Essays on the
+Sexual Question_) p. 36 _et seq._, Leipzig and Vienna. [For
+reference to English translation, see footnote, p. 14.]
+
+[85] _Jahrbuch für Kinderheilkunde_, 1879.
+
+[86] _Die Masturbation_, p. 50, Berlin, 1899.
+
+[87] _L'Hygiène sexuelle_, Paris, 1895, p. 23.
+
+[88] "Die Beziehungen des sexuellen Lebens zur Entstehung von
+Nerven- und Geisteskrankheiten" ("Relationships of the Sexual
+Life to the Causation of Nervous and Mental Diseases"),
+_Münchener Med. Wochenschrift_, No. 37, 1906.
+
+[89] "Quelques mots sur l'onanisme" ("A Few Words on
+Masturbation"), _Annales des maladies des organes
+génito-urinaires_, 1905, No. 8.
+
+[90] "Schülerselbstmorde" ("Suicide during School-Life"),
+_Zeitschrift für pädagogische Psychologie_, April 1907, p. 21 _et
+seq._
+
+[91] _Du Suicide_, 2nd ed., Paris, 1865, p. 139.
+
+[92] For a comprehensive account of these views, see Löwenfeld,
+_Sexualleben und Nervenleiden_ (_The Sexual Life and Nervous
+Diseases_), 4th ed., Wiesbaden, 1906, chap. xiv.
+
+[93] "Das Erleiden sexueller Traumen usw." ("The Ill Effects of
+Sexual Dreams"), _Zentralblatt für Nervenheilkunde_, November 15,
+1907.
+
+[94] _Seltene und weniger bekannte Tripperformen_ (_Rare and
+little-known forms of Gonorrhoea_), German translation by George
+Merzbach, Vienna and Leipzig, 1907.
+
+[95] _La Donna delinquente, la Prostituta e la Donna normale_
+(_Woman as Criminal and Prostitute_), p. 374, Turin, 1893.
+[English readers will find an account of this widely-read book in
+Kureila's _Cesare Lombroso, a Modern Man of Science_, pp. 55-64,
+translated by M. Eden Paul; Rebman, London, 1911--TRANSLATOR'S
+NOTE.]
+
+[96] _Étude médico-légale sur les Attentats aux Moeurs_, p. 31,
+Paris, 1857.
+
+[97] Kisch, _The Sexual Life of Woman_ p. 80, translated by M.
+Eden Paul; Rebman, London, 1910.
+
+[98] _L'Onanisme chez l'homme_, p. 99, 2nd ed, Paris.
+
+[99] _Minorenni Delinquenti_, p. 184, Milan, 1895.
+
+[100] _The Sexual Question_, p. 482 _et seq._, Rebman, London,
+1908.
+
+[101] _Op. cit._, p. 230.
+
+[102] _Delinquenza precoce e senile_, p. 197, Como, 1901.
+
+[103] _Les Enfants menteurs_, Mémoire lu à la Société
+médico-psychologique, séances du 13 et 27 Nov. 1882.
+
+[104] _Handbuch für Untersuchungerichter_ (_Manual for Police
+Magistrates_), Part I. p. 110, 5th ed., Munich, 1908.
+
+[105] _Aprosexia_ is the technical term for inability to fix the
+mind upon any subject.
+
+[106] In the first book of _Les Confessions_.
+
+[107] Strodtmann, _H. Heines Leben und Werke_, vol. i. p. 27 _et
+seq._, Berlin, 1873.
+
+[108] _Fisiologia del Amore_.
+
+[109] _Les Femmes homicides_, Paris, 1908. p. 39 _et seq._
+
+[110] "Beiträge zur Kenntnis der Lebens- und
+Entwicklungsbedingungen der Inder" ("Contributions to our
+Knowledge of the Conditions of Life and Development of the
+Natives of India"), _Archiv für Rassen- und Gesellschaftsbiologie_,
+1907, p. 839 et seq.
+
+[111] _Archiv für Rassen- und Gesellschaftsbiologie_, 1906, p.
+916.
+
+[112] We are irresistibly reminded, in this connexion, of the
+reputed higher morality of age as compared with youth, of which
+La Rochefoucauld says (Maxim 192): "When our vices leave us, we
+flatter ourselves that it is we who leave them."--TRANSLATOR'S
+NOTE.
+
+[113] Esquirol refers to this in his great work on Mental
+Disorders.
+
+[114] _Die Sittlichkeitsverbrecher_ (_Offenders against Sexual
+Morality_). See also _Vierteljahrsschrift für gerichtliche
+Medizin und offentliche Sanitätswesen_, Third Series, xxix, 2.
+
+[115] The custom of taking in a man as a night-lodger in crowded
+working-class tenements appears, unhappily, to be commoner in the
+large towns of Germany and Austria than it is in this country.
+See, for instance, Adelheid Popp's _Jugendgeschichte einer
+Arbeiterin_ (3rd ed., Reinhardt, Munich, 1910, pp. 19, 20). But
+such lodgers are by no means unknown in the overcrowded quarters
+of English towns.--TRANSLATOR'S NOTE.
+
+[116] _Psychiatrische Vorlesungen_, Leipzig, 1892, p. 41.
+
+[117] Compare George Meredith on the male egoist's demand for
+"innocence" (_The Egoist_, p. 105): "The capaciously strong soul
+among women will ultimately detect an infinite grossness in the
+demand for purity infinite, spotless bloom." The frequency with
+which young widows remarry suggests that the demand for
+_"innocence"_ in women is largely "a result of conventional
+opinions."--TRANSLATOR'S NOTE.
+
+[118] _La Prostitution Clandestine_, p. 41 _et seq._, Paris,
+1885.
+
+[119] _The Intermediate Sex,_ Swan Sonnenschein, London, 1908, p.
+86.
+
+[120] Werthauer, _Sittlichkeitsdelikte der Grosstadt_ (_Offences
+against Morality in Large Towns_), p. 78 _et seq._, Berlin and
+Leipzig, 1908.
+
+[121] _Verbrechen und Vergehen wider die Sittlichkeit.
+Entführung. Gewerbsmässige Unzucht_ (_Crimes and Misdemeanours
+against Morality. Abduction, Professional Unchastity_), p. 115.
+Reprint from the _Fergleichende Darstellung des Deutschen und
+Ausländischen Strafrechts_ (_Comparative Statement of German and
+Foreign Criminal Law_).
+
+[122] _Das Geschlechtsleben in der Völkerpsychologie_ (_The
+Sexual Life in Folk-Psychology_), p. 557, Leipzig, 1908.
+
+[123] Béraud, _Les Filles Publiques de Paris_, Paris, 1839.
+
+[124] For fuller details, see Mittelmaier, _op. cit._, p. 116.
+
+[125] "Ueber die klinisch-forensische Bedeutung des perversen
+Sexualtriebes" ("The Clinical and Legal Significance of
+Perversions of the Sexual Impulse") _Allgemeine Zeitschrift für
+Psychiatrie und psychisch-gerichtliche Medizin_, vol. xxxix, p.
+220 _et seq._, Berlin, 1883.
+
+[126] See footnote to page 260.
+
+[127] Compare Havelock Ellis, _Studies in the Psychology of Sex_,
+vol. vi.; _Sex in Relation to Society_ (Philadelphia, 1910, p.
+368); "But altogether outside theoretical morality, or the
+question of what people 'ought' to do, there remains _practical
+morality_, or the question of what, as a matter of fact, people
+actually do. This is the really fundamental and essential
+morality. Latin _mores_ and Greek [Greek: êthos] both refer to
+_custom_, to the things that are, and not to the things that
+'ought to be.'" The etymological connexion, of which Dr. Moll
+speaks, between the words _morality_ (or _ethics_) and _custom_,
+thus subsists through the intermediation of the dead languages.
+But in German, the etymological connexion between _Sitte_
+(custom) and _Sittlichkeit_ (morality) is immediately
+apparent.--TRANSLATOR'S NOTE.
+
+[128] For details, see Rosenbaum, _Geschichte der Lustseuche_
+(_History of Venereal Disease_), Halle, 1893, p. 52 _et seq._
+
+[129] It is surprising that the author makes no reference to the
+close association, in many cases, of the sentiment of disgust
+with unpleasant smells. The earthworm, the cockroach, and the
+bed-bug are regarded as peculiarly disgusting, and all have a
+particularly offensive odour. The unpleasant smell of the alvine
+evacuations is assuredly a large element in the disgust these
+inspire.--TRANSLATOR'S NOTE.
+
+[130] _Die seelische Entwicklung des Kindes_ (_The Mental
+Development of the Child_), 2nd ed., Leipzig, 1908, p. 90.
+
+[131] For fuller details, see the work of Rudeck, _Geschichte der
+öffentlichen Sittlichkeit in Deutschland_ (_History of Public
+Morals in Germany_), 2nd ed., Berlin, 1905, p. 4 _et seq._ _Cf._
+also, Alfred Martin, _Deutsches Badewesen in vergangenen Tagen_
+(_German Bathing Customs in Former Days_), Jena, 1906.
+
+[132] A German law dealing with offences against sexual
+morals.--TRANSLATOR'S NOTE.
+
+[133] I owe to private information, most kindly given me by Dr.
+Bohn, my knowledge of numerous details bearing on this question.
+
+[134] _Romanische Liebe und persönliche Schönheit_ (_Romantic
+Love and Personal Beauty_), 2nd ed., Breslau, 1894, vol. ii. p.
+58.
+
+[135] This does not conflict with the fact that in these circles
+also much hypocrisy is practised--much more certainly than in our
+own country (Germany). To a still greater extent is this true of
+England, where also in many circles all illegitimate sexual
+intercourse is proscribed, thus leading to the practice of
+hypocrisy. Because a large proportion of the population does not
+practise illegitimate intercourse, those who do indulge in it are
+led to conceal as far as possible their own illegitimate
+intercourse; as a result of this we find side by side and
+simultaneously in the same circle, on the one hand a prohibition
+of illegitimate intercourse based upon genuine conviction, and on
+the other a hypocritical condemnation of such intercourse.
+Further, we have to admit that the question is an exceptionally
+difficult one, precisely on account of the hypocrisy and lies in
+which the sexual life is enveloped. Naturally, where illegitimate
+intercourse is forbidden, those who do indulge are far more
+careful, and especially in guarding against venereal infection,
+lest the illness should betray them to others. A communication
+made to me very recently suggests the need for great caution in
+our judgment in these matters. A foreign university professor
+gives his students very fine lectures on the sexual life, laying
+great stress on the beauty and importance of sexual abstinence.
+The lecturer was convinced that as a result of his lectures his
+students were exceptionally chaste and abstinent. But a colleague
+of this same professor at the university is no less firmly
+convinced, and this as the result of reports from members of his
+friend's audience, that the assumed chastity of the students is
+purely imaginary, and that in actual fact their lives are just as
+loose as those of students in general.
+
+[136] See the article on "Coeducation" in _Buch von Kinde_ (_The
+Book of the Child_), edited by Adele Schreiber, vol. ii, Leipzig,
+1907, p. 48.
+
+[137] _Versuch einer Charakteristik des weiblichen Geschlechtes_
+(_Attempt at a Characterization of the Female Sex_), Hanover,
+1797, vol. i. p. 95.
+
+[138] Pougin, _Dictionnaire du Théâtre_, Paris, 1885, p. 715.
+
+[139] The description of such a mental state will be found in a
+diary, shown to Nyström by a young friend of his, and published
+by the former in his work on _The Sexual Life and its Laws_ (_Das
+Geschlechtsleben und seine Gesetze_), Berlin, 1904, p. 129.
+
+[140] Moll, _Aerztliche Ethik_, Stuttgart, 1902, pp. 220-31.
+
+[141] Theologians are not agreed as to when the "age of reason"
+is attained. Gousset, in his _Moraltheologie zum Gebrauch der
+Pfarrer und Beichtväter_ (German translation of the seventh
+edition of a French work, _Moral Theology for the Use of Priests
+and Father-Confessors_), Aix, 1852, vol. ii. p. 244, demands that
+children should go to confession as soon as they are seven years
+of age; other authorities consider that the "age of reason"
+begins only in the last years of childhood.
+
+[142] _L'Amour_, 5th ed., Paris, 1861, p. 72.
+
+[143] From what has been said before, it will have become evident
+that the question has different aspects in different strata of
+the population. I have attempted merely to formulate general
+principles, not to furnish an answer for every possible concrete
+question. Differences between town and country, between richer
+and poorer, between cultured and uncultured, must be given due
+consideration. In the case of those belonging to the less
+cultured and the poorer strata of society, a special use in this
+connexion may be found for those social institutions which have
+of late come into being in various localities as the fruit of
+voluntary effort [corresponding to our Children's Care Committees,
+&c., in England--TRANSLATOR], and conducted by women of the cultured and
+well-to-do classes. These institutions may be utilised for imparting the
+sexual enlightenment, at any rate in so far as they permit of an
+individual study of the child-psyche.
+
+[144] _Sexuelle Belehrung der aus der Volksschule entlassenen
+Mädchen_ (_The Sexual Instruction of Girls Leaving the Elementary
+School_), Leipzig, 1907.
+
+[145] Among others by K. Höller: "Die Aufgabe der Volksschule"
+("The Task of the Elementary School"), _Proceedings of the Third
+Congress of the German Society for the Suppression of the
+Venereal Diseases, at Mannheim, in the Year 1907_. In these
+Proceedings, which were published as the seventh volume of the
+_Zeitschrift zur Bekämpfung der Geschlechtskrankheiten_ (_Journal
+for the Suppression of the Venereal Diseases_), the reader will
+find a vast amount of material bearing upon this question.
+
+[146] _Briefe über die wichtigsten Gegenstände der Menschheit
+(Letters Concerning Matters of the Utmost Importance to
+Mankind)_, written by R., and published by S. I. Teil, Leipzig,
+1794, p. 100 _et seq._ To all who are interested in the subject
+under discussion, I strongly recommend the perusal of this book,
+which seems to-day to have been entirely forgotten.
+
+[147] For example, Max Oker-Blom: _Beim Onkel Doktor auf dem
+Lande_. A book for parents, 2nd ed., Vienna and Leipzig,
+1906.--An English version, _How my Uncle the Doctor Instructed me
+in Matters of Sex_, has been published by the American Society of
+Sanitary and Moral Prophylaxis, 33, West 42nd Street, New York.
+[A list of a number of such books will be found in a footnote to
+p. 684 of my translation of Bloch's _The Sexual Life of Our
+Time_. As Oker-Blom himself says of this vital matter of sexual
+enlightenment, "Better a year too early than an hour too
+late."--TRANSLATOR.]
+
+[148] _Affektivität, Suggestibilität, Paranoia_, Halle, 1906.
+
+[149] _Anthropologisch-kulturhistorische Studien über die
+Geschlechtsverhältnisse des Menschen_ (_Anthropological and
+Historical Studies concerning the Sexual Life of Mankind_), 2nd
+ed., Jena, 1888, p. 106.
+
+[150] There is one bearing of the use of alcohol in relation to
+irregular sexual intercourse, the importance of which Dr. Moll
+appears to me largely to ignore in his discussion of the subject,
+and that is the effect which even moderate doses of alcohol have
+in blunting the finer sensibilities, and in disturbing the
+balance of the judgment. (The author's only reference to the
+subject is on page 348, where he writes, "If so much alcohol is
+taken as to interfere with the natural psychical inhibitions,
+sexual practices may occur that would not otherwise have
+occurred.") To take the woman's point of view first, it is, I
+believe, a common experience with prostitutes that, in the
+earlier days at any rate, they find it difficult to ply their
+trade unless under the influence of alcohol. Turning to the man's
+point of view, there is quite a considerable proportion of young
+men who, however strong their sexual impulse, object to
+meretricious intercourse at once on ethical and æsthetic grounds.
+The ethical ground is that intercourse with a prostitute
+infringes the elementary principle of civilised morals, that one
+human being should not use another as a mere means to the ends of
+the former, but that each of us must treat all human beings as
+ends in themselves; considering the general character of
+prostitution, the fact that obligations to the individual
+prostitute are supposed to be discharged by a conventional money
+payment, does not countervail the fact that this moral principle
+is infringed. On the æsthetic objections to prostitution, it is
+hardly necessary to enlarge; they have been felt by all men with
+refined sensibilities. But it is precisely these refined
+sensibilities which are blunted by even moderate doses of
+alcohol--doses insufficiently great to abate the sexual impulse
+itself. I do not mean to suggest that prostitution would not
+continue, in the present economic and social conditions, were
+there no intoxicants in the world; but I think an evening spent
+in quiet observation in the "promenade" of a "fashionable" London
+music-hall will convince most people that the above-described
+effects of alcohol are by no means purely imaginary.--TRANSLATOR'S NOTE.
+
+[151] The arguments against raising the Age of Consent for women
+beyond the age of sixteen now specified in the Criminal Law
+Amendment Act of 1885, as ably summarised by Havelock Ellis,
+should be consulted in this connexion. See his _Studies in the
+Psychology of Sex_, vol. vi., _Sex in Relation to Society_, pp.
+528-30. Davis, Philadelphia, 1910.--TRANSLATOR'S NOTE.
+
+[152] "Die Anfänge einer Erziehung zu geistiger und körperlicher
+Gesundheit während des ersten Lebensjahres" ("The Beginnings of
+an Education for the Maintenance of Mental and Bodily Health, as
+applied during the First Year of Life"), _Fortschritte der
+Medizin_, 1908, No. 21.
+
+
+
+
+INDEX OF SUBJECTS
+
+
+  "ABREACTION," 278
+
+  Abstinence, sexual. _See_ Sexual abstinence
+
+  Accuracy, sexual differences in, 41
+
+  Accusations, false, by children, 227
+
+  Acme, voluptuous. _See_ Orgasm; _and also_ Voluptuousness
+
+  Adenoids, 207
+
+  Adequacy of sexual act, 31, 32, 88, 89
+
+  Advertisements, perverse, 240-245
+
+  Age for the sexual enlightenment, 289-290
+
+  Age of consent, 230, 314, 315
+
+  "Age of reason," 275
+
+  Alarm at sexual manifestations, 213
+
+  Albums, 15
+
+  Alcohol, 160, 161, 220, 221, 310-311
+    and the sexual impulse, 160, 161
+    unsuitable for children, 161
+
+  Alcoholism, 220
+
+  Alienists and the study of sexual life, 147
+
+  Alopecia areata, 47
+
+  Altruism and love, 208
+
+  Amatory passion and suicide, 188, 189
+
+  Anæsthesia sexualis, 87, 92
+
+  Animal friendships, 139, 140
+
+  Animals, sexual fondness for, 61, 66. _See also_ Bestiality
+    sexual paradoxy in, 123
+    sexual phenomena in young, 99-103
+
+  Anthropology, works on, 8, 9
+
+  Anus, 91
+
+  Anxiety causing ejaculation, 92-94
+    in the masturbator, 184
+
+  Anxiety-neurosis, 14, 93, 190
+
+  Aprosexia, 207
+
+  Art and sexuality, 213-215
+    the nude in, 258-260
+
+  Assaults, sexual. _See_ Sexual assaults
+
+  Association of contrectation and detumescence, 81-87
+    theory of sexual perversions, 130-133
+
+  Autobiographies, 10-12, 15
+
+  Auto-erotism, 166, 188. _See also_ Masturbation _and_ Onanism
+
+  Auto-Suggestion, 190
+
+
+  BALANITIS, 118
+
+  Balls, children's, 268, 269
+
+  Bars, parallel and horizontal, and sexual stimulation, 159
+
+  Bartholin's glands, 23, 25
+    secretion of, 25, 56
+
+  Bathing, mixed, 255
+
+  Beard, a secondary sexual character, 34, 38
+
+  Beauty and the sexual impulse, 70
+
+  Bed, 307
+
+  Beggars, 199
+
+  Belletristic literature, love in, 12
+
+  Bestiality, 61, 66
+
+  Bible, the, 273, 274
+
+  Bicycling. _See_ Cycling
+
+  Biographies, 10-12
+
+  Blackmail, 227
+
+  Bladder, distension of, causing erection, 50
+
+  Blindness, 283
+
+  Boarding-schools, 200, 247
+
+  Books and pictures erotic, 260-264
+
+  Boot, masturbation with, 164
+
+  Boys frequenting brothels, 154
+
+  Braggadocio, 174
+
+  Breasts, sexual differences in, 34, 36
+
+  Breathing, sexual differences in, 37
+
+  Breeches and sexual stimulation, 159, 307, 308
+
+  Brothels, boys frequenting, 155
+
+  Brother and sister, rarity of sexual desire between, 71
+    improper sexual acts between, 71, 199, 200
+    elder, effects sexual enlightenment, 297
+
+  Bulb, vaginal, or bulb of the vestibule, 23
+
+
+  CABBAGE-PATCH, babies in, 170, 285
+
+  Calf-love, 70
+
+  Cancer, 180
+
+  Caressive inclinations and sexuality, 163, 164, 175
+
+  Carunculæ myrtiformes, 28
+
+  Cases:--
+    1. Undifferentiated sexual impulse, 64
+    2. Undifferentiated sexual impulse, 66
+    3. Undifferentiated sexual impulse, 67
+    4. Coitus in childhood, 82
+    5. Development of sexual impulse, 84
+    6. Anxiety causing ejaculation, 93
+    7. Sexual paradoxy, 119
+    8. Sexual paradoxy, 119
+    9. Sexual paradoxy, 121
+    10. Disappearance of early perversions, 128
+    11. Foot fetichism, 134
+    12. Homosexual, fondness for soldiers, 134
+    13. Case of a "Voyeur," 135
+    14. Flagellation fetichism, 135
+    15. Onanism by thigh friction in a girl of four, 187
+    16. Masturbation in a boy of eight, 188
+    17. Masturbation treated by hypnotic suggestion, 276
+    18. Sexual enlightenment by an elder brother, 297
+
+  Castration defined, 111 _n._
+    effects of, 103-109
+
+  Catamenia. _See_ Menstruation
+
+  Cathartic method, 278
+
+  Catholic confessional, 274-276
+    priests, homosexual, 209, 210
+    sadistic, 239
+
+  Catholicism and sexual morality, 274-276
+
+  Caution requisite in diagnosing masturbation, 165
+
+  "Century of the Child," the, 321
+
+  Ceremonial observant of attainment of puberty, 162
+
+  Cervix uteri. _See_ Uterus
+
+  Chancre, soft, 192
+
+  Characters, sexual, _See_ Sexual characters
+
+  Child, as object of sexual practices, 219-245
+    defined, 1
+    sexual life of, its importance, 179-218
+
+  Child-depraver. _See_ Pædophilia
+
+  Child-life in old Germany, 155
+
+  "Child-lover." _See_ Pædophilia
+
+  Child-marriage, 9, 149, 214, 215
+
+  Child-marriages, offspring of, 214, 215
+
+  Child-prostitution, 220
+
+  Child-protection, 230, 269, 270
+    against sexual offences, 230
+
+  Child-suicides, 48
+
+  Child-witnesses, credibility of, 201-205
+
+  Childhood, frequency of sexual incidents in early, 7
+    periods of, 1, 2
+    sexual differentiation in, 33-49
+    sexual experiences in, as a factor in disease, 277-279
+    sub-epochs of, 1, 2
+
+  Children, false accusations of assaults on, 227-229
+    in the law courts, 230, 231
+    legal protection of, _See_ Age of consent
+    sexual acts with, to cure venereal diseases, 219
+
+  Children's care committees, 295
+    dances, 268, 269
+
+  Chordee, 52 _n._
+
+  Church, the, and sexual indulgence, 193
+
+  Circumcision, 18
+
+  Civilisation, modern, and precocious sexuality, 156, 157
+
+  Clap. _See_ Gonorrhoea
+
+  Class, social, and precocious sexuality, 151-152
+
+  Climate and precocious sexuality, 150-151
+
+  Climbing the pole, 159, 308
+
+  Clinical histories of the sexual life, value of, 5, 6
+
+  Clitoris, 23, 27, 28
+
+  Closets common to both sexes, danger of, 158, 279
+
+  Clothing and sexual stimulation, 159
+
+  Code, German Criminal, 206
+
+  Code of love, 9
+
+  Coeducation of the sexes, 264-270
+
+  Coitus. _See also_ Sexual intercourse
+    capacity for, 54
+
+  Colour sense, sexual differences in, 40
+
+  Compulsion-neuroses, 14, 190, 277
+
+  Concealment. _See_ Secretiveness
+
+  Confessional, the, 274-276
+
+  Confident, 166, 168, 169, 292, 296, 297, 323
+
+  Congenital homosexuality, 124-130
+    predisposition, 113, 124-130, 146, 148, 156, 157, 173, 179, 183,
+      184, 187, 216-218, 246, 248
+
+  Conjunctivitis, _See_ Ophthalmia
+
+  Connubial intercourse, 193
+
+  Consent, age of, _See_ Age of consent
+
+  Consequences, the fear of, 256
+
+  Consequences of sexual phenomena in childhood:--
+    ethical, 192-195
+    forensic, 201-207
+    hygienic, 180-192
+    intellectual, 207-209
+    social, 195-201
+
+  Constipation, 309
+
+  Contagion of example, 305
+      moral. _See_ Moral contagion
+      psychical, 279
+
+  Contrary sexuality. _See_ Sexual inversion
+
+  Contrectation and contrectation-impulse, 29-31, 60-71, 81-87, 147,
+    148, 163, 164, 177
+    and detumescence, importance of their association, 177
+
+  Conversation, indiscreet, before children, 161
+      obscene, 170, 305, 306
+
+  Coquetry, 77
+
+  Corporal punishment, 159, 316-321
+
+  Corpus cavernosum clitoridis, 23
+    penis, 18
+    urethra, 18
+    spongiosum, 18
+
+  Corpuscles, Finger's, 27
+    genital, 27
+    Krause's, 27
+
+  Corpuscular richness, sexual differences in, 33
+
+  Corruption of children by pædophiles, 225-227
+    of town-life, reputed, 152-156, 264
+
+  Country _versus_ town as influencing sexual morality, 152-156, 264
+
+  Courage and love, 208
+
+  Cowper's glands, 18, 20, 22, 23, 54, 55, 56
+
+  Credibility of children's evidence, 201-205
+
+  Crime, sexual differences in, 47, 48
+
+  Criminal code, German, 206, 313, 314
+    responsibility in children, 206
+    of pædophiles, 231-234
+
+  Criminals, youthful, 199, 200
+
+  Cruelty. _See_ Sadism
+
+  Culpability in children, circumstances affecting, 205, 206
+
+  Cunnilinctus, 122, 143, 224
+
+  Curiosity of children regarding sexual development, 211-213
+
+  Custom and morality, 249, 250
+
+  Cycling, 90, 248, 308
+
+  Cystitis, gonorrhoeal, 192
+
+
+  DANCES for children, 268, 269
+
+  Danger to children of legal proceedings, 230, 231
+
+  Dangers, hygienic. _See_ Health, dangers to
+    of corporal punishment, 316, 317
+    of masturbation commonly exaggerated, 180-183, 283-284
+    of the sexual enlightenment, 301-302
+    social. _See_ Social dangers
+
+  Décolletage, 255
+
+  Degradation, social. _See_ Social degradation
+
+  Demarcation, strict, of sexual feelings impossible, 176, 177
+
+  Dementia, paralytic, 220, 231
+    post-epileptic. 220, 231
+    præcox, 14, 190
+    senile, 220, 231
+
+  Depraver of children. _See_ Pædophilia
+
+  Depression in masturbators, 185
+
+  Detumescence and detumescence-impulse, 29-31, 70, 81-87, 147, 148,
+    164, 166
+    in association with contrectation, 81-87
+
+  Development, puberal. _See_ Puberal development
+    sexual. _See_ Sexual development
+
+  Diagnosis, 162-178
+    difficulties of, 162
+    errors in, 165
+    of sexual perversions, 178
+
+  Diaries, 15
+
+  Diet and sexual stimulation, 160, 309
+
+  Differentiation, sexual, in childhood, 33-49
+
+  Diligence as a love-manifestation, 77, 208
+
+  Disease, sexual differences in, 45-47
+
+  Diseases falsely attributed to masturbation, 180, 181
+    venereal. _See_ Venereal diseases
+
+  Disgust and shame, 250-258
+
+  "Distinguished governess," 241-243
+
+  Diversion of the sexual impulse, 270
+
+  Doctor, the, and illegitimate intercourse, 272
+    and masturbation, 284
+
+  Dolls, 38, 39, 43
+
+  Drawing, sexual differences in capacity for, 42
+
+  Dreams, sexual, 81, 94-98, 113, 178, 190, 213, 285
+
+  Duct. _See under specific names as_, Prostatic ducts, Seminal
+    duct, &c.
+
+  Duverney's glands, 23
+
+  Dwarfs as objects of sexual desire, 223
+    sexual phenomena in, 116, 117
+
+  Dynamometry in habitual masturbators, 185
+
+
+  EARLY awakening of sexuality, 146-152
+
+  Economic and social reasons for the sexual enlightenment, 287, 288
+
+  Eczema, 158
+
+  Educability, limits of, 246-248
+
+  Education and sexual differentiation, 41-45
+    religious, 270-276
+    sexual, 246-324. _See also_ Coeducation
+    works on, 9
+
+  "Educational" advertisements, 240-245
+
+  Educational reasons for the sexual enlightenment, 281-282
+
+  Effemination, 125, 126
+
+  Egoism, sexual. _See_ Sexual egoism
+
+  Ejaculation, 21, 22, 25, 26, 30, 32, 52-57, 89, 92, 98, 113, 185-188
+    during sleep, 94-98, 113
+    from anxiety, 92-94
+    in the child, 52-57, 89
+    in the female, 25, 26, 30
+    in the male, 21, 22, 30
+    masturbation without, 185-188
+
+  Ejaculation-centre, 21, 22
+
+  Ejaculatory duct, 18
+
+  Embellishment, romantic, of object of love, 71, 72
+
+  Emission, seminal, 3 _n._, 53. _See also_ Ejaculation
+    the first, causing alarm, 212, 213
+
+  Emissions, nocturnal. _See_ Sexual dreams
+
+  Empirical psychology. _See_ Psychology, empirical
+
+  "Energetic instruction," 241-243
+
+  "English instruction," 240-245
+
+  Enlightenment, the sexual, 7, 8, 280-306
+
+  Environment. _See_ Education
+
+  Epididymis, 17
+
+  Epididymitis, 192
+
+  Epilepsy, 220, 231, 235
+
+  Erectile tissue, 18
+
+  Erection, in the child, 50-52
+    in the female, 25, 30
+    in the male, 20-22, 30
+    of the clitoris, 25
+    of the penis, 18, 20-22, 198
+
+  Erection-centre, 20
+
+  Erections, matutinal, 171
+    non-sexual, 170
+
+  _Erfahrungspsychologie_, 9
+
+  Erogenic areas, 21, 25, 91, 172
+    zones, 21, 25, 91, 172
+
+  Erotic books and pictures, 260-264
+    literature, love in, 13
+    obsession, 179
+
+  Ethical. _See also_ Moral
+    dangers of precocious sexuality, 192-195
+    reasons for the sexual enlightenment, 285-286
+
+  Ethics. _See_ Morality
+
+  Etiology, 146-162
+    and diagnosis, 146-178
+
+  Eugenic considerations opposed to child-marriage, 215
+
+  Eugenics, 246
+
+  Eunuchs. _See_ Castration
+
+  Evidence of children, 201-205
+
+  Exaggerated expectations regarding the sexual enlightenment, 302-306
+
+  Examination, physical, of child witnesses, 203
+
+  Example _versus_ precept, 249, 305
+
+  Excess, sexual. _See_ Sexual excess
+
+  Exhibitionism, 122, 141, 142, 234
+
+  Experimental psychology. _See_ Psychology, experimental
+    study of the sexual life, 6
+
+
+  FAIRY-TALES, 71, 285
+
+  Fallopian tubes, 24
+
+  False accusations by children, 227-229
+
+  Family tendencies. _See also_ Congenital predisposition
+
+  Fanatics, morality-, 259, 260
+
+  Feather-bed, 307
+
+  Feeble-mindedness, 206
+
+  Fellatio, 199
+
+  Fertilisation, 24
+
+  Fetichism, sexual, 61, 74, 75, 122, 130, 234
+
+  Fickleness, 79, 80
+
+  Fig-leaf, the, 259
+
+  Finger's corpuscles, 27
+
+  First love, description of, 11, 12
+
+  Fission, 84
+
+  Flagellation, 91, 159, 235, 240, 318, 320
+    fetichism, cases of, 135, 210, 211, 237-240
+
+  Flogging. _See_ Corporal punishment; _and also_ Flagellation
+
+  Fluor albus, 181
+
+  Follicles, Graafian, 24, 28
+    Graafian, primitive, 24
+    ovarian, 24
+    ovarian primitive, 24
+
+  Foot-fetichism, 134, 138
+
+  Forensic. _See also_ Legal aspects of sexual life of the child,
+    201-207
+    reasons for the sexual enlightenment, 286
+
+  Foreskin, 18, 50
+
+  Friendship and homosexuality, 138, 139
+
+  Friendships of animals, 139,140
+
+  _Fürsorgegesetz_ 279
+
+
+  GAMES of animals, sexual phenomena in, 99-103
+    sexual differences in, 38, 39, 99
+
+  Gastralgia, 180
+
+  Geldings, 105, 106
+
+  Gemmation, 84
+
+  Genital corpuscles, 27
+    organs. _See_ Sexual organs
+
+  German Criminal Code, 206
+
+  Girth, sexual differences in, 35
+
+  Gland, _See under specific name as_ Prostate gland, Cowper's glands, &c.
+
+  Glans clitoridis, 23
+    penis, 18
+
+  Gonorrhoea, 170, 220, 283
+    in children, 52, 191, 192
+
+  Graafian follicles. _See_ Follicles
+
+  Growth, sexual differences in, 35, 36
+
+  Guardianship, law of, 279
+
+  Gymnastic exercises and sexual stimulation, 159, 308
+
+
+  HAIR, pubic, 26, 27
+    sexual differences in, 33
+
+  Hairdressers, homosexual, 209
+
+  Hair fetichism, 138, 210, 234
+
+  Hanging posture and sexual stimulation, 189
+
+  Health and the sexual enlightenment, 282, 285
+    dangers to, from sexual phenomena during childhood, 180-192
+
+  Heel, masturbation with, 164
+
+  Height, sexual differences in, 35
+
+  Hereditary taint. _See_ Congenital predisposition
+
+  Heredity, morbid. _See_ Congenital predisposition
+    and sexual differentiation, 41-45
+
+  Hermaphroditism, 144, 145
+
+  Herpes progenitalis, 171
+    sexualis, 171
+
+  Hetero-suggestion, 190
+
+  Home _versus_ school for the sexual enlightenment, 291-297
+
+  Homosexuality, 123-130, 133, 134, 198, 199, 200, 209, 226, 227, 313-316
+    and coeducation, 267
+    and occupation, 209, 210
+    early memories of, 5, 6
+    the fostering of, 302
+
+  Homosexuals, shame in, 78
+
+  Horizontal bar and sexual stimulation, 159
+
+  Horse-back riding, 308
+
+  Housing conditions, bad, 220, 247, 248
+
+  Hygiene of the sexual life of the child, 306-312
+    social, 248
+
+  Hygienic dangers. _See_ Health, dangers to
+    reasons for the sexual enlightenment, 282-285
+
+  Hymen, 23, 28, 91, 198
+    not lacerated in masturbation, 91, 166
+
+  Hyperæsthesia, sexual. _See_ Sexual hyperæsthesia
+
+  Hypnotic treatment of sexual aberrations, 276, 277
+
+  Hypochondriasis in masturbators, 283, 284
+
+  Hypocrisy regarding the sexual life, 266, 296
+
+  Hysteria, 14, 46, 190, 204, 277
+
+
+  IDEALISM, 270
+
+  Idiocy, 147
+
+  Idiots, masturbation in, 29
+
+  Ignorance regarding the sexual life, 281-282, 288
+
+  "Illegitimate" intercourse, 193, 287
+
+  Illusions of love, 72
+    of memory, 4-6, 125, 127
+
+  Imagination in children, 201, 202, 204, 294, 295
+     its part in masturbation, 88
+     perverse, 324
+     and masturbation, 184
+
+  Imbecility, 147, 220
+
+  Imitative acts, 174, 305
+    sexual acts, 157, 162
+
+  Immaturity, stimulus of, 221
+
+  Immoral acts, definition of, 194
+
+  Impersonator, feminine, 209
+
+  Importance of the sexual life of the child, 179-218
+
+  Impotence, psychical, 219
+
+  Impulse, contrectation, _See_ Contrectation impulse
+    detumescence. _See_ Detumescence impulse
+    sexual. _See_ Sexual Impulse
+
+  Inattentiveness, 207
+
+  Incubi, 3 _n._
+
+  India, child-marriages in, 215
+
+  Infancy defined, 2, _and note_
+
+  Infection, venereal. _See_ Venereal diseases
+
+  Inheritance. _See_ Heredity
+
+  Innocence as a sexual stimulus, 222
+    of rural life, reputed, 152-156
+
+  Insanity, moral. _See_ Moral insanity
+
+  Instinct, sexual. _See_ Sexual impulse
+
+  Instinctive chastity in girls, 288
+
+  Intellect, the, and precocious sexuality, 207-208
+
+  Intercourse, sexual. _See_ Sexual intercourse
+
+  Interdependence of contrectation and detumescence, 81-87
+
+  Internal secretion of ovaries, 26
+    of testicles, 19
+
+  "Interstitial gland" of the testicle, 108
+
+  Inversion, sexual. _See_ Sexual inversion
+
+  Irresponsibility. _See_ Responsibility
+
+  Irritation, local, of genitals, 307
+
+  Irrumatío, 199
+
+  Itching, 59
+
+  Itching-reflex, 50, 51
+
+
+  JAUNDICE, 181
+
+  Jealousy, 75, 175, 189
+
+
+  KINDERSCHUTZ, 269, 270
+
+  Kissing, 73
+
+  Kitzel, 59
+
+  Kitzel reflexe, 50
+
+  Knightly code of love, 9
+
+  Krause's corpuscles, 27
+
+
+  LABIA majora, 23, 27
+    minora, 23
+
+  Ladies' tailor, 209
+
+  Larynx, sexual differences in, 34, 38
+
+  _Laudatis temporis acti_, 154
+
+  Law of guardianship, 279
+
+  Law-courts, children in, 201-205
+    danger to children in, 230, 231
+
+  Legal. _See also_ Forensic
+    relationships of sexual life of the child, 201-207
+
+  "Legitimate" intercourse, 193
+
+  _Lèse majesté_, 228
+
+  Levity regarding sexual manifestations in childhood, 280
+
+  _Lex Heinze_, 244, 260
+
+  Libidio sexualis, 22
+
+  _Liebeskodex_, 9
+
+  Life, sexual. _See_ Sexual life
+
+  Limits of educability, 246-248
+
+  Literature, belletristic, love in, 12
+    erotic, love in, 13
+    of the sexual life of the child, 7-16
+
+  Littré's glands, 19, 20, 22, 54, 55
+
+  Looking-glass, 212
+
+  Love, code of, 9
+    first. _See_ First love
+    in belletristic literature, 12
+    in young children, 188, 189
+
+  Love-games of animals, 99-103
+
+  Love-illusions, 72
+
+  Love-letters, 75
+
+  Love-poems, 76
+
+  Lust-murder. _See_ Sadism; _also_ Stabbers
+
+  "Lying Children," 203
+
+  Lying-in-bed, 307
+
+
+  "MAIDEN Tribute of Modern Babylon." _See Pall Mall Gazette_
+
+  Maidenhead. _See_ Hymen
+
+  Mamma. _See_ Breast
+
+  Manifestations of love in childhood, 73-80
+
+  Manipulations of the genital organs, non-sexual, 171
+
+  Manu-stupration, 87, 166
+
+  Marriage, 9
+    early. _See also_ Child-marriage, 149
+    laws, 9
+    medical advice concerning, 246
+
+  Masochism, 61, 74, 130, 131, 136, 137, 160, 210, 316, 317, 321
+
+  Masochistic advertisements, 240-245
+
+  Masturbatio reservatus, 187
+
+  Masturbation, 7, 8, 29, 30, 51, 52, 87-92, 96, 97, 119-121, 155,
+    156, 164-173, 180-195, 265, 283, 284, 291, 292, 303, 309, 311,
+    312. _See also_ Onanism
+    books on, 7, 8
+    comparative frequency in boys and girls, 91, 92
+    dangers of excess, 181
+    defined, 87, 165
+    diagnosis of, 164-173
+    during sleep, 96, 97
+    enlightenment regarding, 291-292
+    exaggerated views of its dangers, 180-183, 283, 284
+    Féré's treatment, 311, 312
+    in animals, 29, 30
+    in childhood, 182-191
+    in idiots, 29
+    in schools, 155
+    is it physiological? 303
+    methods of, 89, 91
+    moral contagion of, 201
+    moral judgments regarding, 192-195
+    mutual, and coeducation, 265
+    physical signs of, 166
+    sexual perversions and, 184
+    tacit permission of, 284
+    without ejaculation, 185-188
+
+  Maturation, 24
+
+  Maturity, sexual, defined, 3, 4
+
+  Matutinal erections, 171
+
+  Meatus, urethral, in the female, 23
+    in the male, 18
+
+  Medical ethics, 272
+
+  Membrum virile, 17
+
+  Memoirs, 10-12
+
+  Memory, illusions of, 4-6, 125, 127
+    sexual differences in, 40
+
+  Menarche præcox, 114, 115
+    tardive, 116
+
+  Menstrual rhythm, 24, 25
+
+  Menstruation, 24, 25, 28
+    age at commencement in various countries, 150
+    precocious, 114, 115
+    retarded, 116
+    the first, causing alarm, 212, 213, 284
+
+  Mental differences between the sexes, 38-45
+
+  Methods of investigation, 4-7
+
+  Micturitional obscenities, 143
+
+  Milking movements, 172
+
+  Mind, sexual differences in, 38-45
+
+  Mirror. _See_ Looking-glass
+
+  Mishandling of children, 191, 219-245
+
+  Mixed bathing, 255
+
+  Mode of sexual enlightenment, 298-301
+
+  Monks, sadistic, 239
+
+  Mons veneris, 27
+
+  Monthly period. _See_ Menstruation
+
+  Moral contagion of masturbation, 201
+    corruption of children by pædophiles, 225-227
+    dangers of precocious sexuality, 192-195
+    insanity, 147
+    judgments on masturbation, 192-195
+
+  Morality. _See also_ Sexual morality
+    and custom, 249, 250
+    and nakedness, 256, 257, 260
+    sexual, Catholicism and, 274-276
+
+  Morality-fanatics, 259, 260
+
+  Morbid heredity. _See_ Congenital predisposition
+
+  Mother, the, and the sexual enlightenment, 295-297
+
+  Motherhood, pre-marital, 287
+
+  Motherhood protection, 323
+
+  Music-hall artiste, 209
+
+  _Mutterschutzbewegung_, 323
+
+
+  NAIL-BITING, 173
+
+  Nakedness. _See also_ Nude, the
+    and sexual morality, 256, 257, 260
+
+  Narcolepsy, 185
+
+  Necrophilia, 234
+
+  Nervous system, abnormal, 146
+
+  Neurasthenia, 14, 190
+    from masturbation, 187
+    sexual. _See_ Sexual neurasthenia
+
+  Neurologists and the study of the sexual life, 147
+
+  Neuropathia, 146. _See also_ Congenital predisposition
+
+  Neuroses and sexual experiences (Freud's theories), 189-191, 226,
+    277-279
+
+  Newspaper advertisements, perverse, 240-245
+
+  Newspapers, the erotic in, 261, 262
+
+  Night-lodger, 220, 248
+
+  Nocturnal emissions. _See_ Sexual dreams
+
+  Non-sexual erections, 171
+    manipulations of the genital organs, 171
+
+  Nose-picking, 171
+
+  Nubile, defined, 3, 4
+
+  Nude, the, in art, 258-260
+
+  Nuns, sadistic, 239
+
+  Nurses and masturbation, 52, 158, 159, 225
+
+  Nymphæ, 23
+
+  Nymphomania, 181
+
+
+  OBJECT of sexual practices, the child as, 219-245
+
+  Objective elements of the sexual enlightenment, 290, 291
+
+  Obscene conversation, 153, 156
+
+  Observation of sexual acts by children 161, 162
+    of sexual processes in young children, 164
+    of the sexual life, 6
+    sexual differences in, 41
+
+  Obsession by erotic ideas, 179
+
+  Occupation and sexual offences against children, 221, 232, 233
+    and sexual perversion, 209, 210
+
+  Offences, sexual. _See_ Sexual offences
+
+  Offspring of child-marriages, 214, 215
+
+  Onanism. _See also_ Masturbation
+    defined, 87, 165
+    psychical, 166
+
+  Oöphorectomy, effects of, 106
+
+  Operation to remove foreign bodies from vagina or female bladder, 166
+
+  Ophthalmia of the new-born, 283
+
+  Opportunity and the sexual enlightenment, 293
+
+  Orchitis, 192
+
+  Organs, genital. _See_ Sexual organs
+
+  Organs, reproductive. _See_ Sexual organs
+
+  Orgasm, involuntary sexual, 3, 94-98
+    defined, 3 _n._
+    sexual, 22, 23, 25, 26, 57-59. _See also_ Voluptuousness
+    signs of, 164, 165
+    without ejaculation, 185
+
+  Ovarian follicles. _See_ Follicles
+
+  Ovaries, 24, 28
+    removal of. _See_ Oöphorectomy
+
+  Over-crowding, 220, 247, 248
+
+  Over-development of sexuality in children, 179
+
+  Oviducts. _See_ Fallopian tubes
+
+  Ovulation, 24, 25, 28
+
+  Ovum, 24
+
+
+  PÆDERASTY, 199
+
+  Pædophiles, responsibility of, 231-234, 264
+
+  Peædophilia erotica, 158, 219-234, 314, 315
+
+  _Pall Mall Gazette_ revelations, 227
+
+  Panniculus adiposus, 103
+
+  Paradoxical sexual impulse, 13
+
+  Paradoxy, sexual, 13, 117-123
+
+  Parallel bars and sexual stimulation, 159
+
+  Paralytic dementia, 220, 231
+
+  Parents, sexual element in fondness for, 71, 176
+
+  "Parisian Landscapes," 262
+
+  Passion, amatory, and suicide, 189
+
+  Passive character of sexual act in women, 184
+
+  Pathological, the, in the sexual life over-estimated, 147, 148
+
+  Pathology, 114-145
+
+  Pelvis, sexual differences in, 33, 34
+
+  Penis, 17, 18, 26, 60
+
+  Perineum, 18
+    muscles of, 25
+
+  Period, monthly. _See_ Menstruation
+
+  Periodicity in the sexual impulse, 151
+
+  Periods of infancy, childhood, and youth, 2
+
+  Peritonitis, 192
+
+  Perverse advertisements, 240-245
+
+  Perversions, sexual. _See_ Sexual perversions
+
+  Philanthropes, the, 8
+
+  Phimosis, 307
+
+  Physical examination of child witnesses, 203
+
+  Pictures and books, erotic, 260-264
+
+  Place for the sexual enlightenment, 291-295
+
+  Plait-cutting, 210, 234
+
+  Play of animals, sexual phenomena in, 99-103
+
+  Play, sexual differences in, 38, 39, 99
+
+  Pleasure, voluptuous. _See_ Voluptuousness
+
+  Poetry. _See_ Verses
+
+  Pole-climbing, 159, 308
+
+  Pollution, 3 _n._
+
+  Polygamy in the Old Testament, 274
+
+  Pornographica, 262-264
+
+  Potency, sexual. _See_ Sexual potency
+
+  Potentia coeandi, 54
+    generandi, 54
+
+  Practices, sexual. _See_ Sexual practices
+
+  Precept _versus_ example, 249, 305
+
+  Precocious sexuality, 146-152
+
+  Precocity, sexual, and coeducation, 267
+    sexual, dangerous to others, 279
+    in boys, 115, 116
+    in girls, 114, 115
+
+  Predisposition, congenital. _See_ Congenital predisposition
+
+  Pregnancy, precocious, 197, 225, 226
+
+  Pre-marital sexual relations, 287
+
+  Prematurity, sexual, in boys, 115, 116
+    in girls, 114, 115
+
+  Prepuce, 18, 50
+
+  Priapism, 171
+
+  Priests, Catholic. _See_ Catholic priests
+    homosexual, 209, 210
+
+  Procreation, capacity for, 54
+
+  Procurement, 227
+
+  Prognosis of sexual precocity, 162
+
+  Progressive paralysis, 220, 231
+
+  Prolapse of uterus, 180
+
+  Prostate gland, 18, 55, 56
+    secretion of, 20, 55, 56
+
+  Prostatic ducts, 18
+    secretion, 20
+    utricle, 18
+
+  Prostitutes, 198, 200, 225, 229, 230
+    male, 198, 225
+
+  Prostitution in children, 229-230
+
+  Protection of children. _See_ Age of consent; _and also_
+    Child-protection
+    of motherhood, 323
+
+  Prurigo, 158
+
+  Pseudo-coitus, 223
+
+  Pseudo-hermaphroditism, 144
+
+  Psyches, sexual differences in, 38-45
+
+  Psychiatric causes of sexual offences against children, 219, 220
+
+  Psychiatrists. _See_ Alienists
+
+  Psychical contagion, 279
+    differences between the senses, 38-45
+    impotence, 219
+    onanism, 166 _n._
+    stimuli and precocious sexuality, 161, 162
+
+  Psycho-analysis, 190, 277-279
+
+  Psychology, empirical, 9
+    empirical, and sex differences, 40, 41
+    experimental, and sex differences, 39-40
+    of sex, 15
+
+  Psychology, works on, 9, 10
+
+  Psychopathia, 146
+    sexualis. _See_ Sexual perversions
+
+  Psychosexual development and the sexual enlightenment, 290
+    phenomena, early appearance of, 69, 167, 214
+
+  Puberal development, 4, 111, 112
+    individual variations in, 112
+    physical changes, 26-29
+
+  Puberty, books on, 8
+    ceremonial observance of, 162
+    defined, 3, 4
+    signs of, 111, 112
+
+  Pubescence, 109-112. _See_ also Puberal development
+    premature, 114-116
+    retarded, 116, 117
+
+  Pubic hair. _See_ Hair
+
+  Punishment, corporal. _See_ Corporal punishment
+
+  Punishments and masochism, 210, 211
+
+  Pyromania, 218
+
+
+  QUACKS and "secret diseases," 180
+
+
+  RACE and precocious sexuality, 149, 150
+
+  Railway-travelling and sexual stimulation, 160
+
+  Reading influenced by sexual perversions, 210
+
+  Reading-matter for children, 260-264
+
+  Reasons against the sexual enlightenment, 301-302
+
+  Redness of vulva not pathognomonic of masturbation, 166
+
+  Religiosity, 169
+
+  Religious education, 270-276
+
+  Reproductive organs. _See_ Sexual organs
+
+  Respect for womanhood, its cultivation in boys, 323
+
+  Responsibility, criminal, in children, 206
+    of pædophiles, 231-234
+
+  Retardation of sexual development, 112, 113, 116, 117
+
+  Revelations of the _Pall Mall Gazette_, 227
+
+  Rhythm, menstrual, 24, 25
+
+  Ripening, years of, 109-112
+
+  Romantic transfiguration of object of love, 71, 72
+
+  Romanticism, 71, 72
+
+  Rose-fetichism, 140, 141
+
+  Rubbing movements, 172, 173
+
+  "Rural innocence," the table of, 152-156
+
+
+  SADISM, 61, 74, 124, 130-133, 136, 137, 140, 160, 210, 234-245, 316,
+    317, 321
+
+  Sadistic advertisements, 240-245
+
+  Satisfaction, sexual, the sense of, 23, 31, 32
+     in children, 59
+
+  _Schlafbursch_, 220. _See_ also Night-lodger
+
+  School, the, as a field for the sexual enlightenment, 282
+    _versus_ home for the sexual enlightenment, 291-297
+
+  School-doctor, the, and the sexual enlightenment, 293, 294
+
+  Schools, masturbation in, 155
+
+  _Schutzalter._ _See_ Age of consent
+
+  Scrotum, 18
+
+  Season and the sexual impulse, 151
+
+  Secrecy surrounding the sexual life, 300
+
+  "Secret diseases," 180
+
+  Secretion, internal. _See_ Internal secretion
+    prostatic, 20
+    testicular, 19
+
+  Secretiveness of children regarding their sexual life, 163, 168, 169
+
+  Seduction a cause of masturbation, 52
+    in childhood, 157, 158, 161, 162, 180, 190, 196, 198, 199, 200,
+      221, 280
+
+  Segregation of the sexes, 247
+
+  Self-abuse. _See_ Masturbation
+
+  Self-reproach, moral, in masturbators, 282, 284
+
+  Semen, 20, 55, 56, 104
+    constituents of, 55, 56
+    definition, 20
+
+  Seminal duct, common, 18
+    vesicles, 18
+    glands of, 20
+    their distension causes erection, 21
+
+  Seminiferous tubules, 17, 19
+
+  Senile dementia, 220
+
+  Sensation, voluptuous. _See_ Voluptuousness
+
+  "Severe education," 241-243
+
+  Sewing-machine, 90
+
+  Sexes, coeducation of, 264-270
+    segregation of, 247
+
+  Sexual abstinence from tardy sexual development, 216-218
+    is it harmful? 303
+
+  Sexual act, enlightenment concerning, 281
+
+  Sexual differentiation in, 184
+
+  Sexual acts in children, 82, 188, 198, 199, 200, 265, 269
+
+  Sexual acts witnessed by children, 161, 162, 212, 247, 248
+
+  Sexual anæsthesia, 87, 92
+
+  Sexual assaults, false accusations by children, 227-229
+
+  Sexual characters, primary. _See_ Sexual organs
+    secondary, 33-49
+      effect of contrectation on, 103-109
+    tertiary, 33, 34
+
+  Sexual contrasts, 177
+
+  Sexual desire, 59 _n._
+
+  Sexual development, _See also_ Puberal development
+    precocious, 114-116, 167, 168
+      in boys, 115, 116
+      in girls, 114, 115
+    retarded, 112, 113, 116, 117, 168, 216-218
+
+  Sexual differences, are they congenital or acquired? 41-45
+
+  Sexual differentiation in childhood, 33-49, 78, 79, 148, 149
+
+  Sexual dreams, 81, 94-98, 113, 178, 190
+    alarm at their first appearance, 213, 285
+    and the diagnosis of sexual perversion, 178
+
+  Sexual education, 246-324
+    and nakedness 256, 257
+    and sexual perversions, 312-321
+
+  Sexual egoism, George Meredith on, 222
+
+  Sexual enlightenment, the, 7, 8, 280-306
+
+  Sexual excess and masturbation, 181, 183
+
+  Sexual experiences and neuroses (Freud's theories), 189-191, 277-279
+
+  Sexual feelings, their strict demarcation from non-sexual feelings
+      impossible, 176, 177
+
+  Sexual fetichism. _See_ Fetichism, sexual
+
+  Sexual glands, their influence upon bodily development, 103-109
+
+  Sexual gratification, 59 _n._
+
+  Sexual hyperæsthesia, 98, 121, 124, 284, 303
+
+  Sexual impulse, 13, 26, 29-32, 60-69, 84, 87, 117-123, 151, 270
+    absence of, 26, 87
+    components of, 29-31
+    development of, 84
+    diversion of, 270
+    paradoxical, 18, 117-123
+    periodicity in, 151
+    premature, or retarded. _See_ Sexual paradoxy
+    undifferentiated stage, 60-69, 312, 313
+
+  Sexual incidents in childhood, frequency of, 7
+
+  Sexual intercourse, age at which first possible, 198
+    and masturbation, resemblances and differences, 181, 182
+    consent to. _See_ Age of consent
+    illegitimate, may the doctor advise? 272
+    pre-marital, 287
+
+  Sexual inversion, 44
+
+  Sexual life, childish memories of, 5, 6
+    clinical histories of, 5, 6
+    experiments on, 6
+    literature dealing with, 7-16
+    observation of, 6
+    of the child, importance of, 179-218
+
+  Sexual morality and nakedness, 256, 257, 260
+    and religion, 270-276
+    and the sentiment of shame, 255-257
+    Catholicism and, 274-276
+
+  Sexual neurasthenia, 113
+
+  Sexual offences against children, 196, 205-207, 219-245
+
+  Sexual organs, differences in children and adults, 26-29
+    female, 23-26
+    male, 17-23
+
+  Sexual orgasm. _See_ Orgasm
+
+  Sexual paradoxy, 13, 117-123
+
+  Sexual perversions, 13, 14, 61, 74, 75, 121, 123-144, 178, 184, 199,
+    200, 209-213, 226, 227. _See also under the individual persons_
+    and choice of occupation, 209, 210
+    and masturbation, 184
+    and sexual education, 312-321
+    induced by pædophiles, 226, 227
+    literature of, 13, 14
+    their diagnosis by means of sexual dreams, 178
+
+  Sexual play, 174
+
+  Sexual potency, normal and abnormal, 304
+    testing before marriage, 304
+
+  Sexual practices, the child as an object of, 219-245
+
+  Sexual precocity, 167, 174, 195, 196, 197, 220
+    and sexual perversions, 209
+
+  Sexual satisfaction. _See_ Satisfaction
+
+  Sexual topics in the Bible, 273, 274
+
+  Sexuality and altruism, 208, 209
+    and art, 213-215. _See also_ Nude, the
+    and talent, 213, 214
+    precocious, 146-152
+
+  Sexually perverse advertisements, 240-245
+
+  Shame, 77-79
+    and disgust, 250-258
+    in relation to sexual morality, 255-257
+
+  Shock, nervous, from love, in young children, 188, 189
+
+  "Signs of puberty," 111, 112
+
+  Sister and brother, rarity of sexual desire between, 71.
+    _See also_ Brother and sister
+
+  Skatophilia, 141-144, 259
+
+  Skeleton, sexual differences in, 33
+
+  Skin, diseases of, sexual differences, 47
+    sexual differences in, 34
+
+  Skirts, short, 255
+
+  Skull, sexual differences in, 33
+
+  Sleeping with grown persons a cause of corruption in children, 156
+
+  Smells, unpleasant, and the sentiment of disgust, 252
+
+  Social and economic reasons for the sexual enlightenment, 287, 288
+    dangers of masturbation, 195-201
+    degradation, through precocious sexuality, 197, 198
+    illegitimate intercourse, 287
+    hygiene, 248
+
+  Sociology, works on, 9
+
+  Soldiers, homosexual fondness for, 134
+
+  Song of Solomon, 274
+
+  Spasm, gastric, 181
+
+  Specialised studies of the sexual life of the child, 14-15
+
+  Spermatogonia, 19
+
+  Spermatozoa, 17, 19, 27, 53-56, 104, 108, 165
+    age at which first formed, 53, 54, 55
+
+  Stabbers, sexual, 235
+
+  Stains on underlinen, 165
+
+  Stammering, 47
+
+  Steadfastness and love, 208
+
+  Stimulation, excessive, and masturbation, 181, 183
+    local, a cause of sexual misconduct, 158-161
+    psychical, 161-162
+
+  Stork-stories, 170, 285
+
+  "Strict education," 241-243
+
+  Students, sexual morality of, 266
+
+  Sub-consciousness, the, 278
+
+  Subjective elements of the sexual enlightenment, 290, 291
+
+  Suburethral glands, 18, 22. _See also_ Cowper's glands
+
+  Succession and sexual stimulation, 160
+
+  Succubi, 3
+
+  Sucking movements, 171, 172, 173
+
+  Suffrages. _See_ Woman's suffrage
+
+  Suggestion, 190, 279. _See also_ Hypnotism
+
+  Suicide from love in childhood, 80, 189
+    sexual differences in, 48
+
+  Summary of views on the sexual enlightenment, 298
+
+  Superstition regarding cure of venereal diseases, 219, 226
+
+  Symptomatology, 50-113
+
+  Syphilis, 192, 226, 283
+    cerebral, 220
+
+
+  TAINT, hereditary. _See_ Congenital predisposition
+
+  Talent and sexuality, 213, 214
+
+  Tardy sexual development, 216-218
+
+  Teachers and sexual offences against children, 232, 233
+
+  Teaching and example, 249
+
+  Testes, 17
+
+  Testicles, 17
+    internal secretion of, 103-109
+    removal of. _See_ Castration
+    secretion of, 19
+
+  Theatre, the, 261
+
+  Theological morality and sexual intercourse, 193
+
+  Therapy, 276-280
+
+  Thieves, 199
+
+  Thigh-friction, 164, 165, 187
+
+  Threadworms, 118, 159
+
+  Thyroid, sexual differences in, 33
+
+  Tic, 173
+
+  Tickling, 59
+    children's genital organs, 158, 159
+
+  Tissue, erectile, 18
+
+  Town-life and precocious sexuality, 152-156, 264
+
+  Transfiguration, romantic, of object of love, 71, 72
+
+  Treatment of sexual aberrations, 276-280
+
+  Tress-cutting, 210
+
+  Tubes, Fallopian. _See_ Fallopian tubes
+
+  Tubules, seminiferous, 17
+
+  Tunica albuginea, 17
+
+
+  UNDERCLOTHING, stains on, 165
+
+  Underclothing-fetichism, 122, 123, 210
+
+  Undifferentiated sexual impulse. _See_ Sexual impulse
+
+  Unemployment, 220
+
+  United States, sexual morality in, 266, 267
+
+  Urban corruption, the fable of, 152-156
+
+  Urethra, male, 18
+
+  Urethral glands, 19, 22. _See also_ Littré's glands
+    meatus. _See_ Meatus
+
+  _Urethrorrhoea ex libidine_, 22, 26, 56
+
+  Urticaria, 158
+
+  Uterus, 24, 28
+    masculinus, 18
+    prolapse of, 180
+
+  Utricle, prostatic, 18
+
+
+  VAGABONDS, 199
+
+  Vagina, 24
+
+  Vaginal bulb, 23
+    glands, 25, 57
+    orifice, 23
+
+  Vanity, 77
+
+  Variability of amatory sentiments in childhood, 79, 80
+
+  Variations in the puberal development, 112
+
+  Vas deferens, 17
+
+  Vasa efferentia, 17
+
+  Venereal diseases and the sexual enlightenment, 305
+    in children, 191-192, 226
+    superstition about their cure, 219, 226
+    infection and the sexual enlightenment, 283, 289, 291, 293, 299,
+      303
+
+  Verses written by children in love, 76
+
+  Vesiculæ seminales, 18, 55
+
+  Vestibule, 235
+
+  Viraginity, 125, 126
+
+  Virile potency. _See_ Sexual potency
+
+  Visual-memory, sexual differences in, 40
+
+  Voice, sexual differences in, 37
+
+  Voluptuous sucking, 173
+
+  Voluptuousness, 22, 23, 25, 26, 31, 32, 57-59
+    in children, 57-59, 88, 89
+    in the female, 25, 26
+    in the male, 23, 25
+    in women, its intensity, 304, 305
+
+  "Voyeur," case of, 135
+
+  Vulva, 27
+
+  Vulval glands, 25, 57
+
+
+  WEIGHT, sexual differences in, 34
+
+  _Wollustkörperchen_, 27
+
+  Woman's movement, the, 43, 169, 322
+    suffrage, 195
+
+  Womb. _See_ Uterus
+
+  Women, inculcation of respect for, 323
+    valuation of, 195
+
+  _Wonnesaugen_, 173
+
+  Wrestling, 74, 160
+
+
+  YOUTH, defined, 2
+
+
+  ZOOLOGY, works on, 10
+
+  _Zwangsneurose_, 277
+
+
+
+
+  INDEX OF NAMES
+
+
+  ABRAHAM, Karl, 190
+
+  Adler, Otto, 26, 32
+
+  Alderi, 10
+
+  Allen, 3 _n._
+
+  Ancel, 108
+
+  Arbiter (Elegantium). _See_ Petronius
+
+  Aschaffenburg, 182
+
+
+  BACQUÉ, 8
+
+  Bartels, 35
+
+  Barthélemy, 192
+
+  Basedow, 8, 293
+
+  Bäumer, Gertrud, 268
+
+  Bell, Sanford, vi, 15, 69, 73, 74, 78, 79, 148, 151, 188, 208
+
+  Béraud, 229
+
+  Binet, 124
+
+  Bleuler, 305
+
+  Bloch, Iwan, 301
+
+  Blom. _See_ Oker-Blom
+
+  Boerhaave, 37
+
+  Boesch, Hans, 155
+
+  Bohn, 263
+
+  Boismont, de. _See_ de Boismont
+
+  Bouin, 108
+
+  Bourdin, 203
+
+  Brehm, 10, 99
+
+  Breschet, 115, 116
+
+  Bretonne. _See_ Rétif
+
+  Breuer, 277
+
+  Brierre de Boismont. _See_ de Boismont
+
+  Brill, 14
+
+  Broker, 47
+
+  Browning, Mrs., 72
+
+  Bruns, 46
+
+  Buffon, 152
+
+  Byron, 10
+
+
+  CAMPE, 8
+
+  Canova, 10
+
+  Carpenter, Edward, 226, 227
+
+  Carus, 114, 197
+
+  Casanova, 201
+
+  Chamisso, 38
+
+  Clopatt, 46
+
+
+  DANTE, 10, 213
+
+  de Boismont, 189
+
+  de Musset, Alfred, 10
+
+  Derones, 10, 213
+
+  d'Espine, Marc, 168
+
+  Dessoir, Max, 60, 124
+
+  Dippold, 236
+
+  Dostoiewski, 233
+
+  d'Outreport, 197
+
+  Duchâtelet, Parent-, 9
+
+  Duff, Mary, 10
+
+
+  EDEN Paul. _See_ Paul
+
+  Ellis, Havelock, v, 15, 33, 37, 48, 78, 142, 143, 160, 165, 166, 249,
+    315
+
+  Englisch, 56
+
+  Eschle, 322
+
+  Esquirol, 218
+
+  Eulenburg, 46, 189
+
+  Exner, 102
+
+
+  FAUST, 159
+
+  Fehling, 34
+
+  Fehlinger, Hans, 214, 215
+
+  Féré, 13, 81, 114, 185, 311
+
+  Ferrero, 195
+
+  Ferriani, 199, 201
+
+  Finck, 265
+
+  Flaubert, 11
+
+  Forel, 162, 200
+
+  Francillon, Marthe, 27
+
+  Francis, St., of Sales, 97
+
+  Freud, vi, 14, 91, 93, 172, 173, 190, 226 277, 278, 279
+
+  Frisch, 56
+
+  Fuchs, 13
+
+  Fürbringer, 20, 22, 52
+
+
+  GALL, 108, 116
+
+  Gebhard, 115
+
+  Goethe, 10, 62, 63, 77, 213
+
+  Gousset, 275
+
+  Grimm, 261
+
+  Groos, 10, 12, 63, 99, 101, 102
+
+  Gross, Hans, 41, 204, 205
+
+  Grünstein, 208
+
+  Guttceit, 92, 164
+
+  Gutzmann Hermann, 47
+
+
+  HABERDA, 53
+
+  Halban, 34, 107, 168
+
+  Hall, Stanley, 138, 142
+
+  Haller, 197
+
+  Hartmann, Berthold, 39
+
+  Havelock Ellis. _See_ Ellis
+
+  Hebbel, 11, 170, 208
+
+  Heidenhain, 298
+
+  Heine, 213
+
+  Henke, 218
+
+  Henle, 55
+
+  Herodotus, 250
+
+  Hofmann, 53
+
+  Höller, K., 299
+
+  Hückstädt, 156
+
+  Hudson, 101
+
+  Hufeland, 8, 75, 159, 180, 311
+
+  Hutchinson, 37
+
+
+  IBBETSSON, Sir Denzil, 215
+
+
+  JASTROWITZ, 108
+
+  Jodl, 124
+
+  Jullien, 52, 191
+
+
+  KAUNITZ, 239
+
+  Keller, Gottfried, 12
+
+  Kerschensteiner, 42
+
+  Key, Axel, 36
+
+  Kirn, 231
+
+  Kisch, 115, 167, 168, 196
+
+  Klose, 53
+
+  Kötscher, vi, 14
+
+  Kovalevsky, 142
+
+  Krafft-Ebing, von, v, 13, 26, 117, 118, 124, 125, 126, 219
+
+  Kurella, 195
+
+  Kussmaul, 167
+
+
+  LAMBERCIER, Mademoiselle, 210, 211
+
+  Lantier, 197
+
+  La Rochefoucauld, 217
+
+  Lasègue, 142
+
+  Laukhard, 153
+
+  Lehmann, Rudolf, 247
+
+  Leppmann, Fritz, 220, 232
+
+  Lichtenstein, Ulrich von, 136
+
+  Liégeois, 115
+
+  Liguori, 274
+
+  Lindner, 172
+
+  Lobsien, 40
+
+  Lombroso, 13, 195
+
+  Longfellow, 110
+
+  Löwenfeld, 189
+
+
+  MAGNAN, 221, 222
+
+  Mantegazza, 13, 52, 75, 213, 308
+
+  Marcuse, Max, 47
+
+  Marro, Martial, 229
+
+  Martin, 197
+
+  Martin, Alfred, 255
+
+  Martineau, 225
+
+  Mead, 116
+
+  Meredith, George, 222
+
+  Merzbach, George, 191
+
+  Meumann, 40
+
+  Michelet, 275
+
+  Mittelmaier, 229, 230
+
+  Möbius, 10, 45, 46
+
+  Molitor, 197
+
+  Moll, 144, 145, 151, 250, 272, 310
+
+  Momsen, P., 139
+
+  Montgomery, 197
+
+  Morrison, 48
+
+  Müller, L. R., 20
+
+  Müller, Robert, 139
+
+  Musset, de, _See_ de Musset
+
+  Musset, Paul, 10
+
+
+  NÄCKE, 178
+
+  Napoleon I., 10
+
+  Netschajaff, 40
+
+  Neugebauer, 145
+
+  Newman, 2
+
+  Niemeyer, 8
+
+  Nyström, 272
+
+
+  OKER-BLOM, Max, 301
+
+  Outreport, d'. _See_ d'Outreport
+
+
+  PADBERG, 38
+
+  Parent-Duchâtelet, 9
+
+  Paul, Eden, 115, 167, 168, 195, 196
+
+  Pélofi, 13
+
+  Penta, 159
+
+  Peterson, Viktor, 153
+
+  Petronius Arbiter, 13, 80
+
+  Pflüger, 50
+
+  Platter, Felix, 10, 131, 140
+
+  Pockels, 268
+
+  Popp, Adelheid, 220
+
+  Pougin, 270
+
+  Pouillet, 198
+
+  Preyer, 50
+
+
+  RAMDOHR, 9
+
+  Rétif de la Bretonne, 13, 136, 153
+
+  Ribbing, 4, 150, 179
+
+  Ribot, 124
+
+  Rohleder, 172
+
+  Roland, Madame, 97
+
+  Rosenbaum, 250
+
+  Rousseau, 7, 136, 152, 210, 247, 317
+
+  Rudeck, 9, 255
+
+  Rüdin, E., 215
+
+
+  SALZMANN, 8
+
+  Sanford Bell. _See_ Bell
+
+  Sarganeck, 7
+
+  Scheyer, 292
+
+  Schreiber, Adele, 268
+
+  Seitz, 101, 102
+
+  Sibson, 37
+
+  Sikorsky, 253
+
+  Stanley Hall. _See_ Hall
+
+  Stekel, 93
+
+  Stern, William, 41, 42
+
+  Stoll, Otto, 229
+
+  Strassmann, 54
+
+  Stratz, C. H., 34, 35, 36
+
+  Strodtmann, 213
+
+
+  TARDIEU, 196, 224
+
+  Tarnowsky, Pauline, 214
+
+  Thalhofer, 8, 306
+
+  Tissot, 7, 8, 180, 183
+
+  Townsend, 165
+
+
+  VON Krafft-Ebing. _See_ Krafft-Ebing
+
+
+  WAGNER, C., 155, 156
+
+  Werthauer, 227
+
+  Weston, 123
+
+  Westphal, 13
+
+  Wittenberg, 156
+
+
+  X----, Jacobus, 150
+
+
+  ZACCHIAS, 54
+
+  Zola, 136
+
+"Printed in the United States of America."
+
+
+
+
+
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