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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

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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

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