the social emergency _studies in sex hygiene and morals_ edited by william trufant foster president of reed college president pacific coast federation for sex hygiene with an introduction by charles w. eliot president emeritus of harvard university [illustration: publishers stamp] boston new york chicago houghton mifflin company the riverside press cambridge copyright, , by william trufant foster all rights reserved the riverside press cambridge, massachusetts u.s.a. preface this volume is the outgrowth of an extension course conducted by reed college in portland, oregon, in . the course was offered to teachers and to workers in various other fields of social service as an outline of the main problems of social hygiene and morals and as a guide to further study. an edition of forty-five hundred copies of the syllabus of the course was soon exhausted, and there appeared to be a sufficient demand for the publication of some of the lectures. the chapters are the various lectures, condensed by the editor, but otherwise substantially as given, with the exception of chapters i, ii, and xii, which are here presented for the first time. in the original course, reed college fortunately had the services of calvin s. white, m.d., and l.r. alderman, officers of the oregon social hygiene society. their addresses have been omitted, because they were prepared rather to meet local conditions and the needs of the course than for the general public. for the same reason the greater part of the addresses of william house, m.d., and of the editor have been omitted. _the social emergency_ does not purport to be a comprehensive or systematic treatment of the problems of sex hygiene and morals; it presents merely the views of a number of persons on certain phases of the subject. although no writer is responsible for the ideas of any other writer, yet nearly all the writers have read and approved all the chapters. furthermore, the editor has had the aid of other competent critics. the proof has been read by maurice bigelow, ph.d., professor of biology, teachers college, columbia university; by calvin s. white, m.d., secretary of the state board of health of oregon and president of the oregon social hygiene society; and by william snow, m.d., secretary of the american social hygiene association. others, including edward l. keyes, jr., m.d., and harry beal torrey, ph.d., have read the particular chapters concerning which they could give expert opinion. the editor is grateful to all these men, and to florence read, secretary of reed extension courses, who has given valuable aid. with their help he has endeavored to avoid the errors, the exaggerations, the narrowness of view, and the hysteria that characterize some of the current discussions concerning sex and the social evil. if there is one dominant truth in this volume, it is that any plan for meeting the social emergency that would relax the control of moral and spiritual law over sex impulses is antagonistic, not only to physical health, but as well to the highest development of personality and to the progressive evolution of human society. w.t.f. reed college, portland, oregon, april, . contents introduction. by charles w. eliot, ll.d., president emeritus of harvard university i. the social emergency. by william trufant foster, ph.d., ll.d. ii. various phases of the question. by william trufant foster iii. physiological aspects. by william house, m.d., member of the executive committee, oregon social hygiene society iv. medical phases. by andrew c. smith, m.d., member of the oregon state board of health v. economic phases. by arthur evans wood, a.b., instructor in social economics, reed college; member of the vice commission, portland, oregon vi. recreational phases. by lebert howard weir, a.b., field secretary of the playground and recreation association of america vii. educational phases. by edward octavius sisson, ph.d., commissioner of education for the state of idaho; recently professor of education, reed college viii. teaching phases: for children. by william greenleaf eliot, jr., a.b., minister of church of our father, portland; member of the executive committee, oregon social hygiene society ix. teaching phases: for boys. by harry h. moore, executive secretary, oregon social hygiene society x. teaching phases: for girls. by bertha stuart, a.b., m.d., director of the gymnasium for women, university of oregon xi. moral and religious phases. by norman frank coleman, a.m., professor of english, reed college xii. agencies, methods, materials, and ideals. by william trufant foster list of references index the social emergency introduction _by charles w. eliot_ this book is a collection of essays by several authors on the various aspects of social hygiene, and on the proper means of forming an enlightened public opinion concerning the measures which society can now, at last, wisely undertake against the vices and evils which in the human race accompany bodily self-indulgence and lack of moral stamina. till within five years, it was the custom in families, churches, and schools, to say nothing about sex relations, normal or abnormal; and in society at large to do nothing about the ancient evil of prostitution, to provide neither isolation nor treatment for the worst of contagious diseases, and to regard the blindness, feeble-mindedness, sterility, paralysis, and insanity which result from those diseases as afflictions which could not be prevented. the progress of medicine within twenty years, both preventive and curative, has greatly changed the ethical as well as the physical situation. the policy of silence and concealment concerning evils which are now known to be preventable is no longer justifiable. the thinking public can now learn what these evils are, how destructive they are, and by what measures they may be cured or prevented. with this knowledge goes the responsibility and duty of applying it in defense of society and civilization. this book is a sincere effort, first, to supply the needed knowledge of terrible wrongs and destructions; and, secondly, to indicate cautiously and tentatively the most available means of attacking the evils described. it is an attempt to enlighten public opinion on one of the gravest of modern problems--indeed, the very gravest, with the exception of the warfare between capital and labor. the book is not intended for children, or even for adolescents, but rather for parents, teachers, and ministers who have to answer the questions of children and youth about sex relations, or deal sympathetically with the victims of sexual vice. all efforts to deal directly with sex relations in schools, churches, and clubs are hampered, and must be for some years to come, by the lack of competent instructors in that difficult subject. so far as instruction in educational institutions is concerned, it seems as if the normal schools and the colleges for men or for women must be selected for the first experiments on class instruction. family instruction is in most cases impossible; because neither father nor mother is competent to teach the children what needs to be taught about both the normal and the disordered sex relations. the ministers and priests are as a rule equally incompetent. they can give precepts or orders, but not explanations or reasons. considerate managers of large industries ought to have a keen interest in all social hygiene problems, because they nearly concern industrial efficiency; but it is only lately that business men have begun to understand the close connection between public health and industrial prosperity, and most of them are not well informed on the subject. against prostitution and drunkenness governments of many sorts have been struggling ineffectually for centuries. these two evils go together; but whether taken separately or together no government has yet adopted an effective mode of dealing with them. fortunately medical science has lately placed in the hands of government, and of private associations, effective means of defense against the social vices and their consequences; and the new social ethics call loudly on all men of good will to enlist in the warfare against these ancient evils, which to-day are more destructive than ever before, because of the prevailing industrial and social freedom, and the new facilities for individual traveling, and the migration of masses of men. this book is intended to arouse public sentiment, spread accurate knowledge, check rash enthusiasm, and promote well-informed and resolute action. chapter i the social emergency _by william trufant foster_ concerning matters of sex and reproduction there has been for many generations a conspiracy of silence. the silence is now broken. whatever may be the wisdom or the folly of this change of attitude, it is a fact; and it constitutes a social emergency. throughout the nineteenth century the taboo prevailed. certain subjects were rarely mentioned in public, and then only in euphemistic terms. the home, the church, the school; and the press joined in the conspiracy. supposedly, they were keeping the young in a blessed state of innocence. as a matter of fact, other agencies were busy disseminating falsehoods. most of our boys and girls, having no opportunity to hear sex and marriage and motherhood discussed with reverence, heard these matters discussed with vulgarity. while those interested in the welfare of the young withheld the truth, those who could profit by their downfall poisoned their minds with error and half-truths. an abundance of distressing evidence showed that nearly all children gained information concerning sex and reproduction from foul sources,--from misinformed playmates, degenerates, obscene pictures, booklets, and advertisements of quack doctors. at the same time the social evil and its train of tragic consequences showed no abatement. the policy of silence, after many generations of trial, proved a failure. the past few years have seen a sudden change. subjects formerly tabooed are now thrust before the public. the plain-spoken publications of social hygiene societies are distributed by hundreds of thousands. public exhibits, setting forth the horrors of venereal diseases, are sent from place to place. motion-picture films portray white slavers, prostitutes, and restricted districts, and show exactly how an innocent girl may be seduced, betrayed, and sold. the stage finds it profitable to offer problem plays concerned with illicit love, with prostitution, and even with the results of venereal contagion. newspapers that formerly made only brief references to corespondents, houses of bad repute, statutory offenses, and serious charges, now fill columns with detailed accounts of divorce trials, traffic in women, earnings of prostitutes, and raids on houses. novels that might have been condemned and suppressed a few decades ago are now listed among "the best sellers." lectures on sex hygiene and morals are given widely, over four hundred such lectures having been given under the auspices of a single society. fake doctors, while obeying the letter of new laws, are bolder than ever in some directions and use the alarm caused by the production of _damaged goods_, for example, as a means of snaring new victims. generations of silence, enforced by the powerful influence of social custom, have been suddenly followed by a campaign of pitiless publicity, sanctioned by eminent men and women, and carried forward by the agencies of public education that daily reach the largest number of human beings--namely, the press, the motion picture, and the stage. this far-reaching change in the customs of society is fraught with immediate dangers, because we do not know whether the mere knowledge of facts concerning sexual processes, vices, and diseases will do a given individual harm or good. the effect of such information upon any person is unquestionably determined by his physiological age, by his nervous system, by the manner and time of the presentation of the subject; above all, by his will power and the controlling ideals that are acquired along with scientific facts. as yet, we have not discovered thoroughly trustworthy pedagogical principles, administrative methods, and printed materials for public education in matters of sex. so difficult and complicated are the problems, and so disastrous are mistakes in this field of instruction, that the home, the church, and the school--the institutions to which young people should naturally look for truth in all matters, the agencies best qualified to solve the problems--are extremely cautious and conservative. while these agencies, which are concerned primarily with the welfare of the individual, the family, and society, have made some efforts to solve the problems, and to discover a safe and gradual transition from the old order to the new, other agencies, concerned primarily with making money, have rushed in to exploit the new freedom and the universal interest in matters of sex. this passing of the old order, and the invasion of the new order before we are prepared for it, constitute the social emergency of the twentieth century. great as are the industrial and political revolutions of modern times, it is doubtful if anything so deeply concerns the coming generations as our measure of success in confronting the present social emergency. in no other phase of social education are mistakes so serious. other changes, demanded by new ideas of the function of the school, have been made prematurely and clumsily, but without grave danger. we have adjusted ourselves readily enough to compulsory education, normal schools, higher education for women, expert supervision, the kindergartens, physical training, industrial schools, university extension, care of defectives, and vocational guidance. every new type of school and every new subject has been introduced before there were teachers trained for the new work. we stumbled along. few were greatly concerned over mistakes in the teaching of penmanship and spelling and millinery and latin and algebra. few protested against the inefficient teaching of physiology as long as it rattled only dry bones, and had no evident relation to the physical functions and health of the student. but the moment men proposed to teach a subject of vital consequence, there was a cry of protest--and rightly. here mistakes will not do: here incompetent teachers cannot be trusted. ill-advised efforts to teach sex hygiene may aggravate the very evils we are trying to assuage. because the subject is of vital importance, education in sexual hygiene and morals must proceed cautiously and conservatively; according to tried methods, psychologically sound; always under the control of men and women of maturity, who see the present emergency in its many phases, who know how to teach, whose character is in keeping with the highest ideals of their work, and who approach their subject with reverence and their pupils with the joy and inspiration which come from a large opportunity to serve mankind. unhappily, not all of those who have been stimulated by the new freedom of speech to thrust themselves forward as teachers of sex hygiene, and as social reformers, are safe leaders. some are ignorant and unaware that enthusiasm is not a satisfactory substitute for knowledge. some are hysterical. at a recent purity convention, a woman said, "i know little about the facts, but it is wonderful how much ignorance can accomplish when accompanied by devotion and persistence." that declaration was applauded. some people appear to believe that they will arrive safely if they go rapidly enough and far enough, even though they may be going in the wrong direction. many retard the movement for social hygiene by making statements they do not know to be true, especially in respect to the extent of sexual immorality, the number of prostitutes, and the prevalence of venereal disease. young people of opposite sexes, finding evidence on every hand that the traditional taboo is removed, discuss the subject for personal pleasure. the books in the field of social hygiene which have most scrupulously and successfully avoided everything that might be sexually stimulating are not the ones bought by the largest numbers. the demand for erotic publications is so great as to warn us in advance that the new freedom will prove dangerous for many whose minds are already unclean. the propaganda for social purity is unlike many others, in that there is special danger of doing injury to the very ones in special need of help. the fact that the young, the ignorant, the hysterical, and the sexually abnormal, as well as commercialized agencies, are using the newfound license in dangerous ways is reason enough for the liberal and whole-hearted support of the american social hygiene association and affiliated societies. these private organizations are striving to meet the present social emergency. they are temporary expedients. their chief aim is public education. they should frustrate the efforts of all dangerous agencies and hasten the day when the home, the church, and the school shall meet their full responsibilities in the teaching of sexual hygiene and morals. chapter ii various phases of the question _by william trufant foster_ it is necessary to take into account all phases of the social emergency. the question is not merely one of physiology, or pathology, or diseases, or wages, or industrial education, or recreation, or knowledge, or commercial organization, or legal regulation, or lust, or social customs, or cultivation of will power, or religion. it is all of this and more. the danger is that we shall see only one or two sides of a many-sided problem. a solution may appear adequate because it leaves essential factors out of consideration. one physiological factor in the situation is of fundamental importance, namely, the discrepancy between the age of sexual maturity and the prevailing age of marriage,--an artificial condition largely determined by social customs, by modern educational systems, and by standards of living. while society has set forward, generation after generation, the age at which marriage seems feasible, the age of puberty has remained virtually the same. this unnatural condition--as artificial as the clothes we wear--is a phase of the emergency which should be considered by those who condemn as unnatural and forced the education of adolescent boys and girls in sexual hygiene and morals. partly as a result of this has come the general acceptance of the double standard of chastity which has bitterly condemned the girl--made her an outcast of society--and excused the boy for the same offense, on the false plea of physiological necessity. with the sanction of this double standard, tacitly accepted by society, thousands of prostitutes have been harbored and protected. what shall we do with them? we may drive them out of certain districts and certain houses, and even certain cities, but they are still with us, and we are responsible for them. if they are denied resorts where men seek them, they will seek men. most of them are unable, without special training, to earn a living in any other way, and many of them would not if they could. a majority are mentally defective and should be wards of society. any plan which fails to take care of these women--adequately, permanently, and humanely--ignores one of the greatest of the problems which history, with the sanction of society, has made a factor of the present emergency. the medical phase of the present situation is not often ignored, except by those who hold that there is no such thing as disease. all countries are alarmed over the prevalence of venereal infection. definite information, however, concerning the extent of these diseases, the sources and conditions of contagion, and the complications and results, is not to be had; because society still persists in treating venereal diseases as not subject to public registration and control, in spite of their terrible attacks on tens of thousands of innocent victims. the fear of contracting disease has long been used in attempts to promote a single standard of chastity. such fear has no doubt played its part and will continue to keep many prudent men away from prostitutes. but in looking forward to the work of the next generation, we must face the need of higher motives than the fear of disease, for science may at any time discover positive safeguards against contagion, thus diminishing one of the factors of the present emergency and by the same stroke accentuating others. of the economic phases of the emergency, there are some which directly affect the wage-earner. one is the failure of wages to keep pace with the higher cost of living; another is the increase in the number and proportion of wage-earning women and the resultant keenness of competition for places; another is the fact that women workers are for the most part unorganized and unprotected; another is the occasional effect of supplementary wages of vice in lowering the wages of women in industry; still another is the constant temptation of shop-girls to imitate their patrons' vulgar displays of finery. but of all the economic factors contributing to the moral breakdown of girls, the most general and inexcusable is the failure of our public schools to provide vocational training, although it is certain that above fifty per cent of all girls leave the schools to become wage-earners. failure to gain a living wage is undoubtedly one of the causes, though seldom the sole cause, of the first delinquency of some girls. other economic conditions serve to promote and intrench the business of prostitution. these conditions are as real as any other factors and will block reform until they are squarely met. one of these is the excessive profit on property used for immoral purposes. the fact that such property is often owned by persons who pass as respectable members of society does not make the problem easier. then there is the intimate connection between the sale of intoxicating liquors and commercialized prostitution, as definitely revealed by the investigations of every vice commission. another economic factor intrenching prostitution as a business is the commercial organization which continues to do an international and interstate business, partly because of our inadequate white-slave laws and inadequate appropriation for enforcement. most important among the economic aids to prostitution as a business are the high immediate wages of vice in contrast with the low wages of virtue. a girl in the shop, or factory, or office may be capitalized at six thousand dollars; in the clutches of a procurer, she may become worth twenty-six thousand dollars. as a prostitute, she "earns more than four times as much as she is worth as a factor in the social and industrial economy, where brains, intelligence, virtue and womanly charm should bring a premium." in an average lifetime, to be sure, the wages of one woman in industry are greater than the earnings in the short life of one prostitute; but from the viewpoint of the man who pockets most of the earnings, it is more profitable to kill off a dozen women than to keep one at decent work through an average lifetime. this economic condition is revealed to the cast-out woman after a few years, on the brink of the grave; but at the outset of her brief career, she sees the immediate gain, not the ultimate ruin. there are other economic factors which will aid all movements for social hygiene when they are more clearly perceived by those engaged in reputable business: first, the loss to honest industry due to the reduced efficiency of sexual perverts, of the diseased, and of those who, through their ignorance, have been kept in worry by "leading specialists"; and, in the second place, the inevitable reduction in the profits of legitimate business due to the excessive profits of illegitimate business. the recreational pursuits of young people are other factors of immediate concern to those who would see the problems of social hygiene in their entirety. adolescent boys and girls spend most of their leisure time either in wholesome physical activity conducive to normal sex life or in various forms of amusement fraught with danger. in seeking innocent recreation, young people can hardly escape contact with amusements cunningly devised to excite sex impulses and at the same time to lower respect for woman. the bill-boards and the picture post-cards, the penny-in-the-slot machines and the motion pictures, the exhibits of quack doctors, vaudeville performances, many so-called comic operas, popular new songs, the dress of women approved by modern fashion,--these all help at times to prepare young people to fall before the special temptations that beset all commercial recreation centers. especially dangerous are the saloons, billiard rooms, dance-halls, ice-cream parlors, road-houses and amusement parks. both male and female enemies of decency frequent these resorts. they are often schools of sexual immorality, with clever and persistent teachers. unless we take them into due account, we cannot see the whole problem of education in sexual hygiene and morals. then there are the legal phases of the situation. we must consider, on the one hand how much can be accomplished by legislation, in view of all the known factors in the situation. our courts, for example, in spasmodically or regularly rounding up women, fining them ten or fifteen dollars apiece, and turning them loose, are trying to meet the social emergency by shutting their eyes to nine out of ten of its essential features. their policy gives a clean bill to the male prostitute, arrests the woman, takes away a part of her earnings, sets her free under the necessity of seeking new victims to offset the fine, offers her no incentive to lead any other life, incidentally increases opportunities for police graft, and virtually gives the sanction of the law to the whole nefarious business. the ostrich with his head buried in the sand sees our gravest social problem about as clearly and wholly as do many who are administering laws concerning prostitution in american cities. the impotence of laws passed in advance of public education and public demand is a difficulty often overlooked. some reformers seem to think they can eliminate the social evil by getting a law passed. they urge state legislatures to pass laws requiring every school to teach sex hygiene. these people think they are going straight at a solution; but they fail to see the patent fact that there are not now enough competent teachers for this work; no, not one teacher for every hundred schools. another example of futile legislation is the california law requiring the reporting of cases of venereal diseases. one could easily list a score of laws in the domain of sexual morals which are ineffective, either because in their very nature they could not be enforced, or because the public do not wish to have them enforced. perhaps there are no factors of the social emergency so frequently left out of account as the relation of public education to public opinion and the relation of public opinion to the possibility of law enforcement. as a matter of fact the educational phases of social reform are of most immediate importance. nothing can so profitably occupy the attention of social hygiene societies as the education of the public. if groups of social workers come to serious disagreement on other phases of the present emergency,--if the discussion of restricted districts, minimum-wage laws, health certificates for marriage, and reporting of diseases divides the group into warring camps,--all can unite in favor of spreading certain truths as widely as possible; and it is not difficult to agree on at least a few of the many methods which have already proved effective in educational campaigns. at the outset of our attempt to educate the general public in matters of sex, we face certain factors which govern the scope, time, place, and method of any successful efforts. failure to give these factors due consideration has brought many attempts to early and unhappy ends, and convinced some people that ignorance is safer than such education. we must reckon carefully with the centuries of social tradition which have resulted in the taboo on the subjects of sex and reproduction. it may be that this conspiracy of silence has proved a failure; it may be that it has no basis worthy of intellectual respect. it may be that all people should welcome the new freedom of speech. these are not issues in the process of education. our first concern is the actual state of the public mind; we begin with that or else we fail. biologically the all-inclusive issue concerns the survival of the race. nature has no favorites: the fittest of the human stock will survive after others have degenerated and disappeared; the fittest animals will ultimately people the earth. sexual degeneracy is the surest road to race extinction. no aspects are more important than those concerning morals and religion. the restraining influences of the fear of disease may and probably will be thrown off by science. whether education in scientific aspects of the subject will do good or harm in a given case depends on the extent to which moral and religious ideals control the conduct of the individual. the inadequacy of mere knowledge in the realm of sex hygiene is painfully evident. to the knowledge of what is right must be added the will to do the right. as moral and religious instruction is the dominant educational need of the present generation, so the moral and religious aspects of sex problems transcend all others in importance. these are the most important phases of the social emergency. it is difficult to see them in all their intricate relationships and to realize that in any one approach we touch only one side of a many-sided problem. the great majority of our people see only the superficial aspects, or see one particular phase in distorted perspective, because that is brought close to them through a special case of misfortune. even social workers are in danger of narrowness of vision because of devoted service in particular fields. the aim of the following chapters is to consider successively and in right relationships various aspects of the social emergency. chapter iii physiological aspects _by william house_ all instruction in the physiology of reproduction as an aid to sexual hygiene should be so conducted as to give assurance that the wonders of the origin and development of life in all its millions of forms be taught in a respectful, even reverent, spirit. naught in the universe is more marvelous than the beginnings of life. naught else compares with the wonders of growth and development. rightly taught, reproduction may be cleansed from the foul interpretations which have soiled the minds of countless children, and may be made into a body of wonderful and sacred truths capable of fortifying youthful minds against the uncleanness and indecencies which have contributed so largely to sexual impurity. if it be never forgotten that human ingenuity has been taxed in untold numbers of unsuccessful experiments to produce life by other than nature's methods, while the power of reproduction resides in even the lowliest of living organisms, the mystery and marvel are multiplied a hundredfold, and the subject of reproduction is invested with a halo of splendid and inspiring proportions. * * * * * the sex organs are the agencies by which every plant and every animal, each after its kind, brings into the world a succeeding generation. sex activity is the result of sex impulse. the imperative need of reproduction in the scheme of nature is responsible for the presence of sex impulse as it occurs in every normal adult animal. were it not for this impulse the earth would soon become void of life. the human sex impulse is a powerful one, thought compelling, at times well-nigh overmastering. though in the main good, it sometimes produces harmful results. among the lower animals the sex function is exercised without thought or knowledge of consequence, restrained only by the limitations of physical power,--the power to obtain by might, by conquest. in fully developed mankind, the mind acts as a constraining force which may control or even completely subdue physical manifestations of sex impulse. in adolescents--those who are approaching _maturity_, but are in a transition state, neither man nor child--sex desire may be as strong as in those of riper years. many who are passing through this period know little or nothing of the forces that pulse through their frames and seem to consume them with unquenchable fires. these forces are the sex impulses, the beginning of sex life and sex activity. and as every work of man or nature while in a state of transition is unstable, less firmly founded, more easily destroyed or injured than at any other time, so it is that the adolescent finds himself in greater danger than at any other time of life. consumed with incomprehensible desire, which he cannot gratify, he is the victim of circumstances which cause him distress, yet admit of no relief. probably all marriage laws have as their real object the protection of child life. without marriage laws there could be no organized society and the human race would soon sink to the level of the animal world in general. under present social conditions marriages are put off longer and longer. each succeeding generation is marked by an increase in the age of those who marry. but the conditions which cause late marriages in no way lessen the sex impulses or mitigate the distress which these impulses cause. the impulse to multiply is neither greater nor less than in the past when marriages generally occurred earlier. fortunately it is weaker in the female than in the male. there are those who believe that the male must exercise it if he would achieve his full strength of mind and body. certain political and philosophic sects take cognizance of this belief and advocate legalized provision for the gratification of the sex impulse even to the extent of providing for the destruction of the lives of the unborn. the most pernicious of the false beliefs regarding physiological necessity are as follows:-- . that a life of sexual continence is not consistent with the best physical health. . that the exercise of the sex function is necessary to the full development and preservation of "manly power,"--the power of procreation. . that the sexual impulse in man is so imperious that it is impossible to control it and, therefore, a sexually continent life cannot be expected of man. . that, therefore, the moral standard which we apply to woman cannot be applied to man. to correct these erroneous beliefs about the sex function, dr. m.j. exner brought together the testimony of the foremost medical authorities of the united states. he drew up a statement regarding sexual continence, and submitted it to leading physiologists for criticism so as to bring its phraseology wholly within the requirements of scientific precision. it was then submitted for endorsement to leading medical authorities throughout the country. the ready and hearty response of of these men in endorsing the declaration leaves no doubt as to the conviction of the leading men of the medical profession on this question. the declaration is as follows:-- "in view of the individual and social dangers which spring from the widespread belief that continence may be detrimental to health, and of the fact that municipal toleration of prostitution is sometimes defended on the ground that sexual indulgence is necessary, we, the undersigned, members of the medical profession, testify to our belief that continence has not been shown to be detrimental to health or virility; that there is no evidence of its being inconsistent with the highest physical, mental and moral efficiency; and that it offers the only sure reliance for sexual health outside of marriage."[ ] the erroneous beliefs concerning physiological necessity have been propagated chiefly on the authority of advertising medical fakers, whose business depends on misrepresentation and deceit, men whose methods exclude them from the ranks of reputable physicians. they are also taught by those within the ranks of the profession who are ignorant or unscrupulous or both, and who for the most part have no higher incentive in their profession than the pursuit of the dollar. the teaching of these men is in most cases more an expression of their own vicious habits than of real conviction. both wholly misrepresent the teaching and attitude of the great majority of physicians who constitute the reputable body of the profession. dr. william h. howell, professor of physiology at johns hopkins university, says: "there is no evidence whatsoever that the sexual appetite or the act of reproduction has any physiological relationship to the preservation of the integrity of the individual. this appetite has been created or evolved and made strong in us for an entirely different purpose. a sexual necessity exists only so far as the integrity of the race is concerned; so far as the individual is concerned his sexual functions may be unused or he may be completely unsexed without any injury to his bodily health." footnotes: [ ] the full list of authorities is given in _the physician's answer_, by m.j. exner, m.d., secretary, student department, international committee, young men's christian associations, association press, new york, . this is the best treatment of the question of physiological necessity. it is freely quoted in this chapter. [editor.] chapter iv medical phases _by andrew c. smith_ some idea of the prevalence of venereal diseases in the united states may be obtained from the following statistics of the census for . the registration area covered a population of , , persons. the figures are here extended to cover a population of , , people: deaths ascribed to venereal disease, ; spinal cord diseases, ; paresis, . other diseases partly due to syphilis: softening of the brain, a term indiscriminately used to cover a number of diseases including brain syphilis and paresis, ; paralysis, usually meaning apoplexy, but always including many cases of brain syphilis, , ; premature birth, by some believed to be the result of syphilis in one half of all cases, , ; congenital debility, deaths due in many cases to feebleness of the child resulting from syphilis, , ; blindness, one fourth the total number of blind in this country estimated at , to , . many estimate that over half of the entire male population have had gonorrhea. the principal reason for this alarming distribution among all classes of these infections and their steady increase is ignorance and misunderstanding of physiological facts, particularly the viciously false teaching of the street corner that sexual activity is a physiological necessity. these diseases would be arrested were there a widespread knowledge of their disastrous effects. although young men hear the mischievous lie that "gonorrhea is no worse than a bad cold," thousands of them are punished with sterility as a result of the disease. nearly all the neglected cases result in so-called ascending infections, reaching the bladder and kidneys and causing many deaths, and many men carry the infection in dormant form, to infect innocent wives in later years. appalling as are the consequences of gonorrheal infection in men, they are not so fatal or so far-reaching as syphilis. the causative parasite of this disease spares not a single tissue in the body and may disturb any or all of its functions, not even mentality escaping. as a cause of death it is extremely frequent. our statistics ordinarily ascribe to syphilis but a small percentage of the deaths actually due to it; for instance, many of our cases of spinal disease, paralysis, arterial and other organic diseases are tabled under other names, although directly due to syphilis. in women gonococcic infections are even more destructive than in men, as it is extremely common for the infection to extend to the tubes and to the peritoneal cavity, thus necessitating dangerous and mutilating operations, generally followed by sterility and often by death. syphilis, though less frequent in women than in men, is nearly if not quite as fatal as in men, and otherwise similar in its baneful effects. i the child suffers the most tragic results of venereal infection, for it is always wholly innocent, yet infected to a greater or less extent, if the parents be syphilitic, and frequently if the birth-canal be gonorrheally infected. although silver nitrate is a remedy for gonorrheal infection, if applied to the eyes immediately after birth, nevertheless the babe frequently suffers with infected eyes, and not infrequently with blindness. if the child's sad infection is syphilis, instead of gonorrhea, there are still other miseries in store for it. if it is not so fortunate to be stillborn, it may have infection that ranges from almost imperceptible degrees to the most loathsome extent that it is possible for animal tissue to harbor. its brain may be so invaded by the syphilitic parasites that it can never attain any degree of mentality; its spinal column maybe so involved that paralytic conditions will surely result; and if these nerve centers escape special involvement, other organs may be affected, such as the stomach, bowels, and liver; if these escape, the bones may be so deficient in vitality as to be incapable of sustaining the frame as development proceeds; the skin only may be involved, or the mucous membranes so affected as to make of the child a perpetual snuffler and inefficient breather. in most cases of lesser as well as greater mental defect, the tests show syphilitic infection. endless are the complications that may be visited upon the innocent progeny of syphilitic antecedents. the gonorrheal infections occur in the mucous membranes lining the cavities, especially those of the urethra and female genital tract. it is in these tissues that the germ of gonorrhea finds lodgment, and once there its development is hard to interrupt. although the growth of the gonorrheal germ produces acute symptoms, such as discharge and pain, these pass off under treatment in a few weeks. unfortunately the disease is far from cured, for the microbe has found its natural habitat in the inter-cellular structure of the genital mucus, from which it cannot readily be dislodged, and from which it may invade other tissues. it may remain in a state of latency for an indefinite time; then transferred to a new field, it may resume its original activities. while in this stage of latency it is difficult to destroy. at this time it is more likely to be further disseminated, as the patient, ignorant of the condition, is more likely to convey the disease, which so often occurs in married life after a long forgotten infection. the gonococcus (the microbe of gonorrhea) is a pus--producing bacterium, occurring in pairs, resembling in form two coffee grains, generally with a distinct interval of separation. although its natural habitat is the mucous membrane lining the genito-urinary tracts it may invade the muscular and serous and other tissues. if often affects the fallopian tubes and ovaries and the serous lining of the pelvic and abdominal cavities. the deeper sub-mucous tissues of the uterus and the male genito-urinary tracts are also frequently involved, it being sometimes impossible to eradicate it from these deeper retreats. from these deeper tissues it is more commonly taken up by the circulation and deposited in distant parts, frequently in the joints. when it becomes thus systematically disseminated, the so-called secondary or metastatic lesions are almost as numerous, though not as virulent, as syphilitic infection. recent pathological researchers have found that occasionally the gonococcus becomes the causative factor in inflammations of the muscles, tendons, and glands, and in inflammatory conditions of the lungs, kidneys, heart, and even the brain, spinal cord, and the serous membranes enveloping these great cranial and spinal viscera. the individuality and characteristics of the syphilis microbe were not positively determined until in , schaudinn, of germany, convinced the medical world that it was a spiral, corkscrew-like organism, from a quarter to one millimeter in thickness, and from four to twelve millimeters in length. it is not so discriminating as the gonococcus in its points of inoculation, nor is it as vulnerable to attack; and it is vastly more destructive to the tissues invaded. it spares no tissue in the human frame, and resists destruction by any known drugs of vegetable origin. when in a latent state its presence was often impossible to determine until, two years after its discovery, a test was worked out by wasserman, also of germany, by which diagnosis of the infection may be made,--even in latent form,--as in a hereditary case where no clinical manifestations have yet asserted themselves. there is another valuable blood test worked out by noguchi. with these two tests we are now able to diagnose the disease, almost absolutely, and follow up the treatment till cure is complete, except in some of the incurable brain and spinal cord cases. in , ehrlich determined, after a series of laboratory experiments on animals inoculated with the syphilis germ (spirochæta pallida), that a complex compound, with arsenic as its base, had the desired effect of destroying the parasite, in a dose not poisonous to the animal. this compound, first designated as " ," representing its number among his many laboratory experiments, he later named "salvarsan." with the assistance of his clinical friends, he soon demonstrated the action of his compound on man, and gave it freely to the world. although it is now almost universally used, it has not proved to be the absolute cure that it was hoped it would be, as some of the spirochætæ seem to be hidden away where they are protected from the circulating poison,--to bring forth new progeny,--thus producing so-called recurrence. the possibility of the infection of innocent persons is always uppermost in the mind of the medical man, and should equally concern the layman. contaminated articles and utensils, such as towels and common drinking-cups, have caused many infections. this danger is greater from syphilis than from gonorrhea, for the reason that the spirochæta pallida is more virulent than the gonococcus. in our own fields, camps, and mines, it is common for men to drink from one jug or dipper. infection almost surely follows if one of the crowd has a syphilitic sore on the lip. so intense is the activity of the spirochæta pallida in the primary stage that it may be borne to innocent parties by unwashed clothes and utensils of any kind, that have been in recent contact with a primary syphilitic sore. a dentist's or a doctor's instruments, for instance, are extremely dangerous as infection carriers, if they are not thoroughly sterilized by boiling. the danger of infection in syphilis and gonorrhea depends largely upon the virulence of the individual infection. as some living tubercle bacilli may be harbored and thrown off with impunity, while others will destroy the strongest man, regardless of all treatment, so some spirochætæ or gonococci may be safely disposed of, while others are most deadly. of all the sad instances of germ infection, the saddest are those from venereal germs, for they are disseminated mostly in vice, and inoculated into the innocent through ignorance. a common cause of infection of the innocent is the false popular belief that venereal germs are transmitted only in sexual congress. the truth is that any part of the body is in danger of inoculation from syphilis if the germ be virulent. so may any membranous point be infected by the gonococcus, whether conveyed by hand or instrument or fabric. this explains the number of gonococcic infections occurring in girl children. they come in membranous contact (at the outlet of vagina or rectum, or in the eye) with a contaminated article of clothing, or with the contaminated hands of an infected person. ignorance is the cause of nearly all venereal infections. why, then, should venereal infection not be eradicated? with adequate education, if there is not eradication, there will at least be compensation, for the sacrifice will be mainly of those who will not accept education--the unfit. the possibility of recovery from syphilis is greater at present than it has been in the past, but we cannot yet say that the disease is absolutely curable in a given case. while most cases treated early with salvarsan, and followed by judicious use of mercury, are curable, there are nevertheless those which do not thus respond, and which in spite of all treatment go from bad to worse, till the patient's miseries are ended in insanity, paralysis, and death. while the venereal diseases are the greatest physical evils to be attributed to sex ignorance, there are others chargeable to the same cause. there are, for instance, important physiological phenomena pertaining to sex development, ignorance of which is often baneful to the developing adolescent of either sex. when the boy's voice begins to change, and hair begins to appear on his face and body, and more thrilling sensations occasionally command his attention, he should be told, modestly but distinctly, that a pure and manly function is developing within him, the sole object of which is reproduction, and he must not consider it in a vulgar way, nor discuss it with others than his parents or physician or minister. tell him that these physical changes of oncoming manhood are due to the establishment of the secretion of the procreative fluid,--the semen,--and will be safely cared for by nature. fortify him against the mental pollution of the quack advertisement, and the satanically false teaching of ignorant associates that sexual intercourse is physiologically necessary, by impressing him with the fact that nature cares for the disposal of the seminal secretion. when clearly made aware of these simple sex principles, and convinced that it is unmanly and depraved to consider them vulgarly, the rapidly developing manly boy will not become a masturbator or a frequenter of bawdy-houses and a victim of the gonococcic or spirochætic infections; nor will he become a moral assassin, a seducer of girls. the sister, no less than the brother, needs pure, plain, non-prudish sex education. if her mother is not qualified to impart it, she, like the boy, should seek the aid of her minister, or physician, or a qualified school teacher; better a few suggestions from an experienced, modest source than many suggestions from inexperienced and often lewd companions. as the brother was told of the physical phenomena accompanying his sex development, so the sister should be apprised of the physiological necessity of her periodical functions, and of nature's kindly care and development of her delicate and wonderful sex mechanism, the sole purpose of which is maternity. it will fortify her maidenliness to tell her that much of the world is deceitful and degrading in sex matters, and that if she would be a perfect woman, mentally and physically, she must vigilantly guard her virtue, maintaining absolute purity, not only with persons of the opposite sex, but with persons of her own sex, and the person of her own self. incalculable good can be done toward the uplift of wayward humanity by sex education. chapter v economic phases _by arthur evans wood_ in any effort for social improvement it is necessary to know conditions that make both for and against success. this is especially so in social hygiene, for it is closely related to all aspects of modern life. lack of education and false instruction are largely responsible for sexual immorality. it is not so generally known that economic conditions are responsible for vice, opinions on this matter ranging all the way from a denial that economic conditions have anything to do with vice to the assertion that vice would disappear with the increase in the incomes of working-people. assuming that ignorance is the fundamental cause of vice (an assumption which does not "stand to reason") the results of ignorance must manifest themselves through the institutions of society. some institutions, such as slavery, encourage vice. likewise, any caste system, such as feudalism in the middle ages, in which there must be depths as well as heights, supplies the vicious classes. the aim of this chapter is to show that, while modern economic conditions do not create "the social evil" they furnish an environment favorable to its spread. if this is so, an improvement in these conditions must accompany all other measures for the eradication of vice. one of the most significant facts of the industrial evolution of the last half-century is the increase in the number of women who have become wage-earners outside the home. according to the federal census the number of females fifteen years of age and over, employed as breadwinners in , was , , , an increase of . per cent over the number thus employed in .[ ] the largest number in any one occupation, , , , were servants and waitresses. of this class the domestics were not employed "outside the home." the homes, however, were not their own, and salutary influences of home life do not exist for the majority of domestics. in the decade between and the increase in the number of wage-earning women has been even more accelerated than in previous decades, and to-day probably from , , to , , women in the united states are industrially employed. one important aspect of this influx of women into industry is that the proportion of those in domestic and personal service, which has always been women's work, has decreased; whereas the proportion of those in manufacturing, trade, and transportation, which are new employments for women, has increased.[ ] this means that not only are working-girls and women leaving the homes, but they are also abandoning in increasing numbers those occupations to which in times past their sex has been most accustomed. it is impossible that this prodigious change in the sphere and work of women should not be accompanied by some change in the social and moral standards that were nourished in the seclusion of the home. miss jane addams has made the suggestion that perhaps the superior reputation of women for virtue is due to the fact that, generally speaking, women have been secluded from the influences of the world.[ ] the increase in the proportion of girls engaged in non-domestic pursuits means that industrial vocations for women are becoming more dissociated from the arts of home-making,--a fact which is doubtless the cause of many an inner struggle. in the present lack of industrial education young girls who must work to support themselves or their families drift about from place to place with no definite vocational aims. frequently they come to the offices of child labor commissions wanting work, but not knowing what they can do, or even what they would like to do. if they do find work, it is rarely of a sort that offers incentives for a career. lack of skill, of interests, and of ambitions result in industrial inefficiency. they are also the usual accompaniments of moral delinquency. even where opportunities for industrial training are offered, they may not lessen the disparity between industrial opportunities that exist for girls and womanly tastes. a recent report on the need for a trade school for girls in worcester, massachusetts, advocates a school that will train for skill in the machine-operating trades, because there is most demand for workers in these trades.[ ] one might think in reading the report that machines for stitching corsets and underwear provided the ideal vocation for women. biological considerations, if no others, would favor distribution of wage-earning women away from the mechanical pursuits into those which are more or less associated with the domestic arts. a further significance for social hygiene of the entrance of women into industry is that it places a strain upon the spirit of chivalry which is a basis of right relations between the sexes. chivalry in men has accompanied the comparative seclusion of women from the world, and is due to those instincts which lead men to protect those who are weaker than themselves. the term "the weaker sex" has a sound physiological basis. with the passing of the domestic system of industry, however, the seclusion of women becomes more and more a thing of the past. in factory and shop they mingle promiscuously with men. crowds of young working-girls in every large city at the noon hour throng the streets. if they walk to and from work they sometimes have to pass unprotected through parts of the city given over to vice.[ ] they thus become familiar with vice conditions and are often subject to ungentlemanly, if not insulting, conduct. there are in every community a number of men who are decent only under restraint, and the economic position of wage-earning girls weakens that restraint. moreover, the phrase "the weaker sex" has lost some of its significance. many occupations, such as clerking, stenographing, laundering, and certain kinds of unskilled factory work are almost entirely taken over by women, who labor throughout the same working-day as men, and usually at a lesser wage than men would receive for the same kind of work. under these conditions, to talk of the physical weakness of women is to accuse our civilization of cruelty. around wages most of the discussion has centered concerning the economic aspect of vice. the investigations conducted throughout the country have revealed a great variety of opinion concerning the relation between low wages and immorality. there has been much confusion of thought on the question. it is true, on the one hand, that injustice is done to wage-earning girls and women of the country when the report is circulated that the difference between morality and immorality is only one of dollars and cents. on the other hand, to deny that low wages paid to working-girls has any bearing on the question of vice is evidence of failure to grasp the moral problem involved. morality, to be sure, is always expressed in the overcoming of difficulties. yet we can hold a person blameworthy only if in the full possession of his or her faculties. a poorly nourished, fatigued girl has no such self-possession. if she does not earn enough on which to live, and "goes wrong," her inadequate wage is a factor in her wrong-doing, and the one who pays it to her cannot be rid of his share of the responsibility. "sin is misery, misery is poverty. the antidote for poverty is income,"[ ] says professor simon n. patten, who is doing a vast deal toward bringing economics and morals on speaking terms with each other. vice investigations in chicago, minneapolis, portland, oregon, philadelphia, and elsewhere snow that there are many economic factors besides wages involved as causes of vice. some of these other factors are housing, hours of work morally dangerous employments, associations at work, and fatigue. the wage, however, is more important than all of these, for the wage largely governs living conditions, associations and recreation. the wage often makes the difference between life as mere existence and life with the opportunities for self-improvement that should belong to a human being. it will be of value, then, to note some of the facts about wages that have appeared in recent surveys made by the consumers' league of oregon, by the state of massachusetts, and by the federal government. after showing that the minimum cost of living for a self-supporting woman in portland is $ a week, the oregon survey shows that in the nine principal occupations employing women in portland, from to per cent are receiving less than $ a week. the table is as follows:-- occupations per cent under $ department stores . factories . hotels and restaurants . laundries . offices (clerks) . offices (stenographers) . printing-shops . telephone exchanges . miscellaneous . another table shows that in five different employments,--laundries, factories, offices, department stores, and miscellaneous employment,--out of women all but (office workers) close the year with a deficit.[ ] a significant point is that among all but factory workers the excess of expenditures over incomes is greatest among those who live at home. this disproves the statement often made that those who live at home do not need a living wage. in conclusion, the _report_ of the oregon survey says: "the investigation has proved beyond a doubt that a large majority of self-supporting women in the state are earning less than it costs them to live decently; that many are receiving subsidiary help from their homes, which thus contribute to the profits of their employers; that those who do not receive help from relatives are breaking down in health from lack of proper nourishing food and comfortable lodging quarters, or are supplementing their wages by money received from immoral living."[ ] the massachusetts commission on minimum wage boards reports even lower standards in wages for women. among wage-earning girls and women over years of age, per cent of the candy-workers, per cent of the workers in retail stores, and per cent of laundry-women receive less than $ a week.[ ] in the cotton textile industry, among the women over years of age whose wages were investigated, per cent received less than $ a week.[ ] among the individual stories that are buried in the _report_, the following are typical:-- ernestine is an eighteen-year-old canadian girl, very pretty and neatly dressed. her parents both died several months ago and left her utterly alone, without living relatives. she worked as a stock girl at $ . a week for two months, was laid off, and went to a summer hotel as waitress for $ a week, room and board. she worked there for two months, or until the season was over, and then came to another store for $ a week. she pays $ . for her room, including light and heat, has no carfare, does her laundering, except for shirt waists which cost her $. during the summer. she goes without breakfast or eats only a banana, gets her lunch for ten or fifteen cents, and her dinners for twenty or twenty-five cents. she has never paid more than twenty-five cents for a meal since she started to work. she is just a child, and is quite bewildered over the problem of facing life on $ a week, and is terribly afraid of debt. she is intelligent and clever.[ ] jennie is a frail little body, about years old. after working years in a boston department store her wage was $ a week.... for eleven years jennie's little $ a week had been the sole support of herself and her aged mother.... when her astonished employer learned that she had worked years in his store and attained a wage of only $ a week, he raised it $ . so the wage is supplemented by the girls (in the store) underpaid themselves, but comprehending the woman's need.... thus seventeen years of faithful service to one master has won for jennie this position of semi-dependence upon charity, increasing anxiety over an unprovided-for future, and declining health as a result of her pitiless struggle to stretch a miserable $ over the cost of support of herself and mother.[ ] the most comprehensive report has been made by the federal government, and includes a survey of conditions among women in stores and factories in seven cities[ ]. according to this report the average earnings of the women in retail stores of these cities is $ . in the case of those who live at home, and $ . in the case of those who are "adrift."[ ] among the factory women of these cities the average wage of those who live at home is $ . , and of those who are "adrift," $ . . the boston investigation shows that from , to , women and girls were living in lodging- or boarding-houses at an average cost of $ . a week for prime necessities, leaving only $ . for clothing and all other expenses. the following comment is made on this government report by the massachusetts minimum wage commission:-- although more than half the adrift women (in boston) live in lodging- or boarding-houses,--numbering be it remembered between , and , girls and women,--two thirds of them lack the use of a sitting-room and must entertain men as well as women in their bedrooms. not a few indications were seen in the course of the investigation of the demoralizing results of this practice. many of the young women in lodgings were young and were friendless and were earning very low pay. eighteen per cent of those who were reported without the use of a sitting-room were under twenty-five. the housing or food, or both, were reported as bad for a number of these perilously defenceless young women.[ ] consideration of wages and standards of living leads to the question, what is a living wage? studies in different parts of the country agree that it is about $ a week. an estimate made by social workers for the massachusetts minimum wage commission places the minimum at $ . for girls who are adrift, and $ . to $ . for girls and women living at home. this estimate, however, made no allowance for unemployment, sickness, accident, or old age.[ ] the portland vice commission and the consumers' league of oregon have adopted a $ minimum.[ ] the first conference called by the oregon industrial welfare commission adopted $ . a week, or $ per month, as "the sum required to maintain in frugal but decent conditions of living a self-supporting woman employed in mercantile establishments in portland."[ ] to this, however, representatives of the employees on the conference made objection, stating that a straight $ a minimum was the only safe one. if the minimum is rightly placed at $ , and if the investigations are true in showing that the majority of self-supporting women the country over are receiving less than this amount, we may now come to a more detailed discussion as to the relation between underpayment and vice. it is just here that it is easy to jump at conclusions. most people approach social questions not with a scientific mind, but with preconceptions which mar their judgment. for example, the socialist exaggerates the effect of bad wage conditions, and the woman's auxiliary department of the police exaggerate the influence of home conditions. again, personal testimony is unreliable, because, on the one hand, victims of the social evil are liable to blame external conditions; and, on the other hand, well-fed, well-housed investigators often underestimate the bad moral effect of poor nourishment and fatigue. of this much we may be certain: low wages poor living, which involves poor housing, poor food, no savings, and either no recreation or dependence on others for it. in the federal report on living conditions of women in stores and factories, it is estimated that in the seven cities where the investigation took place approximately , women are adrift.[ ] since the majority of these are receiving less than the minimum cost of a decent living, they are "perilously defenseless young women." another federal report,[ ] bearing directly on the relation between conditions of work and vice, concludes that whereas few girls "go wrong" on account of poverty, the misstep once taken, poverty and want are powerful deterrents to reform. a fourfold classification is made of immoral women, as follows: ( ) unmarried mothers; ( ) girls who leave and regain the path of virtue, having their fling for the sake of good times; ( ) occasional prostitutes, who enter the career as a business for a while; ( ) professional prostitutes. mention should be here made of this report, because its total effect is to minimize economic causes of prostitution, placing the responsibility elsewhere than on industrial conditions. it is to be noted, however, that it does emphasize the indirect effects of poverty, and does speak of the moral danger lurking in certain occupations, and of the bad effects of the lack of industrial education. more definite responsibility for vice is ascribed to low wages in the reports of vice commissions. the chicago _report_ says that of one group of immoral women, came from department stores, and said that they had taken up the career for the need of money. the portland _report_ presents women as "cases in which low wage and vice are closely associated."[ ] the _report_ continues:-- in presenting the foregoing table and statements from girls, this commission does not take the position that the low wages of self-supporting girls is the sole contributing cause of their delinquency, realizing that there are thousands of girls who would endure the utmost hardships before yielding themselves to those who are ready to seduce them. the evidence as to the effect of wage conditions is taken from the girls themselves, who, perhaps lacking adequate moral training, have, in the extremities of their position, allowed themselves to be driven "the easiest way."[ ] in the vice investigation conducted by the illinois state senate, girls in one day testified under oath, of whom said that their downfall had been due to the lack of money. the foregoing evidence is the kind unfortunate girls would be likely to give. nevertheless, making due allowances, this evidence tends to confirm reports of vice commissions whose purpose has been strictly scientific. if a conservative estimate of the proportion of vice due to low wages of girls would be to per cent, it must not be concluded that this represents all of the baneful moral effect of poverty. whatever the other non-economic causes of vice, they are aggravated where poverty exists. not only is this so, but alleged other causes may be partly economic. bad home conditions are due not only to the lack of moral discipline, but also to the lack of income. the average wage of the adult male wage-earner of that section of the united states lying east of the rockies and north of mason and dixon's line is said to be about $ . sometimes the wage is as low as $ , and in only a few instances as high as $ .[ ] if wage-earning men attempt to support families on these incomes, it means that they are not able to provide adequately for their wives and children. if they do not attempt to do so, it means, taking men as they are, an increase in the army of men who support prostitution. professor h.r. seager has said that prostitution in aid of wages is the greatest disgrace of our civilization.[ ] an accompanying disgrace lies in the fact that economic conditions and other factors prevent the average male wage-earner in so large a section of our country from fulfilling his desire for marriage and a home of the sort that makes for health and happiness. besides the low wages of women and men, other economic facts have their bearing upon sexual hygiene and morals. these facts may be grouped under the head of industrial stress and strain which is moral as well as physical. the underpaid factory or store girl is subject to constant fatigue. in the rush season in department stores, girls often depend upon opiates for dulling the nervous strain. no trade is free from its special physical strain. there are, moreover, many morally dangerous trades. work as chambermaids in hotels is conspicuously perilous for girls. the chicago juvenile protective association says, "the majority of girls who work in hotels go wrong sooner or later." the modern department stores, which employ the majority of young working-girls, offer temptations. mrs. florence kelley refers to work in these stores as "the most dangerous to morals and health, of all occupations into which children can go."[ ] of course, it may be said that a "good girl" will not go wrong. it may also be said that a good social order will not place even good girls daily under conditions that are liable to bring about a physical or moral breakdown. closer analysis of human character reveals the fact that physical and moral health are more closely associated than we have hitherto believed them to be. according to statistics about female offenders, domestic service is morally the most dangerous employment.[ ] the reasons for this are two: the social ostracism and the loneliness, and the low grade of worker. each of these causes augments the influence of the other. the application of industrial standards to this neglected form of work should lead to improvements. for those dependent upon employment offices, the seeking of a job may involve moral danger. the practice of private employment bureaus in sending unsuspecting girls to immoral places under the pretext of finding legitimate employment is common. the director of the municipal employment bureau in portland says that, the managers of houses are sometimes so bold as to telephone to the bureau for girls, telling for what purpose the girls are wanted.[ ] one of the private bureaus was detected several times coöperating in such practices. the menace of such places can scarcely be overestimated. we may now conclude our review of the economic phases of social hygiene. economic conditions to-day are under indictment as endangering the health and morals of working-girls and women. moral delinquency may arise through temptations met and hardships endured at the place of work; through scanty wages, inadequate for daily necessities; through lack of sympathetic consideration on the part of employers; through the stupidity of the community in adhering to worn-out educational methods that do not train wage-earners for earning a livelihood; through lack of protective legislation in regard to hours and conditions of labor. as a matter of fact, each of these conditions has been found to be an accompaniment of vice; and taken all together they constitute an environment that makes clean living difficult. against the dark background of modern industry should be portrayed the luxurious conditions that are apparently enjoyed by those who have taken "the easiest way." in ancient society the status of the prostitute was that of slave: to-day it is that of an industrial citizen.[ ] if the program of social hygiene comprehended only talking about sex to working-girls--to laundry-girls, for example, who, after a day's work of ten hours at the machines, go at night to their boarding-houses where they wash dishes to eke out a living,--then this program would not be unlike the advice of a physician who tells a poor man with tuberculosis that he must go to the country for a year and live on cream and eggs. even in the case of wage-earning girls who adopt loose ways to satisfy extravagant desires, their tastes are established by women of the wealthy and middle classes. the leisure of these women is due to their wage-earning sisters, who in factories and mills make the cloth, prepare food-stuffs, and do all sorts of tasks that formerly kept women of the upper classes at home. through the instinct of imitation, combined with the american feeling of democracy, the habits of the well-to-do determine the ambition of many a working-girl. other factors are industrial arrangements which segregate men in construction and lumber camps for a part of the year, and then, without providing for their further employment, turn them loose into cities where only saloons welcome them and cash their checks, and where disease-infected lodging-houses are their only places of abode. furthermore, standing armies take thousands of able-bodied men out of normal industrial relationships, and keep them in camps that become the congregating places of prostitutes. the most hopeful phase of the whole problem that it lies within the power of the state to transform the industrial environment through progressive legislation. the law cannot form character, but it can protect that which has been developed through voluntary effort. vice is partly a by-product of industrial chaos which can be eradicated by industrial organization. when working-people can establish themselves more generally in homes of their own,--"every man under his vine, and under his fig tree," as it were,--then they will be able to give more time to their children, and will perhaps coöperate better in the program for sex instruction. economic improvements should include a minimum wage for women, and one for men based upon the needs of a family; the eight-hour day; insurance against sickness, old age, and accidents; relief of unemployment; one day's rest in seven for all continuous industries; industrial education compulsory for all children; abolition of child labor; and amelioration of conditions under which women work. when wage standards are raised, there arises the problem concerning those who cannot earn a living wage. "who will pay poor, ignorant mary konovsky more than $ . a week?" is a question asked by a manufacturer during a minimum-wage discussion in new york state. the reply is, if mary is really not worth more, she must be sent by the state to an industrial school until she can earn her living; and if she should be proved to be mentally deficient (as about per cent of prostitutes are said to be), then she must be placed in an institution where she can be humanely and permanently cared for. the impossible alternatives are that she should be denied a living wage when she can earn it, or that she should be allowed to drift, in danger of becoming the prey of vicious men. meanwhile, before the machinery of a full legislative program can be set to work, the field is open for voluntary philanthropic endeavor. welfare work in stores and factories that is done by some one who acts, not as a detective with condescending side interests in welfare, but whole-heartedly and sympathetically can avail much. real social work in business establishments should be profitable to employers as well as to employees. the aim of all public and private effort should be to make industry not the occasion of stumbling, but what it should be, the universal means of progress. footnotes: [ ] _statistical abstract of u.s._, p. . ( .) [ ] _woman and child wage-earners in u.s._, vol. ix, p. ; "history of women in industry." [ ] _a new conscience and an ancient evil_, chap. i. [ ] _a trade school for girls_, u.s. bureau of education, bulletin no. , pp. _ff._( .) [ ] portland, oregon, vice commission, _report_, p. . ( .) [ ] _social basis of religion._ [ ] social survey committee of consumers' league of oregon, _report_, pp. , . [ ] _ibid._, p. . [ ] massachusetts commission on minimum wage boards, _report_, pp. , , . [ ] _ibid._, p. . [ ] _report_ of massachusetts commission, as above cited, p. . [ ] _ibid._, p. . [ ] _woman and child wage-earners_, vol. v. the cities included were boston, new york, philadelphia, chicago, st. paul, minneapolis, and st. louis. [ ] by "adrift" is meant the condition of a self-supporting woman who is alone or of a widow with children to support. [ ] _report_ of massachusetts commission, p. . [ ] _ibid._, p. . [ ] _report_ of portland vice commission, p. . [ ] _morning oregonian_, july , . [ ] referred to on p. of the _report_ of the massachusetts commission on minimum wage boards. [ ] _woman and child wage-earners_, vol. xv, pp. , _ff._; "relation of occupation and criminality of women." [ ] _report_ of portland vice commission, p. . [ ] _report_ of portland vice commission, p. . [ ] scott nearing, _wages in the united states_, pp. , _ff._ [ ] _american labor legislation review_, vol. iii, no. , p. . [ ] _social diseases_, vol. iii, no. , p. . [ ] see portland vice commission _report_, p. ; also _woman and child wage-earners_, vol. xv. [ ] portland vice commission _report_, p. . [ ] e.r. seligman, _the social evil_, introduction. chapter vi recreational phases _by lebert howard weir_ this chapter is in no sense an attempt to discuss pathologic sex problems, but rather to show the necessity of providing facilities for normal, wholesome living for all the people during their leisure time. this will solve many of the vexing sex problems. at the outset, it is important to contrast the , , hours a year, during which the school has charge of all the children, with the , , hours at the children's free disposal. yet we are inclined to charge the schools with the responsibilities of many failures in the physical and moral make-up of growing boys and girls. the greater part of the education of the boys and girls is received outside of school through the various activities which fill up these , , hours a year. society has, therefore, a great responsibility in directing the activities of the free time of young people. people employed in the home, store, factory, shop, or office, in a year of days spend about hours of this time in sleep. taking the average working-day as nine hours and the number of working-days in the year as , excluding sundays and holidays, each person is employed in needful occupations hours during the year. out of the working-days, a total of hours are at each person's disposal to use as he sees fit. of the remaining days, hours of each day are for free use,--or a total of nearly per cent of the entire year. what are the children, young people, and adults doing with this time? one answer is found in the records of the juvenile court, in rescue homes, in reformatories, in the police and criminal courts, in jails and penitentiaries, in hospitals for the treatment of venereal diseases, the insane and feeble-minded; another in the fallen women (and men, too), of whom so much has been said of late; another in the crowded saloons and busy restaurants in the heart of the city, with their music, bright lights, food, liquor, and overdressed, painted women with their consorts; still another in the billiard-rooms and the moving-picture theaters. the extent to which people of all ages and races resort to the moving-picture show is known by few people. in portland, oregon, a weekly attendance of is reported for a house with a seating capacity of ; a weekly attendance of for a house seating ; a weekly attendance of , for a house seating . another with a seating capacity of reports a weekly attendance of , . the attendance of all the moving-picture houses in any city is a startling revelation of the use of the time of the people. all forms of leisure-time consumption are offshoots of the one great common meeting-place of all the people, the street. the street is more than an avenue for traffic. it is the social meeting-place of many of the inhabitants. it is the playground of nearly all the children. its glitter and glare, its lights and shadows and care-free spirit, attract boys and girls. they come as moths flutter about the candle flame and often with equally disastrous results. the call of the street is irresistible. it is the simplest, most convenient avenue for the satisfaction of that hunger for pleasure, excitement, amusement, and recreation, common to all ages, all races, and both sexes. it is the avenue for the spontaneous outpouring of the spirit of democracy. no matter how thickly the city may scatter its playgrounds, its athletic fields, boating and swimming centers and recreation buildings, the street will always have to be reckoned with as the one great all-engulfing factor in the use of the leisure time of the people. surely the possibilities for good or evil are infinite when the spirit of youth and age play free, willingly receiving impressions on every hand. unfortunately, in the majority of cases the ministry in this field of infinite character-building possibilities has fallen into the hands of men who for the most part reckon its possibilities only in terms of the nickels, dimes, and dollars that pass over the bar or counter or through the box office. many of them conceive low opinions of the recreation desires of the people, furnishing the lurid, the _risqué_, the bold, the daring forms of entertainment, or coupling it with other lines of business, as in the case of the saloon, with unfortunate social results. can the city afford the commercial exploitations of so much of this valuable time? the answer must be that it can afford it only when the ideals of the men conducting these various forms of amusement are as high as the best that the community would demand if managing similar institutions. the saloon proprietor is not interested primarily in the physical and moral welfare of his patrons or in the general social welfare of the city. he provides various forms of recreation to increase the patronage of the bar; it is an unwritten law that those who avail themselves of the card-tables, of the pool- and billiard-tables, the moving-picture shows in the saloons, and who hear the music, must patronize the bar. thirty-six per cent of the pool and billiard licenses are held by men holding saloon licenses, and in all the large pool- and billiard-halls, especially in the center of the city, not connected directly with saloons, liquor is served upon the demand of the patrons. the evil of the situation is significant when it is remembered that the larger percentage of the patrons of those places are men under twenty-five years of age. profanity is common, and usually gambling is permitted. often these pool- and billiard-parlors are the "hang-outs" of vicious, depraved young men who live upon the earnings of unfortunate women. this use of the leisure time of men is physically, morally, and socially dangerous and should not be permitted. the public skating-rink is fairly free from objectionable features, but boys and girls attending without proper chaperons often form undesirable acquaintances. women of the street and their male companions often attend. juvenile court officials are aware of the immoralities springing from this source. the amusement parks present almost unlimited possibilities for the formation of undesirable acquaintances. the fact that they are open in the evening, and not lighted in all parts, the presence of cafés where liquors can be had, inadequate police protection, the secrecy possible through the presence of large crowds, the size of the parks, the distance from the homes in the city, and the unchaperoned attendance of large crowds of young people, all make amusement parks dangerous without closer supervision by public authorities. in former days the road-house ministered to the legitimate needs of wayfaring travelers. to-day the name "road-house" is synonymous with the "bawdy-house" of the city. located just beyond the borders of towns and cities, beyond police supervision, catering to men and women who desire secrecy for their revels and orgies, the road-house is one of the worst possible institutions now ministering to the leisure time of the people. in some sections of this country, the public excursion, both by land and water, is as bad as the road-house. instead of being a time of relaxation and recreation, a time of freedom from cares of the workaday life and enjoyment of pure air, sunshine, and beauties of nature, and of fine social relationships of people, the excursions have become dissipations of physical and moral energy. with proper supervision and with proper standards on the part of promoters of transportation companies, the public excursion can be a fine constructive factor in the use of the leisure time of the people. festivals and carnivals conducted by the people of a community, commemorative of national holidays or of historical events or of religious life, are often admirable. but whenever the festival or carnival becomes a commercial enterprise for the purpose of attracting crowds to the city, for advertisement and for gain by merchants and hotel proprietors, young people are in danger. the city becomes the mecca for undesirable men and women who prey upon the susceptibilities of the people, animated by the festival spirit. the hotels are the temporary homes of women of the street. every large festival of this kind has been followed by social evils of the most virulent type. many a girl and many a boy, yielding to the influences of the abandonment of the crowd, take the first step in sexual vice. this type of festival is not socially profitable to a community, where the commercial aim and purpose predominates. the commercial exploitation of the recreation and social needs of the people is usually productive of sexual immorality. a characteristic feature of american life is the club, union, society, or order spontaneously formed by the people. no matter what the fundamental purposes of these groups may be, whether for protection against sickness, accident, and industrial evils, whether for the study of art, music, and literature, or for the promotion of physical activities, the primary bond that brings the group together and holds it together is the social instinct of mankind. those which administer to the play and recreation life of their members most efficiently are strongest. the dances, card parties, lectures, entertainments, and other social activities conducted by such groups are usually under the best kind of social control, far better than any type of commercial amusement and perhaps better than most public-supervised amusements. the strength is in the comparative smallness of the group, the personal acquaintance of the members, the presence of older people with the young, and the existence of individual and group responsibility and ideals. far better social control would result if all public dances and public skating-rinks and excursions were conducted on this group or society basis. one field of neglected social activity is the home as a recreation and social center. the day of the "party" seems to be past. parents have thus lost one strong hold on the character development of their children. thousands of parents in the modern city have lost the social spirit of the home because of crowded living conditions, but there are also thousands, especially in the western cities, who still have individual homes; every such home should be the primary social and recreation center for adolescent boys and girls. the revival of the small group social in the home for the young people would be a constructive contribution to some of the moral problems of the young. in the leisure-time activities of children, the sunday supplement or "funny sheet" of the newspaper is of importance. the funny sheet appeals not so much through humor as through glaring color and grotesque pictures which violate every canon of color combination and of art. exaggerated types of mischievous children and freakish adults, and equally freakish and unthinkable mechanical devices, are favorite subjects. disobedience of children, premature and unnatural childish love-affairs, domestic infelicity, the privileges and advantages of bachelorhood are paraded sunday after sunday before the susceptible minds of millions of children. * * * * * multitudinous as are the private agencies administering to the leisure-time activities of all the people, neither the commercial amusements nor the numerous spontaneous private organizations answer all the requirements of social and recreative needs of the people. on the one hand, commercial amusements, while used and enjoyed by masses of the people, have been objects of danger and distrust because of their anti-social effects. on the other hand, the private society, club, order, and organization are essentially narrow, and formed with other purposes and ideals in view than ministering to the social and recreative needs and desires of the people. the providing of ample facilities for the fullest and most wholesome use of the leisure time of the people is a community responsibility, just as important to the public welfare as a system of public education. this community sense of responsibility did not in the beginning have the wide constructive vision which characterizes it to-day. it was designed first as a corrective of pathological social ills, especially relative to childhood and youth. congestion in the modern city, an incident and a result of specialization and expansion of american industrial and commercial life, caused living conditions inimical to the health and morals of all the people. as usual the children suffered most. deprived of light, air, wholesome living quarters, play space, and the advantages of a real home, they fell easy victims to disease, sickness, death, and, what is worse, to the disease and death of ideals and morals. juvenile faults and crimes increased at an alarming rate. the therapy of play was applied. it was soon found, however, that the great mission of playgrounds was not as a therapeutic agent, but as a preventive and constructive force. the movement took on large, positive, constructive aims, purposes, and ideals. it expanded into the playground and recreation movement, with emphasis upon the latter, aiming to provide for and direct the leisure-time activities of all the people. play was restored as the right of every child, without which no wholesome physical, mental, and moral growth is possible. as constructively related to other great social problems, the playground and recreation movement was found almost universally applicable. sexual immorality and the white-slave traffic are combated by recreation centers where young women obtain under normal conditions the highest ideals and satisfy the spirit of youth, which is the sign of life itself. the scope of this larger movement is as follows: it promotes the establishment of playgrounds within walking distance of every child; athletic and sport fields for older boys and girls and for men and women; boating and swimming centers and parks for the use of all; recreation and social centers in municipal recreation buildings and in school buildings, where all the people of a community, irrespective of race or creed, may find opportunity for the fullest possible recreation and social life; it promotes school and municipal camps, tramping-clubs, and other activities that cultivate the habit of outdoor life; physical education and athletics in the schools that reach every child, instead of a few as now; it stands for school playgrounds, in connection with every school; it seeks to provide facilities through which musical, literary, dramatic, and artistic talents of the people may find encouragement and expression, and for a constructive social supervision of all commercial amusements. yet playgrounds and recreation centers are not free from social dangers. many of the moral dangers of commercial amusements may arise in municipally owned and managed systems of recreation. in fact public playgrounds have become such moral menaces as to warrant their closure in the interests of public welfare. some of the worst cases of sexual immorality coming to the juvenile courts arise in public playgrounds. this is the result of bringing large numbers of young people into a common play place without the most careful supervision, guidance, and direction. the physical growth and health, the morals, the happiness, and the ideals of citizenship of great masses of the people are so deeply involved in the right use of the leisure time of the people that to conduct their activities in any way but according to the highest standards is a civic crime. chapter vii educational phases _by edward octavius sisson_ the education of youth as it exists has a great gap wherever the subjects of reproduction and sex are concerned. children are taught at home many things about every other part of their lives, but usually nothing about this; at school they learn the anatomy and physiology of bones and muscles, of sense-organs, and nervous system, of glands and alimentary canal, of respiration and circulation; but a sudden silence falls just before sex is reached. we study everything about life except its origin, and in ignoring that we lose a most fascinating and beautiful field of inquiry, an essential part of knowledge, and a vital element in moral intelligence.[ ] the aims of sex education may be stated in the main as follows:-- ( ) the first aim is individual prudence. every normal human being must undergo crucial tests and solve vital problems in his own sex life. the most beautiful successes of life and its most conspicuous failures are both exceedingly frequent in the realm of sex. the conditions of the sexual life are sufficiently alike in all normal cases so that the experience of the race is valuable to the individual in meeting his own problems. each child as he passes onward through youth to maturity is treading a road new to him, not lacking in danger and pitfalls, nor without opportunities for great reward. education must give him all the available advance information concerning the road he is to travel. ( ) the second aim is general intelligence. sex is a universal element in all living beings, with the exception of the very lowest; it pervades the life of the spirit as well as the life of the body. no man, therefore, can be intelligent concerning things in general without a clear, definite and accurate knowledge of the fundamental facts of sex. one of the strongest new visions concerning sex is the marvelous way in it ramifies into all fields of thought and action. not a few of the most eminent workers in modern science incline to consider all aspects of human life, including even religion itself, as emanations or processes from the sex basis. such in particular are g. stanley hall in america and freud in germany. without going to such extremes we may still recognize the fact that in all sorts of physical and psychic problems in morals, religion, and sociology, sex plays an important part and must be understood if we are to grasp the situation and its meaning.[ ] ( ) the third aim is social enlightenment. the human spirit in our own day is manifestly addressing itself to the solution of the special social problems which involve the sexual life of men. three of these problems may be specified: (a) the so-called "social evil," including not merely prostitution, but also all other forms of waste and injury through sexual errors; (b) the problem of family life, including marriage and the rearing of children, as well as pathological aspects such as desertion and divorce; (c) the vast problem of eugenics or race culture. in all these fields the problems of sex are involved. men and women who desire to bear their whole burden as members of a progressive society must contribute to the solution of these great social problems, and to do this wisely must know something about the basic facts of sex life.[ ] the first and basic part of sex education is bodily regimen: children and youth must live an abundant, vigorous, wholesome physical life.[ ] cities have threatened to be the "graves of the human species" in this respect. sedentary life chokes and misdirects the currents of nervous energy and the very circulation of the blood. the lad who plays vigorously, even violently; who can "get his second wind," turn a handspring, do a good cross-country run, swim the river, possesses a great bulwark of defense against sexual vice, especially in its secret forms. the revival of play, of play for all, boys and girls, weak as well as strong, is one of the most hopeful movements on foot to-day. let us base our promotions from grade to grade, and especially for "graduation" from school, partly upon physical tests, requiring each student to make of himself physically, not a record-breaking athlete, but the best that can be made out of the stuff in him. food, sleep, clothing, bathing, fresh air,--all these are vital also; whatever turns the flow and thrill of life into wholesome channels, abolishes indolence, stagnation, morbidity, and fosters abundance of bodily life,--such is the regimen of sex health. no bodily regimen can be effective without mental control. nowhere does mind affect body more immediately and powerfully than in the realm of sex. the educator has two great tasks in this respect: first to improve the general environment in which the young must live and develop. as things are, our streets, store-windows, books and magazines, and especially public amusements, such as theaters and dance halls, abound in sexual suggestion and stimulation.[ ] these agencies stimulate an excessive stream of sexual desire, with all its physical accompaniments, in boys and men: the natural and inevitable result is an overwhelming impulse toward illicit satisfaction in self-abuse or sexual immorality. society in self-defense and the interest of its youth must wage war upon this mercenary exploiting of the sex impulse. licentious thinking is the great foe of continence; the saying of jesus may be paraphrased thus with physiological correctness: "he that looketh upon a woman to lust after her hath already committed the sexual act in his _nervous system_." hence, the second task in this connection is to arouse and arm the youth against the lusts of the mind, and lead him in a resolute fight for mastery over his own thoughts. "do not harbor in your mind anything you would fear to have your enemies know, or blush to have your friends know," is a good motto for boys and youth. when we come to instruction in matters of reproduction and sex, the first principle is that it should be given in organic relation with the rest of life and thought. it arises naturally in two main connections: in response to the child's own questions and problems; and as part and parcel of biological science. the common questions of the little child, "where does the baby come from?" or perhaps even earlier, "how does the hen make the eggs?"--an actual question of a four-year-old--are the signal and the open door for easy and natural enlightenment. seize the opportunity: tell the truth, as simply and briefly as possible, and the beginning is made; watch for and utilize all such opportunities, as they come, and the main road of the task is marked out; shock is minimized, if not eliminated, mutual confidence is engendered, and a priceless reward may be won. but if at that first question we falter, quibble, blush, lie, jest, or repel, we have entered the wrong road which leads eternally astray. let no question ever be either ignored or neglected, least of all repelled. it is the golden opportunity for parent, teacher, or friend. to guarantee against the child seeking promiscuous and irresponsible sources of information, let his questions ever find the warmest welcome and kindest response at the parent's knee.[ ] now the movements of the child's own mind in matters of sex and reproduction may either be actual questions more or less explicit, or they may be subtler seekings for light,--hints, vague inquiries, gropings after what he cannot phrase or hesitates to utter; these inward stirrings are vital, and the alert and sympathetic and patient parent can in the main perceive them and bring them to light. but success need not be hoped for in this respect unless first the beginnings are attended to; uncounted parents can testify to the infinite difficulty of breaking to the boy or girl the silence long practiced with the child. nor will occasional or spasmodic fits of interest and action by the parent achieve much; emerson's proverb holds inflexibly here; "what wilt thou have?" quoth god; "pay for it and take it." pay we must in time, in thought, in perseverance and patience, in study of the problems and self-preparation for the task. happily the progress of sex hygiene among adults is yearly increasing the number of fathers and mothers who are awake and active. we have spoken of meeting the motions of the child, as though the educator might never need to take the initiative; in all probability that might be true in an ideal state. as things are it would be unsafe to rely absolutely upon questions; the parent and on occasion other educators must take the initiative in some cases. in doing so, however, the most scrupulous care should be taken to be sure that the mind of the learner is ready for the particular instruction. * * * * * in biological instruction what is needed is not an artificial appendix or addendum, but simply that we should cease to mutilate science by omitting its most fruitful and essential elements. nature study for little children is the first available field; it should begin even before the kindergarten age, with the simplest and easiest observations, and proceed by gentle gradations of progress; it finds abundant and fascinating material in growing plants, eggs, brooding chickens, kittens, puppies, and, best of all, the new baby, where the home questions and the nature study meet in a profound emotional and intellectual experience.[ ] the botany, zoölogy, physiology, and hygiene the upper grades and the high school the natural mediums for further scientific treatment.[ ] it will probably be found advisable to separate the sexes for this part of the work, and have boys taught by men and girls by women. not a few high schools and colleges are already carrying on such instruction with entire success. it seems quite clear that the school must set itself, wisely, indeed, but also resolutely and effectively, to provide clear, true, scientific knowledge of the origin of life and the laws of sex. the educator can, must, and will answer truly and purely, all questions in these matters on which the child and youth are now left to random, miscellaneous, clandestine sources, and get vile, false, and pernicious answers. * * * * * as childhood passes into youth and the pubertal changes begin, the objective curiosity of the earliest years passes gradually into the intense concern of personal problems. the general principle is the same: do not drag in the subject of sex and reproduction, but do not evade or ignore it when it appears; deal with it truly, purely, honestly, fearlessly, as an essential and organic part of truth and life. the safe and happy outcome in these personal problems can be guaranteed in only one way--that the young person should be able to turn with complete confidence and little embarrassment to some trusted and intimate counselor, preferably the parent, but otherwise physician, pastor, older friend, with whom he has already discussed sexual questions, and who he knows will receive his advances with sympathy, answer his questions with frankness and intelligence, and hold his confidence sacred. happy the youth or maiden who has such a guide in the crises of unfolding powers and perils. the chief problem of this part of the education is the accurate and timely adaptation of what is taught to the needs of the successive periods of development. hence chronological or "calendar" age and school grade are both unreliable guides to the educator: a group of fifteen-year-old boys, or of eighth grade boys, includes some who are children not yet entered upon pubescence, others who are mature,--that is, have attained the power of reproduction,--and still others who are in process of change. these three groups cannot be treated identically; each period has its own peculiar needs. the problem of sorting out the individuals and meeting the needs of each group is difficult because of our traditional neglect of the whole task. but of any particular lesson we may agree with him who says, "better a year too early than an hour too late." the earliest safeguard, rather regimen than instruction, is the inculcation of the idea and habit of "hands off" the sex organs. the little child is taught this by his mother, and it becomes second nature. the pre-pubescent boy and girl may receive some slight but impressive additional perception as to the danger of meddling in any way. they should also be warned strictly against any other person who offers to tamper with their sex organs or adjacent parts of the body. let them understand that they are justified in any means of defense, the fist, a club, or a stone; and that the offender is forever damned by his act and must never again be trusted; and, of course, that they should at once lay the whole case before their parents or other persons in authority. the special instruction of the pre-pubescent and pubescent periods is as yet by no means fully agreed upon among experts. we can give here only a few points that seem fairly clear. ( ) girls should know in advance enough of the general facts of menstruation so that the onset of the period may not cause, as it now does in thousands of cases, shock and sometimes dangerous errors of conduct. they should also know that the sexual nature of men is active and aggressive instead of passive and defensive as in the woman; and that hence the woman must in general take the leading part in the control of the sexual relation, or, at least, of those preliminary intimacies that tend to culminate in sexual union. if it be contended that this is a delicate and difficult idea to convey, liable to be exaggerated and to produce false attitudes, the answer is that if difficulty is to deter us we may as well stop the whole task of sex education before we begin; and moreover that the disasters now resulting from ignorance are ten times worse than any probable results of instruction. this sexual difference means not only that the girl must be intolerant of improper advances, but also that for her own sake and that of her sister women she must beware of conduct, attitudes, or forms of dress that tend unduly to excite the sexual impulses in boys and men. in view of the enormous morbidity and mortality inflicted upon innocent women and their children by sexual disease, the girl should learn the main facts concerning the nature, effects, and incidence of gonorrhea and syphilis. health certificates of prospective bridegrooms will probably be more easily enforced if such intelligence becomes general. the time for such instruction is difficult to state, and would vary with the social environment; probably late adolescence would be early enough in most cases; earlier information is indispensable for girls who by reason of their economic or social status are peculiarly exposed to sexual temptation and danger. training for motherhood, a great gap in our educational system, is a closely related theme, of incomparable importance, but beyond the scope of this work. ( ) boys should learn early the rewards of continence: that the conservation of the sexual secretions is the indispensable condition of manly growth in stature, muscular powers, voice, heart, and brain. they should learn the possibility and healthiness of continence--always understanding that mental continence is the prerequisite of physical continence. they should know in good time that nocturnal emissions are quite normal, when not too frequent, and indicate not lost manhood or the danger of it, but merely the fact that the sexual glands are now for the first time all developed and active. this is one of the simplest and most commonplace facts in the whole range of sex knowledge, yet, through ignorance of it, unknown multitudes of boys have suffered anxiety sometimes amounting to terror, have become moody and dejected, lost interest in work and studies; and finally thousands of them, ashamed to ask counsel or enlightenment from any decent source, have had recourse to the venereal quack, who so artfully spreads his snares for them in daily paper and widely circulated pamphlet. once the victim is in his hands there is almost no limit to the evil that may result.[ ] high-school principals tell of watching the faces of their boys during a lecture on sex hygiene and noting the visible signs of relief and new hope when the lecturer explained the true nature and meaning of emissions. so far as the so-called "sexual necessity" is concerned, let boys understand that it is unknown among animals; that its completest embodiment is found in degenerates and imbeciles; and that athletes, thinkers, priests, scholars, warriors, the finest men of every type, hold their passions strictly subject to their wills. let them know that the world is well supplied with wretches whom this very "sexual necessity" has robbed of their precious virile powers, but that the cases of impotence through chastity are certainly unproved and probably non-existent except in the imagination of people who want to believe in them. and finally that numberless fathers of big healthy families were as chaste as the wives who bore their children. boys should learn that the man who insists on premarital sexual necessity has two roads open to him--one that of the libertine and seducer, the most contemptible of creatures; the other that of the whore-follower, whom nature perpetually menaces with vile and pestilential plagues, making him a misery to himself and menace to all clean persons who associate with him, especially his future wife and unborn children. this involves, at least for the present state of society, some information regarding the two chief venereal diseases: that all prostitutes, professional or otherwise, are sooner or later infected, and that no reglementation can give security. they should know something of the horrors of syphilis, its loathsomeness, its extraordinary power to penetrate to the physiological holy of holies, poison the germ cells, and damn in advance the unborn children of its victim. they must know the fatal treachery of gonorrhea: how it lurks unsuspected in the victim who supposes himself cured, and strikes, like a bolt out of clear sky, blinding newborn infants, and robbing innocent wives of motherhood, health, or life itself. to object to this instruction because it is gruesome, or because it may seem like intimidation, is sentimentalism: in this matter, as elsewhere in the realm of knowledge, the truth should scare no one who does not need to be scared. it is better to be safe than sorry; and it is better to be scared than syphilitic. "i dare do all that may become a man," says macbeth; "who dares do more is none"; let a man dare if he will with his own body, aye, his own soul; he is but a coward who does not shrink from buying voluptuous moments with the hazard of wife and child. hydrophobia is far less perilous than venereal disease, and if one hundredth as many were attacked by it the world would be placarded with scarlet danger signs; the man who decried the precautions as intimidation would be shut up in a home for imbeciles. if this is intimidation, let us have more of it. above all, boys should learn the beauty and glory of the true relation of the sexes; the bond of love and unity between man and woman truly married--in soul as well as body. as he cherishes and vindicates the honor of his father and mother and sisters, so should he be taught to use his intelligence and heart to hold sacred in youth the powers and functions that will enable him to become in turn husband and father, to give a clean soul and body in marriage to a pure woman, and to pass on the germ of life to the children of his body. a few lessons on heredity will show him that he is but the steward of an inheritance that has come down from a thousand ancestors and may well be perpetuated through generations to come. prudence is good; but no narrow selfish motive will meet the need. the lad who is "good" merely for the sake of his own skin is usually a poor creature; the finest lad--who might perhaps hazard his own individual fate--will refuse to gamble with the souls and bodies of those others who shall be his own flesh and blood. no virtue is safe that is not enthusiastic: and only altruism is truly enthusiastic. the boy and girl, now young man and young woman, must both learn that prostitution is a social sin:[ ] the "scarlet woman" has been truly called the eternal priestess bearing the sins of humanity. this is a vast theme; we have got beyond the realm of mere sex education;--but truth is one, and life is one, and neither logic nor humanity will consent to our stopping short of the whole truth. social intelligence--the illumination of man's life with man--the scientific and spiritual comprehension of the apostolic dictum, "we are all members one of another"--and "if one member suffer, all members suffer with it"--these are the great arrears of education. but there never was a time when the spirit of man moved so rapidly forward as here and now, and the movement for sex education is but one striking phase of the great advance. footnotes: [ ] an examination of tables of contents and indexes of standard school texts in nature study and biology will reveal the almost universal absence of all ideas relating to sex and reproduction. there are two or three recent exceptions. [ ] g. stanley hall, _educational problems_, vol. i, pp. - , thomson and geddes, _problems of sex_, pp. - . [ ] thomson and geddes, _op. cit._, pp. - ; saleeby, _parenthood and race culture_; morrow, _social diseases and marriage; hall, educational problems_, vol. i, pp. - . [ ] fisher, _national vitality_; hall, _youth_, chaps. ii, v, vi, xii. [ ] "what makes a magazine?" _twentieth century magazine_, september, , pp. - ; _the exploitation of pleasure._ russell sage foundation. [ ] see mrs. woodallen chapman, _the moral problem of the children_, esp. pp. - . also the chapter in this book on the education of children. [ ] an epoch-marking book in this field is miss torelle's _plant and animal children and how they grow._ (heath.) see also pamphlet, _the origin of life_, by r.e. blount. (scott, foresman & co.) [ ] "the teaching of sex in schools and colleges," _social diseases_, october, . addresses by g. stanley hall, maurice a. bigelow, josiah strong, charles w. eliot, and mary putnam blount, _sexual reproduction in animals: the purpose and methods of teaching it._ proceedings n.e.a., , pp. - . [ ] hall, g.s., _adolescence_, vol. i, pp. - . [ ] jane addams, _a new conscience and an ancient evil._ chapter viii teaching phases: for children _by william greenleaf eliot, jr._ my children when they were little were fascinated with a book which their mother used to read to them, called _mother nature and her helpers._ each chapter or lesson was made up of interesting information and ideas suggested by the pictures. at the head of the first chapter was a picture of a mother sitting by a cradle with every surrounding and circumstance of humble, happy home life. succeeding chapters were upon the cradle and the home of plants and animals. ovaries of plants and nests of birds and squirrels were all set forth in terms of the child's experience of home life, home-building, home-protecting, and feeding the baby. doubtless the design of the author was to lead the child to an understanding and appreciation of its own home life and love by showing it home life in its origins and elements. but an equally important implication lay in the fact that the child was brought into its intimacy with plant and animal life along the angle of its own human experience and of its own home ideals. after such an introduction to the homes of plants and animals, whenever it should seem best to apprise the child of the details of plant and animal reproduction, the additional facts would instantly find their places in close relation to facts already familiar and already related to his highest childish affections and ideals. for the basis of sexual instruction for a child should be the difference, not the similarity between man and animals. if the basis is made the similarity between man and animals, the child, as time goes on and as its own sexual life increasingly awakens, may tend to imitate animals, may attempt to justify the natural and unrestrained promiscuousness of its own instincts, may justify unrestrained sexual life in the name of nature as against the alleged artificialities of civilization. the basis must be human, not animal; moral, not biological. biology goes far to explain humanity, but the interpretation is found in the spiritual affections, experiences, and implications of family life. the family life of animals is constituted of animal instinct freely followed. the family life of man would be ruined by the free following of animal instinct. there is a distinct danger in all so-called sex instruction of children which makes plant and animal life the norm. the definite and clean instruction of children in the physical facts of reproduction may rightly and wisely begin with the simple facts, anatomical and functional, of plants and animals; but it is important that a true philosophy lie back of this instruction. man is not only a higher order of mammalia; he is a worshiper of god and capable of practicing his presence. and from this base our instruction to children, drawn from the anatomical and functional life of plants and animals, must always subserve the moral, the spiritual superiority of man and the human family. the little child will understand and even idealize plant and animal life if he learns of plant and animal life first in human terms. his moral development is menaced if this process is reversed so that a counter-tendency is set up,--a tendency to interpret the human functions in animal terms. it is better for the child to humanize animal relationships than to animalize human relationships,--and this can be achieved only through a constant observance of the human basis in the sexual as indeed in all phases of a child's education. the little book which i mentioned at the beginning does just this,--it introduces the child to the home life of animals, it interprets animal life in ideal terms. it lays a basis for relating later information of sex functions to the home life of plants and animals. at the proper time in a child's development, he is prepared to place a true and intelligent value upon the differences between the home life of animals and the home life of human beings, and to justify intelligently and with full consent of mind and sanction of conscience the differences of sexual practice as between plants and animals on the one hand and human beings on the other. he is prepared to see that it is enough for the sex life of plants and animals that it be physically and biologically normal. it is not enough for the true and ideal family life of man that the sex relation should be biologically normal. it must be morally normal--normal, that is, to the highest human interests. the more concrete and detailed problems of method would not be serious if every child's mind were a blank or even if its instincts were analogous to normal animals. but neither is the case, and the problem of method and means of instruction is therefore amazingly complicated. if the sex life of a child were analogous to that of normal animals, it would not awaken at all until puberty. and if the child's mind were a blank on sex matters, it need only be kept from the invasion of wrong ideas from outside. but the sex life of a child begins long before puberty,--both physically and mentally. in the child, the physical signs are more or less detached from the mental signs,--at this or that phase of a child's life, the one or the other may have precedence; but the two are subtly interrelated, and tend to contribute to each other. in the human being a sex life that is normal, both biologically and morally, is an achievement; not a thing which would take care of itself if the child were left alone and merely kept ignorant of the abnormal. the human child is born abnormal,--that is to say, with latent possibilities of sexual abnormality, physical and mental,--and this by virtue of the mere fact that he is not only with animals a creature of instinct, but with humanity a being with ideas. this statement is doubtless oftener true of the sex life of boy children than of girl children; but it is a fact and a very important fact, and it lies at the bottom of the problem when we come to consider the details of instructional method. if it were not for these facts, it would make no difference who imparted sex information to the child, so the facts were accurately told; and it would make no difference what facts were given, or at what age the child received them, if no lies were conveyed. but because the child's physical and mental sex life awakens early, and because every child has latent tendencies to abnormality and latent responsiveness to the abnormal, it is of critical importance that we decide who shall teach the individual child, when the child shall be informed, and what the child shall be told. it is of critical importance because, if the instruction comes wrongly, we may, even with good intentions, contribute to the very abnormality that we wish to forefend or overcome. with some children we could perhaps safely take chances so far as the self-awakening sex life is concerned if we did not know that it is impossible, without more harm than good to keep the child from such perfectly normal relations with other children as almost certainly will expose it to disastrous misinformation a suggestion. whatever ought to be said of the importance of the home tradition and ideals and the general physical and moral regimen of the child (and these are of supreme importance), the facts of the last two paragraphs lay the ground for this general statement: that in the case of a child whose moral and sexual environment has been bad and perverting, proper sex instruction cannot make matters worse, whereas in the best families much harm may arise from the lack of such instruction. if any information is imparted to the child at all, the first instruction should properly come from one or other of the child's parents. it is sometimes the case that opportunity for the first information is presented when the child asks questions. and the supposed question of the child is, "where did the baby come from?" our course would be much smoother if every child asked its mother or father this question, or if every child began with this particular question, or if every child asked any question at all. sometimes the child asks the nurse this question; sometimes the child is an only child or for some other reason this question never occurs to it; sometimes the child's first question pertains to some curiosity about its own navel, or "where eggs come from," or "why the hen makes them," or "how they get into the hen," or what is meant by "half shepherd and half st. bernard." but children do not ask the questions that the books say they ask, and ready-made answers do not always apply. whether a child asks the conventional questions or the unexpected questions, and whether it asks questions or not, the parent ought to have some pretty definite notion of when, what, and how to tell a child. a child's questions about the baby should be answered truthfully; all such replies as escape by the stork, cabbage-patch, or grocer-boy route should be avoided. it goes without saying that children's questions should be met seriously and even reverently, and that parents should never speak of nor allude lightly, jokingly, or irreverently to sex relationships in the child's presence. a child may ask a question prematurely, or at a time when the parent finds it impossible to answer in such a way as to make the desired impression or to avoid the undesirable impression. the postponement should be frankly a postponement, and the parent should answer the question at some later time chosen by the parent and upon the parent's own motion. if the child never affords the parent a natural opening for the first or later conversation, the parent should make the opening by reference to the recent arrival of a baby in the child's home, or in some neighbor's family, or even to the arrival of kittens or chicks. such preliminary information should come at or near the first asking of questions, or if no questions are asked, at any convenient time between the ages of six and eight years, and in any case before the child goes to school or mingles much away from home with other children. it is a mistake to suppose that very much need be said to the young child. if the child's normal curiosity is satisfied in a clean way from the right source, that is sufficient. especially should it be advised of the truth about those facts concerning which it is liable be misinformed in its contacts with other children. only, parents ought to remember that their child, however carefully brought up and protected, at any time and of its own motion, may itself be that corrupting "other child" against which we are so sedulously warned! or, again, the child when it has been duly instructed by parents may without harmful intentions talk too freely with other children. it may do some harm to other children in this; but what is more likely, it may receive harm by calling out uninformed and hurtful conversation from the other side. for this reason, a parent in talking to children should be careful to explain that they should not talk to others. if they are properly brought-up children, their modesty will respond, and their trained obedience will keep faith. this is the place to try to make clear the importance of such secrecy and confidence between parents and child. there is a secrecy which adds a glamour of pleasurable naughtiness, leading straight to prudery and pruriency with all their consequences. such secrecy is the sort that develops when parents do take the child into their confidence. such harmful secrecy is not to be confounded with the confidence between parent and child. in opposing the harmful kind of secrecy, there are those who very wrongly, as i believe, object to any secrecy; who say, "all things are clean; why should any difference whatever be made between the lungs or the stomach, and the sex organs; it is often the very making of any distinction that causes and helps cause all the trouble." now the case against all secrecy would be valid if the premises of the argument were sound. roughly speaking, lungs are lungs, and stomachs are stomachs, but the sex organs and their impulses, reflexes, and irradiations are connected with the subtlest complexes of mind and affections, inextricably connected with everything human, with further irradiations into the entire social body. by all that makes it important to prevent the private and mutual secrecies of children, by so much and ten times more is it important to establish confidential secrecy between parent and child. for in so doing, you not only prevent the undesirable secrecy, but you build normally on modesty; you lay foundations for a true sense of shame, disgust, and disgrace; and in doing so, set up one of the strong defenses against perversions and prurient allurement and seduction. prudery should be made impossible and true modesty conserved by proper secrecy in sex matters, and back of that by the proper attitude, conversation, and practice in the child's familiar domestic functions. prudery and modesty must not be confounded; for by as much as we condemn the one, ought we to value the other. up to the time, then, that a child goes to school, everything has probably been done that can be done so far as its instruction is concerned, ( ) if the child has been kept as far as possible from foul suggestions from others; ( ) if the child has had its questions honestly answered or temporarily though unevasively postponed; ( ) if the child knows from its parents' lips that it came into the world from its mother's body, first growing there "beneath its mother's heart" until it was strong enough to be born; and that the mother would never have wished to have her child grow in her body had it not been that there was a strong man who would care for both mother and little child with great love and tenderness; that there has to be a father to love the mother and child, and that, therefore, mother and child must love the father, and the child must love both father and mother, and that this love is what makes the home; and ( ) if in the process of imparting information, confidence has been established and modesty conserved. anyone who has ever seen a group of six- to ten-year-old boys and girls stand side by side and gaze with rapt but natural wonder and delight at a bureau drawer or chest full of the beautiful little garments waiting and ready for an expected child can never doubt the wisdom of a child's knowing from the start some better version of the story than any of the evasive temporizings of the conventional parent. what shall the parent do who has never spoken of these things to his child until now the child is ten, eleven, or twelve years of age, and especially if the parent has given the child one of these evasive answers in reply to its innocent questions? it may be said in passing that if the parent has thus evasively answered the child's first questions, he will never be bothered in all probability with any more questions. for the best way to set up the barrier is to answer questions falsely; and one way to establish confidence and to facilitate further communication is to answer truthfully. the child may know more or less than you think it knows. the parent does not know what a ten- or twelve-year-old child knows or does not know. again, a parent does not know at what time or in what way or to what extent the child's sexual life and impulse have already awakened. and the parent does not know to what extent the child may know "what ain't so." it is a mistake in most cases for the parent to try to find answers to these questions by questioning the child. for just as a parent may start wrong by deceiving the child, so the child may start wrong by deceiving the parent, and even a pretty good child, especially after it has been deceived by the parent, is likely to follow the same cue when it is questioned by the parent. the parent should not tempt the child to such a misstep. again, the parent, whether mother or father, should never try to open the conversation or resume it at a time when the boy or girl is likely to be interrupted or distracted or is eager at the moment to be somewhere else and doing something else. the mother and daughter quietly sewing together, or the father and son off for a walk, or sitting on a log, or lying on the grass, are ready for a confidential talk. if the boy or girl was deceived in response to its first questions, the father or mother may retract in some such way as this: "do you remember, molly, that when you asked me where your baby brother came from, i told you the doctor made us a present? well, that's the way fathers and mothers answer little children, just as we told you that christmas presents came from santa claus. you came to know that papa and mamma are santa claus and that santa claus is a fairy story--and so you have probably already learned how the baby came. the baby really grows in the mother's body--did you know that? do you know how long it takes for it to grow there? no? it takes nine months. before you were born, you were growing inside of your mother's body. the blood from your mother's body flowed into your body; in this way your body grew. when the baby comes out of its mother's body, it does not hurt the baby, but it hurts the mother. it was so when you were born, but your mother was so happy to think she was to have a baby and to feel it growing inside her body that she did not think much about the pain. if your mother is ever a little tired and cross, you must remember that she loves you beyond anything that pain can measure and that she deserves your tenderest care." at this or some other fitting time, the father or mother may give the child some further intimation of the process by which the child comes to grow in the mother's body, and in some such way as follows: "some one may have told you how babies come to grow in their mothers' bodies. but most people are ignorant about these things. i think i can explain it to you a little if you will look for a moment at this flower that i have in my hand, because the coming of a baby in the mother's body is in some ways like the coming of the seed in the body of the flower. you have probably learned at school in your nature-study work that these are--what? yes, the petals. and these stamens, and this is the pistil. do you notice the powder on the end of the stamen? that is called pollen. if you put that powder under magnifying glass, each grain will look like a grain of wheat. now, do you notice that the pistil spreads out here at the base like a vase with a narrow neck and big bowl? i am going to cut the thick part open. do you notice those tiny things like seeds? yes, those are seeds, but they would not grow just by themselves. a grain of that pollen gets on to the end of the pistil (sometimes the wind, sometimes a bee puts it there), and immediately it begins to send a long thread from itself right down the center of the pistil, and this thread carries at the front the heart of the pollen grain, and when it reaches the tiny seed the two go together and the heart of the pollen joins with the heart of the seed and then it is a true seed and can grow,--and can grow into another plant that can have flowers that can have seeds, and so on almost forever. no one fully understands this very wonderful fact. we only know that it is a fact,--that the heart of a seed from a father flower had to join to the heart of a seed of a mother flower before a true seed that can grow into a plant is born. and we only know that something like this is true about father and mother animals, and that something like this is true of our own human father and mother." so much to show how the parent may "break in," for that is often the crucial thing. after the start is made, details may be found in the books provided for just this purpose.[ ] indeed, after beginning, it is sometimes better to put the right book into the boy's hands; or better yet to read the book with the child. especially is the latter course preferable if the book seems at any point unwise,--and there are few books prepared for children which are not at some point or other unwise. only, in all this process of definite instruction in which analogies from the life of plants and animals are used, the instructor must make sure that the illustrations are thought of as analogies for the anatomy and biology only, and guards must be reserved, implicitly and explicitly, against the child's supposing that everything in plants and animals is normal for human beings. all that the child learns of reproduction of plants and animals should be related to the home and affectional life even of animals, and the analogy between animals and man should stop far short of that to which in all the animal world there is no real analogy--the life and meaning of the higher order of human family life. if the proper person to teach the child is the parent and if the parent does not know how, the obvious thing to do is to call the parents together and to try to teach them how. besides meetings for parents (fathers and mothers together), excellent results have come from meetings for fathers and sons addressed by a man, and from meetings for mothers and daughters addressed by a woman. the following details as to arrangement and conducting of parents' meetings may be of value. for such meetings in the public school, the consent of the local school board must be obtained. this ought not to be granted if those seeking permission are either cranks or quacks. the viavi people are said to be obtaining such permission for use of schoolhouses under the specious plea of social hygiene. others, well intentioned but with extreme purist ideas and unwise methods, occasionally volunteer their services. the school authorities should be cautious. but when those who apply are intelligent and honest and above question as to their standing and judgment, school boards ought not only to consent, but to support and coöperate. a grudging consent, mixed with indifference, finds its way by capillary attraction to the school principals and teachers and constitutes a real hindrance. when the consent of the school authorities has been obtained, the next step is the selection and training of speakers and the notification or the parents. where permitted, the notices or invitations should be sent out by the school in which the meeting is to be held, by mail, sealed, to every home in the district whence pupils in that school come. this should be done even if the local society has to pay the postage. if the school authorities will not or cannot do this, then cards of invitation should be sent home through the pupils. in either case, the invitation should be so worded as to do no harm to the children who may read it. parents' meetings may be addressed by two speakers, a physician and a layman. the two speakers should get to the schoolhouse in time to see that the speaker's desk and chair are not on a high platform too far from the little group of parents. the chair and table should be brought down to the floor close to the seats and the parents brought forward. the principal of the school should introduce the layman, accompanying the physician, to be chairman of the evening. the chairman should make a brief address, as outlined in the syllabus provided by the committee on education of the society, introducing the physician. the physician should make a brief address as outlined in the syllabus, and then, after proper explanations, the physician should resume his chair. both physician and layman, seated, should engage in a dialogue, in which the layman should endeavor with all the intelligence, sympathy, and skill at his command to put himself in the place of the humblest parent in the room and ask such questions of the physician as such a parent might ask or ought to ask. for example:-- layman, "doctor, i have a little boy four years old. when ought i to talk to him about sex matters?" physician, "when the child asks questions." layman, "what do you mean by that?" physician, "well,--suppose the child asks where the baby came from?" layman, "what do you say if the child asks that?" physician, "i would tell it that the baby grows in its mother's body," etc. layman, "i have a little boy eight years old to whom i have never talked about these things. what do you advise?" physician, "i would take the first opportunity, some time when the boy is not likely to be interrupted. refer to some newly arrived or expected baby and tell him frankly where the baby comes from." layman, "but doctor, i have already told him that a stork brought the baby." physician, "then tell him you told him that as a fairy story like the santa claus story, but that now he is old enough to know the truth. then tell him the truth." layman, "but i find it hard to talk about these things and i am afraid my child might ask me questions i could not answer." physician, "there are books, a list of which will be handed you, which you can read, and parts or all of which you can read to your child." layman, "what if my child asks me a question i can't answer." physician, "don't dodge or evade. if you must postpone an answer, do so frankly with a promise that when you can you will answer, or that you will put him in the way of getting good information by reading or otherwise." this conversation should be extended to apply to adolescent boys and girls and to young men and women. enough has been given to show the nature and spirit of the dialogue. the people's interest never flags. the layman must ask all the strategic questions, and he must keep at it until he gets answers in simple, understandable terms. if the physician uses "function" or "coöordinate" or "puberty" or "adolescence" or other academic terms, the layman must force simple words at every turn; and in any attempts to describe what a parent should say to a child, the layman should take care that a child's comprehension is reached and that the parent is guided as, to vocabulary. both speakers should lift the level of their counsels above that of mere physical prudence; they should explain and duly emphasize the moral issue. footnotes: [ ] a classified bibliography is provided at the end of this volume. chapter ix teaching phases: for boys _by harry h. moore_ the adolescent boy is the hope of our race. he is the man in the making. whether he is to be a constructive force, a nonentity, or a destructive force depends largely on influences during this period. in adolescence the processes of destruction are quick and sudden. statistics of reformatories and prisons show that either crime itself or the moral breakdown which leads to crime begins in boyhood. a study of the lives of great constructive characters shows that their success was largely determined by influences during this period. certainly, there is no more important task for our nation than the training of our boys. adolescence begins at puberty, the transition period during which the sex functions come into full prominence. its beginning is marked by great physical changes. there are also mental and psychic changes. this fuller development of sex means for the youth new power, new emotion, new capacities for enjoyment of life. at this time the will should emerge as an asset of character. the boy now desires more knowledge of the new world in which he finds himself. he wants to see it by day and by night. he wants to be physically active, or entertained. he belongs to some sort of gang and is loyal to it. his is an age of hero worship. if the knowledge and the entertainment he finds is wholesome, if the gang is a good one, if the hero is a noble character, if, with emotion and new powers, there is also a strong will, all goes well. but if these influences are not helpful and the will is weak, the result may be quickly disastrous.[ ] inquiry into the lives of any considerable number of adolescent boys leads one to believe that there exists what almost might be called a conspiracy of silence, misinformation, and bad influence against most boys of this age. parents for the most part either evade or answer untruthfully the questions of their six-, seven-, and eight-year-old boys regarding birth and reproduction. from this time on, nearly all boys receive many false and low ideas regarding sex, marriage, and the relationship between men and women. after the stork story, there come incorrect versions of reproduction from boy companions. then come notes at school, picture cards, comic weeklies, quack advertisements, and unwholesome vaudeville acts. these destructive influences come, for the most part, entirely unsolicited, in response to a normal desire for knowledge and clean entertainment. boys seldom go to their first shows to see what is vulgar or sensual. they go for clean fun, gymnastics, magicians, and other legitimate amusements. the unwholesome features are thrust upon them. as a result of these influences on the impressionable mind of the growing boy, he comes to regard sex as low and vile instead of sacred. he acquires a vulgar vocabulary which he necessarily uses in his thinking and sometimes in his conversation. the silence and evasive answers of adults withhold healthful knowledge and increase curiosity. curiosity often leads to investigation, which often results disastrously. the specific evil results are of three kinds: ( ) masturbation; ( ) needless mental suffering due largely to ignorance; ( ) illicit intercourse. masturbation is prevalent among boys. two hundred and thirty-two replies were received to a question asked college students regarding their severest temptations of school days. of these, one hundred and thirty-two said that masturbation had been one of their severest temptations and one hundred and thirty-one said they had yielded to it.[ ] similar inquiries have brought similar results. the sum total of vitality lost to humanity by this practice is great. there is much needless mental suffering among boys and young men due to ignorance and false ideas advanced by quacks. groundless fear, brooding anxiety, and despair sometimes start before adolescence and often last into the twenties. physical peculiarities of no consequence sometimes cause boys to fear that they are abnormal. unaware of the fact that spontaneous nocturnal emissions are to be expected, many suffer mental anguish. according to one writer, a single new york dealer had , , "confidential" letters, "written to advertising medical companies and doctors, mostly by youth with their heart's blood."[ ] large sums of money are obtained by quacks everywhere for treating normal conditions. many men have applied to the advisory department of the oregon state board of health after years of worry. although those who apply are no longer boys, most of their troubles began in boyhood. a large proportion of the suffering could have been avoided by simple instruction in sexual hygiene. social vice often occurs in adolescent boyhood, both as a direct result of unmastered passion and as an indirect result of individual vice. in some cases, the habits a boy forms in his early 'teens make him a subject of venereal disease in later life. a doctor writes, "i am aware that it is popularly supposed that self-abuse and sexual intercourse are antagonistic--by many, the one is regarded as a necessary alternative of the other. so far from being a protective, the former is a most powerful provocative of the latter. according to my own observation, it is not the strongly sexed, the most virile young men, who are most given to licentiousness, but those whose organs have been rendered weak and irritable from this unnatural exercise--in whom the habit of sensual indulgence has been set up, and in whom self-control has not been developed by exercise."[ ] this combination of silence, misinformation, and bad influence causes a damnable attitude of mind on the part of the boy toward women, love, marriage, and the home.[ ] the experience of a chicago business man with his sixteen-year-old son is told in a recent popular magazine. whether an actual occurrence or not, it is typical of conditions in most any city. i do not desire to convey the idea that our boy was a wicked boy. he was not. he was just the average type of what we call the "upper middle-class" boy. he was merely tuned to the low moral tone of the city. vice to him was not a monster of hideous mien. he had seen it from childhood.... i knew that a greater part of his ideas on patriotism, on women, on the sanctity of marriage were but reflections of views he had heard expressed, often tritely and cleverly, and cynicism born of hearing such things flaunted over the footlights or dished out as "clever" in the newspapers. in the father's earnest efforts to understand the remedy for the situation, he is reminded of his own experience when he began life in the city. he continues:-- the boy's words awakened memories. i recalled the sense of shocked and shamed decency i felt when first i came to the city, a boy almost, and fresh from the country; how i tossed in my bed trying to see as right things that every one in the city appeared to accept as a matter of course, but that, from earliest boyhood i had been taught to regard as wicked. i could not for many months become accustomed to seeing immodestly dressed women on or off the stage, or to hearing half-veiled indecency flaunted from the stage, blazoned in the newspapers, or used even in ordinary conversation. i could not get used to ... scenes and actions directly forbidden as unforgivable at home.[ ] we are horrified by certain vices, the public now and then cries out against specific manifestations of lust, and sometimes it is with difficulty that mobs are restrained from violence but about much of our immorality there is an attractiveness that has made it acceptable and even wins for it applause. the influence is there, and it is insidiously and perniciously working itself into the minds of our boys many commercialized amusements now exploit the sex impulse. it is impossible to measure the effects of such exploitation. there are brighter pictures. those who have intimate relation with hundreds of boys learn to admire the american boy for his earnest desire to be clean and strong and for his attitude toward the sacred things of life. if we give the boy positive help, we may expect him to grow into noble manhood. we would not remove him from all the evil in the world, but we may expect a minimum of harm as a result of contact with evil. we may not expect to keep him away from all foul talk; but we may make foul talk disgust rather than attract him. the american boy is normally clean. if we will do our part, he will respond. william holabird represents a type which may well be taken as an example in sex education. while chiefly known to the public as a golfer, holabird was catcher on the school baseball team, half-back on the eleven, held the gold medal for the inter-class track meet, and, in fact, excelled in all athletic sports. as a scholar he always ranked high. he was devotion itself to his parents, his brothers and sisters, respectful to his elders, a leader among his associates, and beloved by all who knew him; tall in stature and muscled like a greek god, with clear-cut, delicate, refined, and manly features.... with a rare combination of strength and gentleness accompanied by a bearing and life well illustrating "he was one of nature's noblemen."... a splendid athlete, with a life without a spot or stain, he was a natural leader and a model for all the fellows in the school. the younger boys followed and imitated him.... he hated everything false or unclean or vulgar. to us all, men and boys alike, it was an inspiration to know him.[ ] our standards for boys and men have been too low. charles wagner says, in writing of youth and love:-- chastity has a host of enemies.... these enemies are quick to throw at your head, as an unanswerable argument, "he who tries to play the angel, plays the fool." but he continues:-- many play the fool who have never tried to play the angel. they have not fallen into the mud because they tried to fly too high, but because they began too low down.... a society which permits license in youth, and counsels it, degrades love.... sin against love at its base,--in youth,--and the life of the whole nation is torn, and suffers immeasurably.... the rule of conduct here is chastity every infraction is a sin. though this law may seem difficult and severe, it is the only safe one. morality without it is but rubbish.[ ] a start has been made. during the last decade, we have declared that we must no longer have two standards of purity, one for the man and another for the woman. we recognize a difference between the nature of the man and the nature of the woman; but as our goal and as our standard for practical life, we have abandoned "the double standard." this is a great advance, for our young people as a whole measure up fairly well to standards which society as a whole sets for them. it is entirely within reason to expect a large majority of our boys to reach full maturity and marriage with an absolutely clean record, as far as personal and social purity are concerned. in fact, we should be constantly working toward a time when the personally impure boy and the socially impure young man will be eliminated. both the men and the women of our nation must demand this. there are many ways by which we may guide and help the adolescent. only the abnormal boy is not active and curious. if we do not provide wholesome activity, boys are likely to find activity which is destructive in its influence. therefore, we must do far more than mitigate bad influences. we must plan proper regimen. we must supply a steady succession of constructive activities as well as definite instruction to satisfy curiosity. no other course will do. in the matter of regimen, wholesome food, sufficient sleep, proper clothing, bathing, fresh air, and physical exercise are of great importance. the life and energy and passion of the adolescent boy must not be checked, but diverted into wholesome and constructive channels. excessive mental labor, a sedentary life, pernicious reading, idleness, can transform into a tormenting and persistent desire that which, without it would have been easily mastered. on the other hand, a healthful regimen, energetic habits, amusements and physical fatigue are diversions so useful that, thanks to them, the most critical years pass by unnoticed.[ ] a daily cold shower, followed by a vigorous rubdown, is beneficial if the boy reacts favorably to it. the bath, acts as a sedative. the value of gymnasium work, track and field athletics, swimming, and "hiking" is constantly demonstrated in the lives of american boys. athletics are to be recommended as possessing a positive prophylactic value against the indulgence of sensual propensities. physical exercise serves as an outlet for the superabundant energy which might otherwise be directed toward the sexual sphere. in the period of "storm and stress" which characterizes pubescence and which often leads to nervous perturbation and excitement ... there is no better divertitive from sexual thoughts than active athletic exercises pushed to the point of physical fatigue, as a relief to nerve tension.[ ] in addition, physical exercise tends to develop an ambition to excel, to become physically strong and robust. with such an ambition, boys realize, intuitively to a certain extent, that to succeed they must refrain from vice. physical exercise has a fourfold moral value: it substitutes wholesome activity for vice; it serves as an outlet for excess of nervous energy; it develops the will; it develops ambition to be virile. all wholesome recreation is an enemy of impurity. jane addams says that recreation is stronger than vice, and that recreation alone can stifle the lust for vice.[ ] recreation which involves physical activity is the most helpful to the adolescent boy. the boy's companions are important. emerson says, "you send your child to the schoolmaster, but 'tis the schoolboys who educate him."[ ] books which contain high ideals of manhood and also of womanhood are obviously helpful, as are also dramas of this character. and finally those general principles of moral and religious education must be used, without which we can have no strong foundation for clean living. if we have failed to give proper instruction previous to adolescence, we now have a golden opportunity (and in thousands of cases, our last opportunity) to save the adolescent to a life of purity. as a rule, he has ideas of sex life which are, at least, unwholesome. curiosity is at a high pitch, and passion is likely to be strong. nevertheless, the ambitions and ideals of a boy at adolescence are high. he will fight to be clean if he understands that clean living means the acquisition of strength. he would rather have virility than anything else in the world. as to method, let us deal with the boy as a creature with reason. the best plan is to place before boys a standard of virile manhood, and then to show how such a standard may be met by clean living. real characters who have achieved high standards of vigor should be shown as heroes worthy of imitation. lincoln is known by most adolescent boys to have been a man of great physical strength. he was "a man without vices, even in his youth, but full even in ripe age of the sap of virility."[ ] the effect of clean living upon nations may also be spoken of. charles kingsley writes of the teuton:[ ]-- it was not the mere muscle of the teuton which enabled him to crush the decrepit and debauched slave nations.... it had given him more, that purity of his: it had given him, as it may give you, gentlemen, a calm and steady brain, and a free and loyal heart; the energy which comes from self-restraint; and the spirit which shrinks from neither god nor man, and feels it light to die for wife and child, for people and for queen. because thousands of our boys are now growing into manhood who will never receive the advantages of such a plan as we hope will be worked out during the next decade,--boys who are now at the danger point,--an emergency exists that must be met in the best way possible. for these boys, we are now forced to give single talks or short series of talks. just what facts should be mentioned in a talk to any particular group of boys is a matter which must always be governed by the age, development, and environment of the boys concerned. the first task for a teacher or a speaker giving a single lesson or a series of lessons is to set up a high standard of manhood. the lessons may concern the development and the conservation of virility. the teacher may explain that virility means not only muscular strength but endurance, energy, will power, and courage; and that in addition to these, a true man has chivalry,--he is concerned for the welfare of others, especially for the safety of women and children. he must possess more than physical prowess; he must possess human virtues or he is no better than a brute. the need for the conservation of virility in the race as well as in the individual should be explained. boys should see that the conservation of virility in men is of far more importance than the conservation of our water-power or our mines,--that we owe a duty not only to ourselves, but to the nation and to the next generation. a statement somewhat like the following can then be made: "it is our duty to pass on to the next generation at least a little more vitality than we inherited from the past generation. it is, therefore, important that we understand the main facts of reproduction, so that now we may live right and make no mistakes which may cause us to reproduce inferior children when we mature." the speaker may then describe the wonderful and beautiful process of reproduction in plants, and explain that human reproduction is a similar process. under the subject of the development of virility, much time should be spent upon a discussion of various ways by which virility can be developed. the relative values of various kinds of physical exercise, proper eating, the value of fresh air and of sufficient rest should be emphasized. it may then be said that in addition to these things an important source of virility is the absorption of the secretions of various glands by the blood. the speaker may make a statement similar to this: "when our bodies were designed, we were given reproductive organs for two different and distinct purposes. we have referred to the second and final purpose of reproduction. you already knew more or less about that. the earlier function of the reproductive organs is not understood by most boys. it is this: _the rebuilding of boys into men_. the first purpose and, in some respects, the most important purpose of the reproductive organs is to rebuild a boy into a man. it would be absolutely impossible for us to become men were it not for these organs. i will explain this by three illustrations." these three illustrations are generally very effective: an explanation of the influence of the thyroid gland upon development; a comparison of two horses, one of which was castrated when a colt; and the effect of castration upon boys in oriental countries. the speaker may then say that the testicles do two things: first, manufacture the male germ cells, spermatozoa, which are the most highly potentialized and highly energized portions of matter in all living nature; and, second, secrete a substance that is absorbed by the blood, giving tone to the muscle, power to the brain and strength to the nerves. it should be made clear that this is one of the great sources of virility. from the illustrations referred to, a boy is likely to draw conclusions regarding the vital importance of the functions of the testicles and regarding any possible misuse of them. it may be well at this point to use a cross-section drawing showing the scrotum, the testicle, the seminal vesicle, and the bladder.[ ] some teachers will consider it desirable to add that some boys, who do not understand the high purposes of these organs, misuse them; that when such boys realize their mistake, if they stop absolutely and at once, nature comes to the rescue and restores virility. the talks should be essentially constructive. to warn boys against horrible effects of masturbation and to tell them things not to do is a poor method. it is far better to explain that by keeping clean a boy may acquire virility. the boy can draw conclusions. in referring to the normality of seminal emissions, it should be explained that the fluid excreted by a nocturnal seminal emission comes from the seminal vesicles up in the body. this will show that the loss of fluid involved in a nocturnal emission is different from the loss caused by masturbation.[ ] in this connection, boys should be warned against quack doctors; also against their advertisements which are often worded to scare the ignorant. the venereal diseases should be referred to in talks to adolescent boys. in this connection, the four sex lies may be vigorously contradicted. these are ( ) that gonorrhea is no worse than a bad cold; ( ) that sexual intercourse is necessary for the preservation of health; ( ) that emissions are dangerous and lead to debility, lost manhood, and insanity; and ( ) that one standard of morality is right for men and another for women. it should be explained that although both animals and human beings are endowed with the sex instinct, only human beings have the gift of control. that the sex instinct is a great blessing, and not a curse, should be made clear. it may be stated that various blessings are sometimes converted into sources of destruction when not controlled. a spirited horse is a source of great enjoyment, but if not controlled may maim us for life. fire is a great blessing and a great joy to us when we are camping by a lake or in the mountains; but, beyond our control, it may cause forest fires. temper, the capacity for anger, is highly desirable; but it must be controlled or murder may result. we must control the sex instinct, or it may control us and sink us lower than the brutes. on the other hand, if we control this instinct, we gain virility, a keener appreciation of the beauties of life, and life itself becomes richer and fuller. in conclusion, the appeal should be for clean living for the sake of physical strength and vigor, not for one's own sake, but for the sake of country and future wife and children. the standard toward which we are working in sex education involves the dissemination throughout the school curriculum of such information as we now give in a single talk. in addition to such nature-study work and simple biology and physiology and hygiene as should be included in the lower grades, there should be instruction in biology and in personal hygiene required for all upper-grammar and all high-school students, as soon as well qualified teachers are available. in personal hygiene a proper amount of sex hygiene should be incorporated; and with the treatment of other diseases, gonorrhea and syphilis should be given adequate attention; the idea of the whole plan being to place all these matters in their proper setting, without undue emphasis on matters of sex. either (first) as a part of one of these courses or (second) as a part of some other general course, or (third) as a separate course, the following subjects should be considered:-- . what is virility? (a) virility and the next generation. (b) virility and our nation. (c) types of virility. . muscle, exercise, and virility. (a) how, when, and where to exercise. (b) "second wind." (c) rest. (d) will power. . food, good blood, and virility. (a) what to eat. (b) tobacco. (c) clogged-up machines. (d) blood and other body fluids. . fresh air, bathing, and virility. (a) sleeping-porches, camping. (b) how to bathe. (c) change of clothes. . virility and disease. (a) disease generally an unnecessary evil. (b) relative seriousness of tuberculosis, typhoid, syphilis, gonorrhea, diphtheria, colds, headaches, adenoids, enlarged tonsils. (c) body and mind. . virility and certain glands. (a) importance of the thyroid gland and the testicles. (b) difference between stallion and gelding. (c) seminal vesicles. (d) quack doctors. . virility and reproduction. . fatherhood and the next generation. in our attitude toward the boy, we must show him that we respect him, that we have faith and confidence in him, and expect great things of him. we should meet him on the level of a boy's everyday interests in sport, use simple language, and no unnecessary technical terms. some workers with boys unwisely force confessions of guilt. we should respect the boy's right of privacy. when we deal with boys in the mass, the grouping is difficult. boys who have reached the period of puberty should be in a separate group from pre-pubescents, and boys who are well advanced in adolescence--those who have been pubescent for two or three years--should be taught in still a third group. this applies to single talks as well as to courses of instruction. as far as we know the best basis of division between the pubescent and pre-pubescent boy (when physical examinations are not possible) is the change of voice. only one who understands these matters well and knows the boys should do the grouping. even such a man should not adopt an arbitrary basis of grouping but must take one boy at a time and place him in the group for which he seems best fitted. we should endeavor to include the father in our plans of sex instruction and be careful not to break down such confidence as exists between father and son. we shall find that only a small proportion of fathers give their sons any instruction in sexual matters, and that it is difficult to stir them to action. in one investigation, it was found that one hundred boys out of one hundred and twenty-one had received no sex instruction from their fathers.[ ] when confidence between father and son does exist, we should help the father rather than relieve him of his task. it is difficult to discover fathers who have confidential relations with their boys unless each family is dealt with separately. the oregon social hygiene society has conducted father and son meetings, and has required the father either to accompany the boy or sign a card signifying his willingness to have his son attend. few fathers have attended, sometimes none at all. on one occasion there were thirty-five boys and not one father.[ ] requiring permission may be regarded as an assumption that the talk is questionable; and, furthermore, the requiring of special permission is likely to create an undesirable attitude on the part of the boy. plans for father and son meetings which will be free from these objections will possibly be developed by other schools or social hygiene societies. our aim is so to educate one generation of boys that when they become fathers they will inform their son regarding these sacred relationships and functions of life. * * * * * the boy is normally clean and wholesome. his first question regarding the origin of life is a good question. when denied wholesome information, the further investigation which often follows is indicative of desirable qualities of character. later, though disturbed by false ideas which have been forced upon him, he still wishes to be clean and strong. he desires to master low passions. he would rather have muscular strength and endurance and energy and will power and courage and chivalry than any amount of money. he shudders at the thought of causing suffering to an innocent woman or child. he would sacrifice his life for the girl whom he regards as the personification of loveliness and purity. if we will but deal with him fairly and honestly, he will see in birth an ever-recurring miracle; he will regard his body as a sacred temple; he will see in sex power a source of richer and fuller life; he will respect women; he will regard marriage as the most sacred relationship in life. thus noble manhood, a nation's greatest asset, will in large measure be achieved. footnotes: [ ] john l. alexander (editor), _boy training._ association press, new york, especially pp. to . [ ] _pedagogical seminary_, vol. ix, no. . worcester, massachusetts. [ ] g. stanley hall, _adolescence_, vol. i, p. . [ ] prince a. morrow in the _transactions_ (vol. i, p. ) of the american society of sanitary and moral prophylaxis. [ ] charles wagner, _the simple life_, p. . (mcclure, phillips & co.) caleb williams saleeby, _parenthood and race culture._ (moffat, yard & co.) francis g. peabody, _jesus christ and the social question_, p. . (grosset & dunlap.) [ ] "what my boy knows," _american magazine_, new york, april, . [ ] robert e. speer, _young men who overcame_, p. . (fleming h. revell co., chicago.) [ ] charles wagner, _youth_, pp. - . [ ] charles wagner, _youth_, p. . [ ] _the boy problem_, educational pamphlet no. , p. , of the american society of sanitary and moral prophylaxis, west th street, new york. [ ] jane addams, _the spirit of youth and the city streets_, p. . the macmillan company, new york. [ ] emerson, _education_, p. . riverside monograph series. [ ] henry bryan binns, _abraham lincoln_, p. . [ ] charles kingsley, _the roman and the teuton_, p. . [ ] winfield s. hall, m.d., _from youth into manhood_, p. . association press, new york. [ ] hall, _reproduction and sexual hygiene._ [ ] from an investigation conducted by dr. winfield s. hall. [ ] "a social emergency," first annual report of the social hygiene society of portland, oregon, and the bulletin of the oregon social hygiene society, vol. i, no. i. chapter x teaching phases: for girls _by bertha stuart_ the normality of the reaction to sex knowledge depends upon the physical and mental training of the child. our thoughts concerning girls run in fixed grooves. we believe that, in babyhood, instinct leads them to prefer dolls to their brothers' guns and a little later renders them less active physically and more gentle and tractable mentally. because of this supposed difference in instincts and because of a well-defined picture in our own minds of the final product we wish to evolve, we build a structure externally fair, but lacking the foundation to enable it to resist the stress of time and circumstance. because of our traditionally different ways of dealing with girls and boys, we have produced girls who are not healthy little animals, but women in miniature with nervous systems too unstable to cope successfully with the strain of our modern complex life. the stability of the nervous system is dependent upon the proper development of the fundamental centers. incomplete development of the lower parts means incomplete development in the higher. these fundamental centers are stimulated to growth and development especially by the activity of the large muscle masses. not only is the development of the brain and nervous system dependent upon muscular activity, but the growth and activity of the vital organs as well,--the heart, lungs, and digestive system,--and the normality of sex life. all this we acknowledge in the case of the boy. even with him, we fail to live up to our convictions, as is shown by the long hours of inactivity in school and the lack of suitable activities during recess periods. but on the whole we encourage the boy to run and climb and jump and take distinct pride in these accomplishments. the same accomplishments in our girls occasion alarm; we have an ideal of gentle womanhood. even though unrestrained up to the time she attends school, the girl then enters upon the long career of physical repression which characterizes her training. parents, teachers, neighbors, and schoolmates often seem to conspire to curb all the natural impulses upon which her health and rounded development depend. aside from the reproductive organs, the physical mechanism of the girl is much like that of the boy. there is no peculiarity in the structure of the reproductive organs to prohibit vigorous activity. the development and health of these organs and their ligamentous supports are dependent primarily upon the quality and free circulation of the blood, both of which are preëminently the result of fresh air and exercise. if the muscular system in general is well developed, there is no reason why the muscular and ligamentous structure of the reproductive organs should not be equally well developed. to insure their proper development, exercise is essential. a questionnaire answered by girls at the university of oregon shows that, with few exceptions, plays and games were not indulged in throughout the high-school period and systematic playing ceased for the majority in the seventh and eighth grades. this custom prevails throughout the country. just at the time when a girl needs abundant and free open-air play to develop the muscles, train endurance of the heart, and increase the capacity of the lungs, she omits it altogether. this is one of the chief factors in the anæmias and poor circulation common in that period. the derangement in the blood results in digestive disturbances and loss of appetite, followed by headache and lassitude which further disincline the girl for activity. add to this the nervous strain incident to endeavors to carry on a successful social career, the nerve tension resulting from the unhygienic clothing assumed at this time, the lack of the steadying influence of home responsibilities, and we have ample cause for the nervous, high-strung girl who is becoming so common that we are in danger of regarding her as the normal girl. so greatly has the school curriculum encroached upon the home that the girl has no longer time to share its responsibilities, nor is there longer time for the family reading-circle, or music, or games for the maintenance of the unity and fellowship of the home. this condition cannot but react unfavorably upon the nervous system. if the brain is not rested and the emotions satisfied by the relationships in the home, a feverish unrest, a nervous irritability, a futile search supplant the calmness of spirit, stableness of reactions and depth of contentment which must be long continued to become a habit of mind. our school systems of to-day are designed for a girl as strong physically as a boy; in fact stronger than most of our city boys. our girls should possess as much vitality as our boys; but until we change our methods of dealing with girls, we must treat them as they exist and not as the normal individuals we hope some day to evolve. most girls have disorders,--"nervousness," headache, backache, constipation, colds, fatigue, or pain at the menstrual period. so common are these disturbances that we consult a physician only in extreme cases, and rarely seek the cause of the condition or attempt more than temporary relief. a pain which under ordinary circumstances would receive medical attention is viewed with resignation when coincident with the menses. as a consequence of this neglect, many girls suffer unnecessary drains upon their vitality. we find all degrees of menstrual pain. it may be so mild as to be little more than discomfort, or so intense that unconsciousness results. the pain may be sharp and knife-like, or it may be a dull ache. it may be localized, low down in one or both sides, distributed over the whole abdomen or concentrated in the back. with this pain, there may be headache, or a headache may be the only symptom. frequently there is gastro-intestinal disturbance--nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, or constipation. in anæmic cases fainting is common. local or operative treatment is not as a rule necessary, for the majority of cases yield to a strict régime of hygienic living. the régime should include regulation of sleeping, of eating, of hours of work and relaxation, of dressing and of exercise. the exercise should be prescribed and directed by a person trained in medical gymnastics. frequently mental disturbances are associated with the phenomenon of menstruation. the most usual symptoms are heightened irritability, hysterical manifestations and depression. depression is often the only symptom; to some girls the premonitory "blues" signify the approach of the period. occasionally we encounter the reverse, an excessive stimulation and feeling of well-being and strength. there is some loss in the power of concentration. in normal cases, however, this loss is less than many people suppose it to be. lassitude and a feeling of general debility are confined chiefly to the anæmic cases. the mental symptoms clear up as the physical condition is improved, aided by a sensible attitude toward the whole process. often girls who suffer some pain live through the whole month in dread of the period. this attitude should be changed, by lessening the pain and by psychic therapy. psychic therapy has proved successful in obstinate cases. the girl who suffers considerably from any of these disorders at the monthly period should be relieved from the strain of examinations, the classroom, and lessons which must be learned, although mental hygiene requires that her mind be kept active and her interests in quiet pleasures stimulated. she should not be left to introspection and morbidness or to the sickly sentimental thoughts often recommended for her. this alone would cause her to exhibit some of the so-called "phenomena" of adolescence. many of these phenomena are abnormal and are traceable to low physical vitality and lack of strong mental interests. the menstrual period should not be attended by pain or discomfort; nor should our girls be brought up to regard it as a time of sickness. when our girls are taught that normal girls experience no indisposition at this time, they will not be resigned to pain. the high-school life of the girl below the average in physical vitality cannot be regulated to her advantage in a co-educational school. cities should maintain girls' high schools, taught by women teachers, for all girls upon whom the stress and strain of competition with normal individuals would react unfavorably. in the majority of cases, menstrual pain in girls is due to nerve tension, anæmia and poor circulation, improper clothing, and mental attitude. the girls who experience no pain are those who have led an active out-of-door life and have never stopped playing. the character and arrangement of a girl's clothing is one of the most important matters in her whole regimen. clothing may neutralize the beneficial effects of her otherwise hygienic habits. the long-continued even though light pressure of the corset--and it is seldom light--interferes with the free circulation of the blood. the alteration in intro-abdominal pressure is conducive to misplacements of abdominal and pelvic organs; the anterior pressure on the iliac bones, the result of the modern long hip corset, is a fruitful source of partial separation of sacro-iliac joints--the cause of many backaches. respiration is limited, the free play of abdominal muscles is prevented, constipation is promoted, and digestion is impaired. the strain on muscles and nerves caused by high-heeled shoes is a prolific source of headache and backache and reduced efficiency. women have no conception how greatly their susceptibility to fatigue is increased and their total efficiency reduced by their methods of dress. the pity is that the majority will not learn unless the decrees of fashion change. the hygienic problems of girls in industry will largely disappear when it becomes a matter of common knowledge that industrial efficiency is dependent upon physical efficiency. the physical efficiency of the worker cannot be maintained at its highest standard when the period allotted to rest is too short to allow the body to rebuild its tissues and dispose of the toxic products of fatigue. all activity must be balanced by rest. if this equilibrium between expenditure and income is disturbed, exhaustion ensues. if long continued, it results in permanent impairment of health. the organism poisoned by its own toxic products is incapable of productive effort and the output will steadily diminish as the fatigue increases. the present long working day causes a progressive diminution in the vitality of the worker, defeats its own end, and leaves the girl weak in the face of temptations. the housing of unmarried girls is a very serious question. homes for working-girls require skillful management and a matron of insight and sympathy. the bedrooms may be small, but well lighted and ventilated. there should be a sunny dining-room, a library, several small parlors, attractively furnished, a gymnasium which could be used for dancing, shower baths, and an assembly room for concerts, lectures, and moving pictures. this should be in charge of a trained social leader who would direct entertainments and stimulate wholesome interests. with an establishment of this kind we should not find so many of our girls on the streets or seeking diversion in cheap theaters and dance halls. when girls are able to live,--not simply exist in the deadening monotony of alternation between work and sleep,--their heightened mental activity, interest, and enthusiasm will prove a valuable asset to employers. one of the chief requisites of the mental training of girls is a knowledge, supplied at the right time and in the right way, of the fundamental principles of reproduction. with such knowledge the girl's mind will not be distracted by curiosity, or become morbid, when, instead of intelligent response, the girl meets with evasions and attempted concealments. she should not receive this knowledge in the form of isolated facts, but as a correlated part of a great whole to be assimilated gradually. the girl who is trained in this way will understand and accept human reproduction as a natural process. questionnaires show that a majority of girls hear the facts of reproduction at the age of seven or eight, a few younger, and a few at the age of ten,--almost none at a later age. the majority hear these facts from children a year or two older, a few from their mothers, and the rest from books. a large number experience a feeling of disgust which remains with them until they receive better information. their questions disclose a depth of ignorance and misconception which is appalling. girls, at the age of twelve, thirteen, or fourteen, should have presented to them a course in physiology which includes the anatomy and hygiene of the reproductive organs. this is carefully omitted from present-day secondary-school textbooks. this course should use charts, pictures, and models. the significance of menstruation, the hygiene of the period, and the causes and prevention of pain should be explained. under the hygiene of the period, the daily bath should be urged, with caution against chills, in which lies the only possibility of injury. the fertilization of the ovum and cell division may be described by use of the blackboard and embryological models of the later stages of development. the forces which bring about labor can be explained without unduly stressing the attending pain. the course would be incomplete without a discussion of the necessity of careful selection in marriage from the eugenic standpoint. the perils and results of the venereal diseases should be told simply and frankly. the instruction in eugenics, like that in reproduction, should be progressive and indirect, at least up to the age of seventeen or eighteen years. again it may be correlated with plant life by pointing out the beauty of strong, hardy plants and their relation to the seeds. children can be taught to save the seeds of the most beautiful blossoms for the following year. instruction can be continued with the lower animals. the child will then grow up with the idea that strength and vigor and freedom from disease are desirable qualities, and must exist in the parent if they are to exist in the offspring. the idea can be readily carried over to the human family. at the age of seventeen or eighteen, the influence of heredity and the effects of the racial poisons should be fully explained, and emphasis laid upon qualities necessary for racial betterment. for our girls the first need is a sounder physical organism, which can be attained only through the systematic continuance of physical activities through childhood and girlhood; the second need is sounder mental interests, which can be attained only through the systematic guidance of the mental activities throughout childhood and girlhood; and the third need is instruction in laws of reproduction. chapter xi moral and religious phases _by norman frank coleman_ personal and social hygiene in matters of sex are, in very important ways, dependent upon moral and religious training. on the other hand, morals and religion are in important ways dependent upon forces set free by the growth and activity of sex instincts and powers. one of the most significant facts in modern social progress is its recognition of this interdependence of mind and body. we have learned that physical health depends upon peace of mind, hopefulness, courage, and many other things that have seemed in the past to be purely mental or spiritual; and we have learned also that the character of people and the spirit in which they do their work depend upon their health, upon conditions of food and warmth and shelter, things which in the past have been regarded as affecting only the physical man. it is now somewhat out of date to set physical conditions over against moral and religious; every great human problem is more and more clearly seen in this day to involve all these conditions in its rise, and to require thoughtful consideration of them all for its solution. as we face the problems of sex, we must recognize the importance of fresh air, exercise, wholesome food, clean cups and clean towels, and we must also recognize the importance of clean thoughts and high purposes. we must know clearly the facts of biological and medical science, and with them in mind we must touch the springs of conduct in affection and imagination. our aim must be to achieve that mastery over the forces of life finely expressed by browning's rabbi ben ezra: "nor soul helps flesh more, now, than flesh helps soul." we may consider, first, how, in matters of sex, flesh helps soul; second, how soul helps flesh; and third, how in normal childhood and youth soul and flesh grow together in mutual help. the first great outstanding fact is that the physical powers of sex reach maturity in the same years in which the moral and religious instincts are greatly quickened. if we recall our youth, we must realize that, in the years between twelve and twenty, our lives were greatly disturbed and perplexed, and also greatly exalted and inspired by desires and impulses partly toward the opposite sex and partly toward the service of god and our fellows. in the normal adolescent boy or girl there is a powerful expanding and enriching of sex thoughts and desires and purposes. there is also a rapid development of social sympathy and passion; the revolutionary movements of all lands are recruited from those who like shelley have in their youth vowed,-- "i will be wise, and just, and free, and mild, if in me lies such power, for i grow weary to behold the selfish and the strong still tyrannize without reproach or check." and there is a wonderful flowering of the young life in religious feeling and aspiration; a large majority of religious conversions take place in adolescence. we can scarcely escape the conviction that these are not different awakenings, but rather different phases of the one great awakening of the young life as it prepares for the tasks and responsibilities of manhood and womanhood. the part that sex development plays in this awakening has been variously stressed by different special students of the physiology and psychology of adolescence. some scientists have not hesitated to give it first place and to treat social passion and religious enthusiasm as secondary manifestations of sex energy.[ ] however that may be, we know that each speaks naturally in terms of the other. the religious mystic of the middle ages was devoted to the divine lover or the heavenly lady, and the modern revolutionary is _wedded_ to the cause. on the other hand, the lover naturally adopts the language of religion to express his devotion to the lady of his heart. the water-tight compartment theory of life is in these days thoroughly discredited. we know that the various powers of soul and body are related and interdependent, and we feel sure that the developing powers of sex do have very vital relation to developing powers of moral purpose and religious aspiration. in support of this relation we recall the unfortunate effects upon the character of those who by chance or the barbarity of men have been desexed in childhood. we must allow for other factors at work here, yet the clearly established facts of the stunting of mental and moral growth in desexed children reinforce our own experience and observation, and indicate that the energies that are developed with sex and maturity are largely available for moral and religious growth. the youth with full sex consciousness and impulse is normally the youth of abundant energy for moral and religious activity. it seems, therefore, quite fundamental to the right understanding of sex that we consider the body, not the enemy of the soul, but its friend; not a clog upon the spiritual growth of boy and girl advancing into manhood and womanhood, but an important source of energy for the upward climb. when we turn to the second part of our discussion and ask how in matters of sex soul helps flesh, the need and the fact are clearer and perhaps more urgent. dante found the souls of the lustful in the second circle of hell, driven hither and thither by warring winds,-- "the stormy blast of hell with restless fury drives the spirits on, whirled round and dashed amain with sore annoy." here we have clear recognition of the two great characters of sex impulse, its violence and its fitfulness. in the one character it needs to be subdued that it may not destroy; in the other it needs to be directed that it may build up. as we look back through history, and as we look abroad through our land and through all civilized lands, one of the most conspicuous facts concerning the powers of sex is their frightful destructiveness. the spectacle of wasted manhood and womanhood, of depleted powers in body, mind, and soul, is in history and in present society appalling. it is so oppressive that it has driven many thoughtful men and women to despair. men otherwise hopeful and purposeful here become gloomy and fatalistic; they have no hope that lust will ever be effectively controlled. such pessimism, however, contradicts the history as well as the instincts of the race. in the face of great evils there have always been those who would sit down in discouragement despair; every great destructive force in human history has daunted some men to the point of inactivity. yet the evils have been controlled. ignorant and fearful people have said, "this thing is beyond human power; it is useless for us to struggle against fate." yet men of vision and of courage have struggled and won. no man of moral passion and religious purpose can adopt an attitude of passive submission to the forces of destruction. we can admit no necessary evil, or the battle of human progress is lost. we ask ourselves soberly, therefore, how this tremendous outrush of destructive energy may be controlled. the answer is plain. men have by the agency of fire itself constructed the means by which fire is controlled and domesticated; they have turned disease against itself, and by the agency of antitoxins have conquered it; they are learning to arouse and organize the fighting spirit of men against its own most ancient and fearful expression and are enlisting soldiers of peace in a war against war. even so the race depends upon the higher affections for control of the lower, and lust is controlled by love. i talked once to a young man in college who had given himself to sexual vice when he had been in high school; until a year before i spoke with him, he had supposed that virtually all men were and must be sexually indulgent. for twelve months he had kept himself clean. i inquired why and how. he replied simply that he had fallen in love with a young woman and wished to marry her. his former course now seemed to him shameful and unmanly. lust yielding to love! in one of his sonnets to the woman who afterward became his wife, edmund spenser says:-- "you frame my thoughts and fashion me within: you stop my tongue and teach my heart to speak: you calm the storm that passion did begin: strong through your cause, but by your virtue weak." in our own experience, as far as we have achieved victory in our own bodies and minds over our baser passions, we have achieved it by the power of the higher affections. it is a fact of common experience that love calms the storm that passion did begin. so spenser's lady strengthened passion by her charm, but weakened it by her virtue. nor is this the only higher affection that, in the practical experience of men, has controlled and transformed animal passion. thousands of fully sexed men have, through the centuries, turned their bodily and mental energies so fully to devoted service for god and their fellows as to rise above the clamoring demands of physical appetite, in the vigorous terms of the new testament making themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of god's sake. this is a hard saying, and the experience it treats of must always be confined to a small number of men; yet it goes far toward demonstrating a general possibility, and it should effectively dispose of the "necessity" argument, by which men often excuse their vicious practices. one thing more should be said on this subject of control. not only are the higher, more spiritual affections the most effective masters of the lower; they are the _only_ effective masters. public reprobation can do much, but it is ineffectual with large numbers of relatively unattached members of society, and it is impotent against secret vice. motives of cautious fear are always weak with full-blooded and generous youth, and they are likely to become weaker with all men as medical science discovers ways to prevent or escape the most obviously fearful consequences of sexual license. a familiar phrase comes to my mind, as no doubt it comes to yours: "the expulsive power of the higher affections"; yet i think that phrase is not quite suitable. it is not a question of expulsion. it is not wholly a question of control; it is mainly a question of direction. what we need to-day with boys and girls for the solving of the sex problems is to direct those energies, which in their false direction are destructive, into right and healthful ways; that is, we need to socialize and elevate that affection, which in baser forms has aspects of ugly animalism. as one of the solutions of the problem of control it has been proposed to separate the sexes in the adolescent years. from my point of view, this would defeat our object. in the association of boys and girls during the adolescent period, we may enlist the higher affections for the control and the direction of the powers that are set free by sex impulses developed in that very period of life. what happens in the experience of the normal boy? in this period of early adolescence he finds within himself a wonderful quickening of mind,--impulses, feelings, longings that he does not understand. these impulses, feelings, longings, perplex him, it may be for years. they reach out vaguely, blindly toward the opposite sex, sometimes in a perverted way, but oftener naturally and honestly. then the young man falls in love. at once his more or less vague, cloudy, incoherent, formless feelings and purposes are concentrated, directed, and fixed in devotion to a young woman whom he idealizes, almost deifies. that is the first stage in the natural directing and forming of sex powers and impulses toward social, moral, and religious ends. of course the young man may discover, after a while, that the first object of his fancy is not so angelic as he thought. by and by his fancy changes and may rove to several other maidens before he reaches maturity; but each successive experience, if he is true to his better self, concentrates his affections and directs them, until, if he is fortunate, in the course of time he finds his true mate and enters upon marriage. he is now fairly equipped for what most of us know to be a long course in the discipline of the selfish, the personal, the more or less brute desires and ambitions of man. here he learns to subject himself, his own comfort, his own ends, his own ambitions, to the good of his wife and her happiness, to the good of his children and the satisfaction of their needs. then, more and more, after having concentrated the powers of his spirit through faithful courtship and through happy marriage and fatherhood, the man is able to diffuse these same energies through many channels, for the protection of all sorts and conditions of women and children. the man is now a citizen, a member of society, with developed powers of social sympathy, of social energy. how has he developed these powers? not by any supposition that the early sex instincts he felt in his boyhood were wholly animal and must be atrophied by disuse, but by gathering and directing them into the right channels. direction, like control, depends upon enlightened, purposeful, persistent love. in the third place, we may consider how, in matters of sex, the flesh and the soul may grow together in mutual help. the essential facts and the vital importance of the sex life appeal to the developing boy or girl in four great relations, in relation to father and mother, in relation to the strength and grace of his or her own body and mind, in relation to his or her future family, and in relation to society in general. these appeals come in successive periods and open the way to healthful instruction and guidance from childhood up to manhood and womanhood. sex questions first arise in the child's mind in connection with parenthood. the first thing a little boy or girl needs to know is that the young life is sheltered and fed during long months in the mother's body, and that the father had a share in that life. is it not amazing that in this twentieth century we find many girls twelve years old and over who do not know that their father had any share in starting their lives? i knew of a girl nineteen years old, a student in college, who did not know that a man had any essential part in bringing children into the world, but supposed, when any question of illegitimate childbirth was raised, that possibly god punished a bad woman by sending her a baby before she was married. it is little short of criminal that many girls are allowed to reach adolescence with no sex thought or image clearly in their minds except such as they have received directly or indirectly from animals. if boys and girls knew from the beginning that a part of the father's life and a part of the mother's life united to form the beginning of their lives, the question of sex would begin on a plane where there were religious, moral, and spiritual associations, and an atmosphere of love and holiness. these young people could then see the facts of sex clearly instead of through the mists of prurient fancy and suggestion as they see them now.[ ] the boy and girl who know these two tremendous facts of the nurturing care of the mother before birth, and the coöperation of the father and mother in the beginning of life, are fortified against the principal moral and spiritual dangers that they are to face in the future. the next information and guidance needed by our boys and girls concerns the influence of sex upon their own development. the objection is continually raised that it is not well for little children to have sex thoughts emphasized in their minds. but at present no boy or girl grows up and plays among other children, or hears talk on the streets, or goes to work in factory or store, without hearing these facts emphasized day by day, emphasized unhealthily and distorted shamefully. we propose simply to have the emphasis shifted and lightened for it will be lightened if the facts are given truly and in right relations. boys and girls should learn, at the same time they are learning facts of nutrition, excretion, respiration, and circulation of the blood, those facts regarding sex which are most important for healthy growth of mind and body. they should know that the organs of reproduction have a definite relation to the natural and healthful development of the full powers of their bodies in future years; that internal secretions of these organs coming into the blood help to build up bones and muscles, help to make their nerve fibers active and vigorous, help to form their brains, and help to equip them for manly strength and womanly grace in the years that are to come. these are very simple matters. these facts of sex can be conveyed by just a few sentences of clear, considerate, wise information at the right time, in relation to the other facts of bodily development. considering now the period of puberty, we find additional needs, for no boy or girl reaches puberty, under ordinary conditions, without knowing that it brings the possibility of fatherhood and motherhood, brings the possibility of that process that we call fertilization, in which the life of plants and animals begins. the boy or girl who reaches this age has a right to know what fertilization means, and what fertilization implies; has a right to the simple biological facts which will tell him the relation between the life of the parents and the life of the child, the mysterious relation in body and mind that we call heredity. the beginning of the socializing of sex energy and sex power depends upon recognition of the fact that this power that develops in the young man and young woman at puberty is not to be used for selfish gratification, is not primarily a source of pleasure, but has a very direct relation to the health, intelligence, and happiness of others. this relation may be enforced by a simple study of succeeding generations of flowers and the ways in which forms, colors, and sizes originate and are handed down from generation to generation in wonderful variety. or it may be illustrated from an observation of the beginnings of sex in infusoria; how tiny animals in stagnant water grow to full size and each divides simply into two to form a new generation; how this simple asexual process continuing for several generations results in growing weakness and old age, steadily decreasing size, steadily decreasing vitality until there comes a time when one infusorian unites with another. there sex begins. that union of two individuals is required to restore youth, to refresh vitality and energy, and to produce greater variety in the forms of life. when a boy or girl knows these simple facts, he is better able to understand the power of reproduction than he can possibly be if they are not before him, or if all he has heard has been ceaseless reiteration of the pleasures of selfish indulgence of sex appetite. finally, when the boy and the girl come into later adolescence and face manhood and womanhood, they are ready to know some of the larger social aspects of sex. they are ready to know of the diseases brought on by perverted sex habits; of the frightful waste of those who give themselves to licentiousness, the frightful waste of strength and youthful energy not only in those that actually go down, but in those that survive. more than that, seeking right relations of themselves to society, they need to know the social aspects of sex. the young man needs to know what it means for a woman to bear a child; he needs to know the social and economic dependence of the pregnant woman and of the young mother, so that he may realize what the power of fatherhood means in the actual work of society. i cannot imagine any man talking glibly of the necessary evil, or of man's inability to control sex passions, if he knows the social facts of sex. any young man who knows even a part of the burden his mother bore for him, if he has a spark of manhood in his being, is surely fortified against temptation to selfish indulgence. if, beyond that, he can see the relation of the home to society, the relative steadiness and dependability of a worker with a wife and children, who bears the home burdens in a man's way, as compared with the floating, homeless wanderer who walks our streets; if he knows these central facts and the dependence of the home upon the faithfulness of the man and the presence of the man, if he has a spark of patriotism in his heart, he must realize in his thought and in his practice the necessity for the socialization of that passion which, though it begin in individual and selfish forms, issues in such fateful social consequences. the solution of this great, urgent, pressing problem, which we are feeling the weight of more and more in these years of careful investigation of our social conditions, will come in frankly recognizing the beginnings upon which the whole sex life in mind and body is based, and in transforming fundamentally important animal instincts and desires into higher affections, humanizing them for the sake of the loved one, for the sake of family, for the sake of the social brotherhood and sisterhood in which we are members. my closing word is one which seems to me most significant of the true, the beautiful, the victorious way out of so much discouragement and so much crime,--that is the word "consecration." that word includes two essential ideas, the ideas of sacredness and coöperation. the problems of sex will never be solved until the sacredness of sex is recognized, for sex is vitally and indissolubly bound up with the two greatest facts that you and i know. the greatest fact of the organized world around us is life, the greatest fact of the spiritual world into which we lift our souls is love, and the beginnings of life and the beginnings of love are in sex. no boy or girl will readily understand what life means except as he has some clear, wise teaching about sex; no boy or girl will fully understand what love means except through recognition of the dignity and worth and purity of the fundamental facts and powers of sex. who shall give this enlightenment? i think it must be clear that this enlightenment cannot be given by the very young and inexperienced person, that the facts can be rightly given only by some person who knows their sacredness for himself or herself. they can be given best by a mature person who has seen and felt what they mean. in the long run, i have no doubt that our boys and girls will get the information that they must have from their parents, for the father and the mother are the best qualified to give it. i have named both the father and the mother, for the solution of our problem is not only in knowing the sacredness of sex, it is also in working together for the elevation of sex life. we shall not be able, we men, in the future, to sit down and say, "oh, well, john will learn from his mother"; "mary's mother will make that clear to her"; "their mother does these things." it will not be possible for the socializing of the sex instincts and the ripening of the sex powers to be made clear to young people except as men and women both recognize the sacredness of the sex relation and undertake to make things clear to boys and girls. men must give up their selfish indifference to evil conditions, and women--some women--must give up the bitterness and hardness that come into their hearts and their faces when they think of the suffering that their sex has endured at the hands of man. this is not a problem for one sex. it cannot be solved by either half of the great whole of humanity. we know this to be true in our personal life; it is equally true in our social life. it is only by the girding-up of the whole spirit of man to go forth and meet his duty as a lover, as a husband, as a father, and it is only by the girding-up of all the powers of the woman to lead and to help, that the family is organized. in this great human family of ours the man and the woman in days that are coming will coöperate to remove from our midst the blackest and most fearful perversion of the natural powers of our race. we do not believe in sitting down idly before this problem and saying, "it has always been, it always will be." in this great day of moral and spiritual progress, with powers that we have inherited from our forefathers in this land and other lands, we know that there is no necessary evil. we are learning what the evil of sex is, and how it arises, and we are beginning to use the forces at hand for its destruction. conscience is kindling and determination is hardening among our people that this thing shall cease to be. the ape and the tiger shall yet die from our midst, and man's spirit shall triumph in his flesh. footnotes: [ ] a. forel, _the sexual question_, chap. xii, "religion and sexual life"; william james, _varieties of religious experience_, chap. i; especially the first footnote. [ ] f.w. foerster, _marriage and the sex problem_, chap. iv; especially section (d), "the educational significance of monogamy." chapter xii agencies, methods, materials, and ideals _by william trufant foster_ at the outset we observed that the present social emergency is not concerned merely with diseases, or physiology, or laws, or wages, or suffrage, or recreation, or education, or religion. all of these phases of the present situation, and many others, must be taken into account in our attempted solution of the problem of sex hygiene and morals. a person who believes that he can offer a quick and certain way out of our difficulties appears to have no comprehension of the problem. this much, however, is certain: the greatest need is public education. the policy of silence has failed. accurate and widespread knowledge is a necessary condition of progress, whatever may be the chosen direction. the main questions at issue concern the agencies, methods, materials, and ideals of education.[ ] the following propositions are intended as a brief summary of the most important truths concerning each of those four aspects. i. agencies . as there are but few parents who can and will give the necessary instruction, it must be given by other agencies, at least until a new generation of parents has been prepared to meet this responsibility. . although the failure of parents calls for the immediate action of other agencies, the instruction should be so conducted as to break down the barriers of false modesty and establish confidence between parents and children.[ ] . as the public school is the only agency of formal education that reaches nearly all of the children of the nation, sex instruction must eventually be given in all public schools; only thus can we bring forward a new generation of parents, equipped with the knowledge and desire to do their duty by their children. . as a majority of our boys and girls do not enter high school, some instruction in matters of sex should be given in grammar schools. . no community should introduce direct sex education into the schools as a part of the curriculum, until it has informed parents, cultivated favorable public opinion, and obtained the services of teachers who are qualified for the work by nature and by special preparation. . all normal schools and all college departments of education should at once embody, in their courses for teachers, instruction in the matter and methods of sex education, and adequate instruction should be provided for teachers now in service; and within a reasonable time after such opportunities have been offered in a given state, certificates to teach in that state should be granted only to those who have had the prescribed preparation. . as there is not now a sufficient number of public school teachers prepared to teach sex hygiene, such teaching must be done in part, at least for many years, by private agencies. . lectures should be arranged for parents by churches, schools, colleges, clubs, granges, boards of health, and other organizations; but no one should be accepted as a lecturer until he is approved by a board of health, social hygiene society, college, or other organization which is unquestionably competent to pass judgment on the qualifications of the speaker. . since there are adults in every community that will not be reached, even when sex education becomes a part of the day-school curriculum, such instruction should be offered in continuation schools, in social settlements, in young men's christian associations, in college extension courses, in factories, stores, lumber-camps, car-shops,--indeed, wherever the happy connection can be made between those who need the help and those who are surely qualified to give help.[ ] ii. methods . sex instruction as a rule should not be isolated; it should not be prominent; it should be an integral part of courses in biology, hygiene, and ethics. "specialists" in sex education are undesirable as teachers of boys and girls, in or out of school. . as there is a discrepancy between the age of puberty and the age of marriage, due to artificial conditions of modern society, it is important that sex consciousness and sex curiosity should develop slowly: accordingly, sex instruction, unlike instruction in other subjects, must seek to satisfy rather than to stimulate interest in the subject; questions must be answered truthfully, but the answers must not lead the curiosity of the child beyond the information that is immediately necessary for the guidance of his own conduct. . the aims of sex education can be fully attained only by the encouragement of every means for keeping the mind occupied throughout waking hours with wholesome thoughts and the body sufficiently active in vigorous work and play, preferably out of doors. . lectures and class instruction should be provided only for carefully selected groups: almost nothing can be gained, and much may be lost, by presenting the subject before miscellaneous audiences. . at every age, in every class, there are likely to be individuals who need certain instruction not needed by the entire class: such instruction should be given privately. . books dealing directly with human sex life should not be given to children before the age of puberty; some of the books most widely used are dangerous; instruction should come directly from parent or teacher. . traveling exhibits, made up of concrete and vivid materials, and prepared with due consideration of all the accepted principles of sex education, may be used effectively and inexpensively to bring the truths before many thousands of adults in many places.[ ] . against commercialized prostitution, the educational campaign should be one of pitiless publicity: the public should know the names of all persons engaged in promoting the business, whether they are prostitutes (including female _and male), or liquor dealers, owners of houses, owners of real estate, lessees, proprietors, financial backers, policemen, or politicians; their connection with the traffic should be proclaimed by means as effective as the "tin-plate" signs for disorderly houses. . reliable investigations should be made further to reveal the relationships between sexual immorality and venereal diseases, on the one hand, and, on the other hand, between sexual immorality and ignorance, low wages, injurious clothing, lack of wholesome amusements, low dance-halls, grills, moving-picture houses, vaudeville shows and so-called legitimate theaters, mental deficiency, armies and navies, and--most important of all--the liquor traffic; and the outcome of such investigations should be made known through persistent campaigns of public education. . the conclusions of every vice commission and of every other dependable investigation--not the details--must be kept before the public, until the truth is common knowledge that segregation never segregates; that safeguarding clinics never safeguard; that medical control never controls; that official protection of immorality increases immorality; and that, if there be any such thing as a necessary evil, it is not the shameless partnership of government and vice.[ ] iii. materials . elementary nature-study for children and biological study for boys and girls of high-school age may lead gradually and safely to the teaching of plant and animal reproduction, provided that the subject is not left on the plane of animal life; it is a mistake to suppose that the teaching of biology necessarily promotes right conduct in matters of sex. . subordinate and incidental to instruction in normal sex processes, warning should be given of the dangers of individual vice, illicit sexual intercourse, and venereal diseases; but such instruction should be given only to groups that are homogeneous in respect to sex, physiological age, and social environment, or preferably, to individuals.[ ] . instruction concerning venereal disease, which leaves the impression that the chief danger of illicit intercourse is "getting caught," should not be tolerated: knowledge of facts though scientifically accurate, is not necessarily protection to the individual or to society. . as sex instruction for young people has none but practical aims, hygienic and moral, only such knowledge concerning sex processes, reproduction, and diseases should be given at each period as is necessary for the welfare of the individual at that period. . the practice of masturbation is sufficiently common among both boys and girls to call for warnings to all children at the earliest ages; any teacher or parent should be qualified to help in individual cases. . the education of adolescent boys must stress the six great truths that will fortify them against the main arguments of the enemies of decency and health:-- ( ) sexual intercourse is not a physiological necessity; continence was never known to impair physical or mental vigor. ( ) there can be but one standard of chastity; the purity a man demands for his sister, he must achieve for himself. ( ) seminal emissions are natural among healthy men; usually they need cause no concern. ( ) gonorrhea is a terrible disease, with tragic consequences that one can never fully foretell; syphilis is worse. ( ) every woman who offers her body for prostitution is, sooner or later, a probable source of contagion; clean living is the only positive safeguard against venereal disease. ( ) nearly every "advertising specialist" is a criminal of the most contemptible type; the only safe adviser is the doctor in reputable standing who is not afraid to sign his name to his prescription or to his advice. iv. ideals . "the function of education is to guide the intellect into a knowledge of right and wrong, to supply motives for right conduct, and to furnish occasions by which alone can moral habits be cultivated." (drummond.) . the first aim of sex education is necessarily to bring about an open-minded, serious, if possible a reverent, attitude toward sex and motherhood, in place of the traditional secrecy and vulgarity; a teacher who cannot do this should do nothing.[ ] . in so far as the sex life of animals is made the basis of instruction, the _difference_ between man and the lower animals is the point to emphasize; otherwise the facts of animal life may appear to justify irresponsible sex activities, whereas the glory of man is his control over animal instincts. . since it is not ignorance of what is right, but rather the will to do the right, that is usually responsible for sexual delinquency among adults, the program of public education must include more effective moral education in all grades of all schools; every subject, properly taught, is a means of cultivating will power, of strengthening character; but the school curriculum is now made to yield but a small part of its possibilities. . the appeal must be made to self-respect and to chivalry; especially through history and literature the idea of sex must be spiritualized; the right education of the emotions is fundamental.[ ] . through the study of heredity and eugenics, the social responsibility of the individual may be made to serve as a higher incentive for right conduct than the fear of disease. . if there is one truth concerning sex education that needs emphasis above all others, it is that all plans for meeting the social emergency must strengthen the control of moral and spiritual law over sex impulses; otherwise sex education may be antagonistic not only to physical health, but as well to the highest development of personality and to the progressive evolution of human society. footnotes: [ ] the best expression of the consensus of opinion of those who should know most about the subject is the _report of the special committee on the matter and methods of sex education_ issued by the american federation for sex hygiene, new york, december, . [ ] _sex education_, by ira s. wile, m.s., m.d. (new york, ), aims to assist parents to banish the difficulties and to suggest a course of instruction. it is a brief and wholly admirable treatise. [ ] _progress_, the second annual report of the oregon social hygiene society, gives some account of the most extensive public education that has been conducted in this country. [ ] the exhibit of the oregon social hygiene society has been seen by over , people, at a total cost of less than two cents for each person. [ ] especially valuable are the two volumes by abraham flexner, written for the bureau of social hygiene. see list of references. [ ] see _american youth_, new york, april, ("sex education number"). an article by george w. hinckley tells of the ideal way in which he gives individual instruction to his boys at good will farm, hinckley, maine. [ ] "sex-instruction as a phase of social education," in _religious education_, , by maurice a. bigelow, is one of the best articles on this subject. [ ] f.w. foerster, _marriage and the sex problem._ no book on this subject has reached a higher plane of idealism. at the same time it is scientifically sound. list of references chapters i, ii general survey _prepared by maida rossiter, librarian, reed college_ addams, jane. _a new conscience and an ancient evil._ new york, . american federation for sex hygiene. report of the sex education sessions of the fourth international congress on school hygiene. new york, . american medical association. _nostrums and quackery._ chicago. bloch, iwan. _sexual life of our time in its relation to modern civilization_; tr. by eden paul. st. louis, . brieux, eugene. _damaged goods._ in his _three plays._ new york, . commonwealth club of california. _the red plague._ commonwealth club of california. _transactions_, vol. vi, no. , may, ; vol. viii, no. , august, . dealey, j.q. _the family in its sociological aspects._ boston, . ellis, havelock. _task of social hygiene._ boston, . flexner, a. _prostitution in western europe._ new york, . bureau of social hygiene publications. ---- _prostitution in the united states._ (in preparation.) bureau of social hygiene publications. foerster, f.w. _marriage and the sex problem_; tr. by meyrick booth. new york, . forel, august. _sexual question_; tr. by c.f. marshall. new york, . fosdick, r.d. _european police systems._ new york . kneeland, g.j. _commercialized prostitution in new york city._ new york, . bureau of social hygiene publications. morrow, p.a. _social diseases and marriage._ new york . northcote, hugh. _christianity and sex problems._ philadelphia, . seligman, e.r.a., ed. _social evil._ ed. , rev. new york, . sisson, e.o. _educational emergency._ atlantic monthly, vol. , pp. - , july, . thomson, j.a., _and_ geddes, p. _problem of sex._ new york, . westermarck, edward. _history of human marriage._ new york, . wilson, r.n. _american boy and the social evil._ philadelphia, . zenner, philip. _education in sexual physiology and hygiene._ cincinnati, . chapter iii physiological aspects _reproduction_ exner, m.j. _the physician's answer._ new york, . howell, w.h. _textbook of physiology._ ed. . philadelphia, . landois, leonard. _textbook of human physiology._ ed. . philadelphia, . marshall, f.h.a. _physiology of reproduction._ new york, . _heredity and eugenics_ castle, w.e. _heredity._ new york, . darbishire, a.d. _breeding and the mendelian theory._ new york, . davenport, c.b. _heredity in relation to eugenics._ new york, . ellis, havelock. _problem of race regeneration._ new york, . jordan, d.s. _heredity of richard roe._ boston, . kellicott, w.e. _social direction of human evolution._ new york, . punnett, r.c. _mendelism._ new york, . saleeby, c.w. _methods of race regeneration._ new york, . ---- _parenthood and race culture._ new york, . walter, h.e. _genetics._ new york, . winship, a.e. _jukes-edwards; a study in education and heredity._ harrisburg, . chapter iv medical phases dock, l.l. _hygiene and morality; medical, social and legal aspects of venereal diseases._ new york, . fisher, irving. _national vitality._ washington, . u.s. st cong., d sess. senate doc. . hall, w.s. _biology, physiology, and sociology of reproduction_ also, _sexual hygiene._ ed. . chicago, . keyes, e.l. _observations of the persistence of gonococci in the male urethra._ american journal of the medical science, january, . morrow, p.a. _social diseases and marriage._ philadelphia, . taylor, r.w. _practical treatise on genito-urinary and venereal diseases and syphilis._ ed. . philadelphia, . chapter v economic phases adams, t.s., _and_ sumner, h.l. _labor problems._ ed. . new york, . chap. i. addams, jane. _a new conscience and an ancient evil._ new york, . butler, e.b. _women and the trades._ new york, . flexner, abraham. _prostitution in the united states._ new york. (in preparation.) bureau of social hygiene publications. ---- _prostitution in western europe._ new york, . bureau of social hygiene publications. fosdick, r.d. _european police systems._ new york, . bureau of social hygiene publications. goldmark, josephine. _fatigue and efficiency._ new york, . kelley, florence. _some ethical gains through legislation._ new york, . kneeland, g.j. _commercialized prostitution in new york city._ new york, . bureau of social hygiene publications. more, l.b. _life earner's budgets; a study of standards and cost of living in new york city._ new york, . roe, c.g. _panders and their white slaves._ chicago, . ryan, j.a. _a living wage._ new york, . sanger, w.w. _history of prostitution._ new york, . seligman, e.r.a., ed. _social evil._ ed. , rev. new york, . chap. i. streightoff, f.h. _standard of living among industrial people of america._ boston, . u.s. bureau of labor. _women and child wage-earners in the united states._ washington, - . vols. , . u.s. immigration commission. _steerage conditions; importation and harboring women for immoral purposes...._ washington, . u.s. st cong., d sess. senate doc. . reports of commission, vol. . vice commission reports. a list of vice commissions is printed at the end of these references. chapter vi recreational phases addams, jane. _spirit of youth and the city streets._ new york, . allen, w.h. _civics and health._ boston, . camp-fire girls of america. _manual._ new york, . chicago vice commission. _report_, . collier, john. _moving pictures; their function and proper regulation._ playground magazine, vol. , pp. - , october, . _health department control of venereal diseases. social diseases_, vol. , nos. - , april and july, . israels, mrs. c.h. _dance problem._ playground magazine, vol. , pp. - , october, . juvenile protective association of chicago. reports on dance halls, moving picture theaters, saloons, department stores, etc. chicago, - . minneapolis vice commission. _report_, , pp. - . perry, c.a. _wider use of the school plant._ new york, . playground association of america. _proceedings_, to date. new york, to date. russell sage foundation. recreation bibliography. new york, . ward, e.j., ed. _social centers._ new york, . chapter vii educational phases american federation for sex hygiene. _proceedings_, . new york, . report of the sex education sessions of the fourth international congress on school hygiene and the annual meeting of the federation at buffalo, august - , . ---- report of special committee on the matter and methods of sex education. presented before the sub-section on sex hygiene of the fifteenth international congress on hygiene and demography, held in washington, d.c., september - , . new york city, . cocks, o.g. _engagement and marriage: talks with young men._ new york, . sex education series. study no. . cook, w.a. _problems of sex education._ journal of educational psychology, vol. , pp. - , may, . ellis, havelock. _studies in the psychology of sex._ philadelphia, - . vols. hall, g.s. _adolescence._ new york, . chap. vi. ---- _educational problems._ new york, . chap. vii. hall, w.s. _sexual knowledge._ philadelphia, . ---- _strength of ten._ . henderson, c.r. _education with reference to sex._ national society for the scientific study of education. th yearbook, . lyttleton, edward. _training of the young in laws of sex._ new york, . manny, f.a. bibliography of sex hygiene. _educational review_, vol. , pp. - , september, . moll, albert. _sexual life of the child._ new york, . phelps, jessie. _teaching of sex in normal schools._ national conference of charities and corrections. _proceedings_, , pp. - . putnam, h.c. _sex instruction in schools._ national society for the scientific study of education. th yearbook, , pt. . society of sanitary and moral prophylaxis. educational pamphlets. no. . _young man's problem._ no. . _instruction in physiology and hygiene of sex for teachers._ no. . _relations of social diseases with marriage and their prophylaxis._ no. . _boy problem._ no. . _how my uncle the doctor instructed me in matters of sex._ no. . _health and hygiene of sex._ thomas, w.i. _sex and society._ chicago, . wagner, charles. _youth._ new york, . book . warthin, a.s. _sex pedagogy in the high school._ in johnston, c.h., ed., high school education. new york, . wile, i.s. _sex education._ new york, . bibliography, pp. - . willson, r.n. _american boy and the social evil._ philadelphia, . ---- _education of the young in sex hygiene; a textbook for parents and teachers._ philadelphia, . chapter viii teaching phases _for children_ chapman, mrs. rose wood allen. _how shall i tell my child?_ chicago, . hall, w.s. _strength of ten._ . lyttleton, edward. _training of the young in laws of sex._ new york, . moll, albert. _sexual life of the child._ new york, . morley, margaret. _renewal of life._ chicago, . torelle, ellen. _plant and animal children; how they grow._ boston, . chapter ix teaching phases _for boys_ _boys' venereal peril._ chicago, . ( - years.) hall, w.s. _from youth into manhood._ new york, . ( - years.) ---- _instead of wild oats._ chicago, . ---- _john's vacation; a story for boys._ chicago, . ---- _life's beginnings._ new york, . ( - yrs.) lowry, e.b. _truths; talks with a boy concerning himself._ chicago, . morley, m.w. _a song of life._ chicago, . (young men.) oker-blom, max. _how my uncle, the doctor, instructed me in matters of sex._ society of sanitary and moral prophylaxis. educational pamphlet no. . ( - years.) sperry, l.b. _confidential talks with young men._ wegener, hans. _we young men._ philadelphia, . ( years and upward.) wilson, r.n. _american boy and the social evil._ philadelphia, . ( years and upward.) ---- _nobility of boyhood._ philadelphia, . ( - years.) _young man's problem._ new york, . society of sanitary and moral prophylaxis. educational pamphlet no. . chapter x teaching phases _for girls_ chamberlain, a.f. _the child; a study in the evolution of man._ ed. . london, . cleaves, m.a. _education in sexual hygiene for young working women._ charities and the commons, vol. , pp. - , feb. , . dudley, gertrude, _and_ kellor, f.a. _athletic games in the education of women._ new york, . gesell, a.l. _normal child and principles of education._ boston, . goldmark, j.c. _fatigue and efficiency._ new york, . gordon, h.l. _modern mother._ new york, . hall, w.s. _the doctor's daughter; a story for girls._ chicago, . ---- _life problems; a story for girls._ chicago, . johnson, g.e. _education by plays and games._ boston, . lowry, e.b. _herself; talks with women concerning themselves._ chicago, . ---- _false modesty._ chicago, . ---- _confidences; talks with a young girl concerning herself._ chicago, . mosher, e.m. _health and happiness._ new york, . oppenheim, nathan. _care of the child in health._ ---- _development of the child._ new york, . partridge, g.e. _genetic philosophy of education._ new york, . _plain talks with girls about their health and physical development._ salem, . oregon state board of health. circular no. . puffer, j.a. _the boy and his gang._ boston, . saleeby, c.w. _woman and womanhood._ new york, . smith, n.m. _three gifts of life._ new york, . sperry, l.b. _confidential talks with young women._ chicago, n.d. tyler, j.m. _growth and education._ boston, . chapter xi moral and religious phases abbott, lyman. _womanhood._ oregon social hygiene society. circular no. . bible. mark x, - . compare deut. xxiv, - . bible. matt. v, - . bible. i cor. . foerster, f.w. _marriage and the sex problem._ new york, . hall, g.s. _adolescence._ new york, . chaps. xiii-xv. hamilton, cosmo. _a plea for the younger generation._ new york, . james, william. _varieties of religious experience._ new york, . chap. i. periodicals the following periodicals are sources of news in regard to sex education, sex hygiene, and allied subjects:-- _american breeders' magazine; a journal of genetics and eugenics._ published quarterly by the american breeders' association. washington, d.c. sent to members, annual membership, $ . . american medical association: _journal._ published weekly by the american medical association, dearborn avenue, chicago, ill. $ . yearly. _american physical education review._ published monthly by the american physical education association, springfield, mass. $ . yearly. _eugenics review._ published quarterly by the eugenics education society, , york buildings, adelphi, london. _ s. d._ yearly. _journal of educational psychology._ published monthly, except july and august, by warwick & york, baltimore, md. $ . yearly. _social diseases._ published quarterly. west th street, new york city. $ . yearly. _survey; a journal of constructive philanthropy._ published weekly by the survey associates, east d street, new york city. $ . yearly. _vigilance._ a monthly magazine correlating constructive efforts for the suppression of the social evil. published monthly by the american vigilance association, fifth avenue, new york city. $ . yearly. u.s. commissioner of education. monthly record of current educational publications. bibliography, published monthly, devotes one section to sex hygiene. sent free from commissioner's office, washington, d.c. organizations interested in social hygiene american federation for sex hygiene. combined with american vigilance association to form american social hygiene association. american health defense league. liberty street, new york city. american medical association. dearborn avenue, chicago. secy., dr. alex. r. craig. american purity alliance. east th street, new york city. american social hygiene association. west th street, new york city. secys., dr. william snow, j.b. reynolds. american unitarian association. department of social and public service. committee on sex education and hygiene. boston, mass. american vigilance association. combined with american federation for sex hygiene to form american social hygiene association. bureau of social hygiene. members: davis, katharine b.; warburg, paul m.; murphy, starr j.; rockefeller, john d., jr., chairman. p.o. box , new york city. california social hygiene society. san francisco. secy., c.n. white. chicago society of social hygiene. state street, chicago. secy., w.t. belfield. colorado society for social health. denver, colo. committee of fourteen. e. d street, new york city. secy., f.h. whitin. commonwealth club of california. first national bank building, san francisco, cal. connecticut society of social hygiene. high street, hartford, conn. secy., t.n. hepburn. detroit society for sex hygiene. high street e., detroit, mich. secy., raymond e. van syckle. friends' committee on philanthropic labor. park avenue and laurens street, baltimore, md. illinois vigilance association. lasalle street, chicago. indiana society of social hygiene. hume-mansur building, indianapolis, ind. secy., dr. h.g. hamer. indiana state board of health. indianapolis, ind. international congress on school hygiene. fourth meeting held in buffalo, august - , . international purity association. juvenile protective association. south halsted street, chicago. los angeles society of social hygiene. higgins building, los angeles, cal. maryland society of social hygiene. e. pleasant street, baltimore, md. secy., howard c. hill. massachusetts association of boards of health. boston, mass. massachusetts society for sex education. hancock avenue, boston, mass. massachusetts state board of health. state house, boston, mass. mexican society of sanitary and moral prophylaxis of venereal diseases. milwaukee society of social and moral hygiene. milwaukee, wis. national conference of charities and corrections. angola, ind. secy., alexander johnson. national consumers' league. east d street, new york city. national education association. ann arbor, mich. secy., d.w. springer. national purity association. fifth avenue, chicago. new jersey society for the prevention of social diseases. east orange, n.j. secy., dr. thomas n. gray. new york state reformatory for women at bedford. laboratory of social hygiene. supt., katharine bement davis. new zealand society of sanitary and moral prophylaxis. oregon social hygiene society. selling building, portland, ore. secy., h.h. moore. oregon state board of health. selling building, portland, ore. secy., dr. calvin s. white. pacific coast federation for sex hygiene. portland, ore. secy., h.h. moore. pennsylvania society for the study and prevention of social diseases. locust street, philadelphia. secy., r.n. wilson. rhode island state board of health. state house, providence, r.i. st. louis society of social hygiene. st. louis, mo. secy., dr. h.e. kleinschmidt. school of eugenics of boston. newbury street, boston, mass. seattle society of hygiene. league building, seattle, wash. secy., dr. sydney strong. social purity and white cross movement. the philanthropist, p.o. box , new york city. society of sanitary and moral prophylaxis. tilden building, west th street, new york city. secy., dr. e.l. keyes, jr. spokane society of social and moral hygiene. old national bank building, spokane, wash. secy., dr. j.r. lantz. texas state society of social hygiene. san antonio, texas. secy., dr. t.y. hull. triennial congress for the suppression of the white slave traffic. fifth meeting held in london, june -july , . washington state board of education. olympia, washington. west virginia society of social hygiene. elkins, west va. secy., o.g. wilson, supt. of public schools. world's purity federation. lacrosse, wis. pres., b.s. steadwell. reports and investigations municipal atlanta, ga. vice commission. _report_, . chicago. vice commission. _social evil in chicago._ chicago, . cleveland. vice commission. _report_, . columbia, mo. vice commission. appointed march, . columbus, ohio. appointed march, . denver, colo. vice commission. appointed september , . became denver morals commission january , . grand rapids. morals efficiency commission of the citizens. to carry on work started by committee of . hartford, conn. vice commission. appointed january, . jacksonville, fla. vice commission. appointed september, . kansas city. vice commission. _report_, . little rock, ark. vice commission. _report_, . macon, ga. vice commission. appointed january, . minneapolis. vice commission. _report_, . new york city-- seligman, e.r.a., ed. _social evil._ new york, . kneeland, g.j. _commercialized prostitution in new york city._ new york, . philadelphia. vice commission. _report._ philadelphia, . portland, ore. vice commission. _report_, . rochester. vice commission. _report._ st. paul, minn. morals committee. _report._ san francisco-- commonwealth club of california. _report on prevalence of venereal diseases._ february, . shreveport, la. vice commission. appointed april, . syracuse. moral survey committee. _report on the social evil in syracuse._ . state illinois. vice commission. appointed february, . maryland. vice commission. appointed march, . massachusetts. vice commission. established april, . missouri. vice commission. appointed april, . wisconsin. vice commission. established may, . standing commissions pittsburg, pa. morals efficiency commission. appointed may, . chairman, frederick a. rhodes. minneapolis. morals commission. appointed march, . chairman, dr. marion d. shutter. denver. morals commission. appointed january , . chairman, rev. h.f. rail. new york. committee of fourteen. chicago. morals court. index addams, jane, cited, , . adolescence, a critical period, ; begins at puberty, ; information and entertainment sought during, , ; evils to which it is exposed, - ; ways in which the boy may be helped during, - . adolescents, sex impulse in, . agencies of sex education, summary, - . american social hygiene association, . amusement parks, dangers of, , . armies, dangers of their camps, . athletics, benefits of, . _see_ play. bathing, benefits of, . bill-boards, evils of, . billiard rooms, dangers of, , . biological aspect of the social emergency, . blindness, sometimes due to venereal infection, , . boating, . bodily regimen. _see_ regimen. books, , , . boston, report on women's wages in, , . botany, study of, in upper grades and high schools, . _boy problem, the_, quoted, . boys, pre-pubescent and pubescent instruction to be given to, - ; teaching phases for, - ; adolescence of, - ; evils to which they are exposed (masturbation, mental suffering, illicit intercourse), - ; are normally clean, , ; ways in which they may be helped during adolescence, - ; subjects and methods of instruction for, - ; conditions to be observed in giving instruction to, - . camps, construction and lumber, ; military, ; school and municipal, . card parties, . carnivals, , . castration, effect of, . chastity, double standard of, , , . chicago, report on women's wages in, , . chicago juvenile protective association, quoted, . chicago vice commission, report of, . child labor, abolition of, . children, infection in, , . clean living, importance of, to be indicated to the boy, , , . clothing of girls, , , . clubs, social, , . colleges, instruction in sex relations to begin in, ; sex education for teachers to be given in, . commissions, vice, - . companions of the boy, . consecration, , . consumers' league of oregon, . contagion, sources and conditions of, . _see_ venereal infection, venereal diseases. control. _see_ self-control. cost of living, . _see_ wages and vice. dance-halls, . dances, . degeneracy, sexual, road to race extinction, . department stores, employment of girls in, . diseases. _see_ venereal diseases. domestic service, - , . double standard of chastity, ; abandonment of, , . dress of women, . drunkenness and prostitution, , . economic phases of immorality, - , - ; women as wage-earners, ; wages and immorality, - ; industrial stress, and dangers in seeking employment, - ; improvements recommended, , ; bibliography, , . education, industrial, compulsory, recommended, ; public, the greatest need, ; summary of agencies of, - ; of methods of, - ; of materials of, - ; of ideals of, - . _see_ educational phases, instruction, teaching phases. educational phases of the social emergency, - , - ; aims of sex education, - ; bodily regimen, , ; mental control, , ; first principle of instruction in reproduction, - ; nature study, botany, etc., , ; pre-pubescent and pubescent instruction, - ; difference between man and animals the basis of instruction, , ; first instruction, ; a true philosophy must lie back of instruction, , ; bibliography, , . ehrlich, his cure for syphilis, , . eight-hour day, . employment bureaus, . excursions, . exner, dr. m.j., statement of, regarding sexual continence, , _n._ family, not competent to instruct in sex relations, . federal government, report on women's wages, , . federal report (woman and child wage-earners), . festivals, , . freud, his view of sex basis, . girls, pre-pubescent and pubescent instruction to be given to, - ; teaching phases for, - ; stability of nervous system, - ; menstruation and menstrual pain, - ; clothing of, , ; in industry, , ; housing of unmarried, , ; instruction to be given on reproduction, - . girls' high schools, . gonorrhea and the gonorrhea microbe, - , , , . hall, g. stanley, his view of sex basis, . holabird, william, . home, the, as recreation and social center, , . hotels, employment of girls in, . housing of unmarried girls, , . howell, dr. william h., quoted on the sexual appetite, . hygiene. _see_ social emergency, reproduction. ice-cream parlors, . ideals of sex education, - . illinois state senate, vice investigation made by, . immorality and wages, , , - . industrial education for women, lack of, . industrial efficiency, connected with social hygiene problems, , . industrial stress, its bearing upon sexual hygiene and morals, - . infection. _see_ venereal infection. instruction in sex hygiene and the physiology of reproduction, what, when, and by whom to be given, , , , - , - , , - , - , - , ; mistakes in, serious, ; list of subjects to be considered, , ; conditions to be observed in giving, - ; for girls, - . _see_ education, educational phases, teaching phases. instructors in sex relations, lack of competent, , , , . insurance, recommended, . intoxicating liquors and commercialized prostitution, . investigations into immorality and diseases, . kelley, florence, quoted on department stores, . kingsley, charles, quoted, . lectures, , , , . legislation and prostitution, , . living wage. _see_ wages. love, as controller of passion, - . marriage, age of, and age of sexual maturity, discrepancy between, , , . marriage laws, object of, . massachusetts commission on minimum wage boards, report of, - . masturbation, - , , . materials of sex education, summary, - . medical phases of immorality, , , - ; statistics of venereal diseases in the united states, ; the microbes of syphilis and gonorrhea, - ; infection of innocent persons, - ; possibility of recovery, ; bibliography, . medicine, means of defense against social evils provided by, , . menstrual pain, - . menstruation, - . mental suffering among adolescents, , . methods of sex education, summary, - . minimum wage, . ministers, not competent to give instruction in sex relations, . minneapolis, report on women's wages in, , . moral and religious phases of the social emergency, , - ; bibliography, . _mother nature and her helpers,_ , . motion-pictures, , , . muscular activity, importance of, - . nature study, . nervous system, stability of, - . newspapers, . new york, report on women's wages in, , . noguchi, his test of the syphilis microbe, . normal schools, instruction in sex relations to begin in, ; sex education for teachers to be given in, . novels, . opiates, . orders, social, , . oregon, surveys made by the consumers' league in, , . oregon social hygiene society, , _n._ paralysis, , . parenthood, , . parents, confidence between child and, in matters of reproduction, - , - ; meetings for, - . _see_ instruction. paresis, . parties, social, . passion, controlled by love, - ; by religious fervor . patten, prof. simon n., quoted, . pessimism, . philadelphia, report on women's wages in, , . physical exercise, , . _see_ play. physiological phases of immorality, - , - ; instruction in physiology of reproduction, ; the sex impulse, - ; belief in physiological necessity of gratification, - , , , , , ; bibliography, , . physiology, study of, . picture post-cards, . play, - , , . playgrounds, - . pool-halls, . portland, ore., women's wages in, , ; attendance at moving-picture shows in, . portland, ore., municipal employment bureau, . portland, ore., vice commission, , . priests, not competent to give instruction in sex relations, . problem plays, . property, used for immoral purposes, . prostitutes, what is to be done with them, ; status of, . _see_ prostitution. prostitution, past efforts to deal with, , ; physiological factors of, - , - ; medical phase of, , ; economic phases of, - ; commercialized, , , ; and recreational pursuits, ; legal phases of, , ; and public education, - ; moral and religious aspects of, ; biological aspect of, . _see_ social emergency. psychic therapy, . public opinion, relation of, to public education and to law enforcement, . quack doctors, , , , , , . recreation centers, - . recreation movement, - . recreational phases of the social emergency, , - ; bibliography, . regimen for boys, , , . religious aspect of the social emergency, , - ; bibliography, . reproduction, silence hitherto in regard to, , , , ; recent change of attitude in regard to matters of, , ; dangers in this change of attitude, - ; instruction in, , - , , - , - ; the impulse toward, - ; instruction in, at present lacking, ; aims of instruction in, - ; a true philosophy must lie back of instruction in, , ; bibliography, . _see_ instruction. road-houses, , , . st. louis, report on women's wages in, , . st. paul, report on women's wages in, , . saloons, , . "salvarsan," . schaudinn, his determination of the syphilis microbe, . schools, responsibility of, ; sex instruction should be given in, . seager, prof. h.r., cited, . self-control, the importance of, , , , - , , . seminal emissions, , , , . sex, matters of, connection between moral and religious matters and, - ; sacredness of, , . sex impulse, - . sex life of child, - . sex relations, silence hitherto in regard to, , , , ; lack of competent instructors in, ; recent change of attitude in regard to matters of, , ; dangers in this change of attitude, - ; mistakes in teaching of, serious, . _see_ instruction, reproduction. sexual maturity, age of, and age of marriage, discrepancy between, , , . sexual necessity, belief in, - , , , , , . " ," . skating-rinks, . social emergency, the, what constitutes, ; phases of, - ; physiological phases, - , - ; medical phases, , , - ; economic phases, - , - ; recreational phases, , - ; legal phases, , ; educational phases, - , - ; biological phases, ; moral and religious phases, , - ; teaching phases: for children, - ; teaching phases: for boys, - ; teaching phases: for girls, - . social hygiene, movement for, retarded by many, ; books on, . see social emergency, reproduction. societies, of social hygiene, . society, sex life in relation to, - . spinal diseases, , . stage, the, , . standard of chastity, double. _see_ double standard. standards of living, - . sterility, , . street, the, as an attraction, , . sunday supplement, . swimming, . syphilis, and the syphilis microbe, - , , ; infection of innocent persons, - ; possibility of recovery from, . teachers of sex hygiene, instruction to be provided for, in normal schools and colleges, . teaching phases of the social emergency, for children, - ; for boys, - ; for girls, - ; bibliography, , . tramping-clubs, . traveling exhibits, . unemployment, relief of, . unions, social, . venereal diseases, in the united states, statistics of, ; reason for frequency of, ; gonorrhea and syphilis, - , , , ; as affecting children, ; infection of innocent persons, - ; possibility of recovery from, . venereal infection, prevalence of, , ; fear of, not sufficient motive in promoting chastity, ; effects of, - ; in men, , ; in women, ; in children, , ; of innocent persons, - . _see_ venereal diseases. vice commissions, - . vice in adolescents, - . vice investigations, - . virility, importance of, to be taught, - . vocational training, . wage-earners, women as, increase of numbers, . _see_ women. wages and vice, , , - . wagner, charles, quoted, , , . wasserman, his test of the syphilis microbe, . "weaker sex, the," the phrase has lost some of its significance, , . welfare work, , . woman's auxiliary department of the police, . women, infection in, ; as wage-earners, increase of numbers, ; drift of, from domestic service, ; lack of industrial education for, ; loss due to emergence from seclusion, ; the phrase "the weaker sex" has lost some of its significance, , ; connection of wages and immorality among, - ; bearing of industrial stress on morals of, - ; dangers to, in seeking employment, ; summing up of their economic condition, , . zoölogy, . produced from scanned images of public domain material from the google print project.) sex avoided subjects discussed in plain english _by_ henry stanton [illustration] social culture publications fifth avenue · new york copyright, social culture publications manufactured in u. s. a. contents page i. sex ii. the transition from cell to human being iii. sex in male childhood iv. sex in female childhood v. sex in the adolescent male vi. sex in the adolescent female vii. sex in the marriage relation (the husband) viii. sex in the marriage relation (the wife) ix. sex diseases x. love and sex chapter i sex the happiness of all human beings, men and women, depends largely on their rational solution of the sexual problem. sex and the part it plays in human life cannot be ignored. in the case of animals sex plays a simpler and less complex rôle. it is a purely natural and instinctive function whose underlying purpose is the perpetuation of the species. it is not complicated by the many incidental phenomena which result, in man's case, from psychologic, economic, moral and religious causes. climate, social conditions, individual modes of life and work, alcohol, wealth and poverty, and other factors affect sexual activity in human beings. sexual love, which is practically unknown to the animals, is a special development of the sex urge in the human soul. the deeper purpose of the sex function in human beings, likewise, is procreation, the reproduction of species. the average man, woman and child should know the essential sex facts in order to be able to deal with the sex problems of life. of late years there has been a greater diffusion of such knowledge. to a large extent, however, children and adolescents are still taught to look on all that pertains to sex as something shameful and immodest, something not to be discussed. sex is an "avoided subject." this is fundamentally wrong. sex affects the very root of all human life. its activities are not obscene, but nature's own means to certain legitimate ends. the sex functions, when properly controlled and led into the proper channels, are a most essential and legitimate form of physical self-expression. the veil of secrecy with which they are so often shrouded tends to create an altogether false impression regarding them. this discussion of these "avoided subjects," in "plain english," is intended to give the salient facts regarding sex in a direct, straightforward manner, bearing in mind the true purpose of normal sex activities. the more we know of the facts of sex, the right and normal part sex activities play in life, and all that tends to abuse and degrade them, the better able we will be to make sex a factor for happiness in our own lives and that of our descendants. mankind, for its own general good, must desire that reproduction--the real purpose of every sexual function--occur in such a way as to perpetuate its own best physical and mental qualities. the law of physical life it is a universal rule of physical life that every individual being undergoes a development which we know as its individual life and which, so far as its physical substance is concerned, ends with death. death is the destruction of the greater part of this individual organism which, when death ensues, once more becomes lifeless matter. only small portions of this matter, the germ cells, continue to live under certain conditions which nature has fixed. the germ cell--as has been established by the microscope--is the tiny cell which in the lowest living organisms as well as in man himself, forms the unit of physical development. yet even this tiny cell is already a highly organized and perfected thing. it is composed of the most widely differing elements which, taken together, form the so-called protoplasm or cellular substance. and for all life established in nature the cell remains the constant and unchanging form element. it comprises the cell-protoplasm and a nucleus imbedded in it whose substance is known as the nucleoplasm. the nucleus is the more important of the two and, so to say, governs the life of the cell-protoplasm. the lower one-celled organisms in nature increase by division, just as do the individual cells of a more highly organized, many-celled order of living beings. and in all cases, though death or destruction of the cells is synonymous with the death or destruction of the living organism, the latter in most cases already has recreated itself by reproduction. we will not go into the very complicated details of the actual process of the growth and division of the protoplasmic cells. it is enough to say that in the case of living creatures provided with more complicated organisms, such as the higher plants, animals and man, the little cell units divide and grow as they do in the case of the lower organisms. the fact is one which shows the intimate inner relationship of all living beings. the ladder of organic ascent as we mount the ascending ladder of plant and animal life the unit-cell of the lower organisms is replaced by a great number of individual cells, which have grown together to form a completed whole. in this complete whole the cells, in accordance with the specific purpose for which they are intended, all have a different form and a different chemical composition. thus it is that in the case of the plants leaves, flowers, buds, bark, branches and stems are formed, and in that of animals skin, intestines, glands, blood, muscles, nerves, brain and the organs of sense. in spite of the complicated nature of numerous organisms we find that many of them still possess the power of reproducing themselves by division or a process of "budding." in the case of certain plants and animals, cell-groups grow together into a so-called "bud," which later detaches itself from the parent body and forms a new individual living organism, as in the case of the polyps or the tubers in plant life. a tree, for instance, may be grown from a graft which has been cut off and planted in the ground. and ants and bees which have not been fecundated are quite capable of laying eggs out of which develop perfect, well-formed descendants. this last process is called parthenogenesis. it is a process, however, which if carried on through several generations, ends in deterioration and degeneracy. in the case of the higher animals, vertebrates and man, such reproduction is an impossibility. these higher types of animal life have been provided by nature with special organs of reproduction and reproductive glands whose secretions, when they are projected from the body under certain conditions, reproduce themselves, and increase and develop in such wise that the living organism from which they proceed is reproduced in practically its identical form. thus it perpetuates the original type. philosophically it may be said that these cells directly continue the life of the parents, so that death in reality only destroys a part of the individual. every individual lives again in his offspring. the true mission of sex this rebirth of the individual in his descendants represents the true mission of sex where the human being is concerned. and reproduction, the perpetuation of the species, underlies all rightful and normal sex functions and activities. the actual physical process of reproduction, the details which initiate reproduction in the case of the human being, it seems unnecessary here to describe. in the animal world, into which the moral equation does not really enter, the facts of conjugation represent a simple and natural working-out of functional bodily laws, usually with a seasonal determination. but where man is concerned these facts are so largely made to serve the purposes of pruriency, so exploited to inflame the imagination in an undesirable and directly harmful way that they can be approached only with the utmost caution. the intimate fact knowledge necessary in this connection is of a peculiarly personal and sacred nature, and represents information which is better communicated by the spoken than by the printed word. the wise father and mother are those naturally indicated to convey this information to their sons and daughters by word of mouth. by analogy, by fuller development and description of the reproductive processes of plant and animal life on which we have touched, the matter of human procreation may be approached. parents should stress the point, when trying to present this subject to the youthful mind, that man's special functions are only a detail--albeit a most important one--in nature's vast plan for the propagation of life on earth. this will have the advantage of correcting a trend on the part of the imaginative boy or girl to lay too much stress on the part humanity plays in this great general reproductive scheme. it will lay weight on the fact that the functional workings of reproduction are not, primarily, a source of pleasure, but that--when safeguarded by the institution of matrimony, on which civilized social life is based--they stand for the observance of solemn duties and obligations, duties to church and state, and obligations to posterity. hence, parents, in talking to their children about these matters should do so in a sober and instructive fashion. the attention of a mother, perhaps, need not be called to this. but fathers may be inclined, in many cases, to inform their sons without insisting that the information they give them is, in the final analysis, intended to be applied to lofty constructive purposes. they may, in their desire to speak _practically_, forget the moral values which should underlie this intimate information. never should the spirit of levity intrude itself in these intimate personal sex colloquies. restraint and decency should always mark them. in making clear to the mind of youth the fact data which initiates and governs reproduction in animal and in human life, the ideal to be cultivated is continence, the refraining from all experimentation undertaken in a spirit of curiosity, until such time as a well-placed affection, sanctioned by the divine blessing, will justify a sane and normal exploitation of physical needs and urges in the matrimonial state. to this end hard bodily and mental work should be encouraged in the youth of both sexes. "satan finds work for idle hands to do," has special application in this connection, and a chaste and continent youth is usually the forerunner of a happy and contented marriage. and incidentally, a happy marriage is the best guarantee that reproduction, the carrying on of the species, will be morally and physically a success. here, too, the fact should be strongly stressed that prostitution cannot be justified on any moral grounds. it represents a deliberate ignoring of the rightful function of sex, and the perversion of the sane and natural laws of reproduction. it is in marriage, in the sane and normal activities of that unit of our whole social system--the family--that reproduction develops nature's basic principle of perpetuation in the highest and worthiest manner, in obedience to laws humane and divine. chapter ii the transition from cell to human being in the functional processes alluded to in the preceding chapter, the male germ-cell and the female germ-cell unite in a practically equal division of substance. we say "practically" because the maternal and the paternal influences are not equally divided in the offspring. one or the other usually predominates. but, as a general rule, it may be said that in the development of the embryonal life the process of cell division proceeds in such a way that every germ of the child's future organism represents approximately one-half maternal and one-half paternal substance and energy. in this process lies the true secret of heredity. the inherited energies retain their full measure of power, and all their original quality in the growing and dividing chromosomes (the chromosome is one of the segments into which the chromoplasmic filaments of a cell-nucleus break up just before indirect division). on the other hand, the egg-substance of the female germ-cell, which is assimilated by the chromosomes, and which is turned into _their_ substance by the process of organic chemistry, loses its specific plastic vital energy completely. it is in the same way that food eaten by the adult has absolutely no effect on his qualitative organic structure. we may eat ever so many beef-steaks without acquiring any of the characteristics of an ox. and the germ-cell may devour any amount of egg-protoplasma without losing its original paternal energy. as a rule a child inherits as many qualities from its mother as from its father. determination of sex sex is determined after conception has taken place. at an early stage of the embryo certain cells are set apart. these, later, form the sex glands. modern research claims to have discovered the secret of absolutely determining sex in the human embryo, but even if these claims are valid they have not as yet met with any general application. early development some twelve days after conception, the female ovule or egg, which has been impregnated by the male spermatazoön, escapes from the ovary where it was impregnated, and entering a tube (fallopian) gradually descends by means of it into the cavity of the womb or uterus. here the little germ begins to mature in order to develop into an exact counterpart of its parents. in the human being the womb has only a single cavity, and usually develops but a single embryo. twins sometimes two ovules are matured at the same time. if fecundated, two embryos instead of one will develop, producing twins. triplets and quadruplets, the results of the maturing of three or four ovules at the same time, occur more rarely. as many as five children have been born alive at a single birth, but have seldom lived for more than a few minutes. gestation the development of the ovule in the womb is known as gestation or pregnancy. the process is one of continued cell division and growth, and while it goes on the ovule sticks to the inner wall of the womb. there it is soon enveloped by a mucous membrane, which grows around it and incloses it. the embryo the _primitive trace_, a delicate straight line appearing on the surface of the growing layer of cells is the base of the embryonic spinal column. around this the whole embryo develops in an intricate process of cell division and duplication. one end of the primitive trace becomes the head, the other the tail, for every human being has a tail at this stage of his existence. the neck is marked by a slight depression; the body by a swollen center. soon little buds or "pads" appear in the proper positions. these represent arms and legs, whose ends, finally, split up into fingers and toes. the embryonic human being has been steadily increasing in size, meanwhile. by the fifth week the heart and lungs are present in a rudimentary form, and ears and face are distinctly outlined. during the seventh week the kidneys are formed, and a little later the genital organs. at two months, though sex is not determined as yet, eyes and nose are visible, the mouth is gaping, and the skin can be distinguished. at ten weeks the sexual organs form more definitely, and in the third month sex can be definitely determined. the foetus at the end of its fourth month the embryo--now four or five inches long and weighing about an ounce--is promoted. it receives the name of foetus. hairs appear on the scalp, the eyes are provided with lids, the tongue appears far back in the mouth. the movements of the foetus are plainly felt by the mother. if born at this time it lives but a few minutes. it continues to gain rapidly in weight. by the sixth month the nails are solid, the liver large and red, and there is fluid in the gall bladder. the seventh month finds the foetus from twelve and a half to fourteen inches long, and weighing about fifty-five ounces. it is now well proportioned, the bones of the cranium, formerly flat, are arched. all its parts are well defined, and it can live if born. by the end of the eighth month the foetus has thickened out. its skin is red and covered by a delicate down; the lower jaw has grown to the same length as the upper one. the convolutions of the brain structure also appear during this month. placenta and umbilical cord during gestation the unborn infant has been supplied with air and nourishment by the mother. an organ called the _placenta_, a spongy growth of blood vessels, develops on the inner point of the womb. to this organ the growing foetus is moored by a species of cable, the _umbilical cord_. this cord, also made up mainly of blood vessels, carries the blood of the foetus to and from the _placenta_, absorbing it through the thin walls which separate it from the mother's blood. only through her blood can the mother influence the child, since the umbilical cord contains no nerves. the umbilical cord, attached to the body of the child at the navel, is cut at birth, and with the placenta is expelled from the womb soon after the child has been born. together with the placenta it forms a shapeless mass, familiarly known as the "afterbirth," and when it is retained instead of being expelled is apt to cause serious trouble. childbirth or parturition at nine month's time the foetus is violently thrust from that laboratory of nature in which it has formed. it is born, and comes into the world as a child. considering the ordinary size of the generative passages, the expelling of the foetus from the womb would seem impossible. but nature, during those months in which she enlarged the womb to hold its gradually increasing contents, has also increased the generative passages in size. she has made them soft and distensible, so that an apparent physical impossibility could take place, though it is often accompanied by intense suffering. modern medical science has made childbirth easier, but the act of childbirth is usually accompanied by more or less suffering. excessive pain, however, is often the result of causes which proper treatment can remove before and at the time of confinement. twilight sleep the so-called "twilight sleep," a modern development, by which the pangs of childbirth are obviated by the administration of drugs or by hypnotic suggestion, has its opponents and defenders. the advantage of a painless childbirth, upon which the mother can look back as on a dream, is evident. the "twilight sleep" process has been used with the happiest results both for parent and child. opponents of this system declare that the use of powerful drugs may injure the child. a method commended is the administration of a mixture of laughing gas and oxygen, which relieves the mother and does not affect the child. the new-born infant the average weight of the new-born child is about seven and a half pounds. it is insensitive to pain for the first few days, and seems deaf (since its middle ears are filled with a thick mucus) for the first two weeks. during the first few days, too, it does not seem able to see. the first month of its existence is purely automatic. evidences of dawning intelligence appear in the second month and at four months it will recognize mother or nurse. muscularly it is poorly developed. not until two months old is it able to hold up its head, and not until three months does voluntary muscular movement put in an appearance. the new-born's first self-conscious act is to draw breath. deprived of its usual means of supply it must breathe or suffocate. its next is to suck milk, lest it starve. heredity we often find children who offer a striking resemblance to a paternal grandfather, a maternal aunt or a maternal great-grandmother. this is known as atavism. there are many curious variations with regard to the inheritance of ancestral traits. some children show a remarkable resemblance to their fathers in childhood, others to their mothers. and many qualities of certain individual ancestors appear quite suddenly late in life. everything may be inherited, from the most delicate shadings of the disposition, the intelligence and the will power, to the least details of hair, nails and bone structure, etc. and the combination of the qualities of one's ancestors in heredity is so manifold and so unequal that it is extremely difficult to arrive at fixed conclusions regarding it. hereditary traits and tendencies are developed out of the energies of the original conjugated germ-cells throughout life, up to the very day of death. even aged men often show peculiarities in the evening of their life which may be clearly recognized as inherited, and duplicating others shown by their forbears at the same period of life. as has already been mentioned every individual inherits, generally speaking, as much from his paternal as from his maternal progenitors. this in spite of the fact that the tiny paternal germ-cell is the only medium of transmission of the paternal qualities, while the mother furnishes the much larger egg-cell, and feeds him throughout the embryonic period. the engram an interesting theory maintains that the external impressions made upon an organism which reacts to them and receives them, might be called _engrams_ or "inscriptions." thus the impression of some object we have seen or touched (let us say we have seen a lion) may remain engraved on our mind as an impression. hence every memory picture is one of engrams, whether the impression is a conscious one or an unconscious one. according to this same theory the reawakening of an older impression is an _ecphory_. some new stimulation may thus ecphorate an old engram. now the entire embryonal development of the human child is in reality no more than a continuous process of ecphoration of old engrams, one after another. and the entire complex of our living human organism is made up entirely of these energy-complexes engraved on our consciousness or subconsciousness. the sum total of all these engrams, in a living human being, according to the theory advanced, is given the name of _mnema_. that which the child receives in the way of energies contained in the germ-cells from its ancestors is his hereditary _mnema_. and that which he acquires in the course of his own individual life is his acquired or individual _mnema_. chapter iii sex in male childhood (from to ) during the first years of child life all those laws of practical hygiene which make for good health should be carefully observed. every organ of the body should be carefully protected, even at this early age. the genital organs, especially, should not be rubbed or handled under any pretext, beyond what is absolutely necessary for cleanliness. the organs of generation, which we are apt to treat as nonexistent in children, just because they are children, claim just as much watchful care as any others. sex precautions in infancy even in infancy, the diaper should fit easily about the organs which it covers, so as not to give rise to undue friction or heating of the parts. and for the same reason it should always be changed immediately after urination or a movement of the bowels. no material which prevents the escape of perspiration, urine or fecal matter should be employed for a diaper. the use of a chair-commode as early as the end of the first year is highly to be commended, as being more comfortable for the sex organs and healthier for the child. it favors, in particular, a more perfect development of limbs and hip joints. early sex impressions sex impressions and reactions are apt to develop at an early age, especially in the case of boys. if the child's physical health is normal, however, they should not affect his mind or body. the growing boy should be encouraged to take his sex questions and sex problems to his parents (in his case preferably the father) for explanation. thus they may be made clear to him naturally and logically. he should not be told what he soon discovers is not true: that babies are "dug up with a silver spade," or make their appearances in the family thanks to the kind offices of storks or angels. instead, by analogy with the reproductive processes of all nature, the true facts of sex may be explained to him in a soothing and normal way. evil communications too often, the growing boy receives his first lessons regarding sex from ignorant and vicious associates. curiosity is one of the greatest natural factors in the child's proper development, if rightly directed. when wrongly led, however, it may have the worst consequences. even before puberty occurs, a boy's attention may be quite naturally drawn to his own sex organs. natural causes of infant sexual precocity sexual precocity in boys may be natural or it may be artificially called forth. among natural causes which develop sex precocity is promiscuous playing with other boys and girls for hours without supervision. it may also be produced by playful repose on the stomach, sliding down banisters, going too long without urinating, by constipation or straining at stool, irritant cutaneous affections, and rectal worms. sliding down banisters, for instance, produces a titillation. the act may be repeated until inveterate masturbation results, even at an early age. needless laving, handling and rubbing of the private parts is another natural incitement to sexual precocity. priapism _priapism_ is a disease which boys often develop. it may be either a result or a cause of sexual precocity, and may come from undue handling of the genital parts or from a morbid state of health. it takes the form of paroxysms, more or less frequent, and of violent and often painful erection, calling for a physician's attention. if the result of a functional disorder, and not arrested, it is in danger of giving rise to masturbation. this morbid condition sometimes seriously impairs the health. masturbation _masturbation_, the habit of self-abuse, often formed before puberty, is an artificial development of sexual precocity. most boys, from the age of nine to fourteen, interest themselves in sex questions and matters, but these are usually presented to them in a lewd and improper manner, by improperly informed companions. dwelling upon these thoughts the boy is led to play with his sex organs in secret and masturbation results. a secret vice of the most dangerous kind, masturbation or self-pollution is often taught by older boys and takes place, to quote an authority "in many of our colleges, boarding, public and private schools," and is also indulged in by companions beneath the home roof. if it becomes habitual, generally impaired health, and often epilepsy, and total moral and physical degradation results. stains on the nightshirt or sheet occurring before puberty are absolute evidence of the vice in boys. what fathers should do for their boys make sex facts clear to your boy as interesting, matter-of-fact developments of general natural laws. ungratified or improperly gratified curiosity is what leads to a young boy's overemphasizing the facts of sex as they apply to him. make him your confidant. teach him to think cleanly and to act cleanly, neither to ignore nor to exalt the sexual. especially, when he himself is directly disturbed sexually, either in a mental or physical way, let him feel that he can apply to you naturally for relief and explanation. if this be done, your boy's sex development before puberty will be natural and normal, and when the more serious and difficult problems of adolescence present themselves, he will be prepared to handle them on the basis of right thinking and right living. natural and healthy sport in the open air, and the avoidance of foul language and indecency should be stressed. the use of alcohol, coffee and tea by children tends to weaken their sexual organs. every boy should know that chastity means continence. he should know that lascivious thoughts lead to lascivious actions, and that these are a drain on his system which may spoil his life in later years. in the education of his children the average man is only too apt to repeat the same mistake of unconsciously crediting the child with the possession of his own feelings and his own outlook, that is the feelings and outlook of the adult. in general, things which may make an impression in a sex way on the adult are a matter of indifference to the sexually unripe boy. hence it is quite possible for a father to discuss sex matters with his young son and inform him constructively, without in any undue way rousing his sex curiosity or awakening desire. such talks, of course, should be in accordance with the principles already laid down in the section on "reproduction." if a boy is accustomed and taught to regard sex conditions and matters in a proper and innocent manner, as something perfectly natural, improper curiosity and eroticism are far less likely to be aroused than when this is not the case. for the whole subject will have lost the dangerous attraction of novelty. on the other hand, we find boys who have been brought up with great prudery and in complete ignorance of sex matters (save that which may come to them from impure sources) greatly excited and ashamed by the first appearance of the indications of puberty. secrecy is the enemy of a clean, normal conception on the part of the child as to the right place sex and the sex function play in life and in the world. it stands to reason, of course, that every least detail of the sex question cannot be intelligently made clear to a little child. but his questions should all be answered, honestly, and with due regard for his age and his capacity to understand what is explained to him. one very great advantage of an early paternal explanation of sex matters to the boy is its beneficial effect on the mind and the nerves. many boys brood or grow melancholy when confronted with sex riddles and problems for which they are unable to find a solution; and as the result of totally erroneous ideas they may have formed with regard to sex matters. at the same time too much attention should not be paid the discussion of sex questions between father and son. a father should, so far as possible, endeavor to develop other interests and preoccupations in his boy, and turn his mind as much as may be _away_ from matters sexual, until the age when the youth is ripe for marriage is reached. chapter iv sex in female childhood (from to ) what has been said in general about practical observance of the laws of sex hygiene in the preceding chapter for boys, applies to girls as well. if anything the sex precautions taken in infancy should be even more closely followed, as girls are by nature less robust than boys. if children could be raised in entire accordance with natural laws, the sexual instinct of girls as well as boys would probably remain dormant during the period stretching from infancy to puberty. as in the case of the boy, so in that of the girl, any manifestation of sexual precocity should be investigated, to see whether it be due to natural or artificial causes. in either case the proper remedies should be applied. sex precocity in girls there are cases of extraordinary sex precocity in girls. one case reported in the united states was that of a female child who at birth possessed all the characteristics usually developed at puberty. in this case the natural periodical changes began at birth! fortunately, this is a case more or less unique. in little girls and boys undue sexual handling or titillating of their genital organs tends to quiet them, so nurses (let us hope in ignorance of the consequences!) often resort to it. sending children to bed very early, to "get rid of them," or confining them in a room by themselves, tends to encourage the development of vicious habits. a single bed, both in the school and in the home, is indispensable to purity of morals and personal cleanliness. it tends to restrain too early development of the sexual instinct both in small girls and small boys. sexual self-abuse in girls small girls, like small boys, display an intelligent curiosity as regards the phenomena of sex at an early age. and what has already been said regarding its improper gratification in the preceding chapter, so far as boys are concerned, applies with equal force to them. in their case, however, the mother is a girl's natural confidant and friend. self-abuse in one or another form is as common in the case of the girl as in that of the boy. as a rule, girls who live an outdoor life, and work with their muscles more than their mind, do not develop undue precocious sexual curiosities or desires. at least they do not do so to the same extent as those more nervously and susceptibly constituted. the less delicate and sensitive children of the country tend less to these habits than their more sensitively organized city brothers and sisters. girls who have formed vicious habits are apt to indulge in the practice of self-abuse at night when going to bed. if there is cause for suspicion, the bedclothes should be quickly and suddenly thrown off under some pretense. self-abuse usually has a marked effect on the genital organs of girls. the inner organs become unnaturally enlarged and distended, and _leucorrhea_, catarrh of the vagina, attended by a discharge of greenish-white mucus, often develops. results of self-abuse in girls local diseases, due to this cause, result in girls as well as boys. temporary congestions become permanent, and develop into permanent irritations and disorders. leucorrhea has already been mentioned. contact with the acrid, irritating internal secretions also causes _soreness of the fingers at the root of the nails_, and warts. congestion and other diseases are other ultimate results of the habit; and these congestions to which it gives rise unduly hasten the advent of puberty. any _decided enlargement of the labia and clitoris in a young girl_ may be taken as a positive evidence of the existence of the habit of self-abuse. sterility, and atrophy of the breasts--their deficient development--when the vice is begun before puberty, is another result. pruritis and feminine nocturnal emissions _pruritis_ (itching genitals), though not necessarily caused by self-abuse, may be one of its consequences. continued congestion causes the genital parts to itch terribly. this itching increases until the desire to manipulate the genitals becomes irresistible. it will then be indulged in even in the presence of strangers, though the girl in question at other times may be exceptionally modest. girls addicted to the vice also suffer from nocturnal emissions. the general effect of self-abuse is much the same in the case of a girl as in that of a boy, for leucorrhea is injurious in somewhat the same fashion as seminal loss. in the case of girls the greatest injury, however, is due to the nervous exhaustion which succeeds the unnatural excitement. what mothers should do for their girls a healthy girl should be happy and comfortable in all respects. she will not be so, especially with regard to her sex problems, unless she can appeal to her mother as a friend and confidant. while keeping your girl's mind pure and healthy by precept and example, do not forget that the best way to protect her against evil influences and communications is to tell her the exact truth about sex facts, as they apply to her, just as the father should his boy. keep your girl fully occupied and do not leave her sex education to the evil winds of chance. let sex knowledge take its place as a proper, necessary part of her general education. if your daughter feels she can at all times talk freely to you all will be well. gratify her natural sex curiosity in a natural way. see that _immediate_ medical attention is given inflammations, excoriations, itchings and swellings of her genital organs. such conditions will lead her to rub and scratch these parts--never to be touched--for relief. if, as a result of the sensations experienced, masturbation results, _yours is the sin_. chapter v sex in the adolescent male (from puberty to maturity) adolescence is the period when the boy is lost in the man. it is the time of life embraced between the ages of fourteen or sixteen and the age of twenty-five. every boy, if properly trained, should reach this period in a state of good general health and spirits. hitherto he has been led and guided. now he must develop mental strength and will power himself to choose the good and refuse the evil in the sexual problems confronting him. puberty according to climate puberty, the age when the human male becomes sexually perfect, varies from ten to fifteen years. in the united states puberty in the male usually occurs at the age of fourteen and a half years. in tropical climates it occurs at nine or ten, and in cold countries, such as norway and siberia, it may not take place until eighteen or nineteen. vigorous physical exercise tends to delay puberty, anything exciting the emotions tends to hasten it. stimulating foods, pepper, vinegar, mustard, spices, tea and coffee, excess meat nutriment hasten puberty. a cool, unstimulating vegetable and farinaceous diet may delay the development of the sexual system several months or a year. the signs and changes of puberty in the boy the signs of puberty are the growth of hair on the skin covering the pubes and in the armpits. chest and arms broaden, the frame grows more angular, the masculine proportions more pronounced. the vocal cords grow longer and lower the pitch of the voice. hair grows on chin, upper lip, cheeks, and often on the body surface. the sexual moral law the sexual moral law is the same for both sexes, and equally binding. it may be summed up as follows: "your sexual urges, instincts and desires should never consciously injure an individual human being or mankind in general. they should be exercised to further the value and happiness of both." the male adolescent and continence the perfect carrying out of this general moral law implies continence on the part of the male adolescent until marriage. continence is positive restraint under all circumstances. strict continence is neither injurious to health, nor does it produce impotence. while self-denial is difficult, since the promptings of nature often seem imperious, it is not impossible. it is certain that no youth will suffer, physically, by remaining sexually pure. the demands which occur during adolescence are mainly abnormal, due to the excitements of an overstimulating diet, pornographic literature and art, and the temptations of impure association. why young men go wrong foul thoughts, once they enter the mind, corrode it. the sensual glance, the bawdy laugh, the ribald jest, the smutty story, the obscene song may be met with on street corner, in the car, train, hotel lobby, lecture hall and workshop. mental unchastity ends in physical unchastity. the habit common to most adolescent boys and young men of relating smutty stories, repeating foul jokes and making indecent allusions destroys respect for virtue. in addition there are such direct physical causes of undue adolescent sexual excitement as constipation and alcoholism, and such mental ones as nervous irritability. to the constant discussion and speculation regarding sex and its mysteries by the adolescent young male, must be added the artificial idea that idle prattling on the subject is a sign of "manhood." thus many young men whose natural trend is in the direction of decency and right sexual living, "step out" or "go to see the girls," as the phrase is, because they think that otherwise "they are not real men." more subtle in its evil effect, yet somewhat less dangerous physically, perhaps, than the professional prostitute is the lure of the "hidden" prostitute, who carefully conceals her derelictions, and publicly wraps herself in a mantle of virtue. prostitution the training of the average male mind in impure language and thought during boyhood and adolescence, the cultivation of his animal at the expense of the moral nature, often leads the adolescent to seek satisfaction by frequenting the prostitute. _prostitution_, known as the "social evil," is promiscuous unchastity for gain. it has existed in all civilized countries from earliest times. prostitution abuses the instinct for reproduction, the basic element of sex, to offer certain women a livelihood which they prefer to other means. love of excitement, inherited criminal propensities, indolence and abnormal sex appetite are first causes of prostitution. difficulty in finding work, laborious and ill-paid work, harsh treatment of girls at home, indecent living among the poor, contact with demoralizing companions, loose literature and amusements are secondary causes. they all contribute to debauch male and female youth and lead it to form dangerous habits of vicious sensual indulgence. prostitution seems inseparable from human society in large communities. the fact is acknowledged in the name given it, "the necessary evil." regulation and medical control only arrest in a degree the spread of venereal diseases to which prostitution gives rise. the elementary laws on which prostitution rests seems to be stronger than the artificial codes imposed by moral teaching. it is an evil which must be combatted _individually_. men are principally responsible, in one way or another, for the existence of the social evil. in the case of the young man, abstention is the only cure for the probable results of indulging his animal passions by recourse to the prostitute. prostitution, both public and private is the most dangerous menace to society at large. it is the curse of individual young manhood because of the venereal diseases it spreads. one visit to a house of prostitution may ruin a young man's health and life, and millions of human beings die annually from the effects of poison contracted in these houses. "wild oats" sown in company with the prostitute usually bear fruit in the shape of the most loathsome and destructive sex disorders. the development of self-control, the avoidance of impure thoughts and associations, the cultivation of the higher moral nature instead of the lower animal one, and, finally, _marriage_, should prevent the young man from falling into prostitution. all the state and medical regulation in the world will not protect him from the venereal diseases he is so apt to acquire by such indulgence. free love free love is the doctrine of _unrestrained choice, without binding ties_, in sexual relations. for altogether different reasons, however, it is quite as objectionable as prostitution for the young man. it may offer better hygienic guarantees. but it is a sexual partnership which is opposed to the fundamental institution of _marriage_, on which society in general is based throughout the world. and, aside from the fact that it is a promiscuous relationship not sanctioned by law or society, it is seldom practically successful. it cannot admit of true love without bitter jealousies. chapter vi sex in the adolescent female (from puberty to maturity) adolescence in the girl is the period when she develops into a woman. it is that stage in female life embraced between the ages of twelve or fourteen and twenty-one years. elasticity of body, a clear complexion, and a happy control of her feelings should mark the young girl at this time, if she has been so fortunate as to escape the dangers and baneful influences of childhood and infancy. her numerous bodily functions should be well performed. thus constituted she should be in a condition to take up her coming struggle with the world, and the sex problem it will present. puberty it has been noticed that in the case of girls, puberty usually occurs earlier in brunettes than in blondes. in general, it makes its appearance earlier in those of a nervous or bilio-nervous temperament than in those whose temperament is phlegmatic or lymphatic. in the united states fourteen and a half years is the usual age of puberty in girls. in tropical lands, however, it is not uncommon for a girl to be a mother at twelve. country girls (and boys) usually mature several months or a year later than those living in cities. too early a puberty in girls may well arouse concern. it usually indicates some inherent constitutional weakness. premature puberty is often associated with premature decay. the signs and changes of puberty in the girl the sign of puberty is the growth of hair about the pubes, private organs and armpits. her whole frame remains more slender than in the male. muscles and joints are less prominent, limbs more rounded and tapering. internal and external organs undergo rapid enlargement, locally. the _mammæ_ (the breasts) enlarge, the ovaries dilate, and a periodical uteral discharge (menstruation) is established. menstruation no young girl should feel alarmed if, owing to the negligence of her parents or guardians to prepare her, she is surprised by this first flow from the genital organs. puberty is the proper time for the appearance of menstruation. this is the periodical development and discharge of an ovule (one or more) by the female, accompanied by the discharge of a fluid, known as menses or catamenia. menstruation, in general good health, should occur about every twenty-eight days, or once in four weeks. this rule, however, is subject to great variation. menstruation continues from puberty to about the forty-fifth year, which usually marks the _menopause_, or "change of life." when it disappears a woman is no longer capable of bearing children. her period of fertility has passed. in rare cases menstruation has stopped at , or lasted till . hints for observance during menstruation when the period arrives a girl or woman has a feeling of discomfort and lassitude, there is a sense of weight, and a disclination for society. menstruation should not, however, be regarded as a nuisance; a girl's friends respect her most when she is "unwell." she should keep more than usually quiet while the flow continues, which it will do for a few days. also, she should avoid all unnecessary fatigue, exposure to wet or to extremes of temperature. some girls are guilty of the crime of trying to arrest the menstruation flow, and resorting to methods of stopping it. why? in order to attend a dance or pleasure excursion! lives have been lost by thus suppressing the monthly flux. mothers should instruct their daughters when the menses are apt to begin, and what their function is. during menstruation great care must be taken in using water internally. a chill is sufficient to arrest the flow. if menstruation does not establish itself in a healthy or normal manner at the proper time, consult a physician in order to remove this abnormal condition. any disturbance of the delicate menstrual functions during the period, by constrained positions, muscular effort, brain work and mental or physical excitement, is apt to have serious consequences. continence and the young adolescent girl continence is, as a rule more easily observed by the adolescent girl than by the adolescent youth. ordinarily the normal young girl has no _undue_ sexual propensities, amorous thoughts or feelings. though she is exposed to the danger of meeting other girls who may be lewd in thought and speech, in the houses of friends or at school, she is not apt to be carried away by their example. yet even a good, pure-minded young girl may be debauched. especially during adolescence, the easy observance of natural continence depends greatly on the proper functioning of the feminine genital organs. these may be easily disturbed. the syringe used for injections, for so-called purposes of cleanliness, is in reality a danger. the inner organs are self-cleansing. water or other fluids cast into them disorder the mucous follicles, and dry up their secretions, preventing the flowing out of some of nature's necessities. a daily washing of the inner organs for a long period with water also produces chronic leucorrhea. why young girls fall lack of proper early training, abnormal sex instincts, weak good nature, poverty, all may be responsible for a young girl's moral downfall. as a general thing, right home training and home environment, and sane sex education will prevent the normally good girl from going wrong. it should be remembered, though, that a naturally more gentle and yielding disposition may easily lead her into temptation. girls who are sentimentally inclined should beware of giving way to advances on the part of young men which have only one object in view: the gratification of their animal passion. the holding of hands and similar innocent beginnings often pave the way for more familiar caresses. passionate kisses--the promiscuous kiss, by the way, may be the carrier of that dread infection, syphilis--violently awaken a young girl's sex instincts. the fact is that many innocent girls idealize their seducers. they believe their lying promises, actually come to love them, and think that in gratifying their inflamed desires, they are giving a proof of the depth and purity of their own affection. here, as in the case of the young man, self-control should be the first thing cultivated. and self-control should be made doubly sure by never permitting one of the opposite sex to show undue familiarity. many a seemingly innocent flirtation, begun with a kiss, has ended in shame and disgrace, in loss of social standing and position, venereal disease, or even death. the pure-minded and innocent girl often becomes a victim of her ignorance of the consequences entailed by giving in to the desires of some male companion. _the girl who has a knowledge of sex facts is less apt to be taken advantage of in this manner._ modern conditions which encourage immorality _excessive freedom._--the excessive freedom granted the young girl, especially since the world war, must be held responsible for a great increase in familiarity between the adolescent youth of both sexes. many young girls of the "flapper" type, in particular, are victims of these conditions of unrestrained sex association. sex precocity is furthered in coeducational colleges, in the high school and the home. adolescents of both sexes too often are practically unhampered in their comings and goings, their words and actions. the surreptitious pocket flask, filled with "hooch," is often a feature of social parties, dances and affairs frequented by young people. girls and boys drink together, and as alcohol weakens moral resistance in the one case, and stimulates desire in the other, deplorable consequences naturally result. in the united states the number of girls "sent home" from colleges, and of high-school girls being privately treated by physicians to save them from disgrace, is incredibly large. parents who do not control the social activities of their daughters, who permit them to spend their evenings away from home with only a general idea of what they are doing or whom they are meeting, need not be surprised if their morals are undermined. _the auto._--the advent of the automobile is responsible for an easy and convenient manner of satisfying precociously aroused sex instincts in young girls and boys. often, unconscientious pleasure-seekers roam the roads in their auto. they accost girls who are walking and offer them a "lift." when the latter refuse to gratify their desires they are often beaten and flung from the car. the daily press has given such publicity to this civilized form of "head hunting," that it is difficult to sympathize with girls who are thus treated. they cannot help but know that in nine cases out of ten, a stranger who invites them to a ride, who "picks" them up, does so with the definite purpose already mentioned in view. _poverty._--poverty, too, plays a large part in driving young girls into a life of vice. in all our large cities there are hundreds of young women who earn hardly enough to buy food and fuel and pay for the rent of a room in a cheap lodging house. feminine youth longs for dress, for company, for entertainment. it is easy enough to find a "gentleman friend" who will provide all three, in exchange for "companionship." so the bargain is struck. these conditions exist in a hundred and one occupations. a young woman may go to a large city as pure as snow, but finding no lucrative employment, lonely and despondent, she is led to take her first step on the downward path. soon daily contact with vice removes abhorrence to it. familiarity makes it habitual, and another life is ruined. the heartless moral code of the cynical young pleasure-seeking male is summed up in the cant phrase anent women: "find, ... and forget!" it is these girls, who are victimized by their lack of self-restraint or moral principle, their ignorance or weakness, who make possible the application of such a maxim. virginity both mental and physical purity are rightfully required of the young girl about to marry. how shall she acquire and maintain this desirable state of purity? the process is a simple one. _she must let a knowledge of the true hygienic and moral laws of her sex guide her in her relations with men._ she must cultivate clean thought on a basis of physical cleanliness. she need not be ignorant to be pure. men she should study carefully. she should not allow them to sit with their arm about her waist, to hold her hand, to kiss her. no approach nor touch beyond what the best social observance sanctions should be permitted. even the tendernesses and familiarities of courtship should be restrained. an engagement does not necessarily culminate in a marriage, and once the foot has slipped on virtue's path the error cannot be recalled. these considerations, together with those adduced in the preceding section, "why young girls fall," are well worth taking to heart by every young woman who wishes to approach matrimony in the right and proper way. chapter vii sex in the marriage relation the husband marriage is the process by which a man and woman enter into a complete physical, legal and moral union. the natural object of marriage is the complete community of life for the establishment of a family. the marriageable age and adaptation at twenty-four the male body attains its complete development; and twenty-five is a proper age for the young man to marry. romantic love, personal affection on a basis of congeniality, mutual adaptation, a similar social sphere of life, should determine his choice. nature and custom indicate that the husband should be somewhat older than the wife. men who should not marry men suffering with diseases which may be communicated by contagion or heredity should not marry. these diseases include: tuberculosis, syphilis, cancer, leprosy, epilepsy and some nervous disorders, some skin diseases and insanity. a worn-out rake has no business to marry, since marriage is not a hospital for the treatment of disease, or a reformatory institution for moral lepers. those having a marked tendency to disease must not marry those of similar tendency. the marriage of cousins is not to be advocated. the blood relation tends to bring together persons with similar morbid tendencies. where both are healthy, however, there seems to be no special liability to mental incompetency, though such marriages are accused of producing defective or idiot children. men suffering from congenital defects should not marry. natural blindness, deafness, muteness, and congenital deformities of limb are more or less likely to be passed on to their children. there are cases of natural blindness, though, to which this rule does not apply. criminals, alcoholics, and persons disproportionate in size should not marry. in the last-mentioned, lack of mutual physical adaptability may produce much unhappiness, especially on the part of the wife. serious local disease, sterility, and great risk in childbirth may result. disparity of years, disparity of race, a poverty which will not permit the proper raising of children, undesirable moral character are all good reasons for not marrying. medical examination before marriage medical examination as a preliminary to marriage is practically more valuable than a marriage license. since many entirely innocent young girls to-day suffer from disease, incurred either through hereditary or accidental infection, a would-be husband may be said to be quite as much entitled to protection as his bride-to-be. prohibitive physical defects are also discovered in this connection. chapter viii sex in the marriage relation the wife girls marry, in the final analysis, because love for the male is an innate natural principle of the female nature. at its best this love is pure and chaste. the good woman realizes that its first purpose is not mere carnal pleasure. it is a special avowal of the wife's relations to her husband, and its natural as well as moral end is the establishment of the family on the basis of a healthy progeny. before marriage the wife-to-be, like her prospective husband, will be well advised to ask for a medical health certificate. no man, no matter how good his reputation may be, should marry (on his own account as well as that of the girl) without thorough examination by a physician. the consequences of venereal infection administered to unborn children by their parents are too horrible to allow of any risk being taken. another bit of advice, which cannot be too highly commended, is that the prospective husband and wife, before they marry, have a plain talk with each other regarding individual sexual peculiarities and needs. a heart-to-heart talk of this kind would be apt to prevent great disappointments and incompatibilities which otherwise may become permanent. the wife and her position the natural instinct of a man is to seek his mate. on her he depends for an orderly and lawful indulgence of his sex demands. the greatest longevity and best health are to be found among happily married fathers and mothers. no young woman should marry without a full knowledge of her sex duties to her husband. and she should never consummate the marriage vow grudgingly. childbirth hygiene childbirth is the natural consequence of marriage. its processes have already been explained in chapter ii of this book. there are, however, some hygienic facts in connection with it which should be noted. once pregnancy is established, as soon as the fact is suspected, the mother-to-be should look on the little embryo as already a member of the family. every act of each parent should now be performed (at least to some degree) with reference to the forthcoming infant. the mother's thoughts should be directed to it as much as possible. mentally she should read literature of a lofty and ennobling character. the theory is that this serves a good purpose in producing a more perfect, healthy and intelligent child. physically, she should take plenty of active exercise during gestation. active exercise does not, of course, mean violent exercise. and she should use a "health lift." during this time she should subsist as far as possible on a farinaceous diet, fruits and vegetables. the foods should be plainly cooked, without spices. if all else is as it should be, the birth of the child at the end of the customary nine months will be attended by comparatively little pain and danger. how often should childbirth take place? it is most important that the childbearing wife and mother have a long period of rest between births. at least one year should separate a birth and the conception following it. this means that about two years should elapse between two births. if this rule be followed, the wife will retain her health, and her children will also be healthy. it is far better to give birth to seven children, who will live and be healthy, than to bear fourteen, of whom seven are likely to die, while the numerous successive births wear out and age the unfortunate mother. matrimonial adjustment the above paragraph deals with one detail of what might be called "matrimonial adjustment." this adjustment or compromise is a feature of all successful marriages. the individual cravings of husband and wife must be reconciled by mutual good will and forbearance if they are to be happy. attention should be paid in particular to not allowing habit, "the worst foe of married happiness," to become too well established in the home, and to cultivate that love and affection which survives the decline of the sexual faculties. the ideal marriage the ideal marriage is the one in which affection combines to bring happiness to both partners in a sane union of sex and soul. as one commentator has rather unhappily expressed it: "when married the _battle_ for one united and harmonious life really begins!" it is, indeed, but too often a _battle_! forbearance, consideration and respect must be the foundation on which the ideal married state is built. the husband should realize that his wife's love for him induces her to allow privileges of a personal nature which her innate chastity and timidity might otherwise refuse. in return, he should accept these privileges with consideration. he should, in particular, on his wedding night, take care not to shock his young bride's sensibilities. he may easily give her a shock from which she will not recover for years, and lead her to form an antipathy against the very act which is "the bond and seal of a truly happy married life." birth control material changes have taken place in the birth-rate of a number of countries during the past fifteen or twenty years which cannot be attributed to purely economic causes. they do not seem to depend on such things as trade, employment and prices; but on the spread of an idea or influence whose tendency must be deplored, that of "birth control," a phrase much heard in these days. the fact that a decline in human fertility and a falling birth rate are most noticeable in the relatively prosperous countries is a proof that it does not proceed from economic causes; but is due rather to the spread of the doctrine that it is permissible to restrict or control birth. in such countries as the united states, england and australasia, where the standards of human comfort and living are notoriously high, the decline in the birth rate has been most noticeable. on the other hand, we find perhaps the greatest decline in the birth rate in france, a country where the general well-being probably reaches a lower depth in the community than in any other part of europe. a comparison of the birth rates of france and of ireland, for example, offer a valuable illustration of the point under consideration. in france, more than half the women who have reached the age of nubility are married; in ireland, generally speaking, less than a third. in both countries the crude birth rate is far below that in other european lands. yet the fertility of the irish wife exceeded that of her french compeer by per cent in , and by no less than per cent in . and since that time the prolificity of the irish mother has so increased that she is now, approximately speaking, inferior only to the dutch or finnish mother in this respect. in general, in any country where we find a diminished prolificity a falling off of childbirth _unaccompanied_ by a decrease in the number of marriages occurring at the reproductive ages, we may attribute this decrease to _voluntary restriction of childbearing_ on the part of the married, or in other words, to the prevalence of "birth control." this incidentally, is not a theoretical statement, but one supported by the almost unanimous medical opinion in all countries. everywhere and especially here in our own united states, we find evidence of the extensive employ of "birth control" measures to prevent that normal development of family life which underlies the vigor and racial power of every nation. these preventive measures which arbitrarily control human birth had long been in use in france with results which, especially since the war, have been frequently and publicly deplored in the press, and have led the french government to offer substantial rewards to encourage the propagation of large families. from france the preventive practices of "birth control" had spread, after , over nearly all the countries of western europe, to england and to the united states; though they are not as much apparent in those countries where the roman church has a strong hold on the people. as a general thing, the practice of thus unnaturally limiting families--"unnaturally" since the custom of "birth control" derives from no natural, physical law--prevails, in the first instance, among the well-to-do, who should rather be the first to set the example of protest against it by having the families they are so much better able to support and educate than those less favored with the world's goods. if the evil of voluntary control of human birth were restricted to a privileged class, say one of wealth, the harm done would, perhaps, not be so great. but, unfortunately, in the course of time it filters down as a "gospel of comfort"--erroneous term!--to those whose resources are less. they accept and practice this invidious system of prevention and gradually the entire community is more or less affected. the whole system of "birth control" is opposed to natural, human and religious law. nature, in none of her manifestations, introduces anything which may tend to prevent her great reason for being--the propagation of the species. birth as the natural sequence of mating is her solemn and invariable law. it is in birth and rebirth that nature renews herself and all the life of the animal and vegetable world, and her primal aim is to encourage it. human law recognizes this underlying law of nature by forbidding man to tamper in a preventive way with her hallowed and mysterious processes for perpetuating the human race. religious law, based on the divine dispensation of the scriptures, indorses the law of nature and that of the state. we may take it, then, that "birth control" represents a deliberate and reprehensible attempt to nullify those innate laws of reproduction sanctioned by religion, tradition and man's own ingrained instinct. to say that the human instinct for the perpetuation of his race and family has become atrophied during the flight of time, and that he is therefore justified in denying it, is merely begging the question. the instinct may be denied, just as other higher and nobler instincts are disregarded; but its validity cannot be questioned. whether those who practice "birth control" are influenced by economic, selfishly personal or other reasons, they are offending in a threefold manner: against the inborn wish and desire which is a priceless possession of even the least of god's creatures, that of living anew in its offspring; against the law of the state, which after all, stands for the crystallization of the best feeling of the community; and against the divine injunction handed down to us in holy writ, to "increase and multiply." "birth control" is the foe to the direct end and aim of marriage, which, in the last analysis, is childbirth. as an enemy to the procreation of children it is an enemy of the family and the family group. as an enemy of the family, it is an enemy of the state, the community, a foe to the whole social system. mankind has been able to attain its comparatively recent state of moral and physical advancement without having recourse to the dangerous principle which "birth control" represents. surely that wise provision of our existing legal code which makes the printing or dissemination of information regarding the physical facts of "birth control" illegal and punishable as an offense, can only be approved by those who respect the omnipotent will, and the time-hallowed traditions which date back to the very inception of the race. chapter ix sex diseases the sex diseases are the same in both sexes, whether developed by direct or accidental infection. they are the greatest practical argument in favor of continence, morality and marriage in the sex relation. gonorrhea gonorrhea is a pus-discharging inflammation of the canal known as the _urethra_, which passing through the entire length of the organ, carries both the urine and the seminal fluid. it is caused by a venereal bacillus, the _gonococcus_. under favorable conditions and with right treatment, gonorrhea may be cured, though violently painful, in fourteen days. often the inflammation extends, becomes chronic and attacks other organs. this chronic gonorrhea often causes permanent contraction of the urethra, which leads to the painful retention of urine, catarrh of the bladder, and stone. chronic gonorrhea, too, often ends in death, especially if the kidneys are attacked. a cured case of gonorrhea does not mean immunity from further attacks. new infections are all the more easily acquired. gonorrhea has even more dangerous consequences in women than in men. the _gonococcus_ bacilli infect all the inner female genital organs. they cause frequent inflammations and lead to growths in the belly. women thus attacked usually are apt to be sterile; they suffer agonies, and often become chronic invalids. the child born of a gonorrheal mother, while passing through the infected genital organs, comes to life with infected eyelids. this is _blennorrhea_, which may result in total blindness. gonorrhea also causes inflammation of the joints, gonorrheal rheumatism, testicular inflammations which may lead to sterility. some authorities claim that fully half the sterility in women is caused by gonorrheal infection of the fallopian tubes. gonorrheal infection of the eyes at birth is now prevented by first washing them in a saturated solution of boric acid, then treating them with a drop of weak silver solution. syphilis syphilis is a still more terrible venereal disease. it usually appears first in small, hard sores, hard chancres, on the sexual parts or the mouth. then the syphilitic poison spreads throughout the whole body by means of the blood. after a few weeks it breaks out on the face or body. its final cure is always questionable. syphilis may lie dormant for years, and then suddenly become active again. it breaks out in sores on all parts of the body, often eats up the bone, destroys internal organs, such as the liver, causes hardening of the lungs, diseases of the blood vessels and eye diseases. ulcers of the brain and nerve paralysis often result from it. one of its most terrible consequences is consumption of the spinal marrow and paralysis of the brain, or paresis. the first slowly hardens and destroys the spinal marrow, the second the brain. these diseases are only developed by previous syphilitics. as a rule they occur from to years after infection, usually or years after it. and they usually happen to persons who believed themselves completely cured. consumption of the spinal marrow leads to death in the course of a few years of continual torture. paralysis of the brain turns the sufferer into a human ruin, gradually extinguishing all mental and nervous functions, sentience, movement, speech and intellect. one danger of syphilis is the fact that its true nature may be overlooked during the first period, because of the lack of pronounced symptoms. its early sores may easily be mistaken for some skin affection. mercury and other means are successful in doing away with at least the more noticeable signs of syphilis during the first and secondary stages. the modern medical treatment using mercury and salvarsan ( ) in alternation, has been very successful. it is claimed that by following it, syphilis may be totally cured if taken in hand during the first stage. the sores developed during the first two or three years of the disease are very infectious. in the case of a chronic syphilis of three or four years' standing, the sores as a rule are no longer infectious. it is possible, however, for a syphilitic of this description to bring forth syphilitic children, _without infecting his wife_. such children either die at birth, or later, of this congenital syphilis. they may also die of spinal consumption or paresis between the ages of and . the mortality of all syphilitic children is very great. in most cases, however, healthy children are born of the wedlock of _relatively cured_ syphilitics, though they are often sterile. young men who have had recourse to prostitutes, often inoculate their wives with gonorrhea or syphilis, and thus the plague is spread. the soft chancre the soft chancre is the third form of venereal disease (the hard chancre being the first stage of syphilis). it is the least dangerous of the venereal diseases, but unfortunately, relatively the one which occurs most seldom. when not complicated with syphilis, it appears locally. it is a larger or smaller sore feeding and growing on the genital organs. venereal disease an advocate of continence the most tragic consequence of all venereal disease is the part it plays in the infection of innocent children, and innocent wives and mothers. often a pure and chaste woman is thus deprived in the most cruel and brutal manner of the fruit of all her hopes and dreams of happiness. similarly, a young man may find himself hopelessly condemned to a short life of pain and misery. he may also suffer from the knowledge that he has ruined the lives of those dearest to him. venereal disease, syphilis in particular, emphasizes the _practical_ value of continence--quite aside from its moral one--in a manner which cannot be ignored! chapter x love and sex when we take under consideration the higher, truer love of one sex for the other, that is, an affection which is not simply a friendship, but has a sex basis, we realize that it may be a very noble emotion. there is no manner of doubt but that the normal human being feels a great need for love. sex in love and its manifestation in the life of the soul is one of the first conditions of human happiness, and a main aim of human existence. all know the tale of cupid's arrow. a man falls in love with a face, a pair of eyes, the sound of a voice, and his affection is developed from this trifling beginning until it takes complete possession of him. this love is usually made up of two components: a sex instinct, and feelings of sympathy and interest which hark back to primal times. and this love, in its true sense, should stand for an affection purified from egoism. when, among the lower animal forms we find individuals without a determined sex, egoism develops free from all restraint. each individual creature devours as much as it can and feeding, together with propagation by division, "budding" or conjunction, makes up the total of its vital activities. it need do no more to accomplish the purpose of its existence. even when propagation commences to take place by means of individual male and female parents, the same principle of egoism largely obtains. the spiders are typical instances of this: in their case the carrying out of the natural functions of the male spider is attended with much danger for him, owing to the fact that if he does not exercise the greatest care, he is apt to be devoured immediately afterward by his female partner, in order that no useful food matter may be lost. yet even in the case of the spiders, the female spider already gives proof of a certain capacity for sacrifice where her young are concerned, at any rate for a short time after they have crept from the egg. in animals somewhat higher in the creative scale, more or less powerful feelings of affection may develop out of their sex association. there is affection on the part of the male for his mate, and on the part of the female for her young. often these feelings develop into a strong, lasting affection between the sexes, and years of what might be called faithful matrimonial union have been observed in the case of birds. this in itself is sufficient to establish the intimate relationship between love in a sex sense and love in a general sense. and even in the animal creation we find the same analogy existing between these feelings of sympathy and their opposites which occur in the case of human beings. every feeling of attachment or sympathy existing between two individuals has a counterpart in an opposite feeling of discontent when the object of the love or attachment in question dies, falls sick, or runs away. this feeling of discontent may assume the form of a sorrow ending in lasting melancholy. in the case of apes and of certain parrots, it has been noticed that the death of a mate has frequently led the survivor to refuse nourishment, and die in turn from increasing grief and depression. if, on the other hand, an animal discovers the cause of the grief or loss which threatens it; if some enemy creature tries to rob it of its mate or little ones, the mixed reactive feeling of rage or anger is born in it, anger against the originator of its discontent. jealousy is only a definite special form of this anger reaction. a further development of the feeling of sympathy is that of duty. every feeling of love or sympathy urges those who feel it to do certain things which will benefit the object of that love. a mother will feed her young, bed them down comfortably, caress them; a father will bring nourishment to the mother and her brood, and protect them against foes. all these actions, not performed to benefit the creature itself, but to help its beloved mate, represent exertion, trouble, the overcoming of danger, and lead to a struggle between egoism and the feeling of sympathy. out of this struggle is born a third feeling, that of responsibility and conscience. thus the elements of the human social feelings are already quite pronounced in the case of many animals, including those of love as well as sex. in the human animal, speaking in general, these feelings of sympathy (love) and duty are strongly developed in the family connection; that is, they are developed with special strength in those who are most intimately united in sex life, in husband and wife and in children. consequently the feelings of sympathy or love which extend to larger communal groups, such as more distant family connections, the tribe, the community, those speaking the same tongue, the nation, are relatively far weaker. weakest of all, in all probability, is that general human feeling which sees a brother in every other human being and is conscious of the social duties owed him. as regards man and wife, the relation of the actual sex instinct to love is often a very complicated one. in the case of man the sex feeling may, and frequently does exist independent of love in the higher sense; in the case of woman it is quite certain that love occurs far less seldom unaccompanied by the sex inclination. it is also quite possible for love to develop before the development of the sex feeling, and this often, in married life, leads to the happiest relationships. the mutual adoration of two individuals, husband and wife, often degenerates into a species of egoistic enmity toward the remainder of the world. and this, in turn, in many cases reacts unfavorably upon the love the two feel for each other. human solidarity, especially in this day, is already too great not to revenge itself upon the egotistical character of so exclusive a love. the real ideal of sex in love might be expressed as follows: a man and a woman should be induced to unite in marriage through genuine sex attraction and harmony of character and disposition. in this union they should mutually encourage each other to labor socially for the common good of mankind, in such wise that _they further their own mutual education and that of their children_, the beings nearest and dearest to them, _as the natural point of departure for helping general human betterment_. if love in its relation to sex be conceived in this manner, it will purify it by doing away with its pettinesses and it is just into these pettinesses that the most honest and upright of matrimonial loves too often degenerate. the constructive work done in common by two human beings who, while they care lovingly for each other, at the same time encourage each other to strive and endure in carrying out the principles of right living and high thinking, will last. love and marriage looked at from this point of view, are relatively immune from the small jealousies and other evil little developments of a one-sided, purely physical affection. it will work for an ever more ideal realization of love in its higher and nobler dispensations. real and true love is lasting. the suddenly awakened storm of sex affection for a hitherto totally unknown person can never be accepted as a true measure for love. this sudden surge of the sex feeling warps the judgment, makes it possible to overlook the grossest defects, colors all and everything with heavenly hues. it makes a man who is "in love," or two beings who are in love, mutually blind, and causes each to carefully conceal his or her real inward self from the other. this may be the case even when the feelings of both are absolutely honest, especially if the sex feeling is not paired with cool egoistic calculation. not until the first storm of the sex feeling has subsided, when honeymoon weeks are over, is a more normal point of view regained. and then love, indifference, or hatred, as the case may be develops. it is for this reason that love at first sight is always dangerous, and that only a longer and more intimate acquaintance with the object of one's affection is calculated to give a lasting union a relatively good chance of turning out happily. one thing is worth bearing in mind. woman invariably represents the conservative element in the family. her emotional qualities, combined with wonderful endurance, always control her intellect more powerfully than is the case with man; and the feelings and emotions form the conservative element in the human soul. every girl's book every girl's book by george f. butler, m. d. the abbott press ravenswood chicago copyright the abbott press chicago publisher's notes this is the second of a series of books on "how to live," by dr. george f. butler. these books range from childhood to old age. the boy and the girl, the young man and young woman, the young husband and young wife, middle-aged people, and old people are instructed in these books in matters of the utmost importance to their health and happiness. the first in this series was "every boy's book." these two books are especially intended for boys and girls from ten to fourteen years of age, but every father and mother should read them, so they, too, can know the truth about these great sex facts, and be prepared to answer children's questions--now sometimes troublesome. contents chapter page i. how the story began ii. what the bee wanted of elsie's nose iii. the husbands and wives of plants iv. the papa and mamma parts of the plants v. the first life on earth vi. where baby animals come from vii. where baby girls come from preface the greatest duty of mankind lies in the proper uprearing of our children. the fact is recognized, but is the duty fulfilled? do we rear our children as we should? there is but one answer: we fail. teaching them many things for their good, we yet keep from them ignorantly, foolishly, with a hesitancy and neglect unpardonable--knowledge, the possession of which is essential for their future welfare. the first necessity for well-being is a healthy mind in a healthy body. we can give our children that, if we will, by teaching them all about the body, its source of life, its different functions, and its care. the child should grow to maturity knowing that the human body is something fine, something that accomplishes good, something to be proud of in every way. above all should the child be taught all concerning the process of reproduction, just as it is taught the action of the stomach or of the brain. by so doing, we can produce a better and healthier and happier generation to follow ours. by what strange and mistaken impulse in the past such absolutely required teaching has been so studiously withheld is beyond all comprehension. we want the best for our children. we want them to grow up with right thoughts and habits, yet we keep from them the knowledge without which their thoughts and habits will surely be imperiled when there arises in them the generative instinct, which has its effect upon both male and female youth alike. we give them no information as to sexual matters; and, when it comes to them, it is too often but in the way of half-truths, mysterious, exciting to the imagination, and dangerous. yet how simple and natural the giving of this information might be made; and how easily the child might be safeguarded! mankind has demands which must be gratified. we have hunger; we have thirst; we have the impulse of reproduction. each is right and natural. there should be no difference in the consideration of either of these wants. all about them the child should be taught, from the beginning, so that all will be natural and right and commonplace and a matter of course long before the age is reached when the sexual instinct is developed. is not this reason? is it not healthful, logical, common sense? is it not the wholesome and right and proper view? nature is devoted to reproduction. from the cell to the flower, and so on upward, the creatures of the world are but renewing themselves, and the learning of this is the greatest and most beautiful of all studies. all this the child can be taught. elementary biology, or the study of subjects of what we call zoology and botany combined, can be made the most attractive of studies to any child who has learned to read. the boy or girl may be taught that the trees and flowers are living things that are beautiful and are male and female. the child may be shown how the bees carry the pollen from flower to flower, and how other plants and flowers are produced in that way. he can be taught the wonder of seed, and its consequences. he can be shown the birds in their mating, and the marvel of the egg, and why it can produce a chicken. and thus the child, boy or girl, may be led on, through the gradations, to a study of the human body, and how reproduction is provided for there as in the bodies of all other living things, vegetable or animal. before the child, boy or girl, has reached the age of ten, long before the sex instinct has been aroused, the sexual lesson will have been learned innocently and thoroughly and, when the change comes, it will be as no bewildering, exciting thing, but something anticipated, and received with a sense of understanding and responsibility. this knowledge almost unknowingly acquired as a child, will mean health of mind and of body, and the avoidance of what may result most evilly. how is sexual instruction given now? in tens of thousands of instances--no doubt in the majority--not at all. lectures to youth of either sex are given sometimes, but only when they have reached what is called "the age of understanding." here is where parents err, and seriously. the teaching has been deferred too long. the young of either sex, long before puberty, have acquired some knowledge of the mystery--which should have been no mystery at all--and late teaching, however sound and wise, but gives an added and inviting direction to the subject suddenly made to assume a new and startling importance. it arouses curiosity, and more. it may sometimes be harmful. as for the youth never taught at all, those who acquire their knowledge only through accidental sources--usually incapable, and too often vicious--their case could not be worse. they are unprepared for one of the tests and demands for life. their parents are guilty. there is nothing impure in nature. to guard the children, to prepare them for every phase of life, is the parents' duty. the child is pure, and to the child all things are pure. teach the child, simply as a matter of course, all about the ways of reproduction, and to the boy or girl purity will remain when the age of sexual sway and impulse comes. this is the only law in the case. let it be followed, and the generation to follow will be clearer, wiser, and healthier than is the present one. it is my hope that this "every girl's book" (with "every boy's book" which preceded it) will afford the means so long needed and desired for teaching children what they should be taught. i have tried to tell the story of sex naturally, in a clear and simple way, from the development of life, and of life's relations, from protoplasm all through organic life up to mankind. its teachings should result in wide promotion of the innocence of knowledge which is better, infinitely, than the imperiling innocence of ignorance. george f. butler, m. d. chicago, ill. july , . i how the story began her name was elsie and she was asleep in a cozy nook in the woods, which was the beginning of it all. many strange things may happen to a little girl who falls asleep in the woods, but there never happened to any other little girl, either asleep or awake, in the woods or at home, a more important thing than that which had its start for elsie while she lay there under the green boughs beside a bubbling spring of crystal-clear water, the scent of pines and flowers sweetening the still air. a robin redbreast whistled melodiously for "rain, rain, rain," and the cows in the pasture, who do not like rain as well as they do sunshine, lifted up their voices in protest, calling "oo-oo-ohh! moo-oo-hh! noo-oo-hh!" as if they were trying to say "no, no, no!" and could not speak the english language well. it was a peaceful woodland scene, a scene into which, if you were awake, you would expect that a railroad train would be about the last thing that could possibly enter. but elsie was asleep, and in her dreams she was sure she saw a great locomotive engine charging down upon her with frightful speed. as soon as she saw it she tried to cry out, but could not do so. somehow she could not send a single sound from her lips. then she tried to jump out of the way, but was unable to do that either. she could not even move in the slightest degree. so, full of terror, she thought she stood there, helplessly, while the engine rushed nearer and nearer, puffing forth vast clouds of black smoke, and roaring and hissing and clanking. again she tried to scream, and could not: again she tried to run aside, but could not move. she seemed so small, so tiny and weak, beside that monster! and she wondered how it could possibly bear to hurt her, a big, powerful thing like that--it was not fair! but--bang! the cowcatcher caught her up-- and she awoke to see a fuzzy bumble-bee just alighting on her nose! though elsie did not, as a general thing, care much for bumble-bees, and would rather have their room than their company, she was so highly relieved to find that the gigantic engine was _only_ a bumble-bee that she said, "oh!" with such violence of surprise and gladness that the bee, doubtless as much afraid of her as she had been of the dream-engine, shot out of sight in an instant and she never saw him afterward, that she knew of. she sat a moment staring after him, trying to collect herself, for she was confused with her sudden awakening, and then she jumped up laughing. "what a funny bumble-bee!" she exclaimed. "_i_ wouldn't have hurt him!" then in conscious dignity, proud to think that she was now big enough for something to be afraid of, she took up the pail of water that she had come to get from the spring and hurried homeward. now if this were all the story it would not amount to much, and it never would have got itself told in these pages. and, if elsie had been like some girls, who are not chums with their mothers, the story would never have been told here either, because she would not have repeated the adventure to her mamma, in which case her mamma would not have taken the story up where the daughter left it, and shown its importance. but elsie and her mother were like two sisters, a big and a little one, and there were not many things that happened to the one that the other did not hear of very soon. so away went elsie singing and laughing and swinging her pail of water, her bright hair blowing in wisps around her sweet face with its red lips and cheeks and white teeth, the prettiest, loveliest picture in the whole lovely landscape of foliage and flowers and pastures and meadows. nobody in the world ever yet found a prettier picture anywhere than a fresh and clean girl is, as everybody will admit if asked, and elsie was fresh and clean even if she had just been rudely aroused from sleep. she bathed her whole body twice every day, washed her face and hands often, brushed her teeth always after eating, smiled a great deal, and got plenty of fresh air and sunshine, and this was enough to make any girl fresh and clean and pretty, or almost enough. of course a girl must eat sufficient food, and must brush her hair and take care of her nails, and all those little things--everybody knows that. but the main things, beside food, the things, too, that some little girls fail in, are air, sunshine, water and smiles. elsie had all these and therefore she looked clean and fresh and pretty. she had on a dress too, naturally, but i don't know just what kind of a one it was, for that is a small matter compared with the body itself. i think it was some kind of a calico, made for vacation frolicing, for elsie was a city girl staying in the country for the summer, and almost anything was good enough for that. so elsie, fresh and clean, dancing and singing up the lane, swinging her pail of crystal water, the loveliest sight in the whole lovely landscape, came in view of the house where they were staying. and no sooner had she caught a glimpse of her mother on the porch than, eager to tell her funny experience, she ran forward in pleasant excitement, crying out: "oh, mamma! such a queer thing--oh, oh, it was an engine, the biggest, biggest you ever saw--and--and it stepped on my nose--i mean it was only a bumble-bee and--it--it almost ran right over me--" "isn't my little girl somewhat mixed in her speech!" smiled her mother as elsie paused for breath. "i--i guess i--i am!" elsie faltered. "but then, i'm so excited!" "yes, you are excited," smiled her mother, putting her arm around her shoulders and walking with her to the kitchen. "and when you are calm you may tell me all about it." so elsie carried the pail of water to the sink and set it on its shelf. and when she had worked off her surplus energy in this way she felt sober enough to tell her story clearly, and she did so, snuggled in her mother's arms in the hammock on the porch. she finished by saying: "wasn't that a funny thing, mamma, that i should dream that the bumble-bee was an engine just going to run over me!" then the really important part of the story began. her mother answered: ii what the bee wanted of elsie's nose "yes, it may seem funny, but it is natural. when you were asleep you heard the bee buzzing and rumbling, and the sound reminded you of an engine, so you began to picture an engine in your mind, and with the queer mixture of fact and fancy that are common to dreams you thought it was coming right at you. and it was only a bumble-bee taking a look at your little red-and-white nose." elsie clapped her hands and laughed. then she asked: "what did the bee want to see my nose for, mamma?" "he thought, perhaps, that it was some new kind of a bud, and he wished to examine it," mrs. edson smiled. "a little girl's face is very much like a pretty flower. your hair was tumbled all about your head, i suppose, and your little rosebud of a nose, peeking through, attracted the bee." at this idea elsie laughed again, joyously. "but, mamma," she asked, "why should the bee wish to see my nose, even if he did think it might be a flower? do bees eat flowers, mamma?" elsie's mother threw her a sudden look that was almost a startled one. then she hugged her close and kissed her. "what a great big little girl you are getting to be, darling!" she said, gazing fondly at her. this did not seem to elsie much like an answer to her question, and she fixed her eyes brightly on her mother's face as if waiting for her to go on with her words. but her mother only said: "i scarcely realized that you were no longer my little baby-girl, and that you were instead almost a young lady, old enough to understand many new things, among them the reason why a bee goes to flowers." she paused again, looking at her big little girl wistfully. she was thinking: "elsie has begun to be a woman now, and i shall soon, all too soon, lose my baby-girl, for she will grow up and marry and go away to a home of her own and have a little girl like herself, just as i have had her!" this made her feel sad, but she said nothing to elsie of this feeling, for she would not be able to understand it and it would only make her feel sad too. by and by she would tell her what it meant to have a husband and children and home of her own, after her parents were passed away, and she must begin to prepare her for this knowledge now. so, finally, she said: "no, darling, bees do not eat flowers, though they eat a part of them, or a product of them. the most important thing that they visit flowers for, as far as the world is concerned, is to fertilize them." "fer-fer-ilize!" stammered elsie. "what is that, mamma?" "not ferferilize, darling, but fertilize, fer-til-ize, which means to make rich, or fruitful. as strange as it may seem the bees and other insects are of vast importance to men--sh-h!" she suddenly held up her hand, motioning for silence, and elsie, wondering what was coming, followed her mother's pointing finger with her eyes. what she saw was a bee hovering over a bright yellow buttercup that grew almost within reach of where she sat. "watch him!" whispered her mother. elsie did so, holding her breath for fear of scaring him away. he alighted on the flower, crawled clumsily over it for a second or two, pausing now and then to bury his head in the blossom, but he did not do anything else, that elsie could see, except to tumble about very awkwardly and funnily and then fly away to another buttercup and repeat the operation. elsie drew a long breath and looked at her mother inquiringly. "it did not seem as if he did much, did it, dearie!" she said in answer to the look. "but in reality he did a great deal, for he--what shall i say--married? yes, married! the bee actually married those two buttercups together, so that next season, when these two flowers, the papa and mamma, are dead and gone, there will spring up and grow other buttercups, baby-plants, the children of these two. if it were not for the bee, or other insects, we should have no bright flowers in the world." "oh!" elsie's eyes opened wide. she thought a moment, then, "could he marry my nose to anything?" she burst forth. but seeing the absurdity of the notion before the words were fairly out of her mouth she joined in her mother's laughter over it. "no, dearie, of course not. it is only flowers that bees marry together. and not the least strange thing about it is that they do not know they are doing so." "don't know what they are doing!" exclaimed elsie. "oh, yes, they know what they are doing for themselves, but they can't have the least notion of what they are doing for the flowers and indeed for the whole world! without plants there could be no life of any kind on earth. it is the plants that produce life. through them come animals, and even men and women and little girls. the plants feed on the earth and air, which men and animals cannot do. a man or a lamb cannot eat the soil or live on air, but a plant lives by eating the minerals and gases and water of the earth and air, and the man and the lamb eat the plants, and so are able to live. without the plants we could not exist, and without the insects, which fertilize the plants, so that they can grow, the plants themselves would soon die. don't you think now that what the bee did was quite an important matter, even if it did seem so trivial?" "ye-yes," elsie hesitated. she did not yet grasp the full depth of her mother's words. they meant so much! "but," she continued, her bright eyes eagerly turned on her mother's face, "we don't eat the buttercup, mamma, do we?" "no, sweetie, but we do eat very gladly a part of it, and that is the part that the bee visited the flower for, and which he took away as his fee for marrying the two. can you guess what it is?" the idea of a bee performing a marriage between flowers and taking a fee for it was a little too much for elsie, and when it was added that she and her mother ate this fee such a look of amazement came into her sweet face that her mother could not help smiling broadly. "it is the honey, little girlie," she said. "the bee takes the honey from the flower and carries it home to the hive, where he stores it up until he has a great mass of it, and then the bee-man gets it and sells it to the grocer, who sells it to us." "w-e-l-l!" said elsie slowly, "if that isn't strange!" she sat a moment thinking of this miracle, her mother watching her lovingly and considering what she ought to say next, for she had a great secret to tell her little daughter, a secret so great and important that much wise thought was required to study out just how to make it plain to a girl as young as elsie. besides, she was interested to know what elsie herself would say next, for she was bringing her up to think logically, so that she might know always how to ask the right question at the right time, instead of the wrong one. and she was very much pleased when elsie, instead of putting the last question first, as some little girls would have done, put the right one first by saying: "but, mamma, how _can_ flowers marry! and how can a bee possibly marry them?" this was the right question to ask first, even if it was a kind of double-headed one, because this marriage was the first of the wonders that had amazed her, and the answer to it would lead logically to the fee and the honey eaten by people, and these questions would be easier to make plain after the first one was answered. iii the husbands and wives of plants mrs. edson drew a long breath because she knew the time had arrived when, for her little daughter's sake, she must give her the information which would mark her growth from girlhood into young womanhood, and the fact disturbed her, for she did not want to lose her little girl, even in exchange for the lovely young lady whom she knew would take that dear little girl's place. but it must be done, and, thankful that she had studied the subject enough to know how to do it in a nice and plain way, she began: "in the first place, dear," she said, "you must know that the flowers are the husbands and wives of plants, made so by nature. they are in their way as truly married as mr. and mrs. jones are in their way, or as your papa and i are. this marriage is a law of nature, invented to carry on the race, whatever that race may be, whether it is that of mankind, or plants, or animals, or birds, or even fishes. for not only do men and flowers marry, everything in nature does the same--turtles, frogs, robins, elephants, everything!" elsie wished very much at this point to ask if her mother had ever seen an elephant's wife, thinking that she must look rather funny, much different, to say the least, from a flower's wife, but as the answer came to her at once, without asking the question, she said nothing. of course an elephant's wife must be another elephant, as the flower's wife was another flower. but it was all very singular, and the sparkle of her eyes as she looked into her mother's face showed her interest in what might be coming. mrs. edson went on: "we will begin with plants, because they came first into the world as living beings, and all other living beings not only had their origin in plants but live by aid of them to this day. from the plants grew animals, and from animals grew men and women and little girls. it took a long, long time for all this to come about, so long that the human mind fails to grasp or comprehend it; and at first, when one hears of it for the first time, it seems wholly impossible and unbelievable. but science has proved it to be true, and even shows the exact way in which the various changes were made. many, if not all, the steps by which we mounted from the condition of a tiny speck of jelly-plant, a speck no bigger than the point of a pin, to become human beings are still in existence and are frequently observed by scientists. with a microscope anybody may see them. so we know that the theory of evolution, as it is called, is a true one. it is also an exceedingly wonderful and beautiful truth, full of secrets and surprises of the most interesting and delightful kind, as i shall show. now let's go and examine the buttercup that the bee just married to the second buttercup." elsie jumped up with a little gurgle of joy and ran ahead of her mother to the flower. this was better than playing "secret" with rosie and eva and the other girls, for their secrets were not real ones, they were just made up and they did not amount to very much after all, but this was a real one, kept up in earnest with the bees and flowers. and now she was to be let into it! mrs. edson bent over the bright yellow blossom, taking it gently in her fingers to prevent it from nodding so briskly in the breeze that they should be unable to examine it closely. "you see, dear," she said, pointing with a twig to the different parts as she named them, "right here, in the exact center of the blossom, is a bunch of green growing in the form of an oval, shaped somewhat like an egg with the smaller end upward." "yes, oh, yes!" elsie answered eagerly. "what is it, mamma?" "broadly speaking we will call it the ovary. i am not going to confuse you by giving you too many hard words at first, words like corolla, carpel, style, stigma, and the like. i shall name only two parts of the flower for you to remember just now, because only two are really necessary to be named at this point. so the name of this one is--what?" "ovary!" answered elsie quickly. "yes, ovary! it is called so because it contains ovules, which are tiny seeds or eggs. that is the mother part of the plant." "the mother!" elsie queried. "why, mamma, is there a father too?" "yes, dearie, many plants have both a mother and a father part, which grow near together in the same flower, while other plants have only a father part, and still others have only a mother part. this buttercup has both, has both the male and the female principle. the ovary is the female, and here, above it and surrounding it, you see a number of taller spires, yellow in color and each of them bearing a tiny enlargement, a kind of knob, at the top." "yes, yes, but that--that can't be the papa part! is it, mamma?" she cried, examining the rather insignificant appearing spires dubiously. "they don't look much like a--a papa!" she said in some disappointment. her mother laughed. "they certainly do not look much like a man-papa," she returned, "but they form the papa part of the plant, nevertheless, and are truly the papas of the baby buttercups. and their name is the second one that i wish you to remember from now on. it is stamen." "stamen!" said elsie. "yes, each of these stems is called a stamen, and they form the male part of the plant, the father part. many plants, those of the simpler kinds, have only one stamen and it grows in the flower so that its head hangs right above the ovary. here you see that all of the stamens are above the ovary, and the reason why they are placed there by nature you will see very soon. what i wish now is to show you why the bee came to the flower." "i know--it was for honey! isn't that what you said before, mamma?" "yes, darling, but do you see any honey here?" "no, mamma, and i never knew before that buttercups had honey. i always thought honey came from a beehive." "it does come to us from a beehive, but it comes from flowers first, and one of the many kinds that furnish it is this buttercup. the bee sips it from the flowers, just a tiny bit from each blossom that he visits, and when he has enough he takes it home to the hive and puts it away to eat by-and-by, in the winter, when there are no flowers growing for him to rifle. he does it just as men lay away money for 'a rainy day,' as we say, and as squirrels lay up a store of nuts for the cold weather. now, suppose you count those flattened, round-cornered parts of the buttercup--how many are there?" "five," said elsie quickly. "yes, there are five of them, and they are called petals. you will notice that they are much narrower and slighter at the bottom than they are at the top. it is at the bottom that they are joined to the central part of the flower. now, just where they are connected with this central part there is a tiny sack of honey." "it must be _very_ tiny," said elsie, regarding the slender connection earnestly, "for there isn't room enough for much, i'm sure. and it must be all covered up, for i can't see any signs of it." "it is covered up. there is a very small scale, or leaf, over it to protect it from those insects who have no right to the honey. but the bee knows how to get at it, and he does so very quickly, once he alights on the blossom, as we have just seen one do. for while he appeared as if he were merely tumbling clumsily around on the flower he was sampling those honey-sacks, and we saw how speedily he finished all five of them on this flower and then buzzed busily away to the other." "he was just the same as at dinner, then, wasn't he mamma! but why did he go to the other flower--didn't he get all he wanted from this one?" "no, darlingest, he gets but very little from each flower. if he could take all he wanted from one he would never fly right to another. and then, if all the other insects should do the same, the whole plan of nature would fall through and there would soon be no life on earth." elsie's eyes looked very large when she heard this. "would i die, and you, mamma, and all of us--alice and rosie, and, oh, everybody we know?" "yes, dearie, all of us. those few simple plants which still, in the primitive way, fertilize themselves, are not enough and are too weak to carry on the vegetation of the earth, and without the insects and birds and the wind we never should have been born at all; for they are necessary to make the plants reproduce their kinds and grow, and the plants are necessary food for us as well as for the animals that we eat, such as the hens and ducks and sheep and cows. so nature has given each flower only a little honey, not enough for the bee, and he is compelled to fly to many before he becomes satisfied. and this brings us back to the stamen and ovary again, to show what they are for and how the bee marries the two plants together after he has collected his fee of delicious honey." "i am all 'tention," said elsie, in so quaint an imitation of older folks that her mother was forced to smile, knowing that she had a listener that was interested, to say the least--a listener who felt the importance and gravity of the study which they were now pursuing. elsie never attempted big words except when she felt dignified. iv the papa and mamma parts of the plants "now," said mrs. edson, taking hold of the buttercup again, "you see here, at the top of each stamen, the slight enlargement that i mentioned. it looks like a kind of knob, and it really is a hard, hollow sack, or bag, containing a fine yellow powder, which is called pollen. is that plain so far, dearie?" "pollen, yes, mamma! and do you wish me to remember that name too?" "yes, it is very necessary that you should do so. you will soon learn why. now look again at the green ovary. that is also hollow, and contains seeds or eggs, as i said before. in plants we call them seeds and in animals eggs. and it is these seeds that grow into the baby plants. but they cannot grow alone, without help. with a certain kind of help they can and do grow, and what do you suppose that help is?" elsie gazed earnestly at her mother, trying to think it out. but she was compelled to shake her head after all. "i can't imagine," she said. "nothing but that some of the pollen shall be mixed with them," said her mother. "oh, i see, i see!" elsie cried delightedly. "that is why the stamens with the pollen in them are right over the ovaries." "yes, dear, you have guessed it. the ripe pollen, falling into the ripe ovary, would fertilize the seeds. and with some plants, the earlier and simpler kinds, this is just what happens. but here you can see that the ovary is not ripe. it is hard and green. when it is ripe its color is yellow. but the pollen is ripe now, you can see it all over the anthers, as the knobs or sacks are called. if the pollen should fall upon the ovary now it would roll off without entering, and would be wasted. now what do you suppose happens?" "the--the--" elsie hesitated, looking with very bright eyes at her mother, almost sure enough to go on, but not quite. it seemed so peculiar, the thought that had come to her, and she did not see just how it could be. "you were going to say the bee, weren't you?" her mother smiled. "oh yes--and would that have been right?" elsie cried in delight. "yes, that would have been exactly right. if we had been near enough to examine the bee's motions closely we should have seen that he alighted on the ovary, and then began to turn here and there in order to get at the honey at the base of each petal. as he did so he brushed off some of the pollen, for he was right in amongst the stamens, and this powdery pollen stuck to his fuzzy body and he carried it away with him." "but if he carried it away how could it get into the flower's ovary?" elsie asked, puzzled. "it did not get into this flower's ovary," her mother answered. "nature did not intend that it should, and that is why the bee is introduced. for the other buttercup that he flew to, or some other one that he would visit afterward, would have its ovary ripe, and when he alighted on it in search of honey some of the pollen would be brushed off his body right into this ovary that was all ready to receive it." "oh! but what would happen then? the little baby buttercups would begin to grow right away, mamma?" "yes, the ovary would close up and the seeds would begin to grow, very slowly. they would keep on growing until they were ripe and then they would burst their covering and fall out on the ground. those of them that were fortunate enough to become embedded in the soil, so that they would not freeze in the winter, would come out in the spring as little plants, which would soon bring forth buttercups. that is the way with the wild flowers. but with the cultivated ones, like cucumbers, apples, beans, and the like, all of those that are valuable for eating, we are careful to save the seeds and plant them where they will be safe. instead of leaving them to chance we make a garden and plant them in it where they will be snug and warm." "and wouldn't the seeds grow, or the little plants come up, if the bee hadn't gone to the flowers, mamma?" "no, darling, it is the bee, or some other insect, or the birds, that marry all the bright-colored plants in this way, as the wind marries the soberhued ones. without these we should have no vegetation." "but, mamma, marry! why do you say they marry? i thought only men and women married." "the marriage that takes place between men and women, dear, is only a repetition of the marriage of plants. its object is the same--to reproduce the race. plants began to marry long, long before men and women ever came on earth and have been doing it ever since, fortunately for us, because if they should give up the practice we should have to follow suit. the earth would go back to the barren state in which it was before life came to it." "it seems so strange," said elsie. "why, i never heard of anything so funny! a bee, just a little bee, and without him--" "funny is scarcely the word," mrs. edson smiled, "but it is certainly wonderful. the pumpkin, the bean, the pear, the squash, the orange, all the fruits and vegetables that we eat, and which the animals eat, must be fertilized in order to reproduce their kind, and all the fertilizing is done either by the wind, which blows the pollen from one plant to another, or by birds and insects. but this is only a small part of the secret i have to tell you, just the beginning. there are many more wonderful things to come than i have told you yet, but i think this is enough for the first time. you would better think over what you have heard until tomorrow, when i will tell you the next step, which is about the animals. there are four things in this lesson that you must remember: "first, every male plant has at least one stamen, which bears pollen. "second, every female plant has one ovary which contains seeds. "third, the seeds in the ovary must be fertilized by the pollen in the stamens in order to be able to grow and bear children. "fourth, flowers are fertilized by birds, insects and the wind. "do you think you can remember all that, darling?" "oh, yes, mamma, i'm sure i can!" said elsie. she thought a moment and then added: "it was very nice of that bumble-bee to mistake my nose for a flower, i'm sure, for it was almost as if he should say, 'doesn't she look sweet--there must be honey there!' but i guess he didn't think i was very sweet when i almost scared him to death, poor fellow!" v the first life on earth the next day elsie was so eager for the hour to come when she should learn the secret of the animals that she had been waiting in the hammock quite a little while when her mother came down stairs and as soon as she appeared in sight elsie clapped her hands joyously, crying out: "now i shall hear how the animals get their honey, sha'n't i, mumsey? but, mumsey, there isn't anything like the petals of a buttercup on an animal, unless it's his ears--do animals have their honey there--where they join the body--like the buttercups?" mrs. edson could not help laughing at this funny notion. "no, darling," she answered, "animals have no honey anywhere. in the plants there is honey because they must have something to attract the insects to them, for they are rooted in the ground and can't move around to carry their pollen to the other plants. and this pollen must be carried, you remember, for that is the way, and the only way, in which little ones are made to be born. so the flower has the honey in order to pay the insect for marrying it. but animals can move around. they can go to each other and carry their own pollen, so they do not need honey or anything but themselves to attract each other. in animals there is love instead of honey. they love each other, in their way, and so come together and mingle their eggs and pollen. only it is not called pollen in animals, as i said before. it is called _zoösperms_, pronounced 'zoo-o-sperms.' that is another name that you must not forget, for it is to the animal what pollen is to the plant. and in order that little animals may be born it is quite as necessary that the zoösperms cover or fertilize the eggs, as, with the plants, it is for the pollen to fertilize the seeds." "but, mamma," said elsie, wonderingly, "you said, i think, that every plant had an ovary--" "no, darling, i said that every _female_ plant had an ovary." "oh, yes, female plant! that has an ovary, and every male plant has a stamen, and i think you said that they must have, didn't you?" "yes, dear, in order to reproduce their kind they must have--why?" "well, then, does every male animal have a stamen and every female an ovary?" "certainly darling! and let me repeat that the products of the two must be mingled in order to bring forth little animals. that is just what i am going to tell you about today." "and do you mean, mamma, that honey in the plants grows into love in the animals?" elsie asked, her eyes very wide. "oh, that is a very beautiful thought for my little girl to have!" mrs. edson exclaimed, smoothing elsie's hair lovingly. "and, yes, that is the truth, put very poetically. love is sweet, like the honey that it replaces--at least it is for us human beings. probably with the animals it is not of just the same quality that it is with us, for they do not act as if it were, but at least the animals are an improvement on the plants in this respect, and the love that they feel for each other finally evolves, in us, to become the sweet thing that we find it to be." "isn't that lovely--and so strange!" exclaimed elsie. "yes, darling, it is lovely, and very strange. there are various kinds of love, as well as various degrees of the same kind, but this is a subject a little too deep for us to take up just yet. what i wish now is to teach you how the animals marry. and i will begin by saying that all forms of reproduction, which is the name given to having children, follow the same principle. the animals marry in a way that is only a variation of the plant way, and men and women marry in a way that is a variation of the plant and animal ways. but let us begin right, with the first appearance of life on earth." "yes, mamma," elsie cried eagerly. "but the _first_ life! that must have been very, very long ago, wasn't it?" "it was so far back in the history of the world that we can scarcely more than guess how long ago it must have been. we do not even know where it first appeared or just how it came to be. some scientists believe that it occurred at the mouth of the nile river, in africa, in the rich soil that the river deposits there when it overflows its banks. others think it was in the sea, or along the shores of some ocean in a tropical country. but we need not go into that here. what we do know is that the hot sun, shining on a certain spot on the earth or sea, which was just in the right condition, produced the first body containing life that the globe ever had, and that this body was only a little speck of jelly-like substance, which we call protoplasm, pro-to-plas-m. the word means 'first growth', for it was the first thing that ever appeared that was capable of growing. we also call it a cell. now there was only one cell in the world. it had no companions. and what do you suppose happened?" "it must have been very lonesome," suggested elsie, sympathetically. "yes, it must have been--certainly it must if it could feel or think. but, at all events, whether or not it did feel lonely, it began right away to make companions. of course you can't think how it did that, can you, dear?" "i--i am afraid not," elsie hesitated. "yet it was the very simplest way imaginable. it merely divided itself into two parts, each of which was just like the other." "oh!" exclaimed elsie. "but, then, mamma, who could tell which was the father or mother, and which was the child? or were they just brother and sister, or two brothers?" "there was not then what we now call 'sex', for that was only the beginning of families, so to say, and it was very crude, as all things are when they are first started. but perhaps we might call one cell the mother of the other, since it is always the female, and not the male, that brings forth children, though nobody could tell which was the mother and which was the child." "well," said elsie, "_that_ is the strangest thing yet!" "it seems so to us, because it is so different from our way of reproducing, but it was the natural way, and the same process is going on to this day. even little girls are born in a manner which, though it appears very different, is the same in principle, as we shall see." "but, mamma, i thought that all living beings were obliged to have a stamen or an ovary!" "so they are obliged, dear! this cell grew until it was too large and heavy to be supported by its structure, or lack of structure, and then it fell apart. force, or growth, was the stamen here, and the cell itself was the ovary." "oh, then force or growth was the first stamen, mamma?" "no, darling, it was not, unless we should call growth the stamen of today--which we might do, in a way. but the first stamen was, in form, a ray of the sun, and the first ovary was the earth, soil. for don't you recall that this cell, which was the first life-form, was produced by the sun shining on the earth or sea?" elsie pondered on this a moment. then her face brightened. "oh, now i see!" she exclaimed. "and what a beautiful set of changes, like real poetry! the stamen in a flower, and growth, and a ray of sunlight are all one at bottom!" "yes, darling, it is beautiful poetry, when one comes thoroughly to understand it. and when we find that love is the source of all these different forms and processes it becomes more beautiful than ever. now let us go on a little further and you will see how that is." "please hurry, mamma!" said elsie. "i wish to find out where i came from, and you are going to tell me that, aren't you?" "certainly, darling! that is what i have been leading up to all this time. now we will speak of a number of higher growths than the single cells are, for there are several things yet to be made plain before you will be able to understand the highest growth of all, which is that of a human being like yourself." vi where baby animals come from at that moment there sounded a hoarse noise near by, which was followed by a splash, as if some body had tumbled into the pond. elsie looked at her mother roguishly and said: "old croaky!" old croaky was a granddaddy bullfrog with whom they were very well acquainted, for he sang for them every evening. "i am glad that he spoke just as he did," mrs. edson smiled, "for he reminds me that frogs are as good an example as i can take next. he belongs to one of the lower classes of animals, not so very much higher than the plants. now, in the plants, you will remember, it was necessary for the pollen to enter the ovary in order to reach and fertilize the seeds. but with the frog it is not so. the female lays the eggs first, and just as she is doing so the male places himself in such a position towards her that he can mingle his zoösperms with her eggs as they come out. that fertilizes them and they immediately begin to grow. first they become tadpoles, and then little frogs." "what, was old croaky ever a little tadpole, mumsey?" "yes, darling, he was. every frog was once. and before that he was an egg, one of many, in his mother's ovary, and it is so with all animals. they all of them have eggs and zoösperms, just as the plants have pollen and seeds. only, with most of the animals, the zoösperms must enter the ovary in order to fertilize the eggs, as is the way of the plants. and it is the same with the birds. they are higher, that is later, in the scale of life than the frogs are. now the higher the creature the more complicated becomes the process of reproduction, even though the principle is always the same. it is always growth, always the life within, forcing itself out to take form, and it is only the forms that change. the life and force within are the same that the first single cell had." "it is very wonderful, mamma," elsie said, awed by the mystery, even though she was very far from grasping the whole of it. "and the birds, mamma, have they stamens, and eggs inside? i thought their eggs were outside, in a little nest. and some of them are, mumsey, because, you know, i have seen them lots of times." "yes, the eggs come out where you can see them, in time, as the frog's do, but at first they are inside the mother bird, as they are with the frogs and all animals. only, it is not with the birds as it is with the frogs, for the bird's eggs must be fertilized by the male zoösperms while they are still within the mother bird. the zoösperms must enter the ovary as the pollen must enter the ovary of the plant. so the male bird, like most male animals, has a stamen which is a repetition of that of the flower, made of such a shape that it can reach the eggs in the mother bird's ovary and fertilize them there. then they come out, they are 'laid' as we say, and we see them in the nest which the mother and father birds have prepared for them. and just as the seeds need to be covered and kept warm, when they have fallen from the ripe pods to the ground, in order that they may live and grow into baby plants, so the bird's eggs must be covered and kept warm and safe in order that they may grow into birdies. it is just here that you may see where the honey of the plants begins to become love in the higher species. for instead of leaving the eggs to be protected or not, according to chance, as is the way of the plants, the mother bird covers and warms and protects them herself. she sits on the nest and keeps them safe with her own body and feathers. isn't that lovely! and the father bird goes to market in the woods and fields and brings her the daintiest and best food he can find." "isn't he _nice!_" said elsie appreciatively. "yes, he is nice, and so is his wife, the mother bird. just think! a bird is the most energetic and tireless creature in all animated nature. it is always on the move, urged by the force and overflowing life within its body, and to sit there quietly all alone on the eggs day after day and night after night--oh, it must be hard, so hard that we can scarcely realize the extent of the sacrifice she is making for her little children. that is what love is like. and the higher a creature is in the scale of life the more love it has, until, in men and women, the acme is reached and they not only give up their comfort for each other, and especially for their children, but even their lives themselves. with human beings one can tell how high a given one is in the scale of humanity by the amount of love he has. some persons have very little, and they are nearer the animal plane: some have a great deal, and the more they have, the less selfish they are, the higher they have risen. for love is the real stamen that fertilizes the world and makes it grow, and the more one has of it the more life one gives to the universe." elsie felt very grave for some moments, thinking out this deep matter. it was too complex for her to realize wholly, but she caught glimpses of the immortal beauty of the ideas and she was awed by it. suddenly she threw her arms around her mother's neck and kissed her passionately. it had occurred to her all at once how much her mother loved her and how much she must have sacrificed for her sake during all the years of her little life, and though she had no conception of the full extent of the sacrifice she saw enough to make her feel like crying for very love of that dear and sweet mamma. her mother understood her and taking her in her arms hugged her closely, sitting in silence with her for a long time, both of them too full of love for each other to speak. and so the lesson for the day ended. vii where baby girls come from "now, mumsey," cried elsie the next day, running to her mother at the hour set aside for their baby-talks, "i know what comes next--it's i, isn't it?" "yes, darling, it's you. and it's i, too. isn't that a beautiful thought, that you and i held the same relation to each other that the mother bird holds to the egg from which the birdies come! for once you were a tiny, tiny egg inside mamma just as it was with the birds." "oh-h!" gasped elsie, gazing at her mother in bewilderment. she could not realize such an astounding thing at once. "yes, darling," mrs. edson went on, "every female human being has an ovary, just as every female flower has, and just as every female bird has; and, also like them, she has seeds or eggs in this ovary. and she has a great many of them. they have been growing within her ever since she was a baby, and when she is about twelve years old they begin to ripen, one at a time, and pass from the ovary into a nest that is all ready for them inside the female body. this nest we call the womb. at first, while she is so young, the womb is not strong enough to hold the egg while it grows, so the egg soon leaves its nest to come into the world and be lost, as so very many seeds of the plant are. as it does so it acts in such a way on the young girl that, when she first becomes aware that something which seems strange is happening to her, she is frightened and does not know what to do. and as you, darling, are now at the age when this must come to you very soon, i am going to prepare you for it, so that you may know that it is natural, coming to all girls of about your age, and that there is nothing to be alarmed over. all the talks that we have had were intended as a kind of introduction to this event and its consequences, for it is the greatest that enters a girl's life before she has grown fully to be a woman. and you were once one of these tiny eggs. more than that, you now have within your body, a great number of that very kind of eggs from which you sprang." elsie sat with her eyes in breathless interest on her mother, so filled with wonder and speculation that she could not ask a single question. mrs. edson proceeded: "i must repeat dear, because it is so very important for you to remember, that every woman has an ovary which contains many seeds or eggs, just as the female flower has. these eggs, if left unfertilized, will pass from the body and never grow any more. but each one, if fertilized by the papa, as the bird's eggs were, and as the flower seeds were, will stay in a little nook inside the mother's body, where it will grow and grow until the time comes for it to burst forth into the world, following the same principle that the first cell followed in reproducing, and which all living things follow always. the life within forces it away from the parent, to become a separate growth. then it will come forth, and behold, the tiny seed or egg has grown to be a baby girl or boy, weighing several pounds!" "oh-h!" elsie gasped again. "and that is how--how--i--came to be born, mamma!" "yes, darlingest, it is the way in which every living person was born. there is not, and there cannot be, any other way. each child is a part both of its father and mother. the egg in the mother would never grow into a baby unless it had first been fertilized by the father, who does so through his great love for the mamma, just as with the birds and animals, though his love is of a higher kind than that of the lower orders." "and does the mother-woman warm the eggs as the bird in the nest does, mamma, while the papa-man brings her nice things to eat?" "yes, dearie, only the mother-woman has the nest inside her body, as i have said, and she keeps the little one safe and warm there much longer than the bird sits on her nest. and think of all the years after the baby is born that she waits on and cares for it! there is no other love that equals in devotion that of the mother." elsie, without a word, her eyes swimming in tears, kissed her mother affectionately. she had realized a little more of what she owed to her. "now," said mrs. edson, "i must tell you how to care for this nest in which, by and by, when you have grown up and have a husband and are strong enough, you will be keeping a little baby of your own. because many girls who become married do not know these things there is a dreadful amount of sickness and misery in the world, all needless. and it does seem too bad--when merely a few words at the right time would have saved it all!" of course elsie was not old enough to understand how this could be, so she said nothing, but sat looking earnestly at her mother as she went on: "in the first place, dear, you must know that the little baby's nest, which we call the womb, is placed in the lower portion of the woman's body, just above the 'private parts'. perhaps it is put there because it is the safest place for it in the whole body--for the eggs and womb are very delicate, and must not be exposed to any danger of injury. so it grows in the interior of the trunk, where outside dangers would be less likely to reach and spoil it, so that the woman would be sick all her life and never have any children. many hopeless female complaints, ending with premature and painful death, are caused by lack of proper care of the womb and its entrance. that care consists chiefly in preventing the womb from being touched by anything, and keeping the entrance clean. it is very simple--just keep the entrance clean and the womb untouched by anything. an observance of such slight rules as these would have saved many and many a poor soul from a life of continual misery and suffering. "i have told you, dear, long ago how to keep the entrance clean. and now that you will soon begin to menstruate, as the passing out of the eggs is called, i shall have but little to add to what you already know, but i will repeat it from the beginning in order that you may have it all clear in your mind. "first, bathe the entrance every time you bathe the rest of your body, and at such other times as you may feel the need of doing so. never neglect this. it may have evil consequences. just keep it clean, and never touch it for any other purpose. and be careful to use only your own towels, for disease is easily communicated to these parts by cloths that are not clean, and you never can be too careful in this respect. it is plain enough, and easy enough to do, isn't it darling--and you will always remember about it, won't you?" "oh, yes, mamma, that is easy enough!" elsie said quickly. "i could remember a lot more than that, i'm sure." "it would have been so infinitely much better for so many poor sick creatures if they had known and remembered even that!" mrs. edson sighed, holding her little daughter closely, as if she would protect her from not only that harm but all others. "but," she continued, "i must now tell you what you may be expecting to come to you before long, when it will be harder to keep the entrance clean than it has been so far, and when to keep it clean will be more necessary than ever. "every twenty-eight days, dearie, beginning with you very soon now, there will be a flow of blood into the little baby's nest, the womb, and this will come out of your body through this entrance to the womb. as soon as you see any signs of it on your body or clothing you must come right and tell me, as you would if you had cut your finger or stubbed your toe on a stone. it is something to be very proud of for it shows the possibility of motherhood, and it must be given the very best care, which is, as i have said, chiefly to keep the parts clean. by and by when you are grown old enough and strong enough, and have a husband, who will fertilize the eggs, one of them will grow into a little baby, but it will be a long time yet before that can be, and until then you will have this flow every twenty-eight days, for the sake of your health. this brings more work for the womb to do, while the menses, as they are called, continue, and therefore you may feel out of sorts both mentally and bodily for two or three days. but this will pass away when the flow ceases, and if proper care is taken of the womb and passages you will never feel anything worse than this. some women feel great pain at this time, but almost always the reason is that some of their internal parts have been injured in one way or another. sometimes lack of proper food, sufficient fresh air and sun, or not enough exercise and clean water are responsible for a portion of the pain. in order to have strong reproductive organs a woman should be healthy in all bodily ways, and anything that she can do to improve her general health will be favorable to her at the time of the menses as well as at all times. do you think you understand all this, darling, and can remember it?" "i don't know, mamma," said elsie hesitatingly. "there is a lot to it, but i'll try." "that is my dear little girl! to try is the next thing to doing. only remember that when you don't know what to do, and have tried, come to mamma. that is one great reason why mammas are--to help little girls who have tried." elsie kissed her mother warmly, and then sat looking dreamily out towards the woods. she had learned many strange things and was thinking them over. suddenly she spoke, as if unconsciously, saying: "who would ever have thought that so much could come out of it!" "out of what?" her mother asked. "why, out of a bee trying to step on my nose!" said elsie. (the end.) 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 _all rights reserved_ copyright, , by the macmillan company. set up and electrotyped. published june, . 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, . 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 index of names 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_.[ ] 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.[ ] 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[ ] 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.[ ] 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 ), and bacqué, _la puberté_ (argenteuil, ). 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 ( ). 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 of this _code_ runs: "a man shall not practise love until he is fully grown." according to rudeck,[ ] 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,[ ] 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, ).[ ] 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, ). 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 , 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 [greek: m] ( / 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[ ] 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.[ ] 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,[ ] 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 ( . to . inch), in the quiescent state, and of four and a half to five centimetres ( . to 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 , ; at the age of eight it is estimated that their number has been reduced to about , . 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[ ] 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[ ] being, for boys, grams ( . lbs.); for girls, grams ( . 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 cm. ( / ths 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,[ ] 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.[ ] 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[ ] 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 and schoolgirls to the number of , at ages between - / and - / 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,[ ] from whom i take these details, and some of those that follow, is the fact that the idea of "marriage" was known to only boys, as compared to girls; whilst the idea of "infant baptism" was known to boys as compared to 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[ ] 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. ) 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,[ ] 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 . boys: . girls. chorea (st. vitus's dance) affects girls more often than boys, the ratio in this case being . girls: 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[ ] states that the ratio of girls affected is to boys affected as : . 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, per cent. girls, per cent. boys; but after the age of nine, the proportion of girls affected with hysteria increases, while that of boys diminishes. eulenburg,[ ] indeed, records 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 cases of hysteria in young children, being boys, and 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[ ] has shown that in the case of stammerers we find per cent. boys and per cent. girls. i take this opportunity of referring briefly to the fact that, as max marcuse[ ] 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,[ ] 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[ ] 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[ ] 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[ ] 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,[ ] 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[ ] 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 - / 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 - / 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.[ ] _quae enim hanc juventutem vel præcedunt ætates, vel sequuntur aut plane semen non effundunt aut certe infoecundum aut male foecundum effundunt._ strassmann[ ] 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.[ ] 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[ ] 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 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. ). 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. _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.[ ] 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[ ] 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. ). 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 .--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 .--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 .--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.[ ] 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."[ ] 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.[ ] 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 .--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 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 .--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[ ] 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. , ) 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 _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[ ] 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.[ ] 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,[ ] 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 .--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;[ ] 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_,[ ] 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'[ ] 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.[ ] 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 , 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.[ ] 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.[ ] 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.[ ] 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.[ ] 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. ), 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.[ ] 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[ ]-- "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),[ ] 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 . 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.[ ] 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[ ] 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 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. ), 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,[ ] 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 , 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 . cm. ( - / inches), its diameter at the root was . cm. ( - / inches); the length of the organ when erect was . cm. ( - / 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 .--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 .--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 .--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.[ ] 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. and ). 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 .--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,[ ] 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 .--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 .--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 .--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 .--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 , and certainly experienced sexual sentiments in very early childhood. in his _monsieur nicolas_,[ ] which must be regarded as an autobiographical work, rétif relates the beginnings, in the years - , 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[ ] 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.[ ] 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[ ] 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[ ] 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. ), 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[ ] 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,[ ] 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 in my work on sexual inversion.[ ] 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.[ ] 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[ ] 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, years; christiania, years, months, days; berlin, years, months, days; paris years, months, days, and years, months, and days; madeira, years, months; sierra leone and egypt, 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.[ ] 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,[ ] 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[ ] 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,[ ] born in the year , 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 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,[ ] 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 , 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;[ ] 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.[ ] 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,[ ] in a work published in the year , 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[ ] 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[ ] 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[ ] 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[ ] 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. - ). 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[ ] 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 . 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[ ] 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[ ] 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[ ] "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[ ] 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 , lindner,[ ] 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,[ ] 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, ), 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 ). in any case, we must avoid exaggerating the importance of sexual feelings in the child. ribbing[ ] 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 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,[ ] 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[ ] 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 .--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 .--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,[ ] 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,[ ] 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[ ] 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[ ] 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[ ] 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,[ ] 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[ ] made a special class of those in which the offence was frequently repeated upon the same individual. of the cases of this kind, were in little girls under eleven years of age, and 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[ ] 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[ ] 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[ ] 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 boys belonging to the former group, and in belonging to the latter. of the belonging to the former group, were found to masturbate, in improper sexual acts with the mouth were admitted, in active pæderasty, and in 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 . 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[ ] 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[ ] 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,[ ] 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,[ ] 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 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.[ ] "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 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 , 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,[ ] 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[ ] 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;[ ] 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[ ] 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,[ ] 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,[ ] 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 , for every persons under years of age, were married, of these being boys, and girls. in the year , the number of married persons under years of age was per , of whom were children under 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[ ] 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.[ ] 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,[ ] 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,[ ] 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;[ ] 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.[ ] 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.[ ] 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[ ] 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. - . 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,[ ] 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.[ ] 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.[ ] for sexual offences against children, the convictions in the year numbered ; and in the year , . 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[ ] 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,[ ] 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.[ ] 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,[ ] 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 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 , 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 , 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 , 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 , 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 . 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 , 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 , 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 , 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 . 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 , 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_,[ ] 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;[ ] 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.[ ] 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.[ ] 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[ ] 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.[ ] 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;_[ ] 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.[ ] 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 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[ ] 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.[ ] 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.[ ] 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,[ ] 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 , 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.[ ] 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[ ] 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.[ ] 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."[ ] 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[ ] 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 .--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 , 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. _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. . 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. _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 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 , 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,[ ] 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 .--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.[ ] 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.[ ] 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.[ ] 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.[ ] 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[ ] 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 , 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[ ] 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.[ ] 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 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 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 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.[ ] 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. _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. _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[ ] 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. [ ] _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. ), writes: "infants are children under twelve months of age."--translator's note. [ ] _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. _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. [ ] _l'hygiène sexuelle_, paris, , p. . [ ] thalhofer, _die sexuelle pädagogik bei den philanthropen_, kempten, . [ ] rudeck, _die liebe_ (leipzig, undated), p. . [ ] groos, _die spiele der tiere_ (_the games of animals_), jena, . [ ] see a translation by dr. brill, of new york, of freud's _selected papers on hysteria and other psychoneuroses_ ( ). [ ] _die störungen der geschlechtsfunctionen des mannes_ (_the disturbances of the male sexual functions_), nd ed., vienna, , p. . [ ] otto adler, _die mangelhafte geschlechtsempfindung des weibes_ (_inadequacy of sexual sensation in woman_), berlin, , p. _et seq._ [ ] marthe francillon, _essai sur la puberté chez la femme_, paris, . [ ] _man and woman_, th ed., london, . [ ] _der körper des kindes_ (_the body of the child_), stuttgart, . [ ] halban, _die entstehung des geschlechtscharakters_ (_the origin of sexual differentiation_), archiv für gynäkologie, vol. lxx., heft . p. . [ ] _man and woman_, london. [ ] _weib und mann_, berlin, , p, . [ ] meumann, _vorlesungen zur einführung in die experimentelle pädagogik und ihre psychologische grundlagen_ (_introductory lectures on experimental pedagogy and its psychological basis_), leipzig, , vol. i. p. . [ ] _zeitschrift für psychologie_, leipzig, , p. . [ ] _geschlecht und krankheit_ (_sex and disease_), halle, . [ ] _die hysterie im kindesalter_ (_hysteria in childhood_), nd ed., halle, . [ ] _die hysterie des kindes_ (_hysteria in the child_), p. , berlin, . [ ] _vorlesungen über störungen der sprache_ (_lectures on disturbances of speech_), p. . berlin, . [ ] _hautkrankheiten und sexualität_ (_diseases of the skin in relation to sex_). reprinted from the _wiener klinik_, . [ ] william douglas morrison, _jugendliche uebeltäter_ (_youthful delinquents_), p. . leipzig, . [ ] _die seele des kindes_ (_the soul of the child_) p. , th ed., leipzig, . [ ] 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, , 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. [ ] _op. cit._, p. . [ ] _the hygiene of love._ [ ] _lehrbuch der gerichtlichen medizin_ (_text-book of forensic medicine_), p. , th ed., vienna, . [ ] pauli zacchiae, _quaestiones medico-legales_, lib. i, p. , lipsiæ, . [ ] _lehrbuch der gerichtlichen medizin_ (_text-book of forensic medicine_), p. , stuttgart, . [ ] in the next chapter i shall describe certain analogous pathological processes. [ ] _handbuch der eingeweidelehre_ (_handbook of splanchnology_), nd ed., brunswick, . [ ] 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. , .--translator. [ ] "zur psychologie der vita sexualis" ("contributions to the psychology of the sexual life"), _zeitschrift für psychiatrie_, vol. . [ ] 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. [ ] mantegaaza, _fisiologia del amore_. [ ] "précocité et impuissance sexuelle," _annales des maladies des organes génito-urinaires_, vol. i. no. , . [ ] by _masturbation_ or _onanism_ i understand the artificial mechanical stimulation of the genital organs. etymologically and strictly, onanism denotes coitus interruptus (gen. xxxviii. ); masturbation (manustupration), artificial stimulation of the genital organs with the hand. [ ] _drei abhandlungen zur sexualtheorie_, p. , leipzig, . for reference to english translation, see footnote to p. . [ ] _dreissig jahre praxis_, part i. p. , vienna, . [ ] _nervöse angstzustände und ihre behandlung_, berlin, . [ ] see note to page . [ ] translated from the german edition of the _memoirs of madame roland_, part i., p. _et seq._, belle-vue, near constance, (_bibliothek ausgewählter memoiren des xviii. und xix. jahrhunderts_, berausgegeben von f. e. pipitz and g. fink). [ ] _the introduction to a devout life_, by st. francis of sales, published early in the seventeenth century. [ ] _die spiele der tiere_ (_the games of animals_), jena, , p. _et seq._ [ ] moll, _untersuchungen über die libido sexualis_, berlin, , p. . [ ] "die entstehung der geschlechtscharaktere" ("the origin of the sexual characters"), _archiv für gynäkologie_, berlin, , vol. lxx. [ ] 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. [ ] 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. _et seq._, leipzig, . [ ] ancel et bouin, "insuffisance spermatique et insuffisance diastématique," _la presse médicale_, january th, . [ ] 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. [ ] 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. [ ] a record of such cases will be found in the article on "menstruation," p. of the _dictionnaire des sciences médicales_, dechambre, paris, . [ ] kisch, _the sexual life of woman_, pp. - , english translation by m. eden paul; rebman, london, . [ ] _traité de physiologie_, vol. i. p. , paris, . [ ] 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, . [ ] _untersuchungen über die libido sexualis_ (_researches into the nature of the sexual impulse_), berlin, , chap, iii. [ ] paris, , vol. i, p. . [ ] s. hall, "the early sense of self," _am. journ. of psych._, april . [ ] _sexualbiologie_, berlin, , p. _et seq._ [ ] _union médicale_, may . [ ] _psychopathologie légale_, paris, , vol. ii. p. . [ ] havelock ellis, _studies in the psychology of sex_, vol. v., "erotic symbolism, &c.," p. _et. seq._ [ ] "the early sense of self," _american journal of psychology_, april , p. . [ ] moll, _die konträre sexualempfindung_, case , rd ed., berlin, . [ ] neugebauer, _hermaphroditismus beim menschen_ (_hermaphroditism in the human species_), leipzig, . [ ] _l'hygiène sexuelle et ses conséquences morales_, p. , paris, . [ ] jacobus x----, _lois génitales_, p. , paris, . [ ] albert moll, _untersuchungen über die libido sexualis_ (_studies concerning the sexual impulse_), p. _et. seq._, berlin, . [ ] _Émile_ (at the beginning of book iv.). [ ] _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. , stuttgart, . [ ] _monsieur nicolas_, vol. i. p. , paris (liseux), . [ ] _kinderleben in der deutschen vergangenheit_ (_child life in old germany_), p. , leipzig, . [ ] _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. - , leipzig, . 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. [ ] _wie der geschlechtstrieb des menschen in ordnung zu bringen usw._ (_how to control the human sexual impulse, &c._), brunswick, . [ ] _studies in the psychology of sex_, vol. iii.; _analysis of the sexual impulse_, pp. - and footnote, davis, philadelphia, . [ ] _the sexual question_, rebman, london, , pp. - . [ ] _dreissig jahre praxis_ (_thirty years of medical practice_), würzburg, , p. . [ ] quoted by havelock ellis, _studies in the psychology of sex_, vol. i., rd ed., davis, philadelphia, , p. . the original paper is by c. w. townsend, "thigh friction in children under one year," annual meeting of the american pediatric society, montreal, . five cases are recorded by this writer, all in female infants. [ ] regarding the precise significance of the terms _iomasturbation_ and _onanism_, see the author's footnote to page . 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., rd ed., . part iii., "auto-erotism: a study of the spontaneous manifestations of the sexual impulse."--translator's note. [ ] kisch. _the sexual life of woman_, english translation by m. eden paul, rebman, london, , p. . [ ] "die entwicklung der geschlechtscharaktere," _archiv für gynäkologie_, vol, lxx. p. , berlin, . [ ] kisch, _the sexual life of woman_, english translation by m. eden paul, rebman, london, , p. . [ ] _drei abhandlungen zur sexualtheorie_ (_three essays on the sexual question_) p. _et seq._, leipzig and vienna. [for reference to english translation, see footnote, p. .] [ ] _jahrbuch für kinderheilkunde_, . [ ] _die masturbation_, p. , berlin, . [ ] _l'hygiène sexuelle_, paris, , p. . [ ] "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. , . [ ] "quelques mots sur l'onanisme" ("a few words on masturbation"), _annales des maladies des organes génito-urinaires_, , no. . [ ] "schülerselbstmorde" ("suicide during school-life"), _zeitschrift für pädagogische psychologie_, april , p. _et seq._ [ ] _du suicide_, nd ed., paris, , p. . [ ] for a comprehensive account of these views, see löwenfeld, _sexualleben und nervenleiden_ (_the sexual life and nervous diseases_), th ed., wiesbaden, , chap. xiv. [ ] "das erleiden sexueller traumen usw." ("the ill effects of sexual dreams"), _zentralblatt für nervenheilkunde_, november , . [ ] _seltene und weniger bekannte tripperformen_ (_rare and little-known forms of gonorrhoea_), german translation by george merzbach, vienna and leipzig, . [ ] _la donna delinquente, la prostituta e la donna normale_ (_woman as criminal and prostitute_), p. , turin, . [english readers will find an account of this widely-read book in kureila's _cesare lombroso, a modern man of science_, pp. - , translated by m. eden paul; rebman, london, --translator's note.] [ ] _Étude médico-légale sur les attentats aux moeurs_, p. , paris, . [ ] kisch, _the sexual life of woman_ p. , translated by m. eden paul; rebman, london, . [ ] _l'onanisme chez l'homme_, p. , nd ed, paris. [ ] _minorenni delinquenti_, p. , milan, . [ ] _the sexual question_, p. _et seq._, rebman, london, . [ ] _op. cit._, p. . [ ] _delinquenza precoce e senile_, p. , como, . [ ] _les enfants menteurs_, mémoire lu à la société médico-psychologique, séances du et nov. . [ ] _handbuch für untersuchungerichter_ (_manual for police magistrates_), part i. p. , th ed., munich, . [ ] _aprosexia_ is the technical term for inability to fix the mind upon any subject. [ ] in the first book of _les confessions_. [ ] strodtmann, _h. heines leben und werke_, vol. i. p. _et seq._, berlin, . [ ] _fisiologia del amore_. [ ] _les femmes homicides_, paris, . p. _et seq._ [ ] "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_, , p. et seq. [ ] _archiv für rassen- und gesellschaftsbiologie_, , p. . [ ] we are irresistibly reminded, in this connexion, of the reputed higher morality of age as compared with youth, of which la rochefoucauld says (maxim ): "when our vices leave us, we flatter ourselves that it is we who leave them."--translator's note. [ ] esquirol refers to this in his great work on mental disorders. [ ] _die sittlichkeitsverbrecher_ (_offenders against sexual morality_). see also _vierteljahrsschrift für gerichtliche medizin und offentliche sanitätswesen_, third series, xxix, . [ ] 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_ ( rd ed., reinhardt, munich, , pp. , ). but such lodgers are by no means unknown in the overcrowded quarters of english towns.--translator's note. [ ] _psychiatrische vorlesungen_, leipzig, , p. . [ ] compare george meredith on the male egoist's demand for "innocence" (_the egoist_, p. ): "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. [ ] _la prostitution clandestine_, p. _et seq._, paris, . [ ] _the intermediate sex,_ swan sonnenschein, london, , p. . [ ] werthauer, _sittlichkeitsdelikte der grosstadt_ (_offences against morality in large towns_), p. _et seq._, berlin and leipzig, . [ ] _verbrechen und vergehen wider die sittlichkeit. entführung. gewerbsmässige unzucht_ (_crimes and misdemeanours against morality. abduction, professional unchastity_), p. . reprint from the _fergleichende darstellung des deutschen und ausländischen strafrechts_ (_comparative statement of german and foreign criminal law_). [ ] _das geschlechtsleben in der völkerpsychologie_ (_the sexual life in folk-psychology_), p. , leipzig, . [ ] béraud, _les filles publiques de paris_, paris, . [ ] for fuller details, see mittelmaier, _op. cit._, p. . [ ] "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. _et seq._, berlin, . [ ] see footnote to page . [ ] compare havelock ellis, _studies in the psychology of sex_, vol. vi.; _sex in relation to society_ (philadelphia, , p. ); "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. [ ] for details, see rosenbaum, _geschichte der lustseuche_ (_history of venereal disease_), halle, , p. _et seq._ [ ] 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. [ ] _die seelische entwicklung des kindes_ (_the mental development of the child_), nd ed., leipzig, , p. . [ ] for fuller details, see the work of rudeck, _geschichte der öffentlichen sittlichkeit in deutschland_ (_history of public morals in germany_), nd ed., berlin, , p. _et seq._ _cf._ also, alfred martin, _deutsches badewesen in vergangenen tagen_ (_german bathing customs in former days_), jena, . [ ] a german law dealing with offences against sexual morals.--translator's note. [ ] i owe to private information, most kindly given me by dr. bohn, my knowledge of numerous details bearing on this question. [ ] _romanische liebe und persönliche schönheit_ (_romantic love and personal beauty_), nd ed., breslau, , vol. ii. p. . [ ] 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. [ ] see the article on "coeducation" in _buch von kinde_ (_the book of the child_), edited by adele schreiber, vol. ii, leipzig, , p. . [ ] _versuch einer charakteristik des weiblichen geschlechtes_ (_attempt at a characterization of the female sex_), hanover, , vol. i. p. . [ ] pougin, _dictionnaire du théâtre_, paris, , p. . [ ] 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, , p. . [ ] moll, _aerztliche ethik_, stuttgart, , pp. - . [ ] 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, , vol. ii. p. , 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. [ ] _l'amour_, th ed., paris, , p. . [ ] 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. [ ] _sexuelle belehrung der aus der volksschule entlassenen mädchen_ (_the sexual instruction of girls leaving the elementary school_), leipzig, . [ ] 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 _. 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. [ ] _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, , p. _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. [ ] for example, max oker-blom: _beim onkel doktor auf dem lande_. a book for parents, nd ed., vienna and leipzig, .--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, , west nd street, new york. [a list of a number of such books will be found in a footnote to p. 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.] [ ] _affektivität, suggestibilität, paranoia_, halle, . [ ] _anthropologisch-kulturhistorische studien über die geschlechtsverhältnisse des menschen_ (_anthropological and historical studies concerning the sexual life of mankind_), nd ed., jena, , p. . [ ] 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 , 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. [ ] the arguments against raising the age of consent for women beyond the age of sixteen now specified in the criminal law amendment act of , 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. - . davis, philadelphia, .--translator's note. [ ] "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_, , no. . index of subjects "abreaction," abstinence, sexual. _see_ sexual abstinence accuracy, sexual differences in, accusations, false, by children, acme, voluptuous. _see_ orgasm; _and also_ voluptuousness adenoids, adequacy of sexual act, , , , advertisements, perverse, - age for the sexual enlightenment, - age of consent, , , "age of reason," alarm at sexual manifestations, albums, alcohol, , , , , - and the sexual impulse, , unsuitable for children, alcoholism, alienists and the study of sexual life, alopecia areata, altruism and love, amatory passion and suicide, , anæsthesia sexualis, , animal friendships, , animals, sexual fondness for, , . _see also_ bestiality sexual paradoxy in, sexual phenomena in young, - anthropology, works on, , anus, anxiety causing ejaculation, - in the masturbator, anxiety-neurosis, , , aprosexia, art and sexuality, - the nude in, - assaults, sexual. _see_ sexual assaults association of contrectation and detumescence, - theory of sexual perversions, - autobiographies, - , auto-erotism, , . _see also_ masturbation _and_ onanism auto-suggestion, balanitis, balls, children's, , bars, parallel and horizontal, and sexual stimulation, bartholin's glands, , secretion of, , bathing, mixed, beard, a secondary sexual character, , beauty and the sexual impulse, bed, beggars, belletristic literature, love in, bestiality, , bible, the, , bicycling. _see_ cycling biographies, - blackmail, bladder, distension of, causing erection, blindness, boarding-schools, , books and pictures erotic, - boot, masturbation with, boys frequenting brothels, braggadocio, breasts, sexual differences in, , breathing, sexual differences in, breeches and sexual stimulation, , , brothels, boys frequenting, brother and sister, rarity of sexual desire between, improper sexual acts between, , , elder, effects sexual enlightenment, bulb, vaginal, or bulb of the vestibule, cabbage-patch, babies in, , calf-love, cancer, caressive inclinations and sexuality, , , carunculæ myrtiformes, cases:-- . undifferentiated sexual impulse, . undifferentiated sexual impulse, . undifferentiated sexual impulse, . coitus in childhood, . development of sexual impulse, . anxiety causing ejaculation, . sexual paradoxy, . sexual paradoxy, . sexual paradoxy, . disappearance of early perversions, . foot fetichism, . homosexual, fondness for soldiers, . case of a "voyeur," . flagellation fetichism, . onanism by thigh friction in a girl of four, . masturbation in a boy of eight, . masturbation treated by hypnotic suggestion, . sexual enlightenment by an elder brother, castration defined, _n._ effects of, - catamenia. _see_ menstruation cathartic method, catholic confessional, - priests, homosexual, , sadistic, catholicism and sexual morality, - caution requisite in diagnosing masturbation, "century of the child," the, ceremonial observant of attainment of puberty, cervix uteri. _see_ uterus chancre, soft, characters, sexual, _see_ sexual characters child, as object of sexual practices, - defined, sexual life of, its importance, - child-depraver. _see_ pædophilia child-life in old germany, "child-lover." _see_ pædophilia child-marriage, , , , child-marriages, offspring of, , child-prostitution, child-protection, , , against sexual offences, child-suicides, child-witnesses, credibility of, - childhood, frequency of sexual incidents in early, periods of, , sexual differentiation in, - sexual experiences in, as a factor in disease, - sub-epochs of, , children, false accusations of assaults on, - in the law courts, , legal protection of, _see_ age of consent sexual acts with, to cure venereal diseases, children's care committees, dances, , chordee, _n._ church, the, and sexual indulgence, circumcision, civilisation, modern, and precocious sexuality, , clap. _see_ gonorrhoea class, social, and precocious sexuality, - climate and precocious sexuality, - climbing the pole, , clinical histories of the sexual life, value of, , clitoris, , , closets common to both sexes, danger of, , clothing and sexual stimulation, code, german criminal, code of love, coeducation of the sexes, - coitus. _see also_ sexual intercourse capacity for, colour sense, sexual differences in, compulsion-neuroses, , , concealment. _see_ secretiveness confessional, the, - confident, , , , , , , congenital homosexuality, - predisposition, , - , , , , , , , , , , - , , conjunctivitis, _see_ ophthalmia connubial intercourse, consent, age of, _see_ age of consent consequences, the fear of, consequences of sexual phenomena in childhood:-- ethical, - forensic, - hygienic, - intellectual, - social, - constipation, contagion of example, moral. _see_ moral contagion psychical, contrary sexuality. _see_ sexual inversion contrectation and contrectation-impulse, - , - , - , , , , , and detumescence, importance of their association, conversation, indiscreet, before children, obscene, , , coquetry, corporal punishment, , - corpus cavernosum clitoridis, penis, urethra, spongiosum, corpuscles, finger's, genital, krause's, corpuscular richness, sexual differences in, corruption of children by pædophiles, - of town-life, reputed, - , country _versus_ town as influencing sexual morality, - , courage and love, cowper's glands, , , , , , , credibility of children's evidence, - crime, sexual differences in, , criminal code, german, , , responsibility in children, of pædophiles, - criminals, youthful, , cruelty. _see_ sadism culpability in children, circumstances affecting, , cunnilinctus, , , curiosity of children regarding sexual development, - custom and morality, , cycling, , , cystitis, gonorrhoeal, dances for children, , danger to children of legal proceedings, , dangers, hygienic. _see_ health, dangers to of corporal punishment, , of masturbation commonly exaggerated, - , - of the sexual enlightenment, - social. _see_ social dangers décolletage, degradation, social. _see_ social degradation demarcation, strict, of sexual feelings impossible, , dementia, paralytic, , post-epileptic. , præcox, , senile, , depraver of children. _see_ pædophilia depression in masturbators, detumescence and detumescence-impulse, - , , - , , , , in association with contrectation, - development, puberal. _see_ puberal development sexual. _see_ sexual development diagnosis, - difficulties of, errors in, of sexual perversions, diaries, diet and sexual stimulation, , differentiation, sexual, in childhood, - diligence as a love-manifestation, , disease, sexual differences in, - diseases falsely attributed to masturbation, , venereal. _see_ venereal diseases disgust and shame, - "distinguished governess," - diversion of the sexual impulse, doctor, the, and illegitimate intercourse, and masturbation, dolls, , , drawing, sexual differences in capacity for, dreams, sexual, , - , , , , , duct. _see under specific names as_, prostatic ducts, seminal duct, &c. duverney's glands, dwarfs as objects of sexual desire, sexual phenomena in, , dynamometry in habitual masturbators, early awakening of sexuality, - economic and social reasons for the sexual enlightenment, , eczema, educability, limits of, - education and sexual differentiation, - religious, - sexual, - . _see also_ coeducation works on, "educational" advertisements, - educational reasons for the sexual enlightenment, - effemination, , egoism, sexual. _see_ sexual egoism ejaculation, , , , , , , - , , , , , - during sleep, - , from anxiety, - in the child, - , in the female, , , in the male, , , masturbation without, - ejaculation-centre, , ejaculatory duct, embellishment, romantic, of object of love, , emission, seminal, _n._, . _see also_ ejaculation the first, causing alarm, , emissions, nocturnal. _see_ sexual dreams empirical psychology. _see_ psychology, empirical "energetic instruction," - "english instruction," - enlightenment, the sexual, , , - environment. _see_ education epididymis, epididymitis, epilepsy, , , erectile tissue, erection, in the child, - in the female, , in the male, - , of the clitoris, of the penis, , - , erection-centre, erections, matutinal, non-sexual, _erfahrungspsychologie_, erogenic areas, , , , zones, , , , erotic books and pictures, - literature, love in, obsession, ethical. _see also_ moral dangers of precocious sexuality, - reasons for the sexual enlightenment, - ethics. _see_ morality etiology, - and diagnosis, - eugenic considerations opposed to child-marriage, eugenics, eunuchs. _see_ castration evidence of children, - exaggerated expectations regarding the sexual enlightenment, - examination, physical, of child witnesses, example _versus_ precept, , excess, sexual. _see_ sexual excess exhibitionism, , , , experimental psychology. _see_ psychology, experimental study of the sexual life, fairy-tales, , fallopian tubes, false accusations by children, - family tendencies. _see also_ congenital predisposition fanatics, morality-, , feather-bed, feeble-mindedness, fellatio, fertilisation, fetichism, sexual, , , , , , fickleness, , fig-leaf, the, finger's corpuscles, first love, description of, , fission, flagellation, , , , , , fetichism, cases of, , , , - flogging. _see_ corporal punishment; _and also_ flagellation fluor albus, follicles, graafian, , graafian, primitive, ovarian, ovarian primitive, foot-fetichism, , forensic. _see also_ legal aspects of sexual life of the child, - reasons for the sexual enlightenment, foreskin, , friendship and homosexuality, , friendships of animals, , _fürsorgegesetz_ games of animals, sexual phenomena in, - sexual differences in, , , gastralgia, geldings, , gemmation, genital corpuscles, organs. _see_ sexual organs german criminal code, girth, sexual differences in, gland, _see under specific name as_ prostate gland, cowper's glands, &c. glans clitoridis, penis, gonorrhoea, , , in children, , , graafian follicles. _see_ follicles growth, sexual differences in, , guardianship, law of, gymnastic exercises and sexual stimulation, , hair, pubic, , sexual differences in, hairdressers, homosexual, hair fetichism, , , hanging posture and sexual stimulation, health and the sexual enlightenment, , dangers to, from sexual phenomena during childhood, - heel, masturbation with, height, sexual differences in, hereditary taint. _see_ congenital predisposition heredity, morbid. _see_ congenital predisposition and sexual differentiation, - hermaphroditism, , herpes progenitalis, sexualis, hetero-suggestion, home _versus_ school for the sexual enlightenment, - homosexuality, - , , , , , , , , , - and coeducation, and occupation, , early memories of, , the fostering of, homosexuals, shame in, horizontal bar and sexual stimulation, horse-back riding, housing conditions, bad, , , hygiene of the sexual life of the child, - social, hygienic dangers. _see_ health, dangers to reasons for the sexual enlightenment, - hymen, , , , not lacerated in masturbation, , hyperæsthesia, sexual. _see_ sexual hyperæsthesia hypnotic treatment of sexual aberrations, , hypochondriasis in masturbators, , hypocrisy regarding the sexual life, , hysteria, , , , , idealism, idiocy, idiots, masturbation in, ignorance regarding the sexual life, - , "illegitimate" intercourse, , illusions of love, of memory, - , , imagination in children, , , , , its part in masturbation, perverse, and masturbation, imbecility, , imitative acts, , sexual acts, , immaturity, stimulus of, immoral acts, definition of, impersonator, feminine, importance of the sexual life of the child, - impotence, psychical, impulse, contrectation, _see_ contrectation impulse detumescence. _see_ detumescence impulse sexual. _see_ sexual impulse inattentiveness, incubi, _n._ india, child-marriages in, infancy defined, , _and note_ infection, venereal. _see_ venereal diseases inheritance. _see_ heredity innocence as a sexual stimulus, of rural life, reputed, - insanity, moral. _see_ moral insanity instinct, sexual. _see_ sexual impulse instinctive chastity in girls, intellect, the, and precocious sexuality, - intercourse, sexual. _see_ sexual intercourse interdependence of contrectation and detumescence, - internal secretion of ovaries, of testicles, "interstitial gland" of the testicle, inversion, sexual. _see_ sexual inversion irresponsibility. _see_ responsibility irritation, local, of genitals, irrumatío, itching, itching-reflex, , jaundice, jealousy, , , kinderschutz, , kissing, kitzel, kitzel reflexe, knightly code of love, krause's corpuscles, labia majora, , minora, ladies' tailor, larynx, sexual differences in, , _laudatis temporis acti_, law of guardianship, law-courts, children in, - danger to children in, , legal. _see also_ forensic relationships of sexual life of the child, - "legitimate" intercourse, _lèse majesté_, levity regarding sexual manifestations in childhood, _lex heinze_, , libidio sexualis, _liebeskodex_, life, sexual. _see_ sexual life limits of educability, - literature, belletristic, love in, erotic, love in, of the sexual life of the child, - littré's glands, , , , , looking-glass, love, code of, first. _see_ first love in belletristic literature, in young children, , love-games of animals, - love-illusions, love-letters, love-poems, lust-murder. _see_ sadism; _also_ stabbers "lying children," lying-in-bed, "maiden tribute of modern babylon." _see pall mall gazette_ maidenhead. _see_ hymen mamma. _see_ breast manifestations of love in childhood, - manipulations of the genital organs, non-sexual, manu-stupration, , marriage, early. _see also_ child-marriage, laws, medical advice concerning, masochism, , , , , , , , , , , masochistic advertisements, - masturbatio reservatus, masturbation, , , , , , , - , , , - , , , - , - , , , , , , , , , . _see also_ onanism books on, , comparative frequency in boys and girls, , dangers of excess, defined, , diagnosis of, - during sleep, , enlightenment regarding, - exaggerated views of its dangers, - , , féré's treatment, , in animals, , in childhood, - in idiots, in schools, is it physiological? methods of, , moral contagion of, moral judgments regarding, - mutual, and coeducation, physical signs of, sexual perversions and, tacit permission of, without ejaculation, - maturation, maturity, sexual, defined, , matutinal erections, meatus, urethral, in the female, in the male, medical ethics, membrum virile, memoirs, - memory, illusions of, - , , sexual differences in, menarche præcox, , tardive, menstrual rhythm, , menstruation, , , age at commencement in various countries, precocious, , retarded, the first, causing alarm, , , mental differences between the sexes, - methods of investigation, - micturitional obscenities, milking movements, mind, sexual differences in, - mirror. _see_ looking-glass mishandling of children, , - mixed bathing, mode of sexual enlightenment, - monks, sadistic, mons veneris, monthly period. _see_ menstruation moral contagion of masturbation, corruption of children by pædophiles, - dangers of precocious sexuality, - insanity, judgments on masturbation, - morality. _see also_ sexual morality and custom, , and nakedness, , , sexual, catholicism and, - morality-fanatics, , morbid heredity. _see_ congenital predisposition mother, the, and the sexual enlightenment, - motherhood, pre-marital, motherhood protection, music-hall artiste, _mutterschutzbewegung_, nail-biting, nakedness. _see also_ nude, the and sexual morality, , , narcolepsy, necrophilia, nervous system, abnormal, neurasthenia, , from masturbation, sexual. _see_ sexual neurasthenia neurologists and the study of the sexual life, neuropathia, . _see also_ congenital predisposition neuroses and sexual experiences (freud's theories), - , , - newspaper advertisements, perverse, - newspapers, the erotic in, , night-lodger, , nocturnal emissions. _see_ sexual dreams non-sexual erections, manipulations of the genital organs, nose-picking, nubile, defined, , nude, the, in art, - nuns, sadistic, nurses and masturbation, , , , nymphæ, nymphomania, object of sexual practices, the child as, - objective elements of the sexual enlightenment, , obscene conversation, , observation of sexual acts by children , of sexual processes in young children, of the sexual life, sexual differences in, obsession by erotic ideas, occupation and sexual offences against children, , , and sexual perversion, , offences, sexual. _see_ sexual offences offspring of child-marriages, , onanism. _see also_ masturbation defined, , psychical, oöphorectomy, effects of, operation to remove foreign bodies from vagina or female bladder, ophthalmia of the new-born, opportunity and the sexual enlightenment, orchitis, organs, genital. _see_ sexual organs organs, reproductive. _see_ sexual organs orgasm, involuntary sexual, , - defined, _n._ sexual, , , , , - . _see also_ voluptuousness signs of, , without ejaculation, ovarian follicles. _see_ follicles ovaries, , removal of. _see_ oöphorectomy over-crowding, , , over-development of sexuality in children, oviducts. _see_ fallopian tubes ovulation, , , ovum, pÆderasty, pædophiles, responsibility of, - , peædophilia erotica, , - , , _pall mall gazette_ revelations, panniculus adiposus, paradoxical sexual impulse, paradoxy, sexual, , - parallel bars and sexual stimulation, paralytic dementia, , parents, sexual element in fondness for, , "parisian landscapes," passion, amatory, and suicide, passive character of sexual act in women, pathological, the, in the sexual life over-estimated, , pathology, - pelvis, sexual differences in, , penis, , , , perineum, muscles of, period, monthly. _see_ menstruation periodicity in the sexual impulse, periods of infancy, childhood, and youth, peritonitis, perverse advertisements, - perversions, sexual. _see_ sexual perversions philanthropes, the, phimosis, physical examination of child witnesses, pictures and books, erotic, - place for the sexual enlightenment, - plait-cutting, , play of animals, sexual phenomena in, - play, sexual differences in, , , pleasure, voluptuous. _see_ voluptuousness poetry. _see_ verses pole-climbing, , pollution, _n._ polygamy in the old testament, pornographica, - potency, sexual. _see_ sexual potency potentia coeandi, generandi, practices, sexual. _see_ sexual practices precept _versus_ example, , precocious sexuality, - precocity, sexual, and coeducation, sexual, dangerous to others, in boys, , in girls, , predisposition, congenital. _see_ congenital predisposition pregnancy, precocious, , , pre-marital sexual relations, prematurity, sexual, in boys, , in girls, , prepuce, , priapism, priests, catholic. _see_ catholic priests homosexual, , procreation, capacity for, procurement, prognosis of sexual precocity, progressive paralysis, , prolapse of uterus, prostate gland, , , secretion of, , , prostatic ducts, secretion, utricle, prostitutes, , , , , male, , prostitution in children, - protection of children. _see_ age of consent; _and also_ child-protection of motherhood, prurigo, pseudo-coitus, pseudo-hermaphroditism, psyches, sexual differences in, - psychiatric causes of sexual offences against children, , psychiatrists. _see_ alienists psychical contagion, differences between the senses, - impotence, onanism, _n._ stimuli and precocious sexuality, , psycho-analysis, , - psychology, empirical, empirical, and sex differences, , experimental, and sex differences, - of sex, psychology, works on, , psychopathia, sexualis. _see_ sexual perversions psychosexual development and the sexual enlightenment, phenomena, early appearance of, , , puberal development, , , individual variations in, physical changes, - puberty, books on, ceremonial observance of, defined, , signs of, , pubescence, - . _see_ also puberal development premature, - retarded, , pubic hair. _see_ hair punishment, corporal. _see_ corporal punishment punishments and masochism, , pyromania, quacks and "secret diseases," race and precocious sexuality, , railway-travelling and sexual stimulation, reading influenced by sexual perversions, reading-matter for children, - reasons against the sexual enlightenment, - redness of vulva not pathognomonic of masturbation, religiosity, religious education, - reproductive organs. _see_ sexual organs respect for womanhood, its cultivation in boys, responsibility, criminal, in children, of pædophiles, - retardation of sexual development, , , , revelations of the _pall mall gazette_, rhythm, menstrual, , ripening, years of, - romantic transfiguration of object of love, , romanticism, , rose-fetichism, , rubbing movements, , "rural innocence," the table of, - sadism, , , , - , , , , , , - , , , sadistic advertisements, - satisfaction, sexual, the sense of, , , in children, _schlafbursch_, . _see_ also night-lodger school, the, as a field for the sexual enlightenment, _versus_ home for the sexual enlightenment, - school-doctor, the, and the sexual enlightenment, , schools, masturbation in, _schutzalter._ _see_ age of consent scrotum, season and the sexual impulse, secrecy surrounding the sexual life, "secret diseases," secretion, internal. _see_ internal secretion prostatic, testicular, secretiveness of children regarding their sexual life, , , seduction a cause of masturbation, in childhood, , , , , , , , , , , , segregation of the sexes, self-abuse. _see_ masturbation self-reproach, moral, in masturbators, , semen, , , , constituents of, , definition, seminal duct, common, vesicles, glands of, their distension causes erection, seminiferous tubules, , senile dementia, sensation, voluptuous. _see_ voluptuousness "severe education," - sewing-machine, sexes, coeducation of, - segregation of, sexual abstinence from tardy sexual development, - is it harmful? sexual act, enlightenment concerning, sexual differentiation in, sexual acts in children, , , , , , , sexual acts witnessed by children, , , , , sexual anæsthesia, , sexual assaults, false accusations by children, - sexual characters, primary. _see_ sexual organs secondary, - effect of contrectation on, - tertiary, , sexual contrasts, sexual desire, _n._ sexual development, _see also_ puberal development precocious, - , , in boys, , in girls, , retarded, , , , , , - sexual differences, are they congenital or acquired? - sexual differentiation in childhood, - , , , , sexual dreams, , - , , , alarm at their first appearance, , and the diagnosis of sexual perversion, sexual education, - and nakedness , and sexual perversions, - sexual egoism, george meredith on, sexual enlightenment, the, , , - sexual excess and masturbation, , sexual experiences and neuroses (freud's theories), - , - sexual feelings, their strict demarcation from non-sexual feelings impossible, , sexual fetichism. _see_ fetichism, sexual sexual glands, their influence upon bodily development, - sexual gratification, _n._ sexual hyperæsthesia, , , , , sexual impulse, , , - , - , , , - , , absence of, , components of, - development of, diversion of, paradoxical, , - periodicity in, premature, or retarded. _see_ sexual paradoxy undifferentiated stage, - , , sexual incidents in childhood, frequency of, sexual intercourse, age at which first possible, and masturbation, resemblances and differences, , consent to. _see_ age of consent illegitimate, may the doctor advise? pre-marital, sexual inversion, sexual life, childish memories of, , clinical histories of, , experiments on, literature dealing with, - observation of, of the child, importance of, - sexual morality and nakedness, , , and religion, - and the sentiment of shame, - catholicism and, - sexual neurasthenia, sexual offences against children, , - , - sexual organs, differences in children and adults, - female, - male, - sexual orgasm. _see_ orgasm sexual paradoxy, , - sexual perversions, , , , , , , - , , , , , - , , . _see also under the individual persons_ and choice of occupation, , and masturbation, and sexual education, - induced by pædophiles, , literature of, , their diagnosis by means of sexual dreams, sexual play, sexual potency, normal and abnormal, testing before marriage, sexual practices, the child as an object of, - sexual precocity, , , , , , and sexual perversions, sexual satisfaction. _see_ satisfaction sexual topics in the bible, , sexuality and altruism, , and art, - . _see also_ nude, the and talent, , precocious, - sexually perverse advertisements, - shame, - and disgust, - in relation to sexual morality, - shock, nervous, from love, in young children, , "signs of puberty," , sister and brother, rarity of sexual desire between, . _see also_ brother and sister skatophilia, - , skeleton, sexual differences in, skin, diseases of, sexual differences, sexual differences in, skirts, short, skull, sexual differences in, sleeping with grown persons a cause of corruption in children, smells, unpleasant, and the sentiment of disgust, social and economic reasons for the sexual enlightenment, , dangers of masturbation, - degradation, through precocious sexuality, , illegitimate intercourse, hygiene, sociology, works on, soldiers, homosexual fondness for, song of solomon, spasm, gastric, specialised studies of the sexual life of the child, - spermatogonia, spermatozoa, , , , - , , , age at which first formed, , , stabbers, sexual, stains on underlinen, stammering, steadfastness and love, stimulation, excessive, and masturbation, , local, a cause of sexual misconduct, - psychical, - stork-stories, , "strict education," - students, sexual morality of, sub-consciousness, the, subjective elements of the sexual enlightenment, , suburethral glands, , . _see also_ cowper's glands succession and sexual stimulation, succubi, sucking movements, , , suffrages. _see_ woman's suffrage suggestion, , . _see also_ hypnotism suicide from love in childhood, , sexual differences in, summary of views on the sexual enlightenment, superstition regarding cure of venereal diseases, , symptomatology, - syphilis, , , cerebral, taint, hereditary. _see_ congenital predisposition talent and sexuality, , tardy sexual development, - teachers and sexual offences against children, , teaching and example, testes, testicles, internal secretion of, - removal of. _see_ castration secretion of, theatre, the, theological morality and sexual intercourse, therapy, - thieves, thigh-friction, , , threadworms, , thyroid, sexual differences in, tic, tickling, children's genital organs, , tissue, erectile, town-life and precocious sexuality, - , transfiguration, romantic, of object of love, , treatment of sexual aberrations, - tress-cutting, tubes, fallopian. _see_ fallopian tubes tubules, seminiferous, tunica albuginea, underclothing, stains on, underclothing-fetichism, , , undifferentiated sexual impulse. _see_ sexual impulse unemployment, united states, sexual morality in, , urban corruption, the fable of, - urethra, male, urethral glands, , . _see also_ littré's glands meatus. _see_ meatus _urethrorrhoea ex libidine_, , , urticaria, uterus, , masculinus, prolapse of, utricle, prostatic, vagabonds, vagina, vaginal bulb, glands, , orifice, vanity, variability of amatory sentiments in childhood, , variations in the puberal development, vas deferens, vasa efferentia, venereal diseases and the sexual enlightenment, in children, - , superstition about their cure, , infection and the sexual enlightenment, , , , , , verses written by children in love, vesiculæ seminales, , vestibule, viraginity, , virile potency. _see_ sexual potency visual-memory, sexual differences in, voice, sexual differences in, voluptuous sucking, voluptuousness, , , , , , , - in children, - , , in the female, , in the male, , in women, its intensity, , "voyeur," case of, vulva, vulval glands, , weight, sexual differences in, _wollustkörperchen_, woman's movement, the, , , suffrage, womb. _see_ uterus women, inculcation of respect for, valuation of, _wonnesaugen_, wrestling, , youth, defined, zoology, works on, _zwangsneurose_, index of names abraham, karl, adler, otto, , alderi, allen, _n._ ancel, arbiter (elegantium). _see_ petronius aschaffenburg, bacquÉ, bartels, barthélemy, basedow, , bäumer, gertrud, bell, sanford, vi, , , , , , , , , , béraud, binet, bleuler, bloch, iwan, blom. _see_ oker-blom boerhaave, boesch, hans, bohn, boismont, de. _see_ de boismont bouin, bourdin, brehm, , breschet, , bretonne. _see_ rétif breuer, brierre de boismont. _see_ de boismont brill, broker, browning, mrs., bruns, buffon, byron, campe, canova, carpenter, edward, , carus, , casanova, chamisso, clopatt, dante, , de boismont, de musset, alfred, derones, , d'espine, marc, dessoir, max, , dippold, dostoiewski, d'outreport, duchâtelet, parent-, duff, mary, eden paul. _see_ paul ellis, havelock, v, , , , , , , , , , , , englisch, eschle, esquirol, eulenburg, , exner, faust, fehling, fehlinger, hans, , féré, , , , , ferrero, ferriani, , finck, flaubert, forel, , francillon, marthe, francis, st., of sales, freud, vi, , , , , , , , , frisch, fuchs, fürbringer, , , gall, , gebhard, goethe, , , , , gousset, grimm, groos, , , , , , gross, hans, , , grünstein, guttceit, , gutzmann hermann, haberda, halban, , , hall, stanley, , haller, hartmann, berthold, havelock ellis. _see_ ellis hebbel, , , heidenhain, heine, henke, henle, herodotus, hofmann, höller, k., hückstädt, hudson, hufeland, , , , , hutchinson, ibbetsson, sir denzil, jastrowitz, jodl, jullien, , kaunitz, keller, gottfried, kerschensteiner, key, axel, kirn, kisch, , , , klose, kötscher, vi, kovalevsky, krafft-ebing, von, v, , , , , , , , kurella, kussmaul, lambercier, mademoiselle, , lantier, la rochefoucauld, lasègue, laukhard, lehmann, rudolf, leppmann, fritz, , lichtenstein, ulrich von, liégeois, liguori, lindner, lobsien, lombroso, , longfellow, löwenfeld, magnan, , mantegazza, , , , , marcuse, max, marro, martial, martin, martin, alfred, martineau, mead, meredith, george, merzbach, george, meumann, michelet, mittelmaier, , möbius, , , molitor, moll, , , , , , momsen, p., montgomery, morrison, müller, l. r., müller, robert, musset, de, _see_ de musset musset, paul, nÄcke, napoleon i., netschajaff, neugebauer, newman, niemeyer, nyström, oker-blom, max, outreport, d'. _see_ d'outreport padberg, parent-duchâtelet, paul, eden, , , , , pélofi, penta, peterson, viktor, petronius arbiter, , pflüger, platter, felix, , , pockels, popp, adelheid, pougin, pouillet, preyer, ramdohr, rétif de la bretonne, , , ribbing, , , ribot, rohleder, roland, madame, rosenbaum, rousseau, , , , , , rudeck, , rüdin, e., salzmann, sanford bell. _see_ bell sarganeck, scheyer, schreiber, adele, seitz, , sibson, sikorsky, stanley hall. _see_ hall stekel, stern, william, , stoll, otto, strassmann, stratz, c. h., , , strodtmann, tardieu, , tarnowsky, pauline, thalhofer, , tissot, , , , townsend, von krafft-ebing. _see_ krafft-ebing wagner, c., , werthauer, weston, westphal, wittenberg, x----, jacobus, zacchias, zola, "printed in the united states of america." * * * * * +-----------------------------------------------------------+ | transcriber's note: | | | | inconsistent hyphenation in the original document has | | been preserved. | | | | obvious typographical errors have been corrected. for | | a complete list, please see the end of this document. | | | +-----------------------------------------------------------+ * * * * * sex-education [illustration] the macmillan company new york · boston · chicago · dallas atlanta · san francisco macmillan & co., limited london · bombay · calcutta melbourne the macmillan co. of canada, ltd. toronto [illustration: prince a. morrow chief organizer of the american movement for sex-education. physician, educator, author, social reformer. born in kentucky, december , . died in new york city, march , . _courtesy of dr. a.s. morrow._] sex-education a series of lectures concerning knowledge of sex in its relation to human life by maurice a. bigelow professor of biology and director of the school of practical arts, teachers college columbia university new york the macmillan company _all rights reserved_ copyright, , by the macmillan company. set up and electrotyped. published june, . norwood press j.s. cushing co.--berwick & smith co. norwood, mass., u.s.a. to the memory of dr. prince a. morrow whose great faith in the essential goodness of human nature led him to believe that the problems of sex have arisen from ignorance and that education is the key to their solution prefatory note many of the lectures printed in this volume have formed the basis of a series given at teachers college, columbia university, during the summer sessions of and , and during the academic year - . others were addressed to parents, to groups of men, to women's clubs, and to conferences on sex-education. in order to avoid extensive repetition, there has been some combination and rearrangement of lectures that originally were addressed to groups of people with widely different outlooks on the sexual problems. several years ago the late dr. prince a. morrow announced that a volume dealing with many of the timely topics of sex-education was to be prepared by the undersigned with the advice and criticism of a committee of the american federation for sex-hygiene; but even before dr. morrow's death it became evident that this plan was impracticable. three members (morrow, balliet, bigelow) of the original committee collaborated in a report presented at the xv international congress on hygiene and demography. since that time the writer, working independently, has found it desirable to reorganize completely the original outline announced by dr. morrow. in accordance with a declaration made voluntarily in a conversation with dr. morrow, the author considers himself pledged to devote all royalties from this book to the movement for sex-education. among the many persons to whom is due acknowledgment of helpfulness in the preparation of this book, the author is especially indebted for suggestions to the late dr. prince a. morrow, to dr. william f. snow, secretary of the american social hygiene association, and to dr. edward l. keyes, jr., president of the society of sanitary and moral prophylaxis; for constructive criticism, to his colleagues, professor jean broadhurst and miss caroline e. stackpole, of teachers college, who have read carefully both the original lectures and the completed manuscript; and to olive crosby whitin (mrs. frederick h. whitin), executive secretary of the society of sanitary and moral prophylaxis, who has suggested and criticized helpfully both as a reader of the manuscript and as an auditor of many of the lectures delivered at teachers college. m.a.b. teachers college, columbia university, december , . summary of contents page i. the meaning, need, and scope of sex-education § . sex-education and its relation to sex-hygiene and social hygiene. § . the misunderstanding of sex. § . the need of sex-instruction. § . the scope of sex-education. ii. the problems for sex-education § . sex problems and the need of special knowledge. § . first problem: personal sex-hygiene. § . second problem: social diseases. § . third problem: social evil. § . fourth problem: illegitimacy. § . fifth problem: sexual morality. § . sixth problem: sexual vulgarity. § . seventh problem: marriage. § . eighth problem: eugenics. § . summary. iii. organization of educational attack on the sex problems § . the task of sex-education. § . the aims of sex-education. § . the aims as the basis of organized sex-instruction. iv. the teacher of sex-knowledge § . who should give sex-instruction? § . the child's first teachers of sex-knowledge. § . selecting teachers for class instruction. § . certain undesirable teachers for special hygienic and ethical instruction. v. books as teachers concerning sex and life § . value and danger of special sex-books for young people. § . general literature and sex problems. § . dangers in literature on sexual abnormality. vi. sex-instruction for pre-adolescent years § . elementary instruction and influence. § . hygienic and educational treatment of unhealthful habits. vii. sex-instruction for early adolescent years § . the biological foundations. § . scientific facts for boys. § . scientific facts for girls. viii. special sex-instruction for adolescent boys and young men § . developing attitude towards womanhood. § . developing ideals of love and marriage. § . reasons for pre-marital continence. § . essential knowledge concerning prostitution. § . need of refinement of men. § . dancing as a sex problem for men. § . dress of women as a sex problem for men. § . the problem of self-control for young men. § . the mental side of a young man's sexual life. ix. special instruction for maturing young women § . the young woman's attitude towards manhood. § . the young woman's attitude towards love and marriage. § . reasons for pre-marital continence of young women. § . need of optimistic and æsthetic views of sex by women. § . other problems for young women. x. criticisms of sex-education § . a plea for reticence--agnes repplier. § . a plea for religious approach--cosmo hamilton. § . the conflict between sex-hygiene and sex-ethics--richard cabot § . the arrogance of the advocates of sex-education--william h. maxwell. § . lubricity in education--w.h. taft. § . conclusions from the criticisms of sex-education. xi. the past and the future of the sex-education movement § . the american movement. § . important steps. § . the future of the larger sex-education. xii. some books for sex-education index i the meaning, need, and scope of sex-education § . _sex-education and its relation to sex-hygiene and social hygiene_ [sidenote: definition of sex-education.] sex-education in its largest sense includes all scientific, ethical, social, and religious instruction and influence which directly and indirectly may help young people prepare to solve for themselves the problems of sex that inevitably come in some form into the life of every normal human individual. note the carefully guarded phrase "help young people prepare to solve for themselves the problems of sex", for, like education in general, special sex-education cannot possibly do more than help the individual prepare to face the problems of life. [sidenote: more than sex-hygiene.] now, sex-education as thus defined is more extensive than sex-hygiene, which term was originally applied to instruction concerning sex. sex-hygiene obviously refers to health as influenced by sexual processes, and as such it is a convenient subdivision of the science of health. it would be quite satisfactory as a name for popular instruction concerning sex if that were strictly, or even primarily, hygienic; but in a later lecture it will be shown that the most desirable sex-instruction is only in a minor part a problem of hygiene. i realize that this statement may be declared heretical by many of the present-day advocates of sex-hygiene, because they have approached this latest educational movement from the standpoint of physical health, and especially because their attention has been drawn to the very common occurrence of pathological conditions. nevertheless, the sexual problems of our times do not all affect physical health, which hygiene aims to conserve; and the sex-educational movement will be quite inadequate without great stress upon certain ethical, social, and other aspects of sex. young people need instruction that relates not only to health but also to attitude and to morals as these three are influenced by sexual instincts and relationships. this idea will be developed later, but i anticipate here simply to suggest the point of view of the statement that "sex-hygiene" is altogether too limited as a general designation for the desirable instruction concerning sex. the continued use of the term "sex-hygiene," now that the scope of the desirable sex-instruction has been extended far beyond the accepted limits of the science of health, is tending to cause confusion. the educational problems will be more definite and the support of the intelligent public more assured if we limit the use of "sex-hygiene" to the specific problems of health as affected by sexual processes and cease trying to make it include those phases of sex-instruction which have nothing directly to do with health. two general terms, "sex-instruction" and "sex-education," are available as all-inclusive designations of the desirable instruction concerning any aspects of sex. they are quite free from the above objections to "sex-hygiene," and it is highly desirable that they should be used in all educational discussions where there is no specific reference to the problems of health. sex-hygiene will be used in these lectures only when there is some direct reference to health as influenced by the sexual functions. [sidenote: social hygiene.] social hygiene in its complete sense means the great general movement for the improvement of the conditions of life in all lines in which there is social ill health or need of social reform; but it is often limited to the sexual aspect of the unfortunate and unfavorable conditions of life, and it has been proposed to adopt the term "social hygiene" as a substitute that avoids the word "sex" in sex-hygiene. for this reason it has been incorporated into the names of several societies that are interested in sex-hygiene (_e.g._, the american social hygiene association). probably the relation of sex-hygiene to the so-called "social evil" has suggested the use of social hygiene in its most limited sense. it will be unfortunate if this usage becomes so prominent that we think of the health problems of society as chiefly sexual, for the larger outlook of ellis's "task of social hygiene" is desirable. likewise, the phrase "social evil" in the sense of sexual evil misleadingly suggests that the only evil of society is the sexual one, but this evasive designation is being supplanted by the more definite and franker word "prostitution." it should be noted that "social hygiene" as a substitute for "sex-hygiene" is narrower in that it does not include the personal problems of health as affected by sexual processes. this is a serious omission, for certainly all sex-hygiene taught before the later adolescent years should be personal and not social. [sidenote: phases of sex-education.] the relation of sex-hygiene or social hygiene as a limited phase of sex-education is shown by the following outline: { sex-hygiene (personal, | for sexual health { social) | { | { biology (including | for attitude { physiology) of | regarding sex, { reproduction | and for important { | scientific facts { | in the broadest { heredity and eugenics | for sexual conduct outlook, sex-education { | leading to race (or sex-instruction) { | improvement includes: { | { ethics and sociology | for sexual conduct { of sex | { | { psychology of sex | for sexual health { | and conduct { | { æsthetics of sex | for attitude [sidenote: sex and reproduction.] since the original purpose of sex was perpetuation of plant and animal species, and since in the study of biology the idea of sex is illustrated and developed by examination of the reproductive processes in various types, it has been customary for many writers on sex-education to use the terms "sex" and "reproduction" as if they were synonymous. this is no longer so in human life; for while reproduction is a sexual process, sexual activities and influences are often quite unrelated to reproduction. in fact, most of the big problems that have made sex-education desirable, if not necessary, are problems of sex apart from reproduction. it therefore seems clear that, while studies of reproduction are prominent in sex-education, they should be regarded as introductory to the problems of sex, especially for young people. § . _the misunderstanding of sex_ [sidenote: objection to word "sex."] some educators have expressed the wish that some one might suggest a satisfactory substitute for the terms "sex-hygiene" and "sex-education," omitting the word "sex." this word and its companion "sexual" are objectionable because they are associated in the minds of most people with vulgar interpretation of the physical aspects of the beginning of individual life, and much of the opposition to the proposed sex-instruction in home and schools is evidently based on the feeling that the very word "sex" involves something inherently vulgar. [sidenote: definite words necessary.] it is probable that many decades will pass before the majority of intelligent people cease to feel that the words "sex" and "sexual" have had such vulgar associations that they should be kept out of our everyday vocabulary, but i can see no hope of developing an improved attitude towards the sexual aspect of human life if we continue to admit that we are afraid of the necessary words. it seems to me that in one decade there has been a great advance in that the scientific writers and speakers on problems of sex have been using words which definitely and directly express the desired meanings, and have avoided the suggestive circumlocutions which characterize many modern realistic novels. one who does not already appreciate the serious impressiveness of cold scientific language in discussion of sexual problems should take one of the indecently suggestive paragraphs from stories in the most notoriously vulgar of the fifteen-cent magazines, and translate the meaning of the paragraph into direct and definite words. the result will be complete loss of the stealthy suggestiveness which has made concealed sexuality so dangerously attractive to the type of mind that revels in the modern sex-problem novels. we want no such suggestive concealment in a scheme of sex-education, for it aims at a purer and higher understanding of sex in human life. we must have direct and definite and dignified scientific language, and among the necessary words none are as essential as "sex" and "sexual." we must use them freely if attitude towards sex is to be improved; and their dignified and scientific usage will gradually dispel the embarrassment which many unfortunate people now experience when these words remind them that the perpetuation of life in all its higher forms has been intrusted to the coöperation of two kinds, or sexes, of individuals. thus viewing the objections which have been raised against the use of the word "sex" in the educational movement, i have shifted my first stand with the opposition until now i favor the frank and dignified use of this and similar words on appropriate occasions. i believe that those interested in the search for solutions of the vital problems of sex should quietly but systematically work to include the words "sex" and "sexual" in the dignified and scientific vocabulary needed by all people to express the newer and nobler interpretations of the relationships between men and women. [sidenote: no "sex" studies.] of course, this does not mean that sex, either as a word or as a fact of nature, should be over-emphasized with people who are too young to appreciate the fundamental facts of life. as already suggested, it is not desirable that any parts of the curricula for schools should be known to the pupils as "sex" studies; but we need such terms as "sex-hygiene" and "sex-instruction" to indicate to teachers and parents that certain parts of the education of the children are being directed towards a healthy, natural and wholesome relation to sex. [sidenote: "sex" and "love."] it is absurd to suppose that the free, dignified, and scientific use of the word "sex" is going to make people more sensual, more uncontrolled, and more immoral. there is much more reason for fearing the free use of the word "love," which has both psychical and physical meanings so confused that often only the context of sentences enables one to determine which meaning is intended. in fact, many writers and speakers seek to avoid all possible misunderstanding by using the word "affection" for psychical love. now, in spite of such confusion, and the fact that to many people the word "love" in connection with sex suggests only gross sensuality, we continue to use it freely and it is one of the first words taught to children. why then do we not hear protests against using the word "love"? simply because we have been from childhood accustomed to the word, first in its psychical sense, and it is only later that most of us have learned that it has a sensual meaning to some people. in short, familiarity with the word "love" in its psychical sense has bred in us a contempt for those who mistake the physical basis of love for love in its combined physical and psychical completeness. [sidenote: meaning of sex.] to many it is surprising to find that the word "sex" has never been used in such degraded connections as has the word "love," and that it has not been half so much misunderstood. there is no obvious vulgarity in the lexicographer's definitions of the word "sex." it simply means, as the science of biology points out so clearly, that the perpetuation of human life, and of most other species of life, has been intrusted to pairs of individuals which are of the two kinds commonly called the sexes, male and female. why nature determined that each new life in the vast majority of species should develop from two other lives has long been a biological puzzle, and most satisfactory of the answers given is that bi-parental origin of new individuals allows for new combinations of heritable qualities from two lines of descent. however, such a biological explanation of the relation of the two sexes to double parentage is of relatively little practical significance in present-day human life when compared with the fact that out of the necessity for life's perpetuation by two coöperating individuals there has grown psychical or spiritual love with all its splendid possibilities that are evident in ideal family life. moreover, the influence of sex in human life has extended far beyond the family (that is, that group of individuals who stand related to one another as husband, wife, parents, and children), for it is a careless observer indeed who does not note in our daily life many social and psychical relationships of men and women who have no mutual interests relating to the biological processes of race perpetuation. of course, the psychologist recognizes that far back of the platonic contact of the sexes on social and intellectual lines is the suppressed and primal instinct that provides physical unions for race perpetuation. however, this is of no practical interest, for, as a matter of fact, the primal instincts are quite subconscious in the usual social relations between the sexes. [sidenote: the larger view of sex.] there is grandeur in this view of sex as originally a provision for perpetuation of life by two coöperating individuals, later becoming the basis of conjugal affection of the two individuals for each other and of their parental affection for their offspring, and finally leading to social and intellectual comradeship of men and women meeting on terms which are practically free from the original and biological meaning of sex. instead, then, of trying to keep sex, both word and fact, in the background of the new educational movement, i believe it is best to work definitely for a better understanding of the part which sex plays in human life, as outlined in the preceding paragraph. hence, in these lectures i shall never go aside in order to avoid either the word or the idea of sex; on the contrary, i shall attempt to direct the discussion so as to emphasize the larger and very modern view of the relationship of sex and human life. [sidenote: the many-sided bearings of sex.] in this first lecture i want to make it clear that the rôle of sex in human life is vastly greater than that directly involved in sexual activity. i shall in several lectures touch the big problems from the standpoint of the sexual instincts as these play an important part in social, psychical, and æsthetic life even if they are rarely exercised, physiologically, or if, as in millions of individuals, they never come to mean more than possibilities of sexual activity for which opportunities in marriage do not come. i am especially anxious to avoid the narrow viewpoint of numerous writers on sex-hygiene who seem to overlook the fact that sexual functioning is only a prominent incident in the cycle of sexual influences in the lives of most people. human life, and especially marriage, should no longer be regarded from the mere biological point of view as for the sole purpose of reproductive activity. it is a far more uplifting view that the conscious or unconscious existence of the sexual instincts, with or without occasional activity, affords the fundamental physical basis for states of mind that may profoundly affect the whole course of life in every normal man and woman. supplementary to this section on the "misunderstanding of sex," i suggest the reading of chapters i-vi of "sex" by geddes and thomson, the "problems of sex" by the same authors, and chapter vi in "the wonder of life" by thomson. § . _the need of sex-instruction_ [sidenote: the old silence and the new enlightenment.] the time-honored policy has been one of silence and mystery concerning all things sexual. everything in that line has long been considered impure and degraded and, therefore, the less said and the less known, the better, especially for young people. such has been the almost universal attitude of parents until within the present century, when many have awakened to the fact that the policy of silence has been a gigantic failure, because it has not preserved purity and innocence and because it has allowed grave evils, both hygienic and moral, to develop under the cloak of secrecy. [sidenote: children will not remain ignorant.] "i don't believe in teaching my boys and girls any facts concerning sex. i prefer to keep them innocent until they have grown up." in these decisive words a prominent woman closed a statement of her firm conviction that the world-wide movement for the sex-instruction of young people is a stupendous mistake. poor deluded mother! how does she expect to keep her children ignorant of the world of life around them? is she planning to transplant them to a deserted island where they may grow up innocently? or is she going to keep the children in some cloister within whose walls there will be immunity from the contamination of the great busy world outside? or is she going to have them guarded like crown princes, and if so, where are absolutely safe guards to be found? such are the questions which rush into the minds of those who have studied the problem of keeping children ignorant of the most significant facts of life. it is usually an easy matter to protect children against smallpox and typhoid and some other diseases, but no parent or educator has yet found out how we may be sure to keep real live children ignorant of sex knowledge. they seem to absorb such forbidden facts as naturally and as freely as the air they breathe. ask any large group of representative men--ministers, or doctors, or teachers, or men of business, or the world's toilers--whether any of them knew the essential facts of sexual life before they were twelve years of age, and ninety-seven in every hundred will answer quickly in the affirmative. ask any large group of women, excepting those whose girlhood has been guarded with exceptional care, and the overwhelming majority will acknowledge that they knew the essential facts before they were fifteen years old. once more, ask these same men and women whether their early knowledge of sex came from pure and reliable sources or from vulgar playmates and depraved servants; and with rare exceptions it is found that vulgarity made the strongest impression in the first lessons concerning the great facts of life. such being the truth, it is nonsense for parents to sit in complacency because they feel sure that their children are safely protected against any vulgar first lessons concerning sex; for no one can know that children are safely guarded from others who may corrupt their innocent minds. as an illustration, a few years ago the mothers of a group of little girls in one of the best-managed private schools felt that with careful supervision both in school and home there was no danger of forbidden knowledge reaching the children. but one day a new pupil innocently exhibited to her mother a miniature notebook with unprintable notes on sexual topics. the resulting investigation revealed a secret club organized by the pupils for the purpose of passing to each member through notebooks all newly acquired information, which had a peculiar value because it must be kept secret from teachers and parents. that club had been in existence during two school years. this is only a sample case of many which have proved that if children are allowed the freedom that developing individuality demands, their mothers must not feel too sure that their darlings are protected against knowledge of life, and perhaps of life in its most degraded aspects. [sidenote: the vital question for parents.] here, then, is the fact that every parent should ponder seriously: normal children are almost certain to get sexual information not later than the early adolescent years, and usually from unreliable and vulgar sources. it is, therefore, not a question whether children of school ages should be taught the important facts of sex, but whether parents and trained teachers rather than playmates and other unreliable persons should be the instructors. which will parents choose for their own children? thousands of intelligent parents have already faced this question, and have decided that their children shall have early sex-instruction in home or school or both in order that there will be little danger of vulgar impressions taking a deep hold on child minds. granted, then, that children should be given some reliable instruction concerning things sexual, who should be the teacher, what should be taught, and when should the instruction be given? these are the fundamental questions now being considered by the parents and educators who have accepted sex-education as necessary. upon the final answers to such questions the decision of many parents will depend. i shall attempt to answer them in later lectures. [sidenote: sex mystery has prevented progress.] the policy of maintaining mystery and secrecy concerning sex has failed with adults even more sadly than with children. health and morals have suffered incalculable injury. the sexual evils of our time are not as bad as were those of the ancient civilizations, but we have little reason to be proud of the slight progress made. but why should we expect the human to make progress when sexual problems have been kept in darkness? the wonder is that, with the prevailing dark outlook on sexual life throughout the past nineteen centuries, the world has not developed more sexual vice. innate animalistic appetites have tended to lead downward, and surely the policy of silence has offered no counteracting influence towards higher living. while religion and ethics, by means of certain rules of conduct, have maintained certain sexual standards, they have not kept vast numbers of humans from falling far below those standards into utter degradation. the modern teachers of religion and ethics have prevented general sexual degradation, but they have failed to give human sexuality any decided uplift. the reason for this failure is the policy of mystery and silence. the teachers of religion and ethics have preferred to let general and more or less abstruse rules govern conduct in sexual lines. until recent years there have been few sermons in which common sexual problems have been presented so that the preacher's meaning has been clear to all. on the contrary, there has been universal mystery and evasion concerning the greatest facts of life. [sidenote: sexual instincts offer no guidance.] many people have justified the mystery thrown around sexual processes on the theory that the reproductive instincts of mature people are sufficient guides for conduct. this involves a misunderstanding of sexual instincts of the higher mammals which are often unscientifically cited as models for human imitation. in these animals sexual union is instinctively determined, because normally the sexual hunger or excitement of both sexes is stimulated and controlled by the physiological condition of the female at the times favorable for fertilization (_i.e._, at the oestrual periods). for example, a pair of dogs living in close companionship show signs of mutual sexual desires only for a few days at the semi-annual oestrual or fertile periods of the female. it occasionally happens that the males of various wild and domesticated mammals exhibit signs of automatic sexual excitement (_i.e._, not caused by the stimulus arising from the physiological condition of the female); but in such cases of male excitement outside of the mating or oestrual periods, the normal females invariably offer instinctive opposition to attempted union by abnormally or automatically excited males. thus, directly and indirectly, there is instinctive control and limitation of sexual union among the animals that are most closely related to the human race. it is biologically possible that similar conditions may have existed in the earliest human life, but that is pure speculation and has no bearing on the practical problems of sex in human life to-day. the fact is that the simple physiological stimuli which produce sexual excitement in both sexes of animals have practically no influence in determining human sexual union. on the contrary, memory associations consciously connected with the opposite sex, especially those associations that are centered in affection, may at any time in the normal individual of either human sex afford the basis for a chain of mental states leading to sexual excitement and union. there is not, as in the animals, instinctive dependence on the physiological conditions that are favorable for fertilization. in fact, spontaneous physiological demands play in civilized human life a minor part in initiating sexual excitement. the reason why some humans seem to have unusual sexual intensity is not so much a matter of exceptionally strong sexuality as of susceptibility to the numerous sexual stimuli with which modern life abounds. for this reason, a man who has formed lewd memory associations is more susceptible to sexual stimulations, _e.g._, by obscene pictures, vulgar words, unusual dress or actions of women, close physical association as in dancing, and certain forms of music. it is not at all uncommon that individuals who are hyper-sensitive to sexually suggestive stimuli are really functionally weak. [sidenote: intelligent control only.] it follows from the facts outlined above that instinctive control of sexual actions applies to animals but not to human life. on the contrary, human control must be on the basis of intelligent choice. this means the greatest task of human life, for it requires voluntary control of instinctive demands which are intensified by numerous stimuli or temptations that are exclusively human. no wonder that natural sex hunger left uncontrolled leads human beings to excesses and degradation that no species of animals with their guiding instincts could possibly reach. [sidenote: individual responsibility.] the absence from human life of any instinctive control of sexual actions leaves a great responsibility on each individual whose natural desires lead impulsively and insistently towards sexual union and must be restrained, controlled, and directed by voluntary choice. in short, all individuals who are intelligent beings are personally responsible for voluntary control of their sexual desires with reference to the ethical, social, and eugenic interests and rights of all other individuals now and in the future. [sidenote: sexual knowledge necessary.] with such an understanding of instincts in relation to human sexual actions, we cannot wonder that the old policy of mystery has failed so completely. since human beings are left to control the most powerful appetite by intelligence, it is evident that a policy based on silence, ignorance, and mystery must fail. the only safe and sure road to the needed control of sexual actions is to be found in knowledge, and the widespread recognition of this fact has led to the new movement for general enlightenment regarding sexual processes in their various relations to human life. [sidenote: education as a solution of sex problems.] it is not surprising that we have turned to seek an educational solution for the problems of sex. education has become the modern panacea for many of our ills--hygienic, industrial, political, and social. we have found people losing health for various reasons and we have proposed hygienic instruction as a prophylactic. we have analyzed many problems of the industries, and now we are beginning to seek their solution in industrial education. we have noted that numerous social and political misunderstandings check progress of individuals and nations, and we are coming to think the pathway upwards is to be found in better knowledge of social and political science. and, in like manner, in every phase of this modern life of ours we are looking to knowledge as the key to all significant problems. it is truly the age of education, not simply the education offered in schools and colleges, but education in the larger sense, including the learning of useful knowledge from all sources whatsoever. with such unbounded confidence in the all-sufficiency of education, it is most natural that we should turn to it in these times when we have come to realize the existence of amazing sexual problems caused either by ignorant misuse, or by deliberate abuse, of the sexual functions which biologically are intrusted with the perpetuation of human life and which psychologically are the source of human affection in its supreme forms. if education is to solve the civic, hygienic, and industrial problems of to-day and to-morrow, why should it not also help with the age-old sexual evils? so reasoning, we have naturally turned to education as one, but not the only, method of attack on the sexual problems which have degraded and devitalized human life of all past times, but which somehow have kept out of the limelight of publicity until our own times. § . _the scope of sex-education_ [sidenote: sex-education is not primarily for schools.] it is well to make clear in this first lecture that no one proposes to limit sex-instruction to schools and colleges. we may safely leave mathematics and writing and even reading to schools, but sex-education will fail unless the schools can get the coöperation of the homes, the churches, the y.m.c.a., the y.w.c.a., the w.c.t.u., the boy scouts, the camp fire girls, and other organizations which aim to reach young people socially, religiously, and ethically. the part which these have already taken in the sex-education movement is in the aggregate far more important than what the schools have been able to accomplish. sex-education, then, should be understood as including all serious instruction--no matter where or when or by whom given--which aims to help young people face the problems that normal sexual processes bring to every life. [sidenote: sex-instruction impossible in most homes.] in a later lecture i shall urge the importance of beginning sex-instruction in the home. there are some parents who wish that it were possible not only to begin but also to end it there, for they fear that public instruction will lead to a weakening of a certain sense of reserve and privacy that has long been considered sacred to the best family life. perhaps this has some truth, but we must remember that only in rare homes are there such ideal relationships of parents to each other and to their offspring that matters of sex are sacred to the family circle. the fact which parents and educators must face is that there are now relatively few homes in which there is one parent able to begin the elementary instruction of young children; and, therefore, as a practical matter for the best interests of the vast majority of young people, we must consider ways and means for instruction outside of most homes. this need not interfere in the least with the parents who are able and willing to give sex-instruction to the children, for the home instruction will naturally anticipate that which the schools must give for the pupils who are not properly instructed at home. it seems to me to be a situation like that of children learning to read at home and later continuing reading at school. sex-instruction begun at home will form the child's attitude and give him some elementary information, and later he may profitably learn more in the same lines in the class work of school, especially in connection with science instruction for which few homes have facilities. moreover, it is quite possible that one instructed at home in childhood may gain from later school instruction something of great social value, for we must remember that the problems of sex which most demand attention are not individual, but social. hence, it may be worth while for the home-instructed individual to learn through class instruction that people outside the home look seriously upon knowledge concerning sexual processes, and that every individual's life must be adjusted to other lives, that is, to society. summarizing, it appears that however desirable home instruction regarding sex may be, the majority of parents are not able and willing to undertake the work, and so the public educational system and organizations for social and religious work should provide a scheme of instruction which will make sure that all young people will have an opportunity to get the most helpful information for the guidance of their lives. [sidenote: caution in school instruction.] [sidenote: parents' co-operation.] in order to gain the serious attention of those who believe themselves unalterably opposed to school instruction regarding things sexual, i anticipate a later discussion and mention in this connection that there must be great caution in all attempts at school teaching that directly touches human sexual life. it would be a dangerous experiment to introduce sex-instruction into all schools by sudden legislation. there must be specially trained teachers of selected personality and tact. no existing high school has enough such teachers, and in the grammar schools where the pupils are at the age when proper instruction would influence them most, the problem of general class instruction is absolutely unsolved. only here and there in schools below the high school has a teacher or principal of rare quality made satisfactory experimental teaching. so uncertain are we at present regarding how we should approach the problem of teaching grammar-school children that the only safe advice for general use is that teachers, or preferably principals, should begin with parents' conferences led by one who is a conservative expert on sex-instruction. were i principal of a school with pupils from, say, two hundred and fifty homes, i should begin at once to organize conferences designed to awaken the parents to the need of sex-instruction for their children, and to the importance of making at least a beginning in the homes. i should expect, according to the experience of others, that of the five hundred parents, two hundred mothers and fifty fathers would take an interest in the conferences, and that at least one hundred fathers too busy for meetings would approve heartily after hearing reports from their wives. thus, i should try to reach the majority of homes represented in my school. i should be in no hurry to introduce class instruction--i mean instruction related directly to human life; but, of course, i should encourage my teachers to emphasize the life-histories of animals and plants in the nature-study, and so lay in the pupils' minds a firm foundation for later connection between human life and all life. at the same time, i should keep my teachers on the lookout for individual pupils or groups that might need special attention and, if such be found, i should seek the coöperation of their parents. and finally, after a year or two of co-working with parents, i should hope to get permission for special talks based on nature-study and hygiene. these talks should first be given to limited groups of pupils, preferably in the presence of some parents who are interested and who have given their children some home instruction. working along such conservative lines, i believe a tactful principal of a grammar school might succeed in developing much of the needed instruction for pre-adolescent pupils. [sidenote: instruction in high schools.] with regard to high-school pupils, we should remember that nine-tenths of the desirable information is already included in the biology of our best high schools. the remaining tenth is that which connects all life with human life; and this requires tact and exceptional skill. however, the high schools no longer offer an insoluble problem, for many teachers have succeeded in giving the desirable instruction to the satisfaction of critical principals and parents. [sidenote: sex-education from early childhood to maturity.] there is a widespread impression that sex-instruction should begin with the approach of adolescence and soon be completed. this idea is often expressed by parents and even by prominent educators who say that the father or teacher ought "to take the boy of thirteen aside and tell him some things he ought to know." still others have the same point of view when they advocate that a physician should be called for a lecture to high-school boys. in fact, most people who have not seriously studied the problems of sex-education seem to believe that one concentrated dose of sex-instruction in adolescent years is sufficient guidance for young people. such limited personal instruction might suffice if sex-education were limited to sex-hygiene. a few hygienic commands in pre-adolescent years and one impressive talk in early puberty might teach the boy or girl how not to interfere with health; but it is improbable that such brief instruction will make a permanent impression which will insure hygienic practice of the precepts laid down. if we hold that sex-hygiene is important, then it must be drilled into the learner from several points of view. an isolated lesson on any topic of general hygiene is of very doubtful efficiency. [sidenote: brief instruction does not fix attitude.] the most important reason why sex-instruction should not be concentrated in a short period of youth is that it is impossible to exert the most desirable influence upon health, attitude, and morals except by instruction beginning in early childhood and graded for each period of life up to maturity. most young people who in early adolescence receive their first lessons from parents and teachers have already had their attitude formed by their playmates. even their morals may become corrupted and their health irreparably injured several years before puberty. the only sure pathway to health, attitude, and morals is in beginning with young children and instructing them as gradually as the problems of sex come forward. [sidenote: sex-instruction after youth.] the greatest possible good of sex-education will not be secured if it stops with early adolescent years. there are many problems of sex in relation to society, particularly in relation to monogamic marriage, that young people should be led to consider in the late teens and early twenties. our sex-education system will not be completely organized until we find ways and means for carrying the instruction by lectures, conferences, and books beyond the years commonly occupied by public-school education. colleges and other higher educational institutions may contribute somewhat to this advanced sex-instruction; but obviously the great majority of maturing young people cannot be reached personally except by instruction arranged in churches, the y.m.c.a., and the y.w.c.a., evening schools, and other such institutions. in many respects this proposed instruction for maturing young people is of very great importance and deserves encouragement such as has not yet been given by those who have written and lectured in favor of a movement for sex-education of young people. [sidenote: the larger sex-education.] in conclusion of this introductory lecture, let me say that i have tried to suggest in a general survey that sex-education in its largest outlook touches great problems of life in very many ways. i have also tried to convince that it is far more than merely a school subject, limited entirely to a curriculum extended over a few years. this is the common misunderstanding arising from the familiar use of the word "education." as opposed to this narrow conception, i understand sex-education, the larger sex-education, to be a collective term designating all organized effort, both in and out of schools, toward instructing and influencing young people with regard to the problems of sex. here we have returned to the central thought of the definition with which this lecture opened, and which i emphasize because it is the foundation of all future lectures: the larger sex-education includes all scientific, ethical, social, and religious instruction and influence which in any way may help young people prepare to meet the problems of life in relation to sex. ii the problems for sex-education § . _sex problems and the need of special knowledge_ [sidenote: arguments for sex-education.] in these lectures i shall discuss the great sex problems towards the solution of which knowledge conveyed by special education may help. these problems offer reasons or arguments in favor of sex-education, and i shall attempt to present them from this point of view. i shall at the same time point out in preliminary outline how organized instruction may apply more or less directly to the sex problems that seem to show the need of educational attack, but in later lectures the organization of instruction will be considered more specifically. [sidenote: propagandism needed.] in reviewing the literature that during the past decade has advocated sex-education, it has seemed to me that there is left little possibility of any decidedly new and important contribution to the arguments favoring such instruction, for the whole case has been splendidly presented by eminent writers in the fields of medicine, biology, sociology, and ethics. it now appears that the great majority of educators, scientists, and intelligent citizens in general have accepted the arguments for sex-instruction, so far as they have been informed concerning the meaning and need of the movement; and this leads me to the belief that in the future we need not new arguments but frequent restatements of the established facts which indicate the importance of widespread knowledge regarding the function that is inseparably connected with the perpetuation of life. in short, we now need a propagandism for extending the sex-education movement among the masses of people. for those who have already accepted sex-education, a survey of the facts that created a demand for sex-instruction will give a clearer outlook on the movement. the rapid increase of interest in sex-education has been the result of widespread dissemination of convincing facts concerning some common disharmonies that grow out of the sexual problems of the human race. these facts which have led to sex-education should be kept in mind by all who wish to understand or to play a part in the instruction of young people. it is quite unnecessary, and still more undesirable, to recite at length in these lectures the social, medical, and psycho-pathological facts concerning abnormal or perverted sexual processes. fortunately, the educational ends may be gained by a general review that points out the bearings of the main lines of the sexual problems, the misunderstandings and mistakes that education may help prevent and correct. [sidenote: parents should know reasons for sex-instruction.] it is important that the general public, especially the parents, should understand the reasons which have induced numerous physicians, ministers, and educators to become active advocates of systematic sex-instruction for young people. although the movement has made extensive progress in the ten years of propagandic work, is probably true that the majority of even intelligent parents are not yet convinced that their children need sex-instruction. this is due largely to the fact that the parents have not yet been shown the reasons why it is now, and always has been, unsafe to allow children to gain more or less sexual information from unreliable and vulgar sources. in fact, it is surprising to find many parents, especially mothers, who seem unable to grasp the idea that their "protected" children can possibly get impure information. there are other parents who know that their children are almost sure to get vulgar information regarding sexual matters, and that some young people are likely to make sexual mistakes; but they calmly look upon such things as part of the established order of the world. still another type of parents who should know the reasons for sex-instruction are those who accept the traditional idea that their daughters must be kept "protected" and "innocent" while their sons are free to sow a large field of "wild oats," concerning which society in general, and such parents in particular, will care little as long as social diseases, bastardy suits, or chronic alcoholism do not result from the dissipations. these are the fathers and mothers who need the most enlightenment concerning the importance of such sex-instruction as will make clear the far-reaching consequences of "wild oat sowing." perhaps most such parents are ignorant, but some are simply thoughtless. as an illustration of the latter, the editor of a well-known magazine was recently talking with a prominent author and made some reference to the immoral habits of young men. their conversation was essentially as follows: the author remarked, "i assume that my boys will be boys and will have their fling before they settle down and marry." the editor quickly replied, "yes, and i presume that you expect your boys to sow their wild oats with my daughters, and that in return you will expect my sons to dissipate with your daughters. at any rate, you have damnable designs on somebody's daughters." this put on the wild-oat proposition a light which was apparently new to the literary man, for he replied, "that is a phase of the young man's problem which never occurred to me. it does sound startling when stated in that personal way." all these classes of parents who have not yet learned the facts which point to ignorance as the cause of the abundant sexual errors of young people and those who do not understand that sexual promiscuity or immorality is an error of gravest significance both to the individual and to society, should have set before them time and again some of the startling facts which in the first five years of the american sex-education movement were promulgated among physicians, ministers, and educators. all such ignorant or indifferent parents will not take an interest in the proposed sex-instruction unless they are convinced by frank and forcible statements regarding the great need of special safeguarding of young people. [sidenote: special associations needed.] since there are so many people who still need the most elementary knowledge concerning the sexual problems that demand educational attack, it is important that there should be local associations which can manage lectures, publications, conferences, and other means of informing the public as to the gravity of the sexual problems of our times, and as to the part which sex-instruction may play in the attempt at finding a solution. such work is now being done splendidly by the societies named in § . the magnitude of the problem of reaching the public is such that there is abundant work for numerous branches of such societies or for local groups willing to take a part in the needed work. as suggested elsewhere, the success of the movement for sex-instruction of children of school ages will depend largely upon the attitude and coöperation of parents; and hence it is important that parents should be led to understand the reasons or arguments for sex-instruction. in other words, they should know the problems that indicate the importance of enlightening the rising generation concerning the great facts of sex and life. [sidenote: books for parents.] among the numerous publications that seem to me adapted for convincing parents that their children need instruction, i commonly mention the following: lowry's "false modesty" and "teaching sex hygiene," howard's "start your child right," wile's "sex education," galloway's "biology of sex," march's "towards racial health," lyttleton's "training of the young in laws of sex," and pamphlets by dr. prince morrow. see also pages - . [sidenote: knowledge needed concerning eight sex problems.] there are eight important sex problems of our times that offer reasons or arguments for sex-instruction, because ignorance plays a large part in each problem. i shall state them briefly here and discuss each in succeeding lectures: ( ) many people, especially in youth, need hygienic knowledge concerning sexual processes as they affect personal health. ( ) there is an alarming amount of the dangerous social diseases which are distributed chiefly by the sexual promiscuity or immorality of many men. ( ) the uncontrolled sexual passions of men have led to enormous development of organized and commercialized prostitution. ( ) there are living to-day tens of thousands of unmarried mothers and illegitimate children, the result of the common sexual irresponsibility of men and the ignorance of women. ( ) there is need of more general following of a definite moral standard regarding sexual relationships. ( ) there is a prevailing unwholesome attitude of mind concerning all sexual processes. ( ) there is very general misunderstanding of sexual life as related to healthy and happy marriage. ( ) there is need of eugenic responsibility for sexual actions that concern future generations. here are the eight sexual problems of our times. any one of them has significance great enough to demand the attention of educators and social reformers. one and all they point to the need of better understanding regarding the sexual functions and their relation to life. i shall now turn to outline the main facts concerning each of these sexual problems so far as it seems likely that they will concern educators and social workers. for convenience i shall use the following brief headings: ( ) personal sex-hygiene, ( ) social diseases, ( ) social evil, ( ) illegitimacy, ( ) sexual morality, ( ) sexual vulgarity, ( ) sexual problems and marriage, ( ) eugenics. [sidenote: historical order.] these sexual problems toward whose solution special instruction of young people may help are stated here in the order in which they have attracted attention as reasons for sex-education. thus, for instance, personal sex-hygiene was the chief reason recognized twenty years ago; social diseases began to attract public attention ten years ago; commercial prostitution has been especially prominent in the discussions of the past five years; and only recently has there been emphasis on sex-education with reference to eugenics. the historical order which i follow in this lecture is not now the order of greatest importance. for example, sexual morality ( ) and vulgarity ( ) are probably of far greater significance than any of the other sexual problems that offer arguments for sex-education. [sidenote: not all sex problems concern youth.] to avoid possible misunderstanding, let me repeat from the first lecture the proposition that sex-education should extend in home and school from childhood to maturity. it follows that these lectures concerning the problems of sex that seriously affect the human race are not all applicable as arguments for instruction in schools or for children of school age. some of the problems of sex point to the need of special instruction in pre-adolescent or in adolescent years, but some of them concern directly only those who are approaching maturity. § . _first problem for sex-instruction: personal sex-hygiene_ [sidenote: personal and social hygiene.] it is convenient to group under personal sex-hygiene all hygienic knowledge concerning sexual processes in their personal as distinguished from their social aspects. the distinction between these two aspects of sex-hygiene is essentially on the same basis as that between personal and public hygiene. for example, indigestion and overwork are matters of personal hygiene, while tuberculosis and typhoid are problems of public hygiene because the individual case leads through infection to disease of others. similarly, such individual disorders as masturbation and deranged menstruation concern personal health directly, while venereal diseases are clearly included in social sex-hygiene. [sidenote: personal sex-hygiene needed.] if there were no other reasons for sex-instruction, i believe that it would be worth while to teach such hygienic knowledge of self and sex as would guard young people against harmful habits and unhealthful care of their sexual mechanisms; and which, moreover, would guide them across the threshold of adolescence with some helpful understanding of the significance of the metamorphosis. many men and women suffer from injured, if not ruined, health because they did not know, especially between ten and fourteen years, the laws of personal sex-hygiene, which concern health in ways not involving sexual relationship. many boys and some girls are injured both physically and mentally by the habit of masturbation. numerous girls are injured physically and many mentally because they have not learned in advance the nature and hygiene of menstruation. many boys are injured both in mind and character because they have no scientific guidance which helps them understand themselves during the stormy transition from youth into manhood. moreover, there are certain simple hygienic commands that children under twelve should receive from parents and teachers. in all these lines the bearings of personal hygienic instruction are so obvious that we need not at this time stop to consider in more detail this first reason or problem for sex-instruction of young people. § . _second problem for sex-instruction: social diseases_ [sidenote: recent publicity regarding vice and disease.] during the past decade the general public has received some astounding revelations concerning the enormous extent of illicit sexual promiscuity, which is immorality according to our commonly accepted code of morals. along with the evidence as to the existence of widespread promiscuity, has come the still more alarming information from the medical profession that sexual promiscuity commonly distributes the germs of the two highly infectious and exceedingly destructive diseases, syphilis and gonorrhea, known in medical science as venereal or social. when these are acquired by individuals guilty of sexual promiscuity, they seriously and often fatally affect the victim; but of far greater social-hygienic importance is the medical evidence that they are very often transmitted to persons innocent of any transgression of the moral law, especially to wives and children. the medical revelations concerning the relation of sexual immorality to the plague of social diseases, has come from certain eminent physicians, notably the late dr. prince a. morrow. his translation of fournier's "syphilis and marriage" ( ), his own "social diseases and marriage" ( ), and several of his pamphlets published by the american society of sanitary and moral prophylaxis, have been authoritative statements of conditions as the medical world sees them. [sidenote: social diseases and immorality.] the extent of social diseases is a fairly accurate measure of the minimum amount of immorality, for nothing is better established in medical science than that promiscuity in sexual relations is directly or indirectly responsible for spread of the microörganisms which cause the diseases. if for several generations all men and women limited their sexual relations to monogamic marriage, and the relatively rare cases of non-sexual and prenatal infection were treated so as to render them non-contagious, the social diseases would probably disappear from the human family. such a statement is significant only in showing the relation of social diseases to sexual promiscuity, for of course, there is no reasonable hope that the venereal germs will ever be annihilated by universal monogamy. [sidenote: attack by education and sanitation.] reduction of the amount of venereal disease must depend upon ( ) hygienic and moral education which will lead people to avoid the sources of infection and ( ) sanitary and medical science which works either by applying antiseptic or other prophylactic methods for preventing development of the causative microörganisms, or by using germicides for destroying those germs which have already produced disease. thus the educational and the sanitary attack on the social diseases lie parallel. both are needed, for, even with all the possible methods of attack, the progress against these diseases will be exceedingly slow. those who are interested in the facts relating to social diseases which point to the need of sex-education as one method of prevention, are referred to the pamphlets published by the american society of sanitary and moral prophylaxis; morrow's "social diseases and marriage"; creighton's "the social disease and how to fight it"; dock's "hygiene and morality"; henderson's "education with reference to sex"; and certain chapters in warbasse's "medical sociology." [sidenote: estimated amount of disease.] with regard to the accuracy of the commonly quoted statements concerning the prevalence of social disease, and therefore of immorality, it must be said in all fairness that there has been much guesswork and some deliberate exaggeration. we learn from various books and lectures that fifty, sixty-five, seventy-five and even ninety per cent of the men in the united states over eighteen years of age are at some time infected with at least one of the social diseases. the fact is that there is no scientific way of getting accurate statistics, for unlike other contagious diseases, the venereal ones are kept more or less secret, and numerous cases cannot be discovered by health officers. all the published figures regarding the prevalence of such diseases are merely estimates based upon the experience of certain physicians with special groups of men, especially in hospitals. there is no reliable scientific evidence as to the prevalence of venereal disease in the whole mass of our american population. [sidenote: education not concerned with percentages.] however, so far as education is concerned, there is nothing to be gained by dispute as to the possible inaccuracy of the higher percentages,[ ] for it is generally admitted that probably over fifty per cent of the men in america and europe become infected with gonorrhea or syphilis, or both, one or more times during their lives, especially in early manhood. this conservative estimate is sufficient to show that the sexual morals of probably the majority of men are at some time in their lives loose. there is reason to believe that with most such men the period of moral laxity is in early manhood before marriage, which, though not excusable, is explainable on physiological grounds. it is important to correct the wrong impression which is now widespread, especially among women who have read the more or less sensational statements in certain books and magazines, that the quoted figures on social disease mean that from fifty to ninety per cent of all men are immoral from time to time for many years. if that were true, the situation represented by the highest estimates would be hopeless, and we might as well start out to adjust society to a system of recognized sexual promiscuity. fortunately, it is far from true, for a great many men included in even the conservative statistics of social disease were infected because they strayed from the moral path very few times and in many cases only once. this fact makes the outlook for improved sexual morals and health more hopeful, for probably the majority of young men need help in controlling themselves for a few years only, especially between eighteen and twenty-five.[ ] [sidenote: established facts.] the reports of medical men regarding the damage done by the social diseases are inaccurate chiefly when they attempt to state percentages of the whole population. they are reliable when they state observed facts, such as the following: it is now established in medical science that ( ) gonorrheal infection results in tens of thousands of cases in complications, such as heart disease, gonorrheal rheumatism, sterility of both men and women, blindness of infants, inflammatory diseases of female reproductive organs, and other well-marked sequelæ of the disease; and ( ) that syphilis is responsible for a large majority of cases of locomotor ataxia, paresis and certain types of insanity, and also for numerous aneurisms of arteries, many apoplexies, and much disease of liver, kidneys, and other organs. moreover, syphilis is charged with being the greatest race destroyer. fournier, the great french specialist, noted that only two children survived from a series of ninety pregnancies of syphilitic women of the well-to-do class. it is probably true that much less than ten per cent of syphilitized embryos ever grow into mature men and women, and even these few survivors are likely to carry in their bodies the germs or the "virus" of syphilis which may affect the next generation. [sidenote: social diseases admittedly dangerous.] such direct statements as the above may be accepted as not exaggerated. however, it little matters in sex-education, except for the purposes of sensational writers, whether statistics regarding the damage done by venereal diseases are more than estimates; for it is sufficient to remember that every physician of large experience agrees that syphilis and gonorrhea are so common and so destructive of health and life that they must be classed among the most dangerous diseases that now threaten the human race. this ought to be sufficient to attract the serious attention of every thinking man and woman. [sidenote: double standard of morality.] thus, in general survey, we see the great problems of social-sexual hygiene caused by diseases that are widely distributed because sexual instincts are uncontrolled. in short, the alarming problem of the social diseases results from masculine promiscuity or the failure of men to adhere to the monogamic standards of morality. in other and familiar phrasing, there is widespread acceptance and practice of the so-called "double standard of sexual morality," a monogamic one for respectable women and promiscuity for many of their male relatives and friends. (see writings of morrow, especially "the sex problem"; also creighton's "the social disease.") [sidenote: one problem for sex-education.] our brief survey of the hygienic problems caused by sexual promiscuity and its characteristic diseases is sufficient to indicate one great problem for sex-education. such social-hygiene problems have been most responsible for the recent and rapid rise of the movement for sex-education, and they must be recognized in any adequate scheme for instruction of young people. [sidenote: is sex-hygiene adequate?] can scientific education hope to solve the sexual problems of society by inculcating such fear of venereal diseases that men will remain true to the monogamic code of morality? many cynical disbelievers in sex-hygiene answer this question negatively by asking in biblical phrase, "can the leopard change his spots?" in other words, these doubting ones believe that sexual instincts are so firmly fixed in the nature of _many_ men and _some_ women that there is no hope of radical change through education.[ ] there is something in this point of view. it is probably true that even the most radical advocates of sex-education do not hope to secure universal monogamy and consequent disappearance of social diseases. a conservative and rational answer to the above question whether sex-education can solve the problem of social diseases, is that a large percentage of even civilized people are not yet ready to have their most powerful instincts controlled by scientific knowledge. hence, there is no hope that the hygienic task of sex-education will be finished soon after instruction becomes an established part of general education in homes and schools. at the very best there will be incomplete returns for the social-hygienic aspect of sex-instruction, but already we know for a certainty that enough young men will be influenced to make the teaching justifiable. i feel sure of this because i have met personally many such men and my friends know many more. according to the investigations made by dr. exner, the medical secretary of the young men's christian association, a great reduction of venereal disease has followed sex-hygienic campaigns in college towns. [sidenote: medical treatment.] in another way hygienic teaching may reduce the amount of venereal diseases, and that is by leading infected individuals to seek thorough medical treatment without delay. this, of course, will render the diseased person non-infectious to others. physicians report that there is now a marked movement in this direction and, moreover, that many infected young men voluntarily seek medical examinations before marriage. [sidenote: woman's need of information.] even if we refuse to believe that social-hygienic teaching will protect many young men from sexual diseases, there is the woman's need of information to be considered. as said before, women more than men suffer the consequences of venereal infections. therefore, every young woman who considers marriage should know the possibility of danger to herself and her children, and be able to decide accordingly. of course, even with much knowledge she may marry the wrong man, for correct diagnosis of social disease is not always easy; but if her confidence is betrayed and she becomes infected, she ought to know the importance of immediate and radical medical treatment. let me illustrate these statements that women should know the danger of venereal disease. one of my college friends neglected an important legal case to travel seven hundred miles in order to tell face to face another college friend that she was about to marry a dangerous man. being utterly ignorant of the existence of sexual diseases, the girl and her mother characterized my friend's statement by a short and ugly word, and ordered him to leave their home instantly. the marriage occurred and some months later the young woman went to her grave, a victim of gonorrheal salpingitis and peritonitis. another case which illustrates the danger of a woman's ignorance: one of my students of many years ago married a minister who infected her with syphilis and kept her from medical attention until the disease was in a highly developed stage, and even then conspired with an inefficient doctor to keep her ignorant of the nature of the disease. [sidenote: the right to knowledge.] these are not extreme cases, for any physician with large experience knows that such things are common. medical literature is full of such painful recitals of venereal tragedies. it is not desirable that all young women should know the details of such tragedies, but they should know that dangers exist. parents and educators will not have done their duty until they coöperate to give all young women the protective knowledge they have a right to demand.[ ] [sidenote: best people must lead.] there is another way of looking at the possible effect of the social side of sex-hygienic instruction. it is sure to make a decided impression upon many young people of the type that we regard as the best in every way. these will be the leaders of the future and they in turn will help improve conditions. perhaps it may all work out as the drug problem is being solved. widespread social and hygienic information regarding the harmful effect of alcohol, cocaine, opium, and other drugs has first of all impressed leading citizens; and these are beginning to control by laws those who cannot be reached directly by education. in some such ways those who are impressed by formal sex-education may lend a hand in influencing many who could not be touched directly by hygienic education. [sidenote: legislation needed.] there is no doubt that public enlightenment regarding the dangers of social diseases will soon lead to legislation and public medical work which will contribute greatly towards reduction of the diseases. for example, legislation with reference to venereal disease should require doctors to report cases to health officers, should forbid "quack" advertising of fake "cures," should forbid sale by drug stores of nostrums for personal treatment, should provide dispensaries and hospitals for reliable treatment at reasonable cost, should require medical examinations for marriage licenses and provide for such examinations at moderate charges or at public expense, should require certain sanitary precautions in care of eyes of new-born infants, and should provide for discovery and treatment of congenital syphilis in school children. these are lines in which good laws might help vastly in the war against the social diseases. moreover, it is obvious that all laws which help control the social evil will work indirectly against the social diseases. [sidenote: probable results of instruction.] in conclusion, it seems probable that popular knowledge of the social side of sex-hygiene will reduce the amount of venereal disease ( ) by teaching some people the dangers of promiscuity, ( ) by adoption of certain sanitary precautions that lessen danger of infection, ( ) by leading people to seek competent medical aid which, while often failing to restore the victim's health, will probably eliminate the danger of contagion for others, and ( ) by intelligent support of laws that directly or indirectly affect the social diseases. [sidenote: social diseases not most important.] i have given great prominence to the social-sexual diseases in their relation to sex-education because along this line there has been developed the widespread interest in sex-instruction as _one_ method of protecting young people against promiscuity. so far as the questions of teaching are concerned, my personal view is that some of the other reasons or problems for sex-instruction are more important, because i believe that educational emphasis on them will give the greatest results in improved sexual conditions of society. § . _third problem for sex-instruction: the social evil_ so far as the problems of sex-education are concerned, there is nothing to be gained by an extensive review of commercialized prostitution. it is generally accepted that the social evil or prostitution is increased by the common ignorance of young people of both sexes regarding the physical and social relations of sex. of course, it is not true that all prostitution is due to ignorance, for it often involves enlightened men and women. however, there seems to be good reason for believing that large numbers of people of both sexes might be kept out of prostitution by very simple sex-instruction. let us look for a moment at some facts concerning the relation of the ignorance of the women to their entrance into the underworld, and later consider certain reasons why many men patronize the social evil. [sidenote: why women enter prostitution.] with regard to the women victims of prostitution, it seems to be generally accepted that economic pressure, feeble-mindedness, bad social environment, and unguided instincts, independently or combined, are the chief causes of their downfall. however, there is a deeper reason why numerous women enter prostitution, for all of these factors commonly operate because of inadequate sexual knowledge. in short, ignorance is the fundamental cause of much prostitution on the part of women. many a girl with starvation wages, bad social surroundings, sub-normal mentality, or even intense instincts is able to keep her womanhood because she knows the awful dangers of sexual promiscuity. for our present educational purposes, it is sufficient to point out the opinion of competent social workers that knowledge might often counteract the forces that lead women from virtue and down into prostitution. [sidenote: men also ignorant.] a large number of men patronize prostitution because they are ignorant in one or more of the following respects. some of them have drifted into abnormal sexual habits when they were boys, and later into illicit relations. some of them did not know the effect of alcoholic drinks in leading many young men to their first immoral sexual acts. some of them have deliberately patronized prostitution because they have accepted as truth the monstrous lie that sexual activity is necessary to preserve the health of men.[ ] most of the men do not realize that prostitution offers great danger to their own health, still greater danger to the health of innocent wives and children, and a greatly shortened life for many women who are the victims of sexual slavery. most men do not know that dark tragedies are often concealed beneath the apparent gay life of the women who are victims of sexual degradation. these are some of the things of which many young men i have known were very ignorant, and it has been no difficult task to trace a close connection between their ignorance and their vice. [sidenote: ignorance the chief cause.] looking at the social evil from any point of view, it seems to me that ignorance, dense ignorance, is largely responsible for the existence of that darkest blot on our boasted civilization--the social-sexual evil. no matter how we look at the established facts regarding prostitution, they all point to the need of sexual instruction for the protection of the youth of both sexes. the chicago vice commission concluded that "the lack of information, education and training with reference to the function and control of the sexual instinct, and the consequences of its abuse and perversion, appears at every point of our inquiry for the sources of the supply of the victims of vice, either as the cause of the perversion of children and youth or as a complication of all other causes."[ ] of course, we dare not dream that any sex-instruction that now seems possible will completely eradicate prostitution; but we do know of thousands of boys and girls who have been directed to safety by knowledge of some fundamental sexual facts. [sidenote: sex plays and novels.] concerning presentation of the social evil by fiction and the drama, there is much honest disagreement. my personal opinion is that little good is done by the theater or by such publications as reginald kaufmann's "house of bondage," and elizabeth robin's "my little sister." they all leave the unsophisticated reader with an exaggerated and even hysterical notion that white slavery is exceedingly common and the main cause of prostitution. certainly the great majority of the army of prostitutes, both public and clandestine, in america, and a still higher percentage on the continent of europe, did not become novitiates of vice in prisons of prostitution. [sidenote: limited reading desirable.] it seems to me that a very limited reading regarding the social evil is sufficient for one who is not engaged in medical or social work that requires scientific knowledge of this darkest side of human life. certainly, the indiscriminate reading of vice investigations is dangerous for many young people,--for young men because some of them are allured into personal investigations, and for young women because they get an exaggerated and pessimistic view of all sexual problems. for the intelligent reader who wants the general information that every public-spirited citizen should have, the well-known book by jane addams will serve both as an outline and an encyclopedia of the social evil. social workers and some educators will find use for the other books mentioned below. jane addams.--"a new conscience and an ancient evil." (macmillan). seligman, e.r.a. (editor).--"the social evil." (putnam.) contains bibliography on the subject. sumner, dean w.t., and others.--"the social evil in chicago." vice-commission report, . now published by the american social hygiene association. the "introduction and summary" (pp. - ) deserves careful reading. cocks, o.g.--"the social evil" (association press). "vigilance," a journal devoted to attacking the social evil, has been discontinued and replaced by bulletins of the american social hygiene association, west th street, new york city. § . _the fourth problem for sex-education: illegitimacy_ [sidenote: society condemns illegitimacy.] most awful of all the results of the sexual mistakes of men and women are the unmarried mothers and their illegitimate children. of course, i know that there are well-meaning people who argue that motherhood is the supreme fact and that the formality of a marriage ceremony is merely a medievalism in our laws and customs; but the inexorable truth remains that our modern social system is centered around the home which is strictly regulated by church and state and public opinion.[ ] whatever may be the philosophical rights and wrongs of individual freedom in sexual relationship, the facts of practical life are that an overwhelming majority of the most intelligent people are united in support of our established laws and customs demanding legitimacy of motherhood and birthright. as a result of this age-old stand for legitimacy, illegitimate mothers and children do not have a square deal at the bar of public opinion. everybody knows that the vast majority of illegitimate children do not have a fair chance in the world's work. professor cattell, in _science_, march, , points out that since illegitimates occur one in every twenty-five births in the united states, and since they are on the whole equal to other children in mentality, there ought to be forty of them among the thousand leading men of science designated in the directory of the "american men of science;" but none are known. the conclusion must be that illegitimate children do not have an equal chance at education which leads to prominence in science. but it is not simply a matter of limited education, for in every way the fate of most illegitimate children is usually pitiful. only now and then one born under a lucky star is adopted and educated by large-minded foster parents who recognize that the illegitimate is not responsible for having come into this world under conditions opposed to the best interests of society. [sidenote: ignorance the cause.] it seems to be generally accepted that in the vast majority of cases, unmarried mothers and illegitimate children are due to ignorance of the women. women who are professionally immoral do not bear many children.[ ] in fact, excepting the feeble-minded prostitutes, the general rule is that those who are mothers have only one child and that one the result of the first sexual errors. it is a safe general conclusion that ignorance of sexual laws is responsible for the great majority of cases of illegitimacy. edith livingston smith, of boston, in an article on "unmarried mothers" in _harper's weekly_ for september , , expressed views of the causes of illegitimacy that many a social worker will indorse heartily: "i see shop girls and waitresses, factory girls and maids, chorus girls, stenographers, and governesses, each with a different story, each with the same terror of the consequences of their folly. 'i never knew,' they tell me, 'i never knew there were such temptations.'... "let us go back to the question of sex-education of the public. silence has been the policy in the past. we have taught our children biology and natural history, we have taught them physiology, carefully ignoring the organs of reproduction; we have warned the young to make use of their senses and their brains, but we have refused to recognize the very force that guides all these instincts, the vital power of sex. yet, in the face of this stupidity, acknowledging the call of the age, girls are sent out into the industrial world, where they fight shoulder to shoulder with men. here they find potential worth of their individualities; here they meet with the same--no greater--temptation than their brothers, but with no knowledge to guide them, no traditions to give them poise, no ameliorating factor of social tenderness or tolerance when inexperience fails to temper their emotions and their femininity.... "a girl's protection must come from without, a boy's from within. every boy who reaches the age of adolescence knows his nature. it asserts itself. his sex instincts are dominant, aggressive. he is man, the father of the race, and the laws of procreation are to him an open book. a girl stays innocent until she is awakened. it is the kiss, the touch, the senses stirred, that make her, in the glory of her womanhood or in her shame, acknowledge her sex. "the very frailty of such a girl, her dependence upon her intuitions and emotions, the triumph of feeling over intellect, place her in greater danger than her brothers, even were their responsibility to society the same. but, add to this the fact that in yielding to sexual temptation she has the burden of child-bearing--how much more necessary that she should have some knowledge of what she is to meet in the world, or what she must combat, lest her emotions forestall her intelligence as physical development precedes mental appreciation." [sidenote: men also ignorant.] illegitimacy is often due to ignorance of men as well as of women. prominent physicians have cited from their notebooks cases of "protected" children in early adolescence who instinctively entered into sexual relationship in utter ignorance of the natural result. such cases where the boy is entirely ignorant must be very rare; but there are probably many boys who do not really understand that the sexual act is very likely to lead to a ruined life for the girl companion and her offspring. arthur donnithorne, in "adam bede," did not forecast that his act would lead to the ruin of hetty sorrel and her condemnation for infanticide. [sidenote: more than biology needed.] it is obvious that something more than the ordinary biological facts of reproduction must be included in sex-instruction that tries to prevent such tragedies. in another lecture we shall consider moral teaching, but here let us look at the cold facts of life that ought to be taught at some appropriate time to young people. not only should they know the simple biological probability that sexual relationship will lead to reproduction, but they should be led to consider the relentless consequences of illegitimate propagation. on this latter point general literature, _e.g._, "adam bede" and "the scarlet letter," teaches some impressive lessons. another point needs emphasis with the numerous young people, especially men, who are not controlled by moral laws, who know the probabilities of illegitimacy occurring, but who have acquired the popular impression that the order of nature is easily changed. many physicians and social workers know girls who have gone down because they were persuaded to trust the efficiency of popular ways and means of avoiding the natural outcome of the sexual act. hence, young people of both sexes should somehow learn that under the conditions that usually attend illicit union there is always a strong probability that the ways of nature cannot be easily circumvented. it is unlawful to explain, except to medical audiences, why this is so; but much illegitimacy will be prevented if it can be made widely known among young men and women that, according to reliable physicians, tragedies of illegitimacy are often due to misplaced confidence in popular methods of contraception. [sidenote: criminal operations.] there is yet another line of information that if widely known might have some bearing on the problem of illicit sexual relations: physicians and social workers report that many young men and some women know the possibility of illegitimate pregnancy, but feel safe because they know the addresses of doctors and midwives who will perform criminal operations. the great danger of the operation, especially at the hands of such third-class doctors as would attempt to terminate pregnancy criminally, should be widely known by the general public, which only now and then gets a hint in the newspaper reports of a tragedy involving some unfortunate girl. [sidenote: relative passion of men and women.] there is the widespread misunderstanding among young men that sexual hunger is as insistent in virtuous young women as in themselves and that therefore illicit gratification is a mutual gain and responsibility. some young men may be guided by the information that there is much reliable evidence indicating that, while an innate tendency towards general emotions of affection is strong in the average young woman, there is general absence of the localized passions that naturally and automatically develop in young men. in other words, the first definite sexual temptation is likely to come to a young woman from outside herself, and young men should be impressed with their responsibility for allowing even the beginning of situations that may arouse dormant but dangerous instincts. § . _the fifth problem for sex-education: sexual morality_ in this lecture i shall set forth the proposition that a definitely organized scheme of education should aim directly at making young people strict adherents of the established code of sexual morality. for brevity, i shall occasionally speak of morality and immorality, omitting the qualifying word "sexual." [sidenote: definition of sexual morality.] this lecture, in fact this entire series of lectures on sex-education, is based on the fundamental proposition that sexual morality demands that sexual union be restricted to monogamic marriage, and conversely, that such sexual relation outside of marriage is immoral. such a definition of sexual morality is accepted by church and state and the chief citizens in every civilized country. it is the only practical definition which is satisfactory to the vast majority of educated american men and women, even to those who believe in freedom of divorce and in forgiveness for youthful transgressions of the accepted moral code. sexual morality has had changeable standards, and in other times and countries custom has made polygamy and promiscuity acceptable as moral; but the monogamic ideal of morality now prevails in the world's best life. [sidenote: morality in america and europe.] monogamic morality as a protection for family life means much more in america than in europe. it is true that there is an astounding amount of prostitution in america, but we should be grateful that our ideals of the monogamic family have not been seriously influenced and seem to be slowly but surely improving among our best people. as illustrations of our adherence to monogamic law, let me give some facts for comparison of america and continental europe. in america, illegitimate births are not accurately reported but are probably less than five per cent of the total number for the whole country. locally the proportion is often very much higher. thus in washington, d.c., where ( ) over ten thousand, chiefly negroes, live in alleys between the streets and under extremely unhygienic and immoral conditions, fifty per cent of the children are illegitimate, while but twenty per cent of the colored children born of mothers living outside the alleys, and less than eleven per cent of the total born of all races in the city are illegitimate. in various small american regions with a white population the proportion of illegitimacy is astoundingly high, but the average for the entire country is hopefully low. in many german towns statistics show above twenty-five per cent, and in the whole empire, more than half the legitimate first-born children are conceived before marriage. all writers, the german ones included, seem to agree that the majority of teutonic men and women enter into free unions before marriage and public opinion does not severely condemn. in many rural districts of england, france, and sweden, and even in london and paris, a large percentage of the marriages are simply legalization of free unions. in short, in all these countries the monogamic ideal is not followed by a large percentage of people. it must be remembered that the great majority of people involved in the above figures are of the peasant and laboring classes; conditions are quite different among women of the educated classes. these must ultimately set the moral standards for the masses. our american conditions are quite different, especially outside of the large cosmopolitan cities. it is impossible not to believe in the moral integrity of the great majority of unmarried women in america. certainly even in our worst communities we have no such general immorality of women as above european figures suggest. perhaps wholesale prostitution in which one public woman may be the mistress of ten, twenty, or even fifty men, may tend to protect any equal number of american women; whereas in europe a peasant woman would probably be for a time the paramour of one man, thus tending to make equal numbers of immoral men and women. however, it matters nothing for our present purposes what may be the explanation of conditions of sexual promiscuity here or abroad. the one great fact is that our national code of morality is a monogamic one, approved as ideal even by many of those who fail to live strictly in harmony with its dictates. hence, all americans who are prominently interested in sex-education believe that it should aim to make our young people more ready to accept and understand morality according to the monogamic ideal. those who are interested in this problem of morality as related to marriage should read foerster's "marriage and the sex problem." [sidenote: relation of sex-hygiene and ethics.] among those who see the need of teaching sex-ethics as a part of the larger outlook of sex-education, there are two points of view: ( ) those who favor the teaching of sex-ethics with the hope of preventing the hygienic problems arising from immorality, and ( ) those who believe in sexual morality for its own sake or as an accepted code of conduct. the founders of the american society for sanitary and moral prophylaxis placed sanitation first in the name and stated in the constitution that "the object of this society is to limit the spread of diseases which have their origin in the social evil. it proposes to study every means, sanitary, moral, and administrative, which promise to be most effective for this purpose." most of the papers that have been read at the meetings of the society have emphasized the sanitary aim as primary, and the moral aim as a means to the hygienic end; but in the past three years there has been a decided tendency towards placing emphasis upon morality, and recently the executive committee of the society voted to propose the following revised statement: "the aim of this society is to promote the appreciation of the sacredness of human sexual relation, and thereby to minimize the moral and physical evils resulting from ignorance and vice." this change of emphasis is well expressed in president keyes's report to the society (_journal_, vol. v, no. ). as to the relation between sex-hygiene and sex-ethics as phases of the larger sex-education, there has been much discussion. several writers have contended that there is some conflict between sanitary and moral ends, but have failed to convince most readers that hygiene and ethics should not be associated in teaching. in fact, the most impressive sex-hygiene is that relating to social disease, and its value is chiefly in the ethical appeal for protection of innocent wives and children. [sidenote: dr. cabot's view.] most prominent of those who have declared that hygienic and moral teaching should be dissociated is dr. richard c. cabot, of boston. i shall discuss his point of view in connection with a later lecture on "criticisms of sex-education" (§ ). in the present discussion of sexual morality as an important reason for sex-education, it is sufficient to say that dr. cabot seems to disagree with other teachers on the question of the influence of formal instruction on the morals of people. [sidenote: moral and hygienic problems.] sex-education is now commonly understood to be attempting to solve the moral as well as the hygienic problems of sex. as suggested before, these two lines of problems are clearly related but not coincident; for sexual health and morals are not entirely coördinated. we must not overlook the possibility that the marvellous progress of bacteriological and medical science may some day largely reduce the health problems of sex without improving morality. in fact, sexual immorality that is hygienic does actually exist to a limited extent. such facts indicate that while sex-education was first planned to solve health problems, the ultimate sex-education must attempt to guide sexual conduct by moral principles. this coming need of more emphasis on the moral problems of sex should be clearly foreseen by those who are interested in sex-education. [sidenote: super-morality desirable.] now, while sexual morality as commonly understood is a direct aim of sex-education, it is not, in the opinion of many people, the ideal and ultimate goal of sex-education in its broadest outlook. there is something higher than conventional morality for the reason that, while natural sexual union in monogamic marriage is never legally or ecclesiastically immoral, it is very often far from ideal. it is not ideal if it is unethical, unhygienic, or unæsthetic. it is unethical, if it is not a bi-personal desideratum (_i.e._, based on mutual love[ ]); it is unhygienic when not promotive and conservative of health; and it is unæsthetic if the concomitant psychical reactions are not in harmony with the beautiful in nature and life. in all these ways, morality as commonly and legally and ecclesiastically understood may fall very far short of the ideal sexual relationships. such an ideal is now held by many men and women who wish that morality might mean to all the world not simply the limitation of sexual union to monogamic marriage, but also that it might be made to mean an all-satisfying monogamic affection and comradeship based on certain physiological, psychical, æsthetic, and ethical laws that underlie human sexual potentialities. such would be a morality so far beyond the accepted standards that for convenience we may call it super-morality, or the new morality. this, i sincerely believe, is the ultimate goal of sex-education in its largest outlook. [sidenote: super-morality deserves emphasis.] among those who have contributed to the sex-education movement there are none who have properly emphasized this super-morality, which, i believe, is the ultimate goal of the larger sex-education for the most enlightened people. the definition that sex-education means all instruction which aims to help young people prepare to solve for themselves the sexual problems that inevitably come to every normal individual, is broad enough to include all questions of hygiene, morality, and super-morality that may come into one's life. the third aim of sex-education (§ ) which refers to the "social, ethical, and psychical aspects of sex as affecting the individual life in relation to other individuals," should be understood as meaning first a stand for morality and then, this having been attained, super-morality is an easy stage forward. the same idea was touched by the writer in a paper on "biology in sex-instruction" (_journal of society of sanitary and moral prophylaxis_, october, ) in these words: "if the great questions of sex relationship are ever satisfactorily solved, it must be through the direct application of the four sciences which are centered around human life, namely, psychology, ethics, sociology, and last, but far from least, æsthetics. as we have seen, biology teaches much directly bearing on the purely physical aspects of the perpetuation of human life, and its study is absolutely necessary for mental attitude and basal facts; but the keystone of the arch of sex-education must be contributed by these four sciences which touch human life much deeper than the merely physical, to which the science of biology is limited. above all we must look to these sciences for the solution of the problems of sex in relation to society, which more than any physical ills have led to our present problems concerning sexual disharmonies." [sidenote: super-morality not for the masses.] but while there is something attractive in this larger interpretation of sex-education as looking forward to the highest adaptation of sex and life, i realize that as a practical matter we must first of all work with young people for sexual morality as defined by the accepted code. we must remember that the vast majority of people are not yet ready, and will not soon be ready, for a code of super-morality. confusion might result from an attempt at wholesale teaching of such idealism of sex relationship. certainly, so far as sex-education aims to help immature young people, there is nothing to do but hold up monogamic marriage as the basis of our accepted morality; but the higher view of super-morality should be promulgated as rapidly as possible among people who are advanced enough to understand that morality as defined by church and state is not the best interpretation of life's possibilities. to many it is a significant fact that we now find numerous young men and women ready to stand for super-morality as a foundation for monogamic marriage. fortunately, such individuals need not wait for the world to grasp the idea of super-morals; and already there is many a home in which the higher view of life and sex prevails. [sidenote: cautious teaching concerning immorality.] immorality in sexual lines should not be overstressed when teaching young people. rather should there be emphasis on the moral, the normal, the healthful, the helpful, and the æsthetic processes in human life. we should emphasize sexual health and morals, not disease and immorality. concerning immoral living in general, young people should know only enough for necessary warning. curiosity derived from extensive knowledge of immorality has drawn many a young man into the whirlpool of sexual depravity. it is beyond question that in sexual lines there is the danger that pope saw when he declared that vice is a monster that seen too oft, we first endure, then pity, then embrace. sex-education should guard against such dangerous familiarity with vice. § . _the sixth problem for sex-education: sexual vulgarity_ [sidenote: present attitude.] even a limited study of the prevailing attitude towards sex and reproduction convinces one that back of the greatest sexual problems of our times is the almost universal secrecy, disrespect, vulgarity, and irreverence concerning every aspect of sex and reproduction. even expectant motherhood is commonly concealed as long as possible, and all reference to the developing new life is usually accompanied with blushes and tones suggestive of some great shame. nothing sexual is commonly regarded as sacred. love and marriage, motherhood and birth, are all freely selected as themes for sexual jests, many of them so vulgar that no printed dictionary supplies the necessary words. and i am not simply referring to the great masses of uneducated people, for the saddest fact is that a very large proportion of intelligent people have not an open-minded and respectful attitude concerning sex and reproduction. [sidenote: vast change of attitude needed.] now, unless we can devise some way to counteract the prevailing narrow, vulgar, disrespectful, and irreverent attitude towards all aspects of sex and reproduction; unless we can make people see sexual processes in all their normal aspects as noble, beautiful, and splendid steps in the great plan of nature; unless we can substitute a philosophical and æsthetic view of sex relationship for the time-worn interpretation of everything sexual as inherently vulgar, base, ignoble, and demanding asceticism for those who would reach the highest spiritual development; unless we can begin to make these changes in the prevailing attitude towards sex and reproduction, we cannot make any decided advance in the attempt to help solve sexual problems by special instruction. first of all, sex-education must work for a purified and dignified attitude which sees vulgarity and impurity only when the functions of sex have been voluntarily and knowingly misused and thereby debased. sex-education must work against the idea that sexual processes are inherently vulgar, degraded, base, and impure. such an interpretation is correct only when sexual instincts are uncontrolled and thereby out of harmony with the highest ideals of life. but control does not mean asceticism which aims at complete subjugation of sexual instincts and would annihilate them if that were biologically possible. the early christians, disgusted with the sexual degradation of the paganistic and materialistic romans, preached a doctrine of sexual asceticism as the ideal for those who would rise to the heights of spiritual life. this pessimistic interpretation of the relation of sex and life has persisted even in some ecclesiastical teachings of the twentieth century, and probably has had not a little responsibility for the widely accepted and depressing view that sex is a necessary but regrettable fact of human life. [sidenote: attitude changing.] fortunately, the old ascetic point of view is passing rapidly. nineteenth-century science has given us a nobler view of the physical world. scientifically considered, matter is no longer base and degraded. especially has the biological science of the past fifty years made _living_ matter and its activities profoundly impressive. and of the life-activities none are so significant and so all-important as those relating to the perpetuation of the human species. biological science has taught this emphatically, and the processes connected with sex have been lifted to a place of dignity and purity. [sidenote: Æsthetic attitude desirable.] the old asceticism, with its uniformly dark outlook on life, has no lessons worth while in our modern problems relating to sex.[ ] we need severe control and not annihilation of our most powerful instincts. the bright outlook of æsthetics rather than the dark one of asceticism should prevail, for sex-instincts and processes are essentially pure and beautiful phases of that wonderful something we call "life." sex-education should aim to give this attitude by presenting life as fundamentally free from the degradation arising from misuse and misunderstanding of sex. [sidenote: not a new ideal.] the æsthetic interpretation of sex is no new ideal. canon lyttleton, formerly head master of eton college and later canon of westminster, believed that "viewed rightly, the subject of sex, the ever-recurring miracle of generation and birth, is full of nobleness, purity, and health." the late dr. prince a. morrow wrote, "the sex function is intimately connected with the physical, mental, and moral development. its right use is the surest basis of individual health, happiness and usefulness in life, as well as of racial permanence and prosperity. its abuse and misuse is the cause of a vast deal of disease and misery." and finally, we may quote president-emeritus eliot of harvard university: "society must be relieved by sound instruction of the horrible doctrine that the begetting and bearing of children are in the slightest degree sinful or foul processes. that doctrine lies at the root of the feeling of shame in connection with these processes and of the desire for secrecy. the plain fact is that there is nothing so sacred and propitious on earth as the bringing of another normal child into the world in marriage. there is nothing staining or defiling about it, and therefore there is no need for shame or secrecy, but only for pride and joy. this doctrine should be part of the instruction given to all young people." [sidenote: attitude all-important in sex-education.] if sex-education succeeds in giving young people this enlightened attitude, there will be little difficulty in solving most of the ethical and hygienic problems of sex. a young man who has caught a glimpse of the highest interpretation of sex in its relation to human life, in short a young man to whom all natural sexual processes are essentially pure and noble and beautiful, is not one who will make grave hygienic mistakes in his own life, and he will not be personally connected with the social evil and its diseases, and he will avoid almost intuitively the physiologic and psychologic mistakes that most often cause matrimonial disaster. everything, then, in successful sex-education depends upon the attitude formed in the minds of learners; and towards this our major efforts should be directed. [sidenote: comparison with animals not helpful.] the prevailing vulgar attitude towards sex will not be greatly improved by repeated emphasis upon the animal nature of reproduction in attempts at supporting the thesis that propagation is the sole function of sexual processes in human life. such an interpretation of human sexuality as purely animalistic in function is implied, if not expressed, by some workers for the "purity" movement. i sincerely believe that such a view will inevitably tend to increase the feeling that sexual processes are heritages from the beasts which unfortunately must be tolerated because nature has provided no other way for perpetuating human life. [sidenote: sexual pessimism.] an intelligent woman, a happy wife and mother, who had accepted this ascetic and pessimistic view of sex, said the other day: "oh, love and marriage and motherhood would be so beautiful were it possible to escape the unspeakably vulgar facts of physical life!" poor woman! it must have been some fiend incarnate who in the guise of a prophet of purity preached to her the animalistic interpretation of sex, which made her overlook the fact that the very beauty which she could not quite grasp had its origin in her emotions arising from the despised sexual nature. this is not an isolated case. several young women who have graduated from college within ten years vouch for the statement that many thoughtful students are strong in the belief that ideal marriage is platonic friendship and that it is a sad fact of life that husband and wife must lay aside their high ideals in order to become parents. such depressing interpretations of life are bound to come from the radical type of "purity" preaching based on the sexual mistakes of the past and on the lives of animals. a similar pessimistic view regarding the function of eating might be based on mistakes of drunkards and gluttons and on the habits of the porcine family. if these are to guide our conduct, then food-taking is to be regarded as a necessary but vulgar habit inherited from our animal ancestors; and if we are to be logical and attempt to rise to ideal purity in eating, we must hasten to dispense with the culinary science and all the æsthetics which have made civilized eating a fine art. of course, this is just what the strict ascetic does; but such radical disbelievers in the pleasures that we have associated with eating would be declared lunatics in any civilized country. [sidenote: two kinds of hunger.] i have chosen eating for illustrating my point, for the demands for food and for sexual activity are the two primal and necessary forms of hunger. the hunger for food has led to the refinements of civilized dining, but there has been great evolution. the animals feed (german, fressen) in order to satisfy hunger only; civilized humans eat (essen) not only to satisfy the hunger appetite inherited from the animals, but also for the sake of the concomitant social æsthetic pleasures that add much to the joy of living. now, if we are logical, we must interpret on parallel lines the sexual hunger that is necessary for the perpetuation of human life. like eating, it is a necessary function inherited from the animals; but there has been an evolution of greater significance. in the animal world, sexual activity has only one function, reproduction; but human life at its highest has superadded psychical and social meaning to sexual relationships, and the result has been affection and the human family. if we reject this higher view of the double significance of sexuality in human life, and insist that only the necessary propagative function is worthy of recognition, it is almost inevitable that most people will continue to accept the hopeless view that human sexuality is on the same vulgar plane as that of the animals; in short, that it is only an animal function. this, i insist, is a depressing interpretation that will never help overcome the prevailing vulgar attitude toward sex. [sidenote: human sexuality more than animal.] it is only by frankly recognizing and developing the psychical and æsthetic meanings that are distinctly human and superadded to the merely propagative function of the animals, that people can be led far away from the vulgar outlook on sex and reproduction in human life. [sidenote: relation of attitude and morality.] there is no question that wholesome attitude towards sex and reproduction is closely associated with the problems of sexual morality, and especially so far as educational procedure is concerned. it is true that large numbers of moral people hold the vulgar attitude towards sex and reproduction; but for people who do not accept the moral code without question there is probably no better way of teaching sexual morality than by influencing the individual's attitude. there are many people who stand for sexual morality for no other reason than that they have a dignified and æsthetic attitude towards sex. [sidenote: sexual vulgarity a stage in evolution.] there is much evidence that the world is rapidly improving in this respect. sexual vulgarity seems to represent a stage in the evolution of human life from the barbaric to the fully civilized. the sexual vulgarity of primitive peoples, both ancient and modern, has been all too frequently recalled by writers whose pseudo-scientific superficiality leads them to believe that knowledge concerning barbaric and ultra-bestial sensuality will help solve modern sex problems. in the classical days when venus and bacchus and other deities of sensuality were worshipped by their devotees, there was sexual vulgarity in action and language such as now exists only among the most ignorant or depraved people in civilized lands. the advent of christian civilization in europe left no place for temples and worship of sensuality, but still the age-old tendency towards a crude and barbaric kind of sexual vulgarity and obscenity has continued in folklore, in colloquial language, and in literature. however, there has been a vast change in the attitude of the best people within the last two centuries. once many english writers, many of them now deservedly obscure, published prose and poetry that would now be criminal. an unexpurgated edition of shakespeare's "complete works," or of boccaccio's "decameron," could not be circulated through the united states mails, and there are many good people who are asking how long we shall continue to allow the unexpurgated "old testament" the privilege of circulation. it is not simply prose and poetry that has been purified. scientific literature has shown the influence of the reaction against obscenity. linnæus and other naturalists of the past were fond of giving scientific names that perpetuated vulgar comparisons with sexual organs, but no naturalist of the present day would dare suggest such designations for unnamed animals and plants. the older medical literature contains abundant obscenities; but scientific dignity, as well as the refinement of modern medical writers, has tended to compel the elimination of vulgarity. however, there are still too many physicians, especially those working with venereal and genito-urinary diseases, who go out of their way to illuminate their conversations, lectures, books, and magazine articles with veiled vulgarity. even high-class medical journals occasionally contain illustrations of this tendency. however, the medical profession as a class stands for dignified scientific presentation of facts, and obscenity will soon be tabooed in medical and all other reputable literature. save for occasional emanations privately printed by and for degenerate persons, public obscenity will soon be unknown. its complete disappearance will have a vast influence upon the problem of sexual attitude. § . _the seventh problem for sex-instruction: marriage_ [sidenote: physiology and psychology of marriage.] it is the consensus of opinion of numerous physicians, ministers, and lawyers that a very large proportion of matrimonial disharmonies have their foundation in the common misunderstanding of the physiology and especially of the psychology of sex. in the opinion of many students of sexual problems, this is the strongest reason for sex-instruction. it is certainly a line in which limited spread of information has already given some definite and satisfactory results. many of my friends and former students have helped me accumulate a long list of cases in which scientific knowledge regarding sex has prevented and corrected matrimonial disagreements; and having easily found so much definite influence of sex-science upon marriage, i am forced to believe that sex-instruction specially organized for people of marriageable age is already giving results of tremendous importance to very many individuals. large numbers of young people are already awake to the need of scientific guidance in marriage, and there is a great demand for helpful information. advanced sex-instruction with reference to the problems of marriage need not wait for general establishment of elementary instruction for children of school ages. lectures and books are already reaching large numbers of adults. such enlightenment will help in two ways, by the influence on marriage and by preparing adults to teach children. [sidenote: other knowledge needed.] there is another side to the problem of marriage that points to need of the larger sex-education. physiology and psychology of sex are fundamental; but they alone are not sufficient to complete that mutual adjustment and understanding which marriage at the full development of its possibilities involves. matrimonial harmony cannot be entirely a problem of applied science, as some superficial devotees of science seem to think; for science can never analyze those subtle and ever-varying qualities that go to make up what we call personality, and marriage in its largest outlook is the intimate blending of two personalities. psychological and physiological knowledge will undoubtedly help the two married individuals in their progress towards the harmonious adjustment of their individualities; but there are many little, but often serious, problems that the physiology and psychology of sex cannot solve. they are problems that involve mutual affection, comradeship, sympathy, unselfishness, coöperation, kindliness, and devotion of husband and wife. obviously, these can never be developed by any formal instruction. [sidenote: helpful literature.] probably there is no better way to help young people realize the possibilities of matrimonial harmony than by suggesting wholesome literature. some of this is a part of the world's general treasure of books that in prose and poetry, in history and romance, hold up a high ideal of love with marriage. there is much such literature that gives young people inspiration, but too much of it, like college life, ends with a commencement. "and then they were married and lived happily ever after"--is the familiar closing as the novelist rings down the curtain after reciting only the prologue in the life drama of his two lovers. we need more literature that does not end with the wedding march, but which gives young people the successful solution of the problems after marriage. some such is available in history and biography; some in essays. as i write there come to my mind several books that have impressed me: professor palmer's "life of alice freeman palmer"; leonard huxley's "life and letters of t.h. huxley," which gives many intimate glimpses of the ideal home life which the great biologist centered around mrs. huxley; william george jordan's "little problems of married life"; orrin cock's "engagement and marriage"; and that much misunderstood[ ] but helpful book "love and marriage" by ellen key. many of the stories by virginia terhune van de water, published in the magazines and collected in a book entitled "why i left my husband" (moffatt, yard), deal with real problems of married life. [sidenote: similar education of the sexes.] the problems of co-education and coördinate education have not a little bearing on the adjustment of the two sexes in marriage. in these days when vocational education is fashionable in theory and is attracting attention in practice, we are told that co-education and coördinate education are mistakes because they provide the same training for both sexes. we are told that girls must be educated for their vocation of home-making, while boys must be educated for business, trades, or professions. everywhere in this current movement for vocational education we find the emphasis placed on making education for the two sexes just as dissimilar as possible. fortunately for the educational adjustments of the two sexes to each other, much of the present-day discussion that demands extensive sex specialization of education cannot be made practical and the training of the two sexes will inevitably continue to be quite similar, with at most a limited amount of time spent on application of certain knowledge to practical ends that are chiefly of interest to one sex only. by far the greater part of education from kindergarten through the university is in the nature of the fundamentals of knowledge and will continue to be essentially similar for both sexes. for illustration, the writer happens to be connected with a college which offers a four-year course and graduate work specially arranged with reference to household arts. surely here is an opportunity for education far different from that of the typical college for men. as a matter of fact, there is great similarity. the greater part of the four years is filled with general courses in english, modern languages, chemistry, biology, physics, sociology, economics, and fine arts, while a minor part of the curriculum consists of courses in cookery, clothing, and household administration. the general courses are in essentials not different from courses in colleges for men. here and there instructors select materials and in other ways relate the general courses to household arts, but after all a girl who completes these courses has acquired the same educational fundamentals that her brother gets in columbia college or in any other standard college for men. it is only, then, in the cookery, clothing, and administration that there is sex-differentiated education, and even in these the practice necessary to acquire proficiency in technique is the chief peculiarity. so far as fundamental knowledge is concerned; cookery is chiefly an application of chemistry, physics, and physiology that could easily be made clear to one who had completed courses in these sciences in a college for men; dress design is an application of fine arts and its construction is a mechanical problem. the mental problems involved in dress design and making cannot be far different from house design and construction which are supposed to be primarily adapted to men. [sidenote: little differentiation.] on the whole, then, there is really little possibility of sex-differentiated education. this, i insist, is a fortunate fact of vast importance in the mutual adjustment of the two sexes in marriage. there could be no adjustment on an intelligent basis if education could be utterly dissimilar. there can be perfect adjustment only when the two individuals are adjusted harmoniously, and that means similar outlooks on life's problems. [sidenote: need of sex-education for feminism.] many of the problems of the modern feministic movement are such as to demand rational education of both women and men with reference to sex and marriage. let me quote c. gasquoine hartley, whose suggestive chapters viii and ix in her "truth about woman" (dodd, mead) deserve to live long after the readable but unscientifically applied earlier chapters are consigned to oblivion: "to hear many women talk it would appear that the new ideal is a one-sexed world. a great army of women have espoused the task of raising their sex out of subjection. for such a duty the strength and energy of passion is required. can this task be performed if the woman to any extent indulges in sex--otherwise subjection to man? sexuality debases, even reproduction and birth are regarded as 'nauseating.' woman is not free, only because she has been the slave to the primitive cycle of emotions which belong to physical love. the renunciation, the conquest of sex--it is this that must be gained. as for man, he has been shown up, women have found him out; his long-worn garments of authority and his mystery and glamour have been torn into shreds--woman will have none of him. "now obviously these are over-statements, yet they are the logical outcome of much of the talk that one hears. it is the visible sign of our incoherence and error, and in the measure of these follies we are sent back to seek the truth. women need a robuster courage in the face of love, a greater faith in their womanhood, and in the scheme of life. nothing can be gained from the child's folly in breaking the toys that have momentarily ceased to please. the misogamist type of woman cannot fail to prove as futile as the misogamist man. not 'free _from_ man' is the watch-cry of women's emancipation that surely is to be, but 'free _with_ man.'" [sidenote: sex and intellectualism.] and further on the same author, considering the problem of the women of the common type that are classified as a "third sex," that of temperamental neuter, says: "economic conditions are compelling women to enter with men into the fierce competition of our disordered social state. partly due to this reason, though much more, as i think, to the strong stirring in woman of her newly-discovered self, there has arisen what i should like to call an over-emphasized intellectualism. where sex is ignored there is bound to lurk danger. every one recognizes the significance of the advance in particular cases of women towards a higher intellectual individuation, and the social utility of those women who have been truly the pioneers of the new freedom; but this does not lessen at all the disastrous influence of an ideal which holds up the renunciation of the natural rights of love and activities of women, and thus involves an irreparable loss to the race by the barrenness of many of its finest types. the significance of such intellectuals must be limited, because for them the possibility of transmission by inheritance of their valuable qualities is cut off, and hence the way is closed to a further progress. and, thus, we are brought back to that simple truth from which we started; there are two sexes, the female and the male, on their specific differences and resemblances blended together in union every true advance in progress depends--on the perfected woman and the perfected man." [sidenote: young women misled by sexual pessimists.] one who studies carefully the various aspects of the extreme feministic movement must admit that there are many signs of the dangers which the above quotations point out so clearly. of course, we cannot believe in the sincerity of all of the numerous women of thirty-five to fifty years who pretend to ignore sex completely. probably most of them have discovered that they have misunderstood themselves; but it is also probable that they have discovered too late for making a readjustment in their own lives. however, it matters little whether such women have really succeeded in ignoring sex. the real problem for educational attack lies in the fact that such women often succeed in proselyting young women under twenty-five, and these in turn may not come to see the real truth about sex and life until ten or fifteen years later. clearly, organized education must protect young women against such influences. [sidenote: the greatest good in sex-education.] the greatest good which may come from the sex-education movement is not prevention or elimination of social diseases, it is not improved health, it is not general acceptance of the moral law of sex, it is not one or all these that are devoutly to be hoped for; but far greater than such possible results from sex-education, it will bring to many a man and woman a deeper, nobler, and purer knowledge of what sex means for the coming race and of what it means now to each individual who realizes life's fullest possibilities in conjugal affection which culminates in new life and new motives for more affection. such an understanding of sex in relation to home life will help this old world more than anything else which sex-education may accomplish. [sidenote: the greatest sex problem.] the problems of sex and marriage deserve far more attention than can be given in this lecture. i am convinced that knowledge of sex in its physical, psychical, social, and æsthetic aspects is the only sure foundation for harmonious marriage under modern conditions. therefore, i believe this to be the greatest sex problem open to educational attack. § . _the eighth problem for sex-instruction: eugenics_ [sidenote: meaning of eugenics.] eugenics, or the science of human good breeding, is just now the most popular of the problems concerning human sex and reproduction. in recent years, the biological investigators of heredity have published some startling facts which show that the human race must soon check its reckless propagation of the unfit and encourage reproduction by the best types of men and women. this is not the place for a review of the eugenic propositions. those interested will find them in non-technical form in many books (see the bibliographical chapter of this book, page ). [sidenote: eugenics in biology.] some of the chief facts of eugenics should be a part of every well-organized scheme of sex-instruction, and taught through biology (§ ). probably no other topic in biology is so likely to make an ethical-social appeal, for the central point of eugenics is the responsibility of the individual whose uncontrolled sexual actions may transmit undesirable and heritable qualities and bring a train of disaster to generations of descendants. [sidenote: relation of eugenics and sex-hygiene.] at this point we digress to correct the widespread error in confusing sex-hygiene and eugenics. many people who ought to know better use the two terms synonymously, perhaps because they are afraid of that comparatively novel but frank prefix in "sex-hygiene." the fact is that eugenics and sex-hygiene have little in common. eugenics is the science of reproducing better humans by applying the established laws of genetics or heredity. in brief, it means, on the positive side, selecting desirable people as parents; and, negatively, preventing propagation by the undesirables. this is the sum total of the task of eugenics in the accurate sense of the term. [sidenote: facts of heredity.] so far as we know, each coming generation will inherit only qualities that the parents inherited from their parents. it is a well-known principle of biology that changes in the bodies of human beings during their lifetime (dating from the fertilized egg that produces the individual) are never in any noticeable degree inherited by descendants. in short, acquired characteristics of the body tissues do not influence the germ plasm, the living matter concerned with heredity and reproduction, but the germ plasm that determines what the next generation will inherit is fixed at birth. thus tuberculosis, alcoholism, gonorrhea, and syphilis may be acquired during the life of an individual, but do not become fixed in the germ plasm. if the infants show effects of any of these diseases, it is not because of true heredity but because they were infected or influenced before birth. rarely does this happen to children of a tuberculous mother, but often to those of a syphilitic mother. in a gonorrheal ophthalmia neonatorum (specific inflammation of infants' eyes) it is a case of infection _during_ birth. [sidenote: sex-hygiene and eugenics parallel.] thus, it appears that sex-hygiene either personal or social (concerned with venereal diseases) is not a part of eugenics. it is, however, a phase of euthenics, which deals with the environmental factors that affect the individual life. it is clear, then, that sex-hygiene (in the strict medical sense) and eugenics are parallel and not conflicting. eugenics aims to select better parents who will transmit their own qualities genetically. sex-hygiene in its personal and social aspects will make healthier parents able to give their offspring a healthier start in life, especially because the offspring is free from the prenatal effects of disease. the teaching of heredity and eugenics is intended to develop a sense of individual responsibility for the transmission of one's good or bad inherited qualities to offspring. the teaching of sex-hygiene, either personal or social, looks towards improving personal health and preventing infection and injurious influence on the unborn next generation. obviously, we need both sex-hygiene and eugenics as part of the larger sex-instruction. § . _summary of lectures on sex problems_ [sidenote: problems of health, attitude, and morals.] we have made a general survey of the problems that offer reasons for sex-instruction. we have noted that some of the problems are concerned with health and, hence, lie within the scope of sex-hygiene in the strict sense of that term; but some of them have only the remotest relation to health and hygiene. on the contrary, they relate to the ethical, social, and æsthetic attitude of individuals towards sex and reproduction. obviously, these touch problems not of sex health, but of sex morality. in their educational importance i believe them as great, perhaps even greater, than those of sex-hygiene. in fact, i have come to believe that many individuals can best solve all their own sexual problems on the basis of moral and æsthetic attitude. [sidenote: many-sided instruction needed.] considering, as we have done, the sex problems in their many aspects, we are forced to the conclusion that sex-education will prove adequate only when it combines instruction from the several points of view. it must be much more than the sex-hygiene with which the sex-instruction movement started. we need sexual knowledge that will conserve health, that will develop social and ethical and eugenic responsibility for sexual actions, that will lead to increased happiness as well as to improved health, and that will give a nobler and purer view of life's possibilities. in all these lines in which sex influences human life profoundly, sex-education holds out the hope of help towards a better life for all who receive and apply its lessons. footnotes: [ ] in the _american journal of public health_ for july, , dr. john s. fulton, director general of the xv international congress on hygiene and demography, criticized severely the extremely radical statistics that were presented on charts at the sex-hygiene exhibit of the congress, and were later published in wilson's "education of the young in sex-hygiene." [ ] there is danger in quoting to young men the estimates as to prevalence of social diseases and, therefore, of promiscuity. fear of consequences will not control one who is led to believe that he is doing what most men do. (see parkinson in _educational review_, jan. , pp. - .) [ ] many writers have discounted the value of warnings involved in sex-instruction concerning social disease (see especially cabot's papers referred to in § , and parkinson in _educational review_, january, ). [ ] louise creighton, in her excellent little book on "the social disease and how to fight it" (longmans), has well presented the problems of social impurity from woman's point of view. dr. w.s. hall, in "life's problems," has given in a few pages the necessary protective knowledge. [ ] see "the sexual necessity," by drs. howell and keyes. [ ] see also, henderson's "education with reference to sex." [ ] see chapter on "motherhood and marriage" in foerster's "marriage and the sex problem." [ ] as an illustration of this fact, out of pittsburgh professional prostitutes, had never had children. of the who were mothers, only had two or more children. [ ] many thinking men and women now agree with ellen key that "marriage is immoral without mutual love," that "love is the sole decisive point of view in questions concerning this relationship," that "it will come to pass that no finely sensitive woman will become a mother except through mutual love," that "everything which is exchanged between husband and wife in their life together can only be the free gift of love, can never be demanded by one or the other as a right." (key--"the morality of woman.") [ ] foerster, in his "marriage and the sex problem," urges that self-control over sexual passions is the working of the old idea of asceticism, which he believes "should be regarded, not as a negation of nature nor as an attempt to extirpate natural forces, but as practice in the art of self-discipline. its object should be to show humanity what the human will is capable of performing, to serve as an encouraging example of the conquest of the spirit over the animal self." my personal view is that nothing is gained by confusing self-control and the old asceticism. [ ] misunderstood, it seems to me, because her philosophy demanding that marriage begin with, exist with, and end with love means freedom in love, and this has been misinterpreted as "free love" in the sense of promiscuity. i know of no writer who stands for marriage on a higher plane than that advocated by ellen key. her lecture on "morality of woman" (seymour co., chicago) is a good condensed statement of her largest ideas and a helpful introduction to "love and marriage." iii organization of educational attack on the sex problems § . _the task of sex-education_ [sidenote: pragmatic solution of sex problems.] in the preceding series of lectures we have surveyed eight important sex problems that can never be solved, even in part, unless by widespread information that specifically guides the individual and organized society in the adjustment of sexual instincts to the peculiar conditions that obtain in our modern civilized life. to spread the knowledge that will help civilized humanity on towards the best possible adjustment of sex and life, and therefore to a pragmatic solution of sexual problems, is the task or the chief aim of sex-education.[ ] [sidenote: no hope for complete solution.] [sidenote: constant advance towards ideals.] of course, only the ultra-utopian dreamer claims that sex-education can solve all the sexual problems of civilized life, but even the most pessimistic disbeliever in the new movement admits that knowledge of sexual life will be helpful to the great majority of people. hence, it is worth while to organize the educational attack on the sex problems which we have considered in the preceding lectures. it seems to me that we may gain an advantage by frankly admitting that the educational attack is not expected to solve all sex problems for all people, for by such admission we put to flight those shallow cynics who have opposed the sex-education movement because they think (and probably correctly) that immorality and social diseases and all other sexual disharmonies will continue to exist as long as the human species does. likewise, there will be dishonesty and murder and preventable diseases and all other human troubles in spite of education; but the advancement of learning has slowly and progressively reduced the sum total of all the disharmonies of life until now civilized people are largely free from many of the original or barbaric conditions. along similar lines we may confidently think of sex-education as making a constantly advancing and victorious attack on the problems of life that have grown out of our primitive sexual instincts. sex-education, like all other education, strives towards ideals that individuals and society may always approach but may never reach. it is only another case of emerson's advice, "hitch your wagon to a star," which means the adoption of high ideals that lead ever on and on towards better life. with this understanding that _the task of sex-education is the ever-advancing improvement of sexual conditions in individual as well as in social life_, let us turn now to consider the possible lines for definite educational attack on the chief problems of sex. it will be most helpful if we first analyze the general task of sex-education into some specific aims that may definitely guide instruction, and then in later lectures consider the methods and detailed subject matter of sex-instruction. § . _the aims of sex-education_ [sidenote: emphasis on social disease.] since the revelations concerning the disastrous physical effects of sexual immorality, especially as it exists in the commercialized conditions of the social evil, have had the chief influence in awakening intelligent people from their age-long ignorance and indifference concerning the great sex problems, it was natural that those who first proposed special instruction should have emphasized the social evil and its diseases so much as to create the widespread but erroneous impression that the great aim of sex-education is to teach the distressing facts concerning the pathological consequences of immorality. [sidenote: other problems need emphasis.] now, without in the least underestimating the vast importance of the emphasis placed on sexual immorality and social diseases in the splendid pioneer work of the late dr. morrow and others for the sex-education movement, and without suggesting that these topics should be neglected while reorganizing the educational attack on sex problems, i believe that so far as formal instruction in homes, schools, and colleges is concerned, we may gain a decided advantage if we now recognize and declare boldly that the physical effects of the diseases arising from the social evil constitute _only one of several_ groups of sex problems that organized education should attempt to solve. concerning the other problems that sex-education should touch with great definiteness, it is my personal view that most of those outlined in the preceding lectures will be affected by instruction along five important lines, as follows: [sidenote: five lines of instruction.] ( ) the scientific truths that lead to serious and respectful attitude on all sex questions. ( ) the personal sex-hygiene that independent of social diseases conserves individual health directly or indirectly through sexual normality. ( ) the ethical responsibility of individuals for the physical or social or psychical harm of their sexual actions upon other individuals, _e.g._, in prostitution and illegitimacy. ( ) the hygienic, ethical, and psychical laws that promote physical and mental health in monogamic marriage. ( ) the established principles of heredity and eugenics which foretell the possible coming of a better race of humans. i believe that in these five lines there are educational problems of present and future greater significance to human health and happiness than are found in the social evil and its diseases, commandingly important though these be. therefore, in viewing the field of sex-education with reference to the possible usefulness of knowledge in helping individuals solve the vital problems that have grown naturally out of the reproductive function, i believe that we are logical only when we organize our educational aims so as to give scientific instruction concerning the problems of sex in the several lines in addition to the physical or hygienic aspects of the social evil and its diseases. [sidenote: four aims.] as i now see in the large the sexual problems which scientifically organized education should attack, the educational aims may be grouped under four general headings as follows: first and most important, sex-education should aim to develop an open-minded, serious, scientific, and respectful attitude towards all problems of human life which relate to sex and reproduction. second, sex-education should aim to give that knowledge of personal hygiene of the sexual organs which is of direct value in making for the most healthful and efficient life of the individual. third, sex-education should aim to develop personal responsibility regarding the social, ethical, psychical, and eugenic aspects of sex as affecting the individual life in its relation to other individuals of the present and future generations; in short, sex-education should consider the problems of sexual instincts and actions in relation to society. fourth, sex-education should aim to teach _briefly_ to young people, during later adolescence, the essential hygienic, social, and eugenic facts regarding the two destructive diseases which are chargeable to sexual promiscuity or immorality. [sidenote: order of importance of aims.] for emphasis, let me briefly summarize these aims of sex-education: ( ) serious, scientific, and respectful attitude of mind on sex questions; ( ) personal sex-hygiene; ( ) social and ethical and eugenic responsibility for sex actions; ( ) relation of immorality and social diseases. i have deliberately, placed these educational aims in this order because it is the order of greatest permanent importance in the sex-education movement; it represents the greatest value to the largest number of individuals who may learn the scientific truth; and it is the order most natural, most logical, and most effective in pedagogical practice with young people. [sidenote: relation of aims to problems of sex.] sex-education organized with regard to these four aims will touch definitely all the eight problems of sex that have been discussed in preceding lectures. the first aim will directly affect the problem of vulgarity and indirectly touch those stated under the third aim. the second aim is obviously directed to the problem of personal health as it may be influenced by the sexual processes of one individual independent of others. of course, there is also the personal aspect of social diseases, but it is clearer to consider both personal and social aspects of these diseases as a unit in the fourth aim. the third aim is based on five of the eight great problems which involve individual responsibility for the social evil, for illegitimacy, for sexual immorality, for matrimonial harmony, and for eugenics. the social aspects of the venereal diseases obviously involve personal responsibility of the individual in relation to society as well as a personal hygienic problem. thus, six of the eight great sex problems are essentially social and only those relating to personal hygiene and individual attitude are so distinctly personal as to have only an indirect relation to other individuals, as might be true in case of unharmonious marriage of individuals who are vulgar minded or who have been injured by unhygienic personal habits. finally, the fourth aim provides for teaching the _essential_ facts that may help individuals protect themselves directly, and society indirectly, against the diseases that awakened the world to the need of sex-education. let us turn now to analyze the aims of sex-education and consider how they may be connected with a definite scheme for sex-instruction. § . _the aims as the basis of organized sex-instruction_ i have placed first the aim to develop a serious and respectful attitude toward sex and reproduction because at the root of the sexual problems of our times is the prevailing vulgar interpretation of sex and life discussed in a preceding lecture (§ ). [sidenote: biology and attitude.] recognizing the great importance of attitude, how may it be influenced by instruction in home or school? the most widely accepted answer is that the best beginning may be made through study of biology (including botany, zoölogy, and physiology) and through nature-study and hygiene taught on a biologic basis. no other method of introduction to sex-instruction is so natural and so likely to lead to a serious, scientific, and open-minded attitude concerning sex. in fact, a large part of the study of reproduction of plants and animals in courses of biology in schools and colleges has its value chiefly in the overwhelming evidence that problems of sex and reproduction are natural and dignified aspects of life. such biological study determines attitude in no small degree. this is the chief justification for study of the reproductive processes in a series of animals and plants representing stages between the complex development of the highest animals which parallel human life and the lowest forms which the microscope reveals. in all my classes of twenty years in high school and college i have noted a marked development of serious, scientific, and open-minded attitude in response to natural and frank presentation of animal and plant life-histories. moreover, i have many times requested large groups of students to write freely and frankly concerning the influence of biological courses upon their own attitude; and their papers have strongly supported my observation that study of animal and plant life-histories exerts a profound influence upon the attitude of students towards the human problems of sex and reproduction. if i were stating a defense for biology as one of three or four essential science courses for general education, i should place the greatest emphasis upon the study of animals and plants as a foundation for sex-instruction. certain critics would reply that all the biological facts that are actually used in the direct human application of sex-instruction could be taught in a few lectures without a year's course in biology; but it is a demonstrated fact that a few isolated lessons do not give the attitude that comes from a good course of biology taught with the view to culminating in special sex-instruction. [sidenote: literature and attitude.] only recently has it been pointed out that one's attitude towards sex may be profoundly influenced by reading certain general literature that holds up high ideals of love and sex and life. it will be most convenient to consider the influence of literature on sex-instruction in another lecture (§ ). [sidenote: teaching personal sex-hygiene.] now let us consider the general bearings of the personal sex-hygiene demanded by the second aim. for children under ten and twelve the necessary hygiene should be presented personally (see § ). for young people of adolescent years there are four possible ways of instruction in personal sex-hygiene: ( ) it may be added naturally to a course or series of lessons in general hygiene including the problems of health for all systems of organs. ( ) it may be included in a study of vertebrate and human reproduction in a course of biology or zoölogy. ( ) it may be presented by a special lecture that is independent of all regular courses of study. ( ) special booklets may be put into the hands of young people. let us now examine each of these ways: [sidenote: sex-hygiene in general hygiene.] ( ) sex-hygiene as a natural part of a series of lessons in general hygiene is most satisfactory when preceded by biological nature-study or high-school biology in which life-histories of organisms have been studied for the sake of attitude. at present we lack satisfactory textbooks for this kind of correlation. there is a strong reaction against independent courses of hygiene in high schools, and the next plan is becoming more common. [sidenote: hygiene in biology.] ( ) the inclusion of the necessary hygiene of all organs in courses of biology or zoölogy that have emphasized physiology and its bearings on health is the best arrangement so far proposed and tested in practice. it has been tried with success by dr. w.h. eddy in the high school of commerce, new york city, and by other high-school teachers working along the same lines. the arguments for teaching general hygiene on a biological basis have been presented in the last chapter of "the teaching of biology in secondary schools" by lloyd and bigelow, and put in textbook form in the "applied biology" and "introduction to biology" by m.a. and anna n. bigelow. however, personal sex-hygiene is not included in these textbooks, because educational and public opinion do not yet stand for such radical lessons in books for schools. [sidenote: special lectures on hygiene.] ( ) special lectures on sex-hygiene independent of biology or general hygiene are at best makeshifts, and not without dangers. i fear the effect of the abrupt introduction to sex problems by special lectures, especially for girls who may be shocked much more than the average boys can be. i heartily sympathize with parents and school officials who object to special lectures that suddenly focus attention on problems of sexual health. it seems to me that special lectures should be given only when no other method of teaching is possible. this applies especially to young people who are not in schools. while i have stressed biological nature-study as offering the ideal basis for the broadest kind of sex-education, i realize that there are cases where such study cannot be held prerequisite to some aspects of sex-hygiene that young people should know. however, we should aim to make such cases the exceptions and not the rule. some good may be accomplished by teaching certain facts of sex-hygiene frankly and directly to those who have absolutely no knowledge of nature-study and biology; but after watching the reactions of groups of boys who were receiving such information, i have been convinced that even with a limit of one hour for instruction a biological setting is decidedly important in that it gives an indirect approach. ( ) special books and pamphlets are useful when, and only when, the above methods are impossible, but certain cautions are desirable (see § ). [sidenote: difficulty in ethical-social teaching.] the third aim involves some difficult educational problems. since we confess that we know so little concerning efficient methods for ethical, moral, or social teaching, it is evident that we must be far from a satisfactory plan for dealing with instruction which is intended to oppose most powerful instinctive tendencies and long-established habits of sensuality. clearly the third aim sets no easy task for the educator; but since the possible solution of sex problems must turn on the sex actions of the individual in relation to society, the ethical-social aspects of sex-education must not be evaded because the way is not yet entirely clear. the fact is that a good beginning has been made, especially in teaching concerning social diseases, heredity, and eugenics. [sidenote: social hygiene and ethics.] the value of all the proposed teaching concerning the relation of immorality and social diseases is more ethical than hygienic. read any of the standard literature on the social side of venereal diseases, especially the masterly writings of the eminent physician and chief organizer of the american movement for sex-education, the late dr. prince a. morrow, of new york city; and one notes that the medical facts have bearings in two directions. first, they indicate the desirability of morality as a protection of personal health; and second, they teach that the pathological results of the individual's immoral living may be passed on later to innocent wives and children. the first is as clearly personal hygiene as teaching that impure water may cause typhoid; but the second is social hygiene and ethics. the second is more impressive to all but the most selfish people. there is good reason for believing that information concerning the social diseases is more likely to impress the average young man through the social-ethical appeal much more than as a matter of personal health. therefore, a biological lesson on social diseases, which may be presented most logically in connection with other germ diseases, may have its chief value in that its meaning is social and ethical. [sidenote: biology and ethics.] as another illustration of biology touching ethics, i have recently come to believe that the teaching concerning heredity and eugenics, which should be a standard part of the best sex-instruction, has its greatest value in the ethical appeal, and not in the direct biological application of the laws of heredity which underlie eugenics. i realize that this statement is likely to be disputed by those biologists who see in eugenics only the possibility of controlling heredity so as to propagate better strains of humans, just as breeders of plants and animals have produced better domesticated varieties. a biologist naturally believes that the ultimate aim of eugenics is improvement of physical and psychical qualities; but considering the ethical-social-biological complications of human sex-problems, it seems improbable that any decided and extensive improvement is likely to come if we continue to limit our interpretation of the principles of eugenics to the purely biological standpoint of the breeder of plants and animals. let me illustrate by some concrete facts from eugenics: there is a widespread opinion among science teachers that high-school biology should present some of the best established facts of heredity; and that these should be eugenically applied to human life by means of such illustrations as those afforded by the histories of certain degenerate families, such as the well-known jukes and kallikaks. a brief sketch of the history of the latter family, as described in dr. goddard's interesting book, "the kallikak family" (macmillan), will make clear my point as to the ethical appeal of eugenics. [sidenote: eugenics and ethical teaching.] a young man of good ancestry broke the moral law about one hundred and forty years ago and became the father of an illegitimate son by a feeble-minded mother. of descendants of this son, there have been normal, many immoral, many alcoholic and feeble-minded. the same man who back in the revolutionary days made a moral mistake which led to such awful consequences, later married a woman of good family and became the progenitor of a second line of descendants of whom have been normal mentally, while two were affected by alliance with another family; and all have been first-class citizens, many of them prominent in business, professions, etc. even making due allowance for the depressing influence of the environment in which most of the down-and-out descendants in the degenerate line lived, the comparison between the normal and the abnormal lines from the same ancestor gives the most convincing eugenic evidence that has been discovered in the human race. doubtless it will long be used as a basis for attempted biological control of the propagation of the unfit. many similar cases of hereditary degeneracy are recorded in books on eugenics. such a eugenic record as that of this kallikak family should be reviewed in every high school and college in connection with the topic "heredity" in a course of biology, for it will teach two important lessons: ( ) the biological principle that defects, both physical and mental, are highly heritable, even for many generations; and ( ) the ethical responsibility for the sex actions of the individual who may start a long train of human disaster that may visit the children unto even later than the third and fourth generations. the first lesson is a purely biological one which suggests the eugenic argument that defective humans, like undesirable animals and plants, should not take part in the perpetuation of the species. the second lesson is not biological but ethical, suggesting individual responsibility for conduct which may disastrously affect other individuals' lives. it seems to me that so far as general education is concerned, the ethical lesson is the more impressive and more likely to lead to voluntary eugenic practice by individuals. it is my observation that even many intelligent people are not seriously impressed by the biological evidences for eugenics considered as a general problem, but their reaction is one of interest when one begins to present the question of ethical responsibility for the transmission of physical and mental defects to future generations. such considerations have led me to the view, already suggested, that eugenic studies in courses of biology have their greatest practical value in their ethical implications, which, of course, by influencing individual responsibility for reproduction may lead to the desirable biological improvement of the human race. teachers of biology should present, as an economic problem, the facts which will make better breeds of plants and animals by direct application of the biological laws of heredity; but they should present and apply parallel facts to human life in order to influence first of all individual responsibility for ethical control of reproductive activity, and thus indirectly work eugenically for an improved human race. [sidenote: aim of eugenics.] thus the aim of eugenics is most likely to be attained through ethical rather than biological application of the teaching which our schools can give. the men and women who view life selfishly with no feelings of ethical responsibility towards others of the present or future will take no practical interest in the biological problems of human eugenics, although the economic problems of plant and animal breeding may interest some of these same people. [sidenote: education and other aspects of sex problems.] in addition to the ethical-social bearings of biological teaching, our sex-education will be incomplete until we learn how to attack the sex problems directly and effectively with reference to the ethical, social, psychical, and æsthetic aspects. perhaps we may be able to do this only with mature people; probably it is too much to hope that even a serious impression will be made on all intelligent people; but somehow sex-education must be completed by adequate presentation of these aspects, for the problems of sex are satisfactorily solved only in the lives of those fortunate individuals whose vision of the relation of sex and life combines the viewpoints of biology, hygiene, psychology, ethics, religion, and last--but far from least--æsthetics. [sidenote: only essential knowledge of social diseases.] finally, the educational application of the fourth aim demands some explanation. sometime in the adolescent period all young people should learn the essential facts regarding the two social diseases and their relation to immoral living. there is the widespread impression that those advocating sex-education believe in giving great prominence to the social diseases; but in opposition to this i cite the report of a committee of the american federation for sex hygiene, published in the _journal of the society of sanitary and moral prophylaxis_, january, , and later reprinted as a pamphlet by the american social hygiene association. in that report there are _twenty-three_ recommendations concerning sex-instruction; but _only_ one mentions social diseases and in these words: "during the later period of adolescence ... there should be given ... special instruction as to the character and dangers of the venereal diseases." that seems sufficient. it is not desirable that young people should review the horrible facts relating to perverted sexuality. ten or twenty brief and authoritative statements quoted impressively from medical and social literature ought to give fair warning of lurking dangers in immoral living. more extensive information has often proved dangerous. i would gladly advocate that this dark side of life be kept in sealed books if i did not know that so many young people need forewarning and definite guidance. our educational system will not do its full duty if it fails to offer the needed help so that it may be obtained by all adolescent young people who are not so fortunate as to be guided by parents and other personal teachers. footnotes: [ ] to avoid misunderstanding, let me repeat from the first lecture that i am constantly thinking of sex-education in the larger sense; and instruction in schools can be, at best, only a part. iv the teacher of sex-knowledge § . _who should give sex-instruction?_ a large number of people have been convinced that young people need knowledge which will help them face the great problems of sex; but they withhold their approval of the sex-education movement because they are not satisfied that proper teachers exist. it is, therefore, evident that we cannot make permanent progress by emphasizing the need of sex-education unless we can give assurance that qualified teachers are available. [sidenote: the teacher most important.] the situation as regards teachers of sex-instruction is very different from that of all other subjects concerning which young people should be taught. we cannot safely plan the teaching regarding sex until we know the teacher. this will be evident, i think, after some general considerations concerning selection of teachers and some discussion of problems such as the first teacher, teachers for classes, and some undesirable teachers. the general rule should be, first, find the safe and sure teacher and, second, select the facts and plan the lessons that the chosen teacher may give effectively. [sidenote: teachers of same sex for children.] so far as young children are concerned, the needed instruction is so general in character that the sex of the competent teacher is of little importance, but the information that ought to prepare for and guide through the mazes of adolescent youth should come to young people from teachers of the same sex. if exceptions must be made rather than omit instruction altogether, some very mature women may safely guide both boys and girls through adolescence; but men, even physicians, should not undertake instruction of adolescent young women, unless parents and other mature people are present to help with attitude. that women may well instruct boys i know, because the most impressive sex lecture i ever heard was given by the late dr. mary wood-allen to the boys of the freshman class when i was a college student. but note that i have said "some very mature women." the fact is that i fear danger for some boys if they are frankly instructed by attractive young women who are only ten to fifteen years older than their pupils. hence, i urge great caution if there must be any exceptions to the general rule that teachers and pupils should be of the same sex. [sidenote: coeducational classes.] i realize the difficulty of applying this rule in many high schools where the foundations of sex-education are well laid on the biological basis. there is no reason why the biological studies should not be coeducational through nature-study and biology as far as the development of frogs and birds and, in a general way, of mammals. in fact, both of my textbooks, the "applied biology" and the "introduction to biology," which emphasize reproduction of organisms more than other high-school books, have been used throughout in coeducational classes. however, these books stop where the problems of human life begin and should be supplemented by lessons for sex-limited classes. there are writers who suggest that segregation of the sexes for teaching concerning human life may be at present a necessity because complete frankness on sexual questions is certainly obstructed by tradition; but we must not ignore the deep social reasons why, in general, there must be maintained a certain amount of reserve between the sexes in the consideration of some important problems of life. no educational theory or practice can possibly alter the fundamental physical or psychical relations of the sexes which nature seems to have fixed immutably. [sidenote: married women as teachers.] one other point that deserves attention in this connection is the common statement that only married women, preferably mothers, can be competent instructors of young women. this strikes me as more than absurd. personal experience is not always necessary for teaching in any line. the greatest medical teachers have not had the diseases they describe so clearly. the best elementary teachers and specialists on the care of children are not always mothers; on the contrary, some of these are men. the fact is that these teachers have learned, not from personal experience, but from the great accumulations of scientific knowledge of medicine, hygiene, and education. there is an abundance of such knowledge relating to sex that may be clearly understood by bright women who have no bi-personal knowledge of sex. therefore, i believe that it is nonsense to insist that only women with complete sexual experiences can be efficient guides for other women. § . _the child's first teachers of sex-knowledge_ [sidenote: mothers and other first teachers.] the first instruction which may begin to lay the foundation for the individual's sex-education should be given in early childhood by parents, or by other adults, who happen to be on the most intimate personal terms with the child. usually this means the mother; but there are numerous cases of teachers, governesses, grandmothers, and even fathers who have greater personal influence with certain children than their mothers have. the essential point is that the child should be instructed only by an adult who can exert the greatest personal influence. [sidenote: mothers and adolescent boys.] many parents who believe in sex-education for their children hold that the mothers should give all necessary hygienic guidance and teach the elementary facts of life to the children of both sexes in the pre-adolescent years, but that with the dawn of adolescence the girls should continue to be instructed by their mothers, while the boys should be guided by their fathers. so far as girls are concerned, this seems to be a fairly good plan; but nine times out of ten it is not best for the boys for several reasons: first, the sudden change of attitude on the part of the mother will surely impress upon the boy that there is something about sex in boys that even his mother dares not talk over with him. at about this same time when the mother begins to avoid the sex question with her boy, he will surely begin to get vulgar information and impressions from his boy companions. he will in all probability begin to hear the impure and obscene stories and vulgar language that are so common among many men and boys, and he will be sure to learn that the vulgarity which he hears must not be repeated in the presence of his mother and sisters. it is a most critical time in the mental attitude of the boy. his mother has so far been directing him towards purity and then suddenly sets him adrift. if there is ever a time in a boy's life when he needs intimacy with his mother, it is in the early adolescent years of twelve to fourteen. a strong mother's heart to heart guidance at that time will influence the boy more than all the sex-education which the schools and colleges combined can ever hope to offer. such is the problem of home teaching for adolescent boys. i emphatically protest against the foolish and even dangerous idea that because a boy is beginning to metamorphose into a man his mother should cease to help him with the problems of sex. lucky is that adolescent boy whose mother realizes her duty and her opportunity and holds him as intimately as if he were a girl of corresponding age. § . _selecting teachers for class instruction_ the references to "the teacher" in the following are primarily applicable to those who may be called upon to give sex-instruction as class work in schools, colleges, churches, the y.m.c.a., the y.w.c.a., and other educational organizations. the chief question for discussion in this lecture is that of selecting the teacher of those phases of sex-instruction that are directly related to human life, that is, personal sex-hygiene and sex-ethics. so far as biological facts of sex are concerned, there are no special problems such as may not be handled by teachers of biology in general according to the accepted methods (see lloyd and bigelow, "teaching of biology in the secondary school" and bigelow, "teacher's manual of biology"). [sidenote: regular teachers if possible.] as already suggested, a large part of the sex-instruction is simply an extension of biological science, hygiene, and ethics; and in secondary schools and colleges should be given by selected teachers of the regular staff and whenever possible as a part of regular courses. there may be some necessary modifications to this plan; for example, in teachers college the course on sex-education and another series of lectures on sex-physiology and hygiene for women are open to students who do not take the biology courses in which the sex-instruction logically belongs. [sidenote: sex-hygiene and ethics.] the culminating stages of any complete scheme for formal sex-education of young people will be sex-hygiene considered in its strict sense as that special phase of sex-education which deals with problems of health, and sex-ethics which determines the responsibility of individuals for control of sexual instincts. while nature-study and biology and general hygiene may be organized so as to present the major portion of the facts which should be included in a complete scheme of sex-instruction in schools and colleges, the application of these facts to personal life is the most difficult problem of sex-education. in fact, it is the only real problem, for long before sex-education became a definite movement the most efficient science teachers were presenting the fundamental facts on which we now propose to build with certain hygienic and ethic instruction which directly touches the personal life of the student. as already said, the human application will require only a few lessons, preferably in connection with nature-study, biology, ethics, or hygiene. but although brief, such instruction is the keystone in the arch of sex-education, and it is very important that there be no serious mistakes in selecting the teachers. [sidenote: sex specialists not desirable.] i have mentioned special teachers as necessary for instruction with direct reference to specialists human life. i hasten to add that i still agree with the report of the special committee (morrow, _et al._) of the american federation for sex hygiene that it is not desirable that any teacher should make a specialty of this type of instruction and of no other. we do not want "sex specialists" in the schools (see pp. and - of the report of the committee). it is important that all teachers should have general information regarding the sex problems of young people in order to be able to help individual pupils. § . _certain undesirable teachers for special hygienic and ethical instruction_ it will be most helpful if we consider the problem of selecting teachers with a view to rejecting those who certainly should not undertake the special hygienic and ethical teaching, for teachers who are good in other subjects and who are fortunately free from certain disqualifications discussed in the following, may by means of study adapt themselves for the final and most important stages of sex-education. there are five types of teachers who should be regarded as disqualified for teaching personal sex-hygiene and sex-ethics. [sidenote: embarrassed teachers.] first, those men and women who are unable to speak of sex-hygiene as calmly and seriously as they do of any other phase of hygiene had better not undertake the instruction of young people. there are many such men and women among teachers who, so far as scientific training is concerned, ought to be good teachers of sex-hygiene. as an illustration of this attitude that leaves the wrong impression with students, it is reported that a good teacher of hygiene recently prefaced a brief talk to college girls as follows: "i shall now consider a process that no cultured woman ever mentions except with bated breath. i refer to menstruation." [sidenote: abnormal teachers.] the second kind of people who should not teach sex-hygiene are the men and women who are the unfortunate victims of sexual abnormality, either physical or psychical, that more or less influences their outlook on life. certain neurotic and hysterical men or women who lack thorough physiological training and whose own sexual disturbances have led them to devour omnivorously and unscientifically the psychopathological literature of sex by such authors as havelock ellis, krafft-ebing, and freud, are probably unsafe teachers of sex-hygiene. especially is this true of the women of this type whose introspective morbidity has led them to diagnose their own functional disturbances as the direct result of "over-sexuality" and restraint from normal sexual expression--a diagnosis that is probably wrong nine times in ten cases. such a woman is a very dangerous teacher of sex-hygiene for adolescent girls; and a positive menace to older unmarried women who, if free from absorbing work, may spend their leisure in becoming more or less restless under the unsocial, if not unphysiologic, conditions of unwelcome celibacy. this is no imaginary danger. the reader of this will not be interested in details, but the author has received from physicians and others reliable information concerning several extremely abnormal women of the above-described type who are taking an active interest in the sex-instruction of young people and are actually suggesting to their friends among young women the dangerous and untrue doctrine that prolonged celibacy for women results in repressed sexuality that surely leads to ill health. such ideas, it is true, are traceable to certain well-known radical writers on the psychopathology of sex; but we must remember that the great majority of physicians and other scientific investigators who have studied such problems refuse to believe that repressed sex instincts in either men or women do the harm that a few extremists have claimed. but even if it were known beyond the shadow of a doubt that repressed sex instincts may injure people, it would be unwise to intrust young people to instruction by teachers who have a hypochondriacal interest in such a doctrine of repression. such suggestions can do only harm to the vast majority of persons who receive them. to say the least, it is unfortunate that the psychopathology of sex has become so widely circulated among those who are not well trained in physiology and psychiatry. [sidenote: teachers who emphasize sexual abnormality.] the third kind of people who should not be intrusted with teaching sex-hygiene are the men and women who, without a scientific perspective, have plunged into the literature of sexual abnormality until they have come to think that knowledge concerning perverted life is an important part of sex-education for young people, especially for those of post-adolescent years. i know of teachers and physicians who advise young people not much over twenty years of age to read such psychopathological works as those of krafft-ebing, ellis, and freud, and various works dealing with commercialized vice. here is a grave danger. the less that people without professional use for knowledge of sexual pathology know concerning it, the better it will be for their peace of mind and possibly for their morals. therefore, i urge that he who enthusiastically studies the abnormalities of sex life without reference to scientific research or professional demands, is not likely to be the kind of teacher who will present abnormal life only so far as is necessary to an understanding of the perfectly normal. [sidenote: pessimistic teachers.] the fourth kind of people who ought not to instruct the young in personal problems of sex-hygiene are the men and women whose own unhappy romances or married life, or whose knowledge of vice conditions, have made them pessimistic concerning sex-problems. there are in our schools and colleges to-day some such men and many such women, and there will be danger for young people when the growing freedom of expression allows these sexual pessimists to impress their own hopeless philosophy of sex upon students. the educational world does not need such teachers, but rather those who can follow the late dr. morrow in seeing a bright side of life that almost dispels the darkness of sexual errors. [sidenote: teachers not respected by pupils.] the fifth kind of persons who ought not to teach the personal side of sex-hygiene are those who cannot command the most serious respect of their pupils. this applies especially to many men teachers whose flippant attitude and even questionable living are not likely to help their pupils, especially boys, towards a satisfactory interpretation of sex problems. of course, such teachers ought not be in schools at all, but the fact is that for various reasons they sometimes get there and stay there; and so they must be weighed by the school official who selects the teachers to be intrusted with special problems of sex-education. [sidenote: no instruction without satisfactory teachers.] summarizing, i have in this lecture aimed to warn the school administrator, and others who must select teachers of classes, against the kinds of teachers who ought not be chosen for presenting the special problems of sex-education, especially those of sex-hygiene and sex-ethics. i have pointed out that there are five serious disqualifications; and it is probable that if strictly applied when choosing teachers for special sex-instruction, there will be elimination of three or four in every ten of those whose training in science might be expected to qualify them as teachers of this special line. it is a fair question as to what a school or other institution should do if it has no teachers who are free from the above disqualifications. my own belief is that it is better to get an outsider for the handling of the special problems. if this is impracticable, then suggest to the students that they read certain books such as are recommended in the last sections of this book. even entire omission of the study of the personal and social aspects of sex-hygiene and sex-ethics is far wiser than intrusting a class to a teacher with one or more of the negative qualifications that we have been considering in this lecture. the effect of sex-education upon individual lives will in no small degree depend upon the impression made by the living teacher who deals with the difficult problems of sex in relation to hygiene and ethics. hence, the greatest care should be taken when selecting the teacher for this all-important part of the student's sex-education. v books as teachers concerning sex and life § . _value and danger of special sex books for young people_ [sidenote: books for private reading.] there are many parents and teachers who believe that young people should get their sexual information by private reading, and numerous books for boys and girls have been prepared to meet such a demand. the desire for such "private" reading undoubtedly exists, especially in boys; but this is part of the general air of secrecy and vulgarity that has enshrouded the truth about sexual matters. many eminent physicians agree that there are elements of physical and perhaps moral danger when a boy reads a sex-science book secretly, but that there are few such possibilities in frank and scientific teaching by a competent instructor. this is recognized by leaders in the y.m.c.a., and they prefer to read books with the boys in study classes. many scientific women think there is no such danger for average girls, but agree that girls as well as boys will gain in respect for the subject of sex if the atmosphere of secrecy can be avoided. hence, while books for private reading are better than ignorance, they alone will not solve many of the problems at which sex-education is directed. we must cease to foster the secrecy created by an atmosphere of obscenity, and the study of sex must be brought into the light of day. let good books be recommended through parents and with their approval be issued freely by libraries and without restrictions which suggest something dark and wrong. let parents and teachers encourage such reading, but not as something requiring secrecy. rather let such books be read as freely as any other good books, and let parents and competent teachers follow the young readers closely so as to explain facts and help develop the desirable attitude of mind. especially let parents encourage the idea that approved sex-science books may be read at the family fireside as properly as any other books. above all, let parents and teachers work in every possible way against the time-worn idea that problems of sex are essentially vulgar and demand secrecy even in scientific study. we must have a nobler and healthier outlook on human life than that which so commonly prevails, and we can never get it by secret study of sex-science by young people. such study may do some good by warning against unhygienic habits and social diseases; but it is certainly inadequate to give the open-minded attitude needed so much for appreciating the ethical, social, and æsthetic bearings of human life as it is influenced by normal sexual functions. [sidenote: pamphlets _vs._ books.] it has been urged by well-known teachers that, for sex-instruction, pamphlets are better than books in that they do not hold the attention too long on topics that may be exciting to some young people. on the other hand, books usually make a stronger appeal, while pamphlets are likely to be regarded lightly, as are magazines and newspapers. there is no doubt that most sex books for young people are too extended, and there is need of condensed forty-and fifty-cent booklets in place of the books commonly sold at one dollar. three or four small booklets by different authors read at widely separated intervals will interest and influence a young man more than one large and comprehensive book. there is besides great value in the points of view of various authors. [sidenote: better books needed.] at present there are no thoroughly satisfactory books for adolescent boys and girls. in my opinion, w.s. hall's books for boys are the most reliable, and his "life problems" is the best selection of facts for girls; but some mature readers criticize the style of presentation. some other books for adolescent young people are mentioned with critical notes in the bibliography at the end of this book. there is still plenty of chance for authors to experiment in writing books of this class. § . _general literature and sex problems_ [sidenote: sex in literature.] in the world's best literature there is much that teaches important lessons in the field of the larger sex-education. in the guise of love, sex problems have always held the prominent place in all literature. many a great book teaches direct or positive lessons by holding up high ideals for inspiration and imitation; but some of the most impressive lessons are in negative form, especially in fiction that deals with the tragedies of life. [sidenote: religious books.] as examples of literature of direct influence in helping many young people solve the problems of sex, we think first of that which holds up high ideals of personal purity, such as the bible and other religious books. there is no doubt that such literature has a tremendous influence on many young people; but it has little influence on others, probably in part because the somewhat mystical style of most religious writings is meaningless to many people. [sidenote: appeal of poetry.] it is a fact that many young people who refuse to be interested in religious literature may be influenced for sexual purity by the emotional appeal of some general literature. this is especially true of romantic poetry. i believe that the high "idealism" of love inspired by tennyson's "the princess" and "idylls of the king," by longfellow's "evangeline" and "the hanging of the crane," by some of shakespeare's plays, and by other great poetry with similar themes has had and will continue to have greater influence on the attitude and ethics of many young people than all the formal sex-teaching that can be organized. hence, i believe that teachers of literature should be led to take interest in the larger sex-education to the end that by selection and interpretation of great masterpieces they may contribute in a valuable way to the solution of some of the problems that have their center in the deeper nature of sex. [sidenote: importance of interpretation.] interpretation of literature by teachers is very important for the purposes of sex-education of young people. as an example, take tennyson's "idylls of the king," whose movement centers in the life problems that turn around love. the average reader is likely to miss the great lessons if the poem is not critically interpreted either by living teachers or by such critical essays as those by henry van dyke in his "poetry of tennyson" and newell dwight hillis in his "great books as life-teachers." without interpretation "the idylls" may teach false as well as true lessons of life. some of the knights of the round table (galahad and percivale) were worthy followers of the good and pure king arthur, and some of them (like lancelot and tristram and merlin) proved unable to live up to the vow of chastity to which arthur swore all his knights. and on the part of the ladies of arthur's court, there was purity and devotion and true womanhood in elaine and enid, while guinevere and ettarre and vivien were unchaste and faithless. in fact, all phases of the relations of men and women in the struggles and perplexities of life are pictured; and therefore it is important that a well-trained teacher should be the guide and interpreter if the "idylls of the king" are to be read with the idea of understanding their true bearings on life, which includes their contribution to the larger sex-education. i have used "the idylls of the king" as an illustration because they are so many-sided in sex problems; but much other great literature may be made to help young people to high ideals of relationships between men and women. i have emphasized the place of such literature in the larger sex-education because i have come to believe that interpretation of life either real or in great literature may have profound influence in the development of one's philosophy of life. as a matter of educational procedure insuring that young people will learn to interpret life, especially those aspects that the larger sex-education touches so definitely, there appears to be no more natural and unobtrusive way of approach than that offered by the study of literature. i am convinced that many teachers of literature may be efficient workers in the cause of the larger sex-education, supplementing the scientific teaching in the ethical lines where science is admittedly weak, if not helpless. it is to be hoped that numerous teachers will soon grasp this opportunity. if they will study the sex-education movement in order to get its general bearings and will teach the sex aspect of literature on a basis of high ideals of life and love, we need have no fear as to the culmination of the instruction which properly begins with study of the biological facts of life in its sexual aspects and leads on and on to its climax in the ethical aspects of the individual's sex life in relation to other individuals, that is, to society. [sidenote: not to be labeled "sex-education."] i take it for granted that no teacher of literature who contributes to sex-instruction will let the students know that the emphasis placed on great life problems is part of a conspiracy of parents and educators to give in the name of sex-education instruction that will help prepare the individual for facing the problems. here, as elsewhere, the young people had better be left unaware that their elders are so interested in giving them instruction regarding sex problems that they have organized, for study of ways and means, a movement known as sex-education. [sidenote: sex tragedies of fiction.] the abundant literature that points to the moral to be drawn from sexual tragedies has doubtless influenced thousands of young people. i have talked with many educated people who confessed to having been profoundly influenced by such books as eliot's "adam bede," hawthorne's "scarlet letter," goethe's "faust," hardy's "tess of the d'urbervilles." one might go on and compile an extensive bibliography, for fiction of all languages of all times is full of the errors into which insistent sex instincts have drawn men and women who were not masters of themselves. all standard fiction in which sexual errors and their penalties are associated may do good as a part of the larger sex-education, but the teacher should make sure that the young readers arrive at the correct interpretation. [sidenote: fiction without a moral.] against that type of fiction which presents sex problems that do not clearly "point a moral," the average so-called "problem novel" of recent time, there should be general opposition by workers for the larger sex-education. many of the modern novels and magazine stories seem to introduce sexual situations for the same reason that boccaccio did in some of his tales, namely, the attractiveness of lasciviousness. unlike the commendable novels, it is characteristic of the equivocal ones that no penalty is demanded or paid and no moral conclusion is suggested. in fact, the way is very often left open to an immoral interpretation. all such literature certainly tends to work against the aims of sex-education. perhaps parents and teachers may coöperate to keep much of this kind of literature out of the hands of young people, but the safest procedure is in cultivating taste for literature that does teach helpful lessons of life. if young people do read books and magazines that seem to stand for uncertain morals, it is best that parents and teachers should point out the moral interpretations. § . _dangers in literature on abnormal sexuality_ [sidenote: danger in present interests in the abnormal.] the opinion is spreading among those who are studying the educational problems relating to sex that there is great danger, even for many adults, in much of the literature describing psychopathological and abnormal social-sexual facts. there are enormous quantities of such literature, particularly concerning the social evil. it is extremely doubtful whether the reader who is not directly engaged in medicine, psychiatry, or social reform will profit by filling his mind with facts from the darkest side of life. no doubt it is important that all intelligent men and women should know enough about sexual immorality and the life of the underworld so that they will realize the necessity of protecting young people from vice in all its forms; but this does not mean that everybody should read extensively in the mass of printed matter that sets forth the most awful details concerning human depravity. there is a real danger in this line. the sex-education movement has already brought the problems of sex out of the old-time secrecy, and no other topics of the times are so freely read and discussed. this might be well if the reading and discussion always took constructive lines leading towards improvement of sexual relationships; but unfortunately, much of the present popular interest in sexual problems seems to be a morbid craving for the abnormal. we find this tendency in the demand for a certain type of sex-problem novels, we see it frequently on the stage and in motion pictures, and we hear it in general conversation. the advertised suggestion of sexual immorality in a forthcoming serial novel often raises surprisingly the circulation of certain magazines. a few hints of sexual irregularity in certain plays have brought crowded audiences. a scandalous divorce case, reported as freely as the law allows, is a choice morsel for average readers of newspapers. everywhere it is the sexual abnormality, perversity, and even bestial vulgarity, that seems to attract the most attention. books and magazines and theaters and preachers who extol the normal and bright side of sex-life are not now extremely popular with the masses of people. as a well-known magazine recently summarized the present situation, "it has struck sex o'clock in america." there is no denying the fact that in recent years the popular interest in sex problems has taken a dangerous turn. it is time for those who are active in the sex-education movement to note the signs of the times, for an effective educational scheme for young people must take into account the present tendency towards a dangerous interest in literature relating to sexual abnormality, especially immorality. all this tendency towards interest in the abnormal or irregular sexual problems must cause not a little worry to those whose interest is primarily in securing widespread recognition of the advantages of normal and moral living. [sidenote: need of interest in normal sex life.] perhaps those who are seriously interested in sex-education may help stem the tide towards interest in sexual abnormality by using greater care in the selection of literature, both for young people and for their elders. i recently met a superintendent of schools who had carefully read certain large volumes on the medical, psychical, and social abnormalities of sex, and many books and pamphlets on the social evil. altogether he had read more than five thousand pages on the immoral and abnormal aspects of sex. he wanted to know where he might find a book on the normal side of sex in its physiological, psychological, and ethical aspects. unfortunately, there is no such treatise by an author whose scientific standing equals that of several of those who have written extensively on the abnormal side; and probably this is in part the reason why so many young men and women are now molding their ideas of sexual life according to the patterns described by the authors of works on social and sexual pathology. not a month passes in which i am not astounded to find men and women who have plunged deeply into studies of sexual vice and pathology and who know less of the normal biology of sex than is contained in such books as w.s. hall's "sexual knowledge" or the last chapter of martin's "human body, advanced course." this is indeed a strange situation, and we might compare it with reading extensive works on insanity before learning the elements of normal psychology. it is certainly a useless, if not a dangerous line of approach to the information concerning sex which intelligent people need. the leaders in the sex-education movement will do well to promote the circulation of some brief and authoritative statement of the chief facts relating to the problems of abnormal sexual life and then to discourage the popular circulation of the extensive works which only certain physicians and social reformers need. i know that there is some difference of opinion as to the effect of such literature. i know many prominent educators and physicians who would keep the extensive works on the psychopathology of sex out of the hands of all general readers; but i also know a few who see no possibility of danger in widespread circulation of such books. [sidenote: limited knowledge of the abnormal.] looking at all sides of the present situation, it is my personal conclusion that every one should learn first the scientific facts regarding normal processes connected with the sexual system; and then for the general reader there should be only a limited amount of warning knowledge regarding the dangers of sexual abnormalities. vi sex-instruction for pre-adolescent years [sidenote: periods of early life.] in § of the report of the committee of three of the american federation for sex-hygiene, by morrow and others, the life of the child was divided into four periods, namely,--under six years, from six to twelve, twelve to sixteen, sixteen to maturity. this division now seems to me to be too arbitrary, and i have come to believe that it is more helpful to consider sex-instruction for three periods as follows: pre-adolescence (ending at eleven to fourteen years); early adolescence (twelve to sixteen years for girls, thirteen to seventeen for boys); later adolescence (sixteen to twenty-one for girls, eighteen to twenty-five for boys). § . _elementary instruction and influence_ [sidenote: nature-study.] the life-histories of plants and animals as taught in the best nature-study[ ] are important in forming attitude towards reproduction and giving a basis for simple and truthful answers to the child's questions as to the origin of the individual human life. the publications listed in the last section of this book under the headings "for girls" and "for boys" will help parents and teachers. there is need of little private hygienic instruction, but of much guidance away from harmful habits. this will be indicated in the next section which considers masturbation as it concerns children of both sexes and all ages. [sidenote: protection.] the protection of children from corrupting influences is an important work of sex-education in pre-adolescent years. probably the greatest safety lies in parents giving simple facts regarding reproduction and in cultivating confidence so that any accidental contact of their children with vulgarity will be counteracted in advance. many parents, especially mothers, have found this possible. [sidenote: girls' preparation for puberty.] in the years between ten and twelve every child should learn from a parent or other adult confidant some general facts regarding their approaching puberty. this is especially important in the case of girls, for many a girl has been physically and mentally injured because a prudish mother has procrastinated too long the giving of information regarding the first menstrual period. the facts in the first thirty pages of w.s. hall's "life problems" should be known by many girls of eleven and by the great majority before thirteen. some books for young girls are defective in that they avoid reference to the coming changes. i see no excuse for a sex-hygiene book for girls who are too young to be trusted with the simplest knowledge regarding menstruation. such children should be interested in nature studies and perhaps the elements of general hygiene, but certainly not in books with curiosity-stimulating titles. [sidenote: special needs of boys.] since boys entering puberty pass through no such sharply defined beginning as girls do, the information they need in advance is not so specific. at the same time, we must recognize that the average boy under twelve years picks up more information regarding sexual life than a girl does, and so the problem of teaching self-control comes earlier, although the average girl enters puberty a year or two before the boy. parents and teachers must recognize the fact that sexual tendencies come to many boys several years before puberty, and masturbation and even premature sexual intercourse are possible problems with many boys long before the twelfth year. the boy's early gathering of sexual information is not without advantage, for it becomes possible for parents and other adult confidants to explain many important truths as to the proper use of his sex organs and as to his conduct towards girls. all this can be done with the average boy of eleven or twelve and with hundreds of even nine and ten without any fear of giving information that is startlingly new and without any danger of giving a nervous shock. [sidenote: cautious teaching of girls.] it is not so with average girls of equal ages, if we may accept the opinion of many women who are trained in science and medicine. specific information as to the functional relationships of the two sexes is said by many educated women to have been absolutely new and startling to them at twenty and twenty-five years. evidently there is a special reason for gradual and cautious teaching of girls, and so it is probably best, as many parents urge, that in pre-adolescent years the girl's instruction in social-sexual lines be training in modest deportment and a proper reserve towards boys. this ought to be sufficient for the girl's protection until gradually in adolescent years she learns the whole story of life, probably several years later than her boy friends whose natural leadership in sexual activity makes their early information desirable as a protection to both sexes. [sidenote: children's friendships.] in the pre-adolescent years parents and teachers should coöperate in developing a spirit of group fellowship between boys and girls and at the same time instill into the boys something of that chivalrous and protective attitude of boys towards girls such as one finds in the families of the highest culture. i emphatically mean "group fellowship," for it is certainly undesirable to encourage in pre-adolescents any tendency towards paired comradeship. it is certainly best that boys and girls should have many good friends of both sexes. the real truth back of the old adage "two is company and three is a crowd" makes the "crowd" highly desirable for both pre-adolescence and early adolescence, for in these years it is friendship and not romantic love that will be most helpful in the later life. as one step in this direction, all sensible adults should show their disfavor to the abominable habit of teasing small children concerning their best friends of the other sex. parents and teachers will do some of the best work in the larger sex-education if they begin in pre-adolescent years to develop the social life of the children along lines similar to those suggested above. [sidenote: summary.] summarizing, it is evident that there is very little direct sex-instruction suitable for pre-adolescent years. so far as the child's own life is concerned, it now seems clear that parents or other adult confidants must instruct individuals, or possibly small uniformly selected groups. class instruction seems out of the question except for life-history studies of animals and plants. on the whole, then, there is nothing radical or impossible in the proposition that there should be a beginning of sex-education before the advent of adolescence. § . _hygienic and educational treatment of unhealthful habits_ [sidenote: problems of children.] all adults should take a sane and scientific view of the sex problems that are likely to come even to normal children. we must remember that they are born with sexual mechanisms that may easily and automatically lead into harmful habits unless parents and teachers guide hygienically and mentally along the lines that are known to offer safety. [sidenote: masturbation.] concerning habitual manipulation of the sexual organs of either sex, known in medical literature as masturbation or self-abuse (often erroneously called "onanism"), there are certain facts that are important for the guidance of all parents and teachers. i discuss it in this connection since the problem often arises in the later years of the pre-adolescent period. [sidenote: does not indicate degeneracy.] it is absurd to suppose that the tendency towards the habit means degeneracy or innate viciousness of children. young horses, dogs, monkeys, and other animals sometimes form a similar habit, the stimulus being some irritation of the sexual organs. hence, it is not at all unnatural when children attempt to relieve their irritated organs by friction, and then it is inevitable that the sensitive nerve endings will give sensations that are more or less pleasurable and satisfying, depending upon the sex, age, and emotional peculiarity of the individual child. this fact suggests to parents and teachers the methods of prophylaxis; namely, avoid ( ) irritation of sexual organs and ( ) opportunity for manipulation. [sidenote: irritation.] [sidenote: circumcision.] with regard to irritation, the first sign of such disturbance may appear in babyhood. in the case of boys, whose structure renders them vastly more liable than girls to external irritation, the family physician should make sure during infancy whether circumcision or a stretching of the prepuce (foreskin) may be desirable. according to dr. emmet holt, the eminent pediatrician, about one male baby in four or five is born with an elongated or tight prepuce that needs surgical attention. a corresponding abnormality of the clitoris is sometimes found in baby girls. some radical surgeons advocate universal circumcision of boys because they believe that it reduces local irritation, favors cleanliness, tends to prevent masturbation, and reduces susceptibility to the venereal diseases. there is certainly some truth in these claims; but some conservative surgeons point out that for the great majority of boys all these advantages may be obtained by reasonable attention to hygienic habits, that orthodox jewish and other circumcised boys are by no means free from harmful habits, that some boys are more irritable after circumcision, that preputial stretching is often a good substitute for circumcision, and that the taunts of other boys often make circumcised boys too conscious of their own mutilation. a scientific doctor who has no special financial interest in the increase of surgical operations and who carefully reviews both the radical and conservative literature relating to circumcision, will not hasten to submit boys to this operation until it is certain that their sexual organs happen to have congenital deformity that only radical surgical treatment can correct. [sidenote: hygienic rules.] in addition to making sure that uncleanliness or structural abnormality are not responsible for irritation of sex organs, there are some special hygienic rules useful for parents and teachers who have charge of children. most important is avoidance of habit formation. clothing should be well adjusted to avoid pressure and friction of the sexual organs, and so constructed (especially night clothing) that it is not convenient for the hands to reach the organs. normal boys require pockets, but they should open at the waist-band and not at the side of the hips. the reason for these suggestions is evident. when we recall that little children naturally tend to explore themselves, such as by putting fingers into the mouth, feeling their toes, inserting foreign objects into nose and ears, and when we also recall how quickly a child may learn the habit of sucking its thumb, we must realize the importance of guarding the child from extending such activities to its sexual organs, which, because they possess the most sensitive nerve endings in the body, are most liable to lead to habitual manipulation. in the light of such facts, it is nonsense to assume, as so many good mothers have done, that only innately vicious children learn masturbation. the truth is that in the case of most children under twelve this habit has an origin no more vicious than such habits as thumb-sucking; and in all cases of habits, parents and others responsible for the children should be given the blame. [sidenote: other suggestions for parents.] the following suggestions in addition to those above are likely to help parents do much towards avoiding or solving the early sex problems of their children. these facts apply also to later years. have children sleep on a hard mattress. the old-time feather bed was dangerous. there should be light-weight covers, and the room cool. children should sleep on either side, _rarely_ in the unnatural back position. aim to have regular sleeping hours; but do not send children to bed unsupervised when they are excited and not tired enough for immediate sleep. have them arise as soon as wide awake in the morning. never punish children by sending them to bed. [sidenote: dangers of privacy.] do not leave children to their own devices; they may naturally fall into dangerous play. privacy is often demanded by the moods of adults, but it is dangerous for children. a certain camp for boys has the commendable rule that the boys have no privacy during the entire summer. many educators and physicians condemn private bedrooms or cubicles in schools for boys. [sidenote: athletics.] a strenuous life of physical and mental activity is the best solution of personal control of sexual instincts. reasonable athletics and study make an ideal combination for both boys and girls. and yet we must not trust absolutely to athletics or other physical work, for there are certainly many individuals whose sexual desires are not controlled by muscular exercise. much of the formal athletic training may have no more influence on sexual control than dogmatic creeds. [sidenote: drugs.] strong condiments and alcoholic drinks are known to be sexual excitants for many people, and for this and other hygienic reasons should be forbidden to children. there is a widespread, but still undemonstrated opinion that tea, coffee, tobacco, and strong condiments have an exciting effect. however, there is plenty of scientific authority, based on other hygienic grounds, for avoiding these at least during the years of growth. [sidenote: constipation.] constipation is likely to cause sexual irritation, and hence this is an additional reason for submitting children to competent doctors for treatment of this disturbance which so seriously affects general health, especially by auto-intoxication. [sidenote: bathing.] cool bathing in the morning, especially of the sexual organs, is hygienic, except for girls during the monthly periods (including two days before the expected menstrual onset). for various reasons, bathing in very warm water should be very limited, and then only for cleansing. [sidenote: form of instruction.] in hygienic instructions to children, avoid giving them any ideas concerning the supposed prevalence of the habit of masturbation. there is a dangerous tendency to follow the crowd. also, the habit should never be described to children except as "unnecessary handling of the sex organs." it is dangerous to suggest to children, as certain books do, that there is any pleasurable sensation resulting from manual manipulation of the organs, for the force of suggestion or curiosity has led some children to experiment with themselves until they formed the habit. [sidenote: symptoms.] there are no absolutely certain signs or symptoms, and those suggested by certain authors, especially by quack doctors, make young people and even parents and teachers judge some individuals in an unfortunate way. especially should parents and teachers remember that there is absolutely no scientific basis for supposing that great diffidence, indigestion, pimples on the face, boys' lack of interest in girls, and numerous other popular "signs," are indications of the masturbation habit. like the symptoms in patent-medicine advertising, the above "signs" are so general that they are sure to fit some cases. [sidenote: insanity.] do not tell children the ancient falsehood that insanity will surely result from handling the sexual organs. it is true that masturbation is a common habit of certain types of insane people and of some neurotics; but it is probable that the habit is more often one of several factors rather than the direct cause of the nervous breakdown. however, it is scientific to say that the habit may weaken the nervous system and indirectly affect general health, especially in pre-adolescent and early adolescent years. probably the greatest nervous damage comes because there is often greater excess than is possible in natural sexual relations; the strain of all sexual excess is more in loss of nervous energy than of secretions. the safest advice one can give children is that the doctors agree that unnecessary touching of sexual organs has interfered with the health of many children and that those who avoid this are most likely to grow up strong in body and mind. this is the truth and practically the whole of the known truth that might have influence with young people. [sidenote: mental habit.] mental masturbation or "day dreaming" concerning sexual functions is probably more harmful than mechanical manipulation. it is believed to be more common in young women than in men. however, there is little reliable evidence as to the prevalence of the habit. as an educational problem, there is nothing to be done beyond informing all adolescent young people that allowing their minds to dwell on sexual affairs may interfere with nervous health, scholarship, and future efficiency in life. hard mental and physical work and strenuous play as a daily routine will avoid or solve most such difficulties of young people. [sidenote: not hopeless.] in all dealing with this problem of young people, we must beware of overemphasis or exaggeration. parents and teachers should do all possible to prevent and cure the habit; but there is still hope for most young people who, in spite of warning, occasionally lapse into their old habits. both men and women of this type have led their classes through college and won success afterwards. probably they would have done still better if entirely free from the habit. on the other hand, men and women of neurotic inheritance combined with the habit have suffered nervous collapse during college years; and it is scientific to assume that the additional nervous strain produced by masturbation was a contributing factor. evidently, we dare make no definite prophecy as to what will happen to one who in early life forms the habit of masturbation. there is no excuse for excessive alarm in any ordinary case; but, as we have seen, there are good reasons why parents and teachers should calmly and yet firmly help young people avoid unnatural sexual activity. to those who must consider the problem of masturbation in boarding schools, i recommend hime's "schoolboys' special immorality." footnotes: [ ] see books on nature-study, _e.g._, holtz's "nature-study," hodge's "nature-study and life," comstock's "handbook of nature-study." morley's "renewal of life," march's "towards racial health," and hall's "the doctor's daughter" suggest the main lines of the nature-study approach to sex-education. vii sex-instruction for early adolescent years § . _the biological foundations_ in discussing instruction for the pre-adolescent years i have stressed biological nature-study as important for the purpose of giving general knowledge of how new living things come into the world. this will develop a good attitude concerning the origin of the individual human life. in this lecture i wish to direct attention to the scientific facts which are foundations for the sexual knowledge that is important for other phases of sex-instruction during early or late adolescence. [sidenote: biological foundations.] i believe that the best introduction to advanced sex-instruction is through biological ideas which may be presented in popular lectures and books; but, of course, will be best taught in courses of biological science. my own view as to the selection of materials for such biological studies is expressed in the sections on reproduction connected with the account of each animal or plant type in the "applied biology" and in the last chapter of the "introduction to biology."[ ] in these books the study of life-histories of plants and animals leads up through vertebrates to mammals, and there are a few remarks suggesting that human development is like the mammals.[ ] at this point these books should be supplemented by a brief survey of the essential structure, physiology, and embryology of human reproduction. [sidenote: mixed classes.] biological studies of human reproduction should not be coeducational in high schools or the early years of college. mature college students who have passed through extensive biological studies, may, without apparent embarrassment, study human embryology in mixed classes; but after experience with many such groups i have begun to think that separate classes are desirable if the course is made to include all the important facts that college graduates should know concerning human reproduction. at any rate, there should be special lessons or reading dealing with detailed information that directly concerns one sex only. [sidenote: impersonal approach of biology.] i certainly do not believe in completely revamping biological science for the purposes of sex-education. it is better not to "spoil" a course by overemphasis on sex, for much of the value of biology as a basis for sex-education is the fact that sex appears gradually and naturally and far away from human relations. this impersonal approach will be lost if the course in biology seems to revolve around sex-education, for that will make sex too prominent. it is still debatable as to how much should be taught in high schools or in public lectures concerning the biological facts of human reproduction. i think that i can make my own views clearer if i discuss this first for boys, then for girls. § . _scientific facts for boys_ first, it is generally agreed that boys of high-school age may profit by learning their own sexual structure by means of diagrams such as the one in hall's "sexual hygiene." there is no harm, and also no gain, in minute description, especially histological. [sidenote: scientific names.] the chief technical names of the parts of the male organs--testicle (spermary or testes), sperm duct (vas deferens), scrotum, prostate, seminal vesicles, penis, glans, prepuce (foreskin), urethra--should be taught; and the scientific dignity of these words as substitutes for vulgar words should be emphasized. in dealing with boys and young men i have noticed that these and other scientific words have a great influence on their attitude. the scientific names of the sex organs should be made part of popular vocabulary for the reason that there are no established common names corresponding to lungs, liver, stomach, arm, leg, brain, and so on for all prominent organs except the sexual. these have been left without authoritative names except in scientific language, and as a result dozens of ordinary words have been vulgarly applied and unprintable ones invented by uneducated people. such usage of vulgar terminology is widespread, especially among men and boys. an editor of schoolbooks recently called my attention to the necessity of changing some ordinary words in certain books because in some localities the boys applied the words to sexual organs. even the little words "nuts," "stones," "balls" accompanied by the adjective "two" mean testicles in the widespread vulgar language; and a physician told me that a college graduate used one of these words the other day when seeking medical advice concerning her baby. here is an intolerable situation that must be improved by establishing in popular usage the dignified scientific words for the chief sexual organs. we must begin to do so by teaching the words frankly to boys of adolescent years, and by persuading parents to teach their children correctly. [sidenote: sex-physiology.] having learned the structure and names of their sexual organs, boys may easily understand the function of each part if explained in simple language. ten or twenty minutes ought to be enough time for stating the important facts. one printed page could state them clearly. here is the time for personal hygienic advice, especially such topics as: rules for self-control; harmful habits (see discussion of masturbation in § ); sexual activity not necessary for health; occasional nocturnal emissions not pathological.[ ] [sidenote: female organs.] i believe it is well for boys of adolescent years to know a few leading facts regarding female structure and function, but such knowledge is best learned from oral description by a well-balanced teacher. diagrams and (in some schools) a demonstrated dissection of a cat or other animal will be helpful. the meaning of the ovaries as sources of the egg-cells and of the uterus as the place for development of the fertilized egg-cell should be explained in a serious way that will help boys get some fundamental ideas as to what motherhood means boys, moreover, should be informed concerning the existence of the periodic disturbance in the other sex, for unless they know they are sure at times to misunderstand their sisters and other girls. professor w.s. hall has stated the essential information in "chums" (for boys twelve to sixteen), but his comparison of periodicity in the two sexes is not strictly accurate, for there are not in men any sexual cycles that are strictly comparable with the menstrual cycles of women. [sidenote: no pictures.] it is probably best, as urged by several writers, that the life-like illustrations, some of them photographic, in books of human anatomy be kept away from boys of early adolescent age. diagrams can be made to explain all that is necessary, and without the danger of stimulation that might come from the illustrated medical books. [sidenote: embryology.] the embryological facts of human biology are very impressive to boys and young men who know little of science. i believe that no other line of scientific facts is so likely to claim a serious and respectful attitude. the ideal way for giving a popular glimpse at human development is with a small series of lantern slides or photographs from embryological works. unfortunately, there is no available popular treatment of the main facts of human development, but teachers trained in biology can easily glean the facts for the preparation of a short lecture. [sidenote: social diseases.] since the venereal diseases are due to micro-organisms, i believe that they should be introduced in connection with the study of bacteria and other germs, either in school courses or in popular lectures. such instruction should be very brief. § . _scientific facts for girls_ [sidenote: girls more innocent.] i discussed first the problem of selecting scientific facts for boys because there is little dispute as to the advisability of giving them as much scientific information as may possibly replace the vulgar knowledge that the average boy is likely to possess. i know that there are a few men and many women who will disagree with this because they believe in the absolute ignorance of their boys; but i doubt whether one healthy adolescent boy in a hundred belongs in the "innocent" class. so we need not worry much concerning any supposed danger of treating facts too frankly, provided that they are given a dignified, scientific setting. in the case of numerous adolescent girls there is certainly dense ignorance, and so there must be more difficulty in getting approval of parents and teachers concerning facts proposed for girls. often when talking with groups of parents i have heard them say that they would like to have their boys learn the scientific truth regarding certain facts, but they feel that it would be too startling and unnecessary for their daughters. such is the widespread feeling which must be seriously considered in all planning of advanced sex-instruction for girls. no doubt there will be much honest disagreement with the suggestions here offered. the biological introduction based on plants and animals should be the same as for boys (§ ). [sidenote: structure and names.] an adolescent girl of fourteen to sixteen should know the general plan of her own sexual structure. she should know the scientific names of her organs, not because there are many vulgar names as in the case of boys, but because dignified names help attitude. ovaries, uterus (womb), vagina, fallopian tubes, and vulva will be sufficient. detailed description of the external organs (vulva) might arouse curiosity that leads to exploration and irritation, and hence many women physicians think that a girl under sixteen or possibly eighteen needs only the name vulva for the external parts surrounding the entrance to the vagina. [sidenote: an ancient belief.] some books for girls perpetuate the ancient but absurd emphasis on the virginal significance of the hymen; and a recent book from a prominent publisher goes so far as to try to frighten girls into remaining chaste by stating that a physician could discover if they have been unchaste. this is far from being always true, for the structure may be congenitally absent, may sometimes remain after sexual union, or may be accidentally destroyed in childhood; and reliable physicians have stated that proving unchastity by the hymen is by no means easy. hence, the less said about the ancient belief, the better for young women. the truth is that the hymen is a worse-than-useless relic of embryological development, and it is neither an indicator nor a dictator of morality. [sidenote: physiology of women.] with regard to the physiology of the female organs, the following topics should be considered: the meaning of puberty as the beginning of a long fertile period of about thirty years; the nature of menstruation as a periodical process preparing the lining of the uterus for reception and attachment of an embryo if a sperm-cell meets a liberated egg-cell near an ovary, and not as a season of illness invented by the powers of darkness; the possibility of fertilization following sexual relations at any time during the fertile life of a woman; the essential facts of sexual relation as a method of depositing sperm-cells so that they can swim on the way to meet an egg-cell; and the nature of the close blood relationship of mother and embryo. these are physiological topics which many parents would like to have taught to their daughters of fourteen to eighteen by some careful woman or by some good book. [sidenote: social ills.] with regard to the social diseases and the social evil, i have long sympathized with the conservatives who hold that extremely limited knowledge is sufficient for the average girl under eighteen or twenty. no doubt that many working girls in cities need more protective knowledge than do school girls of the same age. hall's "life problems" seems to me to give the important facts. [sidenote: habits.] as in the case of boys of adolescent years, there should be enough teaching to warn against harmful habits. such knowledge may possibly be of personal application to a few girls and it will be of use to many girls who will later as mothers or teachers have the care of small children. [sidenote: knowledge concerning men.] i find that many thoughtful mothers and women physicians think that girls in late adolescent years should learn from some reliable source the most general facts regarding male structure and function. here again the strong argument is that the majority will have the care of small children. such instruction has often been given as part of courses in biology and physiology and also in special lectures. it is certain that some parents will favor such instruction, and others will regard it as indecent to suggest that girls should have any such knowledge. there will always be some parents who will let their daughters face life-problems blindly. [sidenote: mothercraft.] sometime in adolescent years girls should learn the scientific facts regarding mothercraft or the care of small children. this phase of the sex-education is rapidly attracting attention from those who are interested in practical arts education, and before many years pass it will probably be treated adequately in connection with household arts in schools and colleges. i have already referred to household arts in general as making a decided contribution to the larger sex-education which works for harmonious adjustment of the sexes in the home. footnotes: [ ] both books by m.a. and anna n. bigelow. [ ] sets of drawings and lantern slides for the biological introduction to sex may be obtained from the american social hygiene association, w. th st., new york city. [ ] the instructor of young men should not allow confusion to arise from the recent contention of some medical men that emissions are abnormal or unnatural because they are not known to occur in animals. certain it is that they are adaptations to changes caused by enforced sexual restraint after the seminal secretions begin with puberty. such restraint is, of course, abnormal or unnatural if we compare with animals; but many of our acts are unnatural and not necessarily unhealthful. for instance, the sedentary life of the student or professional worker is abnormal or unnatural, but it need not be unhealthful, if hygienic adaptations are made. likewise, seminal emissions are unnatural for primitive men or animals without sexual restraint, but this does not mean that they are unhealthful for self-controlled men. here, as in many other cases, comparison with animals is misleading and does not teach us useful facts concerning human sexual functioning. the truth is that physicians have no evidence of harm from emissions that are not caused by voluntary activity. viii special sex-instruction for adolescent boys and young men [sidenote: methods and teachers.] in this lecture i shall discuss a number of problems in the relations of men to women which ought somehow to be made clear to boys who are in transition to manhood. i can do little more than point out the lines along which it is desirable that young men should be informed and influenced; for i confess that i do not know any guaranteed pedagogical method for teaching along these lines. so far as i can now see, it seems to me that a good beginning would consist in getting the best ideas before young men by lectures, books, and personal conversations. here more than in any other phase of sex-education the influence of personality is of great importance. many an ordinary teacher or lecturer may well present the cold facts of biological science that help interpret sex, but one who does not by his personal qualities command the entire confidence of his hearers is worse than useless in presenting to young men such problems as those outlined in this lecture under the following subheadings: developing young men's attitude towards womanhood; developing ideals of love and marriage; reasons for pre-marital continence; essential knowledge concerning prostitution; need of more refinement in men; dancing as a sex problem for men; dress as a sexual appeal; the problem of self-control; the mental side of a young man's sex life. § . _developing attitude towards womanhood_ [sidenote: influence of ideals.] many there are among the believers in the larger sex-education who feel sure that a young man's greatest safety lies in having high ideals of womanhood. i have known a number of men who passed unscathed through the storm and stress of early manhood because each of them could say, as tennyson makes the lover confess to princess ida, "from earlier than i know, immersed in rich foreshadowings of the world, i loved the woman." some of these men learned to love "the woman" in the abstract, in the dream world, perhaps as the "brushwood girl" of kipling. others first loved "the woman" through boyhood sweethearts. still others came to love her through mothers who inspired them with reverence for womanhood and motherhood. ..."happy he with such a mother! faith in womankind beats with his blood, and trust in all things high comes easy to him." (tennyson) but it matters little for the future purity of the boy on the threshold of manhood whether he has learned to love "the woman" in the dreamland of youth or in the very real world of life. it is simply a question of the intensity of the devotion and of the loftiness of the ideals which she has aroused within him. [sidenote: who may influence boys.] now, we of the older generation, who as parents and teachers are largely the makers of the boy's view of life, may play a very important part in developing in him a love for "the woman," a reverence for womanhood. the greatest opportunity falls to the lot of that mother whose natural gifts and education adapt her for impressing her son profoundly with appreciation of womanhood. the next greatest opportunity comes to the woman who as an instructor in school, church, or other institution comes into intimate relations that sometimes give the teacher greater influence than the mother is able or willing to exert. finally, we must not discount the value of men's coöperation in this problem, for many a boy's attitude towards women is largely the reflection of what he has seen in his father and in other men, particularly in his teachers both secular and religious. now, while the direct influence of personality is most important in this problem of developing a young man's attitude towards women, organized educational effort should not be neglected. it is important that both men and women help by encouraging young men to read good literature that unobtrusively tends to introduce them to the best in womanhood (see § ); and by discussing with them, as opportunity offers, the higher ideals of the relationships between men and women. § . _developing ideals of love and marriage_ closely associated with high ideals of womanhood is necessarily a pure understanding of love, even in its physical basis. while preparing this lecture i discovered that james oliphant (in the _international journal of ethics_, vol. , pp. - , ) has well expressed some of the views that in a more or less unformulated shape have been in my mind for years. [sidenote: ideals of love in art.] "if the true preparation for love and marriage is, as i hold it to be, to learn to associate physical passion with the higher emotions developed by social sympathy--with a single-hearted devotion that demands courage, and self-sacrifice and considerate forethought and tenderness; if we wish to bind all these qualities together in the imagination of the young and clothe the conception with every attribute of beauty that fancy can devise, how can we forego the precious opportunities that lie to our hand in the persuasive witchery of art? the power that may be exercised in the formation of character by the presentment of ideal types is as yet very imperfectly utilized. love is _par excellence_ the theme of the artist, and young people will soon find this out for themselves; but there is a wide difference in the degrees of idealization, and, while we concern ourselves to exclude the grosser forms, we neglect the only effective means of accomplishing this, namely, the persistent presentation of the sentiment in its noblest examples. it is the prevalent idea that the longer we can keep all notions of love, even in its romantic guise, out of children's heads, the better it will be for them. surely it would be a wiser policy to fill their minds as soon as they are able to receive them, with the creations of art in which love is represented in its sublimest aspects. the youth who is familiar with the love-stories of shakespeare, and george eliot, and meredith, will suffer little harm from the gilded sensualism of the restoration drama. let us hasten to implant the images of beauty that will keep the soul sweet and wholesome, and free from the taint of any later influences, however sordid these may be." in the lecture on marriage as offering one of the problems for the larger sex-education (§ ) and in the reference to general literature in § , i have called attention to literature which will be suggestive and useful to those who are considering the young man's attitude towards love and marriage. § . _reasons for pre-marital continence of men_ recognizing the fact that moral considerations fail to reach many people, the following points should be emphasized in trying to show young men practical reasons why they should avoid pre-marital sexual relations. [sidenote: continence and health.] ( ) young men ought to know that many eminent physicians and physiologists agree that it has not been proved that continence injures the health of men who make an effort to avoid sexual temptations. physicians of the highest standing never advise extra-marital or immoral relations, for they are far more likely to injure health than to improve it, and they surely injure character and reputation. on this question of continence young men should read such pamphlets as "sexual necessity" by howell and keyes; "the young man's problem" and "health and hygiene of sex" by morrow; "the physician's answer" and "the rational sex life for men" by exner.[ ] also, see pp. - in geddes and thomson's "sex." dr. exner's "physician's answer" is based on the following declaration which was signed by about three hundred of the foremost physicians of america: "in view of the individual and social dangers which spring from the widespread belief that continence may be detrimental to health, and of the fact that municipal toleration of prostitution is sometimes defended on the ground that sexual indulgence is necessary, we, the undersigned, members of the medical profession, testify to our belief that continence has not been shown to be detrimental to health or virility; that there is no evidence of its being inconsistent with the highest physical, mental, and moral efficiency; and that it offers the only sure reliance for sexual health outside of marriage." [sidenote: psychical results of incontinence.] ( ) it ought to be significant to young men that many men who are now in the thirties or forties look back upon their youthful errors with profound regret. many such men testify that unforgettable immoral experiences keep them from reaching the heights of love with their wives. one of my friends, a well-known physician, recently met in his office within two or three months seven men of high standing who are now happily married, but who feel that conjugal life is short of its full æsthetic possibilities because of the ever-present remembrance of early sexual mistakes. [sidenote: physical results.] ( ) while the above refers to the psychical effect of youthful errors, young men should learn that there is also a physical side to the same problem. eminent physicians assert that many men have completely and permanently destroyed their sexual functions by extensive dissipations, either by masturbation or by natural relations; and that very many more have injured themselves so that perfection of the physical basis of love and marriage is impossible. [sidenote: possible diseases.] ( ) the probability of venereal infection by pre-marital relations and the danger of transmission to innocent wives and children should be presented to all young men as a strong ethical appeal for continence (see § ). [sidenote: purity for purity.] ( ) the "fair play" or "square deal" appeal to young men should be based on the fact that most for young men who are unchaste demand purity of the girls they claim as sisters, friends, or sweethearts; and yet they help drag down other women. an honorable man should be willing to play fairly and give purity for purity. [sidenote: responsibility.] ( ) the grave responsibility of young men whose unchastity is connected with illegitimacy or with the organized social evil should be made a strong point in appeals for pre-marital abstinence. [sidenote: sexuality and affection.] ( ) young men should be impressed with the idea that their sexual functions should be held sacred to affection; in other words, that sexual union is moral only as love interchange. in so far as young men may be led to this interpretation of the relation of sexuality to the best conceptions of life, there will be no danger of prostitution and there will be a guarantee of marriages that give completeness to affection. the men who are safeguarded against unchastity are those who have learned to think of love and marriage and sexual functioning as interdependent and coincident elements in the great drama of life and who feel the impossibility of their personal interest in marriage without love or in sexual union except as expression of deep affection. such men are by no means as rare as the sensational reports of the social evil lead many people to believe. [sidenote: some men beyond appeal.] i realize that all these seven reasons for continence will fail with that large group of young men who have persuaded themselves that they will never marry and thus they shake off all responsibility such as appeals to the man who looks forward to love that culminates in marriage. no one has yet suggested any line of appeal to the men who are physically or psychically or morally so abnormal that they have no interest in the possibility of marriage; but fortunately such individuals constitute an insignificant minority. § . _essential knowledge concerning prostitution_ [sidenote: safeguarding boys.] ( ) the adolescent boy should be safeguarded by the knowledge that in every city and in most towns there are women who for financial gain are constantly seeking to entice young men into immoral sexual relations; and that many unwary men are involuntarily entrapped, especially when influenced by alcohol. [sidenote: prostitution a business.] ( ) the young man should know that the selling of woman's virtue is an organized business known as "prostitution" or "the social evil," words which stand for indescribable degradation and degeneracy that no beast could possibly imitate. moreover, the young man should be informed that all immorality is not prostitution, but that most of the immoral relations of men are purchased directly or indirectly by money or its equivalent. [sidenote: some causes of prostitution.] ( ) the young man should know that the great majority of prostitutes do not willingly undertake the shameful business of selling their virtue. he should know that the majority have gone downward for such reasons as follows: many a woman has been betrayed by some detestable man who pretended to love her. poverty has forced many other women to the first downward step. many are easy victims because they belong to the feeble-minded class. others have been driven into immoral life by parents and even husbands. still others have been drugged, and raped while insensible. a limited number have begun prostitution as "white slaves" kept as prisoners until all hope of a better life has vanished. a few have deliberately begun to accept the attentions of lewd men in order to get money for luxurious dress and finery. and relatively very few have started downward because of sexual passion such as commonly influences men. in short, every young man should be informed that most women living by prostitution have begun innocently or unwillingly; but having made one false step, society has shunned them, even near relatives have cast them off, and a career of prostitution has appeared the only way of making a living, vulgar and unspeakably sordid though it be. it is evident that the responsibility for prostitution rests almost entirely upon men. unfortunately, society does not recognize this fact and has no way of dealing legally with both men and women found associated in houses of prostitution. at present the women arrested for prostitution are treated as criminals, while their male associates in vice are allowed to depart as if they were respectable citizens. [sidenote: appeal to men.] tell young men these facts as to why women become prostitutes. help them to realize that most of these women are pitiful victims of man's worse than brutal sexual passions. then add the astounding fact that very many of the women of the underworld have short lives, their health being undermined rapidly by dissipation, by alcohol used to bury their shame or to stimulate their flagging energies, and by the two loathsome diseases, gonorrhea and syphilis, which relatively few prostitutes escape--tell young men such facts which eminent physicians and sociologists have often verified, and there are good chances of striking sympathetic notes in their young manhood. [sidenote: danger of social disease.] ( ) and there is one other line of facts concerning prostitution that the developing young man should know well, namely, that every prostitute is likely at any time to be infected with the social diseases, and that no ordinary medical examination can prove that she will not transmit these awful diseases to men who consort with her. in fact, within an hour after most careful medical examination she may become infected by some diseased man, and then she is capable of inoculating other men. such facts, for which the greatest of special physicians vouch, will eradicate from the young man's mind the widespread notions that prostitutes are safe if they carry a physician's certificate, or one of the official cards given in some european cities. many a young man of sixteen to twenty has not heard that prostitutes as a class are universally dangerous as distributors of the most terrible diseases, and his education is incomplete until he knows the exact truth from reliable sources. [sidenote: limited reading.] ( ) it is not desirable that the young man should be set to read the numerous books packed with more or less sensational reports on the social evil, for these may sometimes tend toward morbidity. any young man who is not effectively appealed to by the above facts will not be influenced by the most voluminous reports on prostitution ever published. such reports are not useful for young men. they serve a good purpose by informing mature men and women and awakening them to the necessity of legislation, education, and other weapons with which we may fight the great black plague of social vice. for the average young man the books recommended in § will give sufficient information and viewpoint. [sidenote: liaisons.] ( ) finally, the young man of adolescent years should be made to understand his responsibility for immorality that is not prostitution, that is, extra-marital relations with his girl friends and without pecuniary considerations. he should know the probability that he will ruin a girl's life, either because illegitimacy occurs or because her reputation suffers. even if such immoral liaisons are kept private, both persons concerned are likely in after years to regret their illicit intimacy, especially if either marries another person. § . _need of more refinement in men_ while refinement is a part of general culture, it is beyond doubt an important phase of the problems for the larger sex-education. elsewhere i have referred to the need of better understanding and better adjustment between men and women, especially in marriage. towards such a desideratum refinement of men will contribute immensely. many cultured women avoid marriage and many are unhappy in marriage because men, sometimes even educated men, lack refinement in manners, language, and personal habits. in fact, "lack of refinement" is altogether too mild an expression, for many men are positively crude in manners, coarse and vulgar in language, and disgusting in personal habits. [sidenote: manners and chivalry.] in referring to manners, i am including not only the thousand and one little customs of everyday life among refined people, but also chivalric attitude towards all women. the world has changed vastly since knighthood was in flower, but many men of to-day might well take lessons in the art of courtesy to women as practiced by the famous knights of the age of chivalry. this problem of manners will be an increasingly important one, for here in america there is growing up a generation of boys who are far from chivalrous even to their mothers and sisters; and at the same time, the industrial competition and daily association of the two sexes is making young men realize that women are simply human beings and not super beings. [sidenote: language.] with regard to language, i am thinking not so much of the general need of speech that is grammatically, rhetorically, and vocally polished, which no doubt determines many a woman's estimate of a man, as i have in mind the repelling effect upon sensitive women of language that is coarse, vulgar, and profane. hence, quite apart from the effect of low language on character, i believe it worth while to work for refinement of language of young men. [sidenote: personal habits.] and now with reference to personal habits, including cleanliness and refinement of actions, the average women of all classes set splendid examples for men of the same groups. it seems scarcely necessary to explain in detail concerning unclean personal habits and vulgar actions. it requires no keen observer to find plenty of examples. those who have the training of boys should lose no opportunity to impress them with the importance of refinement, and especially in all phases of their home life. it is in the most intimate life of the home that refinement of personal habits of husbands may mean much to sensitive wives. § . _dancing as a sex problem for young men_ [sidenote: dancing not to be eliminated.] it is more than useless to discuss the question whether dancing ought to be eliminated from the social life of young people, for it has physical, social, and æsthetic or dramatic values which will make dancing in some form or other coextensive with human life. [sidenote: young people and dancing.] those who deal with adolescent boys and girls ought to have some understanding of the facts for and against dancing as it may influence the sexual control of young people, men especially. it is no longer sufficient to say, even to the young members of certain religious denominations, that "good people must not dance because it is wicked," for in this doubting age young people will ask first what we mean by the word "wicked" and then for proof that dancing is wicked. the time has come when young people must be shown the scientific reasons if we want them to avoid dancing or to dance with certain approved movements. [sidenote: dancing a sexual stimulant.] it seems to be an accepted opinion among physiologists that dancing of any of the types that involve more or less closeness of contact between men and women in pairs is likely to lead to sexual stimulation that at times may be consciously recognized by normal men, but probably is not identified other than as general excitement by most women. [sidenote: danger no reason for condemning dancing.] the frank admission that dancing may sometimes stimulate sexual emotions is no condemnation of dancing, as many writers seem to think. we must know first whether such emotions lead to good or harm. sexual emotions are not in themselves wrong from any except a strictly æscetic point of view. the fact that most intelligent men who in general are frankly truthful confess that dancing may sometimes arouse sexual emotion simply raises the question whether such emotions lead directly to immoral relations with women or whether they lead, as does the best social life of men and women together, to a higher æsthetic appreciation of life as it involves the relations of the two sexes. after discussing this with many--yes, with more than a hundred--men and women, i am now convinced that dancing may have both results, depending upon the individuals. dancing, then, has its dangers, but so have many other things that go to make up the most complete life. eating may lead to gluttony, mountain-climbing may lead to a broken neck, swimming to drowning, music and art to sensuality, and even love is not without danger of bestial degradation. life is full of dangers and we are constantly striving to reduce them to a minimum. so we must refuse to condemn dancing because of its admitted sexual dangers for young people, unless it can be shown that the danger is so great and so unconquerable as to outweigh all the physical, social, and æsthetic considerations in favor of the pastime. [sidenote: dancing and immorality.] that dancing is a strong incentive to immorality is contended by many writers. a prominent physiologist has said that "the dance is the devil's procession so far as the young man is concerned." others have pointed to the immorality that is connected with the dance halls, and to the fact that waves of immorality of young men have often followed the annual balls given in some high schools and colleges. contrary to the view which i formerly held, i am now inclined to think that it is not fair to charge such immoral tendencies entirely to dancing, and therefore condemn all dancing as immoral. it is no secret of sociology that similar epidemics of immorality have been known to occur in connection with sunday-school picnics, camp meetings, expositions, political and other conventions, and religious revivals. shall we condemn all these along with dancing on the ground that they lead to immorality? we say "no" because immorality is only an incident, not a result in these cases. likewise, i believe that dancing is but one of several factors that have led to immorality at the time of annual balls in high school and college. these are times of general tendency towards dissipation. regular duties are cast aside, all the hygienic rules for eating and sleeping are broken, there is unusual freedom of speech and manners, available alcohol is freely used, emotions and not reason rules--these are characteristic of the college festivals that center around grand balls. in short, at such times there is a general let-down of usual standards and a swing back towards the barbaric festival of the ancients. it is not surprising, then, that pent-up sexual instincts assert their force at such times, and dancing, if it occurs under such conditions is, of course, likely to increase the danger of moral collapse because it incites sexual emotions. [sidenote: regulation of dancing needed.] our conclusion, then, is that it is unscientific to charge dancing with being the direct cause of immorality, when it has been only one in a series of events. the facts warrant not condemnation of dancing as something utterly bad, but rather of allowing dancing to be associated with conditions that are likely to lead to dissipation and immorality. unless some argument other than that arising from the coincidence of dancing with dissipation and immorality is brought forward, we must conclude that dancing should be regulated and associated so that the admitted dangers will be reduced to a minimum. recognition of the dangers will lead mature people to see the importance of supervising and regulating dancing as a phase of the social life of young people. it will lead to dancing that is improved along social and æsthetic lines. [sidenote: self-control necessary.] while improvement of dancing will reduce its dangers, it will not eliminate the problem of self-control for normal young men. they must learn to understand their own emotions. they should be forewarned that others have found danger in dancing. they should know that some strong-willed men have given up dancing when they found that it made more intense the problem of sexual self-control, both mentally and physically. they should know the increased danger if dancing is associated with alcohol, vicious women, immodest dress, extreme freedom of conduct, and other morally depressing influences. such knowledge along with general sex-education will do much to make dancing not only safe for average young men, but also helpful along social and æsthetic lines. [sidenote: extreme dances.] with regard to the extreme dances of the past five years, those who are well informed concerning sexual problems know that many of these dances which polite society has copied from the dens of the underworld are vastly more dangerous than the standard dances. § . _dress of women as a sex problem for men_ [sidenote: dress and immorality.] some of the students of sex problems assert with great emphasis that dress is the responsible factor in the sexual immorality of many men. accepting the probability that there is some truth in the assertion, what is the solution of the problem? should women in general adopt a style of dress which in lines and color is as repellently ugly as the official garb of women devotees of certain religious organizations? in short, should women make their dress decidedly unobtrusive and unattractive in order that the sexual temptations of _some_ men may be reduced? the answer must be an emphatic negative. we need more beauty in this life of ours, and we cannot afford to omit any beauty which women express in dress. the pity is that economic conditions so often set a limit to such expression. we must believe in making every possible application of the beauty of nature and art to human life; and beautiful dress on all women, and especially beautiful dress on attractive women, is the most important of such relations of beauty and life. [sidenote: dress and sexual appeal.] accepting, then, beauty of dress as worthy of encouragement, what shall be done about its sexual attractiveness? this is a difficult question in these days with ever-changing fashions whose novelty makes extreme modes more dangerously attractive than they would be if universally adopted for a long term of years. but permanency of extreme styles or general adaptation of modest ones are absolutely impossible for the average woman of to-day. hence, we must look forward to one extreme style following another. young men must face the problem and fight their own battles. like certain widespread diseases, there is constant danger of infection, and the only hope for young men is in special education as a kind of protective inoculation against temptation. this means that young men should be taught to see beauty in woman's form, face, and dress without allowing themselves to get into habits of sensual or physical emotions. of course, for the normal young man there is sure to be more or less consciousness of emotions stimulated by the beautiful associated with women, but the individual man may train himself to turn such emotions into æsthetic or psychical lines instead of into those which are sensual, animalistic, or physical. in this connection, i have long been of the opinion that training in art appreciation, especially of sculpture, may help many men to an æsthetic attitude towards the human form. it is well known that beauty of woman's face or form or dress has sometimes led men into immorality; but i often wonder whether such men of weak control would not have fallen sooner or later at the command of some other form of stimulation. at any rate, such men do not lead us to general conclusions, for there are many more men who have been led upward and not downward by the combined beauty of form, face, and dress of women. [sidenote: duty of women.] while we refuse to excuse men who allow the sexual suggestiveness of women's dress to overcome their self-control, we should at the same time recognize that women have themselves to blame for much of the existing situation. i believe it is true that the average woman does not understand how dress that makes unusual exposure of the body may make a sexual appeal to men; but there is no such innocence on the part of the demi-mondes by whom many of the most dangerous styles are introduced. perhaps women of intelligence and good standing may some day come to realize their responsibility for wearing clothing that means unusual temptation for men. however, this seems utopian in these years when even women of the best groups are wearing equivocal dress; and so men must learn to fight their own battles against natural instincts stirred to greater intensity by dress invented to increase the trade of the women of the underworld. § . _the problem of self-control for young men_ [sidenote: difference between sexes.] [sidenote: automatic arousing of boys' instincts.] the problem of control of the insistent passions of normal young men has been unscientifically minimized by numerous writers and lecturers. it should be noted that many of these are men who have long since forgotten the storms and stresses of their early manhood, and others are women who do not know the facts indicating that the sexual instincts young men are characteristically active, aggressive, spontaneous, and automatic, while those of women _as a rule_ are passive and subject to awakening by external stimuli, especially in connection with affection. such forgetful men and uninformed women are prone to regard the lack of control of many young men as simply due to "original sin," "innate viciousness," "bad companions," or "irresistible temptations"; and they overlook the great fact that maintaining perfect sexual control in his pre-marital years is for the average healthy young man a problem compared with which all others, including the alcoholic temptation, are of little significance. such being the truth about young men, nothing is to be gained and much is to be lost if older people fail to take an understanding and sympathetic attitude. i question whether any young man has ever been helped through his adolescent crises by such oft-repeated assertions as that "there is no more reason that a young man should go astray than that his sister should," or, in other words, that "continence is as easy for a young man as for a girl of similar age." an observing young man will doubt such statements, and if he has had access to scientific information, he will feel sure that there has been an attempt to influence him by the kind of exaggeration commonly adopted by specialists in moral preachments. the plain truth is that there is a physiological "reason" or explanation, although not a justification for failure of self-control. even if we accept the improbable statement of some writers that boys and girls are in early adolescence potentially equal in sexual instincts and assuming that they may be protected equally against vicious habits, we must not forget that every normal boy passes in early puberty through peculiar physiological changes that arouse his deepest instincts. i refer especially to the frequent occurrence of involuntary sexual tumescence and to the occasional nocturnal emissions, which processes leave the boy in no doubt whatever as to the nature, source, and desirability of sexual pleasure. especially is this true of the automatic emissions that usually follow continence of healthy young men, for in connection with such relief of seminal pressure every nerve center of the sexual mechanism seems to be involved in the culminating nerve storm of which the awakening individual is often quite pleasurably conscious. in short, as men looking backward to their early manhood well understand, the physical sensations that come into the normal sexual experience of the adolescent boy are different only in degree of intensity from those which later are concomitants of sexual union. such, in brief, is the physiological history of the normal adolescent boy, and one who has fallen into even most limited masturbation will probably be still more conscious of the fact that the ordinary sequence of events in the activity of the sexual organs leads to intense excitement that has almost irresistible attractiveness. [sidenote: average young women different.] now, most scientifically-trained women seem to agree that there are no corresponding phenomena in the early pubertal life of the normal young woman who has good health. a limited number of mature women, some of them physicians, report having experienced in the pubertal years localized tumescence and other disturbances which made them definitely conscious of sexual instincts. however, it should be noted that most of these are known to have had a personal history including one or more such abnormalities as dysmenorrhea, uterine displacement, pathological ovaries, leucorrhea, tuberculosis, masturbation, neurasthenia, nymphomania, or other disturbances which are sufficient to account for local sexual stimulation. in short, such women are not normal. such facts have led many physicians to the generalization that the average healthy adolescent girl does not undergo normal spontaneous changes which make her definitely conscious of the nature, source, and desirability of localized sexual pleasure. on the contrary, such consciousness commonly comes to many only as the result of stimuli arising in connection with affection.[ ] clearly it is nonsense to claim that the sexual temptations arising within the individual are equal for the two sexes. potentially, girls may have passions as strong as boys, but they do not become so definitely and spontaneously conscious of their latent instincts. [sidenote: helping the young man.] thus considering the available facts regarding the physiological reasons for the sexual tendencies of men, it seems to me that we gain nothing in trying to minimize the young man's sexual problems, for he is quite conscious that they are insistent. far better it is that mature men who know life in its completeness should make the young man feel that his problems are not new, not insignificant, and that many another man has met and solved them in such a way as to make life more full of real happiness. such sympathetic helpfulness will mean something to a young man, but he cannot be led far by one who in his own early experience has not learned both the strength and the mastery of the sexual instincts. [sidenote: women should know.] in another lecture i have discussed the proposition that it would be better for all concerned if women could have scientific understanding of the physiological facts concerning the sexual tendencies of men, not to make women more lenient or forgiving towards the mistakes of men, but rather to enable women to play an important part in the necessary adjustments through helpful comradeship. this last phrase will mean nothing to many people, but in many a modern home a well-informed wife has been able to lead the way to the satisfactory solution of the fundamental problems of life. [sidenote: self-control in marriage.] there is another and an all-important phase of the problem of teaching self-control which is commonly overlooked by those who are trying to help young men solve their greatest problems. i have in mind the need of self-control in marriage. most writers and lecturers who emphasize the arguments for absolute self-control or continence before marriage, omit all reference to marital life. the natural inference, and one widely followed, is that the only moral duty of a young man is to control his intense desires and avoid illicit relations until sexual abandon is permitted under the license of the law and the benediction of the church. such, i submit, is a fair conclusion for young men to draw from at least ninety per cent of the sex-education literature that is current to-day. now, i believe this is all wrong. in fact, i am so radical as to believe that the intelligent women of the world would gain more from temperance and unselfishness and delicacy of men in sexual functioning in marriage than from sexual continence before marriage. of course, i do not propose that ideal sexual conditions in marriage may justify pre-marital incontinence, but i make this sharp contrast simply to emphasize the belief that sexual intemperance and selfishness of men in marriage causes more mental and physical suffering of women than does sexual incontinence of men before marriage, and i am not forgetting the vast problem of social diseases and prostitution. i urge, then, that those who attempt to direct young men through the mazes of sexual life should hold up ideals not only of pre-marital continence, but also of post-nuptial temperance and harmonious adjustment between husband and wife. this post-nuptial problem is far more difficult to solve, for the intimacy of married life, especially in the earlier years, is sure to offer stimuli that are likely to make sexual instincts more insistent than those that come from celibate repression. however, self-control and temperance in marriage is no new and unattainable ideal, and harmonious adjustment of men and women in marriage is far more common than the pessimists would have us believe. § . _the mental side of the young man's sexual life_ [sidenote: effect of mental imagery.] most of the discussions of the education of young men for moral living have centered around the problem of keeping him from physical sexual activity. so far as society is concerned, this is the great desideratum. so far as the individual life is concerned, it is important that self-control should extend to mental imagery. professors geddes and thomson have well said, in "sex," that "while anatomical chastity is a moral achievement, it is not the deepest virtue. the incisive declaration: 'whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart' expresses an even more searching standard, and modern science brings home to us the radical importance of our reflex thought and deep-down impulses, which appear to bulk largely in molding our lives and the lives of those who may spring from us." in language adapted to the understanding of average young men, this idea should be emphasized. in the opinion of some physiologists the greatest harm done to the individual who has long been a victim of masturbation is in the centering of the attention on imaginary sexual situations. this is especially true of mental masturbation. hence, the relation of masturbation to the possible establishment of a disordered mental state should be known by adolescent boys and young men. [sidenote: control of thoughts.] it appears from the experience of many men that strenuous work and play are the only efficient weapons for driving sexual images into the background of the mind. this applies not only to sordid and lewd thoughts of unchaste sexual situations, but also to the mental images that are inevitably associated with the purest affection and which should be trained to obey when calm reason so orders. the following literature will be especially helpful to young men: w.s. hall's "sexual hygiene for men," or his "sexual knowledge"; exner's "the rational sex life for men"; morrow's "the young man's problem," and "health and hygiene of sex for college students"; king's "fight for character" (y.m.c.a.); and the chapter on ethics of sex in "sex" by geddes and thomson. footnotes: [ ] the first three pamphlets are published by the society of sanitary and moral prophylaxis (new york); the exner pamphlets by the association press (new york). [ ] this is really not surprising if we remember the peculiarities of human instincts mentioned in an earlier lecture (§ ). ix special sex-instruction for maturing young women [sidenote: parents would limit knowledge of daughters.] it was my original plan to make this lecture parallel with the preceding one for young men, but much discussion with parents and with scientifically trained women whose suggestions and criticisms i value has shown me that there is no consensus of opinion as to what should be taught to young women between eighteen and twenty-two years of age. i have found many fathers and mothers who think that their boys of fourteen or fifteen should be informed as suggested in the preceding lecture; but concerning some of the facts for boys these same parents were doubtful whether their daughters ought to know before twenty, and some of them have said twenty-five and even thirty. some of them have said that they see no reason why an unmarried young woman of the protected group should know much more than a very limited amount of personal hygiene; but most of these people were decidedly hazy as to how the young woman about to marry may be sure of getting belated knowledge. in short, all along the line i have found intelligent parents and others who believe in very thorough sex-instruction for boys, but that "nice" girls should be kept as ignorant and innocent as possible. with such disagreement existing, it is evidently not possible to make such specific recommendations as have been made for boys. § . _the young woman's attitude towards manhood_ [sidenote: women should have ideals.] among those who agree heartily with the proposition that by education the young man's attitude towards womanhood (§ ) should be cultivated i find, to my surprise, many who object to any parallel attempt to influence young woman's ideals of manhood. i say that i am surprised because it has long seemed to me that many of the faults of men are largely traceable to the fact that women as a sex have not been able to hold a high standard for manhood; and, therefore, i wonder when some thinking women question the desirability of trying to influence young women by organized instruction. of course, we must not forget that before the coming of the economic and social freedom of women there were very few of them who were able to maintain a stand for their ideals of manhood; but this is no longer true in a great and rapidly increasing group of the individualized and educated classes. therefore, it seems clear that if the better groups of women want a higher type of manhood capable of better adjustment in marriage, it is important that they consider ways and means of molding the minds of young women with reference to ideal manhood. [sidenote: ideals and disappointment.] occasionally i have met a strange view of life in some men and women who have grown pessimistic from revelations concerning the sexual-social problems and who think that true manhood is so rare that emphasizing it with young women will lead to ideals that can rarely be realized in actual life; and therefore, for women so influenced there will be increasing discontent and disappointment in marriage or deliberate celibacy. no doubt this is in part true, as witness the many highly educated women who have written or said that there seem to be few attractive marriageable men of their own age. however, it is rare indeed that such women say that life would have meant more without the higher education and its resulting ideals that have stood in the way of marriage such as might be happy for uneducated women. this is in line with the fact that many cultivated men and women find that education has given unattained ideals and unsatisfied ambitions and strenuous life and disappointments, but it is rare that they long for the care-free and animal-like happiness of the tropical savage. we must remember that education gives us keener feeling for life's pains, but it also compensates by giving soul-satisfying appreciation of its joys. so it seems reasonable to believe that while educating young women to believe in and demand a higher ideal of manhood in its natural relations to womanhood will certainly make disappointments more heart-pressing for some, it will just as surely make realization the supreme happiness of others. and as adjustment of manhood and womanhood through the larger sex-education becomes more and more abundant and more and more perfected, the sum total of human happiness will increase. looking thus towards the ultimate good, i must refuse to accept the hopeless and depressing view that all young women should be kept ignorant of their relation to men and life in order that the absence of ideals of manhood may protect some women against possible disappointment by men. § . _the young woman's attitude towards love and marriage_ [sidenote: reasons not same as for men.] in the preceding lecture to the parents and teachers of young men i emphasized the importance of developing the young man's ideals of love and marriage primarily because such ideals have so often helped men morally in character-formation and character-protection. i feel sure that this is not the chief reason why the ideals of young women should be developed along parallel lines. on the contrary, it seems to me that those representative women are right who think that the first reason why ideals of young women should be influenced is that there is need of a radical change in the attitude of a very common type of young women who are flippant and disrespectful concerning love and marriage, and whose influence on the morals of men is decidedly bad because they often give unguided young men their first and strongest impressions concerning women. a second reason, which is equally applicable to both sexes, is that advance understanding of the relations of love and marriage is likely to lead to happy and satisfactory adjustment in marriage. [sidenote: men naturally lead in love.] perhaps the flippant and disrespectful attitude concerning affairs of the heart develops in many young women because they do not consciously feel in advance of experience the demand for affection which comes so naturally and spontaneously to many, possibly to all, normal young men whose views of life have not been artificially twisted. i fully realize the treacherous nature of the ground on which walks one who tries to compare the two sexes concerning their relative attitudes towards love, but certain it is that the novelist's descriptions of men as the leaders and aggressors in love is not fiction but the common fact of real life. man's tendency towards leadership in love is not scientifically explained by any superficial assumption that established social conventions have repressed an original spontaneity of women. on the contrary, there are the best of physiological and psychological reasons for believing that the social conventions have arisen as an expression of masculine aggressiveness and natural tendency towards leadership in affairs of the heart. the accepted fact is that many young women have no understanding of or demand for affection until experience has taught them its place in life. in the records of real life, as well as in fiction, many a young woman's possibilities of happiness have been lost because she did not understand herself when love came into her experience. [sidenote: affection in marriage.] another side to the problem of the young woman's relation to love and marriage is brought to our attention by the lamentable fact that many wives lose interest in devoted husbands when the children come. this is probably true in at least half the families; and many matrimonial disharmonies are the result. this is really one of the greatest problems of marriage which cultured women should consider seriously; for even more than in most other sex problems, it is one for the solution of which women are in a position to take the leading part. this problem is especially important in these days when the household inefficiency, personal extravagance, and desire for social position of numerous young women of eighteen to thirty are having an enormous influence in advancing the age of marriage because many of the best types of young men pause and consider seriously the impossibility of adjusting a small salary to the ideas of their women friends as to what is the minimum of a family budget. add to such facts a growing pessimism of young men regarding inconstant affections of wives with children, and the need of special educational attack is evident. [sidenote: the duty of parents.] from whatever side we look at the question whether the larger sex-education should somehow try to mold the ideals of young women with regard to love and marriage, we see reasons why parents should encourage their maturing daughters to get some advance understanding of such relation. if parents are themselves unable to help their daughters to this understanding, they can at least exert great influence by their own attitude, and they can approve the reading of books, and perhaps there may be opportunity for hearing lectures by women who understand life. [sidenote: books.] with regard to good literature that will help in this line, there are chapters in many of the books mentioned at the end of this lecture, and in more or less indirect form in the general literature suggested in the preceding lectures concerning young men, and in § which deals with the general educational problem of marriage. § . _reasons for pre-marital continence of women_ [sidenote: many women do not need reasons.] many women who have lived protected lives have declared themselves unable to understand why a young woman should need reasons for pre-marital continence; and these women are probably right so far as the great majority of the daughters of families in good social conditions are concerned. as pointed out in earlier lectures, there is abundant evidence that the average adolescent girl who is protected against external sexual stimuli and influenced constantly by the prevailing ideals which demand chastity of women, is not likely to need any arguments why she should avoid pre-marital incontinence. moreover, there seems to be little danger that the average girl with good social environment will ever question her ideals of chastity unless under the stress of overwhelming affection; in other words, there is little possibility that such women will be interested in the strictly mechanical, non-affectionate, and unsentimental sexual relations which must inevitably characterize the common prostitution of men. [sidenote: unprotected girls.] note that i am referring to the average young woman in good social environment, and for the moment omitting the vast class of so-called "unprotected" girls. moreover, i am speaking of the "average," and i am not forgetting that medical journals and books record many exceptions. nevertheless, we must not be misled by medical literature, for naturally the physician sees the women whose lack of health leads them to seek professional advice, and it is well known that in sexual lines women commonly become decidedly unhealthy before they consult physicians. as testimony concerning the average normal women, i have the greatest confidence in the statements of thoughtful women with sound scientific attitude; and such are my authority for the view that maintaining pre-marital continence is not one of the serious problems for the average young woman with good domestic and social environment. now, while i admit in advance that the problem of pre-marital continence is not of great significance in the personal lives of the great majority of the type of women who are likely to hear or read this lecture, i do believe that this is the type of women who ought to think over the problem as it concerns the atypical girl of good social groups and the "unprotected" girl of more unfortunate groups. i cannot see, therefore, why it is not best and safest that all girls should learn from parents or reliable books or teachers the main reasons for pre-marital chastity. [sidenote: the girl who needs help.] the atypical girls of good social groups who need guidance regarding pre-marital continence are of two types: either one with intensive sexuality which is often modifiable by medical or surgical treatment; or one of probably normal instincts but with radical sexual philosophy. the first type needs not only emphatic instruction regarding continence, but more often medical help, either for general health or for correction of localized sexual disturbance. the second type must be treated exactly as suggested for young men, because they are the women whose anarchistic repudiation of laws and convention in general has led to their acceptance of a _single_ standard of morality for men and women, but one of freedom from monogamic ideals. this type of women, long well known in the student groups of paris and in russian universities, is becoming more and more evident in america, especially among some well-educated young women who have dropped their ideals of chastity because they have found attractiveness in more or less superficial studies of radical socialism. many of these radical women frankly say that they would like to marry the "right man," but failing to find that rare species, they claim their right to sexual freedom in more or less capricious liaisons. others of these women are so highly individualized that marriage is beneath their contempt, either because it will "interfere with a career" or because the legal aspects and ecclesiastical ceremonies still suggest the old-time subjection of the wife to the husband. women who are in a position to know from personal knowledge of radical people declare that there are still relatively few educated women who deliberately cut loose from monogamic standards; and that they are most commonly found among certain intimate and unconventional groups of students and professional workers, especially those who are united in "bohemian life" by artistic or literary interests. but while such sexually anarchistic women are not common in america, there is reason for fearing that, unless some unexpected check comes to this undercurrent towards sexual freedom, it may be found ten or twenty years hence that a surprisingly large number, but _never a majority_, of unmarried young women have fallen into the sexual promiscuity that is so common among unmarried men of the same ages. [sidenote: radical sex literature.] chief of the influences that lead a certain number of well-educated young women towards sexual freedom is radical printed matter. we are now getting in america a wide distribution of bold literature of the "free love" type, some of it with a scientific superficiality that will convince many beginners in the study of sexual problems. much of this literature is translation or adaptation of books and articles by european authors; and i have previously remarked that abroad the ideals of sexual morality--and judging from the great war, of morality in other lines--is frankly quite different from that upheld here. but some of this radical literature is american in origin. in addition to certain books and pamphlets, which might be advertised by giving names, i think of two new york medical journals, with a popular circulation, edited by a successful but much criticized physician, which rarely publish an issue without frank approval and even arguments for extra-marital relations other than prostitution, particularly for those who for one reason or another, unwelcome or voluntary, are leading celibate lives. the influence of such writings on young women who are inclined towards radicalism in all things is probably enormous, and it is unfortunate that vigorous opposition literature is not published and widely circulated. [sidenote: same instruction as for men.] in conclusion, it is clear that the problem of pre-marital continence is not limited to young men, for the "unprotected" girl from a low-grade home and environment, and the uninformed girl from the best of homes, and the radical girl from the most educated circles may, innocently or deliberately, select the pathway to unchastity. for these kinds of young women the educational problem is the same as for young men. they should have essentially the same instruction. and, in the case of both sexes, it is only by contrasting the good and evil that education can point out the worth-whileness of chastity. [sidenote: indirect responsibility.] there is a special aspect of the problem of pre-marital chastity of men that young women should understand, and that is their indirect responsibility for the unchastity of many men. in discussing dancing (§ ) and extreme dress (§ ), it has been indicated that women as a sex have a tremendous responsibility for the temptations of men. the same is true in the case of flirting or more extreme familiarities with men. however sure a young woman may feel of her own power of self-control, she should not consider lightly her possible part in a chain of events which may lead men to unchastity with other women. many a man driven into the white heat of passion by thoughtless or deliberate acts of a pure girl has gone direct to seek relief of tension in the underworld. of course, the girl in this case is not directly responsible for the downfall of the man; but i wonder if there is not moral, if not legal, responsibility for one who knowingly leads or helps another to the brink of a precipice from which he voluntarily falls. i am perfectly well aware that many good people will be horrified by the very suggestion that young women should be taught their responsibility for their men associates. some will declare that the advocates of sex-education propose to destroy the innocence and romance in young women's lives. others of the horrified ones will remain complacent because they believe that unchastity is caused by "innate depravity" of men. i am sorry to disagree with such people who are sincere, but the established facts point clearly to the conclusion that it is the duty of the mothers and teachers of girls to make them understand their relations to men and their responsibility for helping young men avoid sexual temptations. this is necessary when innocence stands in the way of the maximum safety and happiness of young people. § . _need of optimistic and Æsthetic views of sex by women_ [sidenote: many women pessimistic concerning sexuality.] the most significant point in the sex-education movement at present is the fact that numerous women of the most intelligent groups are tending rapidly towards accepting an optimistic and æsthetic view of sexual relationships so far as these are normal and ethical and guided by affection. however, this higher philosophy of sexual life is still very far from being universal among educated women, and it is probably true that to the great majority of them sexuality has no æsthetic meaning but is simply a very troublesome physical function and an animal method for perpetuating the human species. that such an attitude should be common is not surprising, for in recent years numerous educated women have gained abundant information concerning abnormal sexuality, while very few have caught glimpses of the higher possibilities of the sexual functions. the truth is that it has been and still is difficult for most women to get well-balanced knowledge of sexual normality. there are hundreds of books and pamphlets that deal with amazing boldness with the sexual mistakes of human life, but there is not in general circulation to-day any printed matter which deals with normal sexual life with anything like the frankness and directness that is common in widely circulated literature on social vice and its concomitant diseases. likewise, it is difficult for women to get the true view of sexual life from personal sources, for the vulgar side of sexuality is the one usually discussed by most people, some of whom revel in obscenity, some have had personal experiences that have caused ineradicable bitterness, and some more or less sincerely believe that knowledge of vice is of value as a safeguard or an antidote. the bright side of the sexual story is rarely told in conversation, either because it is unfamiliar or because it is the sacred secret between pairs of individuals who together have found life in all its completeness. [sidenote: Æsthetic outlook.] fortunately, this depressing emphasis on sexual abnormality is beginning to disappear, and we see sure signs of coming attention to sexual health rather than to disease and to purity rather than to vice. leading women are beginning to give, through the impersonal medium of science and general literature, some definite and helpful testimony concerning the pathway to the essential good that is bound up in sexuality. it is especially important that young women of culture should be helped to this point of view, and as far as possible before they learn much concerning the dark problems that have originated from failure to keep sexual functions sacred to affection and possible parenthood. the educated women of to-day who have acquired and retained faith in the essential goodness of human sexual possibilities, and who at the same time have an understanding of the mistakes that weak humans are wont to make, are sure to play a most important part as teachers and mothers and leaders in the movement which is already guiding numerous intelligent men and women to a purified and noble view of the sexual relationships. as i see the big problems that demand sex-education, the future will depend largely upon the attitude of women. it is an essential part of the feministic movement. in the past there have been many alarming signs of a destructive sex antagonism that charged men with full responsibility for existing sex problems. but the advance guards of feminism are beginning to recognize that there are all-essential relationships between the sexes, and that only in sex coöperation can there be any permanent solution of the great questions. it is a great advance from the sex hostility of christabel pankhurst's "plain facts on a great evil" to the co-working attitude of louise creighton's "social disease and how to fight it," of olive schreiner's "woman and labor," of ellen key's "love and marriage," and of gascoigne hartley's "truth about woman," all of which give us hope that women with optimistic and æsthetic interpretation of sex are coming to take the lead towards a better understanding of the relations of sex and life. § . _other problems for young women_ concerning several other problems that have been discussed with special reference to young men, it seems best that all young women should be informed sometime between sixteen and twenty-two, the age limit depending upon maturity of the individual, home life, and social environment. [sidenote: prostitution.] with regard to prostitution, it seems important that girls should know the essential facts recommended in the lecture concerning boys. the "unprotected" girl of low-grade environment will often need some of this knowledge before she is fourteen (and in some cases, even twelve) years old. on the other hand, the average "protected" girl need not know until several years later. it seems possible that too early familiarity with the existence of sexual vice might tend to make some young women accept it as part of the established order of things; and, hence, the girl whose environment is protective and whose moral training has been complete will be perfectly safe without knowledge of vice and will be more likely to take an opposition attitude if she learns the facts concerning prostitution when she is approaching maturity. even then the essential information should be given in such a way that the young woman will see the gravity of the social situation and, at the same time, not develop a spirit of sex hostility. here, again, i must recommend louise creighton's "social disease and how to fight it" as not only pointing out the nature of the great evil, but also recognizing that the existing situation can never be improved except by the sympathetic coöperation of the best men and women. [sidenote: dancing.] with regard to dancing, young girls should be taught that certain forms of this exercise are not approved by the most refined people. before maturity, they should not know the physiological reason for this disapproval. in fact, i know many men and women who think it best that most women, even mature, should not have their attention called to the sexual dangers of dancing. for my part, i cannot see how women with such ignorance can coöperate with the best men in reducing the admitted dangers to a minimum. [sidenote: dress.] with regard to dress as a sexual problem, some mothers think they can handle the problem with their young daughters by emphasizing modesty and without further explanation; but the drawing power of fashions is so great that most young women are quick to revise their ideas of modesty to suit the latest style. is it too much to hope that large numbers of young women would accept such facts as were stated in the lecture for young men (§ ), and would be sincere enough to dress so that their attractiveness may appeal more to the æsthetic and less to the physical natures of men? [sidenote: merely a man's views.] in this lecture concerning the special teaching of young women, i have attempted nothing more than an outline of the impressions that i have gained from books and from representative women who are interested in the larger sex-education. i have not tried to make the discussion as extensive as that for young men, first, because i cannot believe that young women in general need so much special instruction; and, second, because only women can adequately advise concerning the sex-educational problems of young women. however, since the women who might be expected to know the truth about women have failed to agree on so many points, it may be worth while for a man to contribute some suggestions based on the most scientific information offered by some very reliable women. [sidenote: books.] among the books which touch the special problems for young women, i am most favorably impressed by the following: hall's "life problems" in the first thirty-two pages is adapted for girls of twelve to fourteen, and the remainder for older girls. some parents are not enthusiastic about the story form, but the facts are well selected and presented. the last chapter of smith's "three gifts of life" is worth reading, but the first chapters are unscientific. for almost mature young women, there are chapters of rummel's "womanhood and its development," of wood-allen's "what a young woman should know," of lowry's "herself," and of galbraith's "four epochs of a woman's life." the last two are decidedly medical in point of view. the part for girls in scharlieb and sibley's "youth and sex," and some chapters of march's "towards racial health," are good. the last two chapters of geddes and thomson's "sex" will be appreciated by many intellectual young women. hepburn's sentimental little story "the perfect gift" (crist co., ¢) has helped many young people improve their æsthetic outlook. there are some helpful ideas in henderson's "what it is to be educated" (houghton mifflin co.). while disagreeing (§ ) with dr. richard cabot's extreme emphasis on a mystical religious solution for problems of sex, i recognize that many young women have been helped by his "the christian approach to social morality" (y.w.c.a.), and by his "what men live by." x criticisms of sex-education in the preceding lectures we have considered the arguments for sex-instruction. it will now be helpful to review some of the writings of those who oppose or at least point out the defects of the commonly accepted plan of sex-instruction. none of those writers whom i shall quote is known to be absolutely opposed to all sex-instruction, but some of them would limit the instruction so much that there would be little hope of the general movement having an important influence. § . _a plea for reticence concerning sex_ [sidenote: agnes repplier.] miss agnes repplier, the distinguished essayist, discusses in the _atlantic monthly_ (march, ) the plain speech on sex topics that are before the public to-day. while she holds no brief for "the conspiracy of silence," which she admits was "a menace in its day," she maintains that "the breaking of silence need not imply the opening of the flood-gates of speech." she goes on to say: [sidenote: present frankness.] "it was never meant by those who first cautiously advised a clearer understanding of sexual relations and hygienic rules that everybody should chatter freely respecting these grave issues; that teachers, lecturers, novelists, story-writers, militants, dramatists, social workers, and magazine editors should copiously impart all they know, or assume they know, to the world. the lack of restraint, the lack of balance, the lack of soberness and common sense were never more apparent than in the obsession of sex which has set us all ababbling about matters once excluded from the amenities of conversation. "knowledge is the cry. crude, undigested knowledge, without limit and without reserve. give it to boys, give it to girls, give it to children. no other force is taken account of by the visionaries who--in defiance, or in ignorance of history--believe that evil understood is evil conquered. "we hear too much about the thirst for knowledge from people keen to quench it. dr. edward l. keyes, president of the society of sanitary and moral prophylaxis, advocates the teaching of sex-hygiene to children, because he thinks that it is the kind of information that children are eagerly seeking. 'what is this topic,' he asks, 'that all these little ones are questioning over, mulling over, fidgeting over, worrying over? ask your own memories.' [sidenote: one child's life.] "i do ask my memory in vain for the answer dr. keyes anticipates. a child's life is so full, and everything that enters it seems of supreme importance. i fidgeted over my hair which would not curl. i worried over my examples which never came out right. i mulled (though unacquainted with the word) over every piece of sewing put into my incapable fingers, which could not be trained to hold a needle. i imagined i was stolen by brigands, and became--by virtue and intelligence--spouse of a patriotic outlaw in a frontierless land. i asked artless questions which brought me into discredit with my teachers, as, for example, who 'massacred' st. bartholomew. but vital facts, the great laws of propagation, were matters of but casual concern crowded out of my life and out of my companions' lives (in a convent boarding-school) by the more stirring happenings of every day. how could we fidget over obstetrics when we were learning to skate, and our very dreams were a medley of ice and bumps? how could we worry over 'natural laws' in the face of a tyrannical interdict which lessened our chances of breaking our necks by forbidding us to coast down a hill covered with trees? the children to be pitied, the children whose minds become infected with unwholesome curiosity are those who lack cheerful recreation, religious teaching, and the fine corrective of work. a playground or a swimming pool will do more to keep them mentally and morally sound than scores of lectures on sex-hygiene. [sidenote: personal teaching approved.] "the world is wide, and a great deal is happening in it. i do not plead for ignorance, but for the gradual and harmonious broadening of the field of knowledge, and for a more careful consideration of ways and means. there are subjects which may be taught in class, and subjects which commend themselves to individual teaching. there are topics which admit of _plein-air_ handling, and topics which civilized man, as apart from his artless brother of the jungles, has veiled with reticence. there are truths which may be, and should be, privately imparted by a father, a mother, family doctor, or an experienced teacher; but which young people cannot advantageously acquire from the platform, the stage, the moving picture gallery, the novel or the ubiquitous monthly magazine." there is much in miss repplier's paragraphs which will win hearty approval from those who have come to believe, as advocated throughout this series of lectures, in conservative teaching of sex-hygiene and a larger outlook for sex-education. [sidenote: current frankness not due to sex-education.] no doubt there has been too great a loss of a certain kind of reticence and a substitution of crude frankness, but it has not been caused by the sex-education movement. on the contrary, there are two evident sources of the plain speech of which miss repplier and others have complained: first, the commercializing of sex by novelists, dramatists, theater managers, and publishers--many of whom are reaping a golden harvest and few of whom have any sincere interest in promulgating sexual information to any end except their own pocketbooks. second, the development of the feminist movement which has its deepest foundation in the age-old sexual misunderstandings of women by men, and which has led on and on into social and political complications of gravest significance. the very nature of the feminist revolt from masculine domination made plain speaking on sex matters inevitable. [sidenote: reaction against sensational frankness.] neither of these sources of plain speech need give us cause for alarm, for a great reaction is already coming. the sensationalism of sexual revelations has had its day, and the intelligent public is recovering its balance. a lurid novel or play resembling "damaged goods" or "the house of bondage" or certain vice-commission reports would not now be accepted by some prominent publishers who recently would not have hesitated to seize a first-class commercial opportunity in this line. the fact is that sexual sensationalism has ceased to pay because the intelligent public knows the main facts and has become disgusted with crude frankness that amounts to lasciviousness. on the side of feminism there is hope in the widespread disgust with cristabel pankhurst's "plain facts on a great evil" as compared with the very general approval of louise creighton's polished masterpiece, "the social evil and how to fight it." this represents exactly the present attitude of numerous men and women who calmly discuss together the great problems of life fearlessly and without any elements of lasciviousness such as some people seem to think is necessarily associated with either unsexual or bisexual discussion of sex problems. [sidenote: not a typical case.] miss repplier's description of her own lack of youthful interest in things sexual is of value simply as applied to a limited number of extra-protected girls. her experience teaches us nothing regarding boys or even girls under average conditions. we know beyond any doubt that average children in or near adolescence do seek the kind of information that miss repplier denies having thought about. it is not "pressed relentlessly upon their attention" by teachers, but by instinct and by environment. playground and swimming pools and religious influence and work are all helpful in our dealings with young people, but all together they are inadequate without some information concerning sex. [sidenote: conclusion.] finally, miss repplier, like so many other critics of sex-instruction, has in mind only the physical consequences of wrong-doing. here again is the influence of the pioneer sex-hygiene. however, she pleads for the "gradual and harmonious broadening of the field of knowledge and for a more careful consideration of ways and means" for sex-instruction. this makes us believe that she will favor the larger sex-education which gives a place to "the cheerful recreation, the religious teaching, the childish virtues, the youthful virtues, the wholesome preoccupation," as well as essential knowledge of physical facts; and all as factors in preparing young people consciously and unconsciously to face the inevitable problems of sex. on the whole, we must regard miss repplier's discussion as a helpful contribution to the saner aspects of sex-education. § . _a plea for religious approach to sex-instruction_ [sidenote: cosmo hamilton.] another prominent author who does not agree with the current tendencies of sex-instruction is cosmo hamilton in his little book entitled "a plea for the younger generation" (doran co.). he agrees with the sex-education writers that children should be instructed early, and as far as possible by their parents; but he wholly disagrees with the method of biological introduction. he would have parents go straight to the heart of the matter and tell the child, as simply and truly as can be, just how he came into the world. and he would fill the teaching with reverence by using as an illustration the birth of the babe of bethlehem. referring to those who in recent years have been working for a scientific introduction to sex-education, mr. hamilton says: [sidenote: religious appeal.] "i think that these professors and scientists are wasting their time, and i have written this small volume not only in order to make a plea for the younger generation as to the way in which they shall be taught sex truths, but also in order, if possible, to prove to the advanced thinkers of the day that it is not old-fashioned to beg that god may be put back into the lives of his children, but a thing of urgent and vital importance. without faith the new generation is like a city built on sand. without the discipline and the inspiration of god the young boys and girls who will all too soon be standing in our shoes will go through life with hungry souls, with nothing to live up to, and very little to live for." [sidenote: many not reached by religious appeal.] all this is very good so far as it appeals to the religious type of mind, but mr. hamilton seems to forget that vast numbers of people cannot be approached from this point of view. how can the illustration of the christ-child help those who do not accept certain orthodox religious beliefs? § . _the conflict between sex-hygiene and sex-ethics_ [sidenote: richard cabot.] it has been said in an earlier lecture that several writers have declared that sex-ethics and sex-hygiene are essentially conflicting and should not be associated in teaching; that is to say, that hygienic facts should not be taught with the hope of improving morals. most prominent of those who have declared that hygienic and moral teaching should be dissociated is dr. richard c. cabot, of boston. i shall give in this lecture attention to his writings because they have tended to introduce confusion by critical attention to certain weak details and unessentials in the original suggestions for sex-education, and by wrongly assuming that the original "sex-hygiene" was aimed at improved morals, whereas it was aimed directly at health. in a paper entitled "consecration of the affections (often misnamed 'sex-hygiene')," read at the fifth ( ) congress of the american school hygiene association, dr. cabot attacked the kind of sex-instruction that is limited to sex-hygiene. he has later returned to the attack on many occasions. i shall quote a number of his paragraphs and follow each with a discussion of its contents. [sidenote: hygiene and conduct.] ( ) "the straight, right action in matters of human affection has nothing to do with hygiene. for hygiene has no words to proclaim as to why you and i should behave ourselves. hygiene has the right and the duty to make clear the perverted and the diseased consequences of certain errors. but these consequences are far from constant.... let us disabuse our minds, then, of the idea that there are always bad physical consequences of mistake, error, or sin in this [sex] field, and that those consequences are reasons for behaving ourselves. but even if there were such consequences, i think it even more mischievous for us to preach a morality based upon them." that hygienic knowledge makes many people control their sexual selves is beyond dispute. because the consequences of sexual error are far from constant is a weak argument against pointing out possible results. the consequences from pistols are far from constant, and yet i have no doubt that dr. cabot would teach small boys the danger of shooting themselves and other people. [sidenote: hygiene and ethics for health.] the last quoted sentence suggests dr. cabot's whole basis of contention against sex-hygiene. he seems to have inferred from the earlier papers, especially those by dr. morrow, that the hygiene of sex is to be taught as an approach to morality. on the contrary, the truth is that the aim of most of the first leaders in sex-instruction was to teach hygiene and ethics primarily in order to improve health. dr. morrow and others believed that hygienic teaching would secondarily react on sexual morality; but the original aim of the society of sanitary and moral prophylaxis was to limit the spread of venereal disease by sanitary, moral, and legal means. in other words, moral appeals were to aid in checking disease, and knowledge of disease was not claimed to improve morality, although such knowledge might react against immorality. it is this misunderstanding or overlooking of the real reasons for teaching concerning sex health that seems to have led dr. cabot into apparent opposition to the general movement for sex-instruction. one infers from all his lectures that he believes it good to teach hygiene for health, ethics for morality, and biology for science; but that these should not be correlated because to him they are unrelated. it seems to me that he has simply been misled by the overenthusiasm of some of the first writers on sex-hygiene and by the widespread use of that limited term instead of sex-education. [sidenote: is sex-hygiene immoral?] ( ) "now i say that the preaching about sex-hygiene that is going on in recent books and in the periodical press is immoral in its tendency. it is like saying, 'don't lie, for if you do, you won't sleep at night, and insomnia is bad for the health.'" if insomnia often follows lying, then it should be taught as _one_ reason why falsehoods should be avoided. this is not opposed to ethical teaching, for at the same time we can teach the other reasons for not telling lies. likewise, sex-hygiene offers certain reasons for conduct and may be supplemented by sex-ethics. [sidenote: information and morality.] ( ) "the attempts to consecrate affection and to safeguard morality by teaching in public or private schools what is called 'sex-hygiene' will, i believe, prove a failure. i have very little confidence in the restraining or inspiring value of information, as such. i have seen too much of its powerlessness in medical men and students. no one knows so much of the harm of morphine as the physicians do, yet there are more cases of morphine habit among physicians than among any less informed profession. it is, of course, easy to make young children familiar with the facts of maternity and birth. compared to the ordinary methods of concealment and lying by parents to children about these matters this is doubtless an improvement, but it does almost nothing to meet the moral problems of sex which come up later in the child's life. one may know all about maternity, without knowing anything of the difficulties and dangers of sex. many have thought that by thorough teaching of the physiology of reproduction in plants and animals we can anticipate and to a considerable extent prevent the dangers and temptations referred to above." it is not proposed "to consecrate affection" or "to safeguard morality" by hygienic knowledge; but simply to protect health. of course, information will not restrain everybody; but if physicians did not know the dangers of morphine many more would be victims of the drug. dr. cabot overlooks the fact that physicians know how to use and obtain morphine, while other professional men do not. teaching concerning maternity and birth will not directly meet the moral problems of sex, but it will help develop an attitude, "a consecration of the affections," that will guard against the dangers of sex. such teaching to children is only one of many steps in the scheme of sex-education. no responsible advocate of sex-instruction claims that teaching children concerning the reproduction of animals and plants does anticipate and prevent sexual temptations; but it is a foundation for practical knowledge of human sex problems. i have elsewhere referred to the effect of such studies on attitude. [sidenote: contagion of personality.] ( ) "the positive moral qualities which make us immune to the dangers of sex are obtainable not through warnings as to dangers, but through the more positive activities just alluded to. all that is most practical and successful in this field of endeavor may be summarized as the _contagion of personality, human or divine_. what is it that keeps any of us straight unless it is the contagion of the highest personalities whom we have known, in man and god?" we must admit that, perhaps, "positive moral qualities" are not obtainable through warnings, but in this pragmatic age we must have good social results gained by any honorable means. many people are kept from crime by warnings of the law. of course, this is not a "positive moral" result for the unethical individual who must be restrained by fear of legal consequences, but we do not worry about the individual when society gains. likewise, a man kept from sexual promiscuity by fear of disease is not more positively moral, but he is a better member of society. no one will deny the importance of personality in its influence on positive moral qualities; but there are many people who are not influenced by personality, either human or divine. other kinds of control, such as hygienic and legal, are necessary for such people. [sidenote: good and evil.] ( ) "a positive evil can be driven out only by a much more positive good. the lower passion can be conquered only by a higher passion." here, again, dr. cabot seems to misunderstand the aim of hygienic teaching regarding sex. it is not expected "to conquer the lower passion" by hygiene, but to help keep it under control to the end that personal and social health will be improved. the opium evil (certainly a _positive_ one) is being driven out of china by military methods that are good only in their results in suppressing the drug. likewise, hygiene of sex will be a practical good in so far as it may reduce the venereal curse. "positive good" in dr. cabot's moral sense is only of limited application so far as the majority of people are concerned. in fact, the whole idea of solving the sexual problems by "consecration of the affections" makes its strong appeal only to those who have already grasped the higher view of sex and do not need sex-instruction. other people cannot understand the phrase. we must find some more direct and practical attack on the sex problems for the masses; and i believe that this means scientific teaching which improves attitude, and hygienic teaching which protects personal and social health. it is worth while to get these results even if we do not succeed in improving morals. that, i believe, is another and quite independent problem. [sidenote: dissociation of hygienic and moral teaching.] in an address published in the _journal of the society of sanitary and moral prophylaxis_, vol. v, no. , january , dr. cabot contended that the hygienic and moral aspects of sex-education should not be associated. it is possible that the following review and criticisms may be based upon a misinterpretation; but if so, i shall not feel lonely, for at the close of the discussion, dr. cabot said to his audience, "it is evident that i have not succeeded in touching even the surfaces of your minds, and have not made an atom of impression in making the distinction which i desired to make." dr. cabot's main points are quoted below, and my comments follow each quotation. ( ) "sanitation can often be conveyed effectively by information, but morality cannot be conveyed by telling things." [sidenote: teaching morals.] it is certainly true that sanitation can be taught by words. that words concerning moral things have no value is a proposition which dr. cabot did not clearly and convincingly support. ( ) "people often make sanitary mistakes from ignorance. so far as you are ignorant you cannot be immoral. morality is conditioned upon knowledge of the right and wrong in question." [sidenote: immoral or unmoral.] of course, one who is ignorant is unmoral and not immoral, but this does not divorce sanitary and moral problems of social disease. an ignorant and unmoral man may have unsanitary sexual habits, but enlighten him regarding venereal disease and his habits make him immoral. ( ) "i cannot see that biology has moral value." [sidenote: moral value of biology.] but it may have moral influence just as literature and history and biography may have. of course, pure biology alone will not make people more sexually moral, but no responsible biologist has ever claimed that it will. ( ) "in morals, we are dealing with the will, and if we believe that the will is guided by intelligence, we must believe that all people who _know_ what is right will _do_ what is right." [sidenote: knowledge and will.] it does not follow that to know what is right is to do what is right. all depends upon the relative weight of opposing factors. a medical student may _know_ the facts regarding venereal disease; but he also knows the fact that his sexual instincts are insistent. the fact of his passion may be more weighty than his scientific knowledge; and his will may be guided by intelligent choice based on comparison of the two opposing facts. hence, it is illogical to contend that knowledge may not influence moral conduct and that the will is not guided by intelligence. [sidenote: cultivation of morality.] ( ) "any good achieved in any branch of morality helps all morality. a person who learns any kind of self control is helped toward all kinds. anything that helps self control in one field will help in all fields, the field of sex as well as others. whatever makes a person more obedient to conscience in matters of truth or courage will help him in matters of chastity. we get morality not by consciously cultivating particular virtues, but by making ourselves useful men and women, by practice and by the love and imitation of our betters. thus, morality is cultivated in hundreds of ways all at once." this is sound, but it is in no logical way opposed to any other aspect of sex-instruction discussed in this series of lectures. ( ) "wherever the conditions of intimacy and interest exist,--intimacy with the right person and interest in the right thing,--moral training is going on." [sidenote: influence of individuals.] this is dr. cabot's strongest point. he believes in the moral influence of individuals. so do all leading advocates of sex-instruction or of any other form of moral education. this is in no sense opposed to any accepted proposition of sex-education. ( ) "sanitation may increase immorality.... i do care more for morality than for sanitation. where the two conflict i want morality to lead and to govern." [sidenote: morals rather than health.] right here is the basis for dr. cabot's repeated attacks on the sex-education movement. he believes that morality and sanitation are decidedly conflicting. his address fails to support this idea with regard to a single point concerned with the proposed sex-education. he mentioned only two points wherein there is apparent conflict, namely, prophylaxis that allows immorality while avoiding venereal disease, and prevention of conception. neither of these is directly involved in the sex-education movement, and their immoral bearings are highly debatable. [sidenote: ethics of venereal antisepsis.] venereal prophylactics may increase promiscuity of some unmoral and immoral men, but if universally and scientifically used by such men, there would be little or no infection of innocent women and children. therefore, i assert that the good that would come from the use of prophylactics by those who do not recognize moral control would be far more significant than the fact that venereal prophylactics might encourage immorality. those who would use prophylactics would be no worse morally than they were before, but society would gain hygienically. [sidenote: ethics of contraception.] regarding the morality of prevention of fertilization, the best of people hold opposing views. a great specialist in tuberculosis who entered the discussion of dr. cabot's paper convinced most of his hearers that hygienic prevention of fertilization of tubercular women is a very moral act for a physician to advise. the real question of morality involved in the problem of contraconception is not whether it is immoral that sperm-cells should be prevented from swimming on towards an egg-cell, but whether there is morality in a sexual union that has its meaning only in affection and is not definitely intended for propagation. it is obviously a complicated problem of hygiene, psychology, ethics, æsthetics, religious beliefs, social traditions, and personal prejudice; and it is absurd to allow it to become entangled in the general propositions of sex-education. as i have often said in this series of lectures, the larger sex-education aims at making the best possible adjustments of sex and life. if the æsthetic demands of affection are in real conflict with the animal function of propagation, then a pragmatically ethical solution is found in intelligent control of the original function. ideally, the animal function of propagation should be associated with the possibilities of affection that have developed in the highest human life; but there are numerous cases in which there must be dissociation of the functions of affection and propagation, or the alternative is sexual asceticism. which is moral? this is a question concerning which the individual must weigh his personal views and decide. only the bigoted victims of arrogance will see immorality in the one who disagrees with him on this question. i insist, then, that even if advanced sex-education for adults should some day come to involve the problem of contraconception, there will be no conflict between hygienic knowledge and ethics, if the teaching leads to more perfect adjustment of sex and life. [sidenote: dr. neumann's view.] probably the great majority of workers in the sex-education movement do not in the least agree with dr. cabot's attempts to dissociate hygienic and moral problems. a far more helpful view is that expressed by dr. henry neumann, leader of the brooklyn ethical culture society: "problems of hygiene, whether of sex, or nutrition, or temperance and the like, are no less moral problems. they are problems of habit; and habits are impossible without strong incentives to start them and keep them going.... ethical instruction is often misunderstood to be barren preaching. it is nothing of the sort. it consists in clarifying views of life. it begins with the fact that there are certain tendencies in our nature which may work ill or good. then it tries to show to what these lead. it uses what is best in us to make over what is worst. that is why problems of sex-hygiene should be regarded as at bottom problems of sex-morality." § . _the arrogance of the advocates of sex-education_ in an article in the _educational review_, february, , superintendent maxwell, of new york city, writes concerning what he calls "the teaching of child hygiene" as follows: [sidenote: dr. maxwell's criticisms.] "there are those to-day who claim that sexual information and problems should be thrust upon the attention of boys and girls by the teachers in the public schools, that this teaching is necessary for the protection of virtue and the prevention of disease, and that, if anyone hesitates to encourage the spread of such literature and the teaching of such knowledge, he is an arrant and presumptuous blockhead. the arrogance of the extreme advocates of child hygiene blinds them to certain all-important truths. the first is that our teachers are not prepared, and, in too many cases, are not the most suitable persons to teach the subject. the second is that to bring the adolescent mind face to face with sexual matters engenders the habit of dwelling upon the sexual passion, and in that may lie spiritual havoc and physical ruin. a premature interest in the sexual passion debases the mind and unsettles the will. the third is that parents have no right to ask the teacher to do the work that is peculiarly theirs. "and yet some good may emerge from this discussion. parents may be incited to do their duty in placing sex information before their children whenever conditions demand such knowledge. and principals and teachers, particularly principals, whenever they have the acuteness to detect the tendency to wrong-doing, will no longer hesitate to utter the word of warning in season. as for the extravagant claims made for the teaching of sex-hygiene, i have too much faith in the good sense of the american people to believe that it will ever be generally and regularly taught in american schools. surely, we have learned something since the law compelled us to teach the untruths regarding the effects of stimulants and narcotics that were published in the early school manuals of physiology and hygiene." [sidenote: reply to dr. maxwell.] i comment as follows: ( ) dr. maxwell refers only to the "extreme advocates." they did exist in abundance a few years ago, but are already rare in the group of well-known educators. ( ) most teachers are not prepared and never can be prepared to teach the human aspect of sex problems, especially the hygienic in the strict sense. ( ) conservative sex-instruction such as was advocated by the advisers of the american federation for sex-hygiene (see "report" by morrow and others, ) aims to guard against "premature interest in the sexual passion." ( ) while i sympathize with dr. maxwell's view that teaching the elementary hygiene of sex is the parent's duty, i am forced to recognize the futility of advocating that all or even a respectable minority of parents should undertake their duty (see § ). the truth is that most of them will not, and cannot if they will, try to do so. ( ) dr. maxwell's idea that sex-hygiene should be taught only when an astute principal or parent "detects wrong-doing" is, to say the least, an educational theory that will astonish one who knows even the elementary facts regarding the secrecy of the sexual life of young people in general. will he next be logically consistent and advocate that all moral education should be given only after children show signs of wrong-doing? ( ) sex-hygiene, as dr. maxwell understands it to be concerned directly and solely with human sexual problems, will never be taught in american schools controlled by people of good sense; but sex-instruction from the larger viewpoint is taught in some of the best of dr. maxwell's high schools. ( ) all advocates of sex-instruction who have a national reputation for educational sanity agree that legislation is most undesirable. ( ) it is obvious that like so many others who have become confused regarding the sex-education movement, dr. maxwell has been impressed chiefly by the pioneer work that emphasized only hygienic teaching regarding sex. § . _lubricity in education_ ex-president taft has expressed his views against the sex-education movement. the newspapers quote as follows from an address delivered in philadelphia in : "there is another danger in our educational influences and environment. i refer to the spread of lubricity in literature, on the stage and indirectly in education, under the plea that vice may be avoided by teaching the awful consequences. by dwelling on its details and explaining its penalties, sexual subjects are obtruded into discussion between the sexes, lectures are delivered on them, textbooks are written, and former restraints of modesty are abandoned. [sidenote: mr. taft's alarm.] "the pursuit of education in sex-hygiene is full of danger if carried on in general public schools. the sharp, pointed and summary advice of mothers to daughters, of fathers to sons, of a medical professor to students in a college upon such a subject is, of course, wise, but any benefit that may be derived from frightening students by dwelling upon the details of the dreadful punishment of vice is too often offset by awakening a curiosity and interest that might not be developed so early and is likely to set the thoughts of those whose benefit is at stake in a direction that will neither elevate their conversations with their fellows nor make more clean their mental habit. "i deny that the so-called prudishness and the avoidance of nasty subjects in the last generation has ever blinded any substantial number of girls or boys to the wickedness of vice or made them easier victims of temptations." [sidenote: evident misunderstanding.] the above requires little comment, for its misunderstandings are obvious to one who has followed the sex-education movement. clearly mr. taft has been impressed by the social-hygiene side of the problems and does not realize the existence of a larger outlook for sex-education. like so many other writers who seem to know little concerning the sexual life of children, especially of boys, mr. taft fears "the awakening of curiosity and interest"! this, of course, depends upon the facts taught and the age of the learner, but it hardly applies to children in or near adolescence who are taught along the lines suggested by the committee of the american federation for sex-hygiene ( ). the last paragraph quoted from mr. taft will be denied completely by all who are familiar with the problems of adolescent education. to say the least, it is unfortunate that a man prominent in law and statesmanship should have lent the weight of his name to such superficial conclusions that are so obviously based on exceedingly limited information regarding both the established facts of sex and the most approved methods of sex-instruction. § . _conclusions from the criticisms of sex-education_ i have selected for discussion the criticisms of several of the most prominent people who have expressed opposition to the sex-education movement. i think that all the important lines of arguments against the movement are represented in the extracts that i have quoted. we have seen that all of the criticisms have decidedly vulnerable points. most of them refer to the discarded sex-hygiene of ten years ago; but some of them prove that the authors are quite ignorant of the sex problems that must be faced by numerous young people. [sidenote: criticisms important.] with the hope of locating the weaknesses of sex-education, i have for years examined carefully every criticism published, and it seems to me thoroughly scientific to conclude that all the important criticisms have not harmed the essentials of the sex-education movement; but, on the contrary, have been helpful in forcing reconstruction. in fact, the present-day conception of the larger sex-education must be credited to the severe critics more than to the friends of the original narrow movement for reducing venereal disease by hygienic instruction. xi the past and the future of the sex-education movement § . _the american movement_ [sidenote: dr. morrow leader in america.] in america the movement for sex-education began with the organization of the american society of sanitary and moral prophylaxis on february , , under the leadership of dr. prince a. morrow. it is true that before this time there were various local and sporadic attempts at instruction concerning sexual processes, but such teaching was chiefly personal and there was no concerted movement looking towards making sex-instruction an integral part of general education. in , thirteen years before the organization of the society of sanitary and moral prophylaxis, a group of members of the national education association considered briefly the importance of instructing young people. however, this meeting was of ephemeral significance and had no genetic relation to the present-day movement. other early interest in sex-instruction is indicated in professor earl barnes's bibliography which was published in his "studies in education," vol. i, p. , . the educational activities, especially the publications of the american society of sanitary and moral prophylaxis, soon attracted the serious attention of numerous physicians, ministers, and educators in various parts of the united states; and about twenty other societies for study and improvement of the sex problems were organized within a few years after the original society. [sidenote: original aim for sanitary ends.] the sex-education movement both in europe and america had its origin as an attempt to check the spread of the venereal or social diseases. the idea that education should work for sexual morality for its own sake and not simply for protection against venereal diseases has only recently begun to appear in the literature of sex-education, and so far it seems to have made only a limited impression on many of those who have been active in the prophylactic campaign against social disease. in fact, the tardy recognition of the moral aim of sex-education makes it seem probable that very little interest would have been aroused in the movement if it had been organized on purely ethical grounds and without any reference to the sanitary problems of social diseases. to one who looks at sexual morality as a question of right conduct which brings its own rewards, it is a shock to find so many thinking people who accept calmly the traditional views of the relation of the sexes and seem to take no interest in the immorality of men except as it is likely to lead to venereal disease or to illegitimacy which demands forced marriage or monetary payments. the truth is that the civilized world at large is very far from a working code of sexual morals which will be practiced because of promised rewards rather than because of probable punishments. it is natural, then, that the sex-education movement should have started with a proclamation of physical punishments for immorality rather than an offer of ethical and psychical rewards for morality. [sidenote: both sanitary and moral.] however, the fact that sex-education, under the name of "sex-hygiene," was at first a sanitary propagandism need not interfere with the larger development of sex-education. it now seems probable that before many years pass we shall learn how to make a satisfactory combination of both the sanitary and moral sides of sex-education, and so it is best that the educational movement started on the foundation of the undisputed facts of sanitary science which have made a powerful impression on the people who do and who do not recognize a code of sexual morals. [sidenote: medical interest.] the deep interest of the medical profession is directly responsible for the close association between the beginning of the sex-education movement and the diseases of immorality. at the organization meeting of the american society of sanitary and moral prophylaxis, dr. prince morrow in the opening paragraph of his address said: "we have met for the purpose of discussing the wisdom and the expediency of forming a society of sanitary and moral prophylaxis. the object is to organize a social defense against a class of diseases which are most injurious to the highest interests of human society." thus, the american society of sanitary and moral prophylaxis started as an avowed enemy of the social diseases and so it has continued to the present. the very name of its official journal, _social diseases_,[ ] indicated the central idea of the society. likewise, most of the local american societies for sex-hygiene have names including such phrases as "social hygiene," "prevention of social diseases," "sanitary prophylaxis"; and only one, the massachusetts society for sex education, has a name which does not directly suggest the medical problems of sex. [sidenote: in europe.] in europe, the sex-instruction movement has been concerned chiefly with spreading information concerning the social diseases. in an international congress for consideration of the venereal diseases was held in brussels, and this congress recommended that in all countries there should be organized sanitary, social, moral, and legal societies for the prophylaxis of these diseases. as a result of this recommendation, prophylactic societies were formed in france, germany, italy, holland, the united states, and other countries. of these, the german society for the prevention of venereal disease became the strongest, with over five thousand members and twenty branch societies. [sidenote: national societies.] the fact that the american society of sanitary and moral prophylaxis was organized by a group of people in new york city tended from the beginning to make it a local society. while for several years it took the lead in sex-hygiene and enrolled members residing in many parts of the united states, it was never a national organization. in recent years the word "american" has been omitted from its name, and its work has been limited to new york city and vicinity.[ ] many independent state and city societies were organized within a few years after the original sex-hygiene society in new york. this multiplication of societies called attention to the need of a national organization, and in the various societies were affiliated in the american federation for sex-hygiene. dr. morrow was the leading spirit in the federation until his death. in , the federation and the american vigilance association (a society especially concerned with the social evil) were united in the american social hygiene association. its offices are at west th street, new york city. § . _important steps in the sex-education movement in america_ may , . dr. prince morrow's plea for the organization of a society of sanitary and moral prophylaxis, read before the medical society of the county of new york. february , . organization meeting of the american society of sanitary and moral prophylaxis, in new york. march, . pennsylvania society for the prevention of social diseases organized. october, . chicago society of social hygiene organized. december, . portland (ore.) social hygiene society organized. october, . spokane society of social and moral prophylaxis organized. june, . american federation for sex-hygiene organized. . oregon social hygiene society organized. july , . resolution of the national education association favoring training of teachers with the view, ultimately, of sex-instruction in schools. september - , . meeting of subsection on sex-hygiene, fifteenth international congress on hygiene and demography. washington, d.c. february, . organization of american vigilance association. october, . merging of the american federation for sex-hygiene and the american vigilance association into the new american social hygiene association. . organization of pacific coast federation for sex-hygiene, changed to pacific coast social hygiene association in june, . july, . the national education association, at minneapolis, adopted the following resolutions in line with the latest principles of the society of sanitary and moral prophylaxis and the american social hygiene association: "the association, re-affirming its belief in the constructive value of education in sex-hygiene, directs attention to the grave dangers, ethical and social, arising out of a sex consciousness stimulated by undue emphasis upon sex problems and relations. the situation is so serious as to render neglect hazardous. the association urges upon all parents the obvious duty of parental care and instruction in such matters and directs attention to the mistake of leaving such problems exclusively to the school. the association believes that sex-hygiene should be approached in the public schools conservatively under the direction of persons qualified by scientific training and teaching experience in order to assure a safe moral point of view. the association, therefore, recommends that institutions preparing teachers give attention to such subjects as would qualify for instruction in the general field of morals as well as in the particular field of sex-hygiene." § . _the future of the larger sex-education_ [sidenote: public has lost interest in sensationalism.] i hear many questions as to the probable future of sex-education. i am asked: "is it moribund?" "is it a disappearing fad?" "has not the high tide of interest passed?" no doubt such questions are inspired by the oft-repeated statement that public interest in sexual questions has waned decidedly in the last few years. this is true, and it is a most fortunate indication of approaching sanity. the public interest in the last decade has been most deplorable, because it has centered in the abnormal and sensational aspects of sex. authors have vied with each other in presenting the most lurid cases of social diseases, white slavery, sexual perversions, and every other available aspect of sexual degeneracy. of course, the reading public was bound to grow tired of this, just as it wearies of a horrible murder trial or of a sensational divorce case. it is certainly true that there is a marked decline of general interest in sexual abnormality and sensationalism; but that does not mean that the sex-education movement is moribund. [sidenote: sex-education permanent.] the wave of sensational revelation has passed; but the intelligent public is no longer ignorant of the nature and causes of the great problems of sex, and is well aware that young people need definite guidance for facing the facts of life. it is unthinkable that intelligent parents who are now well informed concerning sex will ever again stand for the old policy of mystery and silence. it is, therefore, impossible to believe that there is any danger of sex-education disappearing. of course, we have not reached a permanent system of sex-education. there certainly will be vast changes in our approved subject matter and methods of teaching; but the main idea of the sex-education movement is gaining support every day. [sidenote: sex-education fundamental.] there is another reason why sex-education will be permanent. in addition to the great need of educational help with information and influence which will mold the individual life with regard to the problems of sex, it must be evident to all that even the legislative, sanitary, social administrative, religious, ethical, and other attacks upon the problems depend upon knowledge and attitude, at least of the leaders. look at the problems of sex outlined in the earlier lectures from whatever angle we will, and it appears that, in the final analysis, education offers the only key to a possible solution. therefore, i assert that sex-education--the larger sex-education--is an absolutely fundamental factor in every phase of the social-hygiene and sex-ethical movement. [sidenote: ultimate effect of sex-education.] in closing the last lecture of this series, let me state my confession of faith in sex-education: it is certainly only _one of several_ possible lines of attack on the alarming sex problems of our time; but it offers the most hopeful outlook towards improved sexual morals and health, both physical and psychical. however, we shall gain nothing of permanent value by extravagant claims or hopes as to the ultimate effect of sex-education. we must expect incomplete results. it will not entirely solve the sex problems for all individuals who receive instruction; but it will solve all of the problems of many individuals and help many others. it will not eradicate the social evil and its characteristic diseases, but it will protect many young people and so reduce the sum total of awful consequences. it will not prevent all divorces and matrimonial disharmonies, but already the biological teaching is helping and some day the social-ethical problems will be understood and then most intelligent men and women will understand the fundamental principles for permanent and harmonious monogamic marriage. finally, sex-education will not enforce universal sexual morality in conformity with our accepted code, but it will help many individuals through decisive battles with sex-instincts. [sidenote: sex-education and general education.] such are some of the lines along which extreme claims and hopes for sex-education have been and are still being made. there is some truth in each; in fact, there is more than enough to justify the present movement for sex-education. to all those who see nothing in the movement because it will not solve all the sex problems which have created a demand for special instruction, we may reply by simply pointing to the fact that general education makes some better and more efficient citizens, but many times it fails to give desirable results. we believe in general education because it aims to offer all individuals help in preparation for more efficient life, although it succeeds only in part. likewise, we should stand for the instruction of all young people in matters concerning sex because it is certain that such knowledge will function completely in many lives and will work appreciable good in many others. [sidenote: a permanent and essential part of education.] i cannot believe that sex-education is one of the long line of modern educational fads which quickly pass their day, for no other phase of education so closely touches life. history and geography and even a large part of the "three rs" may be of little use in the lives of numerous people, but sex-education deals with problems which the normal human life cannot possibly avoid and which each individual must be prepared to solve for himself. therefore, we may confidently assert that instruction concerning the most important aspects of sex processes and relationships will soon be recognized as an absolutely necessary part of a rational and efficient scheme for the education of young people. [sidenote: the never-ending problem of good and evil.] the larger sex-education is sure to have a permanent place in the never-ending work of preparing coming generations for the highest development of life's possibilities. each succeeding generation of young people must be prepared by educational processes to face intelligently and bravely the problems of sex that are sure to come into every normal life. of course, sex-education at its best development can do no more than give the individual a basis for intelligent choice between good and evil; but here, as in all other upward movements of human life, the decision must depend upon a clear and positive recognition of the advantages of the good as contrasted with the evil. hence, the one essential task of sex-education in its broadest outlook is to guide natural human beings to recognition and choice of the best in the sexual sphere of life. and in so far as each coming generation of individuals may be thus guided by the larger sex-education, the problems of sex will be pragmatically solved, for the social aggregate of human life will become better, happier, nobler, truer, more in harmony with the highest ideals of life, more like our vision of perfected humanity. footnotes: [ ] the name was changed in to _journal of the society of sanitary and moral prophylaxis_. [ ] while this book was in press, the name was changed to new york social hygiene society. xii some books for sex-education i have decided to publish only the names of selected books which seem to me to be the best for teachers, parents, and young people. in making the selection, i have considered several hundred books which bear on the sex problems in an educational way, and have decided to reject the majority of them. while there might be some value in a long list with critical notes on books that i cannot recommend, it would be a worse than thankless task to compile such an annotated bibliography; for the compiler would surely add to his collection of enemies many authors whose books deserve severe criticism. the sudden and sensational publicity concerning matters of sex and the possibility of commercial exploitation has produced an avalanche of sex books, some good, many bad, and the majority ordinary. evidently, most of the authors, including numerous physicians, have written to order and without special preparation. the books of the following lists are not all deserving of unqualified recommendation. in fact, some of them are included because they are the least objectionable of their much-needed kind, and others because they have some good grains that the reader will find worth picking from a mass of non-nutritious but, fortunately, non-poisonous chaff. i have not included many books which i recognize as important for readers thoroughly trained in science, but which are dangerous for the average reader of literature on sex. it is possible that i may have overlooked some very good books that i have not intended to ignore; and i shall be glad to have my attention called to books which deserve recognition. special bibliographies have been published in wile's "sex-education," march's "towards racial health," geddes and thomson's "sex," and foster's "social emergency." publishers.--in most cases the first part of the names of well-known publishers has been given. unless otherwise mentioned, they have offices in new york city. in addition, the following abbreviations have been used: a.m.a. = american medical association, chicago. a.s.h.a. = american social hygiene association, west th st., new york city. s.s.m.p. = society of sanitary and moral prophylaxis, west th street, new york city. association press = press of the national board of the y.m.c.a., new york city. for educators and parents addams, jane. "a new conscience and an ancient evil." macmillan. $ . . (contains all the average reader needs to know concerning prostitution.) bok, edward, editor. "books of self-knowledge for young people and parents." revell. $. each. bigelow, m.a. "relation of biology to sex-instruction in schools and colleges." journal of social diseases, ii, , october, . cabot, richard c. "the christian approach to social morality." national y.w.c.a., new york. $. . cabot, richard c. "what men live by." houghton mifflin. $ . . (a book that has helped many people.) cabot, r.c. "consecration of the affections." proceedings of fifth cong. amer. school hygiene assoc., iii, , p. . also in amer. phy. ed. rev., xvi, , pp. - . (see "criticisms of sex-education" in § of this book.) cocks, orrin g. "the social evil and methods of treatment." association press. $. . creighton, louise. "the social disease and how to fight it." longmans. $. . (a splendid essay on social impurity from a modern woman's viewpoint. constructive and optimistic.) eliot, c.w. "public opinion and sex-hygiene." a.s.h.a. $. . eliot, c.w. "school instruction in sex hygiene." proceedings of fifth cong. amer. school hygiene assoc., . ellis, havelock. "the task of social hygiene." houghton. $ . . (certain chapters concern sex-education.) galloway, t.w. "biology of sex." heath. $. . geddes, patrick, and thomson, j. arthur. "sex." holt. $. . (excellent.) geddes and thomson. "the problems of sex." moffat. $. . foster, w.t. "the social emergency." houghton. $ . . (twelve excellent essays by president foster, reed college, and nine others, on social hygiene and education.) hall, g. stanley. "adolescence." appleton. vols. $ . . hall, g.s. "youth: its education, regimen and hygiene." appleton. $ . . hall, g.s. "needs and methods of educating young people in hygiene of sex." pedagogical seminary, xv, march, . hall, g.s. "teaching of sex in schools and colleges." journal of social diseases, ii, , october, . hall, winfield s. "sex training in the home." richardson, chicago. $ . . henderson, chas. r. "education with reference to sex." university of chicago press. part i, cts.; ii, cts. (part i demonstrates need of sex-education; ii, the educational problems.) herter, c.a. "biological aspects of human problems." macmillan. $ . . (sexual instincts, pp. - ; sex-education, - .) hime, maurice c. "schoolboys' special immorality." churchill, london. $. . (for masters of boarding schools.) hodge, c.f. "social hygiene in public schools." school science and mathematics, april, . howard, w.l. "start your child right." revell. $. . (readable, sensible, helpful to parents.) lowry, edith b. "false modesty: that protects vice by ignorance." forbes. $. . (arguments for sex-instruction in home and school.) lowry, e.b. "teaching sex-hygiene in the public schools." forbes. $. . (useful for parents and teachers.) lyttleton, e. "training the young in the laws of sex." longmans, green. $ . . (heartily approved by many educators.) march, norah h. "towards racial health." routledge, london. $ . . (very helpful book for parents and teachers.) morley, margaret w. "renewal of life." mcclurg. $ . . (nature-study basis for teaching children.) morrow, balliet, and bigelow. "report of special committee on matters and methods of sex-education." a.s.h.a. $. . morrow, prince a. "teaching of sex-hygiene." a.s.h.a. $. . (a splendid address.) morrow, p.a. "the boy problem." s.s.m.p. $. . (helpful to parents.) morrow, p.a. "the sex problem." s.s.m.p. $. . (a fair statement of the double morality problem.) parkinson, william d. "sex and education." educational review, january, . (stands for ethical and æsthetic teaching primarily.) scharlieb and sibly. "youth and sex." dodge. $. . seligman, e.r.a. "the social evil." putnam. $ . . (a good survey of the evil, based on the work of the committee of fourteen in new york.) wile, ira s. "sex education." duffield. $ . . (a very useful book for parents.) wood-allen, mary. "teaching truth." crist co. $. . (suggestions for mothers' talks to young children.) "social hygiene." a quarterly journal of the a.s.h.a. $ . per year, free to members. for girls addams, jane. "spirit of youth and the city streets." macmillan. $ . . chapman, rose woodallen. "how shall i tell my child?" revell. $. . dodge, grace h. "a bundle of letters to busy girls." funk. $. . hall, jeannette w. "life's story." steadwell, la crosse, wis. $. . (biological facts for girls of to .) hall, w.s. "life problems: a story for girls." a.m.a. $. . (a good pamphlet for girls of to years.) hall, w.s. "the doctor's daughter: studies about life." a.m.a. $. . (on nature-study basis, for girls under years.) hood, mary g. "for girls and the mothers of girls." bobbs-merrill. $ . . howard, w.l. "confidential chats with girls." clode. $ . . smith, nellie m. "the three gifts of life." dodd, mead. $. . (a girl's responsibility. for girls to , who have no more than grammar-school education. in general, sentimental and unscientific; but chapter iv, "gift of choice," is excellent.) torelle, ellen. "plant and animal children: how they grow." heath. $ . . (useful as a nature-study reader concerning reproduction of animals and plants.) wood-allen, mary. "almost a woman." crist co. $. . (a story for girls of years.) wood-allen, mary. "what a young girl should know." vir co., philadelphia. $ . . (for girls under or .) for boys hall, w.s. "john's vacation." a.m.a. $. . (on nature-study basis, for pre-adolescent boys.) hall, w.s. "chums." a.m.a. $. . (for adolescent boys.) hall, w.s. "developing into manhood." association press. $. . (biological basis, for boys of to years.) hall, w.s. "life's beginnings." association press. $. . hall, w.s. "youth." association press. $. . (for boys to .) howard, w.l. "confidential chats with boys." clode. $ . . jenks, j.w. "life questions of school boys." association press. $. . jewett. "the next generation." ginn. $. . (elementary eugenics.) torelle, ellen. "plant and animal children." (see under books for girls.) trewby, arthur. "healthy boyhood." longmans. $. . wood-allen, mary. "almost a man." crist co. $. . (similar to "almost a woman." for pre-adolescent boys.) for women drake, e.f.a. "what a young wife ought to know." vir co., philadelphia. $ . . galbraith, anna. "four epochs of a woman's life." saunders, philadelphia. $ . . (medical in style. certain sections relating to heredity are not satisfactory.) hall, w.s. "sexual knowledge." intern. bible house, philadelphia. $ . . key, ellen. "morality of woman and other essays." seymour, chicago. $ . . (ideal morality as a basis for marriage. good introduction to author's "love and marriage.") lowry, e.b. "herself." forbes. $ . . (in general, accurate. medical style.) martin, h.n. "human body--advanced course." holt. $ . . (last chapter, on reproduction, excellent.) rummel, luella z. "womanhood and its development." burton co., kansas city. $ . . (one of the best books for mature women. poorly printed.) schreiner, olive. "woman and labor." stokes. $ . . (important for the feminist movement.) west, mrs. max. "prenatal care." bulletin of children's bureau, u.s. dept. of labor. (a very practical pamphlet.) wood-allen, mary. "what a young woman should know." vir co., philadelphia. $ . . (the best-known book, preferred by the majority of mothers.) for men exner, m.j. "problems and principles of sex-education." association press. $. . (study of college men, and an essay on principles.) exner, m.j. "the physician's answer." association press. $. . (summary of opinions of numerous physicians concerning the problems of young men.) exner, m.j. "the rational sex life for men." association press. $. . (good, and helpful to many young men.) hall, w.s. "from youth into manhood." association press. $. . (highly approved and widely used.) hall, w.s. "instead of wild oats." revell. $. . (bok series, biological and sociological basis.) hall, w.s. "reproduction and sexual hygiene." wynnewood, chicago. $. . (very useful book, but criticized by many who disagree with the hygienic part.) hall, w.s. "sexual knowledge." intern. bible house. philadelphia. $ . . (useful for both men and women. includes the best of the above book.) howard, william lee. "plain facts on sex hygiene." clode. $ . . (sensational and exaggerated statements concerning social diseases; language unnecessarily offensive in places; but discussion of "continence" is good.) howell and keyes. "the sexual necessity." s.s.m.p. $. . lowry, e.b., and lambert, r.j. "himself: talks with men concerning themselves." forbes. $ . . (accurate in facts; not well arranged; not "the best book," as the publishers claim.) lydston, g. frank. "sex hygiene for the male." riverton, chicago. $ . . (readable, fairly reliable, but not worth the price.) martin, h.n. "human body--advanced course." holt. $ . . (last chapter, especially in edition.) moore, h.h. "keeping in condition." macmillan. $ . . (a physical training book.) morrow, prince a. "health and hygiene of sex." s.s.m.p. $. . (the best-known pamphlet for college men.) speer, robert e. "a young man's questions." revell. $. . sperry, lyman b. "confidential talks with young men." revell. $. . stall, sylvanus. "what a young husband ought to know." vir co., philadelphia. $ . . (this and the next are useful to men who prefer a religious approach to sexual information.) stall, sylvanus. "what a young man ought to know." vir co., philadelphia. $ . . wilson, robert n. "american boy and the social evil." winston. $ . . for the married cocks, orrin g. "engagement and marriage." association press. $. . (talks to young men, but young women should be interested.) cowan, john. "science of a new life." . $ . . (obsolete, unreliable, unscientific; but widely sold by magazine advertising.) davidson, hugh s. "marriage and motherhood." dodge. $. . davis, e.p. "mother and child." lippincott. $ . . foerster, f.w. "marriage and the sex problem." stokes. $ . . (an important book.) holt, l.e. "care and feeding of children." appleton. $. . (the well-known nursery guide by the famous pediatrician.) howard, w.l. "facts for the married." clode. $ . . (good, from a physician's standpoint.) jordan, w.j. "little problems of married life." revell. $ . . (essays which touch many problems of home life.) key, ellen. "love and marriage." putnam. $ . . (the greatest work of this famous swedish author.) saleeby, c.w. "parenthood and race culture." moffat, yard. $ . . (popular eugenics.) sperry, lyman b. "confidential talks with husband and wife." revell. $ . . wood-allen, mary. "ideal married life." revell. $ . . (best book by this well-known physician and author.) heredity and eugenics castle, w.e. "heredity in relation to evolution and animal breeding." appleton. $ . . conklin, f.g. "heredity and environment in the development of men." princeton university press. $ . . davenport, c.b. "heredity in relation to eugenics." holt. $ . . dawson, g.e. "right of the child to be well born." funk. $. . doncaster, l. "heredity in the light of recent research." putnam. $. . geddes, p., and thomson, j.a. "evolution." holt. $. . guyer, m.f. "being well born." bobbs-merrill. $ . . kellicott, w.e. "the social direction of human evolution." appleton. $ . . punnett, r.c. "mendelism." macmillan. $. . saleeby, c.w. "parenthood and race culture." moffat, yard. $ . . thomson, j.a. "heredity." putnam. $ . . walter, h.e. "genetics." macmillan. $ . . index abnormality, in literature, ff. adolescence, and sex-instruction, ff. adults, and special sex-instruction, . Æsthetics of sex, , , . affection, ; "consecration of," ; in marriage, . aims, of sex-education, , ; of sex-education societies, . animals, and human sexuality, . arguments, for sex-instruction, ff. asceticism, . athletics, and sex, . attitude, towards sex, , ff.; and morals, . bibliography, ff. biology, , ; and ethics, ff.; and sex-instruction, ; moral value, . books, as teachers, ff., ff.; _see also_ literature. boys, influence on, ; special instruction, - . cabot, r.c., , ff. childhood, . children, ignorant of sex, . circumcision, . coeducation, in sex-instruction, ; and sex adjustment, . continence, ff., ff.; of women, ff. contraception, and ethics, . control, of sex instincts, . criticisms, of sex-education, ff.; conclusions regarding, . curiosity, denied by repplier and taft, _q.v._ dancing, ff., . diseases, social or venereal, ff. dress, of women, ff., . education, as a solution, , ; coeducation, ; sex-differentiated, . eliot, c.w., . emissions, . ethics, and biology, ; and sex-hygiene, ff; of sex, . eugenics, ff.; aim of, ; and ethics, . europe, and sex problems, ff.; morality in, ; sex-hygiene in, . evolution, and vulgarity, . fiction, and sex tragedies, . foerster, . frankness, . friendships, of children, . fulton, j.s., . future, of sex-education, - . genetics, . girls, special instruction, ; unprotected, . gonorrhea, _see_ diseases. good, and evil, . hamilton, cosmo, . hartley, c. gasquoine, ff. heredity, ; and sex-education, . history, of sex-education, ff. homes, and sex-instruction, . hunger, two kinds, . hygiene, and ethics, ff.; of sex, - , . ideals, of manhood, ; of womanhood, ; of love and marriage, , . ignorance, , , ; of children, - . illegitimacy, ff., . immorality, ; danger in teaching, . instincts, sexual, - . intellectualism, and sex, . kallikak family, . key, ellen, , . knowledge, and will, . lectures, on sex-hygiene, . legislation, and social diseases, . literature, general list, ff.; for parents, ; on marriage, ; on diseases, ; on sex, ; on social evil, ; general and sex, ff.; general references, ff.; for young men, , ; for young women, ; radical sex, . marriage, , ; a sex problem, ff. masturbation, ff. maxwell, w.h., . men, as leaders in love, ; instruction for, ff. misunderstanding, of sex, . monogamy, . morality, ff.; double standard, . morrow, p.a., , ; leader, . mothercraft, . mothers, and boys, ; first teachers, . mystery, and sex, . names, of sex organs, ff. national education association, resolution on sex-instruction, . nature-study, . need, of sex-instruction, , . neumann, h., . oliphant, james, . optimism, sex, . organization, of sex-education, ff. parents, and daughters, , ; coöperation of, ; responsibility, ; attitude, . parkinson, w.d., . passion, . pessimism, sex, , , . poetry, ff. pre-adolescence, , ff. problems of sex, ff., , . promiscuity, . propagandism, needed, ff. prophylactics, venereal, . prostitution, ff., ; protective knowledge for women, . reading, concerning perversion and vice, . refinement, of men, . religion, approach to sex-instruction, . repplier, agnes, . reproduction, and sex, . responsibility, indirect of women, ; individual, ; of parents, . sanitation, and morals, ; _see also_ hygiene and ethics. self-abuse, ff. self-control, , , - ; of women, ff. sensationalism, . sex-education, definition, ; larger view of, ; need of, ; problems of, ff.; relations, . sex-hygiene, - ; adequacy, ; personal, ff.; social, ; and eugenics, ; and ethics, , ff.; personal, ff. sex-instruction, in schools, , ; in homes, ; in high schools, ; many-sided, . sex, meaning of the word, - . social diseases, ; essential knowledge to be taught, . social evil, , ff. social hygiene, ; and ethics, . societies, for sex problems, , . society for prophylaxis, . super-morality, ff. syphilis, _see_ diseases. taft, w.h., . task, of sex-education, . teachers, of sex facts, ; for classes, ; married women, ; same sex as pupils, ; undesirable, . teaching, morals, ff.; personal, , . tennyson, and sex 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school . wayland how to teach american history . the macmillan company boston new york atlanta chicago san francisco dallas * * * * * +-----------------------------------------------------------+ | typographical errors corrected in text: | | | | page : expecially replaced with especially | | page : unforgetable replaced with unforgettable | | page : ascetic replaced with æscetic | | page : tumesscence replaced with tumescence | | | | on the ad pages: | | classsroom replaced with classroom | | | +-----------------------------------------------------------+ * * * * * confidences _by the same author_ truths talks with a boy concerning himself _ cents_. herself talks with women concerning themselves _$ . _. false modesty _ cents_. confidences talks with a young girl concerning herself by edith b. lowry, m.d. chicago * * * * * _to the daughters of my friends, but especially to mary louise this little book is lovingly dedicated._ * * * * * preface no one can come in contact with children and young people without feeling the need of a united effort on the part of the parents, physicians and teachers to lessen the immoral tendencies, with their degrading effects, to which the present generation is subjected. knowledge of the right sort will prevent many wrecked lives. ignorance as to facts and to the best manner of presenting them prevents many a parent from daring to trespass upon such sacred ground, and the instruction is postponed from day to day until it is too late. with the desire to aid mothers in giving the necessary instruction to their daughters, this little book has been written. the author has tried to tell in suitable language the facts that should be known by every girl from ten to fourteen years of age. the book is of such a character that it may be placed in the hands of the young girl, but better still it may be read aloud by the mother to her daughter. it is hoped this book will form the basis of a closer intimacy between mother and daughter, and that the knowledge herein set forth will forestall that which might be given in an entirely different spirit by the girl's companions. contents chapter i. the secret ii. the flower babies iii. the bird babies iv. mother's baby v. the baby's nest vi. building the nest vii. the sign language viii. rest and sleep ix. injury of the nest * * * * * in all places, then, and in all seasons, flowers expand their light and soul-like wings, teaching us, by most persuasive reasons, how akin they are to human things. longfellow. * * * * * chapter i the secret listen, violet, i am going to tell you a wonderful secret. and this wonderful secret is about your namesakes, the violets. every little flower that grows is a living being, as you or i--and every plant is a household. how do i know this? the flowers told me themselves, and now i am going to let you into the secret. of course, i must admit that the flowers do not talk as we do. unlike ourselves, they cannot express themselves aloud. they must show their thoughts by their motions or by their change of expression. when a flower is thirsty, how does it tell us so? by drooping its head and looking sad. then, if we give it a drink, how quickly it says, "thank you!" by lifting its head and smiling at us. if we would have the flowers tell us their secrets, we must watch them very closely so as to be able to hear what they say. sometimes, however, we must learn from others what the plants like, for at first, until we are better acquainted, we will not be able to understand them, and might make many mistakes; so i am going to tell you a few things today. first, we must learn something about the flower's family, and where the flower gets its food. the flowers are a part of the plant household just the same as you or any little girl is only a part of the family. you could not very well live without the rest of the family--your father and mother, who do so many things for you and take such care of you, and your brothers and sisters, who all help to make the home happy. the flower is like a little girl and needs some one to care for her. do you know the other members of the plant household? first, there are the roots, whose work it is to hold the plant in place so it will not be tossed about by every wind. the roots also must draw the water and nourishment from the ground. you know when the rain comes, it soaks into the ground and then when the plant needs water the little roots suck it out of the ground just as you could draw lemonade through a straw, for every root is supplied with many hair tubes that serve as straws. these hair tubes often are so small we could not see them without a microscope, but it is through these tiny tubes the plant receives nearly all the water it uses. other members of the family, the leaves, are kept busy, for they must do the breathing for the plant, as well as digest the food. you know water is never quite free from mineral matter, so when the roots draw up the water from the ground, they also draw up some mineral food for the plant which is dissolved in the water. before the plant can make use of this food, it must be digested by the leaves, much the same as your stomach must digest the food you eat. that is, it must change it into another form. but in order that the leaves may do this, they must have plenty of chlorophyll, which is the green coloring matter of the leaves. this chlorophyll will grow in the leaves if they have plenty of sunlight, and if it does not grow the leaves will not be able to digest the food and the plant will starve. so you see how necessary it is for plants to have plenty of sunshine, and why they lose their green color and then die if they are kept away from the light. they really are starved to death. * * * * * flowers are words which even a babe may understand. bishop coxe. * * * * * chapter ii the flower babies the flower itself has many parts, just as there are many parts to your body. when the flower is a little bud, or baby, rocked by the breezes, it is closely wrapped in a little green cloak. we call this cloak the calyx, because when it opens it looks like a cup, and the word calyx means cup. after the bud is grown, it opens its cloak and throws it back. then we see the pretty dress underneath. we call this dress the corolla. sometimes it is all in one piece, but often it is divided into several leaf-like parts which we call petals. if we look within the dress or corolla, we find the real body of the flower, which is called the pistil. its shape varies greatly in different plants, but it always consists of two or three distinct parts. one of these is the cradle for the seeds, and is called the ovary. at one end of the ovary is usually a little tube leading down into it. this tube is called the style, and the opening at the other end is called the stigma. each ovary or cradle contains one or more ovules which by and by will grow into seeds. just outside the pistil of a flower you usually will find a row of slender, thread-like stalks, each bearing a soft, oblong body at the top, falling out of which you will see a fine yellow powder called pollen. it is a peculiar fact that these seeds never can grow into new plants unless they are fertilized, that is, unless they receive some pollen. it is another peculiar fact that although nearly every flower has this pollen growing right near the little ovules, yet they cannot be fertilized with this pollen, but must receive some from the flower of another plant family. this pollen is carried from one plant to another by the wind or by the bees and butterflies that come visiting in search of honey. in fact, the flower coaxes the bees and butterflies to come so they may bring her the pollen. soon after the seed is fertilized it is ripe; that is, it is ready to leave its cradle, the ovary. it is now ready to grow into a new plant. but before it can grow it must be put into a little nest in the ground. but the poor plant is so helpless that she is unable to prepare this nest herself, so all she can do is to scatter her seed babies out on the ground and hope some one will take pity on them and make a nice nest for them. sometimes the wind helps her by blowing some dirt and dead leaves over them, for you know the seeds cannot grow unless they are covered nice and warm. sometimes the children and grown people help her by preparing a nice flower-bed. for a long time the tiny seed lies very quietly in its warm nest, and if we could peek at it we could not see it move at all, but all the time it is growing very slowly, until finally some bright day it will send up its little sprouts, and then we will see that all the time the seed was lying so quietly it was growing into a baby flower. * * * * * "so the bluebirds have contracted, have they, for a house? and a nest is under way for little mr. wren?" "hush, dear, hush! be quiet, dear! quiet as a mouse. these are weighty secrets, and we must whisper them." susan coolidge. * * * * * chapter iii the bird babies today, violet, i shall tell you another secret, but this time the secret is not about flowers, but about something else we love very dearly. i intend to tell you some secrets about the birds. i wonder if you know how much they are like the flowers? you remember, the flowers had a language which we could understand, even if they did not talk out loud. the birds, too, have a language of their own, and they can express themselves better than the flowers, for they have a sign language, and are also able to make sounds. how much we enjoy hearing the birds sing, not only because they make beautiful music, but because they are telling us how happy they are! if birds are in pain or in trouble, their notes are quite different from when they are singing; while, if they or their little ones are in danger, they quickly send forth a note of warning. the young birds, in calling for food, make an entirely different sound, and the answer of the mother bird is a sweet lullaby. one of the ways birds express themselves in sign language is by their feathers. if they are sick, their feathers droop. when they are well and happy, their feathers seem much brighter. in the bird family, as in the flower family, each member has a special work to do. the mother bird and the father bird work together to build the nest, but while the mother bird lays the eggs and then must sit on them for a number of days, the father bird must bring her food and water and sometimes take his turn watching the nest while the mother goes for a little exercise. the mother bird's body resembles the plant, too, for it needs fresh air, food and water. instead of leaves to take in the air it has lungs, which not only take in the fresh air but also send out the impure air. instead of the little rootlets to take in the food and water from the ground, the bird has a mouth, and as the bird is not fastened to the ground, but is free to fly or move about, it goes after its food. instead of sap, it has blood to carry the food to all parts of the body. the birds have ovaries just the same as the flowers, and inside each ovary are a number of little seeds or ovules which by and by will grow into birdies. it takes quite a while for the ovules to ripen, just as it took quite a while for the seeds to ripen, and when they are ripe they must have a nest prepared for them, just as the flowers did. but the birds are not as helpless as the flowers, and are able to make their own nests. so when the ovules (which are called eggs when they are ripe) are ready, the parent birds select a nice place for a home. the father and mother work very hard until the nest is finished. often the mother will line it with some of her own feathers, so that it will be soft and warm. after the nest is ready the mother bird lays the tiny eggs in it. then she must sit on them to keep them warm for many days, for the eggs, like the seeds, cannot grow unless they are kept good and warm. if we look at the eggs from day to day we will not be able to see any change in them, but the change is inside the shell where we cannot see it. every day there is an alteration taking place, and the egg gradually is being transformed into the little bird. after a while, when the right time comes, the birdie will peck a tiny hole in the shell. this will keep growing larger and larger until it is large enough for the birdie to come through, then out it comes! * * * * * a sweet, new blossom of humanity, fresh fallen from god's own home to flower on earth. gerald massey. * * * * * chapter iv mother's baby there is another wonderful secret that i have to tell you. i wonder if you can guess what this is! no, it is not about a flower, nor a bird--but, yes, you have guessed it right, for it is about a girl just like you! is it not queer how much alike the flowers and birds and little girls are, after all, even if they do not look at all alike? you have lungs just the same as the bird, and breathe as it does. you have two feet, but instead of wings you have arms and hands. you have a sign language, as the flowers have, and you have a language of sounds that is even better than the bird language. when you are happy, i can tell it by the smiles on your face, and sometimes when you are a wee bit cross, i know it by a tiny frown that mars the beauty of your face. but, of course, that does not happen very often, because, you know, as we grow older, our faces do not change their expressions as easily as they do when we are young. and would it not be dreadful, if when you grew up, you always had a frown on your face and were not nice looking at all? you know the frown wrinkles try to stay, and every time we let them come out they leave a tiny mark. when the flower took in the fresh air it made green coloring matter, but when you take in the fresh air it makes red coloring matter. so if you want to have red cheeks and red lips you must have plenty of fresh air. i know you get a great deal in the daytime when you are playing, but you must be sure to get it at night, too, or you will lose all your pretty color. be sure that your window is open every night. you remember, the leaves not only had to breathe but they had to digest the food for the plant, too, but the bird had a stomach to perform that work. in this way you are like the birds, for you have a stomach which takes care of the food you eat. if you wish to grow strong and well so as to be able to run and play and also to help your mother with her work, you must eat plenty of good, nourishing food. you know some food makes muscles, but other things are not very good for people to eat. plenty of bread and milk and cereals, also meat, potatoes and fruit, are very good things to make girls grow. you must take care of your stomach, too, and give it time to rest, for it works very hard and might get tired out. then what would you do? you have seen, violet, that in a great many ways you are like the birds and flowers, but now i am going to tell you something that perhaps you did not know. girls have ovaries just the same as flowers and birds, and inside each ovary are a great many little ovules that after a while will ripen as the seeds did, only instead of growing into flowers or birds they will grow into babies. is that not lovely, and are you not glad that perhaps some day you will be able to have a baby all your own? but of course that will not be for a great many years yet, for you must wait until you have grown into a strong woman and have a home of your own and a husband to help take care of the baby. when the little ovules are ripe there must be a nest prepared for them, just the same as there was one prepared for the flowers and birds. but now i shall tell you another wonderful secret. mothers do not have to build nests, for they are already prepared for them right inside their bodies close to their hearts. the nest is called the womb. although we do not have to build the nest, we have to take good care of it so it may grow strong. this nest and the tiny ovules are growing constantly from the time the girls are babies, but they grow so very slowly that none of the ovules are ripe until the girl is about twelve years old. after that one ripens every month and passes to the nest or womb. at the same time an extra amount of blood is sent to the womb to provide nourishing material for the ovule to use in its growth. but the womb, or nest, is not strong enough yet to hold a healthy baby, so this extra amount of blood with the ovule is sent out of the body through the vagina, which is a muscular tube leading from the womb to the external parts (private parts). we call this flow the menstrual flow. this occurs every month and each time the womb becomes a little stronger and better able to hold a growing babe. but the womb is not fully developed until the rest of the body is matured. menstruation is the sign of the possibility of motherhood. realizing this fact, one cannot fail to have a high idea of this function. most girls, naturally, desire children. little girls love their doll babies, and spend much time in caring for them, but as girls grow into womanhood they desire real babies. a woman who does not desire children has had her mind perverted by false ideas or fear. * * * * * build me straight, o worthy master! staunch and strong, a goodly vessel that shall laugh at all disaster, and with wave and whirlwind wrestle! longfellow. * * * * * chapter v the baby's nest you remember, violet, i told you that although mothers do not have to build nests, yet they have to take good care of them so they will grow strong. as the natural desire of every girl is to become a mother some time, she must begin very early to prepare for it. by exercise, fresh air, and good, nourishing food, she should make her body grow strong and well. by studying she will develop her mind so as to be fitted to care for and to teach her child. shall i tell you some ways you can make the nest grow strong? first, i shall tell you more things about this mother nest. although it and the tiny ovules are growing all the time, yet there are greater changes in them when the girl is from twelve to fourteen years old. about this time they grow faster than at any other time. as these organs grow, the pelvis, or the part of the body that contains them, also must grow to make room for them. so the hips begin to grow broader. other parts of the body grow faster at this time, too, and often some parts grow so much faster than others that they are out of proportion, and the child becomes clumsy and feels awkward. but that will not last long, for after a while the parts that are growing slowly will catch up to the ones that grew fast, and then the body will be graceful again. have you ever watched a young puppy? you know how clumsy and awkward it is while it is growing, but after a while, when it is fully grown, it will be very graceful. we know it is not wise to run or play or work hard right after eating a large meal, for then the stomach is working very hard and needs a great deal of extra energy, so the other muscles must rest a while, in order to let it have it. you remember, i told you, violet, that every month, or every twenty-eight days, there was an extra amount of blood carried to the womb which it had to send out of the body. of course that requires the womb to work very hard for a few days, so, in order to help it, we must be careful not to take any severe exercise at this time or overexert ourselves in any way, for, if we did, the womb would not be able to do its extra work properly. you remember, i told you this flow, which we call the menstrual flow, was the sign of the possibility of motherhood, so every girl should be glad of the fact that she menstruates and should take good care of herself at that time. she should pay especial attention to cleanliness during this period. she should be provided with a circular girdle of some strong material cut upon the bias, so it may be elastic, and provided with tabs to which to pin the folded cloth. she also should have a supply of sanitary cloths made of absorbent cotton fabric, or pads made of absorbent-cotton enclosed in gauze. the latter are especially convenient for the girl who is obliged to room away from home, for they may be burned, and the cost of new ones is no greater than the laundry of cloths. these pads or cloths should be changed at least twice a day. it also is necessary that one should bathe the parts in warm water with each change, as unpleasant odors can thereby be avoided. at the close of each period she should take a bath and change all clothing. one cannot be too careful about these matters, so essential to cleanliness and health. during this period, girls naturally have a feeling of lassitude or disinclination to do any great mental or physical work, accompanied, perhaps, by a slight feeling of uneasiness in the pelvic region (the part of the body that contains the womb and ovaries). because so many do suffer at this time, it often is considered "natural" and allowed to continue, but now that you know so much about the body you will understand that it is not necessary to have any pains at this period. if there is pain, it shows that we are not taking proper care of ourselves. even our stomach will give us severe pain if we do not take proper care of it or if we overload it. the monthly discharge varies in quantity with the individual. usually fleshy girls flow more than thin ones, and dark complexioned girls than light ones. the discharge lasts about four days, and is the only symptom that many girls experience in menstruation. this usually is the case with those who are well and whose lives are happily employed. i wanted you to know all these things, violet, for sometimes when little girls do not understand what this flow means they are frightened when they see the blood. some women even dread motherhood because they do not know what to expect at that time nor how to care for themselves. all women naturally love babies and if taught correctly would want to have them. if they do not, it usually is because they have known of other women suffering through ignorance and are afraid. if they would learn more about these wonderful bodies of ours and more about the care of little babies, they would understand how to care for themselves so as to have healthy, happy babies. not only that but they would see it was the natural and the best thing for them to have children. in any work we undertake, in everything we do, there is a possibility of an accident. so it is in motherhood. a woman in normal health whose home life is congenial, who loves children and who desires to have one, never should have any serious trouble nor great pain. painless childbirth is a possibility if women only understood the care of themselves. the modern athletic girl glories in her strength. she feels it a disgrace to be a frail flower that cannot enter into the best enjoyment of life. she glories in her strong, well-trained body. she walks with free yet graceful step, holding her head high, for she knows she is queen of her kingdom--her body. her lungs are well developed and her body well cared for, so she has no fear of disease. but the modern girl does not stop there. she wants to have healthy sexual organs with room for development of the babe, and strong muscles to perform their work in expelling the babe. so she discards clothing that restricts her organs. she wears comfortable, well-fitting clothes. the old-fashioned corsets pushed the organs out of place, but the modern ones, made to conform to nature's lines, serve only as a support. as nature did not make a waist line, the one-piece dresses are especially desirable. besides developing every organ and muscle of her body and training her mind, the modern girl goes to a training school to prepare for the mother calling. recently, in a few schools, a course of study has been provided for the girls in the care of children, hygiene and nursing. even women who never become mothers themselves in this way learn general principles of psychology, hygiene and the care of the sick that they might make use of in every station of life. i hope, violet, that after a while you will be able to learn many of these things, so that when you are a grown woman and the time comes for you to marry and have a baby you will know just how to care for it. * * * * * reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body. as by the one, health is preserved, strengthened, and invigorated; by the other, virtue (which is the health of the mind) is kept alive, cherished, and confirmed. addison. * * * * * chapter vi building the nest now that i have told you so many things about the mother-nest, especially about how it is growing all the time, i must tell you more about the many helpers you have who assist in its growth. this they do by providing it with food and by carrying away the waste material. we found the body was composed of many parts or organs, each one of which had its own especial work to do. if any one organ could not perform its work, some other one would have to assist it, but, although the organs are willing to help each other, it would not be fair to make one do more than its share of work, except for a short time. you remember, the stomach had a great deal of work to do in digesting the food or preparing it so it could be taken up by the blood and carried to the womb and all parts of the body. but the stomach does not have to do this all alone. it has several helpers. one set of helpers is the teeth, which cut and grind the food into small particles. in order to do this, they must be kept in very good condition; otherwise, they could not do their work. you know if your mother would let the kitchen knives get dull or rusty, she would be unable to cut the bread, meat and other food materials with them. the same is true of the teeth. we can keep them in good condition by brushing them. it is as important to do this as to wash the dishes. then, too, we must be careful not to break the teeth by biting nuts and other hard things. nothing so detracts from a girl's appearance and nothing is more conducive to indigestion than poorly cared for teeth. they should be brushed at least twice daily and the mouth afterwards rinsed with a mild antiseptic solution. the teeth should be thoroughly examined by a good dentist at least every six months. another assistant that the stomach has is the intestines or bowels, which not only help to digest the food but also carry off the waste material. the bowels are very good, and will tell us when they have waste material to be disposed of, but sometimes people are too busy and do not pay attention. if we neglect them many times the bowels get tired of telling us, and then their work is not done. we think they are lazy and so we try to whip them up by taking a laxative. this seems to help at first, but we soon find we have to do the same thing every day. all this time the fault was our own, for we did not understand. the best way is to have a regular time of going to the toilet, say, right after breakfast. if we always go at the same time the bowels will remember it. then we need have no trouble with constipation nor take any horrid medicine to whip the bowels. a regular daily action of the bowels is necessary to health. constipation often may be relieved by drinking a glass of cold water upon rising, at intervals during the day, and upon retiring. fruit at breakfast or figs taken after meals often will relieve a tendency to constipation. regularity in going to the toilet is one of the most important measures in treating constipation. laxatives or cathartics should not be taken except for an occasional dose or during illness, upon the advice of a physician. so common is the practice of taking daily laxatives that it has become a "national curse." people do not realize that they are slaves to this habit. so cleverly worded are the advertisements of many of the laxatives that people are led to believe that if they drink certain "waters" or "teas" they are avoiding medicine, while often these same teas and waters contain drugs more powerful and harmful than any pill. the bowels have some one to assist them, too, for the kidneys carry off much of the waste material of the body. indeed, they carry off so much that they sometimes are called the sewers. it often is necessary to flush the sewers of the city, that is, to send quantities of water through them to clean the system. in the same way it is necessary to flush the kidneys. we do this by drinking plenty of water. every one should drink about two quarts of water a day. there is another worker that helps both the kidneys and the bowels. this is the skin, which sends off waste material through the tiny pores or openings. if dirt accumulates on the skin, it clogs the pores so the skin cannot use them. so you see how necessary it is to take frequent baths to keep the pores open. other helpers that carry some of the waste material from the body are the lungs, which send out the impure air. the lungs also take in the pure air, which, you remember, helps to make the red coloring matter in the blood. if you want to have nice red cheeks, you must breathe in plenty of fresh air. also you must have plenty of exercise, so as to help send the blood all over the body. you know when you run, the blood flows much faster than when you are quiet. it is a good plan to stand by an open window every morning and every evening and fill your lungs with good, pure air, taking about twenty-five deep breaths. * * * * * i want to help you to grow as beautiful as god meant you to be when he thought of you first. george macdonald. * * * * * chapter vii the sign language do you know one way we can tell if all the organs are doing their work well? by watching for the sign language. if the blood is not carrying the skin sufficient nourishment, it will be very pale and dull looking. if the waste materials are not being carried off, they may accumulate in the skin and clog the pores. then we will have pimples or blackheads. each person's skin is a law unto itself, and what is beneficial to one may not be to another. generally, though, it will be found helpful to bathe the face at night with hot water, to remove all dirt; then, if the skin is rough, massage with good cold cream. in the morning a quick rub with cold water should be taken (and do not be afraid to rub the face a little). if you are going out in the sun or wind, follow with a little good talcum or rice powder, to protect the face from the raw winds, or, if the skin is inclined to be dry, apply a little cold cream before using the powder. any eruptions on the face show a defect in the circulation. the blood is not disposing of the waste material properly, and it is being left to clog the pores of the skin. these eruptions should not be neglected, as they sometimes indicate a serious condition of the blood or circulation. the eyes tell if we are tired or unwell, for then they will be dull, while, if we abuse or strain them, they often are red. this not only makes them less attractive, but it shows we must attend to them. would it not be dreadful if they became so tired or worn out that we could not see with them? the care of the eyes is very important. when you are reading or writing, the light should come over your left shoulder, and you should never try to read in a poor light. sometimes, if the eyes are tired, it will rest them to bathe them in warm, boiled water in which some boracic acid crystals have been dissolved. you may even put a few drops of this solution right in the eye, but never put anything else in it except by the directions of a physician, as the eyes are too precious to take any risks, and sometimes they are injured by various eye waters. the hair also shows the state of the health, and it shows if we are careless. nothing so detracts from a girl's appearance as soiled or untidy hair. one of the most potent charms a woman can have is a well-kept, luxuriant, glossy head of hair. just think how quickly one notices thin, dry, stiff hair on a woman's head. and as for those that carry around diseased scalps, plastered with offensive oils, they are perfectly hideous. if people only knew how much esteem they lose through such defects, they would give more attention to the matter. the hair should be shampooed often enough to keep it clean and fluffy. how often that is depends on the nature of the hair and the occupation of the owner. usually once in two weeks is often enough, but light, oily hair may require it more frequently, for it loses much of its beauty when oily. to promote the growth of the hair, massage of the scalp usually brings very satisfactory results, stimulating a new growth and healthy appearance. the value of tonics often is in the massage. many of the hair tonics and shampoos on the market not only are not beneficial, but are dangerous. an ordinary egg shampoo, which may be prepared at home, is perhaps the best, for it not only cleanses but nourishes the hair. i must remind you of a part of your body that many people notice very often and by it judge if you are careless. that is your hands and nails. people who are careful about the appearance of their nails usually are careful about other things. you will find as you grow older that you are judged a good deal by the little things. it will pay you to get up half an hour earlier if necessary so as to give yourself time for those little personal attentions that help to make a girl dainty. you will be surprised at the effect on your mind of extra well-brushed hair, clear, bright complexion, polished nails and a well-put-on tie, also neat gloves and shoes. * * * * * hush, my dear, lie still and slumber, holy angels guard thy bed! heavenly blessings without number gently falling on thy head. watts. * * * * * chapter vii rest and sleep you have seen, violet, how all the parts of the body work together, although each one has its especial part to do. you remember, we found the stomach must have a time to rest between meals. the other parts of the body require rest, too. this they usually get while we are asleep. we must not be neglectful and fail to give them enough rest, or they will soon get worn out and give us trouble. most little girls require eight or ten hours' rest every night. sometimes, when people are not well or are all tired out, they find they cannot sleep well at night. there are a number of little things that can be done to induce sleep. a warm bath before retiring, followed by a gentle massage, especially along the spine, often will, by relaxing the nerves and muscles, produce very good results. a hot foot bath, which draws the blood away from the brain, frequently will be found beneficial. a glass of hot milk or cocoa, taken just before retiring, often will have the same effect. if the sleeplessness is a result of indigestion, a plain diet will relieve. sleeping upon a hard bed without any pillow sometimes produces the desired effect. always have plenty of fresh air in the room. keep the mind free from the cares of the day. if they will intrude, crowd them out by repeating something else--some soothing sentence or bit of poetry. one good plan is to close the left nostril by pressing on it with the finger, then take four deep breaths through the right nostril. then close the right nostril and take four deep breaths through the left one. repeat this about four times. then breathe slowly through both nostrils, but count your breaths. you seldom will count very many. never take any sleeping powders or tablets except upon the advice of a physician, for they usually contain drugs that will injure the heart. you will find, violet, that you will meet a number of women who are nervous, which means they have not control of their nerves, but let them run away with them. sometimes this is shown in palpitation of the heart, headache, backache, and many other disorders. there may be a tendency to cry at trivial things, or a feeling of having "the blues." the cause usually can be found in uncongenial surroundings or occupation, loss of friends, or real or fancied troubles. whatever the cause, it should be removed, if possible, and measures taken to restore the worn out nerves that are crying for rest or food. tonics help, so does nourishing food, such as eggs and milk; also a change of scene and occupation, if possible. a woman who is nervous frequently does not realize what is the cause of her condition, and considers only the symptoms. so when she has a headache, resorts to headache powders or various effervescing drinks. in taking these she only is deadening the pain and not removing the cause, so the pain is liable to return. most of the remedies taken for headache contain some harmful drug. if you look carefully at the label, you usually will find that they contain morphine, phenacetin, or acetanilid, which are very depressing to the heart. pain is the cry of tortured nerves, so if one suffers from headaches or backaches, she should not take any of these harmful drugs, but should hunt for the cause of the pain and remove that. * * * * * even from the body's purity, the mind receives a secret sympathetic aid. thomson. * * * * * chapter ix injury of the nest we who love birds would not do anything to injure their homes, but there are some children who have not learned to love birds or who are thoughtless and injure their nests, sometimes even tearing them to pieces or breaking off the limb of the tree. there also are thoughtless children who do things to injure their bodies. you would think it very foolish to allow someone to put a bee on your face that would sting you and yet there are some thoughtless children who would do just that if you would let them. they might even try to tell you it would not hurt you, but of course you would know better. you, who know how necessary is every part of the body, would not allow anyone to injure any part of it, especially the part that contains the mother nest. think how badly the mother bird must have felt when the child destroyed the nest, and think how badly you would feel, when it came time for you to marry and have a baby, if you found the nest had been so injured that you could not have any. you know, the nest as well as the rest of the body belongs to you alone, and no one has a right to injure it, but sometimes girls are as careless or as thoughtless as the boy with the bee and do things that are harmful. i have told you how to care for this mother nest so it will grow well and strong, but now i must tell you something more. as you go out in the world you will meet some girls and some boys who have never been told these things and do not understand all the things you do. sometimes they have very wrong ideas and will do many things that are harmful. not only that, but they will try to get you to do them. some little girls who do not understand what their organs are for will even play with them, for they think it gives them a pleasurable sensation. i am sure they would not do this if they understood that by so doing they were injuring the precious nest. you know if you or anyone else would put things into your eyes or ears or play with them in any way you might lose your sight or hearing. it is the same way with the mother nest and other organs. the best plan is to just keep them clean and then not touch them at any other time nor allow anyone else to do so. but in bathing the parts you must be careful to have your own towel and not use any cloths that have been used by other people, for there are some dreadful diseases, called the black plagues, that can be carried to these organs by anything that is not strictly clean, and these diseases sometimes destroy the nest and ovules. so you must be careful in all you do. if at any time, violet, questions come up in your mind as to what is the best thing for you to do, remember that mother will be glad to answer them or will help you obtain books that will explain things to you. do not go to your companions, for they might not understand and would give you wrong ideas. in school we have text books and a teacher, who is older and more experienced than we, to whom we can go for help in our school problems. we know she will tell us the right solution and we know it is better to go to her than to the other pupils. so in this study of our bodies and the care of them, we must learn from some one older and more experienced, or we must study books that have been written for that purpose. then we will be sure to obtain the right ideas. after a while, when you are grown and it is nearing the time for you to marry, i will tell you some things about the care of the baby and how you may have a good-natured, healthy child. but now all you need to do for a number of years is to take good care of this mother nest and the rest of your body, so it will grow strong and well. * * * * * the girl wanted by nixon waterman cheerful, friendly talks to young women, telling them how they can mould their temperaments and shape their characters to sweetest and noblest influence. every young woman should read this book. every parent should make it a point to have her read it. every institution dedicated to her instruction should introduce to her this beautiful book of the heart and mind.--_boston globe._ there is nothing trite or juiceless in this book. every paragraph is appetizing. a girl will be glad she has read it, and will be the better, the sweeter, the happier therefor.--_the journal of education._ no one can resist it. a fine book for presentation at graduation, either from grammar or high school.--_the world's chronicle._ will at once win the reader's heart. in these pages one does not rake among dry leaves, but rather wanders through sweet-smelling meadows.--_christian endeavor world._ illustrated. beautiful cover. cloth, vo. price, $ . _for sale by all booksellers or sent postpaid by the publishers_ forbes & company, chicago * * * * * happy school days a book for girls by margaret e. sangster in this book mrs. sangster writes charmingly and sympathetically of the things nearest to the hearts of girls. it discusses the school, home and entire life of the girl in her teens. it ought to reach the hands of every girl.--_st. paul pioneer press._ the book is as fascinating as a story.--_des moines register and leader._ every girl's mother ought to make her a present of this book.--_st. louis times._ a charming book pervaded with the spirit of sweet friendliness, complete comprehension and joyous helpfulness.--_chicago news._ an interesting, suggestive, sensible book, in which mrs. sangster is at her best. it is a book of great worth, and whoever extends its usefulness by increasing its readers is a public benefactor.--_the journal of education._ handsome cover. decorated box. cloth, mo. price, $ . _for sale by all booksellers or sent postpaid by the publishers_ forbes & company, chicago * * * * * private sex advice to women by r. b. armitage, m. d. for young wives and those who expect to be married. this book was written so as to give enlightenment to those entering into wedlock so their married life will be one of happiness and pleasure. defiance publishing co. w. th st. new york, n. y. copyright, chicago, ill. sex advice to women contents. lesson i--foreword important information which all women should possess, but which few are given the opportunity of acquiring. the necessity of rational instruction on sex physiology, sex anatomy, and sex hygiene. the danger of false information from polluted sources. the conventional taboo against sex knowledge, which is inherited by the race from the middle ages. the reign of prurient prudery. ignorance of sex science is a frequent cause of immorality, and the real reason of marital inharmony and unhappiness. the special need of sex instruction on the part of women. the sex-life of the woman is fuller and more complex than that of the man, hence her special need of sane information on the subject. nature's handicap on woman lesson ii--anatomy of the female sex organism a scientific but plain lesson on the female sex anatomy. the external sex organism of woman fully described and explained. what every woman should know about herself, but which but few intelligently understand. plain facts cleanly stated in simple terms. the internal sex organism of woman fully described and explained. the vagina. the uterus or womb. displacements of the uterus described. prolapsus. antroversion. anteflexion. retroversion. retroflexion. the fallopian tubes. the ovaries. general summary of the female reproductive organism lesson iii--physiology of the female sex organism the ovaries and their functions. primary and secondary functions of the ovaries. the ova, or human eggs, and their natural history. the process of ovulation. menstruation and its incidents. the phenomena of puberty. the incidents of the menopause or change of life. the dangerous age of woman. the life history of the ovum. the birth of the ovum. the journey of the ovum. the process of fecundation. the spermatozoa and their offices. the segmentation-nucleus. the division and sub-division of the ovum. the primitive trace. the beginning of the life of the embryo lesson iv--gestation or pregnancy the period of pregnancy. how to calculate the date of delivery. development of the fertilized ovum. the embryo. the fetus. how nature builds up the child from the simple cell. the yolk-sack or umbilical vesicle. the allantois. the placenta and its offices. the umbillical cord. osmosis. the amnion. sex in embryo and fetus. position of the fetus. the table of the development of the unborn child. stage of development of each month described fully. the physical signs of pregnancy. the disorders of pregnancy. practical suggestions for pregnant women. childbirth and its incidents lesson v--general advice to women on sex subjects much needed, though seldom obtainable, information on important subjects. the truth about the sexual emotions plainly stated. alcohol and sexuality. a startling statement. a warning to women. the menstrual period and its disorders. simple methods of treatment fully described. dysmenorrhea. amenorrhea. menorrhagia. the hygiene of menstruation. plain talk on a delicate subject. leucorrhea: what it is, and how it may be treated by simple methods. general treatment and special methods. uterine displacements, and simple treatments therefor. marital relations and menstruation. marital relations and pregnancy. sterility in woman. practical advice to sterile women. miscarriage and abortion. sensible advice to women lesson vi--the science of eugenics the new science. the science of parenthood. biological ethics. race culture. scientific parenthood. preventive eugenics. constructive eugenics. race suicide, real and false. conservation and preservation of the race. prevention of criminal offspring. the causes of degeneracy. prevention of the transmission of disease and insanity in offspring. protection for mothers. education for parenthood. terrible effects of ignorance of eugenic science. desired and prepared-for children versus "accidents" and undesired children. not more children, but better ones; not more births, but fewer deaths among children. survival values versus production values lesson vii--prenatal influences influencing the child before birth. family characteristics. transmission of parental traits. influence of maternal impression. heredity in general. opinion of the best authorities. transmission of acquired characteristics. heredity versus environment. the eugenic rule regarding heredity. fitness for parenthood. preparation for parenthood, physical, mental, and spiritual. maternal impressions. the several theories. both sides of the question. a highly important subject. proofs and illustrations of maternal impressions. valuable information for prospective parents. how the pregnant mother may influence and shape the physical, mental, and moral character of her unborn child lesson viii--eugenics and character influence of parental factors upon the character of their offspring. what parental conditions produce the best quality of children. the most favorable age for parenthood. what statistics show. the vaerting tables. the influence of fathers. the influence of mothers. the havelock ellis studies and reports. the production of men of genius. the investigations of marro the italian scientist. the redfield investigation and theories. the influence of parental age on genius. how ability is transmitted. why delayed parentage produces better offspring than premature parentage. latest discoveries of sexual science concerning an important subject lesson ix--the determination of sex how the sex of offspring is determined, and how controlled or produced at will. the biological viewpoint. the practical viewpoint. the chromosome theory. artificial influencing of sex in offspring. professor doncaster's reports. dawson's theory. are there alternate male and female ova? the effect of nutrition in sex-determination. schenk's theory and methods. influencing the ovum. male and female elements. yung's experiments in sex-determination, and their startling results. changing sex in tadpoles at will. how the bees determine the sex of their larva. experiments upon butterflies. why more boys than girls are born after great wars. other theories of sex determination, and the methods of application. the consensus of the best scientific thought on the subject lesson x--what birth control is, and is not "control" not identical with "prohibition" or "prevention". control means "governing, regulating, or managing influences." true birth control would not reduce the population of civilized countries, but would increase the same and improve the quality thereof. not only a normal birth rate but also a normal death rate. birth control not anti-social or immoral, but highly social and highly moral. misconception due to ignorance and prejudice. unbalanced idealism and fanatical extremists responsible for the mistaken ideas upon the subject of birth control. birth control versus abortion. higher phases of birth control. the history of birth control. the causes of the present interest in the subject. nature's tendencies toward birth control. how nature exerts birth control in the world. natural law and biological principles. the high ideals of true birth control lesson xi--the fetich of the birth rate the evolution of public opinion concerning the birth rate. the old ideal of quantity at the expense of quality. the swing of the pendulum in the opposite direction. the rational reaction. the decline in the birth rate. the new ideal. quality rather than quantity. decreased death rate accompanies decreased birth rate. survival values rather than production values. how increased death rate accompanies an increased birth rate. no high birth rate without a high death rate. the new birth control policy in europe. the result in holland. the progress of the new ideals. the struggle against ignorance, prejudice, and hypocrisy. the higher morality. the rational view. the policy of wisdom. plain facts on an important subject lesson xii--the argument for birth control general argument in favor of birth control. honesty versus hypocrisy. birth control decreases abortion. birth control produces better offspring, under better environment. birth control produces a lower death rate. birth control provides better conditions for children. birth control promotes marriage. birth control curbs prostitution. birth control promotes health among wives. birth control tends toward morality among married men. birth control makes for justice to children. birth control, if universally practiced, would work great reforms, and would metamorphose undesirable conditions of modern society. birth control is advisable because along the lines of the highest evolution of the race, and opposed to the conditions which have held the race back in the past lesson xiii--the argument against birth control popular objections advanced against birth control, and the rational answer to each. is birth control opposed to religion? the relation of religion to morality discussed. the position of the churches on the subject of birth control. no prohibition of birth control in the scriptures. objections to birth control on the part of certain religious bodies seen to be based upon arbitrary ruling rather than upon the true teaching of religion, or the dictates of morality. the silence of most of the churches on the subject. in the future, birth control will be sanctioned and encouraged by the best religious thought. birth control is not immoral; it is essentially moral and in the best interests of morality in our civilization. birth control not injurious to health, but is in accordance with the health of the race. birth control not unnatural, and the reason why this is so lesson xiv--race suicide the argument that birth control favors race suicide, and the refutation thereof. birth control keeps up the population to a normal stand by reducing the death rate. birth control eliminates the waste caused by excessive infant mortality. birth control does not discourage children in families, but places children upon a better basis. the "old time family" and its cost in child-lives. wherever the birth rate goes down, the death rate goes down to even a greater degree. proofs from modern history. tables of mortality tell the true tale. the story of statistics. the eight countries in europe with the highest birth rate have the highest death rate and the lowest average culture. birth control does not tend to race suicide, but toward race progress and race betterment. the balance between quantity and quality struck rationally by birth control. no real danger of race suicide in the world lesson xv--birth control methods the three classes of birth control methods. the method of continence, with the argument for and against the same. the opinion of eminent authorities. illustrations from history. the physiology of continence. the methods of temporary continence. the methods of semi-continence, with the argument for and against it. noyes' "male continence." "karezza." "dianism." the parkhurst theory and method. the psychology of these methods. opinions of eminent authorities. tolstoi's views. the methods of contraception. distinction between contraception and abortion. prevention versus destruction. the law on the subject of contraception. need of education on the subject, followed by change in the laws. education, not anarchy. cautionary advice. a sane, clean, presentation of the subject sex advice to women lesson i foreword in this book the writer thereof seeks to convey to women--particularly to young wives and women expecting to be married--certain important facts of knowledge, certain necessary information, which all such women should possess, but which few are given the opportunity to acquire. it would seem to require no argument to convince a rational individual that before a woman is capable of intelligent motherhood she should be made acquainted with the physiological processes which are involved in the sexual functions leading to the state of motherhood; but we are confronted by the fact that few young women are given such instruction. it is a strange thing that while even the ordinary school child is made acquainted with the physiological processes concerned with the processes of digestion, respiration, circulation, elimination, etc., and while such education is highly commended, yet at the same time not only are the young of both sexes reared as if there was no such thing as sexual functions in existence, but even full-grown adults are left to pick up their instruction on sexual subjects from chance sources--often polluted sources. even those about to enter into the important offices of matrimony and parenthood are permitted to assume those duties and responsibilities without intelligent and scientific information or knowledge being given them. what would we think of expecting a woman to cook, without previous experience and without even the most elementary instruction on the subject? what would we think of expecting any person to undertake any important task or duty without experience or instruction regarding the same? and yet we seem content to allow young women to enter into the important relationship of marriage, and to undertake the important office of motherhood, often in absolute ignorance of the physiological processes involved, and the physical laws governing the same. all this absurd practice and custom results simply from the antiquated notion that it is "not nice" to speak or think of the subject of the sex functions. the subject has been considered "taboo" by our particular section of the human race since the middle ages, because the ascetic ideals of that dark period of human history brought forward a totally false and unnatural conception of sex as fundamentally impure. if the results were not so deplorable and often tragic, this condition of affairs would be a fit subject for laughter and scornful ridicule. but, alas! on the part of the thoughtful observer of this state of things there is rather great wonder and amazement accompanied by the feeling of deep sorrow. it cannot be honestly denied that in our present age, and period of modern civilization, and particularly among the anglo-saxon branch of the race, the question of the sex functions is associated with impurity, at least so far as the popular mind is concerned. in previous civilizations the subject was accorded its proper place, and was discussed sanely and thoughtfully, without any sense of shame or impurity. the middle age ideals of celibacy and asceticism brought about the public conception of the human body as a thing impure--something to be modified, tortured, subdued and reviled; and a corresponding conception of sex as a vile, impure thing above which the pure in heart rose entirely and completely, and which those of a lesser spiritual ideal were permitted to indulge with a due sense of their degradation and weakness. it was considered a most worthy thing to lead an ascetic life with its accompaniment of disdain and punishment of the body. it was considered most pious and spiritual to forego the ordinary human relations of sex, marriage and parenthood. from these distorted conceptions naturally evolved the idea that sex, and all connected with it, was a subject unclean and impure in itself, and to be avoided in thought, conversation and writing. not only the ordinary sex relations of human life were placed under this taboo, but also the phenomena of birth and parenthood. not only did these incidents of life grow to be considered impure, but they became that which to many was still worse, that is to say, they became to be regarded as "not respectable." ignorance regarding the plain elementary facts of sexual physiology is undoubtedly the cause not only of much immorality among young people of both sexes, but also of many unhappy and inharmonious marriages. the intelligent portion of our race is now beginning to realize very keenly the fact that the first requisite of sane marital relations and intelligent parenthood is a practical and clear knowledge of the physiology of sex; education concerning the sexual organism, its laws, its functions, its normal and healthy conditions, its anatomy, its physiology and hygiene. the average physician of experience in general or special practice can tell tales of almost incredible ignorance on the part of young women who have recently entered into the relationship of marriage. in some cases the ignorance is more than a mere absence of knowledge--it consists too often of false-knowledge, untruthful ideas concerning matters of the most serious import. it is sad enough to think how such persons may work results harmful to themselves, but it is even sadder still to realize that these same ignorant young women must eventually gain their real knowledge through sad experience--experience paid for not only by themselves but also by their children. it is a hard saying, but a true one, that the knowledge of many young wives and mothers is to be gained by experience paid for by their (as yet) unborn children. the writer of the present work is one of the rapidly growing number of thinking persons who believe that the time has come to educate the race concerning the importance of sane instruction concerning the functions of sex. he, and those who think as he does, believe that the time has come to "turn on the light!" they believe that the importance of the subject will be realized by all intelligent persons, once that their attention is directed to the subject, and once they have considered it apart from the old prejudices and distorted customs. when public opinion on this subject is reformed, then will the taboo fall away from the body of truth; then will the subject take its place among the "respectable" topics which may be considered, discussed, and taught, without loss of caste or prestige. in a few decades, perhaps even much sooner, it will be regarded as quite reprehensible to permit young persons to enter into the relationship of marriage without a sane, practical knowledge of their own reproductive organism and the functions thereof, and of their physiological duties to themselves, to their companions in marriage, and to their children born or to be born. we may even see the practical application of the somewhat startling prophecy of newell dwight hillis, d. d., who said: "the state that makes a man study two years before a license as druggist is given; that makes a young lawyer or doctor study three years before being permitted to practice; ought to ask the young man or young woman to pass an equally rigid examination before license is given to found an american home, and set up an american family." while the information above alluded to should be given alike to the young husband and the young wife, it cannot be doubted that the latter is the one of the pair who is most in need of this kind of instruction. while both the young man and the young woman require this instruction, the need is the greater in the case of the young woman, by the very nature of the case. the sex functions and processes play a much more important part in the life of the woman than in that of the man, the protests of some of the modern feminists to the contrary notwithstanding. the careful student of the sex life of men and women frankly confesses that in both the physical and the psychical realm the sex offices make a greater demand upon the time and attention of the woman than of the man. the love-life of the woman is far fuller and more absorbing than is that of the man. unhappiness concerning her love-life renders the remainder of the life of the average woman of comparatively little account; while, with a happy love-life she will put up cheerfully with the absence of many other things which are usually regarded as necessities for happiness. as a writer has said: "essentially, a woman is made for love--not exclusively, but essentially; and a woman who has had no love in her life has been a failure." the same rule operates on the physical plane. as the same writer has said: "physically, the woman is also much more cognizant of her sex and much more hampered by the manifestation of her sex nature than man is." the manifestation of the incidents of menstruation is a constant reminder to the woman that she is a creature of sex. the phenomenon of pregnancy is, likewise, something from which the man is free. and, finally, the menopause, or "change of life," with its incidents greatly influencing the physical, mental, and emotional well-being of the woman, is nature's final word to the woman that she is the active pole of sex-life. as the above-quoted writer has said: "altogether it cannot be denied that woman is much more a slave of her sex-nature than man is of his. nature has handicapped woman much more heavily than she has man." and so, in this book, the young woman--the young wife--is directly addressed, her companion and mate being referred to only indirectly. lesson ii anatomy of the female sex organism every woman should be given plain, practical, sane, sensible instruction concerning the sex organism of woman, its functions, its laws, its use, and its abuse. this important feature of the physical organism plays an all powerful part in the life of every woman, and particularly in the life of the married woman. it is nature's mechanism for the reproduction of the race. every child that is born into the world is conceived, gestated, and finally delivered as a result of the functioning of this organism. therefore, such instruction and knowledge is vitally necessary, not only for the intelligent performance of the duties of parenthood, but also for the best interests of race-preservation, race-culture, and the physical well-being and health of the individual woman. and yet, custom and ancient prejudice have drawn the veil over this most important subject, so that it is difficult for the average woman to find practical, clean information concerning her own anatomy and physiological functions concerned with her sex-life. to many it has appeared that the particular organs and parts of the body concerned with the reproductive functions of the woman are base, unclean, and impure, and that any woman discussing them, or seeking information regarding them, must be immoral or at least not "respectable." anatomical charts and physiological treatises on the subject are tabooed outside of the doctor's office. women are considered immodest if they seek to acquaint themselves with the facts of life concerning one of their most important classes of physical functions. it is considered "not nice" for a young woman to know anything about her physical being in those phases which play the most important part in her life. can there be anything more ridiculous and insane? this is a matter which excites the most intense surprise, disgust, and despair in the average person possessing a scientific tendency. but the dawn is breaking, and a better day is ahead of the race concerning these things. the sex organs of the woman are divided into two classes, as follows: ( ) the external organs; and ( ) the internal organs. let us consider each of these classes in turn. the external sex organs of the woman. the external sex organs of the woman are as follows: the mons veneris; the labia majora; the labia minora; the clitoris; the meatus urinarius; and the vaginal orifice. the term "the vulva" is applied to the external sex organs of the woman in general, but more particularly to the labia majora and the labia minora (the larger and smaller "lips," respectively). the term "vulva" is the latin term meaning "folding doors." the mons veneris is the fatty eminence or elevation just above the other external organs, which forms a mount from which its name (literally, "the mount of venus") is derived. at puberty it becomes covered with hair. the labia majora are the large "outer lips" or folds of skin which enclose the vaginal orifice, and which are situated just below the mons veneris. the labia minora are the small "inner lips" of folds of membrane, which are concealed within the labia majora, or "outer lips," and are seen only when the latter are parted. the clitoris is a small organ, about an inch in length, situated at the upper part of the labia minora or "inner lips," and usually being partly or wholly covered by the upper borders thereof. at its extremity it has a small rounded enlargement which is extremely sensitive and excitable, and which is the principal seat of sensation in the woman's sexual organism. the meatus urinarius is the orifice of the urethra of the woman, the purpose of which is to afford an exit for the urine. it is located about an inch below the clitoris and is just above the vaginal orifice. it is a common error among uninformed women that the urine passes out through the vagina; but this, of course, is incorrect, as the two canals and their respective orifices are entirely separate from each other, though situated closely together. the vaginal orifice is the outer entrance to the vagina, or vaginal canal or channel. this orifice is located just below the meatus urinarius. in the virgin it is usually partly closed by what is known as "the hymen," (vulgarly known as the "maiden head"), although in many cases the latter is absent even in the case of young girl infants. it was formerly regarded as an infallible sign of virginity, and its absence was regarded as a proof that virginity was lacking. but this old superstition is passing away, for science has shown that the hymen is often absent even in the case of young children and infants, and, on the other hand, is sometimes present after several years of married life, and even during pregnancy. much unhappiness has been caused in some cases where the husband has doubted the virginity of his wife because of the absence of the hymen, but consultation with a capable physician usually removes this misunderstanding. the hymen is a membranous fold, sometimes circular in shape, with an opening in the center, though in other cases it extends only across the lower part of the orifice. the opening in the center is for the purpose of allowing the menstrual blood and the other secretions of uterus and vagina to flow through. in a few cases this opening is absent, the hymen being what is called "imperforate"; in which case the girl experiences difficulty when menstruation begins, and a physician is required to make a slit or opening in it. in some girls and women the hymen is quite tough, while in others it is very thin and is easily broken. in the latter cases the young girl frequently breaks the membrane during vigorous exercise, such as jumping rope, etc. and, as has before been said, in some cases infant girls are born without even a trace of the hymen. under the circumstances, it is seen that the presence or absence of the hymen is far from being an infallible proof of the presence or absence of virginity, and the belief in the same is now regarded as almost a superstition of the past. the internal sex organs of the woman. the internal sex organs of the woman are as follows: the vagina; the uterus and its appendages; the fallopian tubes; the ovaries, and their ligaments, and the round ligaments. the vagina is the canal or channel leading from the vaginal orifice to the uterus or womb. it is situated in front of the rectum, and behind the bladder. in length, it averages from three to five inches; and it curves upward and backward, reaching to the lower part of the neck of the womb, or uterus, which part of the neck is enclosed by it. it is a strong fibro-muscular structure, lined with mucous membrane; and is not smooth inside, but is arranged in inner folds or rings which are capable of great extension. on either side of the vagina, near the outer orifice, are two small glands, about the size of a pea, which secrete a peculiar fluid, and which are known as the glands of bartholine. the office of the vagina is that of a complementary to the male organ during the copulative process; to also sustain the weight of the uterus; to also afford a passage for the infant at the time of its birth; and also to serve as a passage for the menstrual fluid. the uterus, or womb, is the internal sex organ of the woman which serves to hold the fertilized ovum, or egg, from the time of impregnation, during the period of pregnancy during which the ovum develops into the young child, and until the time of the delivery of the child. the uterus is a hollow pear-shaped muscular organ, about three inches in length, nearly an inch thick, and about two inches broad across its upper part, or fundus; the lower part, or cervix, being much narrower. the cervix, or "neck" of the womb, projects into the vagina, forming the "os uteri," or "mouth of the womb," at that point. the uterus is composed chiefly of a muscular coat, its walls consisting of strong muscular fibres which contract independently of the will, as do similar muscles in the stomach and bladder. these muscular walls are capable of enormous distention during pregnancy. the muscles of the healthy womb are capable of a tremendous pressure and resistance, and are capable of expelling the child with but slight labor at the time of delivery. the uterus is located just behind and slightly above the bladder, and is supported by eight ligaments which, in a healthy condition, hold it firmly and easily in place. displacements of the uterus are due to the weakening or relaxing of some or all of these ligaments, generally caused by general weakness or else by excessive physical exercise or labor. the principal displacements of the uterus are as follows: prolapsus, or lowering of the womb in the vagina; antroversion, or the bending forward of the womb; anteflexion, or the "doubling up" of the womb forward on itself; retroversion, or the bending backward of the womb; and retroflexion, or the "doubling up" of the womb backward on itself. extreme degrees of the last four mentioned forms of displacement often interfere with impregnation. the internal surface of the uterus is lined with mucous membrane thickly studded with minute hairlike cells which manifest continuous motion. this motion, in the lower part of the womb, is in the direction of the fundus or upper part of the womb; in the upper part of the womb, the motion is in the opposite direction; the purpose of these opposing movements being to carry the male elements toward that portion of the womb into which the fallopian tubes discharge the products of the ovaries, as we shall see presently. the uterus is supplied with follicles around its neck which secrete a very firm, adhesive mucus substance, which serves as a gate or door across the mouth of the womb during the period of pregnancy, and which also serves to prevent the accidental displacement of the ovum or egg. during and just after menstruation, the uterus becomes enlarged and more vascular. during pregnancy, it largely increases in weight. after delivery, it resumes its normal size, but the cavity is larger than before conception. in old age, it becomes atrophied and denser in structure. the fallopian tubes are the ducts of the ovaries, and serve to convey the ova, or eggs, from the ovaries to the cavity in the uterus. they are two in number, one on each side, each tube being about four inches in length. they extend from either side of the fundus of the womb, through the broad ligaments which hold them and the ovaries in position until they communicate with the ovaries. they are lined with a membrane composed of the same kind of peculiar hair-like cells which are found in the lining of the womb, the purpose in this case being to urge forward the ova or eggs toward the uterus. at the ovarian end of the tubes the latter expand into a fringed, trumpet-shaped extremity, the fringe being known as "the fimbria." the tubes are only about one-sixteenth of an inch in diameter, and their small caliber makes it easy for them to clog up as the result of slight inflammation, or to become clogged up or sealed at their mouths or openings, thus causing sterility or inability of the woman to conceive. if the tubes are clogged, or sealed up, it of course is impossible for the ova or eggs to reach the uterus. the ovaries are the two oval-shaped bodies lying one on either side of the uterus. in them the ova, or eggs, are formed. they are each about one and one-half inches long, about one inch wide, and about one-half an inch thick. in addition to their attachment to the broad ligament, they are held in position by folds or ligaments running to the fundus of the uterus and to the fimbriated extremities of the fallopian tubes. the ovaries are covered by a dense, firm coating which encloses a soft fibrous tissue, abundantly supplied with blood-vessels, which is called the stroma. imbedded in the mesh-like tissue of the stroma are found numerous small, round, transparent vesicles, in various stages of development, known as the graafian follicles, which are lined with a layer of peculiar granular cells. these graafian follicles are the receptacles or sacs which contain the ova, or eggs, which constitute the female reproductive germ. each vesicle contains a single ovum or egg. summary. from the foregoing, it is seen that we may enumerate the sex organs of the woman as follows, proceeding from the external to the internal organism: first, the mons veneris, or prominent eminence above the more important external sex organs; then the labia majora, or large outer "lips" or folds, which are plainly discernable to the ordinary view; then the labia minora, or smaller inner "lips" or folds, and the clitoris or small sensitive organ, and the meatus urinarius or urinary orifice, all of which are discernable only when the folds of the labia majora are parted or opened. then, proceeding upward and backward from the vaginal orifice, we find the vagina, or channel or canal leading to the uterus or womb; then we find the uterus or womb at the upper end of the canal or channel of the vagina. then extending from either side of the uterus or womb we find those two important sets of organs known as the fallopian tubes, and the ovaries, respectively. the ovaries discharge their ova, or eggs, into the fallopian tubes, from whence they are conveyed to the uterus or womb, with which the tubes are connected and into which they open at its upper and large end. the pelvis is that bony arch in the cavity of which are contained the internal sex organs of the woman. the pelvis is a bony basin which holds and supports the pelvic organs, and is composed of three important parts, as follows: ( ) the sacrum, consisting of five sections of the vertebral column, or spine, fused together so as to constitute the solid part of the lower spine and the back of the pelvis; ( ) the two hip-bones, one on each side of the pelvis; ( ) the pubic arch, or the front part of the pelvis, formed by the junction of the two hip-bones in front. attached to the hip-bones are the thighs, and also the large gluteal muscles which constitute the buttocks, or "seat." the pelvis of the woman is quite different from that of the man. it is shallower and wider, and lighter in structure than that of the male, and the margins of the hip-bones are more widely separated, thus making the hips of the woman far more prominent than those of the man. also, the sacrum is shorter than that of the man, and the pubic arch wider and more rounded than his. this difference in the bony structure is made necessary by the demand for larger space in the female pelvis required for the purposes of childbirth. these differences are not so perceptible in childhood, but become marked and pronounced at puberty. lesson iii physiology of the female sex organism in the preceding lesson you have been shown "just what" each one of the sex organs of the woman is. in the present lesson you will be shown "just what" each of these organs does--what its functions and offices are. the preceding lesson dealt with the anatomy of these organs; the present lesson will deal with the physiology thereof. beginning with the ovaries, the fundamental and basic sex organs of the woman, you will have explained to you the wonderful processes performed by each of these organs in turn. the ovaries. the ovaries in the woman are akin to the testicles in the man. without the ovaries there would be no ova or eggs, and without the ova there would be possible no reproductive purposes, and therefore no office for the sex organs at all, for reproduction is the fundamental office, function, and purpose of the entire sexual organism. in our consideration of the office, purposes, and functions of the ovaries, however, we must not overlook a certain secondary phase of such functioning. while it is true that the primary purpose of both the testicles of the male, and the ovaries of the female, is that of providing seed from which the offspring of the individual may be produced, it is likewise true that there exists a secondary purpose which may be called the "individual" purpose as contrasted with the "racial" and primary one. this secondary or "individual" purpose of the ovaries is that of manufacturing certain secretions which are absorbed by the blood of the woman, and which play an important part in her physical and mental well-being and activities. these secretions begin before puberty in the woman, and continue after her menopause; whereas the manufacture of the ova begins only at puberty, and ceases with the menopause, keeping pace with the manifestation of menstruation in its beginning and its ending. nature provides these chemical secretions from the ovaries for the purpose of giving the woman her characteristic physical form and contour, her form, her breasts, her long hair, her broad pelvis, her soft voice, and other secondary sex characteristics; and also of providing for the normal development of the other sex organs. as a proof of this statement, science shows us that if a woman's ovaries are completely removed there is usually a consequent atrophy or "drying up" of the uterus and the vagina, and often even of the vulva. moreover, the presence of this internal secretion manifests in arousing and maintaining in the woman her normal sexual desire, and her normal pleasure in the company of her mate; it being noted that if the ovaries are removed, particularly in early life, the woman is apt to lose all sexual desire and normal womanly feeling toward the other sex. and, finally, these secretions make for general physical and mental health and well-being in the woman, and contribute to her vivacity, energy, and activity in all directions. as writers on the subject have well pointed out, this is the reason that capable surgeons usually try to leave at least a portion of the ovaries when performing an operation for the removal of those organs on account of diseased condition. the ovum. the ovum, or human egg, is a small spherical body, measuring from one two-hundred-and-fortieth to one one-hundred-and-twentieth of an inch in diameter. it has a colorless transparent envelope, the latter enclosing the yolk which consists of granules or globules of various sizes embedded in a viscid fluid. in the center of the yolk is found a very small vesicular body consisting of a tenuous transparent membrane, which is known as "the germinal vesicle;" this, in turn, contains a very tiny granular structure, opaque, of yellow color, known as "the germinal spot." when the time is reached in which the ovum or egg is to be discharged, the graafian follicle becomes enlarged by reason of the accumulation of the fluids in its interior, and exerts such a steady and increasing pressure from within, outward, that the surrounding tissue yields to it, and it finally protrudes from the ovary, from whence it is then expelled with a gush, owing to the elasticity and reaction of the neighboring tissues. following this rupture there occurs an abundant hemorrhage from the vesicles of the follicle, the cavity being filled with blood, which then coagulates and is retained in the graafian follicle. the formation and development of the graafian follicle begins at puberty and continues until the menopause or "change of life" of the woman. many follicles are produced, but many do not produce ova, and so gradually atrophy. the ripening and discharge of the eggs produce a peculiar condition of congestion of the entire female sexual organism, including the fallopian tubes, the uterus, the vagina, and even of the vulva, which results in a condition of sexual excitement. among the lower animals the female will allow the male to approach her for copulation only at this period, this being the time when the egg is ready for fertilization. when the female infant is born, her ovaries contain the germs of about , ova. the greater portion of these, however, disappear, until at the time of her puberty the number of germs of ova contains only about , ova. this number is far more than the woman will ever need, and is nature's provision against diseased portions of the ovaries, accidents, etc. only one ovum ripens and matures each month from puberty until menopause, so that the woman really requires only about to ova on the average. this liberality on the part of nature, however, does not begin to approach her lavishness in the case of seed of the male, for in his case while only one spermatozoon is required to fertilize an ovum (and in fact only one is permitted to do so), we find that in each normal act of ejaculation of semen by the male over , spermatozoa are projected. the ripening and discharge of the egg from the ovaries, and the consequent congestion above referred to, accompanied by what is called menstruation, occurs regularly each lunar month ( days). what is called ovulation consists of the monthly maturing and expulsion of the ripe ovum or egg, while menstruation (as we shall see later on) consists of the monthly discharge of blood and mucus from the inner surface of the uterus; the two processes occur in connection with each other, yet neither can be considered as the cause of the other. menstruation. it may be well to call your attention at this point to the process known as menstruation, or "the monthly flow," or "the courses" of women. menstruation is the monthly flow of bloody fluid which occurs in all healthy (non-pregnant) women from puberty to the menopause or "change of life." by "puberty" is meant the age at which a woman begins her period of possible child-bearing experience. in temperate climates the average age of puberty is about fourteen years, while in tropical countries it is often a year or so earlier, and in arctic countries a year or so later. the time, however, depends materially upon the temperament, race, hygiene, and general environment of the individual girl. at this period the girl gradually changes into the young woman. her figure changes, her bust develops, her hips broaden, and her mental and emotional nature undergoes a change. also the menstrual flow begins to manifest at this time; at first scanty and irregular, but gradually changing into the characteristic flow each month. at the period of puberty, the girl undergoes marked emotional changes. she becomes very "emotional" as a rule, and quite "sensitive." she becomes filled with strange, unaccountable longings, ideas, and "notions." she usually manifests a great emotional interest in her girl friends, and often manifests marked jealousy in connection with these friendships. the girl is apt to indulge in day-dreaming at this period, and becomes quite romantic and "flighty." she devours love stories, and delights in imagining herself as the heroine of similar adventures. the period from the beginning of puberty to that of the attainment of full sexual maturity is known as the period of "adolescence," and generally extends to about the age of eighteen in the case of girls. by the menopause is meant that period of the woman's "change of life," the average time of which is about the age of forty-five years, although this varies greatly in different individuals. as a rule, it is held that the period of the woman's child-bearing possibility extends over an average period of thirty years. at the menopause the woman's reproductive activity declines and finally ends. the ovaries diminish in size, the graafian follicles cease to form and develop; the fallopian tubes atrophy; and there occur other physical, mental, and emotional changes in the woman. while the age of forty-five is held to be the average age at which the menopause occurs in women, still it is not at all uncommon to find women who menstruate regularly up to the age of fifty, or fifty-two, or even fifty-five, while a large number of women menstruate regularly at the age of forty-eight. some women undergo little or no physical or emotional disturbance at the time of the menopause. in such cases their periods become more or less irregular, with extending intervals between periods; the flow becomes more and more scanty; then several periods are skipped altogether; and finally the periods cease entirely. other women, however, experience more or less physical disturbance during the years of the "change." they sometimes experience loss of appetite, or a capricious appetite, headaches, loss of weight, or else a sudden taking on of fatty tissue. they often become quite irritable and "notiony," and often become quarrelsome and pugnacious, and in some cases manifest unreasonable jealousy. but, in the opinion of many of the best authorities, much of this trouble comes from the mental expectancy of them by the woman, resulting from the notion that a woman must have these things happen to her. the power of the mind over the body is now well known, and we have here another instance of its effect. the remedy is obvious. another matter which disturbs the woman at this time, in many cases, is the common belief that after "the change" she will lose all of her sex attractiveness, and her sexual feelings, etc. this is a grave error, for the experience of all observing physicians is that no such results follow this period of the woman's life. many women become even more attractive to the other sex after this time, by reason of acquiring a certain maturity and "ripeness" which proves very attractive to many men--often to young men as well as older ones. moreover, the sexual desires do not cease with the cessation of the reproductive functions. on the contrary, it often happens that such emotions and desires are increased in the woman at, and after, this time of her life. so true is this that this period has been called "the dangerous age" for women, and the experience of many a woman of forty-five to fifty will corroborate this statement. the woman at this time should beware of contracting unwise love affairs and entanglements, and of yielding to impulses toward men other than her mate. a word to the wise should be sufficient in this case. to return to the main subject of menstruation, it may be said that the monthly flow, when once established, occurs at intervals of every twenty-eight days, on the average, although in some individual cases it occurs as often as every twenty-one days, while in others it occurs as seldom as once in every six weeks, all without exceeding the bounds of normal functioning. menstruation ceases temporarily during pregnancy, in normal cases, and often also ceases during the period of lactation or nursing. the menstrual period lasts on an average for four or five days, the flow increasing for the first half of the period, and decreasing during the last half. at the beginning of the period there is often manifested a general congestion of all of the sexual organs of the woman, and often of the breasts as well. there is also usually found a sense of physical discomfort, from which more or less irritable feeling arises. in rare cases there are found severe cramps and pains, and in some cases the woman finds it necessary to call in medical aid, or to go to bed, or both. in such cases a cure is often worked by improving the general health, and by observing common sense hygienic rules. menstruation is caused by a hypertrophy of the mucus membrane of inner surface of the uterus, which is followed by a shedding of the hypertrophied membrane. this leaves exposed the underlying vessels, which bleed. new mucus membrane is formed after the period. the menstrual flow consists of a thin, bloody fluid, having peculiar odor, in which is combined blood, thin skin, and mucus membrane, and also mucus from the uterus and the vagina, the blood being light in consistency and not clotted. during the menstrual period the ovum, or egg, is discharged, and enters the uterus, as we shall see presently. the life-history of the ovum. the physiology of the remaining sexual organs of the woman may perhaps best be studied by considering the story of the life-history of the ovum, or human egg, for the functions of such organs are concerned with such life-history of the egg, and really exist merely to create such a history, or rather, to produce the process which constitutes the basis of such history. the ovum, or egg, when discharged from the ovary, is at first surrounded by a few cells which serve as nourishment, but which soon disappear. it enters the fallopian tube and begins its journey toward the uterus, being urged on its way by the constant movement of the lining-cells of the interior of the tube, in the direction of the uterus. certain changes in structure occur. its passage to the uterus may be interrupted, and the ovum lost and finally cast off. but the ovum that is successful finally arrives at the uterus where it awaits impregnation or fertilization by the spermatozoon of the male. if copulation occurs within a reasonable time after the arrival of the ovum, it is impregnated or fertilized. fecundation results and conception ensues, the ovum then remaining attached to the walls of the uterus, and in time develops into the foetus. if, however, the ovum is not impregnated, because of absence of copulation or from other causes, it gradually loses its vitality, and is finally cast off with the several uterine secretions. it should be explained here that the "spermatozoon" of the male (the plural of the term is "spermatozoa") is the male generative "seed." the sperum, semen, or seminal fluid of the male is filled with hundreds of thousands of spermatozoa. each spermatozoon is a minute living, moving creature, resembling a microscopic tadpole. it has a head, a rod-like body, and a thin hair-like tail, the latter being kept in constant motion from side to side, by means of which the tiny creature is enabled to travel rapidly from one point to another. the human spermatozoon measures about one six-hundredth of an inch in length. it is composed of protoplasm, the substance of which all living creatures are composed. the spermatozoa are believed to be developed from a parent sperm-cell, by the process of segmentation or subdivision, which process is common to all cell-life. the numerous spermatozoa dwell in a gelatinous substance, which, mingling with the other fluidic secretions of the glands of the male, constitutes the male seminal fluid, sperm, or semen, which is ejaculated by the male during the process of copulation. fecundation (i. e. fertilization, impregnation; the process by which the male reproductive element is brought in contact with the female ovum or egg) is brought about by the blending of the male reproductive element (or spermatozoon) with the female reproductive element (or ovum, or egg). this blending is of course accomplished by the bringing together in mutual contact the two reproductive elements just mentioned. the sexual act which results in this "bringing together" of the two elements is known as "copulation," or "coition." in copulation or coition the seminal fluid of the male, containing an enormous number of spermatozoa, is ejaculated from the male intromittent organ into the receptive canal or channel of the female (the vagina), and in this way finally comes into actual contact with the female ovum or egg which is awaiting it in the uterus of the female. the spermatozoa (in the process of copulation) are deposited in the vagina of the female, usually at its upper end, but sometimes in the lower portion; and in rare and peculiar cases even at or about the vaginal orifice or outer vaginal opening. in either case they travel up the remaining portion of the vagina and finally enter the uterus or womb. the spermatozoa possess wonderful vitality and power of locomotion. there are cases recorded in which the spermatozoa deposited on or about the outer female genitals have managed to travel inward and upward until they have finally reached the uterus, where conception has resulted. such cases, of course, are rare, but they exist, well authenticated and accepted by medical science as facts. it must not be supposed, however, that the impregnation of the ovum occurs only in the womb proper. cases are known in which the spermatozoa have traveled along the fallopian tubes and impregnated the ovum there; and in very rare cases the spermatozoon seems to have penetrated even to the ovary itself, and there impregnated the ovum on the surface of the ovary. some excellent authorities, in fact, insist that all normal impregnation occurs at the end of the fallopian tube--the point of its entrance into the upper part of the womb, rather than in the body of the womb, or at its mouth, as the older authorities taught. but wherever the actual contact of spermatozoon and ovum occurs, the blending of the elements is performed and fertilization, impregnation, or fecundation is accomplished. as a result of copulation, then, the spermatozoon (or a number of spermatozoa) comes in contact with the female ovum or egg. then one or more of them, by means of a furious lashing of the tiny tail, manages to penetrate the outer covering of the ovum, and enters the space between the outer covering and the real body of the egg. several spermatozoa may effect an entrance into this outer space, but only one is permitted to enter the real body of the egg. [twins are produced by the impregnation of two ova by two spermatozoa, at the same time. the presence of the two ova at the same time is unusual]. the moment that the real body of the ovum is penetrated by the successful spermatozoon, a tough covering or thick membrane forms around the ovum and thus prevents the entrance of other spermatozoa. the successful spermatozoon then loses its tail, and the remaining head and body become what is known as "the male pronucleus." the authorities are uncertain as to the exact nature of the change which occurs when the ovum is penetrated by the spermatozoon. the outward manifestations of the change and transformation arising from the blending of the male and female elements are of course well known, but the "life process" eludes the power of the microscope. when nature forms the thick membranous coating over the impregnated ovum, she draws the veil over one of her most important secrets. the first segmentation-nucleus having been formed by the blending and forging together of the male and female pronuclei, the process of segmentation begins. segmentation proceeds as follows: the impregnated egg splits into halves, forming two joined cells; then into quarters, forming four joined cells; then into sixteenths, then into thirty-seconds, sixty-fourths, and so on, until the ovum consists of a combined mass of very minute granular-like cells, the whole resembling a mulberry. the segmentation of the nucleus precedes and then continues with the segmentation of the yolk. after the egg has been divided into a great number of these cells, the latter begin a centrifugal action resulting in the formation of a complete inner lining of closely packed cells, with a central cavity filled with the yolk liquid. in the meantime, the uterus has been prepared for the reception of the impregnated and transformed ovum. a thick, spongy, juicy, mucus membrane forms, into which the changing ovum passes and attaches itself; the mucus membrane soon enveloping it and shutting it off from the rest of the uterus. there now appears at one point on the ovum an opaque streak, which is called "the primitive trace" of the embryo--the first beginning of the young living creature. the "primitive trace" then grows in length and breadth. at this point we must leave the history of the ovum, or human egg, for the present; its further development will be related in the succeeding lesson, the subject of which is "gestation." lesson iv gestation or pregnancy gestation is "the act of carrying young in the uterus, from the time of conception to that of parturition." conception occurs at the moment of the impregnation of the ovum; parturition is the act of delivery, or childbirth. pregnancy is "the state of being with child." the terms "period of gestation," and "period of pregnancy," respectively, are employed by medical authorities to designate the time during which the mother carries the young within her own body--from the moment of the impregnation of the ovum until the moment of the final delivery of the child into the outer world. the term of pregnancy in woman continues for over nine calendar months (or ten lunar months)--from about to days, though in exceptional cases it may be terminated in seven calendar months, or on the other hand may continue for ten calendar months. the usual method is to figure days from the first day of the last menstruation. a simple method of calculating the probable date of delivery is as follows: count back three months, and then add seven days, and you will have the date of probable delivery. example: a woman's first day of last menstruation is march . counting back three months gives us december ; and adding seven days to this gives us january , as the date of probable delivery. there will always be a possible margin of a few days before or after the ascertained probable date--but the delivery will very closely approximate said date. ignore the shortage of days of february in this calculation, the same being covered by the general margin allowed. development of the impregnated ovum. in the preceding lesson we terminated our consideration of the impregnated ovum at the point at which, after the process of segmentation, the "primitive trace" had appeared. this primitive trace appears as an opaque streak, or straight line, formed of an aggregation of cells of a distinctive quality. this delicate "trace" or "streak" is the first indication of the form of the coming child. it is the basis, pattern, or mould, in or around which the spinal column is to be formed, and around which the entire young body is to be developed by the wonderful and intricate processes of dividing and reduplication, and the folding and combination of cells. from one end of this "trace" develops the head; from the other end develops the lower end of the spine. at a later stage there appear tiny "buds" in the positions at which the arms and legs should be; these gradually develop, and their ends split into tiny fingers and toes, and finally are transformed into perfect little arms and legs, miniatures of those of the adult human being. the term "the embryo" is employed to designate the developing young creature in the earlier stages of its development, particularly before the end of the third month of its existence. after the end of the third month the embryo is called "the fetus." in the short space of days the young creature evolves and develops from a single simple cell into a complex organism--a perfect miniature human being. nature works a wonderful miracle here, and yet so common is it that we take it all as a matter of course, and lose sight of the miracle. from the most simple forms are formed in the developing creature the most complex organs and parts. the heart is formed from a tiny straight line of cells, by enlargement and partition. the stomach and intestines, likewise, develop from a tiny straight line of cells arranged as a tiny tube--the stomach is formed by dilation of one part of the tube, while the large intestine experiences a similar though lesser distention and a greater growth in length; the smaller intestines being formed by growth in length and circumference. the other organs evolve from similar simple beginnings. the embryo is nourished during its earlier stages by means of the "yolk sack," or "umbilical vesicle," which is outside the body of the embryo, being joined to it by means of the umbilical duct. this yolk sack (originally formed by a "drawing together" in the ovum, which thus separates itself into two portions or areas) is an important feature of the life of the embryo, as it nourishes and sustains it in its earlier stages. blood vessels form in this yolk sack, and after a time its fluid is absorbed, and after the third month the sack gradually disappears. after the passing away of the yolk sack, the embryo is nourished and sustained by the "allantois," another peculiar sack which is formed. this sack readily becomes filled with blood-vessels, and serves to nourish the embryo by sustenance obtained from the body of the mother through the walls of the uterus, a direct communication with the blood-vessels of the mother thus being secured. the blood in the embryo, and that in the mother, come into close contact, thus allowing the embryo to be nourished by the blood of the mother. after a time, in turn, the allantois diminishes and dwindles away, its offices being taken up and performed by the "placenta" or "afterbirth." the placenta or afterbirth. the placenta, or afterbirth, is a round, flat substance or organ, contained within the uterus, by which communication and connection is established and maintained between the fetus and the mother, by means of the umbillical cord. it is a flat, circular mass, about seven inches in diameter, and weighing about sixteen ounces. it is attached to the sides of the uterus of the mother during the period of gestation, and is expelled from the body of the mother, as "the afterbirth," after the birth of the child. let us pause a moment, and reconsider the several steps in nature's plan for nourishing the embryo and fetus. in the first place, as we have seen, there is the yolk sack or umbillical vesicle, filled with a fluid which nourishes the embryo. this gradually disappears in time, and is replaced by the "allantois" which by connection with the walls of the uterus is enabled to nourish the fetus from and by the blood of the mother. for a short time, however, the embryo is nourished by both the yolk sack and the allantois. then the allantois assumes the entire task, and the yolk sack passes away. then, later, the placenta replaces the allantois, and the latter passes away as did its predecessor. the placenta works along the same general lines as the allantois, but is a far more complex way and with a much higher degree of efficiency, as we shall see presently. the placenta is connected with the body of the fetus by what is known as "the umbillical cord." the "umbillicus" or "navel" in the human being marks the place at which the umbillical cord entered the body of the fetus, from which it was severed after the birth of the child. the purpose of the umbillical cord is to contain and support the umbillical arteries and veins through which the fetus obtains nourishment from the placental substance, and through which the return blood flows. the rich red arterial blood is carried from the placenta to the fetus, and is then distributed over the body of the fetus, nourishing and building it up; the dark venous blood, laden with the waste products of the body of the fetus, is carried back to the placenta, there to be repurified and rendered again rich and nourishing. the story of the circulation of the blood of the fetus is most interesting. although the fetal blood is derived from that of the mother, as we have said, yet the maternal blood does not pass directly from the circulatory system of the mother into that of the fetus; nor does the blood of the fetus return directly into the circulatory system of the mother. in fact, the fetal blood never comes in direct contact with that of the mother, or vice versa. the fetus has an independent circulatory system of its own, and yet, at the same time, from the moment of the placental connection until the moment of childbirth, all its nourishment is derived from its mother. the secret of the above paradoxical statement is made apparent when we understand the meaning of the scientific term "osmosis." osmosis is "the passage of a fluid through a membrane"; it is a chemical process, caused by the chemical affinity between two liquids or gases separated one from the other by a porous diaphragm or substance. in the process of osmosis in the case before us, the fetal blood takes up nourishing substances and oxygen from the blood of the mother, and passes on to the latter the waste products of the fetal system, by means of passing these substances through the thin porous membranes which separate the two independent systems of blood vessels, i. e., the system of the fetus, and that of the mother. before birth, in fact, the fetus has its blood nourished and oxygenated by means of the food partaken of by its mother, and the oxygen taken in by the mother in her breathing. after its birth, the infant eats and breathes for itself, and thus nourishes its blood supply directly, instead of receiving it indirectly from the mother. the placenta begins to be formed about the third month of gestation, and continues to develop steadily from that time. at the time of the delivery of the child the placenta covers nearly or quite one-third of the inner space of the distended uterus of the mother. the total "afterbirth" consists of the placenta, the umbillical cord, and the remaining membranes of the ovum, all of which are expelled after the birth of the child. the amnion. an important appendage contained in the uterus in connection with the developing fetus is that known as "the amnion." this is an inner sack which forms within the womb, and which serves to enclose the fetus, and also to sheath the umbillical cord. the amnion encloses the embryo very snugly during the early stages of its development, but it gradually becomes distended with a pale watery fluid, known as "the amniotic fluid," the purpose of which is to "float" the fetus and to give it mechanical support on all sides. this fluid is composed of water carrying in solution small quantities of albumin, urea, and salt. sex in the embryo and fetus. it is impossible to determine the sex of the embryo during its early stages. during the fourth week the first traces of the sexual glands appear, but not until the fifth week can the sex be determined even by the microscope. if the embryo is to become a male, certain ducts are transformed into convoluted tubules, and each is attached to the testes which have been formed from the genital nucleus. if the embryo is to become a female, the ducts join to form the uterus and vagina, other portions being transformed into the fallopian tubes and connecting with the ovaries which have been formed otherwise. the outer genitals appear in the early stages of the embryo, but there is no apparent distinction between the sexes, the external organs being the same in all cases, and consisting of a small tubular organ with a small lateral fold of skin on either side. later, in the male, a groove appears on the under side of this primitive organ, thus forming the urethra, the scrotum being formed from the folded skin at the side. in the female, the primitive organ ceases to develop as in the male, and thus becomes proportionately smaller, and evolves into the clitoris of the female; the two lateral folds, on each side, being transformed into the labia majora, or "outer lips" of the female external genitals. position of the fetus. during the period of gestation the fetus lies "curled up" in the bag of the amnion. the head is usually relaxed and inclined forward, the chin resting on the breast; the feet are bent up in front of the legs, the legs bent up on the thighs, the knees separated from each other, but the heels almost touching on the back of the thighs; the arms bent forward and the hands placed between them as though to receive the chin between them. the folded-up fetus forms an oval, the longest diameter of which is about eleven inches at its greatest stage of growth. nature here shows a wonderful ability to pack the fetus into as little space as possible, and in such a position as to protect it from injury, and to discommode the mother as little as possible. the following interesting statement made by helen idleson, m. d., in a european medical journal several years ago, gives a very clear idea, expressed in popular terms, of the appearance and characteristics of the embryo or fetus in the various stages of its development: "the growth of the embryo after fecundation is very rapid. on the tenth day it has the appearance of a semi-transparent grayish flake. on the twelfth day it is nearly the size of a pea, filled with fluid, in the middle of which is an opaque spot, presenting the first appearance of an embryo, which may be clearly seen as an oblong or curved body, and is plainly visible to the naked eye on the fourteenth day. the twenty-first day the embryo resembles an ant or a lettuce seed. many of its parts now begin to show themselves, especially the cartilaginous beginnings of the spinal column, the heart, etc. the thirtieth day the embryo is as large as a horse-fly, and resembles a worm, bent together. there are as yet no limbs, and the head is larger than the rest of the body. when stretched out it is nearly half an inch long. toward the fifth week the heart increases greatly in proportion to the remainder of the body, and the rudimentary eyes are indicated by two black spots toward the sides, and the heart exhibits its external form, bearing a close resemblance to that in an adult. in the seventh week, bone begins to form in the lower jaw and clavicle. narrow streaks on each side of the vertebral column show the beginning of the ribs. the heart is perfecting its form, the brain enlarging, and the eyes and ears growing more perfect, and the limbs sprouting from the body. the lungs are mere sacks, and the trachea is a delicate thread, but the liver is very large. in the seventh week are formed the renal capsules and kidneys. "at two months, the forearm and hand can be distinguished, but not the arm; the hand is larger than the forearm, but it is not supplied with fingers. the distinction of sex is yet difficult. the eyes are prominent. the nose forms an obtuse eminence. the nostrils are rounded and separated. the mouth is gaping, and the epidermis can be distinguished from the true skin. the embryo is from one-half to two inches long, the head forming more than one-third of the whole. at the end of three months, the eyelids are distinct but shut; the lips are drawn together; the forehead and nose are clearly traceable, and the organs of generation prominent. the heart beats with force; the larger vessels carry red blood; the fingers and toes are well defined, and the muscles begin to be developed. "at the fourth month, the embryo takes the name of 'fetus.' the body is six to eight inches in length. the skin has a rosy color, and the muscles produce a sensible motion. a fetus born at this time might live several hours. at five months the length of the body is from eight to ten inches. at six months, the length is twelve and one-half inches. the hair appears on the head, the eyes closed, the eyelids somewhat thicker, and their margins, as well as their eyebrows, are studded with very delicate hairs. at seven months, every part has been increased in volume and perfection; the bony system is nearly complete; length, twelve to fourteen inches. if born at this period, the fetus is able to breathe, cry and nurse, and may live if properly cared for. "at eight months, the fetus seems to grow rather in length than in thickness; it is only sixteen to eighteen inches long, and yet weighs from four to five pounds. the skin is very red, and covered with down and a considerable quantity of sebaceous matter. the lower jaw, which at first was very short, is now as long as the upper one. finally, at term, nine months, the fetus is about nineteen to twenty-three inches long, and weighs from six to eight pounds. the red blood circulates in the capillaries, and the skin performs the functions of perspiration; the nails are fully developed." another writer says: "there is a superstition that a child born at eight months is not as liable to live as if born at seven months; indeed, many suppose that an eight months' child never survives. facts do not prove this idea to be correct. personally, i have known several eight months' babies to live and do well, and i believe that their chance of life is much greater than if born at seven months." children born in the seventh month of gestation are capable of living, though great care is required to rear them for the first few months after birth. the "incubators" now so common in large cities have greatly increased the chances of the "seven months' child," and, for that matter, of those born even earlier. there are a number of cases of record where children have been born after six months of gestation, and a few even before the six months, but these cases are rare and unusual, and such children usually die soon after birth. the following table, given by a good authority, shows the average length and weight of the human embryo and fetus: age. length in inches. weight. weeks . not given weeks . grains weeks . not given weeks . not given weeks . not given weeks . not given weeks . drachms months . ounces months . ounces months . ounces months . pound months . pounds months . pounds months . to pounds professor clark holds that if at birth the infant weighs less than pounds, it rarely thrives, though the records show that many infants weighing much less than this have lived and thrived. in very rare cases, infants have been known to weigh no more than one pound at birth, and to have still survived and thrived. and, on the other hand, many cases are known where infants were born, and thrived, who weighed more than twice the average weight. so, at the last, it is difficult to lay down hard and fast rules in the case. delivery. at the termination of the period of gestation, the child is born into the world, and, instead of depending upon the blood of the mother for nourishment and oxygen, it begins to ingest its own food, to eliminate its own waste matter through the regular channels of the body, and to use its own lungs for the purpose of obtaining oxygen for its blood and to burn up the waste products in the lungs. the process of bringing a child into the world is called "parturition." the fetus is expelled from the body of the mother by the contraction of the muscles of and around the uterus, and also by the contraction of the abdominal walls. in the early stages of labor, the uterine muscles are brought into play; but when the fetus enters into the vaginal passage the abdominal muscles manifest their energy. the uterine and abdominal muscular movements are purely involuntary, although the mother may aid in the delivery by voluntary muscular movements. the involuntary muscular movements are due to the reflex action originating, probably, in a part of the spinal cord. the uterine contractions are rhythmical, and have been compared to the contraction of the muscles of the heart. each "labor pain" begins with a minimum of contraction, the activity increasing until a maximum is reached, when it gradually decreases, only to be followed a little later by a new contraction. when the fetus is finally expelled from the uterus (followed later by the placenta or "afterbirth") that organ begins a gradual contraction to its normal size, shape, and condition, the restorative process usually lasting over several weeks. the physical signs of pregnancy. the physical signs of pregnancy in the case of women of normal health are as follows: ( ) cessation of the menses, or menstruation. while it is true that a non-pregnant woman may occasionally pass over a menstrual period, yet as a general rule the complete cessation of a period by a married woman, particularly when the woman has previously been regular in this respect, may be considered a probable indication of pregnancy; and when the second period has been passed the probability merges almost into a certainty. an examination by a competent physician will set all doubts at rest. ( ) enlargement of the breasts. this indication usually manifests itself in about six or eight weeks after conception. this enlargement is usually preceded by a sensation of tingling and throbbing. the enlargement is manifested in the form of a rather hard and knotty increase, differing from the ordinary fatty increase; the lobules, arranged regularly around the nipple, are plainly distinguishable beneath the skin by means of the touch of the fingers. ( ) darkening of the areolar tissue surrounding the nipple. in the unimpregnated condition this tissue is of a pinkish shade; but after impregnation the shade grows darker and the circle increases in size. however, when the woman bears several children in somewhat rapid succession, this dark color may become permanent and accordingly ceases to be an indication. ( ) enlargement of the abdomen. this indication manifests itself about the second month, at which time the uterus begins to elevate the intestines by rising up from the pelvis. in the fourth month the uterus has risen so far out of the pelvis that it assumes the form and appearance of a hard round tumor. the entire abdomen then begins to enlarge. the uterus causes an enlargement in the region of the navel at the sixth month, and the region of the diaphragm at the ninth month. ( ) quickening, or "signs of life." this indication manifests first from the fourth month to the fifth--at about the exact half of the entire period of gestation. at this time, and afterward, the movements of the embryo are plainly discernable to the mother. the disorders of pregnancy. there are a number of physical disorders usually accompanying pregnancy, some of which are trifling, but some of which require the advice of a competent physician. the best plan is for the woman to consult a physician shortly after she discovers herself to be pregnant, and thereafter to visit him occasionally for advice during the period of gestation. the too common plan of postponing the call upon the physician until the eighth or ninth month is not a wise one, for in many cases the advice of a competent physician at an earlier stage of the pregnancy will obviate serious complications. the call upon the physician should usually be made not later than the third or fourth month, and positively not delayed longer than the fifth month. the physician should make an examination to ascertain whether the child is in the normal position in the uterus, and should also examine the urine each month to ascertain whether the kidneys are functioning normally. what is called "morning sickness" is one of the most common of the disorders of pregnancy. it is marked by nausea or vomiting, or both, early in the morning, usually shortly after arising. some women have at least faint symptoms of this disorder from the very beginning of conception, but usually it does not manifest until the third, fourth, or fifth week of pregnancy. it usually ceases at the end of the third or fourth month. except in very severe cases, in which the physician should be consulted, the disorder is not serious, and requires but a little common-sense treatment, and rational habits of living. an authority says: "eat of some fruit that best agrees with palate or stomach; drink hot water; eat nothing until a real hunger demands food. where nausea occurs after eating, a tart apple or orange is good." another authority says: "let women suffering from morning sickness try acid fruit--apples, oranges, or even lemons, if their sourness is not unpleasant. if a single orange or apple after each meal does not suffice, let them try two; let them eat ten if that number is necessary to conquer the distress. the principle is a correct one, and the relief certain. let fruit be eaten at all hours of the day--before meals and after, on going to bed at night and at getting up in the morning. if berries are in season, let them be eaten in the natural state--that is, without sugar. if the sickness still continues, omit a meal now and then, and substitute fruit in its stead. by persistence in this course, not only will nausea be conquered, but an easy confinement guaranteed." the pregnant woman often develops a capricious appetite. this disorder may manifest in one or more of several forms, as for instance: the woman may lose her appetite, and take but little food; or she may develop an abnormally large appetite, and eat much more than is necessary; or she may take a dislike to certain kinds of food--many women have an aversion toward meat during pregnancy; or she may have a "craving" for certain articles of food, sometimes for kinds of food not liked at other times, such as sour pickles, sour cabbage, etc. a little common sense, and the presence of attractive articles of fruits, etc., will do much to relieve these troubles; in extreme cases the physician's advice will help. the pregnant woman should have her teeth put in good order as soon as possible, as troubles with teeth sometimes manifest themselves during pregnancy, and give much trouble and annoyance. difficulty in urination, constipation, piles, irritation or itching of the genital organs, varicose veins, liver spots, and similar disorders, which are sometimes manifest during pregnancy, in some form or degree, should receive the attention and care of a competent physician. the following general advice from a competent authority is worthy of being followed: "if everything is satisfactory, if there is no severe vomiting, kidney trouble, etc., the usual mixed diet may continue. the only changes i would make are the following: drink plenty of hot water during the entire time of pregnancy: a glass or two in the morning, two or three glasses in the afternoon, the same at night. from six to twelve glasses may be consumed. also plenty of milk, buttermilk and fermented milk. plenty of fruit and vegetables. meat only once a day. for the tendency to constipation, whole wheat bread, rye bread, bread baked of bran, or bran with cream. as to exercise, either extreme must be avoided. some women think that as soon as they become pregnant, they must not move a muscle; they are to be put in a glass case, and kept there until the date of delivery. other women, on the other hand, of the ultra-modern type, indulge in strenuous exercise, and go out on long fatiguing walks up to the last day. either extreme is injurious. the right way is moderate exercise, and short, non-fatiguing walks. bathing may be kept up to the day of the delivery. but warm baths, particularly during the last two or three months, are preferable to cold baths." childbirth. the first indication of approaching delivery of the child is that of the descent of the child into the pelvis of the mother, from its former position up near the diaphragm. when this occurs, the mother usually experiences a feeling of relief, and a greater ease in breathing because of the relaxation of the former pressure on the diaphragm. sometimes this occurs several days preceding delivery, while in other cases it occurs only a few hours before delivery. there usually occurs about the same time a slight discharge of mucus tinged with blood. the latter is called "the show," and is caused by the unsealing of the mouth of the womb, and indicates that the uterus is preparing to discharge its contents. labor, in childbirth, consists of three stages. in the first stage, the uterus alone contracts, and the mouth of the womb dilates; in the second stage, the abdominal muscles assist the uterus in expelling the child; in the third stage, the placenta (afterbirth) and membranes are expelled. after the delivery of the child, and after the pulsation in the umbillical cord has ceased (usually from ten to thirty minutes after delivery), the umbillical cord is severed and tied by the physician. in natural labor, the expulsion of the afterbirth occurs from within a few minutes to an hour after the delivery of the child. nature is sometimes slow in expelling the afterbirth, but caution should be exercised in the matter of using force to assist nature in this matter, for injury to the uterus has often resulted from malpractice in such a case. the afterbirth is not firmly attached to the womb, but is like the peel of an orange which nature sloughs off in due time. lesson v general advice to women on sex subjects in this lesson the writer seeks to direct the attention of his women readers to certain subjects upon which the average woman is not well informed, and upon which she usually requires sound, sane, clean, frank information. in many cases women hesitate to ask even their family physicians for such information, and, although there is no rational reason for it, they even shrink from consulting better informed and capable women concerning these subjects. sexual feeling. owing to erroneous teachings, and irrational prejudices arising from ancient distorted and perverted ideals of sex, many women have grown to maturity under the erroneous belief that it is a sign of immorality, or at least low ideals and depraved nature, for a woman to experience sexual emotions or feelings, wishes or desires. so true is this that even many married women seek to withhold from their husbands the knowledge that any sexual feeling is experienced by the wife. such a belief is of course absurd. it is as natural for a woman to experience normal sexual feeling as it is for her to experience any other feeling aroused by natural instincts and organism. without such instinct and the feelings arising therefrom, there would be no mating or marriage, and no perpetuation of the race. the woman experiencing such feelings should not allow herself to imagine that she is depraved or perverted, or immoral in thought and feeling. incredible as it may appear to a normal, healthy-minded man, it is true that thousands of young women have lost self-respect, and have lapsed into a morbid state of mind, because of the occasional manifestation of their normal sexual feeling. this does not, of course, mean that the woman must necessarily manifest into action the feeling experienced by her. on the contrary, she must acquire self-mastery and self-control, just as she must in other phases of her life. it may help some women of this kind to realize that the sex feeling and impulses, arising unbidden (and often unwelcomed) from the depths of their subconscious mentality, are essentially creative impulses. if the woman be unmarried, or if married and placed under conditions in which the marital relation with the husband is impossible or undesirable, then she can transmute this creative energy in some form of creative work--in work which leads to the creation, manufacture, building-up, or composing something. there is a hint here which will prove a great blessing to the woman who will understand and apply the principle suggested--for many other women have found it so. as for the married woman, there is no reason whatsoever why she should seek to withhold from her husband the knowledge that she is possessed of normal, natural, healthy sexual feeling. in fact, the withholding of such information, and the concealment and deception arising therefrom, has often done much to bring marital inharmony between husband and wife. if there is any deception to be practiced in the marital association of husband and wife, it should rather be in the opposite direction, i. e., in the direction of pretending the emotional feeling when it exists only partially or is absent. the last matter, however, is one for the exercise of the judgment and conviction of each individual woman; but the first mentioned admonition is one which should be observed, as it is based on honesty, truth, and good judgment as well. alcohol and sexuality. it needs no extended argument to convince the average person that an individual will do things when under the influence of drink that he or she would not do when perfectly sober. it is an old saying that "when the wine is in, the wits are out." but there is a deeper connection and relation between alcoholic drink and sexual indiscretions than is usually realized by the average person. besides the commonly known weakening of will-power and self-control arising from the influence of strong drink, there are certain influences concerning the sexual nature and arising from the presence of alcohol in the system, which are not known to most persons. so true is this that the writer has thought it well to utter a few words of warning to his women readers concerning these things. in the first place, there is an exhilarating effect arising from certain kinds of liquor, wines, and other forms of alcoholic drinks, which manifests directly in an excitement of the sexual centers and organism. in many cases a strong sexual excitement, absent at other times, is aroused, and the person is carried away with the force of passion unknown under other circumstances. added to this the weakened will-power arising from too much drink, and we have an explanation of many cases of "mistakes" of women. it would appear that women are even more susceptible than are men to unusual sexual excitement arising from alcoholic drinks; and that, therefore, they should be especially cautious in the indulgence in such drinks, particularly when in the company of strange men, or men careless in regard to sexual morality and respect for women in their company. but there is still a deeper reason, based upon the latest discoveries in psychology, why caution in this respect should be observed by women. we allude to the discovery that alcohol first affects the mental and emotional tendencies of more recent racial acquirement, acting so as to paralyze and inhibit the activities thereof, and to thus release the activity of the more primitive emotions and motive activities. thus, the woman under the influence of alcohol finds that the more recent racial traits, such as sexual control, restraint, sexual morality, conventional observations, etc., are practically temporarily paralyzed in inhibitual--or to use the current slang phrase, are "put out of commission" for the time being; and, at the same time, the old elemental, savage, barbaric, "cave man" instincts, habits, and methods of action, are brought to the surface, and proceed to manifest their activity if opportunity be granted for the same--and the opportunity is usually granted. this being seen to be true, it is seen that the woman so under the influence of liquor is, for the time being, little more than a "cave woman," or barbarian, with all the lax sex morality of the latter, and with all the tendencies to manifest into activity the primitive impulses arising in her nature and demanding expression. added to this the weakening of will-power always accompanying the alcoholic influence, it is seen that the woman under the influence of strong drink is an easy prey to designing men, and a willing victim to her own lower passions. an authority of sex subjects says: "that bacchus, the god of wine, is the strongest ally of venus, the goddess of love, using the term love in its physical sense, as the french use the word 'amour,' has been well known to the ancient greeks and romans, as it is well known today to every saloon-keeper and every keeper of a disreputable house. and all measures to combat venereal diseases and to prevent girls from making a false step will only be partially successful if we do not at the same time carry on a strong educational campaign against alcoholic indulgence. * * * of what use are warnings to a girl, when under the influence of a heavy dinner and a bottle of champagne, to which she is unaccustomed, her passion is aroused to a degree she has never experienced before, her will is paralyzed and she yields, though deep down in her consciousness something tells her she shouldn't? she yields, becomes pregnant, and is in the deepest agony for several months, and has a wound which will probably never heal for the rest of her life. of what use have all the lectures, books, and maternal injunctions been to her? * * * i believe that the sex instinct can be stimulated artificially beyond the natural needs, and among the artificial stimulants of the sex instinct alcohol occupies the first place. and bear in mind that alcohol produces even a stronger effect upon women, in exciting the sexual passion, than it does on men. women are more easily upset by stimulants and narcotics, and that is the reason why it is more dangerous for women to drink than it is for men. it is impossible to give statistics and exact or even approximate figures. but there is no question in my mind, in the mind of any careful investigator, that if alcoholic beverages could be eliminated, the number of cases of venereal infection would be diminished by about one-half. and what is true of venereal disease is also true of the seduction of young girls. alcohol is the most efficient weapon that either the refined don juan or the vulgar pimp has in his possession." our advice to the woman who is asked to drink liquor when in the company of a man outside of her immediate family circle is emphatically this: don't do it! the menstrual period. as strange as it may appear to those women who have had the advantage of intelligent maternal advice, it is a fact known to all physicians that many mothers permit their young daughters to enter into the stage of puberty, with the accompanying menstrual flow, without having first instructed the daughter as to the meaning and character of this phenomenon of her nature, and without having given her advice concerning the proper care of herself during this period. physicians constantly experience cases in which the young girl to whom the first menstrual flow having come, without previous knowledge on her part, has supposed it to be the result of a wound, or of a diseased condition, and has attempted to stop the flow by the application of cold water. even where a partial knowledge has been attained by the girl, she is found to lack the knowledge of the proper hygienic care of herself during the period. the mothers in such cases are criminally negligent, and have alluded a false modesty or prudery to interfere with a natural and necessary maternal duty. the approach of the first menstruation is often accompanied by unusual physical, mental and emotional changes in the young girl. her nervous system is affected, and she is apt to become irritable or morbid, or even somewhat "flighty." her appetite may become irregular, and there is often present a craving for indigestible food. a physical languor is often experienced, and there may be pains in the back and legs, chilliness and headaches, and a general upsetting of the usual physical condition, accompanied by a manifestation of peevishness and irritability. these unpleasant symptoms usually disappear when the periodical menstrual flow is permanently established. in fact, they are frequently superseded by the awakened energy and heightened spirits of healthy, normal adolescence. the time of the beginning of the menstrual period varies according to climate, race, condition of health, and temperament. in the tropical countries, menstruation begins from the tenth to the fourteenth year; in temperate countries, from the thirteenth to the sixteenth; in cold countries, from the fifteenth to the twentieth year. the italian, hebrew, spanish, or french girl is apt to menstruate earlier than the english, german, or swedish girl. the negro girl menstruates early, as a rule. the full-blooded girl usually menstruates earlier than the anemic one. normally, menstruation should proceed naturally and without pain or suffering. when pain or suffering is experienced in connection with menstruation, it is simply because of some lack of health in the general system; and when such general health is restored, the trouble ceases. painful menstruation is called "dysmenorrhea," and arises from several causes, principal among which are the following: errors in diet, errors in dress, undue exposure, constipation, lack of proper exercise, or to a contracted or congested condition of the uterus or the fallopian tubes. the pain, however, cannot be considered as a feature of normal menstruation, for the latter is no more painful than a normal movement of the bowels--the painful condition results from abnormal conditions, the removal of these conditions resulting in the cure of the complaint. dysmenorrhea should be treated by the discarding of all unhygienic clothing, tight shoes, etc., and their replacement by rational clothing; the dietary should be carefully scanned, and improper articles replaced by nourishing elements of food--discard the pastries, pickles, confections, and stimulants, and substitute sensible articles of diet; if constipation is present, remove it by eating articles of food which promote free movements of the bowels, and drink more water each day; take a proper amount of exercise--housework is as good a form of exercise as any; many authorities advocate the free drinking of water prior to and during the menstrual period--some going so far as to say that where there is painful menstruation there is always a lack of a proper amount of water taken into the system. in some cases dysmenorrhea is due to disorders of the general nervous system, and treatment therefore should be sought at the hands of a capable physician. amenorrhea, another disorder arising in connection with the menstrual process, consists of the retention or suppression of the menses, or of "scanty" menses, or occasional "skipping" of the periods. this condition is apt to be manifest in cases of extreme obesity or "fatness;" the nervous system being burdened with superfluous flesh, its menstrual rhythm is often affected. suppression of the menses also sometimes results from exposure and disturbing mental emotions. the most approved treatment is that of remedying the abnormal general physical condition, proper diet, and the use of hot drinks, hot sitz baths, and hot enemas about the time of the beginning of the normal period. menorrhagia, another menstrual-period disorder, consists of very profuse flowing--it is, in fact, a mild form of hemorrhage. it usually arises from general debility, shocks, too violent exercise or labor, and also in many cases from undue and too frequent sexual intercourse. sometimes the excessive flow occurs during the regular menstrual period, while in other cases it may manifest itself out of season--sometimes as often as two or three times a month. the duration of the normal period of menstrual flow, however, varies greatly among different women; the normal period may be said to last from two to six days, so what might be an excessive flow for one woman would be only normal for another--temperament plays a large part in determining the quantity of the menses. some of the accompanying symptoms of menorrhagia, or profuse flow, are lassitude, shortness of breath, faintness, dizziness, headache, irritability and nervousness, and often also leucorrhea between periods. the general treatment consists in measures calculated to bring the general health of the woman back to the normal. the building up of the general system, by means of nourishing food, proper exercise, etc., will almost always result in curing this disorder. a well-known authority has well said: "the hygiene of menstruation can be expressed in two words: cleanliness and rest." so far as rest is concerned, the woman need not be urged to take it at this period--that is, if she is able to do so. care should be taken not to exercise unduly at this time, and under the head of exercise may be included dancing, horseback riding, and automobiling, as well as the more common forms of athletic work. it would seem that common sense and the general desire for cleanliness and daintiness would cause all women to observe the plain hygienic laws of cleanliness at the time of the menstrual period. and, indeed, it is probable that such would be the case were it not for the fact that some ancient superstitions still exert their power over the mind of many women, in regard to the use of water during the menstrual period. while it is true that cold baths, or cold-water bathing, are not advisable for the average woman during the menstrual period (although some especially robust women bathe and swim as usual during this period), this prohibition does not apply to the use of warm water during the period. lukewarm baths are permissible at this time; and the woman should wash the external genital parts with warm water, with soap if desired, every morning and evening of the period. a vaginal douche of lukewarm water is an excellent adjunct to the bathing of the parts. it is astonishing to meet with the superstitious prejudice existing in the minds of some women concerning the use of the vaginal douche; these good creatures seem to think that it is either unnatural and unhealthy, or else is something "not respectable," and fit only for the use of immoral women. these women should get in touch with modern hygienic methods, and learn to use the douche at least during their menstrual periods. at this time, if the plain rules of cleanliness are not observed, there often occurs a decomposition of the blood which has gathered in or about the genitals, and an offensive odor is manifested. some women, while feeling distressed about this odor, are afraid to use lukewarm water in washing themselves, owing to some old unexplored superstition handed down from the great-grandmother's time. the napkins should be changed at least every morning and evening. unclean napkins may lead to infection, and it is probable that many cases of leucorrhea have their origin in lack of cleanliness concerning the napkins, cloths, or rags, used during menstruation. it may seem almost incredible to the average woman reader, but physicians know of cases (usually among the poorer and more ignorant foreign classes) in which the girl is instructed by her mother, grandmother, or aunts, that she must wear the original cloth or rag during the entire period, as she will "catch cold" by a change to a clean, fresh cloth while the flow continued. imagine the result of such a practice! this last is an extreme instance, of course, but it will serve to show the absurd and harmful notions prevalent concerning this important natural function, and its incidents. leucorrhea. a very common disorder among women is that known as leucorrhea, or "the whites." it consists of a discharge from the vagina, or the uterus through the vagina. it is, in fact, of a catarrhal nature, and results from an over-secretion of the mucus fluids which, in proper quantity, keep the mucus membrane of the said organs in good condition. the discharge manifests in various shades and degrees of consistency. from the character of the discharge, physicians are able to determine whether it comes from the vagina or the uterus. the discharge from the vagina usually is a light creamy fluid; that from the neck of the uterus is a sticky, thick fluid flowing rather freely; that from the lining of the uterus is alkaline, and generally precedes and follows menstruation; and that accompanying ulceration of the womb is semi-purulent and offensive in odor. leucorrhea has many causes, among which may be mentioned the following: getting chilled feet or body, particularly during the menstrual period; over exertion and overwork standing on one's feet; chills following dancing in overheated rooms; excessive worry or emotional strain, etc. it is a quite common complaint, and some assert that fully twenty-five per cent (perhaps more) of all women suffer from it to at least some extent. the general treatment of leucorrhea consists of the building up of the entire system by the proper hygienic methods. constipation should be removed, and the system is built up by the proper articles of food, exercise, etc. the use of the proper douches are also advised by the best practitioners. physicians also treat inflamed areas by local treatments consisting of painting the vagina or neck of the uterus with certain medicinal solutions. certain suppositories and douches are also employed in some cases. it is always better to consult a good physician in these cases, particularly where the trouble is aggravated or of long standing. a popular writer on the subject gives the following prescription for a vaginal injection: white fluid hydrastics, ounces; borax, / ounce; distilled witch hazel extract, pint. use of this preparation one ounce, diluted in a pint of lukewarm water, as a vaginal injection, taken twice each day. a well-known authority gives the following advice concerning treatment of leucorrhea: "one of the simplest things is an alum tampon. you take a piece of absorbent cotton, about the size of a fist, spread it out, put about a tablespoonful of powdered alum on it, fold it up, tie a string around the center, insert it in the vagina as far as it will go, and leave it in twenty-four hours. then pull it gently by the string and syringe yourself with a quart or two of warm water. such a tampon may be inserted every other day or every third day, and i have known where this simple treatment alone produced a cure. in some cases, however, douches work better, and the two best things for douching are: tincture of iodine and lactic acid. buy, say, four ounces of tincture of iodine, and use two teaspoonsful in two quarts of hot water in a douche bag. this injection should be used twice a day, morning and night. of the lactic acid you buy, say, a pint, and use two tablespoonsful to two quarts of water. the lactic acid has the advantage over the tincture of iodine that it is colorless, while the iodine is dark and stains whatever it comes in contact with. sometimes i order the use of the tincture of iodine and the lactic acid alternately: for one douche the tincture of iodine, for the next the lactic acid, and so on. when the condition improves, it is sufficient to use one teaspoonful of the tincture of iodine and one tablespoonful of the lactic acid to two quarts of water. these injections are quite efficient and have the advantage of being perfectly harmless. one point about the injections: they should be taken not in the standing or squatting position (in which position the fluid comes right out), but while laying down, over a douche pan. the douche bag should be only about a foot above the bed, so that the irrigating fluid may come out slowly; the patient, after each injection taken in the daytime, should remain at least half an hour in bed (in the nighttime she stays all night in bed.) this gives the injection a better chance to come in contact with all the parts of the vagina, and a portion of it comes in contact with the cervix, where it exerts a healing effect. avoid the use of patent medicines." uterine displacement. the woman suffering from uterine displacement should, of course, consult a competent physician and be governed by his advice. the following suggestions, however, will be found to be of service in many cases: in the case of prolapsus, or falling of the womb, many women have found great relief, and in many cases permanent improvement, by taking occasional rests in bed for an hour or so, with the feet and lower part of the legs raised at least eight inches above the level of the head. in this plan, the uterus is replaced by gravitation. some authorities advise practicing waist-breathing while lying in this position, thus exercising the abdominal muscles. dr. taylor says: "increase the pump-like action of the chest, and it will be found that the displaced viscera will return to their normal position." some have also found relief from the use of alum-water vaginal injections once or twice each day. the alum-water is prepared by dissolving one heaping teaspoonful of powdered alum in a pint of lukewarm water. this last treatment often strengthens the vaginal muscles whose yielding has at least partially been the cause of the falling womb. in cases of retroversion, in which the uterus is turned or bent backward, the "knee and chest" position will often aid in causing the organ to regain its normal position. in this position the woman kneels, and rests her chest upon the bed, thus causing the hips to be elevated. in cases of antroversion, in which the uterus is turned or bent forward, relief is often obtained by the woman resting upon the back, using a pillow to elevate her hips. intercourse during menstruation. it would seem that the natural esthetic repulsion to the exercise of the marital relations during the menstrual period should be sufficient to deter men and women from indulgence at this time; but many seem to have overcome this instinctive repulsion, and to these a stronger reason must be given--and the reason is at hand. the reasons in question are as follows: first, that congestion of the uterus and ovaries sometimes results from this unnatural practice; second, that the man may possibly contract an inflammation of the urethra by infection from the degenerated membrane, tissue, blood, etc., of the menstrual flow; and third, that such practices may result in the aggravation of discharges from the woman, such as leucorrhea, etc. intercourse during pregnancy. the best authorities advise total abstinence from sexual intercourse during the period of pregnancy; but in view of the fact that such abstinence is very difficult for most men, and that few will persist in it, it is thought well to point out the fact that at least an extreme moderation is desirable in such cases. a leading authority says on this point: "during the first four months of pregnancy, no change need be made in the usual sex relations; their intensity should be moderated, their frequency need not. during the fifth, sixth, and seventh months, intercourse should be indulged in at rarer intervals--once in two or three weeks--the act should be performed without any violence or intensity. during the eighth and ninth months relations had best be given up altogether. and this abstinence should last until about six weeks after the birth of the child. during this period the uterus undergoes what we call involution; that is, it goes back to the size and shape it had before pregnancy, and it is best not to disturb this process by sexual excitement, which causes engorgement and congestion." sterility in women. sterility, or barrenness, i. e., the inability to bear children, is frequently met with among married people. it is usually blamed upon the woman, whereas in at least one-half of the cases the fault is with the man. the causes of sterility in women are usually one or more of the following: inflammation of the fallopian tubes, which may have been caused by gonorrhea or ordinary inflammation--in some rare cases childbirth has been known to set up an inflammation in this region, which has prevented the woman from future childbearing--the inflammation causes the tubes to clog up or become closed, so that no more ova can pass through them from the ovaries to the womb; in some cases, also, severe cases of leucorrhea have caused sterility, as the discharge is sometimes fatal to the life of the spermatozoa and destroys them; in other cases misplacement of the womb causes sterility; also severe inflammation of the neck or mouth of the womb operates in the same way, in some cases. in cases of sterility, the woman should have an examination made by a competent physician, and it often will be found that the cure of the disorders above noted will work a cure of the sterility. but, in all cases of sterility, it will be found that the husband should be examined as well as the wife--in fact, many authorities insist that the husband should be examined first. venereal diseases frequently produce sterility in the man, although he is loath to admit this and is apt to place the blame entirely upon the woman. miscarriage and abortions. the terms "miscarriage," and "abortion," respectively, mean the expulsion of the fetus from the womb before its natural time of delivery. in common usage, the term "miscarriage" is usually employed to indicate instances in which the premature delivery has occurred without any voluntary act on the part of the woman, or other persons acting with her permission; the term "abortion" being reserved for instances in which the miscarriage has been voluntarily produced. when the fetus dies within the womb of the mother, it is usually expelled spontaneously within a few days or even a few hours. some women suffer from certain weakness which result in habitual miscarriage; such women seem unable to carry the child for the full natural term, and lose it at some time during the period of gestation. like results often arise from certain diseases, principal among which is syphilis. in some cases the physician produces what is known as "therapeutic abortion," for the purpose of saving the life of the woman--this is sanctioned by medical custom and by law. other forms of abortion, performed for the purpose of preventing the progress of the gestation, and designed for the destruction of the embryo or fetus, are known as "criminal abortion," and are punishable by several legal penalties. abortions are frequently followed by severe illness, invalidism, or even death for the woman. many women have had their entire lives ruined by this evil practice. it is one of the curses of modern civilization, and one which must be removed by means of rational instruction and education along the lines of sexual science if the race is to be prevented from deterioration. the subject will be further considered in the subsequent lessons in this book. the best advice to those who have contemplated the performance of abortion is simply this: don't; don't; don't! lesson vi the science of eugenics no one who keeps in even only fair touch with the affairs of the world of today can have failed to notice the frequent mention of the term "eugenics" in the newspapers, magazine, and books of the hour. and yet, many persons seem to be in doubt as to the meaning and use of the term; some thinking that it refers to some new "ism" or "ology," or perhaps to some new and strange doctrine concerning the relations of the sexes. in view of this fact, the writer has thought it well to give the readers of this book a brief, though somewhat comprehensive, view of the general subject of eugenics. eugenics, sometimes known as the science of parenthood, has well been styled "the new science," for it has forced itself into public notice within the past ten or fifteen years, whereas before that time it was practically unknown to the general public. at the present time some of the world's greatest thinkers have spoken or written on the subject, and many regard it as one of the most vital branches of human research, endeavor, and study, for the future of the race is involved in the solution of its problems. in its general phase of race-betterment, eugenics is receiving the attention of statesmen, sociologists and patriots; in its particular phases, the earnest attention, interest and study of men and women who wish offspring of the best quality obtainable. the spirit of eugenics may be expressed in the words of dr. g. stanley hall, president of clark university, who has said: "our duty of all duties is to transmit the sacred torch of life undiminished, and, if possible, a little brightened, to our children. this is the chief end of men and women. all posterity slumbers in our bodies, as we did in our ancestors. the basis of the new biological ethics of today, and of the future, is that everything is right that makes for the welfare of the yet unborn, and all is wrong that injures them, and to do so is the unpardonable sin--the only one nature knows." that phase of eugenics which has brought the new science more prominently before the public mind, and which has enrolled on its roster the names of some of the world's most eminent scientists, sociologists, and writers--the phase of race-betterment from the standpoint of sociology--has led many to believe that eugenics is confined to that phase, and is but a movement toward "the successful breeding of the human race" on a universal scale. to many, such a movement while deemed commendable and desirable nevertheless lacks the appeal of the heart and affections--it seems to be of the head alone. but when such persons are brought to their realization that eugenics is also a movement to promote the bearing of children--to enable each mated couple to bring forth perfect offspring--then the heart is enlisted as a co-worker with the head. the sociological phase of eugenics--the phase of race culture in general--is being vigorously advanced by societies and organizations in various parts of the world, the parent organization being the eugenics education society, of london, england. dr. c. w. saleeby, one of those prominent in the work of the said society, has the following to say concerning the work of that organization: "the eugenics education society exists to uphold the ideal of parenthood as the highest and most responsible of human powers; to proclaim that the racial instinct is therefore supremely sacred, and its exercise through marriage, for the service of the future, the loftiest of all privileges. it stands for a transfigured sentiment of parenthood which regards with solicitude not child and grandchild only, but the generations to come hereafter--fathers of the future creating and providing for the remote children. that which too many schools of thought and practice have derided or defiled, it seeks to elevate and ennoble. parenthood on the part of the diseased, the insane, the alcoholic--where these conditions promise to be transmitted--must be denounced as a crime against the future. in these directions the society stands for active legislation, and for the formation of that public opinion which legislation, if it is to be effective, must express. parenthood on the part of the worthy must be buttressed, guided, and extolled. the society stands for the education of the young regarding the responsibility and holiness of the racial function of parenthood." the eugenists hold that in the near future our children, looking back upon the present and the past state of indifference and neglect concerning the important subject of bearing and rearing of children, will experience the same horror that we now feel when we look back upon the indifference to the horrors of human slavery, imprisonment for debt, cruelty toward prisoners, treatment of the insane, executions for trivial offences, etc., on the part of our ancestors. our descendants will deem it almost inconceivable that we, their ancestors, could have been so blind and criminally negligent. but, as leading eugenists have pointed out, the new science does not confine its attention to the subject of preventive measures, important as they are--it also directs its attention to the constructive phase of the subject, i. e., the production of better children. while eugenics strives to prevent the unfit from flooding the race with unfit progeny, it at the same time strives to educate the race so that the fit may bear and rear better offsprings. it is not sufficient merely to eliminate the unfit--we must also improve, and still further render fit, the fit members of the race. the fit must not be allowed to remain merely the fit--we must evolve a fitter--and ever move onward toward the realization of the ideal of the fittest. we must not only strive to eliminate the beast in the race of men--we must also aid the race to unfold in the direction of the super-man. the eugenists know that much of the talk concerning race suicide is not only futile and uncalled for, but is also in a sense misleading and actually dangerous. the real danger of race suicide comes not from the decreasing birth-rate, but from the excessive, ignorant, and unscientific bearing and rearing of children by unfit parents. it is not so much a matter of how many children are born, as of how they are born, what kind of children they are, and how they are reared physically, mentally and morally, and how many survive. it is not so much that the lower death-rate be avoided, says the eugenist, as it is that the higher death-rate be overcome. the intelligent stockbreeder grasps this scientific law of the eugenists when he endeavors to produce the best young, and then to take care of them that they survive and reach a healthy maturity. to the eugenist, it is not so much a question of "more," but of "better"--not so much a question of quantity as of quality--not so much a question of production, but of conservation and preservation. dr. saleeby refers to the death-rate of london, which is but to the , as compared to that of bombay, which is to the . he adds: "it is asserted that in many large indian cities the infant mortality approaches one-half of all the children born. what it amounts to in such cities as canton and pekin we can only surmise with horror. * * * * unless it be supposed by bishops and others, then, that a peculiar value attaches to the production of a baby shortly to be buried, the suggestion evidently is the same as that to which every humanitarian and social and patriotic impulse guides us, namely, the reduction of the death-rate, and especially of infant mortality. * * * * hence the eugenists and the episcopal bench may join hands so far as the reduction of the death-rate is concerned, and the only persons with whom a practical quarrel remains are those who applaud the mother who boasts that she has buried twelve." the eugenists urge that if the principles applied to plant-life by that master of his science, luther burbank, were applied to the production and rearing of young human life, in a few generations we should have a race so far advanced beyond the present average as to be almost god-like by comparison. but this means a far different thing from the ideal of merely "more children"--it requires the manifestation of the ideal of "better children," well born, carefully reared, well nourished, and scientifically educated. and this rearing, nourishing, and education must not be confined to the physical part of the child's nature--it must proceed along the three-fold line of physical, mental, and moral culture. the eugenists have been actively concerned with the question of the prevention of the transmission of undesirable qualities to offspring. they have held that while crime is more frequently rather the result of evil environment than of criminal heredity, nevertheless there is a large class of children who are "born criminals"--that is, born with such a decided tendency toward criminal acts that the slightest influence of environment may, and often does, serve to kindle into a blaze the undesirable and criminal characteristics. dr. saleeby says of this: "in the face of the work of lombroso and his school, exaggerated though some of their conclusions may be, we cannot dispute the existence of born criminals and the criminal type. there are undoubtedly many such persons in modern society. there is an abundance of crime which no education, practiced or imaginable, would eliminate. present day psychology and medicine and, for the matter of that, ordinary common-sense, can readily distinguish cases at both extremes--the mattoid or semi-insane criminal at one end, and the decent citizen who yields to exceptional temptation at the other end." the eugenists quote as an instance of the above contention the celebrated case of max jukes, a notorious criminal and drunkard, who as the records show us was the ancestor of a foul brood of descendants which cost the state of new york over a million dollars in seventy-five years. among these descendants were thieves and murderers; subject to idiocy, blindness or deafness; prostitutes; and children born prematurely. it is possible that a portion of this evil result was caused not alone by bad heredity but, at least in part, by the suggestion of the environment, and the influence of example of the parents; but even so, the primal cause was that max jukes, the notoriously unfit ancestor, was allowed to propagate this evil brood, destined to be born and reared under the most adverse conditions and environment. the eugenists also place great importance upon the prevention of insane persons becoming parents. to those who consider that this is but an exceptional and rare occurrence, the eugenists reply that a large percentage of insane patients in asylums have a family history showing insanity in one or both parents; that reports show that there are thousands of feeble-minded women in every large city allowed to (yes, often actually compelled to) bear children to their husbands or male companions. ribot says: "every work on insanity is a plea for heredity." maudsley says: "more than one-fourth and less than one-half of all insanity is heredity." riddell says: "of the great causes of insanity, alcoholism is perhaps the greatest, while morbid heredity ranks next. insanity is largely the result of degeneracy. most persons who become mentally deranged are the offspring of neurotic, drunken, insane or feeble-minded parents." while it by no means follows that one must manifest traits of insanity or mental disturbance simply because one of his parents suffered from a like trouble--and we believe that many a one has frightened himself into those conditions by pure auto-suggestion inspired by a one-sided belief in heredity--still it is unquestionably true that a fair mind must concede that wisdom and a proper sense of right and justice would require that parents of unsound mental tendencies should not be permitted to bring into the world children who might inherit a tendency toward a like, or worse, condition. the eugenists also have called the attention of the thinking public to the danger of deaf-and-dumb persons transmitting their condition to their offspring. of this dr. saleeby says: "the condition known as deaf-mutism is congenital or due to innate defect in about one-half of all the cases in great britain." dr. love says: "in every institution, examples may be found of deaf-mute children who have had one or two deaf parents or grandparents, and of two or more deaf-mute children belonging to one family." a case is noted in england where a deaf-and-dumb man having been killed by an accident, his relatives could not identify the body, as the wife and sister were blind, deaf-and-dumb, and the four children were deaf-and-dumb. the man and his wife were both deaf-and-dumb when they were married, the wife being also blind. perhaps no subject has aroused the active eugenists to a greater pitch of indignation than the ascertained results of the effect upon offspring of parents addicted to the over-indulgence in alcohol. it is known by the records that a large number of cases of feeble-mindedness and actual insanity are due to inebriety of parents, and often of grandparents, or ancestors for several generations. epilepsy, idiocy, and criminality are also traceable in many cases to drunkenness of parents. dr. saleeby, moved by indignation by the ascertained results of the investigations of the eugenists, has said: "parenthood must be forbidden to the dipsomaniac, the chronic inebriate, or the drunkard, whether male or female." professor grenier, writing on the subject of alcoholic degeneration, has said: "alcohol is one of the most active agents in the degeneracy of the race. the indelible effects produced by heredity are not to be remedied. alcoholic descendants are often inferior beings, a notable proportion coming under the categories of idiots, imbeciles, and the debilitated. the morbid influence of parents is maximum when conception has taken place at the time of drunkenness of one or both parties. those with hereditary alcoholism show a tendency to excess; half of them become alcoholics; a large number of cases of neurosis have their principal cause in alcoholic antecedents. the larger portion of the sons of alcoholics have convulsions in early infancy. epilepsy is almost characteristic of the alcoholism of parents, when it is not an index of a nervous disposition of the whole family. the alcoholic delirium is more frequent in the descendants of alcoholics than in their parents, which indicates their intellectual degeneration." what has been said of alcoholism of course applies to the use of narcotics and other drugs. galton cites a case in which "a man who had had two healthy children acquired the cocaine habit, and while suffering from the symptoms of chronic poisoning engendered two idiots." and yet had anyone publicly instructed the wife of this man regarding the use of contraceptives, such person would have been liable to imprisonment! another subject engaging the active attention of the eugenists, and which is discussed to considerable extent in the privacy of their meetings, but which must be voiced only very carefully in the public prints owing to the "murderous silence" which society prefers to maintain on the subject, is of the influence of venereal diseases as racial poisons transmissible to offspring. dr. saleeby has well said: "no other disease can rival syphilis in its hideous influence upon parenthood and the future. but it is no crime for a man to marry, infect his innocent bride and their children; no crime against the laws of our lawgivers, but a heinous outrage against nature's decrees. when at last our laws are based on nature's laws, criminal marriages of this kind may be put an end to." the above stated facts are not pleasant reading for most persons, and many pass over them hurriedly, thereby hoping to escape the mental discomfort which the hearing and learning of unpleasant truths so often produce. but the subject will not down--it is forcing itself to the attention of the thinking members of society today in a manner which will admit of no escape. these facts must be faced, and steps must be taken by society to protect the race from degeneration and actual race suicide. and the science of eugenics is pointing the way. dr. saleeby says of this phase of eugenics: "negative eugenics will seek to define the diseases and defects which are really hereditary; to name those the transmission of which is already known to occur, and to raise the average of the race by interfering as far as may be with the parenthood of persons suffering from these transmissible disorders. only thus can certain of the gravest evils of society, as, for instance, feeble-mindedness, insanity, and crime due to inherited degeneracy, be suppressed; and if race-culture were absolutely incapable of effecting anything whatever in the way of increasing the fertility of the worthiest classes and individuals, its services in the negative direction here briefly outlined would be of incalculable value. to this policy we shall most certainly come; but here, as in other cases, i trust far more to the influence of an educated public opinion than in legislation; though there are certain forms of transmissible disease, interfering in no way with the responsibility of the individual, the transmission of which should be visited with the utmost rigor of the law, and regarded as utterly criminal, no less than sheer murder." but the science of eugenics is concerned not only with telling society what "not to do"--it is equally concerned with telling it "what to do." it has its positive as well as its negative side. after pointing out the evils of procreation on the part of the unfit, it then proceeds to tell the fit how to best serve the interests of the unborn. eugenics is not satisfied with merely plucking out the foul weeds which have encumbered the fair garden of life--it seeks also to furnish to the real flowers better soil, and improved conditions, and to give them the benefit of the best selection, breeding and conditions, that they may evolve and improve into still more glorious products of nature's power. the eugenists earnestly advocate laws and public opinion tending to protect mothers and expectant mothers. they recognize the supremacy of motherhood, and aim to encourage and protect it. they decry the common indifference toward this function which is all important in the preservation and evolution of the race, and which neglect is well expressed in the complaint of bouchacourt, who said: "the dregs of the human species--the blind, the deaf-mute, the degenerate, the imbecile, the epileptic--are better protected than are pregnant women." the eugenists believe in educating women for motherhood, and in protecting them from conditions which interfere with that important function of their life. they are not fully agreed upon the methods to be pursued in cases of expectant mothers whose lack of proper support prevents them from obtaining the proper nourishment, etc., but in a general way it may be said that they agree in holding that the expectant mother should be looked upon as the honored ward of the state, and should be properly provided for from the public funds. the eugenists also believe in educating the father, or prospective father. they hold that every man should be made acquainted with the duties and responsibilities of fatherhood, and should so conduct and order his life that the production and rearing of a family should result as a consummation of a long cherished ideal. the man should be taught to prepare himself, physically, mentally, and morally, for his coming responsibility to the race. he should also be taught to respect and regard motherhood, and to make it his business to secure and preserve the best possible conditions for the mother of his own children, and the mothers of other men's children, not as an act of mere sentiment, but as a public duty, a patriotic service, a racial obligation. the eugenists believe in teaching young men and young women on the subject of sexual physiology and psychology. they hold that the race is now criminally negligent in such matters, and that young men and women, by the thousands, enter into the state of marriage and parenthood with no knowledge regarding the sacred functions which they are to bring into activity. they believe that the first requisite of scientific parenthood is and must be a sane knowledge of the physiology of sex, and the psychology of sex. there must be sane education concerning the sexual organism, its laws, its functions, its normal and healthy condition, its anatomy, physiology and hygiene. the average physician of several years' experience can tell tales of almost incredible ignorance on the part of persons who have recently entered into the relationship of marriage. in some cases the ignorance is more than a mere absence of knowledge, for it consists of an array of false-knowledge, untruthful ideas, of often serious importance. it is sad enough to think how the ignorance and false-knowledge may work results hurtful to the young couple themselves, but it is even sadder to realize that these same ignorant or wrongly-informed young persons must gain their real knowledge through sad experience which is to be paid for not only by themselves but also by their children. it is a hard saying, but true that "the knowledge of the majority of young parents is gained by experience paid for by their unborn children." the eugenists look forward to the coming of the day when it will be regarded as reprehensible to allow young persons to enter into the relationship of marriage without a sane, practical knowledge of their own reproductive organism and functions, and of their physiological duties to themselves, their companions in marriage, and to their children born or to be born. we may, in due time, see a practical realization of the ideal set forth by dr. newell dwight hillis, who said: "the state that makes a man study two years before a license as druggist is given; that makes a young lawyer or doctor study three years before being permitted to practice, ought to ask the young man or young woman to pass an equally rigid examination before license is given to found an american home, and set up an american family." this idea of the scientific preparation for parenthood is a new one for many, but the coming generations will recognize its importance to the individual and to the race. many who recognize the influence of pre-natal culture in so far as is concerned the physical, mental, and moral condition of the mother during pregnancy, have failed to perceive that an equally important influence is exerted by the physical, mental and moral condition of both parents before the conception of the child. these conditions are reflected, often very markedly, in the child, and an avoidance of consideration in this respect is often almost criminal negligence. eugenists deplore the haphazard way in which children are so often conceived. more care is often bestowed upon the conditions precedent to the conception of the domestic animals than is given by their owners to the conditions preceding the conception of their own offspring. too often, while in the case of the domestic animals the utmost care is exercised regarding the arrangement for the breeding of valuable stock, the human offspring are mere "accidents," conceived without intention, forethought, or preparation; and too often is such conception undesired, regretted and unwelcome. this state of affairs is utterly unworthy of civilized man with the knowledge of science at his command, and the intellect and will with which to carry out the plain dictates of reason and duty. nature does her part unhindered in the case of the lower animals, and man should use her principles as a foundation upon which to build a structure which reason and intelligence should supply the materials. instead of this, man too often discards nature's plain rules entirely, and also refuses to use his reason, and, instead, allows himself to be ruled by selfish inclinations and desires, and ignoble motives. to those who may ask: "but why should we give all this time, care and trouble to the young of the race--what is their claim upon us that demands so much of us in return for so little on their part?" the answer is plain. we should do this not alone because of the natural feeling of love for our own offspring which is innate in all normal human beings, but we should also do this because we owe a duty to the race in and which we are units--a duty which demands that we supply to the race the best material, and only the best, for its preservation, continuance, and betterment. the spirit of the age is pointing out the direction indicated by eugenics and scientific birth control. and it is a spirit in which the best mental and spiritual powers of man are called into action. a new consciousness--the "race consciousness"--is awakening within the best of the race, and accompanying it is a new conscience--a "race conscience"--is manifesting within us, and is giving the individual a sense of right and wrong toward future generations, just as his earlier-awakened social conscience has opened his eyes to his duties toward his neighbors. man is beginning to feel that all men are his brothers, and that the future generations of men are in a sense his children. the new ideal of "let us build posterity worthily" has begun to supplant the old narrow idea humorously expressed in the famous bull of sir boyce roche, who said, "why should we do anything for posterity--what has posterity ever done for us?" as dr. saleeby has well said: "if the struggle toward individual perfection be religious, so assuredly is the struggle, less egoistic indeed, toward racial perfection. * * * and they that shall be of us shall build up the old waste places; for we shall raise up the foundations of many generations." and in all this, also, we find ever present the distinctive note of modern thought, viz., "not more children, but better ones; not more births, but less deaths and more survivals; not numerical birth values, but qualitative birth values and numerical survival values." lesson vii pre-natal influences the term "pre-natal" of course means "before birth," and pre-natal influences are those influences exerted upon the child before its birth into the world. the students of eugenics are vitally interested in the subject of pre-natal influences, as they recognize that therein is to be found the secret of much which will work along the line of "better offspring," and general race-betterment. pre-natal influences (as the term is used in the present consideration of the subject) may be considered as manifesting in three phases, as follows: ( ) the influence of the physical, mental, and moral "family characteristics" of the parents, transmitted to the child along the lines of heredity. ( ) the influence of the acquired personal characteristics of the parents (particularly the acquired characteristics which are especially active at and just previous to the time of actual conception), transmitted to the child along the lines of heredity. ( ) the influence of "maternal impressions" (after conception, and during the period of gestation or pregnancy) transmitted to the child physiologically and psychologically. i shall now ask you to proceed with me to a consideration of the various phases of pre-natal influences coming under the above name three general classes, and the principal factors involved therein. heredity in general. by "heredity" is meant "the tendency which there is in each animal or plant, in all essential characters, to resemble its parents"; or "the hereditary transmission of physical or psychical characteristics of parents to their offspring." there is a great disagreement among the authorities as to how far the principle of heredity really extends, and the real causes of heredity are in dispute. in the present consideration we shall, of course, pass over the technical phases of the subject, and shall touch only upon the general features and principles involved. shute, in his work entitled "organic evolution," says: "that an offspring always inherits from its parents many of their characteristics is well known; that it always varies, more or less, from them, is also equally well known. heredity and variation are twin forces that play upon every creature, holding it rigidly true to the parental type or compelling more or less divergence therefrom, according to the strength of the one or other power; so that every creature is the resultant of the activities of these two great parallel forces. variation is co-extensive with heredity, and every living creature gives evidence of the existence of variations. "mental heredity can be illustrated by studying the genealogies of such persons as aristotle, goethe, darwin, coleridge, milton, etc. probably the bach family, of germany, supply one of the best illustrations of the inheritance of intellectual character that we know of. the record of this family begins in , lasting through eight generations to . for about two centuries it gave to the world musicians and singers of high rank. the founder was weit bach, a baker of presburg, who sought recreation from his routine work in song and music. for nearly two hundred years his descendants, who were very numerous in franconia, thuringia, and saxony, retained a musical talent, being all church singers and organists. when the members of the family had become very numerous and widely separated from one another, they decided to meet at a stated place once a year. often more than a hundred persons--men, women, and children--bearing the name of bach were thus brought together. this family reunion continued until nearly the middle of the eighteenth century. in this family of musicians, twenty-nine became eminent. "inheritance of moral character is well known. heredity, in its relation to crime and pauperism, has been thoroughly investigated by mr. dugdale in his most instructive little work entitled "the jukes." in this work the descendants of one vicious and neglected girl are traced through a large number of generations. it reveals that a large proportion of the descendants of this woman became licentious, for, in the course of six generations, fifty-two percent of the children were illegitimate. it shows also that there were seven times more paupers among the women than among the average women of the state, and nine times more paupers among the male descendants than among the average men of the state. the inheritance of physical peculiarities is so obvious as to need no illustration. among the ancients the romans stereotyped its truth by the use of such expressions as 'the labiones' or thick-lipped; 'the nasones,' or big-nosed; 'the capitones,' or big-headed, and 'the buccones,' or swollen-cheeked, etc. in more recent times we read of the austrian lip and the bourbon nose." but in all considerations of the subject of heredity, one must always remember that the inheritance of physical, mental, and moral characteristics is not alone from the immediate parents, but rather from many ancestors further removed in order and time. back of each person there is a long line of paternal and maternal ancestors, extending back to the beginning of the race. and in that line there are influences for good and evil, awaiting favorable environment for awakening into new life unless restrained by the will of the individual. as shute says: "there will come a time when the fertilized ovum will have a highly complex nucleus composed of many different ancestral groups of hereditary units. one often hears the expression that a child is a chip of the old block; but this is only a very partial truth, for the child is pre-eminently a composite chip of many old blocks." and luther burbank has well said: "heredity means much; but what is heredity? not some hideous ancestral spectre, forever crossing the path of a human being. heredity is simply the sum of all the environments of all past generations on the responsive ever-moving life-forces." transmission of acquired characteristics. one of the great disputes of biology is that concerning the question of whether or not parents may transmit to their offspring their personal "acquired characteristics" as well as those inherited from their line of ancestors. one side of the controversy points to the observed cases of children and grandchildren resembling each other, physically, mentally, and morally, in acquired characteristics; but the other side explains these facts as due to environment rather than to heredity. the best authorities seem to favor a middle-view, holding that acquired characteristics may be and are transmitted as "tendencies" in the offspring. thus as each succeeding generation manifests the acquired tendency, it adds a cumulative force to the family heredity. at the same time they hold that "environment" is needed to "draw out" the inherited "tendency." for instance, a child born with evil tendencies, and placed in an evil environment, will most likely manifest evil conduct. the same child, if placed in a good environment, will not have the evil tendencies "drawn out" by the environment, and will probably not manifest evil conduct. the same rule applies to the child drawn with good "tendencies." in short, it is held that heredity and environment tend to balance each other--the "something within" is called out (or not called out) by the "something without." the life of the individual is held to be a continuous action and reaction between heredity and environment, and both of these elements must be taken into consideration when we think of the subject. shute says: "as influencing a man's life and character, which is the strongest factor, heredity or environment?" in our opinion, as the result of long study and reading, where we have an average man of a sound mind in a sound body, there environment will be the strongest factor whether for good or evil--that is, in men in general, who have no organic defect, such as insanity or idiocy, and allied affections, the stronger force is environment; but in those having such defect, heredity is the controlling power, and we may add, the destroying power. the eugenic rule regarding heredity. it is one of the cardinal principles of eugenics that those with a bad family history should not become parents. by this it is not meant that the manifestation of undesirable tendencies, physical, mental, and moral, on the part of certain individuals of a family necessarily constitutes a "bad family history." on the contrary, many of the best families have, from time to time, individuals who manifest undesirable tendencies, and who are in general out of harmony with the general family standard. it is an old axiom that "there is a black sheep in every flock"; and the flock must be measured by its general standard, and not by its exceptional black sheep. a "bad family history" is one in which the family has clearly manifested certain undesirable physical, mental, and moral traits in a marked degree, and in a sufficient number of instances to establish a standard. some families have a "bad family history" for inebriety; others for epilepsy; others for licentiousness; others for dishonesty--the history extending over several generations, and including a marked number of individuals in each generation. individuals of such a family should refrain from bearing children; and if children be born to such the greatest care should be exercised by the parents in the matter of surrounding the child with the environment least calculated to "draw out" the undesirable characteristic. the child has a right to be well born, and to be protected from being brought into the world subjected to the handicap of a "bad family history." if individuals cannot endow their children with a good family history, they should refrain from bearing children--such is the eugenic advice on the subject. the same rule applies to the question of "acquired characteristics" of the parents--especially those acquired characteristics which are especially active at or just before the time of the contemplated conception. though the family history of both husband and wife be ever so good, it is held that if one or both of the parents have acquired undesirable and transmissible characteristics, physical, mental, or moral, then the question of bringing children into the world should be carefully considered, and conscientiously decided, after competent authorities have been consulted concerning the case. the prospective child should always be given the benefit of the doubt in such cases. to bring children into the world merely to gratify personal pleasure or pride, regardless of the welfare of the child, is something utterly unworthy of an intelligent and moral human being. fitness for parenthood. in determining the "fitness" for parenthood, on the part of husband and wife, the mental, physical, and moral qualities should all be taken into consideration. weak or abnormal mentality; chronic immorality or perverted moral sense; or diseased or abnormal physical conditions--these should always be regarded as bars to parenthood. to violate this principle is to deliberately violate the fundamental laws of nature, as well as those principles which are accepted as representing the best thought and customs of the race. a mental, moral, or physical "pervert" or "defective" is manifestly an "unfit," considered as a prospective parent. parenthood on the part of such individuals is not only a crime against society, but always a base injustice perpetrated upon the offspring. a very interesting phase of the general subject now before us for consideration is that which touches upon the effect of those particular acquired characteristics which are especially active at the time, or just before the time of conception. the best authorities hold that the influences manifest and active in the prospective father and mother during the period immediately preceding conception will have a marked effect upon the character of the child. the following quotations from authorities on the subject will serve to illustrate this idea. riddell says: "the transient physical, mental and moral conditions of the parents, prior to the initial of life, at the time of inception, do affect offspring." dr. cowan says: "through the rightly directed wills of the mother and father, preceding and during ante-natal life, the child's form of body, character of mind, and purity of soul are formed and established. that in its plastic shape, during ante-natal life, like clay in the hand of the potter, it can be molded into absolutely any form of body and soul the parents may knowingly desire." newton says: "numerous facts indicate that offspring may be affected and their tendencies shaped by a great variety of influences, among which moods and influences more or less permanent may be included." riddell says: "the influence of environmental conditions and pre-natal training are ever evident. colts from dams that have been under regular training are faster than those from the same mother foaled before she had been trained. the puppies of the trained shepherd dog learn much more rapidly than do those from the untrained animal. no sportsman would think of paying a high price for a puppy, the mother of which was stupid and untrained. the same law applies, only with greater effect, to the human family." greer says: "no married couple will desire, design and love a babe into existence without the first requisite--good physical health." grant allen says: "to prepare ourselves for the duties of maternity and paternity by making ourselves as vigorous and healthful as we can be, is a duty we owe to children unborn." holbrook says: "it is essential, therefore, that if children are to be well-born, the parents should be careful that at the moment of procreation they are fitted for the performance of so serious an act." another authority says: "generation should be preceded by regeneration." cowan says: "in the conception of a new life, the mass of mankind observes no law unless it be the law of chance. out of the licentious or incontinent actions of a husband's nature, conception after a time is discovered to take place. no preparation of body, mind, or soul is made by either parent. not more than one child in perhaps ten thousand is brought into the world with the consent and loving desire of its parents. the other nine thousand, nine hundred, and ninety nine children are endowed with the accumulated sins of the parents. is it any wonder that there is so much sin, sickness, drunkenness, suffering, licentiousness, murder, suicide, and premature death, and so little of purity, chastity, success, goodness, happiness and long life in the world?" preparation for parenthood. the ancient greeks attached great importance to the mental, moral and physical condition of the parents at the moment of conception, and for a period preceding the same. the investigations of modern scientists have tended to corroborate the facts upon which the ancient theories were based. modern science teaches that the life-cells of each parent are impressed with the condition of the respective parents, and retain this impression until they meet and finally coalesce and combine, the combined cell then receiving the result of the original impressions. the best authorities on the subject claim that a reasonable time of self-restraint and continence should be observed by the prospective parents before the conception of the child. this contention is borne out by the experience of the breeders of fine horses and cattle, who have discovered that the best offspring are produced when the animals have been restrained from sexual intercourse for a reasonable time; this precaution being particularly observed in the case of the male parent animal. writers on the subject cite a number of instances to prove that this law maintains in human as well is in animal life. it is claimed that sir isaac newton was conceived after a period of over a year of total sexual abstinence on the part of his parents. many other celebrated men are said to have been conceived after an absence from home on the part of the father, or a temporary absence from home on the part of the mother. many physicians are able to cite many similar cases observed in the course of their own experience. the prospective parents should endeavor to bring themselves up to a high degree of physical health and well-being. the blood of the mother should be enriched by proper nutrition, and the organs of the body should be brought to a state of normal functioning along the lines of digestion, assimilation, and elimination. the minds of both parents should be exercised by reading the right kind of books, and by paying attention to natural objects of interest. a little change of scene will tend to awaken the powers of observation and attention. riddell says: "if the prospective parents will habitually exercise the reasoning faculties and inventive powers, usually the offspring will have a fair degree of inventive talent and originality, even where these qualities are originally deficient in the parents. when there is a considerable natural talent or where there are latent inventive powers, constant training on the part of the parents will usually give the offspring exceptional powers in this direction." the prospective parents should also develop and exercise their moral faculties in the period preceding conception. this course will tend to reproduce the same quality in the child. the reverse of this, alas, is also true. a case is cited of a man who procreated a child while plotting a nefarious crime; and the child in after life manifested a tendency toward theft, roguery and rascality, even at a very early age. the lack of moral fibre so often noticed in the sons of rich men who have attained their success through questionable methods is perhaps as much attributable to these pre-conceptual influences as to the "spoiling" environment of the child after birth. in the period of physical, mental, and moral preparation for parenthood the leading thought of both parents should be: "do we wish our child to be like this?" this thought, if carried as an ideal, will act both in the direction of self-restraint and self-development. the actual time of the conception of the new life should be carefully chosen, so that it may occur under the best circumstances and conditions. the suggestions embodied in the preceding paragraphs should have been carefully observed; and the time chosen should be one in which a peaceful and happy state of mind is possessed by both parents. the ovum of the woman is believed to have its greatest vitality about the time of the close of each menstrual period, and many good authorities hold that this is not only the natural period for sexual intercourse, but is also the exact period in which the life-forces in the ovum are strongest; and that, consequently, the child conceived at this period is likely to be stronger and more vigorous than the one conceived at a later time between the menstrual periods. dr. stall says: "medical authorities attach great importance to the mental condition at the moment of conjunction and conception. it is quite universally believed that this is a moment of unparalleled importance to the welfare of the future being. it is an awful crime to beget life carelessly, and when in improper and unworthy mental states. some people seem to think that the matter of begetting a child, like the matter of selecting a wife, should be left wholly to blind chance. neither of these two important events can be too much safeguarded by wise and thoughtful consideration. if conception is permitted to take place when either one or both of the parents are in bad health; if the wife is an unwilling mother, and the embryo is developed by her while her whole nature rebels against the admission into the family of a child who is not wanted, the children begotten and born under such circumstances can never be other than sickly, nervous and fretful during their entire childhood, and cross and uncompanionable throughout their whole lives. "much of the differences which exist between children of the same parents may be easily attributed to the different bodily and mental conditions of the parents at the period of conjunction, the changed physical, intellectual and emotional states of the parents at the different periods of conception producing the corresponding differences in their offspring. the results of purposed and prepared parenthood are so great and so desirable that a husband and wife should consider these matters carefully, making preparations, and approach the period when they would beget offspring and bring immortal beings into the world with the greatest thoughtfulness, consideration, and also with prayer." dr. hufeland says: "in my opinion, it is of the utmost importance that the moment of conception should be confined to a period when the sensation of collected powers, ardent passion, and a mind cheerful and free from care, invite to it on both sides." riddell says: "the law of initial impressions is well established. it has been understood and applied by stock-raisers for centuries. experiments prove that the qualities most highly excited in animals prior to their union are most fully transmitted. the speed of horses and the acquired characters of the dog have been improved by the applications of the law. history and classic literature contain many references that recognize its importance, like shakespeare's 'come on, ye cowards; ye were got in fear.' ancient laws forbade union while parents were intoxicated, because such unions resulted in the production of drunkards and monstrosities. the asylums for the feeble-minded contain hundreds of unfortunate ones that are the product of such unions. the law of initial impressions, like the other laws of heredity, is traced most easily where morbid conditions are transmitted; but fortunately it is quite as potential in the production of desirable qualities. unusual excitement to the social, intellectual or religious powers on the parents just prior to the inception of the new life frequently produce in the child corresponding tendencies." dr. stockham says: "many a drunkard owes his lifelong appetite for alcohol to the fact that the inception of his life could be traced to a night of dissipation on the part of his father." fleming says: "not only do drunkards transmit to their descendants tendency toward insanity and crime, but even habitually sober parents who at the moment of conception are in a temporary state of drunkenness beget children who are epileptic or paralytic, idiotic or insane, very often microcephalic, or with remarkable weakness of mind, which is transformed at the first favorable occasion into insanity." the time of conception should undoubtedly be chosen to correspond to a time in which the sex-powers of both parents are at their maximum. this is arrived at by a reasonable period of previous continence and abstinence from sexual relations between the married couple, and by an observance of the natural law which renders the woman most strong sexually at the close of the menstrual period. the husband, as well as the wife, is most strong sexually at this period, as under normal conditions his sex-power is most actively called forth by that of the woman at this period. at this period the wave of sex-power is at its height, and this is the best time for the beginning of the new life. as riddell says: "strong, vigorous, chaste sexuality at the time of conception is of supreme importance; it is indispensable to good results. no number of other conditions or factors can be so favorable as to justify the creation of a new life when the vitality of either parent is low. parents transmit their physical constitution, intellect and morals only to the extent of the sex-power at the time of inception." it is needless to say that there should exist between the prospective parents a strong bond of affection and attraction. by an irony of civilized life, the term "love child" is applied only to the offspring of unmarried lovers--men and women whose affection or passion have run away with their judgment, and who have "loved not wisely, but too well." some of the world's greatest men and women have been "love children" of this kind; and in such cases it is probably true that their physical and mental strength has been the result of the ardent feeling animating the parents at the moment of conception. such children seldom result from the "tired bed" or worn-out passion, love killed by sexual excesses, indifference on the part of one of the participants of the union, "duty" intercourse without affection or passion, or forced sexual relations. every child should be a "love child" in the true sense of the term. the term should be one of respect, not of reproach. there should be no children but "love children." the fruit of the perfect mating and marriage should be the perfect "love child"--and it would always be so if husbands and wives would but observe the laws of the normal, natural, sex-life. and, last of all--and perhaps more important than all--is the fact that at the moment of conception the minds and hearts of both of the prospective parents should be united in a strong love and desire for the hoped-for child. at that moment their best natures should blend into each other, and their love for each other fuse into a new love--the love of the child of the union. under such circumstances, in such act the cosmic forces flow unhindered through the beings of the parents, and the new life is begun under the approving smile of nature. maternal impressions. one of the oldest and most firmly-rooted beliefs of the race is that which holds that the pregnant mother may, and often does, consciously or unconsciously, impress upon her unborn child certain mental, moral, or physical traits. the majority of persons accept this idea as self-evident, and are able to cite cases within their own personal experience which go to prove the correctness of the popular belief. but certain modern authorities have sought to tear down this belief, and to discredit the general idea. let us briefly consider both sides of this question. on the side of the generally accepted belief, riddell says: "the more i study the influence of maternal impressions upon the life, mentality and character of men, the more i am led to believe that the education and moral training that a child receives before it sees the light of day are the most influential, and, therefore, the most important part of its education." newton says: "a mother may, during the period of gestation, exercise some influence, by her own voluntary mental and physical action, either unwittingly or purposely, in determining the traits and tendencies of her offspring. this is now a common belief among intelligent people. every observant teacher could doubtless bear witness to the same general facts, and it would be easy to fill a volume with testimonials from various sources illustrative and confirmatory of the law under discussion. such facts establish beyond question the conviction that the mother has it largely in her power to confer on her child such a tendency of mind and conformation of brain as shall not only facilitate the acquisition of knowledge in any specific direction, but make it certain that such knowledge will be sought and acquired." dr. fordyce baker says: "the weight of authority must be conceded to be in favor of the idea that maternal impressions may effect the growth, form and character of a forming child." dr. rokitansky says: "the question whether mental emotions do influence the development of the child must be answered 'yes!'" dr. brittain says: "the singular effects produced on the unborn child by the sudden mental emotions of the mother are remarkable examples of a kind of electrotyping on the sensitive surface of living forms. it is doubtless true that the mind's action in such cases may increase or diminish the molecular deposits in the several portions of the system. the precise place which each separate particle assumes may be determined by the influence of thought or feeling. if, for example, there exists in the mother any unusual tendency of the vital forces to the brain at the critical period, there will be a similar cerebral development and activity in the offspring." newton says: "the human embryo is formed and developed in all its parts, even to the minutest detail, by and through the action of the vital, mental, and spiritual forces of the mother, which forces act in and through the corresponding portions of her own organism. and while this process may go on unconsciously, or without the mother's voluntary participation or direction, yet she may consciously and purposely so direct her activities as, with a good degree of certainty, to accomplish specifically desired ends in determining the traits and qualities of her offspring." professor bayer says: "the influence of the mind of a prospective mother upon her child, before its birth, is of tremendous importance to its active existence as a member of society, from the fact that it lies in the mother's power to shape its mentality, that it may be a power for good or for evil." the views of that school of thought which is opposed to this old and generally accepted idea of material impressions, are ably presented by dr. saleeby, as follows: "consider the case. the baby is at this time already a baby, though rather small and uncanny, floating in a fluid of its own manufacture. its sole connection with the mother is by means of its umbilical cord--that is to say, blood-vessels, arterial and venous. there is no nervous connection whatever; absolutely nothing but the blood-stream, carried along a system of tubes. this blood is the child's blood, which it sends forth from itself along the umbillical cord to a special organ, the placenta or afterbirth, half made by itself and half made by the mother, in which the child's blood travels in thin vessels so close to the mother's blood that their contents can be interchanged. yet the two streams never mix. the child's blood, having disposed of its carbonic acid and waste products to the mother's blood, and having received therefrom oxygen and food, returns so laden to the child. pray how is the mother's reading of history to make the child a historian? we see now how the learning of geometry on the part of the mother before its birth will not set her baby upon that royal road to geometry of which euclid rightly denied the existence--any more than after its birth. such a thing does not happen--unless we are to call in telepathy." all this argument may seem quite convincing--at first. but when we begin to consider the matter carefully, we begin to perceive the weak places in the argument as above presented. in the first place, it is known that emotions powerfully affect the condition, quality, and "life" of the blood. we know that cheerful emotions impart certain uplifting qualities to the blood, while depressing emotions correspondingly react upon it. fear, worry, fright, jealousy, etc., are actual poisons to the blood, and have brought on diseased conditions to the persons manifesting these emotions. moreover, it is known that impaired quality of the blood reacts upon the brain. is it so unreasonable, then, to hold that emotional states in the mother may react upon the mental and physical condition of the unborn child, through the blood? does not something similar occur in the case of the babe, after its birth, when it is affected by the conditions of its mother's milk brought on by her depressing emotions, fright, etc.? this would seem to explain at least the matter of emotional reactions between mother and unborn babe. but the case is not closed with the presentation of the evidence of physiology, important though that may be. there is an entirely different field of science to be drawn upon before the case is closed. the orthodox physiologist makes the mistake of supposing that all mental impulses and transmission of psychic energy require the service of nerves as channels of transmission. while such channels are usually required, we have good reasons for believing that there are exceptions to the rule. there have been found tiny creatures, possessing life and energy, performing the functions of nourishment, elimination, and even of reproduction--and yet without a nervous system. in one well-known instance, that of the moneron, we find not only an absence of a nervous system but also the lack of organs of any kind--and yet the creature lives, acts, moves, eats, thinks, and reproduces itself. then, again, consider the moving cells of the blood, unconnected with the brain, unattached to the nervous system, and yet rushing to the work of repairing a wound, or of repelling an intruding germ, in obedience to a mental command from the controlling subconscious mental regions of the living creature. how does the mental impulse reach these cells and others of similar nature in the system? if we were not so sure of the facts, might we not feel inclined to say with dr. saleeby, in the above quoted sentence: "such a thing does not happen--unless we are to call in telepathy." moreover, examining dr. saleeby's statement, we see mention made of the placenta at being "half made by the embryo, and half made by the mother." how does this co-operation and co-ordination of effort and subconscious will arise? how does the subconscious mentality of the embryo know that the subconscious mentality of the mother is making its half of the placenta, or vice versa? again, how is the subconscious mentality of the mother affected by the presence and development of the child--how do her mammary glands respond to the growth and development of the child? in short, how is the manifest co-operation and co-ordination between the "nature" of the mother and the "nature" of the child possible, unless there exists some psychical, as well as some physical, relation between the two beings. the person conscientiously considering this subject must include in his thought the discoveries of modern psychology concerning what is known as the "subconscious mind," which controls the unconscious and instinctive functions of the physical body, and also receives impressions and suggestions from the surface consciousness of its owner. this factor being admitted to our thought on the subject, we may find it possible to accept the idea of material impressions from mother to child operating from the subconscious mind of the mother to that of the child. in other words, that there is a subconscious mental connection, as well as the physical connection, between the mother and her unborn child. many careful thinkers (and observers) find it just as easy to accept the fact of this strange "sympathetic co-ordination" between a mother and her unborn child as it is to accept the very frequent "sympathetic sickness" of the husband during the pregnancy of his wife--or of the "sympathetic labor pains" so often experienced by the husband during the confinement of his wife. both of the latter two cases occur too often to permit the phenomenon to be denied off hand by those who would set aside all facts not agreeing with their particular personal theories. there is no nervous system connecting husband and wife, and of such cases the critic like dr. saleeby might say: "such a thing does not happen--unless we call in telepathy!" the fact remains that many things actually happen which according to the orthodox physiological theories "cannot happen." but they do happen, nevertheless, whether we call it "telepathy" or merely label it "certain facts, the exact causes of which science in the present state of its knowledge (or ignorance) cannot definitely determine." one irrefutable fact outweighs a ton of mere general denials of possibility. it is recorded that the mother of charles kingsley believed in maternal impressions, and during her period of pregnancy exercised her imagination and emotions in the direction of wishing, and imagining, that the coming child should have the same love of devonshire scenery that so delighted her. the result proved her theory, for though kingsley never saw devonshire until he was a man of thirty years of age, every devonshire scene had a mysterious charm for him throughout his entire life. it is said that robert burns was so strongly impressed parentally by the old scotch songs and ballads that his mother sung during her pregnancy, that his whole nature longed to express itself in like measure and substance. he always believed that his poetic spirit was kindled by this tendency on the part of his mother during the period preceding his birth. the mother of napoleon bonaparte during several months of her pregnancy, accompanied her husband during his military campaigns in corsica, and during the entire term she lived in an atmosphere of battles, military strategy, and troops. when the boy was very young he manifested an unusual interest in war and conquest, and his whole mind had the military bent, although his brothers were in no wise remarkable in this direction. the artist, flaxman, stated that his mother had related to him how for several months prior to his birth she had spent many hours each day studying drawings and engravings, and endeavoring to visualize by memory the beautiful figures of the human body drawn by the masters. the result was that from early childhood flaxman manifested an intense delight in drawing; and in after life his drawings were regarded as masterpieces. he, and his mother, always attributed his talent to the parental impressions above mentioned. "buffalo bill" was believed to owe his characteristics to the mental states of his mother, the family living in missouri during the days of frontier fights and disturbances, the mother being called upon several times to exercise resourceful courage and fortitude. a well-known worker along the lines of liberal christianity is said to have attributed his tendencies in that direction to the prayers of his mother, during her pregnancy, that the child might be true to the teachings of the christ, and should be a laborer in the cause of human brotherhood. this man, relating the fact, said: "i may have been converted before i was born." a well-known writer along the lines of moral philosophy is believed by friends to owe his talent to the earnest thoughts and hopes of his mother during pregnancy--she is said to have pictured the child as a son destined to become a great moral philosopher, her mind being so firmly fixed on this fact that she felt it was already an assured fact. the greeks were wont to surround the pregnant women with beautiful statuary, and it is recorded that in many cases the children afterward born closely resembled these works of art and beauty. it is claimed that many italian women closely resemble the face shown in raphael's "madonna," copies of this celebrated picture being quite common in italian households. frances willard, the temperance worker, is said to have very closely resembled a young woman of whom her mother was very fond. many family resemblances are believed to have arisen in this way, rather than by heredity. zerah colburn, the mathematical prodigy whose feats astounded the scientific world in the early part of the last century, is said to have derived his wonderful faculty from maternal impressions of this kind; his mother is said to have occupied much of her time during her pregnancy in studying arithmetic and working problems, the study being quite new to her and proving very interesting. cases similar to those above quoted might be duplicated almost indefinitely. the story is practically the same in each and every case. the principle involved is always that the pregnant mother took a decided interest in certain subjects, studies, and work, and that the child when born manifested at an early age similar tastes and inclinations. but far more important to the average prospective parent is the fact that many authorities positively claim that any pregnant mother may consciously and deliberately influence and shape the character, physical, mental, and moral of her unborn child. newton well says, on this subject: "in the cases usually given to the public bearing on this topic, the moulding power appears to have been exercised merely by accident or chance; that is, without any intelligent purpose on the part of mothers to produce the results. can there be any doubt that similar means, if purposely and wisely adopted, and applied with the greater care and precision which enlightened intention secure, would produce under the same law even more perfect results. is it not altogether probable that an intentional direction of the vital or mental forces to any particular portion of the brain will cause a development and activity in the corresponding portion of the brain of the offspring? there seems to be no reasonable ground on which these propositions can be denied. the brain is made up of a congeries of organs which are the organs of distinct faculties of the mind or soul. it follows, then, that if the mother during gestation maintains a special activity of any one brain organ, or group of organs, in her brain, she thereby causes more development of the corresponding organ or group in the brain of the fetus. she thus determines a tendency in the child to special activity of the faculties, of which such organs are the instruments. it is plain, furthermore, that if any one organ or faculty may thus be cultivated before birth, and its activity enhanced for life, so may any other--and so may all. it would seem, then, clearly within the bounds of possibility that a mother, by pursuing a systematic and comprehensive method, may give a well-rounded and harmoniously developed organism to her child--notwithstanding her own defects, which, under the unguided operation of hereditary law, are likely to be repeated in her offspring. or it is within her power to impart a leading tendency in any specific direction that she may deem desirable, for a life of the highest usefulness. in this way ancestral defects and undesirable hereditary traits, of whatever nature or however strong, may be overcome, or in a good degree counterbalanced by giving greater activity to counteracting tendencies; and, in this way, too, it would appear the coveted gifts of genius may be conferred. in other words, it would seem to be within the mother's power, by the voluntary and intelligent direction of her own forces, in orderly and systematic methods, both to mold the physical form to lines of beauty, and shape the mental, moral, and spiritual features of her child to an extent to which no limit can be assigned." i think that in the pages of this particular part of the book the prospective parent may find hints and general directions toward a clearly defined ideal, which is carefully studied, and as carefully put into practice will produce results far beyond the dreams of the average man and woman. the hope is a magnificent one, and the best testimony is in favor of the possibility of its actual realization. lesson viii eugenics and character the rapidly growing interest in eugenics, and the scientific consideration of the world-wide decline in the birth-rate have drawn attention to the study of the eugenic factors which determine the production of high ability in offspring. many distinguished investigators have conducted long and exhaustive investigations for the purpose of ascertaining and summarizing all possible biological data concerning the parentage and birth of the most notable persons born in european countries, and to a lesser extent in america. the investigations are now acquiring a fresh importance, because, while it is becoming recognized that we are gaining a control over the conditions of birth, the production of children has itself gained an importance. the world is no longer to be bombarded by an exuberant stream of babies, good, bad, and indifferent in quality, with mankind to look on calmly at the struggle for existence among them. whether we like it or not, the quantity is steadily diminishing, and the question of quality is beginning to assume a supreme significance. the question then is being anxiously asked: "what are the conditions which assure the finest quality in our children?" a german scientist, dr. vaerting, of berlin, published just before the war a treatise on the subject of the most favorable age in parents for the production of offspring of ability. he treated the question in an entirely new spirit, not merely as a matter of academic discussion, but rather as a practical matter of vital importance to the welfare of modern society. he starts by asserting that "our century has been called the century of the child," and that for the child all manner of rights are now being claimed. but, he wisely adds, there is seldom considered the prime right of all the child's rights, i. e., the right of the child to the best ability and capacity for efficiency that his parents are able to transmit to him. the good doctor adds that this right is the root of all children's rights; and that when the mysteries of procreation have been so far revealed as to enable this right to be won, we shall, at the same time renew the spiritual aspect of the nations. the writer referred to decided that the most easily ascertainable and measurable factor in the production of ability, and efficiency in offspring, and a factor of the greatest significance, is the age of the parents at the child's birth. he investigated a number of cases of men of ability and efficiency, along these lines, and made a careful summary of his results. some of his results are somewhat startling, and may possibly require the corroboration of other investigators before they can be accepted as authoritative; but they are worthy of being carefully considered at the present time, pending such further investigation. vaerting found that the fathers who were themselves not notably intellectual have a decidedly more prolonged power of procreating distinguished children than is possessed by distinguished fathers. the former may become the fathers of eminent children from the period of sexual maturity up to the age of forty-three or beyond. when, however, the father is himself of high intellectual distinction, the records show that he was nearly always under thirty, and usually under twenty-five years of age at the time of the birth of his distinguished son, although the proportion of youthful fathers in the general population is relatively small. the eleven youngest fathers on vaerting's list, from twenty-one to twenty-five years of age, were with one exception themselves more or less distinguished; while the fifteen oldest, from thirty-nine to sixty years of age, were all without exception undistinguished. among the sons on the latter list are to be found much greater names (such as goethe, bach, kant, bismarck, wagner, etc.) than are to be found among the sons of young and more distinguished fathers, for here is only one name (frederick the great) of the same caliber. the elderly fathers belonged to the large cities, and were mostly married to wives very much younger than themselves. vaerting notes that the most eminent men have frequently been the sons of fathers who were not engaged in intellectual avocations at all, but earned their living as humble craftsmen. he draws the conclusion from these data that strenuous intellectual energy is much more unfavorable than hard physical labor to the production of marked ability in the offspring. intellectual workers, therefore, he argues, must have their children when young, and we must so modify our social ideals and economic conditions as to render this possible. vaerting, however, holds that the mother need not be equally young; he finds some superiority, indeed, provided the father is young, in somewhat elderly mothers, and there were no mothers under twenty-three on the list. the rarity of genius among the offspring of distinguished parents he attributes to the unfortunate tendency to marry too late; and he finds that the distinguished men who marry late rarely have any children at all. speaking generally, and apart from the production of genius, he holds that women have children too early, before their psychic development is completed, while men have children too late, when they have already "in the years of their highest psychic generative fitness planted their most precious seed in the mud of the street." the eldest child was found to have by far the best chance of turning out distinguished, and in this fact vaerting finds further proof of his argument. the third son has the next best chance, and then the second, the comparatively bad position of the second being attributed to the too brief interval which often follows the birth of the first child. he also notes that of all the professions the clergy come beyond comparison first as the parents of distinguished sons (who are, however, rarely of the highest degree of eminence), lawyers following, while officers in the army and physicians scarcely figure at all. vaerting is inclined to see in this order, especially in the predominance of the clergy, the favorable influence of an unexhausted reserve of energy and a habit of chastity on intellectual procreativeness. it should be remembered, however, that vaerting's cases on his list were all those of germans, and, therefore, the influence of the characteristic social customs and conditions of the german people must be taken into account in the consideration. havelock ellis in his well known work "study of british genius" dealt on a still larger scale, and with a somewhat more precise method, with many of the same questions as illustrated by british cases. after the publication of vaerting's work, ellis re-examined his cases, and rearranged his data. his results, like those of the german authority, showed a special tendency for genius to appear in the eldest child, though there was no indication of notably early marriage in the parents. he also found a similar predominance of the clergy among the fathers, and a similar deficiency of army officers and physicians. ellis found that the most frequent age of the father was thirty-two years, but that the average age of the father at the distinguished child's birth was . years; and that when the fathers were themselves distinguished their age was not, as vaerting found in germany, notably low at the birth of their distinguished sons, but higher than the general average, being . years. he found fifteen distinguished sons of distinguished british fathers, but instead of being nearly always under thirty and usually under twenty-five, as vaerting found it in germany, the british distinguished father has only five times been under thirty, and among these only twice under twenty-five. moreover, precisely the most distinguished of the sons (francis bacon and william pitt) had the oldest fathers, and the least distinguished sons the youngest fathers. ellis says of his general conclusions resulting from this investigation: "i made some attempts to ascertain whether different kinds of genius tend to be produced by fathers who were at different periods of life. i refrained from publishing the results as i doubted whether the numbers dealt with were sufficiently large to carry any weight. it may, however, be worth while to record them, as possibly they are significant. i made four classes of men of genius: ( ) men of religion, ( ) poets, ( ) practical men, ( ) scientific men and sceptics. (it must not, of course, be supposed that in this last group all the scientific men were sceptics, or all the sceptics scientific.) the average age of the fathers at the distinguished son's birth was, in the first group, years; in the second and third group, years; and in the last group, years. (it may be noted, however, that the youngest father of all the history of british genius, aged sixteen, produced napier, who introduced logarithms.) "it is difficult not to believe that as regards, at all events, the two most discrepant groups, the first and last, we come upon a significant indication. it is not unreasonable to suppose that in the production of men of religion in whose activity emotion is so potent a factor, the youthful age of the father should prove favorable; while for the production of genius of a more coldly intellectual and analytic type more elderly fathers are demanded. if that should prove to be so, it would become a source of happiness to religious parents to have their children early, while irreligious parents should be advised to delay parentage. "it is scarcely necessary to remark that the age of the mothers is probably quite as influential as that of the fathers. concerning the mothers, however, we always have less precise information. my records, so far as they go, agree with vaerting's for german genius, in indicating that an elderly mother is more likely to produce a child of genius than a very youthful mother. there were only fifteen mothers recorded under twenty-five years of age, while thirteen were over thirty-nine years; the most important age for mothers was twenty-seven. "on all these points we certainly need controlling evidence from other countries. thus, before we insist with vaerting that an elderly mother is a factor in the production of genius, we may recall that even in germany the mothers of goethe and nietzsche were both eighteen at their distinguished son's birth. a rule which permits of such tremendous exceptions scarcely seems to bear the strain of emphasis." the student, however, must always remember that while the study of genius and exceptionable talent is highly interesting, and even, as is quite probable, not without significance for the general laws of heredity, still we must beware of too hastily drawing conclusions from it to bear on the practical questions of eugenics. genius is rare--and, in a certain sense, abnormal. laws meant for application to the general population must be based on a study of the general population. vaerting, himself, realized how inadequate it was to confine our study to cases of genius. another investigator, marro, an italian scientist, in his well-known book on puberty which was published several years ago, brought forth some interesting data showing the result of the age of the parents on the moral and intellectual characters of school-children in northern italy. he found that children with fathers below twenty-six at their birth showed the maximum of bad conduct and the minimum of good; they also yielded the greatest proportion of children of irregular, troublesome, or lazy character, but not of really perverse children--the latter being equally distributed among fathers of all ages. the largest number of cheerful children belonged to the young fathers, while the children tended to become more melancholy with ascending age of the fathers. young fathers produced the largest number of intelligent, as well as of troublesome children; but when the very exceptional intelligent children were considered separately, they were found to be more usually the offspring of elderly fathers. as regarded the mothers, marro found that the children of young mothers (under twenty-one) are superior, both as regards conduct and intelligence, though the more exceptionally intelligent children tended to belong to more mature mothers. when the parents were both in the same age-groups, the immature and the elderly groups tended to produce more children who were unsatisfactory, both as regards conduct and intelligence--the intermediate group yielding the most satisfactory results of this kind. havelock ellis makes the following plea for further investigations along these lines, in the interest of the well-being of the race: "but we have need of inquiries made on a more wholesale and systematic scale. they are no longer of a merely speculative character. we no longer regard children as the 'gifts of god' flung into our helpless hands; we are beginning to realize that the responsibility is ours to see that they come into the world under the best conditions, and at the moments when their parents are best fitted to produce them. vaerting proposes that it should be the business of all school authorities to register the ages of the pupils' parents. this is scarcely a provision to which even the most susceptible parent could reasonably object, though there is no cause to make the declaration compulsory where a 'conscientious' objection existed, and in any case the declaration would not be public. "it would be an advantage--although this might be more difficult to obtain--to have the date of the children's marriage, and of the birth of previous children, as well as some record of the father's standing in his occupation. but even the ages of the parents alone would teach us much when correlated with the school position of the pupil in intelligence and conduct. it is quite true that there are unavoidable fallacies. we are not, as in the case of genius, dealing with people whose life-work is complete and open to the whole world's examination. "the good and clever child is not necessarily the forerunner of the first-class man or woman; and many capable and successful men have been careless in attendance at lectures, and rebellious to discipline. moreover, the prejudice and limitations of the teachers have to be recognized. yet when we are dealing with millions most of these fallacies would be smoothed out. we should be, once for all, in a position to determine authoritatively the exact bearing of one of the simplest and most vital factors of the betterment of the race. we should be in possession of a new clue to guide us in the creation of the man in the coming world. why not begin today?" considerable attention on the part of the american thinking public has been directed toward the investigations and researches of casper l. redfield. mr. redfield combats the orthodox scientific position that the acquired qualities are not transmitted to offspring; and he most positively states that such characteristics are transmitted to offspring, and are really the causes which have tended toward the evolution and progress of the race. but he insists upon this vital point, namely, that the parent must already have acquired improved quality before he can transmit improvement to the offspring--and that before he can have acquired this improved quality, he must have lived sufficiently long to have experienced the causes which have developed improvement in himself. consequently, he holds that delayed parentage produces great men. mr. redfield several years ago offered a prize of two hundred dollars to anyone who could show that a single one of the great men of history was the product of a succession of young parents, or was produced by a line of ancestry represented by more than three generations to a century. but no one ever claimed the prize money. according to mr. redfield's doctrine, race improvement is and will be accomplished as the result of effort, physical and mental, upon the part of prospective parents, particularly if the period of effort is sustained over a considerable number of years previous to reproduction. the following quotations from mr. redfield's writing will give a general idea of his lines of thought and his theories. he says: "at some time in the past there was a common ancestor for man and the ape. at that time the mental ability of the man was the same as that of the ape, because at that time man and the ape were the same person. from that common ancestor there have been derived two main lines of descent, one leading to man and the other to the ape of today. in the line leading to man, mental ability has increased little by little so that today the mental ability of the man is far above that of the ape. while it may not be literally true for each and every generation between that common ancestor and man of the present time, still we will commit no error if we divide the total increase in mental ability by the number of intervening generations and say that each generation in turn was a little superior to that which produced it. now it happens that mental ability is something which is inherited--is transmitted from parent to offspring. take that fact with the fact that there has been a regular (or irregular) increase in mental ability in the generations leading to man, and it will be seen that each generation in succession transmitted to its offspring more than it inherited from its parents. but a parent cannot transmit something which he did not have. where and how did those generations get that ability which they transmitted but did not inherit?" mr. redfield in his writings shows that what is true of the human race is true of high-bred domesticated animals, namely, the cow of high milk producing breeds; the fast running and trotting horses; and the highly developed hunting dogs. to each case he applies his question: "where and how did those generations of animals get that power which they transmitted but did not inherit?" in his investigations he claims to have discovered the secret, namely, that the ancestors, throughout several generations, had each acquired the power which it transmitted, which added to the inherited power raised the general power of the stock. this arose from careful breeding, and directly from the fact that the average age of the parent was much higher in the highly-bred stock than in the "scrub" or ordinary run of stock. in other words, delayed parentage produced better offspring. mr. redfield proceeds to argue from these facts as follows: "at one time man and ape reproduced at the same average age, whereas now they reproduce at widely different ages. going back to the time when man and ape separated, our ancestors survived by physical and mental activity in securing food and escaping from enemies. as time went on man reproduced at later and later average age until now he reproduces at about thirty years from birth of parent to birth of offspring. when time between generations stretched out in the man line more than it did in the ape line, the man acquired more mental development before he reproduced than did the ape, and he did this because he was mentally active more years before reproducing. the successive generations leading to modern man transmitted to offspring more than they inherited from their parents, and the generations which did this are the same generations which acquired, before reproducing, the identical thing which they transmitted in excess of inheriting. "coming now to those rare men of whom we have only a few in a century, how were they produced? it should be noted that each one had two parents, four grandparents, and eight great-grandparents. also that they are certainly improvements over their great-grandparents. if they were not such improvements, then there would be many 'rare' cases in a century. in looking into the pedigrees of these great men it is found that they were sons of parents of nearly all ages, but were predominantly sons of elderly parents. while we sometimes find comparatively young parents in the pedigree of a great man, we never find a succession of young parents. neither do we find an intellectually great man produced by a pedigree extending over three generations. the great man is produced only when the average for three generations is on the elderly side of what is normal. the average age of one thousand fathers, grandfathers, and great-grandfathers in the pedigrees of eminent men was found to be over forty years. great men rise from ordinary stock only when several generations in succession acquire mental efforts in excess amounts before reproducing." it is the opinion of the present writer that the theories of mr. redfield are in the main true, and that in the future much valuable information will be obtained along the same lines, which will tend to corroborate his general conclusions. one's attention needs but to be plainly directed to the matter, and then he will see that it is absurd to think of a creature transmitting to his offspring qualities which neither he or his mate had inherited or acquired. if there were no transmission of acquired qualities there would be no improvement--and in fact, we know that the bulk of inherited qualities were at some time in the history of the race "acquired." and, reasoning along the same line, we may see that the young parents who have not had as yet an opportunity to acquire mental power cannot expect to transmit it to their offspring--all that they can do is to transmit the inherited stock qualities plus the small acquired power which they have gained in their limited experience. and, finally, it is seen that offspring produced at a riper age of parenthood, continued over several generations, tend toward unusual ability and powers. consequently, the people or nation with a higher average age of parenthood may logically expect to attain greater mental powers than the peoples lacking that quality. and what is true of a people or nation is of course true of a particular family. the subject touched upon in this part of our book is one of the greatest interest to careful students of eugenics; and is one which calls for careful and unprejudiced consideration from all persons having the interest of the race at heart. lesson ix the determination of sex the term "the determination of sex" is employed in two general senses in scientific circles. the first usage is that of the biologist, and it includes within its scope merely the discovery and understanding of the causes which determine whether the embryo shall develop into a male or into a female. in the discussion of the subject from this standpoint there is but little, if any, attention given to the question of whether the sex of the unborn child may be determined by methods under the control of man. the biologist simply studies the causes which seem to lead to the production of an individual of one or the other sex, without regard to whether these causes, when discovered, may or may not be amendable to human control. an authority, speaking of this standpoint concerning the question referred to, says: "we may discover the causes of storms or earthquakes, and when our knowledge of them is sufficiently advanced we may be able to predict them as successfully as astronomers predict eclipses, but there is little hope that we shall ever be able to control them. so it may be with sex; a complete understanding of the causes which determine it may not necessarily give us the power of producing one or the other sex at will, or even of predicting the sex in any given case. whether we shall ever be able to influence the causes of sex-determination cannot as yet be foretold; at present, biologists are engaged in the less practical, but immensely interesting, problem, of discovering what those causes are." the second usage of the term, includes and embraces the idea of the voluntary determination or control of the sex of the future child, by means of certain methods or certain systems of treatment, etc. of recent years, science has been devoting considerable attention to the question of whether or not man may not be able to produce any particular sex at will, by means of certain systems or methods of procedure. many theories have been evolved, and many plans and methods have been advocated, often with the expenditure of much energy and enthusiasm on the part of the promulgators and their adherents. in this lesson there will be briefly presented to you the general consensus of modern thought on the subject, with a general outline of the favorite methods and systems advocated by the several schools of thought concerned in the investigation. professor doncaster, the well-known authority on the subject, says: "but little progress has been made in the direction of predicting the sex of any child, and, if possible, even less in artificially influencing the determination of its sex. when the general principles arrived at are borne in mind, it must be confessed that the prospects of our ever attaining this power of control or even of prediction are not very hopeful, but the possibility of it cannot be yet regarded as entirely excluded. the general conclusions arrived at are that sex is determined by a physiological condition of the embryonic cells, that this condition is induced, at least in the absence of disturbing causes, by the presence of a particular sex-chromosome. [a "chromosome" is a portion of the chromatin, or substance characteristic of the nucleus of the cell, this nucleus seemingly controlling the life-processes of the cell.] but there is evidence, which for the present at least cannot be neglected, that certain extraneous conditions acting on the egg or early embryo may perhaps be able to counteract the effect of sex chromosome. "quite generally, then, there are two conceivable methods by which the sex might be artificially influenced in any particular case; firstly, if means could be found of ensuring that any particular fertilized ovum received the required chromosomes; and, secondly, by the discovery of methods which always effect the ovum or embryo in such a way as to produce the desired sex. many suggestions for applying both methods have been made, some of which have attained considerable notoriety, but hitherto none of them has stood the test of practical experience. in the case of the higher animals, especially of the mammals, in which the embryo develops in the maternal uterus until long after the sex is irrevocably decided, it is obviously difficult to apply methods which might influence the sex after fertilization, even if it were certainly known that such methods were ever really effective. "apart from the few experiments like those of hertwig on rearing tadpoles at different temperatures, there have been a very few cases in which there is even a suggestion that the sex of the fertilized egg can be modified by environment, and the belief that this is possible has been entirely abandoned by many of the leading investigators of the subject. it is probable, therefore, that if it will ever be possible to predict or determine artificially the sex of a particular child, the means will have to be sought in some method of influencing the output of germ-cells in such a way that one kind is produced rather than the other. it is in this way that heape and others interpret the results of their investigations; they find that certain conditions affect the sex-ratio of cells, and they explain the result by assuming that under some circumstances male-determining ova are produced in excess, and under other circumstances, female-determining." professor rumley dawson holds to the opinion that the male-determining and female-determining ova are discharged alternately from the ovaries. in woman one ovum is usually discharged each month, and it is maintained that on one month the ovum is male-determining, and in the next, female-determining. it is obvious that exceptions must occur, for boy and girl twins are quite common, but if the cases which support the hypothesis are taken by themselves, and the exceptions explained away, it is possible to make out a strong case in favor of this theory. some authorities hold that the right ovary produces male-determining ova, and the left ovary female-determining, and that the two ovaries discharge an ovum alternately, but an impartial examination of the evidence for this belief shows that it rests on very slender foundations. experiments on the lower animals have shown that after the complete removal of one ovary the female may produce young of both sexes. women, also, have produced children of a particular sex after the corresponding ovary has been removed, and it is hardly possible to believe that the removal in all these cases was incomplete. on the whole it must be concluded that the theory is insufficiently supported by the evidence. another widely promulgated and vigorously supported theory is that which holds that the sex of the future child may be determined by specific nutrition of the mother before conception, and in some cases after conception. schenk's theory, advanced about , attracted much attention at the time. he based his method on the observation that a number of women whose children were all girls all excreted sugar in their urine, such as happens in the case of persons affected with diabetes. from this he suspected that the physiological condition which leads to the excretion of sugar was inimical to the development of male-determining ova, and that males could be produced by its prevention. he therefore recommended that those who desire a male child should undergo treatment similar to that prescribed for diabetes for two or three months before conception, and held that a boy would be produced by these methods. although this method has had considerable vogue, it cannot be held to have been established on a scientific basis. doncaster says "the general conclusion with regard to man must therefore be that if sex is determined solely by the spermatozoon there is no hope either of influencing or predicting it in special cases. on the other hand, there is considerable evidence that the ovum has some share in the effect, and if this is so, before any practical results are reached it will be necessary to discover which of two conceivable causes of sex-determination is the true one. it is possible that there are two kinds of ova, as well as two kinds of spermatozoa, and that there is a selective fertilization of such a kind that one kind of spermatozoon only fertilizes one kind of ovum, the second kind of spermatozoon the second kind of ovum. if this should prove to be the case, it is possible that means might be found of influencing or predicting that kind of ovum which is discharged under any set of conditions. secondly, it is possible that the ova are potentially all alike, but that their physiological condition may under some circumstances be so altered that the sex is determined independently of the spermatozoon. * * * it is hardly possible to avoid the conclusion that the sex of the offspring may be influenced, at least under certain circumstances, by the mother. the search for means of influencing the sex of the offspring through the mother is not of necessity doomed to failure. no results of a really positive kind have been obtained hitherto, and some of the facts point so clearly to sex-determination by the male germ-cell alone in man and other animals that many investigators have concluded that the quest is hopeless; but until an adequate explanation has been given of certain phenomena discovered in the investigation of the subject, it seems more reasonable to maintain an open mind, and to regard the control of sex in man as an achievement not entirely impossible of realization." another writer on the subject has said: "every individual among the higher animals, whether male or female, begins as an impregnated ovum in the mother's body. any such ovum contains elements of constitution from both of its parents. in the earliest existence of this impregnated ovum, there is a season of sexual indifference, or indecision, in which the embryo is both male and female, having the characteristic rudiments of each sex, only indifferently manifested. in this stage, the embryo is susceptible of being influenced by external conditions to develop more strongly in the one or the other direction and thus become distinctly and permanently male or female. it is evident that this is the season in the development of the individual in which influencing conditions and causes must operate in deciding its sex, although it is possible in some of the lower animals to alter the tendency of sex in the embryo from one sex to the other, even after it has been quite definitely determined. it is well established, in fact, that differences do not come from a difference in the ova themselves; that is, there is not one kind of ova from the female which becomes female, while other ova become male, for it is possible to alter the tendency toward the one sex or the other after the ovum has been fertilized and the embryo has begun its career of development. this possible change in sex tendency in the embryo also proves that sex is not decided by a difference in the spermatozoa; that is some of the sperm cells from the father are not male, while others are female, in their constitution. "it is incorrect to suppose, as has been held by some theorists, that one testicle give rise to male spermatozoa and the other to female spermatozoa, for both male and female offspring have been produced from the same male parent after one testicle or the other has been removed. the same is true in cases in which either ovary has been removed from the mother; that is, male and female offspring are produced from mothers in whom either ovary has been removed. in like manner, the sex of offspring is shown not to be materially affected by the comparative vigor of the parents; thus, a stronger father than mother does not necessarily produce one sex to the exclusion of the other. these negative decisions are important because they simplify the solution of the problem of sex-determination, by excluding, more or less fully, various causes which have been supposed to operate quite forcibly in deciding the sex of offspring. some of the more positive agencies that enter into the determination of sex are found ( ) in the influence of nutrition upon the embryo during its indifferent stage of sexual development, and ( ) in the constitution and general condition of the mother before and during the early stages of pregnancy. these two factors appear to enter more fully than any others in the decision of the sex in offspring, and deserve the greatest consideration. the influence of food in supplying the embryo with nourishment for its development is, perhaps, the most potent of these determining causes." investigators along the line of theory indicated in the above last quotation, i. e., the theory of sex determination by means of nourishment of the mother and embryo, have presented a volume of reports which demand respectful consideration. the general report may be said to be the discovery that abundant nourishment during the period of sexual neutrality tends to produce females; while lack of abundant nutrition during such period tends to produce males. these experiments, of course, have been chiefly performed upon the lower animals. the frog has been a favorite subject of such experiments--the tadpole stage being the one selected, because in that stage there exists a lack of sex, the stage being one of sex neutrality. professor yung's celebrated experiments will illustrate this class of experiments. here were chosen tadpoles, which when left to themselves manifested a ratio of prospective females to prospective males. these were divided into three classes of tadpoles each. each class was then fed upon one of several kinds of nutritious diet in order to ascertain the change in sex-tendency due to such food. the first set, with an original ratio of femaleness of to , were fed abundantly on beef, and the ratio of femaleness was changed to to . the second class, with a ratio of femaleness of to , were fed on fish (specially nourishing to frogs), and the ratio changed to to . the third class, with a ratio of to , were fed upon a still more nutritious diet (i. e., that of frogs' flesh), and the ratio was raised to to . in short, the experiments showed that the increase of nourishment in diet changed every two out of three male-tendency tadpoles into females. the experiment was held to prove that a rich diet, affording nourishment, during the period of sexual neutrality in the embryo, tended to develop femaleness. the advocates of this theory also point to the instance of the bees. with the bees, the larva of ordinary worker-bees are fed ordinary food, and do not develop sex; while the larva which is intended to produce the queen-bee is fed specially nutritious "royal food," and consequently develops larger size and full female sex powers. if the queen is killed, or dies, the hive of bees proceeds to produce a new queen by means of feeding a selected larva with the "royal food" and thus developing full femaleness in it. it is said by some authorities that in cases in which some other of the larva accidently receive, through mistake, crumbs of the "royal food," they, too, grow to an extraordinary size, and develop fertility. this fact is held by the advocates of the nutrition theory to go toward establishing the fact that abundant nourishment of the embryo, during the neutral stage, tends to produce femaleness in it. they also claim that caterpillars which are very poorly nourished before entering into the chrysalis stage usually develop into male butterflies, while those highly nourished in the said stage tend to become females. experiments on sheep have shown that when the ewes are particularly well nourished the offspring will show a large proportion of females. a writer, favoring the theory in question, says: "in general, it is reasonable to infer that the higher sexual organization which constitutes the female is to be attained in the greatest number of cases by embryos which have superior vital conditions during the formative period. among human beings, some facts of general observation become significant in the light of the foregoing inferences. after epidemics, after wars, after seasons of privation and distress, the tendency is toward a majority of male births. on the other hand, abundant crops, low prices, peace, contentment and prosperity tend to increase the number of females born. mothers in prosperous families usually have more girls; mothers in families of distress have more boys. large, well-fed, fully developed, healthy women, who are of contented and passive disposition, generally become mothers of families abounding in girls; while mothers who are small or spare of flesh, who are poorly fed, restless, unhappy, overworked, exhausted by frequent childbearing, or who are reduced by other causes which waste their vital energies, usually give birth to a greater number of boys. as a general proposition, the facts and inferences tend to establish the truth of the doctrine with women, that, the more favorable the vital conditions of the mother during the period in which the sex of her offspring is being determined, the greater the ratio of females she will bear; the less favorable her vital conditions at such times, the greater will be her tendency to bear males. that many apparent exceptions occur does not disprove the general tendency here maintained. moreover, it is impossible to know in all cases what were the conditions of the mother's organism at the time in which her child was in its delicate balance between predominant femaleness and maleness; else many cases which seemingly disprove the proposition would be found to be forcible illustrations of its truth. still further, it is probable that other causes besides those here mentioned act with greater or less effect in determining the sex of offspring." based upon this general theory of the relation of nutrition to sex-determination, many methods and systems have been devised by as many authorities, and have been followed and promulgated by as many schools. without going into the almost endless detail which would be necessitated by a synopsis of these various methods and systems, it may be said that they all consist of plans having for their object the decrease of nutrition of the woman in cases in which male children are desired, and the increase of nutrition in cases in which female children are sought for. this increase or decrease in nutrition is enforced for a reasonable period before the time selected for the conception of the child, and also for a reasonable period after the time of conception. the decrease in nutrition does not consist of "starvation," but rather of a "training diet" similar to that followed by athletics, and from which dietary all rich foods, sweets, etc., are absent. in fact, the average dietary advocated by the "eat and grow thin" writers would seem to be almost identical with that of the "male offspring" theorists. many persons who have followed the methods and systems based on the nutrition theory above mentioned claim to have been more or less successful in the production of the particular sex desired, but many exceptions to the rule are noted, and some writers on the subject are disposed to regard the reported successes as mere coincidences, and claim that the failures are seldom reported while the successes are widely heralded. the present writer presents the claims of this school to the attention of his readers, but without personally positively endorsing the idea. he is of the opinion that the data obtainable is not as yet sufficient to justify the strong claims made for the theory in some quarters; but, at the same time, he does not hesitate to say that there are many points of interest brought out in the presentation of the theory, and that many thoughtful persons seem to accept the same as reasonably well established and logical. another theory which has been heard of frequently of late years is that in which it is held that the ova are expelled in alternating sex, each month. thus, if a male ovum is expelled in january, the february ovum will be a female one, according to this theory. under this theory if the date of conception of a child be ascertained, and the sex of the child noted at its birth, it is a simple matter to count forward from the menstrual period following which the child was conceived, and thus determine whether the ovum of any succeeding period is male or female. it should be noted, however, that the periods are regulated by the lunar months, and not the calendar months. the fact that twins of different sexes are sometimes born would seem to disturb this theory--but not more than any other theory of sex-determination voluntarily produced, for that matter. the several schools explain this apparent discrepancy by the familiar saying that "exceptions prove the rule." another theory of sex-determination is that which holds that when conception occurs within a few days after the last day of menstruation, the child will be a girl; and that when conception occurs at a later period, the child will be a boy. methods and systems based upon this theory are also reported as being reasonably successful in producing satisfactory results. but, inasmuch as there appears to be a great difference in individual women in this respect (even according to the claims of this school of sex-determination), it would seem that it would be difficult to proceed with certainty in the matter in most cases. one of the writers advocating this method, says: "conception within five days after the end of the menstrual period is almost certain to produce a girl child; within five days to ten days, it may be either a boy or a girl; from ten to fifteen days, it is almost sure to be a boy; from eighteen to twenty-five days is the period of probable sterility, in which conception is extremely unlikely to occur." in conclusion, it may be said that nature undoubtedly has certain rules of sex-determination which govern in these cases; and that it is possible if not indeed probable that these rules may some day be discovered by man, and turned to account; but that it is very doubtful whether the secret has as yet been solved by the investigators. the writer may be pardoned for suggesting that, in his opinion, if the discovery is ever made it will likely be found to be very simple--so simple that we have probably overlooked it because it was in too plain sight to attract our attention. nature's methods are usually very simple, when once discovered. she hides her processes from man by making them simple, it would seem. lesson x what birth control is, and is not the student of the progress of human affairs, or even the average person whose knowledge of the doings of mankind is derived from a hasty and casual reading of the daily newspapers and the popular magazines, cannot plead ignorance of the growing interest in the general subject which is embraced within the content of the term "birth control." but while the general meaning of the term is at least vaguely grasped by the average member of the human crowd--the individual to whom we refer as "the man on the street"--we find a startling condition of mental confusion and often positive misconception concerning the essence and spirit of the general idea expressed by the term in question. while the fact is a reflection upon the average intelligence of the general public, it must be admitted that to the average person, or "the man on the street," birth control means simply the teaching and practice of certain methods whereby men and women may indulge their sexual appetites, in or out of marriage, without incurring the liability or risk of conception and child-bearing. the average person does not stop to consider that such teachings and practices do not constitute "birth control" at all, but are, rather, merely the theory and practice of birth prevention, desirable only to those who seek sexual indulgences without being called upon to shoulder the responsibilities attached by nature to the physical sexual union of men and women. the term "control" does not mean "prohibition," or "prevention"; but, on the contrary, means "governing, regulating, or managing influence." birth control, in the true meaning of the term, does not mean the prevention or prohibition of the birth of children, but rather the encouragement of the birth of children under the best possible conditions and the discouragement of the birth of children under improper or unfavorable conditions. birth control, in the true meaning of the term, does not mean theories and practices which would tend to reduce the population of the civilized countries of the world, but rather theories and practice which would inevitably result in the production of an adequate ratio of increase in the population of such countries, not only by reason of a normal birth-rate, but also by reason of a diminishing death-rate among infants--by the production of healthier children, accompanied by the raising of the standard of the average child born in such countries. birth control, in the true meaning of the term, therefore, is seen to consist not of the prohibition or prevention of human offspring, but rather of the governing, regulating, and managing of the production of human offspring, under the inspiration of the highest ideals and under the direction of the highest reason, for the purpose of the advancement and welfare of the race and that of the individuals composing the race. instead of being an anti-social and anti-moral propaganda, birth control when rightly understood is perceived to be in accordance with the highest social aims and aspirations, and in accordance with the highest and purest morality of the race. much of the opposition toward the general movement of birth control which has been manifested by many well-meaning, though misinformed, persons, has arisen by reason of the erroneous conception and understanding of the term itself, and of misleading information concerning the true nature of the best teachings on the subject. this prejudice has been heightened by certain zealous but ill-balanced advocates of the general movement who have overemphasized the incidental feature of the limitation of offspring under certain conditions, and who have appealed to the attention and interest merely of those who wished to escape the responsibilities of parenthood. this has caused much sorrow and distress to the many persons who have the highest ideals and results in view, and who deplore this unbalanced propaganda under the name, and apparently under the cloak of the general movement. such persons have felt inclined to cry aloud "good lord, deliver us from our so-called friends!" one of the most distressing features of the popular prejudice against birth control, arising from a total misconception of the subject, has been the widely spread and popularly accepted notion that birth control is practically analogous to abortion--or, at the best, but a more refined and less repulsive and less dangerous form of abortion. in view of the fact that one of the important results sought to be obtained by a scientific knowledge of birth control actually is the prevention and avoidance of the crime of abortion which has wrought such terrible havoc among the women of civilized countries, it is most distressing and discouraging to the conscientious and high-minded advocates of birth control to have it said and believed that their teachings encourage and justify abortion. a reference to any standard dictionary or textbook will reveal the fact that "abortion" means: "the premature expulsion of the human embryo or foetus; miscarriage voluntarily induced or produced," etc. it is seen at a glance that the essence and meaning of abortion consists in the destruction of the human embryo which has resulted from conception. the embryo human child must already exist in its elemental form, before it can be destroyed by abortion. therefore, if no such embryo form exists, it cannot be destroyed, and therefore there can be no abortion in such a case. and, it may positively be stated, no true advocate of birth control can possibly justify, much less advocate, the destruction of the human embryo or foetus, which act constitutes abortion. the difference between true birth control teachings and methods, and that of the advocates of abortion, is as great as the difference between the two poles. instead of the two being identical or similar, they are diametrically opposed one to the other--they are logical "opposites," each the antithesis of the other. even in those forms or phases of the birth control propaganda in which the use of "contraceptives," or "preventatives" is considered justified in certain cases--and these forms and phases are far from being the most important, as all students of the subject know--even in these exceptional forms and phases of the general subject the idea of abortion is combatted, and never justified or encouraged. a "contraceptive" agency merely tends to prevent or obviate undesirable conception; it never acts to destroy the result of previous and accomplished conception. a "contraceptive" merely prevents the union of the male and female elements of reproduction, and consequently the process from which evolves the foetus or embryo. a leading medical authority has said regarding this distinction: "in inducing abortion, one destroys something already formed--a foetus or an embryo, a fertilized ovum, a potential human being. in prevention, however, one merely prevents chemically or mechanically the spermatozoa from coming in contact with the ovum. there is no greater sin or crime in this than there is in simple abstinence, in refraining from sexual intercourse." what then must we say when we consider the higher and more advanced forms and phases of birth control, those phases and forms which may be said to be mental or emotional "contraceptives," rather than physical? surely these cannot be considered as identical with or similar to abortion. and when we consider those phases and forms of birth control which are concerned with pre-natal culture--the culture of the child before its birth--can one, even though he be intensely prejudiced against birth control, assert that there is to be found here anything which in any way whatsoever can be considered as relating to the theory or practice of abortion? and what must we say of the still higher phases in which the teachings are concerned with the mental and physical preparation of the parents prior to the conception of the child, to the end that the child may have the best possible physiological and psychological basis for its future well-being? is not this the very antithesis and opposite of all that concerns abortion or abortive methods? the trouble about all great movements designed for the benefit of the human race is that at the beginning there is attracted to the movement, by reason of its novelty and "newness," certain elements which seize upon certain incidental features of the general idea, make them their own while excluding or ignoring the more important things, and then exploit these incidental features in a sensational way, thereby attracting public attention and gaining much undesirable notoriety, and as a consequence bringing discredit and disfavor, prejudice and misunderstanding, to the general movement. birth control has passed through this apparently inevitable experience, and has suffered greatly thereby. but the light is being thrown on the dark places, and the more intelligent portion of the public is beginning to realize that there is another side to the shield of birth control. and, as a consequence, much of the original prejudice is disappearing, and a new understanding of the subject is arising in the minds of many of the best individuals of the race. it is the purpose of this book to help to dispel the ignorance and misconception concerning this great subject of birth control, and to aid in presenting the higher and nobler aspects of the general movement to the attention of those who are concerned with the advance and progress of the race as a whole, and of the individual members thereof. the student of the subject of birth control will fall into grievous error if he begins his consideration of the subject under the impression that the questions concerned therein are new to the world of living things. if the process of birth control were something which had suddenly sprung into existence in the consciousness of man, without having an antecedent activity in the history of the race, and of living creatures in general, we might well hesitate to go further in the matter without the most serious and prolonged consideration of the entire principle by the careful thought of the wisest of the race. but while such consideration is advisable, as in the case of any and all important problems presenting themselves for solution and judgment, it is found that those so considering the subject have a sound and firm foundation upon which to base their thought and to test their conclusions. as many thoughtful students of the subject have pointed out to us, the question of birth control has been with the race practically since the beginning of human history; and it has its correspondences in the instinctive actions of the lower forms of life. the chief difference is that we are now seeking to deal with these problems consciously, voluntarily, and deliberately, whereas in the past the race has dealt with them more or less unconsciously, by methods of trial and error, through perpetual experiment which has often proved costly but which has all the more clearly brought out the real course of natural processes. we cannot hope to solve problems so ancient and so deeply rooted as these by merely the rational methods of yesterday and today. to be of value our rational methods must be the revelation in deliberate consciousness of unconscious methods which go far back into the remote past. our deliberate methods will not be sound except in so far as they are a continuation of those methods which, in the slow evolution of life, have been found sound and progressive on the plane of instinct. this is particularly true in the case of those among us who desire their own line of conduct in the matter to be so closely in accord with natural law, or the law of creation, that to question it would be impious. it may be accepted without an extended argument or presentation of evidence that at the outset the prime object of nature seems to have been that of reproduction. there is evident, without doubt, an effort on the part of nature to secure economy of method in the attainment of ever greater perfection in the process of reproduction, but we cannot deny that the primary motive seems to be that of reproduction pure and simple. the tendency toward reproduction is indeed so fundamental in nature that it is impressed with the greatest emphasis upon every living thing. and, as careful thinkers have told us "the course of evolution seems to have been more of an effort to slow down reproduction than to furnish it with new facilities." reproduction appears in the history of life even before sex manifests itself. the lower forms of animal and plant life oftener produce themselves without the aid of sex, and some authorities have argued that the presence of sex differentiation serves rather to check active propagation rather than to increase it. if quantity, without regard to quality or variation, be the object of nature, then that purpose would have been better served by withholding sex-differentiation than by evolving it. as professor coulter, a leading american botanist, has well said: "the impression one gains of sexuality is that it represents reproduction under peculiar difficulties." to those who find it difficult to assimilate this somewhat startling idea, we now present a brief statement of the infinitely greater facility toward reproduction manifested by living creatures lacking in sex-differentiation as compared with those possessing it. it is seen that bacteria among primitive plants, and protozoa among primitive animals, are patterns of very rapid and prolific reproduction, though sex begins to appear in a rudimentary form in very lowly forms of life. a single infusorian becomes in a week the ancestor of millions, that is to say, of far more individuals than could proceed under the most favorable conditions from a pair of elephants in five centuries; and huxley has calculated that the progeny of a single parthenogenetic aphis, under favorable circumstances, would in a few months outweigh the whole population of china. it must be noted, however, that this proviso "under favorable circumstances" reveals the weak point of nature's early method of reproduction by enormously rapid multiplication. creatures so easily produced are easily destroyed; and nature, apparently in consequence, wastes no time in imparting to them the qualities needed for a high form of life and living. and, even after sex differentiation had attained a considerable degree of development, nature seemed slow to abandon her original plan of rapid multiplication of individuals. among insects so far advanced as the white ants, the queen lays eggs at the enormous rate of , a day during her period of active life. higher in the scale, we find the female herring laying , eggs at one period of delivery. but in both of these cases we find the manifestation of that apparently invariable rule of nature, viz., that a high birth-rate is accompanied by a heavy death-rate, whether that high death-rate be caused by natural enemies, wars, or disease. at a certain stage of the evolutionary process, nature seems to have awakened to a realization of the fact that it was better, from every point of view, to produce a few superior beings rather than a vast number of inferior ones. here, at last, nature discloses a heretofore hidden aim, namely, the production of quality rather than quantity; and once she has started on this new path, she has pursued it with even greater eagerness than that of reproduction pure and simple. and here we pause to note a principle laid down by the students of evolution, viz., that advancing evolution is accompanied by declining fertility. this new stage of nature's processes is marked by a constant and invariable manifestation of diminished number of offspring, accompanied by an increased amount of time and care in the creation and breeding of each of the young creatures. accompanying this, we find that the reproductive life of the creature is shortened, and confined to more or less special periods; these periods beginning much later, and ending much earlier, and even during their continuance tending to operate in cycles of activity. here, we see, nature, grown wiser by experience, herself began to exercise her power in the direction of birth control--the use of preventive checks on reproduction. a writer has said along these lines: "as reproduction slackened, evolution was greatly accelerated. a highly important and essential aspect of this greater individuation is a higher survival value. the more complex and better equipped creature can meet and subdue difficulties and dangers to which the more lowly organized creature that came before--produced wholesale in a way which nature seems to look back on as cheap and nasty--succumbed helplessly without an effort. the idea of economy began to assert itself in the world. it became clear in the course of evolution that it is better to produce really good and highly efficient organisms, at whatever cost, than to be content with cheap production on a wholesale scale. they allowed greater developmental progress to be made, and they lasted better. even before man began it was proved in the animal world that the death-rate falls as the birth-rate falls." let us compare the lowly herring with the highly evolved elephant. the herring multiplies with enormous rapidity and on a vast scale, and it possesses a very small brain, and is almost totally unequipped to grapple with the special difficulties of its life, to which it succumbs on a wholesale scale. a single elephant is carried for about two years in its mother's womb, and is carefully guarded by her for many years after birth; it possesses a large brain, and its muscular system is as remarkable for its delicacy as for its power, and is guided by the most sensitive perceptions. it is fully equipped for all the dangers of life, save for those which have been introduced by the subtle ingenuity of modern man. though a single pair of elephants produces so few offspring, yet their high cost is justified, for each of them has a reasonable chance of surviving to old age. this contrast, from the point of view of reproduction, of the herring and the elephant, well illustrates the principle of evolution previously referred to. it brings clearly into view the difference between nature's earlier and her later methods--the ever increasing preference for quality over quantity. unless we grasp this underlying principle of nature in its wider aspects we may fail to perceive its operations in the case of man, which latter we may now consider. it is, of course, impossible to speak positively regarding the birth-rate and death-rate of the pre-historic primitive races of mankind, for there is not data upon which to base such a report. but reasoning upon the basis of conditions existing among the primitive tribes of the present time we are justified in holding that in the early stages of the evolution of the race there was manifested a high birth-rate and a correspondingly high death-rate. upon the basis of conditions now existing among savage tribes it would appear that primitive man has a higher birth-rate than the average of mankind today, and likewise a higher death-rate. the rapidly increasing number of children born to the tribe was counteracted by deaths among children caused by neglect, poverty, and disease. in some cases the population was prevented from becoming larger than the means of subsistence justified by the practice of infanticide. as to the condition of the race in the early stages of "modern" civilization, we have modern russia as a surviving instance of this stage. in modern russia we find, side by side with the progress in neighboring nations, conditions which a few centuries ago existed all over europe. here we have an enormous birth-rate, and a terrible death-rate caused by ignorance, superstition, insanitation, filth, bad food, impure water, plagues, famines, and other accompaniments of overcrowding and misery. we find a mortality among young children which sometimes destroys more than half of the children born before they have attained the age of five years. as high as is the russian birth-rate, it is a matter of record that at times the death-rate has actually exceeded it. and among the survivors there is found a startlingly large percentage of chronic and incurable diseases, with a large number of cases of blindness and other defects. similar results follow in china, where the birth-rate is exceptionally high, and the death-rate correspondingly large; and where there is a large percentage of inferior physical development and pathological defects, the evil conditions which produce death also tending to produce deterioration in the survivors. in both of these countries we have an example of the result of unrestricted reproduction, and unrestricted destruction--as among herrings, so among men. and yet this condition of unrestricted reproduction is the logical goal of certain persons who, inspired by the best possible intentions, in their ignorance and criminal rashness would dare to arrest that fall in the birth-rate which is now beginning to spread its influence in every civilized land. in western europe before the nineteenth century the population increased very slowly. the enormous birth-rate was nearly equalled by the exceedingly heavy death-rate caused by plagues, pestilences, and famine, and by the frequent wars large and small. the mortality among young children was particularly heavy. writers have pointed out that the old family records show frequently two or three children of the same christian name, the first child having died and its name given to a successor. during the last quarter of the eighteenth century, when machinery was introduced and a new industrial era opened, the birth-rate rose rapidly. factories springing up gave increased support to many, and as children were employed as "hands" in the mills at an early age, the richest family was the one with most children. the population began to increase rapidly. but soon disease, misery, and poverty arose from filth and insanitation, immorality and crime, overcrowding and child-labor, drink and lack of sane courses of conduct. in time, however, progress set in, and social reformers began the great movement for the betterment of the environment, sanitation, shorter hours of labor, and restriction of child-labor, factory regulation, etc. and when the environment is bettered, the death-rate drops, and the birth-rate accompanies it on its downward progress. as leroy-beaulieu says: "the first degree of prosperity in a rude population with few needs tends toward prolificness of reproduction; a later degree of prosperity, accompanied by all the feelings and ideas stimulated by the reduction of such prolificness." the law of the reduction of reproduction in response to the improvement of environment is a natural law, arising from fixed biological principles. this is because when we improve the environment we improve the individual situated in that environment; and the improvement of the individual has always resulted in a check upon reproduction. we must remember, however, that this change is not the result of conscious or voluntary action; instead it is the result of unconscious activities and instinctive urge. as sir shirley murphy has said: "birth control is a natural process, and though in civilized men, endowed with high intelligence, it necessarily works in some measure voluntarily and deliberately, it is probable that it also works, as in the evolution of the lower animals, to some extent automatically." science shows us that even among the most primitive micro-organisms; when placed under unfavorable conditions as to food and environment, they tend to pass into a reproductive phase and by sporulation or otherwise begin to produce new individuals rapidly. this, of course, because of the fact that their death-rate is increased, and an increased birth-rate must be manifested in order to maintain a balance. if the environment be improved, the death-rate decreases, and this is followed by a fall in the birth-rate, according to the constant laws of nature manifesting in such cases. the same law is seen to be manifested in the case of man. improve his environment, and his death-rate drops, which is accompanied by a falling birth-rate. here, once more we see the application of the scientific axiom "improve the environment and reproduction is checked." as leroy-beaulieu has said: "the tendency of civilization is to reduce the birth-rate." and as professor benjamin moore has said: "decreased reproduction is the simple biological reply to good economic conditions." and as havelock ellis has said: "those who desire a higher birth-rate are desiring, whether they know it or not, the increase of poverty, ignorance, and wretchedness." among men, birth control has now evolved from the unconscious and instinctive phase, and is now unfolding and manifesting on the plane of conscious and voluntary activity. the influence of deliberate intention and conscious design is now one of the important factors in the process. here at this point we reach a totally new aspect of reproduction. in the past stages of evolution the original impetus toward reproduction has been checked and directed by nature, working along instinctive and unconscious lines; and the result has been an extreme diminution of the number of off-spring; a prolongation of the time devoted to the breeding and care of each new member of the family, in harmony with its greatly prolonged life; a spacing out of the intervals between the offspring; and, as a result, a vastly greater development of each individual, and an ever better equipment for the task of living. all this was slowly attained automatically, without any conscious volition on the part of the individuals, even when they were human beings, who were the agents. now, however, we are confronted with a change which we may regard as, in some respects, the most momentous sudden advance in the whole history of reproduction, namely, the process of reproductive progress now become conscious and deliberately volitional. birth control, no longer automatic, is now being directed by human mind and will precisely to the attainment of ends which nature has been struggling after for millions of years; and, being consciously and deliberately directed, it is now enabled to avoid many of the pitfalls into which the unconscious method fell. havelock ellis says: "the control and limitation of reproductive activity by conscious and volitional effort is an attempt by open-eyed intelligence and foresight to attain those ends which nature through untold generations has been painfully yet tirelessly struggling for. the deliberate co-operation of man in the natural task of birth control represents an identification of the human will with what we may, if we choose, regard as the divinely appointed law of the world. we can well believe that the great pioneers, who, a century ago, acted in the spirit of this faith may have echoed the thought of kepler when, on discovering his great planetary law, he exclaimed in rapture: 'o god! i think thy thoughts after thee!'" the following brief general history of the modern birth control movement is quoted from havelock ellis, and will be of interest to students of the subject: "the pioneers of modern birth control were english. among them malthus occupies the first place. that distinguished man, in his great and influential work, 'the principles of population,' in , emphasized the immense importance of foresight and self-control in procreation, and the profound significance of birth limitation for human welfare. malthus, however, relied on ascetic self-restraint, a method which could only appeal to the few; he had nothing to say for the regulation of conception in intercourse. that was suggested twenty years later, very cautiously by james mill, the father of john stuart mill, in the 'encyclopaedia britannica.' four years afterwards, mill's friend, the radical reformer, francis place, advocated this method more clearly. finally, in , robert dale owen, the son of the great robert owen, published his 'moral physiology,' in which he set forth the ways of preventing conception; while a little later the drysdale brothers, ardent and unwearying philanthropists, devoted their energies to a propaganda which has been spreading ever since and has now conquered the whole civilized world. "it was not, however, in england but in france, so often at the head of an advance in civilization, that birth control first firmly became established, and that the extravagantly high birth rate of earlier times began to fall; this happened in the first half of the nineteenth century, whether or not it was mainly due to voluntary control. in england the movement came later, and the steady decline in the english birth-rate, which is still proceeding, began in . in the previous year there had been a famous prosecution of bradlaugh and mrs. besant for disseminating pamphlets describing the methods of preventing conception; the charge was described by the lord chief justice, who tried the case, as one of the most ill-advised and injudicious ever made in a court of justice. but it served an undesigned end by giving enormous publicity to the subject and advertising the methods it sought to suppress. there can be no doubt, however, that even apart from this trial the movement would have proceeded on the same lines. the times were ripe, the great industrial expansion had passed its first feverish phase, social conditions were improving, education was spreading. the inevitable character of the movement is indicated by the fact that at the very same time it began to be manifested all over europe, indeed in every civilized country of the world. "at the present time the birth-rate (as well as usually the death-rate) is falling in every country of the world sufficiently civilized to possess statistics of its own vital movement. the fall varies in rapidity. it has been considerable in the more progressive countries; it has lingered in the more backward countries. if we examine the latest statistics for europe, we find that every country, without exception, with a progressive and educated population, and a fairly high state of social well-being, presents a birth-rate below per , . we also find that every country in europe in which the mass of the people are primitive, ignorant, or in a socially unsatisfactory condition (even although the governing classes may be progressive or ambitious) shows a birth-rate of above per , . france, great britain, belgium, holland, the scandinavian countries, and switzerland are in the first group. russia, austro-hungary, italy, spain, and the balkan countries are in the second group. the german empire was formerly in the second group, but now comes within the first group, and has carried on the movement so energetically that the birth-rate of berlin is already below that of london, and that at the present rate of decline the birth-rate of the german empire will before long sink to that of france. outside europe, in the united states just as much as in australia and new zealand, the same progressive movement is proceeding with equal activity." the same authority sums up the present attitude of the advocates of scientific and rational birth control, as follows: "the wide survey of the question of birth limitation has settled the question of the desirability of the adoption of preventing conception, and finally settled those who would waste out time with their fears that it is not right to control conception. we know now on whose side are the laws of god and nature. we realize that in exercising control over the entrance gate of life we are not fully performing, consciously and deliberately, a great human duty, but carrying on rationally a beneficial process which has, more blindly and wastefully, been carried on since the beginning of the world. there are still a few persons ignorant enough or foolish enough to fight against the advance of civilization in this matter; we can well afford to leave them severely alone, knowing that in a few years all of them will have passed away. it is not our business to defend the control of birth, but simply discuss how we may most wisely exercise that control." lesson xi the fetich of the birth-rate to the student of the progress of the human race the consideration of the state of public opinion regarding the birth-rate of nations is of great interest. to the careful observer there is evident the gradual evolution of intelligent public opinion on this subject even in the comparatively short space of time in which the present generation has played its part on the great stage of human development. public opinion on this subject during the period named may be said to have passed through three general stages. these stages are, of course, more clearly defined among the peoples of the most prosperous and intelligent countries, as for instance, in western europe and america, and particularly in england, france, and the united states. while the peoples of certain of these countries have passed through these stages somewhat more rapidly than have others, still it is perceived that each of these peoples have in the main followed the same general course. the first stage of this evolution of popular opinion may be said to have been begun about , and to have ended about . in this stage the ideal of a large and rapidly increasing birth-rate became a popular fetich before which all men and women were supposed to fall down and render worship. in this period public opinion manifested great satisfaction and joy in the evidences of a high and rapidly increasing birth-rate. it was held that this increasing birth-rate tended toward the success and glory of the particular nation, and incidentally to the race as a whole. the idea of quantity was elevated to the throne of public favor, and the question of quality was ignored or overlooked. this period was one of an unusual expansion of industry, and the rising birth-rate was regarded as a token that the world was destined to be exploited and eventually governed by the people of those nations who were able to demonstrate the greatest efficiency in industrial pursuits, and who at the same time were wise enough to increase their respective populations by an increasing birth-rate. the populace were excited by the idea of the dominance and prosperity of their own countrymen, while the leaders of industry were delighted with the idea of an increasing supply of laborers which would tend to keep down the rate of wages which otherwise would have reached proportions which would have interfered with competition with other countries. at the same time, the militarists were secretly delighted by the signs of an increasing supply of military material with which to build up gigantic armies. a writer on the state of public opinion on this subject during this period has well said: "it seemed to the more exuberant spirits that a vast british empire, or a mighty pan-german, might be expected to cover the whole world. france, with its low and falling birth-rate, was looked down at with a contempt as a decadent country inhabited with a degenerate population. no attempt to analyze the birth-rate, to ascertain what are really the biological, social, and economic accompaniments of a high birth-rate, made any impression on the popular mind. they were drowned in a general shout of exultation." but this period of uncritical optimism was followed by a natural reaction. the pendulum stopped in its course, and soon began to swing in the opposite direction. here, about , the second stage may be said to have begun. public opinion began to manifest a subtle change, and this mental attitude was accompanied by a physical manifestation in the form of a decreasing birth-rate. the rate of births began to fall rapidly, and has continued to fall steadily since that time. the writer above quoted from says of this second period: "in france the birth-rate fell slowly, in italy more rapidly, and in england and prussia still more rapidly. as, however, the fall began earliest in france, the birth-rate was lower there than in the other countries named. for the same reason it was lower in england than in prussia, although england stands in this respect at almost exactly the same distance from prussia today ( ) as thirty years ago, the fall having occurred at the same rate in both countries. it is quite possible that in the future it may become more rapid in prussia than in england, for the birth-rate of berlin is lower than the birth-rate of london, and urbanization is proceeding at a more rapid rate in germany than in england." it is not difficult to arrive at the psychological reason underlying this great change in public opinion, as manifested in this second stage. in the first place, the wonderful era of world-expansion was arrested, by natural causes well understood by students of sociology. the ambitious dreams of world-empires were rudely interrupted. moreover, public opinion was being affected by a quiet education along the lines of sociology and economics. the working classes began to perceive, on the one hand, the tendency of overpopulation to hold down, or even decrease, the scale of wages. the evils of over-production, and of under-consumption were dimly perceived. and, on the other hand, the capitalists began to perceive that another factor was at work--one which they had failed to include in their optimistic calculations. instead of the cheaper wage rate which they had expected by reason of the over-abundance of human material, they found that the growth of popular education in the democratic countries had caused the working classes to demand greater comforts of life, and to oppose the cheapening of human labor. and at the same time, the masses began to revolt against the idea of raising children to become "cannon fodder" for ambitious autocratic rulers. the masses began to protest against selling their labor and their lives so cheaply. these changed viewpoints of the working classes began to result in attempts on their part to form associations to resist the tendency on the part of capitalists to force down the scale of wages to fit the increased population. trade unions flourished and became powerful, and the same impulse carried many into the ranks of socialism, and still beyond into the fold of anarchism and syndicalism. and, here note this significant fact, with these new perceptions and these new movements among the masses, the birth-rate began to fall rapidly. the writer above quoted from says of this period: "the pessimists were faced by horrors on both sides. on the one hand, they saw that the ever-increasing rate of human production which seemed to them the essential condition of national, social, even moral progress, had not only stopped but was steadily diminishing. on the other hand, they saw that, even so far as it was maintained, it involved, under modern conditions, nothing but social commotion and economic disturbance. there are still many pessimists of this class alive among us even today, alike in england and germany, but a new generation is growing up, and this question is now entering another phase." it would seem that the race is now well started in the third period, phase, or stage of this conception of the birth-rate. even the great war is not likely to seriously interrupt its ultimate progress, though conditions in all civilized countries will unquestionably be disturbed by the unusual conditions now prevailing and caused by the great conflict. the spirit of this third stage seems to be that the truth is to be found between the two extremes, viz.: ( ) the extreme of passive optimism of the first stage; and ( ) the extreme of passive pessimism of the second stage. it realizes that there is excellent ground for hope in better things; but it equally realizes that hope alone is vain, and will accomplish nothing unless it is accompanied with and directed by a clear intellectual vision manifested in individual and social action based on that clear intellectual vision. the writer above quoted from says of this developing period: "it is today beginning to be seen that the old notion of progress by means of reckless multiplication is vain. it can only be effected at a ruinous cost of death, disease, poverty, and misery. we see this in the past history of western europe, as we still see it in the history of russia. any progress effected along that line--if 'progress' it can be called--is now barred, for it is utterly opposed to those democratic conceptions which are ever gaining greater influence among us. moreover, we are now better able to analyze demographic phenomena, and are no longer satisfied with any crude statements regarding the birth-rate. we realize that they need interpretation. they have to be considered in relation to the sex-constitution and the age-constitution of the population, and above all, they must be viewed in relation to the infant mortality rate. "the bad aspect of the french birth-rate is not so much its lowness as that it is accompanied by a high infantile mortality. the fact that the german birth-rate is higher than the english ceases to be a matter of satisfaction when it is realized that german infantile mortality is vastly greater than english. a high birth-rate is no sign of a high civilization. but we are beginning to feel that a high infantile death-rate is a sign of a very inferior civilization. a low birth-rate with a low infant death-rate not only produces the same increase in population as a high birth-rate with a high death-rate, which always accompanies it (for there are no examples of a high birth-rate with a low death-rate), but it produces it in a way which is far more worthy of our admiration in this matter than the way of russia and china where opposite conditions prevail." the evolutionary process which all students of sociology clearly perceive to have been underway in the matter of the attitude of public opinion toward the birth-rate, and which is now underway with increased impetus, is perceived to be a natural process. it is a natural process which has been underway from the beginning of the living world. for a long time it operated and manifested along unconscious and instinctive lines of activity, but now it has emerged into the light of human consciousness and manifests along the lines of conscious, voluntary, and deliberate human action. in its present state of evolutionary progress human thought along these lines has found expression in what is generally known as "birth control." the process which has been working slowly through the ages, attaining every new forward step with waste and pain, is henceforth destined to be carried out voluntarily, in the light of human reason, foresight, and self-restraint. the rise of birth control may be said to correspond with the rise of social and sanitary science in the first half of the nineteenth century, and to be indeed an essential part of that movement. the new doctrine of birth control is now firmly established in all the most progressive and enlightened countries of europe, notably in france and england; in germany, where formerly the birth-rate was very high, birth control has developed with extraordinary rapidity during the present century. in holland its principles and practice are freely taught by physicians and nurses to the mothers of the people, with the result that there is in holland no longer any necessity for unwanted babies, and this small country possesses the proud privilege of the lowest death-rate in europe. in the free and enlightened democratic communities on the other side of the globe, in australia and new zealand, the same principles and practice are generally accepted, with the same beneficent results. on the other hand, in the more backward and ignorant countries of europe, birth control is still little known, and death and disease flourish. this is the case in those eight european countries which come at the bottom of the list of the birth control scale, and in which the birth-rate is the highest and the death-rate the heaviest--the two rates maintaining such a constant correspondence as to lead to the inevitable conclusion that they are associated as cause and effect. but even in the more progressive countries birth control has not been established without a struggle, which has frequently ended in a hypocritical compromise, its principles being publicly ignored or denied and its practice privately accepted. for, at the great and vitally important point in human progress which birth-control represents, we see really the conflict of two moralities. the morality of the ancient world is here confronted by the morality of the new world. the old morality, knowing nothing of science and the process of nature as worked out in the evolution of life, contented itself with assuming as a basis the early chapters of genesis in which the children of noah are represented as entering an empty earth which it is their business to populate diligently. so it came about that for this morality, still innocent of eugenics, recklessness was almost a virtue. children were held to be given by god; if they died or were afflicted by congenital disease, it was the dispensation of god, and, whatever imprudence the parents might commit, the pathetic faith still ruled that "god will provide." but in the new morality it is realized that in these matters divine action can only be made manifest in human action, that is to say through the operation of our own enlightened reason and resolved will. prudence, foresight, self-restraint--virtues which old morality looked down upon with benevolent contempt--assume a position of first importance. in the eyes of the new morality the ideal woman is no longer the meek drudge condemned to endless and often ineffectual child-bearing, but the free and instructed woman, able to look before and after, trained in a sense of responsibility alike to herself and to the race, and determined to have no children but the best. such were the two moralities which came into conflict during the nineteenth century. they are irreconcilable and each firmly rooted, one in ancient religion and tradition, the other in progressive science and reason. nothing was possible in such a clash of opposing ideas but a feeble and confused compromise such as we find still prevailing in various countries of old europe. this is not a satisfactory solution, however inevitable, and is especially unsatisfactory by the consequent obscurantism which placed difficulties in the way of spreading a knowledge of the methods of birth control among the masses of the population. for the result has been that while the more enlightened and educated have exercised a control over the size of their families, the poorer and more ignorant--those who should have been offered every facility and encouragement to follow in the same path--have been left, through a conspiracy of silence, to carry on helplessly the bad customs of their forefathers. this social neglect has had the result that the superior family stocks have been tampered by the recklessness of the inferior stocks. in america, we find the two moralities in active conflict today. until recently america has meekly accepted at the hand of old europe the traditional prescription. on the surface, the ancient morality had been complacently, almost unquestionably, accepted in america, even to the extent of tacitly permitting the existence of a vast extension of abortion, under the surface of society--a criminal practice which ever flourishes where birth control is neglected. but today, a new movement is perceptible in america. it would seem that, almost in a flash, america has awakened to the true significance of the issue. with that direct vision of hers, that swift practicality of action, and above all, that sense of the democratic nature of all social progress, we see her resolutely beginning to face this great problem. in her vigorous tongue she is demanding "what is all this secrecy about, anyway? let us turn on the light!" and the best authorities agree that america's answer to the demand will be of the greatest importance, and of immense significance to the whole world. in concluding this portion of our discussion, i ask my readers to consider the following quotations from writers who have touched upon the question of the stimulation of the birth-rate by the state, for the purpose of military policy. these quotations speak for themselves, and need but little comment. the first authority, a german, whose name has escaped me for the moment, laments the falling birth-rate in his country, and urges his own nation to stimulate it by offering bounties; he says: "woe to us if we follow the example of the wicked and degenerate people of other nations. our nation needs men. we have to populate the earth, and to carry the blessings of our kultur all over the world. in executing that high mission we cannot have too much human material in defending ourselves against the aggression of other nations who are jealous of us and our achievements and progress. let us promote parentage by law; let us repress by law every influence which may encourage a falling birth-rate; otherwise there is nothing left us but speedy national disaster, complete and irremediable." havelock ellis, an englishman, says: "in germany for years past it has been difficult to take up a serious periodical without finding some anxiously statistical article about the falling birth-rate, and some wild recommendations for its arrest. for it is the militaristic german who of all europeans is most worried by this fall; indeed germans often even refuse to recognize it. thus today we find professor gruber declaring that if the population of the german empire continues to grow at the rate of the first five years of the present century, it will have reached , , at the end of the century. by such a vast increase in population, the professor complacently concludes, 'germany will be rendered invulnerable.' but gruber's estimate is entirely fallacious. german births have fallen, roughly speaking, about per , of the population, every year since the beginning of the century, and it would be equally reasonable to estimate that if they continue to fall at the present rate (which we cannot, of course, anticipate) births will altogether have ceased in germany before the end of the century. the german birth-rate reached its climax forty years ago ( - ) with . per , ; in it was per , ; in it was per , ; in it was per , ; in an almost measurable period of time, in all probability before the end of the century, it will have reached the same low level as that of france, when there will be but little difference between the 'invulnerability' of france and of germany, a consummation which, for the world's sake, is far more devoutly to be wished than that anticipated by gruber." writers of teutonic sympathies have asserted that the aggressive attitude of germany at the beginning of the great war was to be legitimately explained and apologized for on the ground that the war was the inevitable expansive outcome of the abnormally high birth-rate of germany in recent times. dr. dernburg, the german statesman, said not very long ago: "the expansion of the german nation has been so extraordinary during the past twenty-five years that the conditions existing before the war had become insupportable." another writer has said: "of later years there has arisen a movement among german women for bringing abortion into honor and repute, so that it may be carried out openly and with the aid of the best physicians. this movement has been supported by lawyers and social reformers of high position." thus, it would seem that a birth-rate stimulated by unusual circumstances or by deliberate state encouragement, seemingly draws upon it the operation of natural laws which tend to increase its death-rate by war, as well as by an increased number of abortions, and an increased death-rate. it would seem as natural laws operate to bring down the population to normal by war if the other factors do not operate sufficiently rapidly and efficiently. havelock ellis makes the following interesting statement: "if we survey the belligerent nations in the war we may say that those who took the initiative in drawing it on, or at all events were most prepared to welcome it, were germany, austria, serbia, and russia--all nations with a high birth-rate, and in which the fall of the birth-rate has not yet had time to permeate. on the other hand, of the belligerent peoples of today, all indications point to the french as the people most intolerant, silently but deeply, of the war they are so ably and heroically waging. yet the france of the present, with the lowest birth-rate, was a century ago the france of a birth-rate higher than that of germany today, and at that time the most militarist and aggressive of nations, a perpetual menace to europe." finally, let us quote havelock ellis once more; he says: "when we realize these facts we are also enabled to realize how futile, how misplaced and how mischievous it is to raise the cry of 'race suicide.' it is futile because no outcry can affect a world-wide movement of civilization. it is misplaced because the rise and fall of the population is not a matter of birth-rate alone, but of the birth-rate combined with the death-rate, and while we cannot expect to touch the former we can influence the latter. it is mischievous because by fighting against a tendency which is not only inevitable but altogether beneficial, we blind ourselves to the advance of civilization and risk the misdirection of our energies. how far this blindness may be carried we see in the false patriotism of those who in the decline of the birth-rate, fancy they see the ruin of their own particular country, oblivious of the fact that we are concerned with a phenomenon of world-wide extension. the whole tendency of civilization is to reduce the birth-rate. we may go further, and assert with the distinguished german economist, roscher, that the chief cause of the superiority of a highly civilized state over lower stages of civilization is precisely a greater degree of forethought and self-control in marriage and child-bearing. instead of talking about race suicide, we should do well to observe at what an appalling rate, even yet, the population is increasing; and we should note that it is everywhere the poorest and most primitive countries, and in every country (as in germany) the poorest regions, which show the highest birth-rate." the same authority says: "one last resort the would-be patriotic alarmist seeks when all others fail. he is good enough to admit that a general decline in the birth-rate might be beneficial. but, he points out, it affects social classes unequally. it is initiated, not by the degenerate and unfit, with whom we could well dispense, but by the very best classes in the community, the well-to-do and the educated. one is inclined to remark, at once, that a social change initiated by its best social class is scarcely likely to be pernicious. where, it may be asked, if not among the most educated classes, is any process of amelioration to be initiated? we cannot make the world topsy-turvy to suit the convenience of topsy-turvy minds. all social movements tend to begin at the top and to permeate downwards. this has been the case with the decline of the birth-rate, but it is already well marked among the working classes, and has only failed to touch the lowest stratum of all, too weak-minded and too reckless to be amenable to ordinary social motives. the rational method of meeting this situation is not a propaganda in favor of procreation--a truly imbecile propaganda, since it is only carried out and only likely to be carried out, by the very class which we wish to sterilize--but rather by a wise policy of regulative eugenics. we have to create the motives, and it is not an impossible task, which will act even upon the weak-minded and reckless lowest social stratum." lesson xii the argument for birth control let us now consider the general and special arguments advanced in favor of rational and scientific birth control, as stated by the advocates thereof. general argument. the general argument in favor of birth control may well be begun by the statement that rational and scientific birth control is not the fixing upon the race of a new and unfamiliar practice or policy, but is rather the scientific correction of a practice and policy which is now followed by the majority of married persons in civilized countries, though in a bungling, unscientific, and frequently a harmful manner. the modern advocates of scientific methods of birth control seek to replace these bungling, unscientific, and frequently harmful methods by sane, scientific, harmless methods, approved of by capable physicians and other experienced and capable authorities, and under the sanction of the law rather than contrary to it. the advocates of birth control seek to place upon a scientific basis, under cover and protection of the law, a subject which heretofore has been but imperfectly known, and more imperfectly practiced in some form by the majority of married couples, and which has heretofore been under condemnation of the law so far as concerned the actual dissemination of information concerning methods of contraception. they hold that it is the veriest hypocrisy to pretend ignorance of the fact that the great majority of married couples in civilized communities know and practice to some extent contraceptive methods--usually imperfectly and bunglingly, it must be added. one has but to consider the families of married couples, and to count their children, to become aware that at least some form of contraception has been known and practiced in many cases. this is particularly true of the more intelligent and cultured members of civilized society, among whom we find large families of children to be the exception, and small families to be the general rule. among the less intelligent and uncultured classes the reverse of this condition is found. it is hypocritical folly to assert that these small families to be found among the more intelligent classes of society are due to the fact that the husbands and wives are physically incapable of procreating off-spring--the mere suggestion produces an incredulous smile from the reader. no one who is acquainted with the habits and customs of married people would in good faith offer such an explanation. rather is it tacitly acknowledged by all thinking persons that such married couples practice some form of birth control, or else commit the crime of abortion. all physicians, particularly those who practice in the large cities, are fully informed as to the appalling facts concerning the prevalence of abortion among the women of the "respectable" classes, and are likewise fully informed as to the terrible consequences so frequently arising from this criminal course. the question, then, to many intelligent persons is not so much that of "should contraception be employed in order to avoid excessively large families?" as that of "should not contraception be employed to obviate the crime of abortion with its terrible train of consequences?" and the birth control propaganda which is so vigorously underway in all civilized countries may be stated to be designed for the following purposes: ( ) to replace abortion, and other harmful methods of restricting the size of families, with rational and scientific methods of contraception; and ( ) to supply to married persons the best scientific knowledge concerning the regulation of the size of families, and the methods of producing the best kind of children, under the best conditions, and at the times best adapted for their proper care and well-being. these advocates of the betterment of the race face the facts of human nature and married life fearlessly, instead of trying to cover them over with pretty words and sentimental generalities. they take "things as they are," and not as certain persons insist that "they should be"--they live in a world of facts and try to better things as they find them, instead of trying to live in a fool's paradise and contenting themselves with denying the existence of the facts which they consider "ugly." dr. william j. robinson, one of the leading american workers in the field of birth control, ably presents the main contention of the birth control advocates as follows: "we believe that under any conditions, and particularly under our present economic conditions, human beings should be able to control the number of our offspring. they should be able to decide how many children they want to have, and when they want to have them. and to accomplish this result we demand that the knowledge of controlling the number of offspring, in other and plainer words, the knowledge of preventing undesirable conception, should not be considered criminal knowledge, that its dissemination should not be considered a criminal offense punishable by hard labor in federal prisons, but that it should be considered knowledge useful and necessary to the welfare of the race and of the individual; and that its dissemination should be permissible and as respectable as is the dissemination of any hygienic, sanitary or eugenic knowledge. "there is no element of force in our teachings; that is, we would not force any family to limit the number of children against their will, though we would endeavor to create a public opinion which would consider it a disgrace for any family to have more children than they can bring up and educate properly. we would consider it a disgrace, an anti-social act, for any family to bring children into the world which they must send out at an early age into the mills, shops, and streets to earn a living, or must fall back upon public charity to save them from starvation. "public opinion is stronger than any laws, and in time people would be as much ashamed of having children whom they could not bring up properly in every sense of the word, as they are now ashamed of having their children turn out criminals. now, no disgrace can attach to any poor family, no matter how many children they have, because they have not got the knowledge, because society prevents them from having the knowledge of how to limit the number of children. but if that knowledge became easily accessible, and people still refused to avail themselves of it, then they would properly be considered as anti-social, as criminal members of society. as far as couples are concerned who are well-to-do, who love children, and who are well capable of taking care of a large number, we, that is, we american limitationists, would put no limit. on the contrary, we would say: 'god bless you, have as many children as you want to; there is plenty of room yet for all of you.'" another writer, a celebrated english thinker along these lines, has said of the general argument in favor of birth control: "it used to be thought that small families were immoral. we now begin to see that it was the large families of old which were immoral. the excessive birth-rate of the early industrial period was directly stimulated by selfishness. there were no laws against child-labor; children were produced that they might be sent out, when little more than babies, to the factories and the mines to increase their parents' incomes. the diminished birth-rate has accomplished higher moral transformation. it has introduced a finer economy into life, diminished death, disease, and misery. it is indirectly, and even directly, improving the quality of the race. the very fact that children are born at longer intervals is not only beneficial to the mother's health, and therefore to the children's general welfare, but it has been proved to have a marked and prolonged influence on the physical development of children. "social progress, and a higher civilization, we thus see, involve a reduced birth-rate and a reduced death-rate. the fewer the children born, the fewer the risks of death, disease, and misery to the children that are born. the fact that civilization involves small families is clearly shown by the tendency of the educated and upper social classes to have small families. as the proletariat class becomes educated and elevated, disciplined to refinement and to foresight--as it were aristocratised--it also has small families. civilizational progress is here on a line with biological progress. the lower organisms spawn their progeny in thousands, the higher mammals produce but one or two at a time. the higher the race, the fewer the offspring. "thus diminution in quantity is throughout associated with augmentation in quality. quality rather than quantity is the racial ideal now set before us, and it is an ideal which, as we are beginning to learn, it is possible to cultivate, both individually and socially. that is why the new science of eugenics or racial hygiene is acquiring so immense an importance. in the past, racial selection has been carried out crudely by the destructive, wasteful, and expensive method of elimination, through death. in the future, it will be carried out far more effectively by conscious and deliberate selection, exercised not merely before birth, but before conception and even before mating. galton, who recognized the futility of mere legislation to elevate the race, believed that the hope of the future lay in eugenics becoming a part of religion. the good of the race lies, not in the production of a super-man, but of a super-humanity. this can only be attained through personal individual development, the increase of knowledge, the sense of responsibility toward the race, enabling men to act in accordance with responsibility. the leadership in civilization belongs not to the nation with the highest birth-rate, but to the nation which has thus learnt to produce the finest men and women." let us now proceed to a consideration of the special arguments in favor of rational and scientific birth control as advanced by its leading advocates. the advocates of rational and scientific birth control have presented the strongest points of their case in their replies to those opposing the general idea, and without positively taking the stand that the burden of the proof in the argument concerning birth control rested upon those opposing the idea, have practically assumed that position. they claim that the right to birth control is so self-evident, and its application so generally recognized (though usually sought to be smothered with silence) that the case in favor of birth control is really quite apparent to anyone seriously considering the same without prejudice. the opposing side of the question is held by them to be represented principally by statements based on prejudice and disingenuous statements, which are capable of being turned against those advancing them. and, the present writer, likewise is of the opinion that the strongest possible case for birth control is presented in the answer to the arguments advanced by the opponents thereof. but, before proceeding to the latter phase of the argument, it may be well to examine briefly the several leading points of argument advanced by the advocates of rational and scientific birth control, in order to clear the way for the answers to the opposite side of the question. the reader is, therefore, invited to consider the said points, briefly presented in the following paragraphs: birth control encourages marriage. the advocates of birth control hold that a scientific knowledge of contraception would speedily result in a large increase of marriages, particularly among persons of limited incomes. persons who have not been able to accumulate the "little nest egg" which prudent persons consider a requisite on the part of those contemplating marriage and the responsibilities of rearing a family of children, are in many cases caused to hesitate about contracting marriage, and often relinquish the idea altogether. many of these persons are well adapted for marriage, being of the domestic temperament and having the home ideal prominent in their mental makeup. the increasing number of bachelors and unmarried women past thirty years of age, who are in evidence in all large centers of population at the present time, is undoubtedly due to a great extent to the fear on the part of these men and women regarding the proper support of a family of children. many men and women feel that the man is able to earn enough to support himself and wife comfortably, by the exercise of economy, but that the said earnings are not sufficient to provide properly for a family of children. some would be willing to have one or two children, born after the couple have well established themselves, but are appalled at the thought of bringing into the world a practically unlimited number of little children for whom they would not be able to provide properly. these people shrink at the idea of abortion, and doubt the efficacy of the popular so-called contraceptive methods of which their friends tell them, and they either defer the marriage until later in life, or else give up the idea altogether as being impossible for them under the existing circumstances. a scientific knowledge of the subject would give to such persons--and there are many thousands of such--an assurance of their ability to safely and properly control and regulate the size of their families, and would lead to many a marriage which would otherwise be out of the question. if it is agreed that the marriage state is the one normal to the average man and woman, and that marriages are in the interests of society--and few would seek to dispute this--then it would seem that anything that would tend to encourage marriage among the right kind of persons should receive the encouragement of society and be fully protected by the laws of society; and that the old prejudice against the subject, and the laws which discourage the same, and place a penalty upon the dissemination of scientific methods leading to the said result, are unworthy of civilized society and modern thought. earlier marriages and curb on prostitution. it is generally conceded by students of sociology that earlier marriages tend to decrease the causes of the evil of prostitution, illicit sexual relations, and general sexual morality; and the consequent spread and existence of the venereal diseases which have followed in the trail of such relations. and it is likewise conceded that prostitution is an evil, and a cancer spot upon modern social life, and that venereal diseases constitute a frightful menace to the health and physical welfare of the race. therefore, it would seem that anything which would promote early marriages among healthy, intelligent young men and women would be a blessing to the race and to society. and as these earlier marriages are unquestionably prevented in a great number of cases by reasons of the fear of inadequate financial support for large families of children, it would seem to follow that the best interests of society would be served by the encouragement by public opinion, under the protection of the law, of the teaching by competent authorities upon the subject of rational and scientific methods of birth control. health of wives. the advocates of birth control lay considerable stress upon the fact that a scientific knowledge of birth control would practically obviate the state of broken-down health so common among married women, particularly among those who have been compelled to bear large numbers of children during the first few years of married life. many a young married woman is in bad health--often reaching the state of chronic invalidism--as the result of having had to bear too many children, and in too close succession. not only is the above the case, but there is to be found on all sides many cases of invalidism and shattered health caused by the horrible practice of criminal abortion. it is doubted whether anyone outside of medical circles can even faintly begin to realize the frequency of this practice of abortion among the well-to-do, and those in "comfortable circumstances"--not to speak of the countless deaths which arise from the prevalence of this curse. were a physician to even faintly indicate the number of cases coming under his personal professional attention, in which the patient is suffering from the effects of one or more abortions, he would be accused of gross exaggeration, and would be condemned as a sensationalist. without going into detail concerning these things, the writer states that it is a matter of common knowledge among physicians that in every large city there are thousands of unscrupulous (including those who call themselves physicians) who are kept busy every week in the year performing criminal operations designed to produce abortions. some of these practitioners have many regular patients--women who visit them regularly for the purpose of having abortions produced by criminal operations. it seems almost incredible, but it is a veritable fact, that there are to be found many women in the large cities who actually boast to their friends of the number of operations of this kind they have had performed on them. surely, any instruction which would prevent the physical breakdown of so many women by reason of excessive child-bearing on the one hand, and abortion on the other hand, would seem to be worthy of the hearty support of society, and the encouragement of its laws, rather than the reverse. so true does this seem, that it is difficult to realize that there are any intelligent persons who would condemn such instruction as evil and harmful to society. that such persons do exist is a striking proof of the persistence of ancient superstitions and the survival and tenacity of old prejudices. morality of married men. it is a matter of common knowledge among physicians, and students of sociology, that many married men, particularly those living in the large cities, indulge in extra-marital or illicit sexual relations, with prostitutes and other women of loose morals, and this not because these men are naturally vicious, depraved or licentious, but rather because they fear causing their wives to bear them more children--the wives either being in delicate or broken-down health, or else the family already too large to be reared properly in justice to the children. many persons who would see only what "ought to be," and who refuse to see "things as they are" in modern society, will be disposed to pooh-pooh the above statement, and to accuse those making it to be sensational or even morbid on the subject. but those who are brought in close contact with men and women, as are family physicians and specialists, as well as honest students of sociology, know only too well that the above is not an over-statement, but is rather a very conservative recital of certain unpleasant, but true, facts of human society. justice to the children. the advocates of scientific birth control hold that a scientific knowledge along the lines favored by them would prevent the gross injustice to children which is now only too obvious to anyone who candidly considers the matter without prejudice. the child brought into the world, unwanted, undesired, unprepared for, and unprovided for before and after birth, is handicapped from the very start of its existence upon earth. the present state of affairs works a terrible injustice upon countless children brought into the world in such conditions. nothing that the present writer could put into words would state this fact more concisely and clearly than the following statement made by dr. wm. j. robinson, a leading authority along these lines, who has said: "the responsibility of bringing a child into the world under our present social and economic conditions is a very great one. the primitive savage or the coarse ignorant man does not care. it does not bother him what becomes of his offspring; if they get an education, if they have enough to eat, if they learn a trade or a profession, well--if they don't, also well; if they achieve a competence or a decent social position, he is satisfied--if not, he can't help it. god willed it so. but, on the other hand, the cultured, refined man and woman look at the matter differently. the thought of bringing into the world a human being which may be physically handicapped, which may be mentally inferior, which may have a hard struggle through life, which may have to go through endless misery and suffering, fills them with anguish. * * * * * "we see about us millions of working men and women who go through life, from cradle to grave, without a ray of joy, without anything that makes life worth living. in the higher classes we see a constant, hard, infuriated struggle to make a living, to make a career, and the spectre of poverty is almost as unremittingly before the eyes of the middle and professional classes as it is before the eyes of the laborer. and all over we see ignorance, superstition, beliefs bordering on insanity, hardness, coarseness, rowdyism, brutality, crime and prostitution; prostitution of the body, and what is worse, prostitution of the mind, the hiding or selling of one's convictions for a mess of pottage. and our prisons, asylums, and hospitals are not decreasing, but increasing in number and inmates. "it is my sincerest and deepest conviction that we could accomplish incomparably more if only a small part of the energy and money now spent on philanthropic efforts were expended in teaching the women, the married women of the poor, how to limit the number of their children; in other words, how to prevent conception. it would work a wonderful reform in the lives of the poor, and our slums would be metamorphosed in ten years. * * * it is we who are to blame now for the large families of the poor, and for this reason we are morally obligated to give them the financial and medical aid that they demand. but when effectual means are put into their hands for limiting the number of their offspring, then they, and not we, will be to blame if they do not make use of them. * * * * "the rich and the upper-middle classes, those to whom several children would be the least burden, are quite familiar with the various means of prevention. the poorer middle classes use preventives recommended by their friends; these preventives sometimes succeed, sometimes fail, and sometimes ruin the woman's health. while the very poor, the wage-earners, those who can least afford to have unlimited progeny, knowing no means of prevention, go on breeding to their own and to the community's detriment. the result, as you can plainly see, is a general lowering of the physical and mental stamina of the race. for if the cultured and the well-to-do do not breed, or have only a few children, while the poor and the ignorant go on having a numerous progeny for which they cannot well provide, and which they cannot afford to educate properly, it stands to reason that the percentage of the uneducated, the unfit and the criminal, must go on constantly increasing. and this is something that no lover of humanity can look upon with equanimity." surely the above recited special points of argument in favor of birth control seem to be statements of self-evident facts to the unprejudiced mind, do they not? and the person of this kind who considers them carefully for the first time usually finds himself wondering what rational argument can be fairly urged on the other side of this important question. and, when he acquaints himself with the arguments of "the other side" he usually finds himself even more established in the belief that scientific birth control is advisable, sane, and along the lines of the mental evolution of the race. at any rate, it is difficult to escape the conviction that the burden of proof needed to controvert a proposition so nearly self-evident as intelligent and scientific birth control, must be placed squarely upon the shoulders of those opposing the proposition. lesson xiii the argument against birth control the argument against birth control, urged by those who are opposed to the dissemination of scientific information on the subject, may be reduced to a few general points. these points of objection i shall now state, together with the rejoinder to each as given by the advocates of the proposition. i think that these points cover the main argument advanced against birth control, and i shall endeavor to state them as fully and as fairly as possible. opposed to religious teachings. one of the most common arguments advanced against birth control is the one which holds that the idea is opposed to religious teachings. the statement, however, is usually made in a vague general way, the charge of "irreligious" being hurled without explanation, and usually without any attempt to show any proof of the accusation. as a matter of fact, as the advocates of birth control have pointed out, there is nothing whatsoever in the new testament which in fairness may be construed as indicating birth control as sinful; in fact, it has been frequently asserted by authorities on the subject that there is nothing to be found in either the old testament or the new testament which directly or indirectly prohibits the limitation of offspring, or which encourages the production of an unlimited number of children regardless of all other conditions. nor do the majority of the various religious denominations seem to have in their statements of doctrine and living anything in the nature of prohibition along the lines indicated above. it is true, however, that the roman catholic church does quite positively, and vigorously, condemn and prohibit the use of contraceptive methods among its members; and i have been informed that its priests place such methods in the category of methods producing abortion, both being regarded as practically identical with infanticide. i have been informed, however, that in this church the restriction of marital relations to certain periods of the month in which conception is held to be not so likely to be effected, with abstinence at other periods, is a method of limiting offspring that does not come under the ban, particularly if there be a reasonable excuse offered for the desire to limit the size of the family; though, as a rule, even such method is frowned upon unless the reasonable excuse be forthcoming. in the case of members of the catholic church--and these only--there may seem to be warrant for the objection to birth control as "contrary to religion," it being assumed that the teachings and rules of the church constitute the true measure of "religion." to such there is, of course, only one answer, and that is that if the teaching or practice of birth control methods be held by them to be "contrary to religion" (according to their definition of "religion") then they have merely to adhere to the said religious teachings, and to refuse to learn anything about birth control. the matter undoubtedly is one entirely for the exercise of their own judgment and conscience. there is no desire on the part of the advocates of birth control to insist that such people must limit the size of their families--or for that matter that there is any "must" about it for anyone whatsoever. but we must not lose sight of the fact that the laws and customs of society in general are not based upon, or bound up with, the teachings and rules of this particular church. on the contrary, particularly in the instance of marriage and divorce, many of our customs sanctioned by our laws permit and sanction things which are not countenanced or approved of by the church in question. but just as persons outside of that church are in no way bound by the teachings or rules thereof in the matter of marriage and divorce, so are they in no way bound by the teachings and rules of the said church concerning the limitation of the size of families. the church in question does not regard "civil marriages" as true marriages at all--yet our laws, and general public opinion, countenance such marriages; and it is extremely probable that within a comparatively short time the status of birth control will likewise manifest the same conflict between state and church. but just as no catholic is compelled to accept or practice civil marriage, so no catholic will be compelled to accept or practice birth control. religion is entirely a matter of individual belief and faith, and binds no one not agreeing with its precepts. there is no union of church and state in this country, or in most other modern civilized countries; and we are not under the jurisdiction of the church in matters of conscience or conduct, unless we voluntarily so place ourselves under such jurisdiction and control. the argument that birth control which is based upon the assertion that it is opposed to the edicts or dogmas of some particular church organization, is found to be no true argument for the reasons given above; and such argument must be dismissed as fallacious by those who base their judgments and conduct upon the dictates of science, reason, and common-sense, rather than upon the dogmas or decrees of any church organization. the answer to those who urge that "birth control is contrary to the teachings of the catholic church" is: "well, what of it? if you are not a catholic!" the force of the above objection to birth control becomes important when we find that those who are opposed to birth control merely because their church condemns it do not content themselves with letting alone the subject, but would also endeavor to fasten the rule of their church upon the rest of society. while such persons are undoubtedly acting in good faith, and inspired by motives which seem good to them, they should stop to remember that general society refuses to accept the rules of their church in the matter of marriage and divorce, and is likely to refuse a like attempt to fasten upon it the rules of the church in the case of birth control. the general public, here and in the first mentioned cases, will insist upon entering a plea of "lack of jurisdiction." in the cases of persons outside of the church in question who may consider birth control to be contrary to their religious convictions and teachings, there is to be made the same answer given above, namely, that the advocates of birth control are not trying to force anything upon those who entertain such religious or conscientious scruples--they would leave such persons free to follow the dictates of their own conscience or the religious teachings favored by them. but at the same time they would demand the legal and moral right to follow the dictates of their own conscience and reason, and would insist upon their right to receive legal protection for the dissemination of their scientific teachings. all that the advocates of birth control are claiming is the right of free speech and free knowledge concerning this subject which they deem concerned with the future progress and well-being of the race. the argument against birth control which is based upon the claim that it is "irreligious," arises from the general tradition based upon the hebrew conception of a deity who bade the legendary first families of the race to "increase and multiply." according to the scriptural narrative this authoritative command was addressed to a world inhabited by eight people. from such a point of view a world's population of a few thousand persons would have seemed inconceivably great. but the old legendary command has become a tradition which has survived amid conditions totally unlike those under which it arose. under this old traditionary conception reproduction was regarded as a process in which men's minds and wills had no part. to those holding it, knowledge of nature was still too imperfect for the recognition of the fact that the whole course of the world's natural history has been an erection of barrier against wholesale and indiscriminate reproduction. thus it came about that under the old dispensation, which is now forever passing away, to have as many children as possible and to have them as often as possible--providing that certain ritual prescriptions were fulfilled--seemed to be a religious duty. today the conditions have altogether altered, and even our own feelings have altered. we no longer feel with the ancient hebrew who bequeathed his ideals, though not his practices, to christendom, that to have as many wives and concubines and as large a family as possible is both natural and virtuous and in the best interests of religion. we realize, moreover, that such claimed divine commands were the expression of the prophets and rulers of the people to whom they were addressed, and in accordance with the ideals concerning race-betterment which were held by these self-constituted authorities. to the educated men and women of today, it is seen that these ideals of human-betterment (no longer imposed upon the people under the guise of divine commands, but rather by an appeal to their reason and judgment) are no longer based upon the sanctification of the impulse of the moment, but rather involve restraint of the impulse of the moment as taught by the lessons of foresight and regard for the future which the race has received. we no longer believe that we are divinely ordered to be reckless, or that god commands us to have children who, as we ourselves know, are fatally condemned to disease or premature death. matters which we formerly believed to be regulated only by providence, are now seen to be properly regulated by the providence, prudence, foresight, and self-restraint of men themselves. these characteristics are those of moral men, and those persons who lack these characteristics are condemned by our social order to be reckoned among the dregs of mankind. our social order is one in which the sphere of procreation could not be reached or maintained by the systematic control of offspring. more and more is religion perceived to be more than a mere matter of the observance of certain ritual and ceremonies, or the belief in certain dogmas. more and more is true religion seen to be vitally concerned and bound up with the relations of man to man, and the welfare of society in general. more and more is it being perceived that anything which is decidedly anti-social, or opposed to the best interests of human-betterment, is not truly "religious," no matter how sanctified by tradition, or bound up with ritual and ceremonies it may be. the spirit of modern christianity is seen to consist of two fundamental principles, viz.: ( ) the love of god; and ( ) the golden rule. the conscientious christian who uses head and heart in harmony and unison, cannot avoid the conclusion that the avoidance of the bringing into the world of offspring destined by social and economic conditions to misery, poverty, and sin, is more in accordance with the true spirit of christianity than opposed to it--the ancient dogmas and traditions of the church to the contrary notwithstanding. modern religion is based upon reason as well as upon faith, and it is safe to predict the time when birth control will not only be sanctioned by "religion," but also encouraged by it. is it immoral? akin to the objection urged against birth control on the score of conflict with religious teachings, we find the one which states that "it is immoral." morality means "quality of an action which renders it right or good; right conduct." right conduct or "good" action depends upon the effect of the conduct or action upon the individual, other individuals, or society in general. the standards of morality, right conduct, and good actions have changed from time to time in the history of the race, and are not fixed. reason teaches that that which is for the benefit of the individual and the race is and must be "moral," and that which is harmful to the individual and the race is and must be "immoral." as to whether birth control is helpful or harmful to the individual and the race--moral or immoral--the individual student of the question must decide for himself after having given the subject careful and unprejudiced consideration. the advocates of birth control hold that every fair argument and consideration of the question must bring the unprejudiced person to the conviction that the ideals advanced by them are in the direction of the betterment of the race, and the increased happiness of the individuals composing the race. if such be the case, then birth control must be regarded as positively "moral" in character and principles, and its teachings directly in the interests of "morality." so true is the above statement that every argument of the advocates of birth control is based upon the assumption of its "morality," in the sense of making for human betterment. if it be shown that the teachings are in anywise "immoral," in the sense indicated, then no one would be quicker to condemn them than the intelligent and conscientious advocate of birth control, for the reason that his whole case is based upon the inherent "morality" of his ideals. any one who has made a careful and unprejudiced study of the subject of birth control will discard the idea that a tendency so deeply rooted in nature as is birth control can ever be in opposition to morality. it can only be so held as contrary to morality when men confuse the eternal principles of morality, whatever they may be, with their temporary applications, which are always becoming modified in adaptation to changing circumstances. the old ideals of morality placed the whole question of procreation under the authority (after god) of men. women were in subjection to men, and had no right of freedom, no right to responsibility, no right to knowledge, for, it was believed, if they were entrusted with any of these they would abuse them at once. this view prevails even today in some civilized countries, and middle-aged italian parents, for instance, will not allow their daughters to be conducted by a man even to mass, for they believe that as soon as they are out of their sight they will be unchaste. that is their morality. our morality today is different. it is inspired by different ideas, and aims at a different practice. we are by no means disposed to rate highly the morality of a girl who is only chaste so long as she is under her parents' eyes; for us, indeed, that is much more like immorality than morality. we, today, wish women to be reasonably free; we wish them to be trained in a sense of responsibility for their own actions; we wish them to possess knowledge, more especially in the sphere of sex, once theoretically opposed to them, which we now recognize as peculiarly their own domain. our ideal woman today is not she who is deprived of freedom and knowledge in the cloister, even though only the cloister of her own home; but rather the woman who being instructed from early life in the facts of sexual physiology and sexual hygiene, is also trained to exercise judgment, will, self-restraint, and self-responsibility, and able and worthy to be trusted to follow the path which is right according to the highest ideals of the society of which she is a part. that is the only kind of morality which now seems to us to be worth while. and, as any unprejudiced intelligent person is forced to admit, there is nothing in the policy of scientific birth control to run contrary to such an ideal of moral womanhood. but the relation of birth control to morality is, however, by no means a question which concerns women alone. it equally concerns men. here we have to recognize, not only that the exercise of control over procreation enables a man to form a marriage of faithful devotion with the woman of his choice at an earlier age than would otherwise be possible, but it further enables him, throughout the whole of his married life, to continue such relationship under circumstances which might otherwise render them injurious or else undesirable to his wife. that the influence exerted by a general knowledge of scientific methods of birth control would suffice to entirely abolish prostitution it is foolish to maintain, although it would undoubtedly tend to decrease the social evil. and even the partial elimination of prostitution would be in the interests of general morality, not only in the direction of lessening the brutal demand of women to serve in the ranks of prostitution, but also in many other ways of importance to society as a whole. the decrease of venereal disease would follow a decrease in prostitution caused by a general knowledge and practice of scientific methods of birth control on the part of married people; and it must be remembered that venereal disease spreads far beyond the patrons of prostitution and is a perpetual menace to others who may become innocent victims. and any influence that serves to decrease prostitution and the spread of venereal disease, must be placed in the category of "moral," and certainly not in the opposite one. the objection is frequently heard that the general knowledge of scientific methods of contraception would lead to increased illicit relations among unmarried persons, particularly among the young people. this argument is apparently based upon the belief, or fear, that the fear of conception is the only thing which prevents many persons from indulging in illicit relations. it assumes that a large portion of our womankind are chaste simply because of fear of pregnancy; and that this fear once removed these women would at once plunge into such relations. in other words, it assumes that mentally and in spirit these women are already unchaste, but are restrained from physical unchastity by reason of the fear of conception. the answer of the advocates of birth control takes direct issue with the above contention. on the contrary, it asserts that the chastity of our women is the result of their general training, education, heredity, observance of the accepted customs and standards of their community, religious and moral training, etc. the woman who is chaste simply through fear, usually manages to allay that fear in one way or another, often by mistaken methods which work great harm to the woman and the community in general. the general knowledge of scientific contraceptive methods might result in such women manifesting their inclinations and desires in a "safer" manner, but this "safety" would not consist of protection against conception (for that they already think they have) but rather of a protection against the dangers of abortion and similar evil practices. some of the writers go further in this matter, as for instance dr. robinson, who says: "if some women are bound to have illicit relations, is it not better that they should know the use of scientific preventives than that they should become pregnant, disgracing and ostracising themselves, and their families; or that they should subject themselves to the degradation and risks of an abortion; or failing this, take carbolic acid or bichloride, jump into the river, or throw themselves under the wheels of a running train?" the objection to birth control on the ground that it would increase illicit relations among men and women by means of removing the fear of physical consequences, seems to many careful thinkers to be akin to the old objection (now happily passing away) to the dissemination of the knowledge of the treatment of venereal diseases, and to the public cure of such diseases, on the ground that by so doing a part of the fear concerning illicit relations was removed, and thereby illicit relations actually encouraged. the result of this fallacious argument was the enormous spread of venereal diseases, to the great hurt of the race; and the encouragement of quacks and charlatans who fattened on the gains received from the sufferers from this class of complaints. the argument against birth control on similar grounds will be seen to be equally fallacious, and capable of equally evil consequences, if the matter be fairly and carefully considered. illicit relations, if prevented or regulated at all by society, must be so regulated or prevented by other means than fear of conception. such fear, though it may deter for a short time, will usually be overcome in time if the desire and temptation remain sufficiently strong. it is doubtful whether any considerable number of women remain chaste for any length of time simply by reason of fear of conception. if such fear be the only remaining deterring factor, it will usually be swept away in time under continued temptation, opportunity, and desire. chastity and virtue must have a far more solid foundation than such fear; and experience repeatedly shows that such fear is but as shifting sand sought to be employed as a foundation for the structure of chastity. there is no reason whatsoever for believing that the scientific knowledge of contraceptive methods, if generally possessed by married people under the sanction of the law and society, would result in any more cases of illicit relations than exist at the present time. it might, it is true, result in less evil consequences of such relations in some cases, as dr. robinson has so clearly pointed out in the above quotation; but the relations in such cases would exist in either event. fear of conception, like fear of infection, has never, and will never entirely prevent illicit relations between men and women; and to oppose scientific information in the one case on these grounds, is as futile as to oppose scientific treatment in the other case on the same grounds. and when it is considered how society in general is injured by the withholding of such information or treatment, respectively, the argument in favor of such suppression of scientific truth and method is seen to be actually dangerous to society and sub-service of the public good. i would like to add a few words concerning the question of morality in the matter of practicing scientific birth control. to me what i shall say in the succeeding paragraphs of this chapter have a vital bearing on the whole subject, and should be taken into serious consideration by the fair-minded and conscientious student of the subject. here follows my thought in the matter: in my consideration of the arguments against scientific birth control i am impressed with one particular thought which refuses to be silenced, but which insists upon persistently presenting itself to my consciousness. this particular thought may be expressed as follows: it is admitted by unprejudiced students of the subject that the educated and cultured portions of the civilized countries of modern times do actually practice, to some extent, in some form, manner, or degree, the limitation of offspring--no honest observer will dispute this statement. this being so, does it not seem that the race should fairly and squarely, honestly and frankly, face this question and decide whether or not such rules of conduct are "right" or "wrong"--"moral" or "immoral"--and to what extent, if any, they should be permitted or encouraged to be practiced toward the ends of individual and race happiness and betterment. if the decision is totally against this rule of conduct, then it should be vigorously denounced, and all honest people should refrain from it. if, on the contrary, the decision should be that this mode of conduct, or some phases of it, are justified, then, in the name of honesty and truth, let us turn on the full light of general information, knowledge, and instruction on the subject, under the full protection of the laws and public opinion. why should we not throw aside the mask of cowardly hypocrisy, and stand before the world showing ourselves as just what we really are? my thought, in essence, is that the chief "wrong," and "immorality" about the whole matter consists in our present practice of doing one thing in private, and condemning the same thing in public. there can be no excuse, to the intellectually honest person at least, for the course of tacitly holding that a certain thing is "all right for us," while "all wrong for the other folks." is it injurious to health? it is sometimes urged against birth control that the use of contraceptive methods is injurious to the health of women, in some cases a long list of physical and mental ills being given as possible of being caused by such methods. opposed to this is the contention of the members of the medical profession who have arrayed themselves on the side of scientific birth control. the latter authorities positively contradict the assertion that women's health is injured by the practice of rational and scientific methods of birth control; although these authorities freely admit, in fact they claim, that certain unscientific methods and practices popular among certain persons--such as the use of certain chemicals and mechanical appliances--undoubtedly have resulted in physical harm, and they strongly advise against the use of such bunglesome methods. one of the leading medical advocates of scientific birth control in the united states throws down the gauntlet squarely before those of his profession, and others, who urge this objection to scientific birth control, in the following challenging words: "i challenge any physician, any gynecologist, to bring forth a single authenticated case in which disease or injury resulted from the use of modern methods of prevention. i know they cannot do it." and others in the ranks of the medical profession have made similar assertions and claims. the unprejudiced person who will consult the best medical authorities on the subject will unquestionably agree that the best medical opinion of the day holds that scientific birth control is not in fairness to be open to this objection. is birth control unnatural? another favorite argument of the opponents of scientific birth control is the broad statement and claim that "all voluntary attempts to limit procreation are unnatural," and therefore wrong. this objection, while usually offered without any particular argument, explanation, or proof, must be carefully and honestly met and answered by the fair-minded advocate of birth control. in the first place, it may as well be admitted that regulation, restriction, or control of the procreative functions by application of the intellect or reasoning processes is unnatural, in the sense of not being indicated by nature and enforced through the instinctive actions of the race. the only instinct which primitive man seems to have had in this case (and these he held in common with the lower animals) was that of free and unlimited sexual intercourse, in response to his instinctive desires, with this exception (and this exception should be carefully noted), i. e.: that the male respected the instinctive disinclination to cohabit during the period in which the woman was pregnant, and often also during the period in which she nursed her infant. this instinct, unhappily for the race, the "civilized" man has overridden until it has practically ceased to manifest its voice. the lower animals, obeying this primitive instinct, do not manifest violation of this law of nature. on the contrary, the female will not allow the male to approach her at such times, and will fight savagely at any attempt to violate this instinctive law of her nature. the male usually recognizes the existence of this law, and makes no attempt to violate it, but should he attempt the same he is defeated by the female as above stated. it has remained for man alone to override and violate, and to eventually render nul and void this wise instinctive provision of nature. but beyond this there is no "natural," instinctive regulation of the sexual activities of animal or man, other than the desires of the male and female. if civilized man adhered wholly to the "natural" in this respect, he would obey the voice of instinct alone, and would show reason and intellect the door in such matters, and would also bid defiance to all legal or ecclesiastical authority when it sought to "control" his activities along these lines. but, it is needless to say, such is not the case. not only has the law of the church insisted upon certain "control" of these matters--as witness the laws against adultery, illicit relations, incest, bastardy, etc.--but man, himself, has asserted a greater and still greater voluntary control over the reproductive functions as he has risen in the scale of civilization and culture. today it is only the lowest and least cultured classes of society who (to use the expressive but somewhat inelegant term) persist in "breeding like pigs." all other classes exercise a greater or less degree of "control" of some kind in the matter of limitation of offspring. in making this broad assertion i, of course, have in mind not only the modern methods urged by the advocates of scientific contraception, but also the "control" and regulation observed by married persons in either total abstinence from the marital relations for a stated time, or else the abstinence from such relations during certain portions of the lunar month, the latter method (somewhat uncertain, however, in its efficacy in some cases) being apparently favored by certain ecclesiastical authorities as the "only moral" method. in view of the above facts, which might be enlarged and extended if necessary, it is seen that as soon as man rises above the level of the beast or savage--as soon as he begins to manifest culture and civilization--he begins to exercise a certain "control" over the procreative function, and in the direction of the limitation of the size of his family of offspring. the contention of the modern advocates of scientific birth control is that the "new ideas" on the subject are simply a natural and inevitable evolution from the degrees of "control" which man has exercised since the time he emerged from savagery. the later developments are no more "unnatural" than the earlier--nor the accepted methods and forms any more "natural" than those which are now opposed by the more conservative elements of society. when anyone begins to talk about things being "natural" or "unnatural," respectively, he should tread softly and watch his steps carefully. for at every step he treads upon instances of "unnatural" modes and methods of living. strictly speaking, it is "unnatural" to wear clothes, or to cook food, or to live in houses, or to ride in conveyances or on horseback. all of these things have been evolved by the use of intellect and reason, and are not instinctive or "natural" to man. birds build nests, wasps build shelter, hornets build homes, bees build honey-combs, worms build cocoons, snails build shells--all by instinct and "naturally"--and the young of such species do not have to be taught how to do these things. but the young of the human race requires to be taught such things as above mentioned as having been evolved by man in the course of his rise from savagery--instinct will not do it for them. and all of these things outside the plane of instinct, and within the plane of intellect, cannot be called "natural" in the strict sense of the term. you think that i am exaggerating the matter, perhaps. well, then, i ask you to consider the meaning of the two terms which i have employed so freely in the foregoing paragraphs: first, let us consider the term, "natural"; we find it defined as "fixed or determined by nature, and, therefore, according to nature, and not artificial, assumed, or acquired." next, let us consider the term, "instinct"; we find it defined as "natural impulse, or unconscious, involuntary, or unreasoning prompting to any action." it will be seen, accordingly, that merely the most elemental and primitive activities of man are "natural" in this sense; and that all his acquired activities and methods are "not natural." the activities of man which are in the "not natural" class may be either desirable for the individual and the race, or else undesirable for both. therefore, it will be seen, all such activities must be subjected to the test of reason and experience in order to determine whether they are in the best interests of the individual and the race, or else opposed to these. this is the only sane method of testing the validity and desirability of such things--birth control among the others. the claim of "not natural," if applied at all, must be extended to all things which are not strictly "natural" or instinctive--it is casuistical to apply the term in reproach to certain things and to withhold it from others in the same general class. lesson xiv race suicide a favorite argument of certain opponents of scientific birth control is that such teachings and modes of conduct tend toward race suicide, and the consequent weakening and final destruction of the human race by means of "bleeding it white" by draining from it its normal supply of children. those who hold this view argue that if birth control methods become popular, and sanctioned by the law and public opinion, then the race will eventually die out and disappear from the face of the earth. some vary the argument by insisting that those nations favoring birth control would suffer decline and gradual extinction at the hands of other nations opposed to scientific methods of regulating the number and frequency of offspring. this is a serious charge against birth control, which if proved would probably serve to array all right-thinking persons against it. but the advocates of birth control seriously and positively controvert and deny the validity and truth of this argument. on the contrary they claim that scientific birth control would not only keep up the population of all countries, or any country, to a normal standard proportionate to its ability to sustain properly such population, but will also act to render that population stronger and better, physically, mentally and morally, and far more efficient in every way owing to improved quality of the stock. the first requisite is met by the reduction of the death rate to meet the decreasing birth-rate; and the second requisite is met by the improvement of the stock by proper rearing and training made possible by the decreased size of the average family. birth control serves to eliminate the waste caused by excessive infant mortality, and to thus fully counterbalance the decreased birth rate. the advocates of birth control assert that the natural instinct of parenthood, the love of children, and the desire for offspring and the perpetuation of the family name and stock, are too firmly rooted and grounded in human nature to be seriously affected by such knowledge and practice on the part of the race. they point to the fact that in many families in which intelligent modes of birth control are favored, and in which the size of the family has been limited to a few children, the children are, as a rule, better cared for and provided for, better reared and better educated, than in the case of families in which children are brought into the world without thought or reason, and without the possibility of proper care and rearing. birth control, say its advocates, will not do away with children, but will merely regulate their number to rational limits, and at appropriate intervals between births. moreover, it is claimed, that while the birth-rate in such families may be smaller, the death-rate is also smaller. and, at the last, it is the number of children that survive that counts with the race, not those who merely are born. the fact that many persons consult physicians for a cure for sterility, and go to great trouble and expense to further the bearing of children, and the fact many childless couples adopt children rather than to have a childless home, are evidence of the fact that there is no danger of the parental instinct dying out. it is the experience of physicians generally that the patients who desire information regarding scientific contraceptive methods are usually those who already have as many children as they can well take care of, and not those who wish to escape parenthood in toto. we are constantly reminded that the size of the average family is much smaller than it was a hundred years ago--but still the race is rapidly increasing, owing to the decreased death-rate resulting from a better knowledge of hygiene and medicine. moreover, it is positively asserted that the "old time large family" frequently had one father but several mothers--the husband marrying several times in order to replace with a new life the old wife who had broken down and died from overwork and excessive childbearing. it is claimed that in holland, in which birth control is recognized by law, and where it is legally sanctioned and even encouraged among those who are not able to support large families, statistics show that the population is increasing more rapidly than before, owing to the decreased mortality of infants and young children arising from the better care of those who are born. dr. robinson says on this point: "here we have a whole country, holland, in which the prevention of conception is legally sanctioned, in which the use of preventives is practically universal--and is this country dying out? on the contrary, it is increasing more rapidly than before, because we have this remarkable and gratifying phenomenon to bear in mind, that wherever the birth-rate goes down, the death rate goes down pari passu, or even to a still greater degree. this can be proven by statistics from almost every country in the world. for instance, in the birth-rate in holland was , and the mortality ; in the birth-rate fell to , but then the mortality rate fell still lower, namely to , so we see an actual gain in population, instead of a loss. and the physical constitution of the people has been improving * * *. and in new zealand, where the sale of contraceptives is practically free, the birth rate is now , and the mortality rate is . does that look like race suicide? on the contrary, there is a steady increase at the rate of ten per cent, while sickness and death of children, with their attendant economic and emotional waste, are reduced to a minimum." not only are the children of small families as a rule better cared for, from economic reasons easy to discern, but it is also a fact that the health of the mothers is far better, and consequently the health of the children when born is better than the average. one has but to look around him upon the families who boast of having had eight, ten, and twelve children born to them, to see what a frightful average percentage of deaths of infants and young children is present, and which brings down the number of the survivors. dr. alice hamilton, in "the bulletin of the american academy of medicine," for may, , reports that she has investigated the families of , wage workers, and found the following death rate per , birth among them, viz.: families of children and less deaths per , births families of children deaths per , births families of children deaths per , births families of children deaths per , births families of children or more deaths per , births dr. hamilton sums up her investigation as follows: "our study of the poorer working class shows that child mortality increases proportionately as the number of children increase, until we have a death rate in families of children and over which is two and a half times as great as that in families of children and over." the facts above mentioned, and other facts of the same nature which will be disclosed in the progress of our consideration of the matter in the present book, have evidently been overlooked, deliberately or otherwise, by the fanatics in this country and in europe who have been preaching to the people that a falling birth-rate means a decaying nation. careful students of sociology now dismiss altogether the statement so often made that a falling birth-rate means "an old and decaying community." the germans for years have contemptuously been making this remark about france, but today they have been forced to recognize an unexpected vitality in the french, while, in fact, their own birth-rate has been falling more rapidly than that of france. nor is it true that a falling birth-rate means a falling population. the french birth-rate has been steadily falling for a number of years, yet the french population has been steadily increasing all the time, though less rapidly than it would had not the death-rate been abnormally high. it is not the number of babies born that counts, but the net result in surviving children. an enormous number of babies are born in china; but an enormous number die while still babies. so that it is better to have a few babies of good quality than a large number of indifferent quality, for the falling birth-rate is more than compensated by the falling death-rate. in england, as the statistics show, while the birth-rate is steadily falling, the population has been steadily growing. small families and a falling death-rate are not merely no evil--they are a positive good. they are a gain for humanity. they represent an evolutionary rise in nature and a higher stage in civilization. we are here in the presence of a great fundamental principle of progress which has been working through life from the beginning. at the beginning of life on the earth, reproduction ran riot. of one minute organism it is estimated that, if its reproduction were not checked by death or destruction, in thirty days it would form a mass a million times larger than the sun. the conger-eel lays fifteen million eggs, and if they all grew up, and reproduced themselves on the same scale, in two years the whole sea would become a wriggling mass of eels. as we approach the higher forms of life, reproduction gradually dies down. the animals nearest to man produce few offspring, but they surround them with parental care, until they are able to lead independent lives with a fair chance of surviving. the whole process may be regarded as a mechanism for slowly subordinating quantity to quality, and to promoting the evolution of life to even higher stages. this process, which is plain to see on the largest scale throughout living nature, may be more minutely studied, as it acts within a narrower range, in the human species. here we statistically formulate it in the terms of birth-rate and death-rate; by the mutual relationship of the two courses of the birth-rate and death-rate we are able to estimate the evolutionary rank of a nation, and the degree in which it has succeeded in subordinating the primitive standard of quantity to the higher and later standard of quality. especially in europe we can investigate this relationship by the help of statistics which in some cases extend back for nearly a century. we can trace the various phases through which each nation passes, the effects of prosperity, the influence of education and sanitary improvement, the general complex development of civilization, in each case moving forward, though not regularly and steadily, to higher stages by means of a falling birth-rate, which is to some extent compensated by a falling death-rate, the two rates nearly always running parallel, so that a temporary rise in the birth-rate is usually accompanied by a rise in the death-rate, by a return, that is to say, towards the conditions which we find at the beginning of animal life, and a steady fall in the birth-rate is always accompanied by a fall in the death-rate. it is thus clear that the birth-rate combined with the death-rate constitutes a delicate instrument for the measurement of civilization, and that the record of their combined curves registers the upward or downward course of every nation. the curves, as we know, tend to be parallel, and when they are not parallel we are in the presence of a rare and abnormal state of things which is usually temporary or transitional. a study of the statistics of european countries furnishes us with evidence of the facts above stated. it is instructive to perceive how closely the birth-rate and the death-rate of the several european countries agree. it is perceived that the eight countries of europe which register the highest birth-rate are the identical countries registering the highest death-rate. this is as might be expected, for a very high birth-rate seems fatally to involve a very high death-rate. the study of the following table may prove interesting--it certainly is instructive. in the following table the european countries having the highest birth-rate are stated in the order of rank according to size of such rate; and the countries having the heaviest death-rate are stated in the order of their rank in size of such rate: highest european birth-rate. highest european death-rate. russia. russia. roumania. roumania. bulgaria. hungary. serbia. bulgaria. hungary. spain. italy. serbia. austria. austria. spain. italy. moreover, japan, with a rather high birth-rate, has the same death-rate as spain; and chile, with a still higher birth-rate, has a higher death rate than russia. so, we see, that among human peoples we find the same laws prevailing as among animals, and the higher nations of the world differ from those which are less highly evolved precisely as the elephant differs from the herring, though within a narrower range, that is to say, by producing fewer offspring and taking better care of them. so, when we get to the root of the matter, the whole question of "does birth control tend toward race suicide?" becomes clear, and we are able to answer, positively, "it certainly does not; on the contrary it tends toward race progress and race betterment." we see that there is really no standing ground in any country for the panic-monger who bemoans the fall of the birth-rate, and storms against small families. the falling birth-rate is a world-wide phenomenon in all countries that are striving toward a higher civilization along lines which nature laid down from the beginning. we cannot stop it if we would, and if we could we should be merely impeding civilization. it is a movement which rights itself and tends to reach a just balance. instead of trying to raise the birth-rate by offering a bonus on babies as has been proposed in some quarters, it would be saner and better calculated for the betterment of the race to offer a bonus upon young men and women who attained maturity with a definite high standard of physical and mental development. as a writer on the subject has well said: "but we need not therefore fold our hands and do nothing. there is much still to be effected for the protection of motherhood and the better care of children. we cannot, and should not, attempt to increase the number of children born; there is still far more misery in having too many babies than in having too few; a bonus on babies would be a misfortune, alike for the parents and the state. but we may well work for the better quality of babies. there we should be on very safe ground. more knowledge is necessary so that all would-be parents may know how they may best become parents, and how they may, if necessary, best avoid it. procreation by the unfit should be, if not prohibited by law, at all events so discouraged by public opinion that to attempt it would be considered disgraceful. much greater public provision is necessary for the care of mothers during the months before, as well as in the period after, the child's birth. along such lines as these we may hope to increase the happiness of the people and the strength of the state. we need not worry about the falling birth-rate." the more that one intelligently examines the argument against birth control based upon fear of race suicide, the more one becomes convinced that not only is there "nothing to it," but that every fact brought to light in the inquiry reveals itself in the nature of proof of the desirability of birth control as a factor of race evolution, rather than evidence to the contrary. therefore, the more inquiry and investigation that such argument brings forth, the stronger is the case disclosed for birth control, and the greater the amount of public opinion created in its favor. in all considerations of the general question of race suicide, one must take note of the general question of eugenics or human breeding. this because the sound breeding of the race operates in a direction diametrically opposed to race suicide, while unsound breeding operates directly in favor thereof. when we consider the general subject of eugenics we touch upon the highest ground, and are concerned with our best hopes for the future of the world. there can be no doubt that birth control, considered as a phase of eugenics, is not only a precious but also an indispensable instrument in moulding the coming man to the measure of our developing ideals. without birth control we are powerless in the face of the awful evils which flow from random and reckless reproduction. with it we possess a power so great that some persons have professed to see in it a menace to the propagation of the race, amusing themselves with the idea that if people possess the means to prevent the conception of children they will never have children at all. it is not necessary to discuss such a grotesque notion seriously. the desire for children is far too deeply implanted in mankind and womankind alike ever to be rooted out. if there are today many parents whose lives are rendered wretched by large families and the miseries of excessive child-bearing, there are an equal number whose lives are wretched because they have no children at all, and who snatch eagerly at any straw which offers the smallest promise of relief to the craving. certainly there are people who desire marriage, but--some for very sound and estimable reasons and other for reasons which may less well bear examination--do not desire children at all. for the class of married people who do not desire children at all, contraceptive methods, far from being a social evil, are a social blessing. for nothing is as certain as that it is an unmixed evil for a community to possess unwilling, undesirable parents. birth control would be an unmixed blessing if it merely enabled us to exclude such persons from the ranks of parenthood. we desire no parents who are not competent and willing parents. only such parents are fit to father and to mother a future race worthy to rule the world. it is sometimes said that the control of conception, since it is frequently carried out immediately upon marriage, will tend to delay parenthood until an unduly late age. birth control has, however, no necessary result of this kind, and might even act in the reverse direction. a chief cause of delay in marriage is the prospect of the burden and expense of an unrestricted flow of children into the family; and it is said that in great britain, since , with the extension of the use of contraceptives, there has been a slight but regular increase not only in the general marriage rate but also in the proposition of early marriage. the ability to control the number of children not only enables marriage to take place at an early age, but also makes it possible for the couple to have at least one child soon after marriage. the total number of children are thus spaced out, instead of following in rapid succession. it is only of late years that the eugenic importance of a considerable interval between births has been fully recognized, as regards not only the mother--this has long been recognized--but also the children. the very high mortality of large families has long been known, and their association with degenerate conditions and with criminality. however, of recent years, evidence has been obtained that families in which the children are separated from each other by intervals of more than two years are both mentally and physically superior to those in which the interval is shorter. investigators have found that children born at only a short interval after the birth of a previous child are notably defective, even at the age of six, in a large percentage of cases; and when compared with children born at a longer interval, or with first children, they are, on the average, three inches shorter and three pounds lighter. these are facts of the most vital significance. thus when we calmly survey, in however summary a manner, the great field of life affected by the establishment of voluntary human control over the production of the race, we can not see a cause for anything but hope. it is satisfactory that it should be so, for there can be no doubt that we are here facing a great and permanent fact in civilized life. with every rise in civilization, indeed with all evolutionary progress whatever, there is what seems to be an automatic fall in the birth-rate. that fall is always normally accompanied by a fall in the death-rate, so that a low birth-rate frequently means a high rate of natural increase, since most of the children born survive. thus in the civilized world of today, notwithstanding the low birth-rate which prevails as compared with earlier times, the rate of increase in the population is still appalling--nearly half a million a year in great britain, over a million in austro-hungary, and three-quarters of a million in germany. when we examine this excess of births in detail we find among them a large proportion of undesired and undesirable children. there are two alternative methods working to diminish this proportion: the method of regulating conception under the methods of scientific birth control, or the bungling substitutes for the same, on the one hand, and the method of preventing live births after conception by means of the abominable practice of abortion. there can be no doubt about the enormous extension of the practice of abortion in all civilized countries, even although some of the extravagant estimates of its frequency in countries, the united states for example, be discarded as unwarranted. the burden of bearing excessive children on the overworked and underfed mothers of the working classes becomes at last so intolerable that almost anything seems better than another child. as a woman in yorkshire once said to an english investigator of this evil: "i'd rather swallow the druggist's shop and the man in it, than have another kid." a community which takes upon itself the responsibility of encouraging abortion lays itself open to severe criticism. and it must be admitted that just as all those who work for birth control are really diminishing the frequency of abortion, so every attempt to discourage birth control promotes abortion. we have to approach this problem calmly, in the light of nature and reason. we have each of us to decide on which side to range ourselves. for it is a vital problem concerning which we cannot afford to be indifferent. there is no desire here to exaggerate the importance of birth control. it is not a royal road to the millennium of the race; and like all other measures which the course of progress forces us to adopt, it has its disadvantages. but fairness and honest thought should admit freely that so far as is concerned the question of its being a factor toward race suicide, we must pronounce a verdict of "not guilty" upon birth control. on the contrary, the contrary course of teaching and practice, if carried to their full logical conclusion, would inevitably bring the race to such a stage of degeneracy, and retrogression to primitive type, that a fate far worse than suicide would befall the human race. for the race, as well as the individual, may commit "suicide" and an end to its career, not only by a will-not-to-live but also by a will-to-degenerate. the face of birth control is set toward the rising sun of race betterment, not toward the setting sun of racial decline. its ideas are those of race life, not of race death. it bids the race not to perish, but rather to live on in greater strength, happiness, and efficiency. birth control is in full accord with the racial will-to-live, and not opposed to it. all humanity, all civilization, all human progress, call upon us to take our stand upon this vital question of birth control. and, as a writer has well said, in doing so we shall each of us be contributing, however humbly, to that "one far-off event, to which the whole creation moves." lesson xv birth control methods the general subject of birth control necessarily includes the special subject of birth control methods, viz., of the methods of association between husband and wife under which offspring is conceived only at such times as desired, and consequently only in the number desired. these methods may be grouped into three general classes, as follows: i. methods of continence (total or temporary). in the practice of the methods under this class, there is an avoidance of sexual relations between husband and wife, either continuously or for certain periods during which the liability to conception is great. ii. methods of semi-continence. in the practice of the methods under this class, there is a partial manifestation of the sexual relation accompanied by an absence of the manifestation of the procreative functions. iii. methods of contraception. in the practice of the methods under this class, the usual manifestations of the sexual relation are observed, accompanied by an avoidance of the union of the male and female elements of reproduction which result in conception. the student of the subject of birth control, of course, familiarizes himself or herself with each of the several classes of methods above noted, for the purpose of understanding the characteristic distinctions between them, and the respective advantages and disadvantages of each class. in the following pages each class will be briefly considered, that the student may acquire a general understanding thereof, and may be enabled to reason intelligently concerning them. in this presentation there will be sought a fair statement of each class, without any desire to influence the student for or against either of them. continence. continence (which in this special sense means the avoidance of sexual relations between husband and wife), in the strict sense, is based upon the idea that the sexual relation should not be exercised except for the purpose and intent of procreation. in the restricted usage of the term, it refers to the abstinence from sexual intercourse during stated periods in which the liability to conception is greatest. rev. sylvanus stall, the author of several widely-read works on the subject of sex, says of strict continence: "one theory is that the reproductive function is not to be exercised except for the purpose of procreation. * * * there are some married people, more numerous than some suppose, who have adopted the idea of uniform continence, and who call the reproductive nature into exercise for the purpose of procreation only, and who assert that the maintenance of continence secures not only the greater strength and better health, but greater happiness also. * * * while the results of our investigations do not enable us to assert that it is the true theory, we are yet prepared to say that it is worthy of thoughtful consideration. if it is possible for married people to maintain absolute continence for a period of six months or a year, it must be conceded that it would be possible to extend that time to a longer period. the maintenance of this theory would require such a degree of self-control as is far beyond the possession of the great mass of humanity. we fear, also, that there are but few, even if they entered upon a life union with such thought and intention, who would be willing to maintain their principles for any considerable period. * * * the other theory, and that which many men and women who are eminent for their learning and religious life hold to be the correct theory, is that while no one has a right to enter upon the marriage relation with the fixed purpose of evading the duty of parenthood, yet that procreation is not the only high and holy purpose which god has had in view in establishing the marriage relation, but that the act of sexual congress may be indulged in between husband and wife for the purpose of expressing their personal endearments, and for quickening those affections and tender feelings which are calculated to render home the place of blessing and good which god intended. * * * it is held by those who advocate this theory, that while it would be possible to restrict the exercise of the reproductive functions to the single purpose of procreation, yet in the great majority of instances the effort to live by that theory would generally result in marital unhappiness. * * * due regard is not only to be paid to the perpetuity of the race, but to the well-being and perpetuity of the individual." the advocates of continence, except for the purpose of procreation, advance many arguments and evidence to justify their contention that this is the only course justified by nature and morality. we need not present this argument here, for it is outside the particular question now under consideration. however, in all fairness and justice, there should be presented here the general outline of their argument that there is no rational basis for the widely accepted idea that abstinence from sexual relations is in any way harmful or detrimental to the health and physical well-being of the human race. the advocates of continence cite the cases of many continent men who have been noted for their vigor and activity; and claim that such cases also justify their claim that continence makes for the sound mind in the sound body of mankind. the following quotations from authorities will give the general spirit of this contention. dr. kellogg says: "it has been claimed by many, even physicians, and though with but a slight show of reason, that absolute continence, after a full development of the organs of reproduction, could not be maintained without a great detriment to health. it is needless to enumerate all the different arguments employed to support this position, since they are, with a few exceptions, too frivolous to mention." dr. mayer says: "this position is held by men of the world, and many physicians share it. this belief appears to us erroneous, without foundation, and easily refuted. no peculiar disease nor any abridgement of the duration of life can be ascribed to such continence. * * * health does not absolutely require that there should ever be an emission of semen, from puberty to death, though the individual live a hundred years." dr. kellogg also says: "this has been amply confirmed by experiments upon animals, as well as by the experience of some of the most distinguished men who have ever lived, among whom may be mentioned sir isaac newton, kant, paschal, fontenaille, and michael angelo. these men never married, and lived continent lives. some of them lived to be a very great age, retaining to the last their wonderful abilities. in view of this fact, there is certainly no danger." another writer has said: "the greek athletes training for the great olympic games were compelled to observe strict continence, the experience being that by this course they were able to conserve their vigor and strength much better. the prize-fighters of today are compelled by their trainers to observe strict continence during the period of training. many of the former champions who went to pieces suddenly, owe their downfall to a violation of this rule." another has said: "chastity, even continence, is the prime necessity of the successful athlete." dr. kellogg forcefully says: "breeders of stock who wish to secure sound progeny will not allow the most robust stallion to associate with mares as many times during the whole season as some of these salacious human males perform a similar act within a month." dr. warbasse has said: "testicular fluid in the seminal vesicles, under unexciting conditions, does not require to be discharged at intervals. i have not been able to find in the studies of the physiologists that its retention is abnormal or unhygienic. * * * i do not conceive of a man suffering from the ills of continence who has been cast away on a desert island, with no immediate prospect of relief, and whose mind and hands are occupied with raising grain, catching fish for subsistence, and constructing a boat for escape. all that has been said of men may be said of women." dr. talmey has said: "continence, if long continued, has been claimed to be the cause of impotence. but there is no valid reason for this belief. to prove the harmfulness of continence an analogue is brought forward between the atrophy of a muscle in enforced idleness and the injury to the sex organs in enforced abstinence. but the proof is somewhat feeble. the essential organs of generation are not muscles, but glands, and who has ever heard of a tear gland atrophying for lack of crying. * * * there is no valid proof of the harmfulness of total abstinence in a healthy individual. a perfectly healthy man is never injured by abstinence. at least there is no sufficient proof that he ever was; but there are unmistakable proofs that total abstinence does not harm the individual." dr. stockham has said: "the testes may be considered analogous to the salivary and lachrymal glands, in which there is no fluid secreted except at the demand of their respective functions. the thought of food makes the mouth water for a short time only, while the presence of food causes abundant yield of saliva. it is customary for physicians to assume that the spermatic secretion is analogous to bile, which, when once formed, must be expelled. but substitute the word 'tears' for bile, and you put before the mind an idea entirely different. tears, as falling drops, are not essential to life and health. a man may be in perfect health and yet not cry once in five or even fifty years. the lachrymal fluid is ever present, but in such small quantities that it is unnoticed. where are tears while they remain unshed? they are ever ready, waiting to spring forth when there is an adequate cause, but they do not accumulate and distress the man because they are not shed daily, weekly, or monthly. the component elements of the tears are prepared in the system, they are on hand, passing through the circulation, ready to mix and flow whenever they are needed; but if they mix, accumulate and flow without adequate cause, there is a disease of the lachrymal glands. while there are no exact analogies in the body, yet the tears and the spermatic fluids are much more closely analogous in their normal manner of secretion and use than are the bile and the semen. neither flow of tears nor of semen is essential to life or health. both are largely under the control of the imagination, the emotions, and the will; and the flow of either is liable to be arrested in a moment of sudden mental action." parkhurst says: "the prostatic fluid, according to robin, is secreted at the moment of ejaculation. the remaining element of the spermatic secretion is produced, under normal circumstances, only as required, either for impregnation or for the maintenance of the affectional function. the theory that the sperm is naturally secreted only as it is required, brings it into harmony with other secretions. the tears, the saliva, and the perspiration, are always required in small quantities, and the secretion is continuous; but if required in great quantities, the secretion becomes great almost instantly. the mother's milk is chiefly secreted just as it is required for the infant, and when not required the secretion entirely ceases; yet it recommences the moment the birth of another child makes it necessary. * * * a man accustomed to abstinence will not suffer from any accumulation of secretions, while a man whose absorbing glands have never had occasion to take up the secretions will be in trouble; just as a dairy cow which has not been milked will be in trouble, though if running wild she would never have any necessity for milking. * * * the objection that man needs physical relief from a continuous secretion is answered by the admitted fact that men not deficient in sexual vigor live for months, and probably for years, in strict abstinence, and with no physical inconvenience such as is often complained of by men who happen to be deprived of their accustomed indulgence for a week or two at a time." dr. nystrom, the eminent swedish writer on the subject, however, utters the following warning to those who would make hasty generalizations on the subject: "in speaking of relative abstinence or regulation and command of the sexual instinct, i warn against absolutism in this regard, and especially against the generalizing of abstinence as possible for everybody. although abstinence during an entire lifetime does not injure certain individuals, it cannot be endured by others for some length of time without undesirable consequences. i therefore oppose the principle of absolute continence as in the main false. it may possibly be applied to a few deeply religious or philosophical persons, but not to the majority of normal people, despite good resolutions and habits. * * * we must consider the different bodily constitutions and passions--why some people without difficulty, others with the greatest difficulty, can master their feelings regarding sexual relations. * * * may those who try to better humanity in sexual respects first give their attention to the subject when well prepared with a rich experience and deep study, for otherwise they cannot give advice which can be followed, and their work should fail as being contrary to human nature." temporary continence. many married couples who are desirous of preventing too-frequent conception, or conception following too soon after the birth of the youngest child, practice the method of refraining from the marital sexual relations during certain periods in which conception is most likely to occur. this custom is said to be favored by those acting under the advice of their religious instructors, and who regard all methods of birth-control other than continence as sinful. even the most orthodox objectors to birth-control as a general principle seem to regard this particular method as free from objection, providing that the married couple do not seek to entirely escape parenthood in this manner. this plan is based upon the well-known, and well-established physiological principle that the time immediately before the menstrual period, and still more, immediately after the period is the most favorable to conception. impregnation is most likely to occur just after the menstrual period; while from about two weeks after the beginning of the period, to a few days before the beginning of the next period, is the time of comparative sterility when impregnation and conception are the least likely to occur. consequently, the authorities hold that the period of from ten to fifteen days after the end of the menstruation is one peculiarly free from the probability of impregnation and conception. this plan of temporary continence, continuing during the period in which conception is most probable, and terminating when that period has passed each month, until the new period approaches, is followed by many married couples with the full approval of the conscience and their religious guides. in many cases the result fulfills the expectations, though as there is a considerable variation observed among different women there is no absolute certainty to the plan considered as a birth-control method--at the best it is but taking advantage of the law of probabilities, the chances being in favor of the result sought. semi-continence. semi-continence (in the sense in which the term is employed herein) consists of the abstinence from the exercise of the procreative functions, while there is a partial manifestation of the sexual relation. under various fanciful names, backed by as many curious theories, this birth-control method is practiced by very many married couples in this and other countries. among the earlier advocates of this general class of birth-control methods was noyes, the founder of the one-time famous oneida community, who taught the doctrine of what he called "male continence." the gist of his teaching was as follows: that the sexual relation (in its entirety) should be exercised solely for the purpose of reproduction, all else being contrary to nature. but, he held, notwithstanding this, there was possible and proper a certain degree of such physical relation which, while not opposing nature's laws of reproduction, yet was sufficient to afford a complete manifestation of the "affectional desire and function." in other words, as a writer has expressed it, "that one might manifest a marked degree of sexual gratification and still remain continent, while feeling none of the irksome restraints of continence." noyes claimed that his community followed this plan with satisfactory results, the ordinary sexual relations being manifested only when reproduction was specially desired and deliberately decided upon. noyes claimed that in this way there was no secretion of the seminal fluid, and therefore no waste of the same, and no unnatural practices such attached to the common custom of "tricking nature" by methods of preventing impregnation and conception. parkhurst (who, as we shall see presently, followed noyes) objected to the noyes plan, claiming that "it necessarily stimulates into activity the generative functions of the sexual batteries, and this not only causes a wasteful use of sperm, but diverts the sexual batteries from their affectional function, diminishing amative attraction." in the year , dr. alice b. stockham, of chicago, published a book called "karezza" which has since attained an enormous sale, the leading principle of which seems to have been almost similar to that of noyes, as above stated. the book was built around the idea previously announced by the same author in an earlier book, which she stated as follows: "by some a theory called 'secular absorption' is advanced. this involves intercourse without culmination." in her book "karezza" this author further stated: "karezza so consummates marriage that through the power of will, and loving thoughts, the crisis is not reached, but a complete control by both husband and wife is maintained throughout the entire relation, a conscious conservation of the creative energy. * * * it is both a union on the affectional plane, and a preparation for the best possible conditions for procreation." about , henry m. parkhurst published a booklet called "diana," which since that time has passed through several editions, and has had a large number of readers. the principle advocated is radically different from that of noyes or dr. stockham, above mentioned, although some of the writings of dr. stockham seem to favor the parkhurst idea as much as the one advanced by herself. parkhurst, as we may see by reference to a quotation from him in connection with the noyes' idea, did not approve of the "male continence" as taught by the latter, although he seems to have considered it a step in the right direction. the gist of the parkhurst idea is expressed in the following quotations from his booklet, "diana": "in order to secure proper and durable relations between the sexes, it is necessary to live in harmony with the law of alphism, that is abstinence except for procreation. but if that principle is adopted alone, no means being taken to provide for the due exercise of the sexual faculties, it will likely be abandoned or lead to a life of asceticism. in order to make alphism practicable for ordinary men and women, another law has to be observed, that is, the law of sexual satisfaction from sexual contact; understanding by the term 'contact' not merely physical external contact, but using the term in its more general sense to include sexual companionship, or even correspondence, bringing the minds into mental contact. the observance of this law will lead to complete and enduring satisfaction in abstinence. "it is an observed fact that contact incites to activity the affectional action, * * * extending over the whole frame, and by their activities satisfies them, without calling into action the special generative function of the generative organs. and it is also an observed fact that the repression of this affectional activity naturally creates a desire for the exercise of the other; so that a true remedy for sexual intemperance is the full satisfaction of the affectional mode of activity by frequent and free sexual contact. sexual satisfaction may be obtained by personal presence, conversation, a clasp of the hands, kissing, caressing, embracing, personal contact with or without the intervention of dress. "the exercise of the affectional function tends to satiety and exhaustion in the same way as all other physical or mental exercise; but if it is not carried to excess it is a permanent benefit. * * * the principle of alphism will tend to diminish prostitution, not only by diminishing sexual intemperance, even if the principle is not at once accepted in practice to the full extent, thus diminishing the temptation of the present generation, and the hereditary temptation of future generations; but also by correcting the physiological error which has led astray so many, i. e., that total abstinence is not conducive to health, or to the highest physical pleasure, but that the ordinary physical relation is an essential feature in male existence. "to avoid misapprehension, these two theories should be clearly defined and the distinction between them explained. the doctrine of alphism is confined to one principle, i. e., the law of abstinence except for procreation. those who believe in this doctrine may be divided into different classes. some believe in it as a matter of duty, to be enforced by precept and self-denial; and some believe in it as a matter of right, requiring no self-denial. in the latter is included the doctrine of 'diana,' which may be defined as the law of sexual satisfaction from sexual contact. in other words, dianism is alphism as the result of sexual equilibration." the general idea of parkhurst, and those who have followed his teachings in some modified or adapted form, may be said to be based upon the following general proposition: that there is a dual function in the sexual relations, which may be stated as follows: ( ) the function exercised from purely physiological causes, and which expresses the desire for the relation resulting in procreation; and ( ) the function exercised from emotional causes, and which expresses what may be called the "affectional desire," i. e., the desire for the embrace, caress, fondling, and general companionship with the loved one of the other sex. the first one of these phases, i. e., the reproductive function, is manifested by the lower animals as well as by man, and is elemental and primitive in character. it is often manifested by man without the accompaniment of the affectional function, and at times seems to be almost entirely divorced from the idea of high human affection. the second one of these phases, i. e., the affectional function, usually accompanied the procreative function in the human sexual relation, at least in the highest forms of that relation. but also, it may be and often is manifested independently of the procreative function by men and women of refinement. in fact, it would seem to be the form of physical attraction accompanying the very highest phase of love, particularly in women. it is this affectional function which is manifested by betrothed lovers in their beautiful period of mutual understanding, sympathy, and affection. it is that characteristic of the courting days which is so precious to the woman, but which is too often sadly missed by the wife after the honeymoon. it exists often before the fires of passion are kindled, and it persists often after the flame of passion has died away. it is the expression of the purest love of youth, and of the tenderest affection of age. it is this form of sexual relation, physical though it may be, that is the outgrowth of evolution in man. may it not be that in this way man has "improved upon the sexual habits of the animals"; and that when man violates the natural restrictions held sacred by animal life, and indulges in excessive sexual relations in and out of season, that he is really manifesting a degenerative tendency instead of taking an upward step on the evolutionary scale. there have been many excellent authorities who have held that this affectional function, and its manifestation, is far better calculated to satisfy the sexual instincts of advanced men and women than is the ordinary physical sexual relation. they claim that in the higher form of this affectional relation is to be found the secret of the joy, bliss, and happiness of the betrothed lovers, which alas! too often disappear when the other form of the relation is manifested, particularly when manifested to excess in the manner customary to so many married men. they claim that in the recognition of this fact of human life and love is to be found the secret of married happiness between wedded advanced and cultured individuals. they assert that the experience of the race, rightly considered and understood, full proves this contention. edward carpenter has the following to say on this point: "it is a matter of common experience that the unrestrained outlet of the purely physical desire leaves the nature drained of its higher love-forces. * * * there are grounds for believing in the transmutability of the various forms of the passion, and grounds for thinking that the sacrifice of a lower phase may sometimes be the only condition on which a higher and more durable phase can be attained; and that, therefore, restraint (which is absolutely necessary at times) has its compensation. anyone who has once realized how glorious a thing love is in its essence, and how indestructible, will hardly need to call anything that leads to it a sacrifice; and he is indeed a master of life who, accepting the grosser desires as they come to his body, and not refusing them, knows how to transform them at will into the most rare and fragrant flowers of human emotion * * * between lovers, then, a kind of hardy temperance is to be recommended--for all reasons, but especially because it lifts their satisfaction and delight in each other out of the regions of ephemeralities (which too often turn into dull indifference and satiety) into the region of more lasting things--one step nearer at any rate to the eternal kingdom. "how intoxicating, indeed, how penetrating--like a most precious wine--is that love which is the sexual transformed by the magic of the will into the emotional and spiritual! and what a loss, on the merest ground of prudence and the economy of pleasure, is the unbridled waste along physical channels! so nothing is so much dreaded between lovers as just this--the vulgarization of love--and this is the rock upon which marriage so often splits. there is a kind of illusion about physical desire similar to that which a child suffers from when, seeing a beautiful flower, it instantly snatches the same and destroys in a few moments the form and fragrance which attracted it. he only gets the full glory who holds back a little, and he only truly possesses who is willing if need be not to possess. * * * it must be remembered, however, that in order for a perfect intimacy between two people their physical endearment must by the nature of the case be free to each other. the physical endearment may not be the object for which they come together; but, if it is denied, its denial will bar any real sense of repose and affiance, and make their mutual association restless, vague, tentative and unsatisfied. i think, from various considerations, that, generally, even without the actual physical sex-act, there is an interchange of vital and ethereal elements--so that it may be said that there is a kind of generation taking place within each of the persons concerned, through their mutual influence on each other, as well as that more specialized generation which consists in the propagation of the race." count tolstoi said on this subject: "the difference in organization between man and woman is not only physiological but extends also into other and moral characteristics, such as go to make manhood in man, and womanhood (or femininity) in woman. the attraction between the sexes is based not merely upon the yearning for physical union, but likewise upon that reciprocal attraction exerted by the contrasting qualities of the sexes each upon the other, manhood upon womanhood, and womanhood upon manhood. the one sex endeavors to complement itself with the other, and therefore the attraction between the sexes demands a union of spirit precisely identical with the physical union. "the tendency toward physical and spiritual union forms two phases of manifestation of one and the same fountain-head of desire, and they bear such intimate relations to each other that the gratification of the one inclination inevitably weakens the other. so far as the yearning for spiritual union is satisfied, to that extent the yearning for physical union is diminished or entirely destroyed; and, vice versa, the gratification of the physical desire weakens or destroys the spiritual. and, consequently, the attraction between the sexes is not only physical affinity leading to procreation, but is also the attraction of opposites for one another, capable of assuming the form of the most spiritual union in thought only, or of the most animal union, causing the propagation of children, and all those varied degrees of relationship between the one and the other. the question of upon which footing the relation between the sexes is to be established and maintained, is settled by deciding what method of union is regarded at any given time, or for all time, as good, proper, and therefore desirable. * * * "the nearer the union approaches the extreme physical boundary, the more it kindles the physical passions and desires, and the less satisfaction it gets; the nearer it approaches the opposite extreme spiritual boundary, the less new passions are excited and the greater is the satisfaction. the nearer it is to the first, the more destructive it is to animal energy; the nearer it approaches the second, the spiritual, the more serene, the more enjoyable and forceful is the general condition. * * * taking into consideration the varying conditions of temperament, and above all what the contracting parties regard as good, proper, and desirable, marriage for some will approach the spiritual union, and for others the physical; but the nearer the union approaches the spiritual the more complete will be the satisfaction. the substance of what has been said is this: that the relation between the sexes have two functions, i. e., the reproductive, and the affectional; and that the sexual energy, if only it have no conscious desire to beget children, must be always directed in the way of affection and love. the manifestation which this energy assumes depends upon custom or reason; the gradual bringing of the reason into accord with the principles herein expounded, and a gradual reorganization of customs consonant with them, results in saving men from many of their passions, and giving them satisfaction for their higher sexual instincts and desires." some capable writers on the subject have held that in the practice of the methods of semi-continence, such as have been referred to in the foregoing pages of this part of the book, there may lie the danger of excessive stimulation of the sexual centres, without the safety-valve of the physical and nervous relief which follows as a natural sequence in the ordinary sexual relations. the advocates of these methods, however, reply that such objections while valid in the case of persons who practice the same only because opportunity prevents the performance of the usual physical relation, still have no true application to those who adopt these methods in a conscientious and honest manner, and who maintain the proper mental attitude toward the whole question. these advocates say that the mental effect upon the secretions of the body must be taken into account in all considerations of the question. they say that just as the gastric juice will begin to flow in response to the mental image or idea of food, and the mother's milk in response to the cry of the child for food, so do the sexual secretions, direction of the circulation, and other physiological activities result from the mental pictures or idea of sexual congress. they hold that if the mind of the husband be filled with mental images of sexual congress, then there is set into operation the process of secretion of seminal fluids, and the consequent engorgement of the blood-vessels concerned therewith, which are denied the normal physiological relief, and accordingly produce bad effects upon the nervous system. but they likewise claim that if the mind of the husband entertains ideas merely of physical endearment and caress as "an end to itself," then there is no mental incentive toward the secretion of the seminal fluids, and the constant engorgement of the blood-vessels, and no nerve force is generated--and therefore no nerve-shock is experienced by reason of frustrated manifestation and expression. parkhurst says regarding the point just mentioned: "in the relations between the sexes, the question of how the association of the husband and the wife shall stimulate the affectional or generative action or sexual batteries must depend greatly upon their habits of association. we have only to accustom ourselves to associating the relation with the affectional action, by repeated repetition when the affectional action is all that is felt or thought of, in order to cultivate such habits and associations as will make the association tend to repress passional desires, by the direction of the sexual forces into the channel of affectional attraction and functioning. * * * the form of the sexual manifestation will be largely influenced, by the mind, and largely by force with these principles, and the gradual formation of habits consistent therewith, will make more and more evident their beneficial operation." there is much interest now being taken by thinking people in some phases of the general subject of semi-continence, and many thoughtful and conscientious persons find in it at least the promise of a worthy and honest solution of the problem of continence as applied to birth control. such persons claim to find in this general class of birth control methods a happy medium between the rigid practice of absolute continence in the marriage relations, on the one hand, and the more popular methods of contraception, on the other hand. contraception. we now come to the consideration of the subject of contraception, pure and simple, the methods of which contemplate the manifestation of the usual physical sexual relations between husband and wife, accompanied by an avoidance of the union of the male and female elements of reproduction which result in conception. it should once more be positively emphasized that by contraception is not meant abortion. abortion means "the premature expulsion of the human embryo or foetus; miscarriage." contraception, on the other hand, means simply the prevention of the union of the male and female elements of reproduction, and consequently, the preventing of the process which evolves the foetus or embryo. contraception is prevention; abortion is destruction. there is here a difference as wide as the poles. as dr. william j. robinson says, in a paragraph previously quoted in this book: "in inducing abortion, one destroys something already formed--a foetus, or an embryo, a fertilized ovum, a potential human being. in prevention, however, one merely prevents chemically or mechanically the spermatozoa from coming in contact with the ovum. there is no greater sin or crime in this than there is in simple abstinence, in refraining from sexual intercourse." unfortunately for the cause of scientific birth control in america, the laws of the united states (and of most of the separate states) at present prevent the public dissemination by written or printed words, or by public teaching of information concerning the contraceptive methods known to all intelligent physicians and others who have made a scientific study of the subject. the conveyal of such information, in the manner stated, is made a criminal offence, subject to heavy fines and imprisonment. though there is a strong movement underway on the part of many intelligent and earnest citizens of this country, having for its object the repeal of such prohibitive laws, and the passage of careful legislation designed to give the dissemination of such instruction a legal and certain status, under the restrictions imposed by common sense, intellectual honesty, and the best interests of the race--to place it upon the same footing as in certain advanced european countries--the fact remains that at the present time no person may give such information without subjecting himself to indictment and probable conviction as a law-breaker and enemy of society. under the circumstances, of course, there has been, and will be, no attempts to furnish such forbidden information in this book. so long as these laws stand unrepealed on the statute books, they must be observed by all law abiding citizens. dr. wm. j. robinson, an authority on the subject, says: "we believe that under any conditions, and particularly under our present economic conditions, human beings should be able to control the number of their offspring. they should be able to decide how many children they want to have, and when they want to have them. and to accomplish this result we demand that the knowledge of controlling the number of offspring, in other and plainer words, the knowledge of preventing undesirable conception, should not be considered a criminal offence punishable by hard labor in federal prisons, but that it should be considered knowledge useful and necessary to the welfare of the race and of the individual; and that its dissemination should be as permissible as is the dissemination of any hygienic, sanitary or eugenic knowledge." the only possible relief from the present condition is seen by careful thinkers to be in the education of the public as to the needs of the case, and the presentation of the scientific argument in favor of rational and proper birth control, to the end that public opinion, once seeing the truth in the case, may be sufficiently strong as to bring about a change in the present antiquated and bigoted laws. but, so long as the laws remain on the statute books, they must be observed and obeyed. education, not anarchy, is the true remedy. the following general remarks on the subject of contraception, by havelock ellis, the well-known english authority of the subject of sex in modern society, may perhaps prove interesting to students of the general subject: ellis says: "many ways of preventing conception have been devised since the method which is still the commonest was first introduced, so far as our certainly imperfect knowledge extends, by a clever jew, onan (genesis, chap. xxxviii) whose name has since been wrongly attached to another practice with which the mosaic record in no way associates him. there are now many contraceptive methods, some dependent on precautions adopted by the man, others dependent upon the woman, others again which take the form of an operation permanently preventing conception, and, therefore, not to be adopted save by couples who already have as many children as they desire, or else who ought never to have children at all and thus wisely adopt a method of sterilization. it is unnecessary here, even if it were otherwise desirable, to discuss these various methods in detail. it is even useless to do so, for we must bear in mind that no method can be absolutely approved or absolutely condemned. each may be suitable under certain conditions and for certain couples, and it is not easy to recommend any method indiscriminately. we need to know the intimate circumstances of individual cases. for the most part, experience is the final test. "forel compared the use of contraceptive devices to the use of eyeglasses, and it is obvious that, without expert advice, the results in either case may sometimes be mischievous or at all events ineffective. personal advice and instruction are always desirable. in holland nurses are medically trained in a practical knowledge of contraceptive methods, and are thus enabled to enlighten the women of the community. this is an admirable plan. considering that the use of contraceptive measures is now almost universal, it is astonishing that there are yet so many 'civilized' countries in which this method of enlightenment is not everywhere adopted. until it is adopted, and a necessary knowledge of the most fundamental facts of sexual life brought into every home, the physician must be regarded as the proper adviser. it is true that until recently he was generally in these matters a blind leader of the blind. nowadays it is beginning to be recognized that the physician has no more serious and responsible duty than that of giving help in the difficult path of sexual life. very frequently, indeed, even yet, he has not risen to a sense of his responsibilities in this matter. it is well to remember, however, that a physician who is unable or unwilling to give frank and sound advice in this most important department of life, is unlikely to be reliable in any other department. if he is not up to date here, he is probably not up to date anywhere. "whatever may be the method adopted, there are certain conditions which it must fulfill, even apart from its effectiveness as a contraceptive, in order to be satisfactory. most of these conditions may be summed up in one: the most satisfactory method is that which least interferes with the normal process in the act of intercourse. every sexual act is, or should be, a miniature courtship, however long marriage may have lasted. no outside mental tension or nervous apprehension must be allowed to intrude. any contraceptive proceeding which hastily enters the atmosphere of love immediately before or immediately after the moment of union is unsatisfactory and may be injurious. it even risks the total loss of the contraceptive result, for at such moments the intended method may be ineffectively carried out, or neglected altogether. no method can be regarded as desirable which interferes with the sense of satisfaction and relief which should follow the supreme act of loving union. no method which produces a nervous jar in one of the parties, even though it may be satisfactory to the other, should be tolerated. such considerations must for some couples rule out certain methods. we cannot, however, lay down absolute rules, because methods some couples may find satisfactory prove unsatisfactory in other cases. experience, aided by expert advice, is the only final criterion. "when a contraceptive method is adopted under satisfactory conditions, with a due regard to the requirements of the individual couple, there is little room to fear that any injurious results will be occasioned. it is quite true that many physicians speak emphatically concerning the injurious results to husband or to wife of contraceptive devices. although there has been exaggeration, and prejudice has often been imported into this question, and although most of the injurious results could have been avoided had trained medical help been at hand to advise better methods, there can be no doubt that much that has been said under this head is true. considering how widespread is the use of these methods, and how ignorantly they have often been carried out, it would be surprising indeed if it were not true. but even supposing that the nervously injurious effects which have been traced to contraceptive practices were a thousandfold greater than they have been reported to be--instead of, as we are justified in believing, considerably less than they are reported--shall we therefore condemn contraceptive methods? to do so would be to ignore all the vastly greater evils which have followed in the past from unchecked reproduction. it would be a condemnation which, if we exercised it consistently, would destroy the whole of civilization and place us back in savagery. for what device of man, ever since man had any history at all, has not proved sometimes injurious? "every one of even the most useful and beneficial of human inventions has either exercised subtle injuries or produced appalling catastrophes. this is not only true of man's devices, it is true of nature's in general. let us take, for instance, the elevation of man's ancestors from the quadrupedal to the bipedal position. the experiment of making a series of four-footed animals walk on their hind-legs was very evolutionary and risky; it was far more beset by dangers than is the introduction of contraceptives; we are still suffering all sorts of serious evils in consequence of nature's action in placing our remote ancestors in the erect position. yet we feel that it was worth while; even those physicians who most emphasize the evil results of the erect position do not advise that we should go on all-fours. it is just the same with a great human device, the introduction of clothes. they have led to all sorts of new susceptibilities to disease and even tendencies to direct injury of many kinds. yet no one advocates the complete disuse of all clothing on the ground that corsets have sometimes proved harmful. it would be just as absurd to advocate the complete abandonment of contraceptives on the ground that some of them have been misused. if it were not, indeed, that we are familiar with the lengths to which ignorance and prejudice may go we should question the sanity of anyone who put forward so foolish a proposition. every great step which nature and man have taken in the path of progress has been beset by dangers which are gladly risked because of the advantages involved. we must never loose sight of the immense advantages which man has gained in acquiring a conscious and deliberate control of reproduction." the end. transcriber's note: numerous minor typographical errors have been corrected without note. variations in spelling (e.g. fetus/foetus), capitalization, and hyphenation have not been standardized. where a misspelling was used five or more times (e.g. umbillical), no correction has been made. no attempt has been made to correct factual errors or poorly constructed sentences. the following corrections were also made to the text: p. : femininists to feminists (modern feminists) p. : phenomena to phenomenon (phenomenon of pregnancy) p. : laceration to lactation (lactation or nursing) p. : is to are (there are found severe cramps) p. : "of" added (period of gestation) p. : degeration to degeneration (degeneration and actual race suicide) p. : "in" added (in men in general) p. : "for" added (for inebriety) p. : strongly to strong (the woman most strong sexually) p. : "the" added (the best ability and capacity) p. : "are" added (there are unavoidable fallacies) p. : grandparents to great-grandparents (eight great-grandparents) p. : individualation to individuation (greater individuation) p. : "is" added (this is because) p. : below to above (shows a birth-rate of above ) p. : "of" added (who of all europeans) p. : preventitives to preventives (use preventives recommended) p. : weaking to weakening (consequent weakening) p. : passi paru to pari passu (goes down pari passu) p. : furnish to furnishes (furnishes us with evidence) p. : "of" added (general question of eugenics) p. : "not" added (we can not see a cause) p. : semi-conception. to semi-continence. (methods of semi-continence.) p. : "are" removed ("some people are without" to "some people without") p. : "be" removed ("must be by the nature" to "must by the nature") p. : potention to potential (potential human being) p. : "both" removed ("to both husband or to wife" to "to husband or to wife") almost a man. by mary wood-allen, m. d. author of teaching truth, child-confidence rewarded, the man wonderful in the house beautiful, etc. "what is man that thou art mindful of him?" david. "every true man is a cause, a country and an age." emerson. "god on thee abundantly his gifts hath also poured; inward and outward both his image fair." milton. published by wood-allen publishing co. ann arbor, mich. copyrighted by mary wood-allen, m. d. . contents. page prelude iii almost a man a gateway and a gift the white cross prelude. two lads had crossed the sunny meadow-land of childhood and stood by the gate, at the entrance to the rougher paths of youth leading up to the grander heights of maturity. they glanced backward, but not with regret, for their eyes shone with eagerness to climb the upward way. as they waited, an angel came bearing a gift for each, which he gave them, saying: "i have brought you a wondrous gift, not for yourselves but for others. listen." and they bent their heads and listened. and one said: "i hear most entrancing music. it thrills my very being. it is for me, for me." but the angel said: "listen again. shut your ears to those bewildering tones and you will hear a deeper, holier strain." but the youth said: "no, i hear only that melody which speaks to my own heart. i can hear nothing else." the other youth too took the gift and, bending his head at the command of the angel, said: "i hear that sweet entrancing strain which speaks to myself, and which promises me pleasure; but deeper than all that i hear a tone soft, sweet and low, that sounds like the voices of happy children, and of a mother singing to her babe." the angel smiled. "it is for them," he said, "that you must keep your gift. and in the years to come that music will be to you the sweetest in the world." so the youths started on their devious ways through the hilly land of youth. there were bird-songs and flowers; there were bright paths, and dark ones; there were sunny by-paths, which ended in dreamy forests; there were pitfalls in unexpected places; there was often sorrow where they looked for joy, and failure where they expected success. and the one listened oft to the entrancing music of his angelic gift, and was led to think only of himself, and his eye lost its fire, his feet often stumbled, and the days and nights had no pleasure for him. as he reached the heights of maturity he was met by a bright creature who laughed with great joy when he offered her his love and said exultantly: "i have kept myself pure for you," and he, knowing his own dark secrets, could make no reply but hung his head and was silent. and, thus silent, he heard no more the bewildering music of his youth, but instead there came to his ears the sound of a broken-hearted woman's sobs, and the weeping of children mourning the birthright that had been lost for them in their father's wayward youth. and the man said sighingly: "o that i had my innocence again my untouched honor. but i wish in vain." but the other lad turned a deaf ear to the brain-bewildering music and listened with his soul for the happy melodies of the future. and his eye grew brighter and his strength increased and his paths were straight and clean, and as he neared the heights of maturity he was met by one whose robe was shining in its brightness and who whispered: "i have kept myself pure for you." and gladly he answered: "and i for you;" and so their lives became one, and the melody of happy children's voices drew nearer and nearer, and listening to the sweet voice of the mother singing to her babe, and looking into the bright and rosy faces that with every glance and motion thanked him for their dower of health and honor, he blessed the great creator from whom he had received the wondrous gift of potential fatherhood, and gave thanks that he had wisely listened to the angel's voice bidding him keep his gift for those whose life, in the years to come, was to be his holiest possession. almost a man. by mary wood-allen, m. d. "let me take your book of quotations, please." "certainly, if i can find it. o, i remember. i let susie glenn take it. no doubt i can find it in her desk." as she spoke miss bell walked to the desk and, finding the desired book, took possession of it. an open note dropped from it and fell upon the floor. picking it up miss bell read: "my darling little sweetheart," and glancing at the close saw the signature, "carl." sending of notes in school was forbidden, therefore miss bell had no compunction of conscience in taking possession of this one, and, on the impulse of the moment, read it aloud to miss lane, her fellow-teacher. it was not only sentimental in tone but there were mysterious phrases which seemed to hold a deep and sinful significance. the women looked at each other with sorrowful faces. "what shall i do about it?" asked miss bell. "what a depth of wickedness it reveals!" exclaimed miss lane. "who would have imagined that such a nice appearing boy as carl woodford could be so base? and susie glenn too, such a shy, modest little creature as she seems." "do you suppose it is really as bad as it seems to us? those expressions which appear to indicate such--such almost criminal intimacy perhaps they do not understand fully." "don't you believe it," said miss lane. "i tell you these children are wiser in sin than we older people can imagine. that boy needs to be whipped within an inch of his life, the little reprobate! i'd give him such a lecture as would make his eyes open wide for once. i'd make him understand that he'd better not let me catch him in such mischief again. and i'd tell mrs. glenn about it so that she could punish susie." "i really am afraid that the result would not be what we wish. suppose we go and talk it over with dr. barrett. maybe she can tell us what to do." dr. barrett received the ladies with cordiality and professed herself willing to aid them in the solution of their problem. she did not appear as shocked as they did, and even smiled a little as miss lane, in indignant tones, read aloud the offending note. "don't you think that little rascal should be nearly annihilated?" she asked, turning to the doctor. "i think he should be instructed," replied the latter. "will you send him to me, miss bell?" "most gladly, but i don't believe he will come." "yes he will, if you don't frighten him beforehand. don't say a word to him about the affair, but send him with a note to me and tell him to wait for an answer." the next evening carl appeared at the doctor's residence with the note from miss bell. "i am to wait for an answer," he said. dr. barrett only nodded as she wrote on steadily for a moment, seeming too much engrossed in her work to notice him. then she read the note, thought a moment, excused herself and left the room. returning immediately she said, "it will be half an hour before the answer is ready. can you wait?" "o certainly." "then sit down here and look over the youth's companion while i finish my letter." for some moments there was silence and then the doctor, laying down her pen, turned to the boy and said, pleasantly; "you are carl woodford, are you not?" "yes, ma'am." "it has been so long since i saw you that you have almost grown out of my knowledge. you are getting to be almost a man. you must be fifteen years old." "not quite. i will be next june." "almost a man," said dr. barrett softly as she looked thoughtfully into the fire. after a moment's silence she asked, "carl, what is it to be a man?" the boy drew himself up with a self-conscious air as he replied. "why, to have your growth, and get into business for yourself." "well, that is not quite it," said the doctor smiling, "for i have my growth and am in business for myself, and yet i am not a man." "maybe it means having a mustache," said carl, with a slight flush. "that has something to do with it certainly, but mrs. flynn has a mustache, and she is not a man." "well, i don't know how to explain it then," said carl. "you have studied grammar, will you parse the word man?" "man is a common noun, masculine gender, third----" "what does masculine gender mean?" "it means male." "then to be a man means to be a male. how does the grammar define gender?" "the distinction of nouns with regard to sex." "have you studied physiology?" "yes'm." "was it the physiology of man or woman?" "why, it didn't say anything but physiology." "you studied, then, only those organs in which men and women are alike, as in their muscular and nervous systems, and in the organs of digestion; in fact you learned only of the organs which are for the preservation of the individual. you learned nothing of them in regard to sex, which is termed special physiology." a wave of color was creeping over carl's face, seeing which the doctor said: "as you have never studied this special physiology supposing you try to forget that any one has ever told you anything about it, and let us for a few minutes talk of it as of god's laws. we believe god to be pure, and we cannot believe that he would make a law that was founded on impurity. it is true we are able to think of his laws in an impure way, but that is our fault, not his. let us now try to think his pure thoughts after him. if there are two sexes created by the almighty he must have a pure purpose in creating them. we seldom think how much of beauty and melody and loveliness is due to sex. "it is because of sex that we are gathered in families and enjoy all the delights of home. it is because of sex that we have ties of kindred, brothers, sisters, father, mother, uncles, aunts and cousins. think of the pleasant home gatherings at christmas or thanksgiving, or upon family birthdays, with all the relatives, old and young, meeting in love and sympathy; think of the sweet prattle of children in the home; think of the tender ministrations of mother or sister in times of sorrow or illness or death, and remember that these are possible because of sex. men may build themselves fine club houses where they congregate to smoke or drink or eat together, but these are not homes. women may go away by themselves into a convent and give up the world, but in so doing they give up the home; for in a real true home there must be parents and children, and this comes through sex. we may go even farther and say with mr. grant allen that everything high and ennobling in our nature springs directly from the fact of sex. he claims that to it 'we owe our love of color, of graceful forms, of melodious sound, of rhythmical motion, the evolution of music, of poetry, of romance, of painting, of sculpture, of decorative art, of dramatic entertainment. from it,' he says, 'springs the love of beauty, around it all beautiful arts circle as their centre. its subtle aroma pervades all literature, and to it we owe the heart and all that is best within it.' "we read of knights of old fighting for 'fayre ladye,' of heroes who died to save wives and children; we cannot take up a book of poetry without realizing how love of men and women has been the inspiration of the poet in all ages. and this is not all that we owe to sex. in all organic life we find the same force at work. the song of the nightingale is a call to his mate, the chirp of cricket, the song of the thrush, the note of the grasshopper, every charming voice in wild nature are notes of love, and were it not for these, field and forest would be silent. among the animals we can trace the beauty of form and of covering to the same source. and even in the inanimate world of plants and trees we find sex as the source of life and beauty. the bright tinted flowers are the homes of the father and mother and babies of the plant and without the male and female principle in plants there would be no bud or blossom and no fruit. remember when you see the beauty of the apple orchard in the spring and the glowing fruit in the autumn that these are the expression of sex-life in the tree." "my!" exclaimed carl, "i never thought of all that before." "i presume not, and many who are older than you have no thoughts of sex but those which are low and vile. but when you consider how the same principle reaches through all nature, and upon it depends so much that is beautiful and charming you cannot believe that is in itself vile and unholy, can you? if we are to think god's thoughts after him we must come to look upon sex as something to be thought of and spoken of only with reverence, never to be jested about or debased in any way. you begin to see that more is involved in the coming into manhood than you had supposed. but we have not gone over the whole matter yet. you have read the first chapter of genesis how that god made man in his own image, and out of the dust of the earth. we do not suppose that he made him out of dirt and water, as a child makes mud-pies, but we may accept this as a statement of the scientific fact that in man are found the same elements as in the earth, such as iron, soda, lime, etc. what we want to think of now is the statement that god created man by his direct power. then we are told he made woman also. these are the first living human beings of whom we have record. who is the third?" "cain." "and who made cain?" "god," answered carl glibly, as if that must be the only orthodox answer. "in the same way that he made adam and eve?" carl blushed and was silent. "you were not embarrassed when i spoke of the creation of adam and eve, you have no reason to be embarrassed when i speak of the creation of cain. all was in accordance with the divine will, and must therefore be right. we cannot say positively that god thought this or that, but we have a right to judge from his acts what his purposes were. we have a right to suppose that he created the earth intending to people it with human beings. of course every possible plan for doing this was open to him. he might have created each individual as he did adam, but what would have been the result? we should have stood, each one alone, in selfish solitariness, like a lot of ten-pins, able to knock each other down but not to help each other up. each one would have been thinking only of himself and his own selfish interests. this plan could not commend itself to a compassionate creator, and we can imagine that he would say to himself: 'that would never do. i must put these, my children, in such relation to each other that they will have love for each other; that they will be bound by ties so strong that nothing can break them; they must be created in such a way that they will also understand their relation to me and love me as their life-giver. to do this i will share with them my greatest power, that of creation. i will let them help me people the world. by this creative power they shall come to understand how i, their heavenly father, love them, and yearn over them, and by their dependence as children upon their parents they shall learn to depend upon and trust me.' from the plan god adopted for peopling the earth we may suppose this to have been his process of thought. so you see that sex comes as a wondrous gift from god, a gift endowed with a marvelous power, and therefore to be held most sacred. when i spoke of you as being almost a man it was with the thought that now is being conferred upon you this gift of sex." carl looked up with some surprise. "why, i have always been a boy." "true. and a boy is a being who will become a man. but he is not endowed with the functions of sex until he is about fourteen years old. then sex begins to make itself felt in his whole being. he grows taller rapidly; he gains in breadth; he begins to see the long-looked-for mustache; he notices the growth of the special organs of sex; he begins to feel more manly; to enjoy the society of girls as never before; and desires to treat them with more attention. this is a time when, if he is wrongly taught, he may fall into great wrong-doing and injure himself, and not that alone, but those who are to come after him. i have not yet told you of the great responsibilities that come with this gift of sex." dr. barrett rose and, bringing a book from the shelves, opened it and showed carl an illustration, saying; "did you ever see such a picture as this?" [illustration] "what are they?" asked he. "they look like pollywogs." "as much like them as anything. but they are not pollywogs. they have a bigger sounding name than that. they are called _spermatozoa_, or each one is a _spermatozoon_. they are so tiny that they are not visible except with the aid of a microscope, and yet they are alive and very active. they live and move in a fluid called _semen_, and they are the living principle contributed by the male to the formation of a new creature. each one contains in itself all the particular traits, characteristics or talents which the father would confer on the child of which this spermatozoon would form a part. you are like your father in some things, i suppose." "yes, i am like papa in size and in my love for mathematics. he says i have his quick temper, too." "that leads me to speak of another fact. you see that you were a part of your father during his whole life, and you were affected by all that affected him. you were changed or modified by his habits. if he tried to curb his quick temper, it has made it easier for you to control yourself; but if he allowed it full sway, it has made it harder for you. if he were truthful and honest, it has made it easy for you to be the same; but if he were wild and dissipated, it would make it easier for you to yield to the same temptations." "was that what he meant when he said he was not surprised that will grey was so bad a boy, for his father was a very wild young man?" "yes, that was exactly what he meant." "if that is so why don't fathers tell their boys about it so that they can behave better when they are young?" "that is just what i think they ought to do, but unfortunately people have thought they must not talk of these things to young folks for fear it will make them bad instead of good." "well, i guess that would depend upon the way they told it. now they don't tell it right, but leave the boys to be told in wrong ways, and that really does lead them to be bad. no one ever talked to me as you have to-night, and i am sure it makes me want to be better." [illustration] "that ought to be the effect, and i believe it would be if boys were only 'told right,' as you say. but i have told you only half the story. here is another picture. these are called _ova_. one is an _ovum_, and these are the principle the mother gives to the future child. they are greatly magnified. it would take of them lying side by side to make a row an inch long, so we say they are / of an inch in diameter, but tiny as they are, each ovum contains all the traits or talents that the mother gives to the child of which this particular ovum may form a part. your mother is english, your father american. their childhood and youth were spent thousands of miles apart, and yet both were working by the habits of their lives to create you in your peculiar traits and talents. are you like your parents in any of their capabilities?" "yes, i am like mother in her love for music; you know she is a fine musician." "yes, and in the cultivation of her own musical ability she made it easier for you to learn music; just as your father, in his study as an engineer, has given you a love for mathematics." "but my grandfather and great-grandfather were engineers, and i am going to be one, too." "it is true that you inherit from your grandparents, also, but it must be through your parents, and they may have changed the direction of the inheritance. this important fact you should know and remember. you can change yourself by education so that the inheritance of your children may be quite changed. for example, if you know that you lack perseverance, you can, by constantly making a mighty effort to overcome this defect, compel yourself to persevere, and this would tend to give your children perseverance. so you see we need not despair because we have inherited faults from our ancestors, but we should determine all the more that we will not pass these defects on to later generations." "i guess that is what dr. brice meant when he said that mother's good care of her health had overcome in us children to a great extent the tendency to consumption which is in her family. nearly all my cousins on her side die with it, but when she was a little girl her father made her live out of doors all the time and she grew strong, and we none of us seem to have any tendency to consumption." "you see then the value of caring for yourself in youth, not only for your own sake but for that of your children. your mother did not know that she would ever have children to be benefitted by her out-door life. but one day she met a young man who pleased her, and as they grew to know each other better they came to love each other so that they wished to leave home and friends and make their own home and live their united lives separate and apart from all the rest of the world. so they were married, as we say. marriage is the union of one man and one woman under the sanction of the law. this is the closest and most sacred human relation. in this relation the _spermatozoon_ of the man unites with the germ or _ovum_ of the woman and a new life is begun. when your parents knew that such a little life had begun in their home they felt a great and holy joy, and desired that every good might surround it in its development. you were the first to come into your father's home. after your life had begun you were still so small as not to be visible to the naked eye, and would have been lost had you come into the world. but a home had been prepared for you in your mother's body, where day by day you grew and grew. the food which she ate nourished you as well as herself. the air which she breathed was life to you as well as to her. "you have seen the father-bird bringing food to the mother-bird as she sits upon her eggs and waits for the birdlings to come forth, and you have thought it a pretty sight to watch his tender care of her. even so your father watched over your mother and you. he provided everything as pleasant as possible, he removed every care from her path so that she might be happy and so make you happy. his love for her took on a new and strange tenderness it had not known before. and she, holding you warm and close in the embrace of her body, thought of you and loved you. she wondered how you would look; she dreamed of you; she fancied she could feel the touch of your fluttering fingers; she made your little wardrobe and with each stitch wove in some tender thought of the baby whom she had never seen. then one day she cried out with great anguish of body but joy of heart, 'o my baby is coming.' then through long hours she suffered, going down almost to the gates of death that you might have life. but she never murmured; in spite of all her pain and anguish of body her very soul was full of rejoicing that soon she would hold you in her arms. when all those hours of peril and anxiety were past and you were laid in your mother's arms, your father came and bent over you both with a measureless love, and looking into your little face they knew what the scripture meant when it said, 'and they twain shall be one flesh,' for were not you a living fulfillment of that saying? you were a part of each united in a living being who belonged to them both. then for the first time could they realize, even dimly, the yearning, tender love of their heavenly father who had granted to them to know by experience his feelings towards his children." great tears had gathered in the boy's eyes as she talked, and now with choking voice he said, "i don't think i can ever be disobedient again, dr. barrett. i did not understand it all as i do now. you know we only hear these things talked of among the boys, and i had come to feel that there was some reason why i ought to be ashamed of my father and mother; but it all looks so different to me now. i wish you could talk to the other boys as you have to me." "it may not be possible for me to do so, although i should be glad to do it, but you can help them to think more truly on these subjects. you can especially help them to treat women and girls with more respect than they often do, because you can see how an injury to any girl is an injury to the whole world." "i don't quite see that," said carl. "you can see that if any one had injured your mother in her girlhood it would have been an injury to all her children, can you not?" "o yes." "and that injury might be passed on to future generations. there lived a poor girl, about a hundred years ago, who was uncared for by good people and wronged by evil ones, and to-day she is known as a 'mother of criminals,' and no one can tell where the mischief will end. you would feel very indignant if you knew that some one had done your mother an injury in her girlhood, and you would feel the same way should any one wrong your sisters." "i knocked bill jones down last week because he said something to my sister kate." "you felt a righteous anger and manifested it. well, in all probability you will some day marry. if so, there is in the world to-day the girl who will be your wife. how do you want her to be treated by the boys who are her school-companions? do you like to think that they are rough with her, or playing at lovering with her? is it a pleasant thought that she is allowing them to caress her or write her silly sentimental notes?" carl's face was scarlet, but he answered bravely; "no, it isn't." the doctor continued. "some day, in all likelihood, a little girl-child will climb upon your knee and call you papa. no creature can ever be to you what that little daughter will be. if any one should injure her----." "i'd kill him," broke in carl hotly. "if you feel that way, dear boy, you should remember that every girl is some one's daughter, perhaps some one's sister, will probably be some one's wife and some one's mother, so that all girls should be sacred to you, treated with chivalrous courtesy and protected even as you feel you would protect those who may belong especially to you." "but don't you believe in boys and girls being friends at all?" "most assuredly i do. nothing is more charming than the frank comradeship of girls and boys, and that is why i am so sorry to see them spoil it with sentimentality. they ought to be good friends, helping each other, having jolly good times together, but never in ways that will bring a blush to the cheeks of either, now, or in the years to come." a rap sounded on the door and the maid entered with a note which she gave to the doctor, who handed it to carl, saying, "here is the note for miss bell. i have kept you waiting a long time, but i hope it has not been unprofitable." "indeed it has not. i am ever so much obliged to you, i am sure." "and if you ever wish to talk to me again you will feel free to come, will you not?" "yes, ma'am, i surely will," answered the lad with a frank clasp of the hand. "wait a moment," said the doctor, "i have just thought of a little book that i am sure you will be interested in reading. it is called 'a gateway and a gift,' and it deals with some of the questions we have been talking about this evening. you can lend it to some of your boy friends if you wish." "thank you," said carl, taking the book which the doctor handed him, and then with another "good night," he walked away in the darkness. the note which he gave to miss bell the next morning read merely: "don't say anything to carl. just wait." if miss bell had seen a note slipped by carl into susie glenn's hand an hour later she might have thought it an evidence that the doctor's plan had failed. but had she read the note her opinion would have been that it had succeeded. it read: "dear susie:--it was real mean of me to write that note yesterday. will you forgive me? say, susie, i think all this nonsense about lovers and sweethearts is silly rot, don't you? let's be just friends. respectfully yours, carl." susie's answer was short but to the point. it read: "all right. let's. susie." several months later miss bell and miss lane called again on dr. barrett. "have you come with another problem?" asked the doctor. "no, we have come to report progress and to learn, if possible, just how it has come about. there has been a wonderful change in the school. the girls and boys are no less friendly, but it is without that silly sentimentality which was so annoying. they are now just real good comrades, and seem to help each other in being orderly, polite, and studious. how did you do it?" "perhaps all credit is not due to me, but i will say that i gave carl the instruction i thought he needed and he has passed the good word along. several of the boys have met with me once a month to study concerning themselves, and i can see that they have grown to have a reverence for themselves and a deep regard for all womanhood. carl was in last evening, and said, 'dr. barrett, i am so glad miss bell sent me with that note to you, for your talk to me that night has changed my whole life, i know. i feel so much cleaner all through, and have so much more respect for myself. and i think so differently of girls and women, and especially of my mother, and i realize as i never did before how important a thing it is to be almost a man.'" a gateway and a gift. three gateways span the path of earthly existence: one at the entrance which we call the gate of birth; one at the close which we call the gate of death, and one at the entrance to the wondrous land of the teens, which we call the gate of manhood or of womanhood. at each of these gates a wonderful gift is presented to each individual. at the gate of birth it is the gift of earthly life, at death it is the gift of continued life, and at the gate which opens into the land of the teens it is the gift of creative life. you see that each gift is of life. the path of earthly life, beginning at the gateway of birth, passes through the sunny meadow-land of childhood, and also through a strange, mysterious land to which we have referred as the land of the teens, before reaching the heights of maturity. this land of the teens is peculiar in that the inhabitants are neither children nor adults, and yet, with the inexperience of children, they have many of the desires and emotions of grown-up people. this constitutes an element of great danger, while another source of danger is the fact that adequate guidance is not always given in this transition period, or, if proffered, is proudly rejected by those who think that being in their "teens" makes them wise above that which is written. when we visit foreign lands we are grateful for guidance and direction, especially if we are not acquainted with the language; so, if we do not hire a guide we, at least, buy a guide-book. it seems to me, then, that we ought not to rebel against guides through the land of the teens, realizing that one who has traveled through a country can point out beauties and warn against dangers which would not be recognized by the inexperienced traveler. we can visit england, italy, or germany many times, and at each journey can profit by former experiences, but we pass through the land of the teens but once, and the lessons we learn on that journey we can only utilize for the benefit of others. this is why many people on the heights of maturity are anxious to light a beacon for those who are still in their "teens." they would gladly help others to shun the by-paths where they have met disaster, for they have learned the very solemn truth that in youth one is determining what maturity shall be. the seeds sown in the sunny meadow of childhood and in the broader fields of the land of the teens are harvested in the uplands of maturity, and the harvest is always greater than the seed sown. the petulance and pouting of the child hardens into the gruffness, bad-temper, and moroseness of the man; the idleness and shirking of the youth becomes the shiftlessness and unreliability of the adult; the boy's neglect of duty and unwearied search for pleasure may be harvested in dissipation and ruin in mature life. it is, then, a very serious thing to be passing through one's "teens," and the wise youth will welcome any guide who will show him a safe path. may i claim the privilege of acting for a little time in that capacity? the king of this land has made laws for its government and wisdom, has builded paths wherein one may walk in safety. the laws made by the king are not harsh and cruel, but are beneficent, and he denies no real good. he says to the traveler, "you belong to me, and i am desirous of your highest welfare; therefore, obey me and you shall be rewarded; disobey me and you shall be punished." it needs some moral courage to bravely stay in the path of wisdom, for there are many allurements to leave it; more particularly as the inexperience of the traveler does not warn him of the dangers of following pleasures that lead away from wisdom's ways. the guide worthy of trust must not fail to point out these dangers; and the prudent youth will listen to the warning voice and walk in wisdom's ways, for "all her ways are pleasantness, and all her paths are peace." we talk much about our personal liberty, and assert that we have a right to live in maine or california, but we have not that much liberty in regard to dwelling in the land of the teens. if we are ever to reach the heights of maturity we must spend ten years in the teens. we cannot sell our domain, nor give it away, and we cannot even hire some one to cultivate it for us. this being the case, it becomes important for us to study the soil and how best to develop its advantages. we find that the land has three divisions: the domain of the body, the field of intellect, and the garden of the heart,--the same divisions that exist in the sunny land of childhood, and that we have been cultivating ever since we were born. these are the kingdoms which came to us with the gift of life. we recognize that the gifts which come to us at birth and death are of life for ourselves alone, and we have had no thought during our childish years except to develop our powers for our own advantage. it may be we have not felt perfectly satisfied with our lot in life, but we have felt that we were not responsible for this. we did not choose to be born in america instead of asia, though we do not rebel at this fact. we did not select to be white instead of black. it is not our fault if we are born of a family in which consumption is an inheritance; and, on the other hand, we can claim no credit to ourselves if we have inherited strong bodies with healthful tendencies. it is our misfortune, and not our fault, if we are not quite perfectly poised by nature; it is our good fortune, not our foresight, if we have genius instead of mediocrity. the gifts that come to us through inheritance are ours without blame or credit to us but they bring with them the responsibility of their use. we are responsible for maintaining or increasing our dower of health by obedience to physical laws; responsible for the cultivation of our intellects, for the development of inherited virtues, and the annihilation of inherited vices. if you study your characteristics and talents you find that they repeat those of your ancestry. your eyes, hair, mouth, chin, your stature, figure, complexion, your talents, capabilities, tendencies, your likes and dislikes, your faults as well as your virtues are repetitions of those who preceded you in this living network of existence of which you form a part. if you are not like father or mother you may be like grandfather or great-grandmother. if you do not find yourself repeating the characteristics or personality of any one ancestor, you may find yourself a composite photograph of several. and even if you cannot trace in yourself a likeness to any family representative, you may still be assured that from some of them your traits have come to you. you have only to recall the complexity of your sources of inheritance and then remember how many words can be spelled from the twenty-six letters of the alphabet to see that you can hardly measure the peculiar forces of mind and body that may come to you though that power of transmission which we call heredity. it may occur to you to ask why, if we are not responsible for our inheritances, is it needful to give them any particular thought? there are two reasons why we should consider the good and bad characteristics which may be ours through inheritance. in the first place, heredity is not fatality, and we are not absolutely obliged to follow the paths which our ancestors marked out for us, and in the second place, we can, by understanding our own characters, mark out better paths for our posterity. we are not only receivers of life, but we may be also givers of life, and this is the gift that comes to you at the entrance to the land of the teens. can you imagine a more important period in the life of an individual than that point where is intrusted to him the physical powers which make him the arbiter of the destiny of those who come after him? the gift of possible life for others is even more marvelous than that of actual life for one's self and brings with it greater responsibility. it is accompanied with marked physical changes. you have observed them in yourself, though you perhaps have not understood them. up to this time you have been but a child, and all your physical forces have been occupied in keeping you alive and growing. but you are now to become a man, with powers that will unite you to the race; powers that will give you the ability to form a new link in the living chain that now ends with you. you have noticed the rapid unfolding of your bodily powers; you have become conscious of new and strange emotions; you have, it may be, found yourself becoming irritable and have felt bewildered with the new aspects of life and have wondered what it all means. it may be you have felt as did one boy who said to his mother, to whom he confided all his problems of life: "mamma, i want to kick and cry, and i don't know why." the mother knew. she understood the strange unfolding that was going on in his physical organism, and she kindly explained it to him, telling him that he must have patience with himself, and govern himself by his judgment and not allow himself to be carried away by impulse, assuring him that god would hold him as responsible for purity of character as he would the dear sister of whom they all felt so careful. he should reverence his manhood, even as he expected her to reverence her womanhood. this is necessary, not only for the good of each individual, but also for the eternal interest of future generations. this entrance into the land of the teens is a serious, even a dangerous period, for if you have not had right instruction you may be led, or fall into habits of wrong doing or thinking. if you are rightly taught you will begin to have an added reverence for yourselves in that god is dignifying you with new powers that will bring you more nearly into co-partnership with himself. these powers, the most sacred of all that have come to you, need years for development, and should be guarded by pure thoughts and kept for their holy office of promoting the earthly usefulness and eternal blessedness of those who hereafter will owe both earthly and immortal life to you. i have said that we are not responsible for the dower of virtues or of vices which are ours by inheritance, but we are responsible for the inheritances of our children, and this is a most solemn thought. do you not begin to see that we cannot value ourselves too highly if we have the right idea of what our real worth is? we can scarcely overestimate the results of our own deeds. we may think it does not matter if we do not always tell the exact truth; if at some times we equivocate and at others exaggerate, but when we remember that truth is the foundation of character, and realize that by our little equivocations or exaggerations we may be weakening the foundations of many who are from us to receive their talents and tendencies, we begin to see that the matter is a very serious one. i am sometimes told that young people will not be influenced by a consideration for the welfare of unborn generations whose existence is very problematical in their thought; but my observation is that young folks are much more sensible than we give them credit for being. more than one young man has said to me: "i was never taught that my conduct and thought would impress themselves upon my children, but now that i see that such is the case, i am sure that i will hereafter be more careful of my life than i ever have been." this field of investigation is a broad one, and even if you never have an opportunity to study the subject scientifically you can still be of incalculable benefit to humanity by ever remembering that you are living for an earthly, as well as for a heavenly immortality. the young people who to-day are in the land of the teens are they who are determining the characteristics of the men and women of the twentieth century, creating the standards of thought and action, the methods of business, the level of morals, in fact the whole status of society in the world of a hundred years to come. it is a very wonderful fact that god has so created us that the result of our deeds is not limited to our own lives, but makes its impress upon those who are to come after us. we are not separate units, but are links in a living chain of endless transmission. this fact makes our lives of far greater consequence than if, in their results, they were limited to ourselves. if we are anxious concerning the future of our country, we may take to heart the thought that it will be what we ourselves have made it. the bible expresses the same idea in many ways. "whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap," does not mean merely that his own future will be influenced by his conduct, but that his future in his children will be a record which he himself has made. men often make their wills and bequeath to their children their gold or houses and lands, but sometimes against their wills they bequeath to their children a bodily dwelling of inferior material, and so poor in construction that it very soon falls into decay through disease, or in very early life becomes a tottering ruin. it would seem rather amusing to us if one should sit down and write his will and say: "i bequeath to my daughter mary my yellow, blotched and pimpled complexion, resulting from my own bad habits of life. i bequeath to my son john, the effects of my habits of dissipation in my youth, with a like love for alcoholic liquors and tobacco. i bequeath to my son harry my petulant, irritable disposition, and the rheumatic gout which i have brought upon myself by disobedience to physical law; and to my daughter elizabeth, my trembling nerves and weak moral nature." but this is, in truth, what many parents do, and the children find it a sad, instead of an amusing fact. on the other hand, if one has led a life of uprightness and morality, and has obeyed physical law, his children will inherit his physical vigor, and his moral stamina. it becomes of exceeding great importance that these facts should be known to the young, in order that they may endeavor to overcome their own weaknesses, and strengthen their own good qualities for the sake of future generations. this heredity, the transmission of the qualities of the parent to the child, is found among plants and animals as well as in the human race. the seed of a plant produces another plant of the same kind, and the farmer knows when he sows wheat, that his harvest will be wheat, and he should know just as certainly that if he "sows wild oats" in his youth he may expect "wild oats" in his children. the character of the food we eat, the air we breathe, the occupations we follow, the habits we create, are the forces which shape not only our own destiny, but create the tendencies of our children. with these thoughts in mind, the question of the use of narcotics becomes one of great importance. there are few, if any, tobacco users who are anxious that their boys should early begin the use of the weed. but they do not realize the fact that in their own use of it they may have diminished the vital force of these boys, transmitting a tendency to disease, or perhaps an appetite for the tobacco itself, and not only will the boys feel the effects, but the girls as well. as the thought of men is turned in this direction, proofs are accumulating of the evil results to the children of tobacco-using parents. a prominent physician says: "i have never known an habitual tobacco user whose children did not have deranged nerves, and sometimes weak minds. shattered nervous systems, for generations to come, may be the result of this indulgence. the children of tobacco-using parents frequently die with infantile paralysis. i have known two cases in which the crying of the baby could not be stopped until the tobacco-pipe was placed between its lips." dr. pidduck asserts that in no instance is the sin of the father more strikingly visited upon his children than the sin of tobacco using. "the enervation, the hypochondriasis, the hysteria, the insanity, the dwarfish deformities, the consumption, the suffering lives, and early deaths of the children of inveterate smokers bear ample testimony to the feebleness and unsoundness of the constitution transmitted by this pernicious habit." the effect of alcohol upon the child is equally marked, and from all sides comes the testimony that the degenerations do not stop with the individual, but pass on to succeeding generations. sometimes the influence is seen in the stunting of the growth, both mentally and physically. dr. langden downe reports several cases of this sort where the children had lived to be twenty-two years old and still remained infants, symmetrical in form, just able to stand beside a chair, utter a few monosyllabic sounds, and to be amused with toys. dr. f. r. lees, referring to the injury inflicted upon the liver by alcohol, says: "and recollect, whatever injury you inflict upon this organ, to your posterity the curse descends, and as is the father, so are the children." dr. kerr asserts that the effects of injury to the mind and body may not always show themselves in the drinker himself, yet it is doubtful if his children ever entirely escape the effects in one form or another. these effects may be manifest in insanity, or in a tendency to diseases of the stomach, liver, bowels, lungs, or other organs; or with a like love for alcoholic stimulants. not only may the child be weak in body but also in intellect. it is the statement of a score of observant physicians that the children of intemperate parents are apt to be feeble in body and weak in mind. another very striking thought in this connection is that while the physical effects may not show in the individual himself, nor in his children, they may be manifest in the deterioration of his grandchildren and great-grandchildren. a prominent temperance advocate who was laid up with rheumatic gout, which is apt to be the result of alcoholic indulgence, replied to a friend who wondered that he, a drinker of cold water, should suffer with this disease, "yes, my ancestors drank the liquor and i foot the bills." in the parliament of the british house of commons made a report of intemperance in which they stated that the evils of alcoholism "are cumulative in the amount of injury they inflict, as intemperate parents, according to high medical testimony, give a taint to their offspring before birth, and the poisonous stream of spirits is conveyed through the milk of the mother to the infant at the breast; so that the fountain of life, through which nature supplies that pure and healthy nutriment of infancy, is poisoned at its very source, and a diseased and vitiated appetite is thus created, which grows with its growth, and strengthens with its increasing weakness and decay." a tendency to commit suicide seems to be a marked bequest of an inebriate parent to his children, and it is well to state that in the opinion of medical men who are dealing with all forms of inebriety, the evils resulting to the children may be transmitted by parents who have never been noted for drunkenness. continual moderate drinking keeps the body so constantly under the influence of alcohol that a crowd of nervous difficulties and disorders may be transmitted even more surely than from the parent who has occasional sprees with long intervals of sobriety between. it is not only through the drinking father that injury is done to the children, but the mother may have a vitiated inheritance from her father and transmit it to her children. when we recall the fact that one hundred thousand men fall into drunkard's graves every year, we are appalled at the thought of that vast army marching on to death and destruction. as we listen, we can, in fancy, almost hear the tramp, tramp of that "mighty host advancing, satan leading on." in the front rank comes the one hundred thousand men who shall fall into drunkard's graves this year, and behind them the one hundred thousand men who are to fall next year. they come with sound of revelry and song, and close beside them press a crowd of weeping wives and mothers and little children, starved, crippled, and murdered, who are to be fellow victims with the drunkard. not very far back from the front row come one hundred thousand young men in the very prime of young, vigorous life, just beginning to drink their first glass of wine or beer, with no intention of ever standing in that front row, yet having started on the way. back of them, one hundred little school boys who think it manly to ape the follies of their predecessors. back of them, one hundred thousand little toddlers whose feet stagger in their innocent helplessness. back of them, one hundred thousand mothers with babies in their arms. oh, how sweetly those baby eyes look up into the loving eyes that are brooding over them. is it possible those baby brows will ever lie low in the gutter, those sweet lips be stained by oath or glass; those crumpled rose-leaf fingers ever strike the murderous blow incited by alcohol? it must be, if that front rank of one hundred thousand drunkards is to be recruited, for the drunkards of the future are to-day babies in their mother's arms. do you who read these words intend to join this vast army of prospective drunkards, or will you belong to the cold-water army that is marching on accompanied by health, vigor, industry, prosperity, success and long life? we must not be so interested in the inheritance of evil qualities as to forget the transmission of good. we read in exodus, twentieth chapter, that the sins of the fathers are to be visited upon the children unto the third and fourth generations of them that hate the lord, but mercy will be shown to _thousands of generations_ of them that love him and keep his commandments. as we have seen the sins of the fathers are visited upon the children in transmission of diseased bodies, perverted moral natures and weakened wills, and realize that the promise is being fulfilled in the visitation of the sins of the fathers upon the children, let us see if the other promise is being fulfilled also, in the mercy shown to thousands of them that love the lord and keep his commandments. an english specialist in children's diseases has carefully noted the difference between twelve families of drinkers and twelve families of sober parents during a period of twelve years. intemperate. | temperate. | produced children; died in | produced children; died the first week of life. these | in first week, of weakness. deaths due to convulsions, or | had curable diseases. oedema of brain and membranes. | showed inherited nervous defects. were idiots. dwarfs. | this leaves who were in epileptics. had chorea. were | every way normal, sound in body deformed. became drunkards. | and mind. this leaves only who showed | during the whole of life a | normal disposition and development | of body and mind. | if it were not a fact that health, purity, integrity, intellect and virtue were being transmitted to a far greater extent than sin and vice, there would be little good in the world, but the transmission of these good qualities is so extended, so like the air and the sunshine and the water, a common thing, that we almost forget to recognize it. when we turn our thoughts to the investigation of this phase of the subject, we find that vigorous parents have healthful children, that powers of intellect are transmitted, and that honesty and uprightness in the father warrants us in expecting the same in the son. we recognize the transmission of powers of intellect in the fact that where the parents have a peculiar talent, we very generally find the same talent in their children. we are acquainted with musical families, mathematical families, artistic families, and in the study of renowned people of the world we find evidences of this transmission of intellect. we also learn that the effects of education are transmissible, and if the parents are educated along a certain line the children receive education along that line much more readily. this fact becomes a wonderful incentive to us to build up all that is best in our own natures in order that through us the world may receive an impetus towards higher and better things. sometimes when your faults and defects press upon you with tremendous force and you find it so very hard to overcome them, you may be tempted to lay the blame on your ancestry who gave you such a dower, who by their lives handicapped you in your life-struggle. you may feel inclined to say with some writer, to me unknown, who says: heredity. "your strictures are unmerited, our follies are inherited, directly from our gran-pas they all came; our defects have been transmitted, and we should be acquitted of all responsibility and blame. we are not depraved beginners, but hereditary sinners, for our fathers never acted as they should; 'tis the folly of our gran-pas that continually hampers-- what a pity that our gran-pas weren't good! yes, we'd all be reverend senators, if our depraved progenitors had all been prudent, studious and wise; but they were quite terrestial, or we would be celestial, yes, we'd all be proper tenants for the skies. if we're not all blameless sages, and beacons to the ages, and fit for principalities and powers; if we do not guide and man it, and engineer the planet, 'tis the folly of our forefathers--not ours." but the lesson of these lines is not that you should lie back in inaction, making no effort to overcome your defects because they are inheritances. there is for you a wiser lesson in the theme than that. when marshall ney was taunted with the fact that the imperial nobility had no pedigree he proudly replied, "we are ancestors." there is a grand thought for you. if your ancestors did not do the best for you, will you not profit by your knowledge of this fact and do the best for those who shall look back to you as their ancestor? supposing that your parents in their youth had said: "i will take care of my health so that my children may be born with vigorous bodies; i will make good use of my intellect so that my children will inherit an added capacity for acquiring knowledge; i will obey all laws of morality so that my children will by inheritance tend toward virtue;" and supposing that you to-day, with healthful bodies, keen intellects and upward tending moral natures, were reaping the reward of their forethought, would you not bless them for it? you have no right to remain listless and discouraged because of your inheritances, whatever they may be. hear the inspiriting words of ella wheeler wilcox: there is no thing you cannot overcome. say not thy evil instinct is inherited; or that some trait inborn, makes thy whole life forlorn, and calls for punishment that is not merited. back of thy parents and grandparents lies, the great eternal will; that, too, is thine inheritance--strong, beautiful, divine; sure lever of success for one who tries. pry up thy fault with this great lever--will; however deeply bedded in propensity; however firmly set, i tell thee firmer yet is that great power that comes from truth's immensity. there is no noble height thou canst not climb; all triumphs may be thine in time's futurity, if whatsoe'er thy fault, thou dost not faint or halt, but lean upon the staff of god's security. earth has no claim the soul can not contest. know thyself part of the supernal source, and naught can stand before thy spirit's force the soul's divine inheritance is best. the youth of to-day have in their own hands the molding of the future, not only of themselves, but of the nation, by the every day habits of their lives. by their thoughts and aspirations, by the moral tendencies which they are cultivating in themselves, they are determining what shall be the characteristics of the nation in a hundred years to come. shall this be, in a hundred years, a nation of drunkards? the young people of to-day are deciding that question. shall it be a nation of invalids? this, also, the young people are deciding. shall it be a nation filled with greed of gain, with a low standard of morals, with dishonest methods in business, or shall it be a nation wherein vigorous health is the rule, unflinching courage, absolute integrity and pure morality shall everywhere reign? what the young people of to-day are making of themselves physically, mentally and morally, is deciding what shall be the future of the country. the white cross. the cross is considered as an emblem of self-denial, the immolating of selfish wishes upon the altar of universal good. in a nobler sense it means not so much self-denial as the creation of nobler desires, so that the individual wants only those things which he rightfully should have; he is not obliged to deny himself, because he asks nothing but that which is noble and pure. in this sense the cross is not so much the emblem of self-denial as an emblem of self-ennoblement--the exaltation of self. the white cross typifies the purifying of the life from the desire of mere sense pleasures. it means the noble manhood which claims for itself the privilege of chastity and the rewards of purity. the white cross army is composed of men and boys over fourteen years of age who unite to resist vice, to secure safety for the home and for society, to become all that becomes true manhood. in organized co-operation there is strength. it is not only the "long pull" and the "strong pull," but the "pull altogether," that is thoroughly successful. hundreds of men are living the white life individually, but are not associated together in an effort to influence others. such association would result in more rapidly spreading the idea of the responsibility of the individual, would create public opinion, would give moral support to those who might find their unaided strength inadequate to meet the temptations of the world, in short, would furnish the conditions favorable to the highest ideals of social and individual life. the white cross society aims to unite men in such an organized effort for the elevation of moral standards. its members are pledged to the keeping of a fivefold obligation. the first of these appeals to the chivalry latent in the heart of every man, making him a protector of every woman, however lonely or friendless she may be, recognizing her potential value to the race; protecting her against his own selfish desires, against the open and covert assaults of other men, against her own unwisdom, if need be. the second obligation pledges the white cross knight to a pure heart expressed not only in conduct but in word. he will think and speak reverently of life in all its phases, and help to cleanse the language--written or spoken--of all that pollutes the heart or vitiates the imagination. the third obligation claims for the white cross soldier the glory of living up to the highest moral standards, of being as pure as the noblest woman that lives. the fourth recognizes the power of influence and binds the members to a helpful interest in all humanity. the fifth covers the whole scope of life in the obligation to use every effort to fulfil the command, "keep thyself pure." the heart of the true man must throb a quick response to the appeal made to him by the white cross. it means marital fidelity, it implies the sanctity of the home, it creates individual purity, and that insures social purity, it means a nobler manhood, a grander womanhood, a safer childhood. the appeal is made to you individually. will you not become a white cross knight? will you not, even if you cannot join an organized society, become a standard-bearer of the white cross, pledging yourself to its five obligations? soon you will find others willing to unite with you in this great work, and the society will be formed. each one who reads this book may become a true and faithful knight of the white cross, no matter where he may be, in city mart or lonely farm, in busy shop or quiet school, and not only may he be a soldier, but he may be a recruiting officer, inducing others to enlist under the white cross banner. the white cross pledge. "_blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see god._" i promise, by the help of god: . _to treat all women with respect, and endeavor to protect them from wrong and degradation._ . _to endeavor to put down all indecent language and coarse jests._ . _to maintain the law of purity as equally binding upon men and women._ . _to endeavor to spread these principles among my companions, and try to help my younger brothers._ . _to use all possible means to fulfil the command, "keep thyself pure."_ name_______________________ * * * * * =self and sex series.= for men. =by sylvanus stall, d. d.= . "what a young boy ought to know." . "what a young man ought to know." . "what a young husband ought to know." . "what a man at forty-five ought to know." . "what a man at sixty-five ought to know." price $ . each. for women. =by mrs. mary wood-allen, m. d., and sylvanus stall, d. d.= . "what a young girl ought to know." . "what a young woman ought to know." . "what a young wife ought to know." . "what a woman at forty-five ought to know." . "what a woman at sixty-five ought to know." price $ . each. address orders to =wood-allen publishing co., ann arbor, mich.= * * * * * =almost a woman.= ... mary wood-allen, m. d. price, cents. =girls= have long been wanting a book written by dr. wood-allen for them to correspond with the one by the same author for =boys= at last the demand has been met and the doctor's new book, =almost a woman=, presents in attractive form the pure instruction needed by the girl. =mothers= will find this just what they have been wanting to put into the hands of their daughter. =wood-allen publishing co., ann arbor, mich.= * * * * * =books= ... by mary wood-allen, m. d. =teaching truth.= price, cents ... this little brochure aims to answer in chaste and scientific language the queries of children as to the origin of life. the reception it has met with is best indicated by the testimonials received from the press and through private letters. the principal of a young ladies' school writes: "i invited our girls to the parlor and read your brochure, which was listened to with the deepest interest. at certain portions of the reading nearly all were in tears. it is a most pathetically pure, chaste presentation of a grand subject. you would have rejoiced could you have heard the expressions from the young ladies. surely, dear dr. allen, god has blessed many through your instrumentality." read this book if you read no other but the bible this year.--_emma bates, valley city, n. d._ please send me some more copies of your unique and valuable little book. i cannot keep a copy over night. it would be an evangel to every young person in whose hands it might be placed. i would also invite the public school teachers to examine this rare little book.--_frances e. willard._ a skilful, graceful, and reverent effort to assist parents in what has been a delicate and difficult task. the author deserves the praise that belongs to the successful pioneer.--_george n. miller._ =almost a man.= ... price, cents ... the success of the "teaching truth," and "child-confidence rewarded," together with the frequent requests for some inexpensive book for the instruction of boys approaching manhood, has led to the writing of "=almost a man=." it is intended to help mothers and teachers in the delicate task of teaching the lad concerning himself, purely and yet with scientific accuracy. a booklet designed to help mothers and teachers in the instruction of boys. ought to be in the hands of every parent in the land.--_toledo blade._ chaste and pure, and admirably adapted to mothers in this most difficult, universally neglected but very important line of work.--_early education._ many mothers will be glad to read what such an authority as dr. wood-allen has to say on so important and delicate a subject.--_mother's journal._ worth its weight in gold to the puzzled mother, telling her exactly what she wants to know. this book deals reverently with the great mystery of life.--_ladies' home journal._ too much cannot be said in its favor.--_school education._ i can conscientiously recommend it to all who are interested in the physical and moral welfare of youth.--_c. a. dorman, m. d._ such literature cannot fail to accomplish great and lasting good.--_eng. f. storke, m. d._ many have given good advice, but this is the best.--_rev. kent white._ i believe this little book would do incalculable good if placed in the hands of boys after they have reached ten years of age.--_wm. g. lotze, gen. sec. y. m. c. a., denver, colo._ =address, wood-allen pub. co., ann arbor, mich.= * * * * * =a new book=, =the marvels of our bodily dwelling= =by mary wood-allen, m. d.= teaching by metaphor, parable, and allegory has been the method of many of the wisest instructors. no one can claim originality in comparing the body to a house, for that comparison is as old as literature. but the simile is still of interest to the juvenile mind, and as science is ever making new discoveries, there is continual demand for new and interesting works on physiology. dr. wood-allen in this new book has united scientific facts and metaphor with the skill that would be expected from her by those acquainted with her literary powers. the book will be found equally valuable as a text-book, a supplementary reader or a reference book in schools, or as a book of pleasant home instruction. teachers in normal schools will find it a most suggestive aid in teaching physiology. as it contains the most reliable scientific facts in regard to alcohol, tobacco, and other narcotics, it fills the demand created by the school laws compelling the teaching of the action of narcotics on the human body. testimonials. a charming book.--_frances willard._ only a scientific person can understand how really good it is. it has been to me intensely interesting, and i hope sincerely that the world at large will appreciate it.--_j. m. w. kitchen, m. d._ it gives me pleasure to note that the book, both by its subject-matter and its pleasing form of presentation, is well adapted to the use for which it is intended.--_b. a. hinsdale, professor of the science and art of teaching, university of michigan._ i find here, wrought out in attractive form, some of the most important knowledge that our young people ought to know. it is suitable for a supplementary reader in the upper grammar grades of the public schools. part second particularly is of the highest value to the boys and girls in our grammar and high schools.--_w. s. perry, principal of high school, ann arbor, mich._ this excellent work ought to be, not only read, but studied by every one in and out of our schools who is interested in preserving the integrity of our bodily and mental functions. the author's method would make knowledge invigorate and mature the judgment and not burden the memory, and this is the germinal idea in all sound education.--_geo. e. seymour, professor of history, high school, st. louis, mo._ =the retail price of the book is $ . . orders promptly filled by the= =wood-allen pub. co., ann arbor, mich.= * * * * * =the birth chamber.= price, cents. a supplementary chapter to =the marvels of our bodily dwelling=. in this supplementary chapter are given the scientific facts of special physiology, written in dr. wood-allen's own delicate style. many who have become aroused to the fact that accurate scientific knowledge is the surest safeguard of purity, are themselves not well enough instructed to be able to teach their children. this booklet meets the need of all such, and gives just what is wanted to instruct young people in regard to the sacred origin of life. every one who owns "teaching truth" and "child-confidence rewarded" will desire to possess this booklet also, for it supplements these perfectly. =child-confidence rewarded.= price, cents. "this little book treats of child-purity with the same delicate but masterly hand shown in dr. allen's other writings."--_union signal of july , ._ "unique and valuable."--_frances e. willard._ "i am delighted with it."--_katherine lente stevenson, chicago._ "most charmingly written."--_alice b. stockham, m. d., chicago._ "the good it will do is incalculable."--_emily s. bouton, in toledo blade._ "the best you have done yet. i can recommend it."--_earl barnes, professor in leland stanford university, palo alto, cal._ * * * * * =the new crusade= price cents a year. sample copies free. =mary wood-allen, m. d., editor.= it is sui generis, deals frankly and scientifically with the moral problems of the home, the school, and society. it embodies the work of the =white cross=, =white shield=, =mother's meetings=, =child-culture circles=, and the =rescue work=. also deals with the subject of reform and legislation for morality, and yet continuing to emphasize, most emphatically of all, the necessity of right instruction as the surest means of promoting purity. co-operating with the national superintendent of the department of health and heredity, it discusses all topics of health and inheritance, pre-natal influences, etc. =physical education will also have its share of attention.= crusaders of old endeavored to overthrow evil by "force and arms." the new crusade proposes to emphasize the positive side of life, and waging a peaceful war, aims to supplant ignorance by knowledge; to eradicate vice by virtue; to displace disease by health, and to dispel darkness by light. send for terms to agents and our club rates. make all money orders payable to =wood-allen publishing company, ann arbor, michigan.= * * * * * transcriber notes typographical problems have been changed and are listed below. hyphenation and common compound words standardized and listed below. author's archaic spelling is preserved. author's punctuation style is preserved. table of contents added. passages in italics indicated by _underscores_. passages in bold indicated by =equal signs=. transcriber changes the following changes were made to the original text: prelude: =meadow land= standardized to =meadow-land= (lads had crossed the sunny =meadow-land= of childhood and stood by the gate) page : added quotes (="it= has been so long since i saw you that you have almost grown out of my knowledge.... you must be fifteen years =old."=) page : =anyone= standardized to =any one= (supposing you try to forget that =any one= has ever told you anything about it) page : =every thing= standardized to =everything= (we may go even farther and say with mr. grant allen that =everything= high and ennobling in our nature springs directly from the fact of sex.) page : =microscrope= changed to =microscope= (they are not visible except with the aid of a =microscope=) page : changed period to comma after =to-night= (no one ever talked to me as you have =to-night,= and i am sure it makes me want to be better.) page : changed single quote to double (that will bring a blush to the cheeks of either, now, or in the years to =come."=) page : changed ending single quote to double (the doctor handed him, and then with another "good =night,"= he walked away in the darkness.) page : =plesaantness= changed to =pleasantness= ("all her ways are =pleasantness=, and all her paths are peace.") page : added comma after =mouth= (your eyes, hair, =mouth,= chin, your stature, figure, complexion, your talents, capabilities) page : =prehaps= changed to =perhaps= (you have observed them in yourself, though you =perhaps= have not understood them.) page : =tobacco using= standardized to =tobacco-using= (proofs are accumulating of the evil results to the children of =tobacco-using= parents) page : =transmissable= changed to =transmissible= (we also learn that the effects of education are =transmissible=) advertisements: removed extraneous quote after =youth= (i can conscientiously recommend it to all who are interested in the physical and moral welfare of =youth.=--_c. a. dorman, m. d._) advertisements: =m d.= changed to =m. d.= ("most charmingly written."--_alice b. stockham, =m. d.=, chicago._) * * * * *